Elsa Schiaparelli
Page 36
29 waistline would disappear: LAV, p. 259.
30 absolutely stunning: BLUM, pp. 256–57.
31 “reasserted her mastery”: Newsweek, September 26, 1949.
32 “There was constant”: Alistair Horne, Seven Ages of Paris, pp. 380–81.
33 “[A] winter collection”: SH, p. 179.
34 one of the most highly paid: Marisa Berenson, A Life in Pictures, no pagination.
35 they never reached Greece: SH, pp. 169–76.
36 in the autumn of 1950: They travelled on Transcontinental and Western Air, September 23, 1950.
37 he would work without stopping: BAL, pp. 260–61.
38 “You will bankrupt me”: interview with Hubert de Givenchy, October 25, 2011.
39 “the most radiant humor”: BET, July 22, 1953.
40 “a Greek god”: Café Society, p. 143.
41 He is buried: In Memoriam, New York Social Diary, January 7, 2003.
42 a lonely figure: interview, October 25, 2011.
CHAPTER 13 • A BIRD IN THE CAGE
1 They could assemble: BET, November 2, 1952.
2 “How is it that you allow”: SH, pp. 94–95.
3 crossed ideas: BAL, p. 69.
4 “protected by an armour”: BAL, p. 71.
5 “a little bit gruff”: interview with author.
6 “Schiaparelli wasn’t a cozy person”: interview with author.
7 “strange animals”: SH, p. 195.
8 “an infernal din”: BET archive.
9 “Brazilian dwarfs”: BET archive.
10 his fête de fêtes: on September 15, 1951.
11 licensing agreements: BLUM, p. 254.
12 “Life has changed”: Ibid.
13 “painters and writers”: New York Times, February 22, 2013.
14 “I do not believe”: Star, London, May 6, 1953.
15 “Alas I am not”: Ibid.
16 “I saw or I sensed”: SH, p. 202.
17 “the feeling of”: SH, p. 203.
18 “Life as I knew it”: SH, Ibid.
19 “he has forgotten”: SH, p. 205.
20 “Elsa came to dinner”: BET archive, March 21, 1954.
21 “smarter than anything”: BET archive, May 15, 1954.
22 “like a line”: SH, p. 174.
23 It was very hot: interviews with author.
24 “After buying”: SH, p. 175.
25 “Elsa is being brave”: BET, July 2, 1954.
26 “Inside the cage”: SH, p. x.
27 “In spite of success”: Ibid.
28 “I sort of conjure up”: interview with author.
29 “black woollen stockings”: BET archive.
30 “Everyone in Paris has gone mad”: extracts from a letter by Bettina Bergery to Vicomte Charles de Noailles, February 8, 1947, BET archive.
31 “Elsa of course”: BET archive, December 13, 1962.
32 “I really don’t have”: New York Times, April 19, 1973.
33 feeling betrayed: Marisa Berenson, Au-delà du miroir, p. 51.
34 invited her to live: Marisa Berenson, Moments intimes, p. 211.
35 Berenson was president: HB, August 1993.
36 defraud the government: Drew Pearson, Nevada State Journal, 1952; Associated Press, Independent Record, Helena, Montana, February 8, 1954.
37 He was crying: Au-delà du miroir, pp. 57–58.
38 “Well of course you never know”: BET archive, December 13, 1962.
39 her usual trips: BET archive, June 11, 1962.
40 her annual visit: interview with Rena Lustberg.
41 “The dream of being”: SH, pp. 225–28.
42 “He had a stiff”: BET archive, February 2, 1970.
43 “Stairs became”: Moments intimes, p. 216.
44 “I think that”: Ibid.
45 “I feel nothing”: BET archive, October 10, 1974.
46 watched him constantly: BET, December 2, 1973.
47 the Swiss guards: Mary Blume, interview with author.
48 tangerine and lemon trees: SH, p. 2.
49 a reflection of her times: New York Review of Books, May 23, 2013.
