The Difference Between Art and Imitation in Fashion as Presented by the House of Christian Dior

Alright so straight up I might say some bold things right now so agree with me or don't agree with me, whatever. I recently had the pleasure of viewing the latest Christian Dior Haute Couture collection by Bill

Gaytten. For those of you who are unaware of the current situation at the House of Dior.... a few months ago there was a disastrous occurance involving the House's Creative Director and most valuable creative asset to the company - the now infamous John Galliano. Everyone remembers his horrible racist rant which effectively ended his career and caused irreparable humiliation for the Galliano and the House of Dior alike. His rather public dismissal from his position with the company was devastating mainly because of the undeniable and highly enviable talent of John Galliano as a fashion designer. He has since been involved in countless trials and hassels as a result of his blatantly despicable behavior, and his position at the House of Dior has of course,

been filled.

Bill Gaytten, the newly appointed Creative Director worked under the master himself for

more than a decade prior to the incidents which occurred this past February. He was one of his

most intimate confidants and facilitators and he understood the way that Galliano worked better than anyone else. He was

the clear choice for the position. Think back to when Leigh McQueen died in 2010 and he was replaced by his assistant, Sarah Burton, whose collection ended up being so staggeringly good that she was envied for her ability to continue the McQueen tradition with her own personal spin on it. Gaytten was I think meant to try and replicate this situation, but has unfortunately come

off much less than adequate in comparison to either Galliano or Sarah Burton herself.

Part of the reason I went into fashion design and became so enamored with the fashion industry was John Galliano. I can still identify key features in many of his most eye popping collections with Christian Dior as well as with his own self-titled label. I was such an enormously huge fan of his. Very few other designers have had the ability to actually make me cry while witnessing the absolute beauty he was able to accomplish with clothing. His dismissal from Diorand the whole scandall in general hit me pretty hard. Every collection Petey the Troll has ever done has been influenced by his techniques and contributions to the ongoing dialogue about fashion and glamour. The collection is presented in three parts. First we have the cocktail dresses and skirt-top combos, all presented with a clear attempt at high drama in the manner of John Galliano. The silhouettes were almost exactly the same as in some of the most recent Dior collections, featuring that famous "Dior Woman" look from the late 40s that John used so frequently. The patterned fabrics were just way too bold and over the top and the colour choices were frankly somewhat lack luster. The second section was horrifying. The models wearing theflowy full length chiffon dresses with the wild hair were just outrageous. Who said that was okay for them to look like that out on stage?? As they walk by they swoosh their arms about in a manner not uncommon to that of Morticia Addams or Lily Munster. Weird. The last bit with the ball gowns is where the real Couture comes out. I personally would have been much happier if the show consisted of nothing but these types of dresses and drop all the other garbage.

Not to say that most of these dresses aren't unnecessarily over the top. They come off more

as amateur art pieces than Christian Dior Couture gowns. The last one however, did have my

eye glued to the screen for the duration of her walk from thew beginning to the end of the runway. The choice of fabric and colour makes her look like an architectural masterpiece - perhaps the only win in the collection. Butttttt then the end comes and this suggestion is promptly ruined by the director's choice to have her standing at the back of the stage like a weird statue of liberty or something while the designers come out and wave their little hands. It

looked forced, it looked like they were trying to do something epic with something that just wasn't going to be epic.

He had the key elements. He had the drama and the high contrast and the variety of fabrics and the typical Galliano style show going on with the beginning, middle and end, but in my humble opinion Gaytten was lacking one main thing in his collection. Where is the beauty?? Where is the elegance and grace of the Dior woman?? The Dior woman is supposed to have class and be the most beautiful woman in the room wearing the most beautifully constructed and

created clothing. Gaytten missed the boat on that one I think.

Thanks that was my rant about Christian Dior. See you soon!!

Confessions of a Design School Drop-Out

“I don’t design clothes, I design dreams,” says Ralph Lauren, millionaire fashion business mogul and founder of the design label by the same name. Ralph Lauren started from nothing. He was the son of Jewish immigrants, growing up in the Bronx in New York and the only thing he knew he wanted to be when he grew up was a millionaire. In the 70s he enrolled in a local college for business with a specific interest in fashion design and after 2 years dropped out of school. As a result of his own lines, Ralph Lauren Polo and Club Monaco as well as his countless investments in a long list of other American labels, the man is now worth $8.5 billion.

