These pieces are art. Too bad so few of them are in public museums but worn in private by privileged women who can afford them.
10
I don't understand why there aren't more photos of the process, including one of the finished dress. This is not very satisfying.
53
@Lifelong Reader Me too... I was hoping to see more about how the garment is made, not just the sewing of sequins.
27
This feels like half the story. Where are the photos of the work in progress and the finished dress?
47
There's a large quiet movement of people making their own clothes. Beautiful, slow and personal clothing. Alabama Chanin has created a "sew along" facebook group for its patrons and aficionados around the world. There's also a facebook group with thousands of practitioners of up-cycling. Both of these groups routinely post hand-made and variously embellished garments. Chicago's Lill Street or Oak Fabrics teach people how to sew their own everything. Same with Purl Soho in New York and Fancy Tiger in Denver.
31
@DC
Alabama Chanin, Purl Soho, etc., are not Chanel couture specialists. It takes years of training and studio experience to become that accomplished.
11
@DC Yes. Anya Dod of Corvallis, Oregon, the young granddaughter of an old friend of mine, has recently graduated from college where her major in the art department was in fashion design. Her senior thesis, a fashion show, was outstanding. She repurposes second-hand clothing by cutting and sewing and making lovely, clever designs from that material. While she may not have the skill set or complete vision as yet that a 50-year-old designer has, she is in the vanguard of the important movement to recycle so as to create a worldwide no-waste economy that will help save the planet. Someday she may employ artisans who have the fine skills to make her clothing desirable for rich women to wear. But her work now is no less artful than Karl Lagerfeld's, and in some sense it is more so, because it is distinctive, creative, innovative in its simplicity. Kudos to any designer who still approaches the process as the creation of a work of art.
16
There aren't a lot of things that can make me feel deprived. And then there's the stony fact that I have missed out on Chanel.
17
I'm glad to see an article that explain how much craftsmanship goes into a custom garment. I gave up custom dressmaking partly because women just didn't know anything about fabric, fit, or clothes, and weren't willing to pay even minimum wage for a custom garment. They were happy with a poorly fitting, unflattering, factory-created mess made from synthetic fabrics. Supposedly when Christian Dior came to the USA, he remarked that American women were the best-dressed in the world. "Even their maids are well dressed," he said. That hasn't been true for many years.
43
@OfficeWorker My mother trained as a seamstress in Paris, then married my dad, an American serviceman. Here in the U.S., in the late '50s, opportunities for her skills were nil. She worked as a waitress instead—until her 50s, when she was laid off right before reaching the 20-year mark (corporations have been polishing that move for decades).
Her tremendous sewing skills served her well in later life. She never made much money at it, for the same reason you mention: no one wanted to pay a reasonable fee for such thoughtful work. Now that she's gone, I treasure even more the handmade buttonholes and meticulously stitched hems of the perfectly fitted pieces she made for me.
35
How about some actual photos of the finished dress? ...and more shots of the work in progress?
79
Two questions: What is the cost? When might it show up at a thrift shop?
23
@Bill F. It would cost more than a 3 bedroom house in Buffalo, NY but less than a 1 bedroom condo in Belltown.
18
@Bill F. Chanel pieces are fine handwork and it's not likely you'll ever find one as cast-off.
12