ILLUSTRATION CREDITS
© Associated Press: 10.6, 11.3, 13.1
Author’s collection: 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 4.1, 4.2, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.6, 96–97, 5.15, 5.16, 6.6, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 7.12, 8.1, 8.4, 8.6, 8.9, 8.11, 8.13, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4, 9.6, 10.5, 11.2, 12.2, 12.5
© Bettina Bergery Archives, Beinecke Library, Yale University: 5.10, 5.11, 5.12, 5.13, 5.14, 7.1, 8.5, 8.8
© Getty Images: 7.2, 7.7
© Sir James Allan Horne: 7.6, 7.9
© ImageWorks: 5.1, 5.5, 5.8, 5.9, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5, 8.7, 8.10, 10.1, 10.2, 11.1, 12.4, 12.6, 13.2, 13.4
© Library of Congress: 8.14
© Martin Luther King Library, District of Columbia, Evening Star Collection: 10.3, 10.4, 12.1, 13.3
Metropolitan Opera Archives: 3.1
Philadelphia Museum of Art: 5.17, 8.3, 8.12
Public domain: 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 7.8
© Tatler: 7.10, 7.11
COLOR INSERTS
Author’s collection:
i1.1 Paris Vogue, 1934
i1.2 bottle of Shocking perfume
i1.3 sketch of rose and green organza gown
i1.4 magenta velvet evening jacket, 1939
i1.5a and i1.5b three perfume advertisements by Marcel Vertès
© Harper’s Bazaar:
i1.6 sketch of corduroy pant and wool jacket, 1937
i1.7 sketch of dress in apricot and gold, 1937
i1.8 sketch of dress of roses on a musical theme, 1937
© Metropolitan Museum of Art:
i1.9 detail of evening suit in the Zodiac collection, 1937–38
i1.10 black evening cape for Lady Mendl
i1.11 detail of pearl neckline for pale lavender gown
i1.12 insect necklace
i1.13 jacket from the Zodiac collection, 1938–39
Museum at FIT:
i1.14 purple wool and brown velvet ensemble, 1936–37
Parson’s New School for Design:
i1.15 green and black jacket
i1.16 two black and gold evening jackets embroidered by Lesage
i1.17 green doeskin gloves, 1939
Philadelphia Museum of Art:
i1.18 purple wool tunic, 1937
i1.19 red evening coat, 1935
i1.20 jacket decorated with sequins and gold palm trees, 1936
i1.21 black wool cape, 1936
i1.22 jacket by Cocteau
i1.23 evening coat by Cocteau
i1.24 lobster dress
i1.25 navy twill cape embroidered by Lesage
i1.26 sketch of Indian-inspired wrap, 1937
i1.27 harlequin coat, 1939
i1.28 white silk evening coat, 1939
i1.29 blue print evening gown with matching jacket
i1.30 dress and veil based on a Dalí painting
i1.31 high-button shoes, 1939–40
i1.32 black rayon crepe evening jacket and skirt, 1940
i1.33 two dresses inspired by the Gay Nineties
i1.34 “shocking pink” dinner suit, 1947
© V&A Images:
i1.35 Wallis Simpson in lobster dress
It is spring in Paris for Vogue, May 1934, and she wears a rose-colored suit by Schiaparelli with black and white accessories and a saucy black hat. (illustration credit i1.1)
A bottle of Shocking perfume, modeled after Mae West’s ample outlines, on view at Schiaparelli’s Place Vendôme headquarters (illustration credit i1.2)
A romantic evening, as imagined by Schiaparelli: a rose-and-green striped organza gown, worn with black net gloves and the neatest little pair of boots (illustration credit i1.3)
The magenta velvet evening jacket embroidered with metal threads and simulated jewels in hot pink that Gala Dalí wore to the opening of the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1939 (illustration credit i1.4)
Two examples of the droll and saucy w
it the French artist Marcel Vertès brought to the subject of Schiaparelli’s perfumes (illustration credit i1.5)
Actually designed in 1937, this could be worn today: wide, brown corduroy pants plus a short, green wool jacket enlivened with gold and copper embroidery and flecks of ruby. (illustration credit i1.6)
What the well-bred debutante wore in 1937: apricot and gold of woven lamé with a matching jacket. (illustration credit i1.7)
Roses on a musical theme, as imagined by Schiaparelli in 1937 (illustration credit i1.8)
Detail of an evening suit in Schiaparelli’s Zodiac collection of 1937–38, tiny mirrors set in gold-embroidered frames (illustration credit i1.9)
A Schiaparelli triumph: this black evening cape for Lady Mendl, the decorator Elsie de Wolfe, emblazoned with a design inspired by the Neptune Fountain at Versailles in gold sequins (illustration credit i1.10)
Lesage designed the neckline for the pale lavender gown that is worn under the evening coat, made from myriads of exquisitely tiny pearls (illustration credit i1.11)