I came to a decision after much thought

and consideration to leave design school, yesterday while I was sitting in class. The truth is, I lost interest in the program some time ago and have since been struggling to keep my attention on anything school related for any length of time. I knew it was time to leave. For months now my physical health, social obligations and overall creativity have

suffered in a seemingly irreparable way, which was something I could handle, if I felt that I truly needed the program or that it would benefit me to stay in it.

The straw that broke the camel’s back for me was when I realized how much I missed working on Petey the Troll. Meaghan and I had serious plans when we arrived in Toronto this past January – none of which have even begun to come to fruition. For me this is a problem that I can’t not fix.

So now I have a few directions I can take and things I can do in order to more directly achieve the goals I wanted to achieve 5 months ago. Over the next few months I’m going to be moving very quickly, releasing new info and items and photographs all the time.

My next project is a sea foam green prom dress for a lovely young girl by the name of Thyra. Tomorrow I’ll post a few pictures of the progression of a dress such as this (it’s chiffon!!) with

some comments on why I chose to use certain techniques or methods.

Oh ps. my fabulous friends and I are having a Mad Men costume party and I'm working on a few vintage dresses that i'm so friggen excited about I can't contain myself. There will be photos soon.

And o m g! We'll be getting an industrial sewing machine for our apartment really soon so production is about to go through the roof. You know what that means gurrrrls ;

Until next time, I’m Vanessa Petey, and I’m glad to be back.

The First Week In: Petey in the City

This week has been psycho, but here we are, still alive, and ready to pick up the pace to 200%. Things are starting to fall into place. Meaghan and I are now proud employees of two local Starbucks’, which is an excellent response to the problem of “How are we gonna pay for food this month?” and also the supplier of delicious, life sustaining coffee at every available opportunity. We’ve discovered the best ways to get to school and work by using the Toronto Transit Commission and the commute isn’t even that bad. Things are coming together alright.

Meaghan and I have fallen into a state of almost complete focus on how we can use every aspect of our lives t further the reputation, quality and success of our little company. We still don’t have the internet, so social life hasn’t really begun at this point... but we’re preparing to push ourselves as hard as we can to make the opportunities happen. One of the good side effects of this devotion for me has been my sudden desire to become as healthy as possible. I’m using the logic that the more healthy I am, the more energy I’ll have, the more hours I’ll get out of the day, the more money I’ll make. Time is money, time is money. Time is money.

Did I mention we’re in Design School now? It’s pretty amazing, actually. Aside from the fact that some of the first semester courses are a little on the basic side, and are thus quite boring, the professors are very impressive. Each professor we’ve encountered thus far has either worked in the fashion industry in the past or continues to be very involved in it today. Our entire class, on a whole is a little on the older side. Most of us have had previous degrees or careers and are starting over with this program. We’ve got only one dude in the class and he’s this absolutely hilarious guy from Taiwan who has like eight degrees and certifications and is just trying out fashion design for fun. We’ve also got a couple of older lady- moms who are by far the coolest people in the class. I’ve been really impressed thus far with those aspects of the Academy and I seriously look forward to what these very awesome profs have to offer with these courses.

Wanna know our courses? It’s neat, there’s Introduction to Fashion, taught by a former buyer in the industry, which focuses on the business side of the fashion world as opposed to just the creative. Another is Textiles, which i’m sure I’m one of few who finds it insanely interesting, and is taught by a woman who designed and sold clothes for her own small fashion house in Toronto and nationwide – super cool. Then there’s Clothing Construction 1, which has an amazing instructor, but is slightly below my level of ability with sewing and is therefore a bit of a yawn. Tomorrow we’re having Pattern Drafting 1 and Elements of Design, which I don’t really know what that means, but i’m sure I’ll catch on quick enough. We’re going supply shopping this weekend down on Queen West and I’m super excited.

I’m planning a trip to Windsor for the weekend of the 22^nd, the last weekend before I start work, so if anyone wants some clothes while I’m there, let me know and I’ll do my best to help you out!

Otherwise, I’ll keep you posted on our Design School adventures and what’s happening in the Toronto fashion industry over the next few wintery months of the season.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Hello Toronto!!

To all Petey blog readers!!

Here we are in Toronto!!!

