van cleef & arpels

there has been much focus over the last three days on the clothing aspects of haute couture but couture today extends beyond fabric. in the upcoming features, we will be looking at jewellery and accessories. so as to not overwhelm you with sparkles, this is going to be a short post.

Van Cleef & Arpels

van cleef & arpels is a french jewellery, watch, and perfume company that was founded in 1896 by alfred van cleef and his uncle salomon arpels. 

they opened their first boutique in 1906 at 22 place vendôme, paris. van cleef & arpels are renowned for their expertise in precious stones and have won particular acclaim for a groundbreaking gem-setting procedure known as the mystery setting. 

Jewels for a Princess

the mystery setting is a a proprietary mounting technique for gems. there are no visible prongs, instead the individual stones are hand grooved to fit into a mesh of gold or platinum wire. 

Orchid brooch, 1928

in 2010, there was a launch of a new high jewellery collection during the biennale des antiquaires called les voyages extraodinaires de jules verne. 

fash'on... BAM!

the ancients: egypt

how can anyone not love egypt? it has given us some of the world's greatest wonders and most mysterious legends. i even wrote a play about the egyptian tombs as well. that was in the past. for today, we shall look closely at the fashion of ancient egypt (you can of course find all the details here.)

in ancient egypt, linen was by far the most common textile because it helped people to be more comfortable in the subtropical heat. wool was known, but considered impure. only the wealthy wore animal fibers that were the object of taboos. they were used on occasion for overcoats but were forbidden in temples and sanctuaries. peasants, workers and other people of modest condition often wore nothing but the shenti (made of flax) was worn by all people. 

picture from Wikipedia

slaves often worked naked (nope not putting up pictures of egyptian slaves on this blog). on the other end of the scale, royal clothing is particularly well documented, as well as the clothing and crowns of the pharaohs. the pharaohs would wear leopard skins over their shoulders and add a lion's tail to hang from their belt.

Egyptian men

ancient Egyptian woman

from about 2130 bc during the old kingdom, garments were simple. the men wore skirts known as shendyt, which were belted at the waist, sometimes pleated or gathered in the front. as for the women, during the old, middle and new kingdom, they often wore simple sheath dresses. these dresses were held up by one or two straps and were worn down to the ankle and sometimes above or below the breast. the length of the dress denoted the social class of the wearer. beading or feathers were also used as an embellishment on the dress.

The Brooklyn Museum

jewelry was very popular in ancient egypt, no matter what your social class. it was heavy and rather voluminous. the egyptians became very skilled when making jewelry from turquoise, metals like gold and silver, and small beads. 

Jean Shrimpton

one creation that was specific to ancient egypt was the gorgerine, an assembly of metal discs worn on the chest, either over bare skin or over a shirt and attached in the back.

Tutankhamun's footwear

footwear was the same for both genders. it consisted of sandals of leatherwork, or for the priestly class, papyrus. since egyptians were usually barefoot, sandals were worn on special occasions or at times when their feet might get hurt.

fash'on... BAM!