Insects appeared everywhere in Schiaparelli’s Pagan collection, inset with gold detail and lots of luminous paint. (illustration credit i1.12)
Perhaps the most personal creation ever designed by Schiaparelli was this spectacular jacket of midnight-blue velvet, included in the Zodiac collection of 1938-39. Astrological symbols glittering with gold and silver are combined with intricate beaded trims, showers of sequins, planets in orbit, suns, and, on the left shoulder, Schiaparelli’s personal symbol, the Great Bear constellation. (illustration credit i1.13)
The unusual buttons and pockets of this purple wool and brown velvet ensemble, 1936–37, usher in Schiaparelli’s fascination with surrealism. (illustration credit i1.14)
Another example of Schiaparelli’s use of detail to transform a classical silhouette (illustration credit i1.15)
Two stunning evening jackets with characteristic embroidery by Lesage (illustration credit i1.16)
A pair of doeskin gloves sumptuously trimmed with gold kid, 1939 (illustration credit i1.17)
This purple wool tunic of 1937, worn with a long skirt, is an early example of the use of unusual buttons, lavish embroideries, and metallic fabrics that came to characterize Schiaparelli’s designs. (illustration credit i1.18)
This perfectly proportioned evening coat of dazzling red wool, created in 1935, is a testament to Schiaparelli’s increasing mastery of form and was one of her most popular designs. (illustration credit i1.19)
On a shopping trip to Paris in 1936, Marlene Dietrich bought a short black dress and this matching jacket decorated with sequins and golden palm trees. (illustration credit i1.20)
Schiaparelli’s emphasis on the shoulder, which is a constant theme in her designs for the 1930s, is exemplified by this black wool cape, meticulously embroidered with flowers of rose glass, branches, and leaves of gold plate, 1936. (illustration credit i1.21)
Cocteau’s masterpiece, a girl from a fairy tale, her hair in a golden cascade, clutching a pair of gloves worked in flat metal threads (illustration credit i1.22)
The enchanting evening coat of blue silk jersey (now somewhat faded) that Cocteau designed for Schiaparelli with a bouquet of roses in an urn that, on closer inspection, turns out to be trompe l’oeil profiles puckering up for a kiss. (illustration credit i1.23)
This white silk organdy evening gown, complete with lobster, Wallis Simpson included in her trousseau for her marriage to the Duke of Windsor in 1937. (illustration credit i1.24)
The talents of Lesage transform a full-length cape of navy twill into a ravishing example of the embroiderer’s art by means of red taffeta and intricate bands of gold and red plate, 1937. (illustration credit i1.25)
Schiaparelli liked this Indian-inspired wrap of striped red, black, and gold so well she wore it herself in 1937. (illustration credit i1.26)
The triumph of Schiaparelli’s Commedia dell’Arte collection of 1939, a harlequin coat of wool felt (illustration credit i1.27)
A white silk evening coat inspired by a trip to Tunisia, 1939, which Schiaparelli wore herself (illustration credit i1.28)
An example of Schiaparelli’s ingenuity, an evening gown with a cunningly designed matching jacket that could be worn on one shoulder, on both shoulders, or even as a headdress (illustration credit i1.29)
A dress and veil that took their theme from a Dalí painting about necrophilia received a surprisingly deft translation in this floating version of silk crepe and strips of purple, lavender, and black. (illustration credit i1.30)
Schiaparelli loved the high-button shoe, like this bootie of multicolored striped leather, and showed it with an evening dress in 1939–40. (illustration credit i1.31)
A black rayon crepe evening jacket and skirt for 1940, already equipped with the useful oversize pockets that Schiaparelli was to design for the war years (illustration credit i1.32)
A nostalgic prewar return to the Gay Nineties (illustration credit i1.33)
Schiaparelli’s “shocking pink” survived a world war, and in 1947 was figuring strongly in this dinner suit of black jet embroidery complete with a bustle. (illustration credit i1.34)
Wallis Simpson, as photographed by Cecil Beaton (illustration credit i1.35)
Another Vertès original approach to cosmetic sales, complete with flowers and bow (illustration credit i1.5b)