Oscars

So here are a few thoughts about last night's fashion Super Bowl, the Oscars...

• Under that awful haircut he had to sport in No Country for Old Men, it turns out Javier Bardem is HOT! (There was something strange about his suit, though.) And he brought his mom, awww - she looks like she's a hoot with those armloads of silver jewelry!
• So bringing your mom to the Oscars means you're not yet jaded, cynical, and "meh" about the whole affair...unlike George Clooney, who brought his 24-year-old girlfriend and couldn't keep his eyes from rolling around in his head every time the camera came to him. Dude, quit trying to be all (fake) modest and date someone your own age!!!
• I love these kooky creative types - apparently Diablo Cody, the screenwriter of Juno in the leopard number and black bob, was wearing Christian Dior - like the costume designer who won the evening's first award, both managed to look like they were wearing Forever 21 yet they looked cool in their own way, if a little cheap.
• And what's with Daniel Day-Lewis of the double gold hoop earrings, with Rebecca Miller in Christian Lacroix? I kinda secretly loved their look, actually (they're the new Johnny Depp & Vanessa Paradis! Bohemians who live off the grid!!) and someone has to help bring back Lacroix, sweetie.
• Getting now to what I liked...Cate Blanchett looked fabulous, as always - Dries Van Noten is an excellent choice for late pregnancy! She looked much more comfortable and chic than Jessica Alba, wearing Marchesa, who though beautiful (and the color was stunning) managed to look older than she is in her stately dress.
• I thought Marion Cotillard looked great in Gaultier, if a bit like an extremely chic mermaid - she looked young, French, and happy...what more does one want in life? It's the jewels (a simple gold string) and the hair (pretty, long curls), people. If she had worn a ton of diamonds and an updo, it would have been tragic.
• For once, I thought Nicole Kidman looked fabulous. She usually looks like death warmed over, in my opinion, but she put that deathly pallor to work for her at the Oscars in chic, sharp black satin (Balenciaga, love) and the best jewelry of the night...spiky, drippy diamonds...cool.
• Why, oh why, does Cameron Diaz present an Oscar every year? Was she even in a movie in 2007? She's been in one good movie that I can recall, and the rest are like cartoons. Who is she sleeping with to get a prime spot on that show year after year?? That said, she looked great - beautiful, simple pale pink column dress with interesting draping details.
• Jon Stewart was not funny, but I still love him.
• Yay, Once! I am so glad that song won, and how sweet they let the girl back on to finish her speech! I heard that they're now a couple in real life. Love that!
  
• I think Paul Thomas Anderson was robbed - There Will be Blood is a great movie and should have won more awards - but I guess I'll have to reserve judgment until after I've finally actually seen this year's winner, No Country for Old Men.
  

Managed to invest a little "attitude" in this sketch of a fairly ladylike look from Benjamin Cho. This is my struggle as an illustrator in this day and age of everything having to be soooo hipster and cool...most of my drawings are just a little too pretty, I fear!

Blue Velvet

This dress was an explosion of velvet flowers, very beautiful if impractical...

This is an experiment in "offsetting" color - I love the effect, because it makes a pretty black and white image into something a little more interesting (if not perfect...)

This shirt is very "editorial", as they say...it will probably be shot for a million magazines, though you may not wish to wear it out, say, to dinner - it would be very easy to spill soup or drop a crouton in there somewhere! It makes for a very glamorous sketch though...

This one is especially Gruau-esque...

A little "offset" experimentation...hopefully you won't feel drunk when looking at it!

I am doing this blog basically to have a good excuse to teach myself to use Live Paint in Adobe Illustrator, so I'm playing a little with color in the next few images...the Bill Blass show was very inspiring to sketch, probably because it allowed me to "imitate" a bit my favorite illustrator of all time, Rene Gruau, whose work is very representative of the great era of fashion illustration, the 30's through the 60's.

I love the shape of this garment - on the runway it was actually much less dramatic, but that's the great thing about illustration...the designer is Abaete

that Som kid

So I have a bunch of sketches to post from the Bill Blass show - the designer Peter Som did a great job with the "ladies who lunch" vibe that this line is all about. I kind of hate how inspired I am to sketch these types of clothes, but they're easier to capture with my style of illustration (avant garde is harder, all black and twisty and drapey and shapeless.....)

This is another one that I wouldn't necessarily call cool but that was sort of begging to be sketched because of the dramatic sleeves and long skirt...from Jenni Kaye, who normally does short cute dresses I believe.

Day Dress

This was a great little draped number from Costello Tagliapietra...

Adam

I hate to say it...although this outfit wasn't that cool on the runway, it was fun to sketch! The line is called Adam.

Fashion Week

There are hundreds of shows, scores and scores of designers, presenting their ideas semi-annually in the fashion capitals (of which there are many nowadays) over roughly four grueling weeks, but as of a few years ago the whole shebang starts in New York!

This look sums up what is great about NY Fashion Week: a small new label, a great urban suit, shown on an effortlessly chic girl who embodies what this city is about...multi-cultural individualism.

Garment District

Umbrellas are so chic!

Debut!

Le Parapluie is a blog dedicated to fashion, but goodness knows there are plenty of blogs already dedicated to fashion, so who cares??

Well, this blog is different because it's going to be primarily illustrated (with a few random opinions thrown in here and there).

Visit my blog to see postings of sketches I have been inspired to make for whatever reason...I get the urge to sketch when I see cool people walking around New York City's Garment District (where I work), when the Fashion Shows are going on, after seeing a movie with really great costumes, or taking in a blockbuster exhibit at the Met.

I hope you like my work. Tune in weekly, as I hope to post as regularly as I can while holding down a day job to pay the bills!