Elegantly caught in the spider’s web
Dior – Recipe for Fantasy
Try this:
think of the word “Vintage” and write down the first things that pop up in that little brainy scalp of yours. Or better yet: leave it safely protected by human flesh and lose yourself in the wonderful world of imagination. Which scenes unravel themselves in front of your eyes? Which part of history comes to life?
Allow myself to share my fantastic world with you…
“Quand il me prend dans ses bras, il me parle tout bas, je vois la vie en ro-ooooooose..” (Can you hear it? Edith’s vocal cords giving the best of themselves only for you) It’s the tune of my imagination. To the signature sound of one of the greatest female voices of all times, a vintage movie displays itself in my head. Shaky images, sepia color card, cracking distribution and – SPLASH – Can you see her?! – if by miracle there she is! Yes, it’s that dazzling Vintage beauty! Her wasp waist moving to the beat of her heels (forefathers of the Louboutin…); her tight Dior suit hugging her modest female figure; hair tied up, hiding under a voluptuous hat; a long, elegant cigarette showing off in her right hand, secretly burning a hole in her long, white gloves. It’s the beauty of an era long gone, but symbol of elegance today.
Ok, so I’ve shared my imagination with you, I hope you will do the same!!!
Meanwhile I have come to the conclusion that this fantastic world of mine is quite the little snob. Thirties’ designer suits, high heels struggling on a bad street, big hats on a hot day, a cigarette addiction worth a paycheck the size of a Vintage car… My picture of the past doesn’t exactly represent “modesty”, but should it really?!
When we let our imagination run wild and think of how it used to be, the most extravagant scenes unroll in front of our eyes. We see elegant people excitingly waiting in front of the “Normandie”, eager and happily nervous to take their first long journey overseas; we see servants dragging designer suitcases of those high class “chosen ones” onto the ship; we see pictures of decadent soirées: men in suits smoking big cuban cigars, women in long dresses, all powdered and gloved-up considering and re-considering their every gesture, their every move; we see those same women walking on the deck of the ship the next day protected by their umbrellas, their whole entourage running behind them like ignorant little dogs following their master;… In all, we see the life of the “elite”.
The haute couture dresses we so admire, the designer hats, the delicate umbrellas, the made-to-measure suits,… They’re all part of an elite society that’s long gone, but remains coloring modern day imagination, making us daydream and fantasise. All the little details of back when are ingredients of a thought through recipe of everlasting elegance. Because “elegance” like it was defined decades ago has been stripped to the butt today. The definition has lost its capital letters, dots and commas and is as naked as a phrase can be.
The luster of the spider’s web
“Elegance”, That one simple word used to be comparable to a spider’s web. A world carefully built, spun with the greatest attention and dedication and looked at with admiration. The spider patiently waiting to catch its prey and slowly swallow it, making it sink deeper and deeper in a mysterious little world. The creator of the web was the designer, the tailor. Not a scary looking, eight legged insect, but a creative mind with great knowledge of the human anatomy and a personal outlook on society or what it should be. Dressing high class men and women, creating measure-made outfits with his own two hands (six less than a spider, but drawing, measuring and sowing with the same dedication). Of two kinds were the spider’s prey: those big, fat, wealthy insects abundantly nourished by the world around them and so full of themselves and their environment they forgot the existence of others. These insects were easy to catch. Their heavy body type made them more immobile, their ignorance and narcism made them blind for what happened around them. The second prey didn’t get caught in the web that easily, in fact the spider didn’t really like to chase it. It’s baby like size made it highly unattractive to the eager, eight legged king. So the small, insignificant insect started leading a life far away from the spider’s web, fearing the rein of the greedy king and the obese lifestyle of the fat insects. From way down the little one could only look up and admire the spider’s web with its great wonders.
The two kinds of insects embody society: obesed are the high class; small and insignificant are the ones at the bottom of the capitalistic pyramide.
Designers, next to creative minds, used to be directors of society. The ink drawn from their pen, the thread pinned in their needles, the delicate textiles flowing through their hands,… were the notes composing their song, or shall we say – to continue our little metaphore – the ingredients to the recipe of the spider’s web. When Poiret, Dior, Vionnet or other great masters of fashion sculptured their creativity, they were orchestring society, pushing it into a well chosen direction to compose a harmonic sound. The fat insects we talked about before were carefully driven into the spider’s web, ignorant to its existance, but caught in the sticky threads without realizing it. Moving to its beat in no time. Dressed from head to toe in the designer’s product; applying their makeup, literally layering themselves with the hand of the designer; changing all accessories when recommanded; following a strict elite-code. A delicate wave of the hand, a feminine swirl with the umbrella was nothing innocent, every move contained a story, every glance opened a new world. And far away from the web the insignifant were watching, fearful and admiring at the same time. To the underfed – underpayed – the spider’s web was forbidden territory. 
The poor were left to watch the luxurious shop windows from afar, to dream of pink powder boxes and tailored suits for the rest of their miserable little lives.
The Vintage concept we admire today holds a certain fascination. It leaves our hearts filled with wealthy images of a luxurious past. Its splendor only enriches our imagination and we end up producing a slightly off-beat story of the past, getting caught up once again in that old spider web.
Reminiscing what once was, is not a bad thing, but it only comes to show history can be read, told and then shared for generations, abruptly changing the way of things in the process. When we wrap ourselves in “Vintage” today, when we think back, we tend to paint our memory a little brighter and ignore its dark side. We see only the luxurious as a recollection of more wealthy, healthy times while, seen from a more realistic light of day, things, in all haven’t changed that much.
Very well said. 🙂
Good article and right to the point. I don’t know if this is in fact the best place to ask but do you folks have any ideea where to employ some professional writers? Thank you 🙂