"By Invitation Only" - Fashion - Fall 2013...

...is the theme for this October post:

"Choose 1 outfit from the FALL 2013 COLLECTIONS you LOVE."

"Choose 1 outfit from the same collections that you HATE."

"Explain why you love & hate them."   

"Tell us where you would wear the one you LOVE" 

"OK, now this is easy":    
 Marsha said!

Easy?

I have - as usual - "the agony of choice"!

- as we say in German:
 "Die Qual der Wahl"





So, I change the rules, just a little bit,

to several outfits 
from the

Valentino Couture Collection - Fall 2013

which I LOVE...

 because:

 For the fall 2013 Valentino couture collection designers 
Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli  
elaborated on the concept of

 "Wunderkammer"



This is probably the earliest illustration of a natural history cabinet,  so called cabinet de curiosités.
 Engraving from Ferrante Imperato's Dell'Historia Naturale (Naples 1599)


"Wunderkammer" - the 16th, 17th and 18th century tradition of the  

Cabinet de Curiosités


"Kunstkamer"by Frans Francken the Younger, 1636.
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

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The Cabinet de Curiosités
in which aristocratic collectors would display exotic specimens 
culled from nature (shells, sea creatures, taxidermy) and archaeological oddities.

That's how the motifs of scallop shells, coral, and fragments of ancient roman carvings 
made their way into many of the creations of these clothes/designs...




...and inspired the mother-of-pearl Miniaudieres with jeweled golden clasps 
cast in the shape of signs of the zodiac some of the girls were clutching

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 "In a Cabinet of Curiosities, the pieces are very unique, very one-of-a-kind.
 We've tried to make something that is not only special, but also surprising, unexpected," 
designer Pierpaolo Piccioli explained. 

With gowns requiring upwards of 800 hours of handwork, 
2000 freshwater pearls and luxurious neo-classical and baroque influences, 
the Valentino couture fall 2013 collection managed to be everything 
its creators hoped it would be, 
demonstrating the complex laws and ideologies that stand behind Haute Couture creations 
and which set them aside from any other type of lines.




Though Renaissance inspired gowns seemed fit for royal parties only,

the label also brings elegant daywear alternatives for the first time.

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 An amazing caped coat and dress in camel double-faced cashmere with neat, rounded shoulders, 
which had a fluidity in movement; 
a cape-backed gray tweed sheath-dress; 
a herringbone pencil-skirt with a matching coat and lace blouse.(see below)


Stripped of all padding and linings, impeccable in their proportions 
from shoulder-line to graceful, mid-calf lengths, 
they are riveting examples 
of exactly what traditional couture can offer to a modern woman....

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Now -
  all this explains already why I've chosen Valentino's fall collection,
 and why I love  the followings,
having in mind a cultural long weekend in Paris,
Theater, Opera, Ballet......



LOVE capes! and the whole outfit!

My only reservation:
In general - with some exceptions and depending on the design and textile -
I don't really like mid-calf-lengths for skirts/dresses.
So, the skirt about 10 cm shorter, covering the knees,
 and the cape-coat in the lenght as shown - simply perfect for me.

a "clear line" and of timeless elegance.

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for the Theater:

Laces and corals.....LOVE it

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"We believe that couture can be a private luxury -
not just for the red carpet or special occasions. 
So we wanted to really work on daywear for the first time," 
Maria Grazia Chiuri explained. 

Elegance for day? Yes, we need more of it! 




A woman wearing any one of these 
would cut a sophisticated swath through the crowd.


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Dislike:

  outfit???...

No, thanks!

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At last but not least.....

For Puccini's "La Bohème" or Mozart's "Zauberflöte" (the Magic Flute)...
...or...

at the Opéra Garnier:

le Grand Foyer, at the Palais Garnier, Paris

....just the right "frame" for this beautiful creation ....

 LOVE it! 
 including the mid-calf length!

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Exquisite and magic details, such as delicate feathers,
  

 

 ...precious endless beadings, 
golden thread embroideries or print intarsia, 

  

that's what make these gowns unique, ageless works of art.

VALENTINO 
Fall/Winter '13/14 Haute Couture.

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Please visit Marsha's blog for all the Creation-posts

of our BIO-group!
here

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A peep behind the scenes:




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 at the cat walk:

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And into:

An early 18th-century German Schrank (cupboard)
with a traditional display of corals (Naturkundenmuseum Berlin)

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Fashion-Photos and some description with thanks to  
Andrea Janke, here:

http://andreajanke-accessory.blogspot.de/2013/07/haute-couture-valentino-fall-2013.html

More info about "Wunderkammer"/Cabinet de Curiosités
here