I grew up during the birth of supermodels. I adored them all - Cindy, Christy, Helena, Kate, Lindy, Amber, Yasmin, Naomi. Over the last year it seems to be a bigger renaissance than ever of the 'original girls', with Eva Herzagova, Helena Christensen, Cindy Crawford, Yasmin le Bon and Naomi Campbell (above) all appearing in Duran Duran's Girl Panic video (check it out here - fabulous!) and Kate Moss continuing to appear in countless campaigns and editorials. Looking at these shots from 2010 and 2011, it shows that these 40+ sirens are still giving the latest ingenues a run for their money!
Naomi, Kirsten and Karen show Daphne how it's done for Roberto Cavalli
Ever since I tied lace bows in my hair Madonna-style as a kid in the 80's, I've loved lace. Love these pics of Anna Della Russo, Editor at large and creative consultant for Vogue Japan, in her Dolce & Gabbana beautiful lace sheath dress.
Lace seems to come around every few years and has been hot in 2010 and 2011. I love that lace can go from ladylike, preppy or Royal Wedding-prim to dark, gothic and cool. I summise that the trend may have been given a nudge along by the fabulous show Downton Abbey set in England in 1912 - all Edwardian lace, tightly bound corsets and rows of pearl buttons.
Lady Mary in lace and jet choker
Lady Mary's choker also seen on Monica Bellucci in a 2001 horror
Miss Havisham in Great Expectations has long been a favourite character and fashion inspiration of mine. She is a tragic, wealthy woman who was left at the alter. She rattles around her dilapidated mansion Statis House still wearing her faded Victorian style lace wedding dress, in mourning of her predicament. She is surrounded by the crumbling decays of the long forgotten wedding cake & banquet, cobwebs sweeping from decrepit, dust-riddled chandeliers and candelabras. It's all fabulously tormented and gothic!
I recently watched the fantastic 1998 version with Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow - beautiful. Gwyneth is the perfect icy cool Estella, Francisco Clements artwork features but Anne Bancroft's crazy-as-a-cut-snake Miss Havisham character Ms Dinsmoor is gold! For her Fall 2011 line, Georgina Chapman from Marchesa channels Miss Havisham with distressed wedding dresses and frothy lace affairs: “I love the decaying opulence,” Chapman said. “We just thought, its so Marchesa." "Yes, Miss Havisham regrets to inform you she has inspired another designer. It was evident from the raw hems of their gowns, the corsetry and the numerous deflated veils, that Ms. Chapman and Ms. Craig had that character in mind. Some of the fabrics were shown with zigzag edges shorn by a pair of fabric scissors. Ignoring the theme, these were actually quite imaginative designs, intriguing because they are so unlike the examples of stiff, origami-like constructions that are Marchesa signatures".From the New York Times:
Marchesa Fall 2011
I am obsessed with this gorgeous lace dress from Aussie label Lover. Lara Bingle models it for Aussie Grazia magazine, and Harper's Bazaar Christine Centenera also wears it below.
Marc Jacobs and Dolce & Gabbana lace dresses in US Vogue Katie Holmes for Vogue Spain
Madonna had long been a devotee of Dolce & Gabbana and she looks fabulous in lace in this shoot for Fall 2010. Photographed by Steven Klein, the shoot was inspired by Italian Neorealist cinema and featured Madonna as a sultry Fellini style Italian housewife in the tradition of Anita Eckberg's platinum femme fatale.
Madonna in Dolce & Gabbana with Lourdes, 2011
Pearl Lowe's label designs some beautiful lace dresses. Pearl uses antique lace, sourced from vintage outlets and custom dyed. She is inspired by "Things like antique markets and shops, vintage fairs, old fashioned movies, things from the past. Daisy is my muse, because she is what I would love to look like in my clothes.Sadly, I can't always wear the things I create."
Daisy in Mum Pearl Lowe's designs for Peacocks Daisy in Pearl Lowe creation In Elie Saab With Kelly Brook, in Marchesa
Emily Blunt's editorial for ELLE UK September last year is a stunner, particularly the Valentino cover.
Emily Blunt in ELLE UK, 2010
More celebs in lace...
Marion Cotillard in Dolce & Gabbana, Vogue US 2011 Brit Brit for Blumarine, Fall 2011
Antonio Berardi's campaign with Blake Lively, and his lace confection Kate in lace mini-dress
Sienna in Ralph Lauren, June 2011
It girl Olivia Palermo loves her lace, and shakes it up in anything from lace stocking or a tee, to full lace Valentino dress. Loving her looks:
In Valentino mini In lace dress by Preen Olivia in MNG campaignReese loves her lace too, both Marchesa
Emma Stone in Bottega Veneta, June 2011 Emma Watson says goodbye to Hermione and brings a sexy back in Rafael Lopez
Gaga is often seen rocking the lace. It certainly helps her penchant for see-through attire. Here she is in black in Dolce & Gabbana, and McQueen.
