Shaping of Beauty
Another from the somewhat seminal Galliano for Maison Margiela collection from last year. The whole collection was interesting in how it played with proportions and there was to me a question about was the body being manipulated or the viewer into believing it was? Take this dress with its emphasis on a tiny waist, is it created by a waist cincher/corset or does it appear to be narrow because the hips and bust are exaggerated? Personally I think it is probably a bit of both and it seems that it's to create a shape that would be unattainable naturally. It is extraordinary to me that so much of women's clothing and fashion throughout history has been about just that - creating a shape that is unattainable naturally. What is so wrong with our natural shape?
I've combined the Margiela dress with another extraordinary depiction of a woman. This is Ursula Tucher, painted in 1478 by the German artist Michael Wolgemut. I think it was painted to celebrate her marriage. Indeed the unusual head dress she wears tells us she is a married woman as they had to cover their hair. I love the way the extreme shape of the headdress matches the proportions of the Margiela creating a kind of synchronicity across over 5 centuries.
The original portrait is now in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Kassel Germany