This has been a dream come true for me in the literal sense. Ever since I started university I’ve been looking at apartments, making plans and dreeeeeaming of the day when I could really do it. Finally, with Meaghan and I’s decision to go to Design School, it gave us the opportunity we needed to get out of Windsor (as much as I love and will miss it) and get onto bigger and better things. We’ve been here only one day thus far, but already the improvement in positive energy and motivation is proving that has indeed been all worth it.

The closest subway station to us is St. Clair West, a lovely little location on the edge of middle town, with an ice cream store on the corner and an occult shop across the street. We’re five minutes on foot from groceries, banks and transit, and I’m currently sitting in a Starbucks about two seconds from our apartment. (By the way, a chick just walked in with a totally fab gray pull over coat with epaulettes and a big floppy collar – awesome.)

I spent a summer here two years ago doing some freelance stylist work and got to know the city really well. It was summer so I walked everywhere and my lodging was right on the corner of Queen West and Bathurst, which if you know anything about Toronto, is pretty much the busiest, most insane part of the city, with the exception of Dundas Square...which is just a zoo. I grew to love it quickly though, seeing very clearly that this was a place where I could be successful and happy living in the fast paced, high energy environment Toronto is known for.

We’re taking this week off to get out apartment together and get prepared to begin school and work. But starting January 6^th, 2011, we’ll be taking orders, doing alterations and getting back to it. Contact vanessapetey@gmail.com for any information you might need about Petey the Troll Apparel’s goings on in this great city, Toronto, Ontario.

Until then!

Petey Couture Preview 2011 - Some Comments

The time has come!!

Last night, we at Petey the Troll Apparel released our preview photographs from the shoot we did last week at the infamous abandoned Michigan Central Station across the creek in Detroit. Justin, one of our WetFresco photographers delivered them in the early hours of the morning and I posted them immediately. I can’t speak for the rest of the team, but I can safely say that this was the most memorable and most successful photo shoot ever. I knoooow I say that every time we post new pictures, but it’s true!! So last time I posted, I told you about the location, the calamities and debacles that we faced with entering the abandoned, barbed-wire-fence-surrounded structure, not to mention the cold and the fact that we almost caused an international incident.... this time, I’ll talk about something massively more important: the clothes.

This time around when we started thinking of Petey Couture, all I could think of was BIG. We created the sub-label for just this purpose: to create clothing as art, or Couture, if you will. It was basically so we could use outrageous fabrics and do off the wall stuff without it interfering with the marketing for our Ready to Wear line, Petey the Troll Apparel (Did I mention our Going Away Sale at Phog is next Thursday night?? - Shameless plug!!!!!)

Ahem.

I can’t speak for Meg, obviously, since I don’t really see her clothes before the model puts them on ever, but for myself, I started making sketches of large skirted gowns made of unorthodox materials to find the most over the top designs possible.

I always try to incorporate as many art forms as possible into my projects in an effort to create a complete picture for the viewer, supported by the surroundings. This project, for me, was about using other art forms that I am interested in to create clothing. The first example is obviously the colourful Art School Gown worn by Ivana Jezdic, a beautiful model and friend we’ve been using in shows and photographs for years. The base of this dress is utility canvas, the kind used for stretching across frames. I lined it with cotton, to make it a little softer for the wearer, and then coated the entire thing in white gesso. On top of the gesso is three more layers of paint, both oil and spray. This dress represents to me the transition I’ve taken since I started University and went to art school with the intention of being a painter to where I am now, preparing for my debut at fashion design college in Toronto.

Once the dress was made, before I added any details, Meaghan and I thought we should discuss the direction of the collection, for the sake of our application to Toronto Alternative Fashion Week. The main themes we both had in common were darkness, a sense of propriety reminiscent of the Victorian Gothic period, and an interest in over the top detailing.

What really made the idea come to life for me was our addition of the umbrellas into the line for the first time. As a side note, it has been on my mind to start creating umbrellas for over a year now and it’s finally coming to fruition. These umbrellas are insane, wait til you see them. So when you add umbrellas, black lace, formal wear and an overriding theme of darkness, the most obvious conclusion to come to is the darkest of them all: the dichotomy of life and death.

Meaghan’s counterpart to my Oil Paint dress was an androgynous, formal nod to the tuxedo, complete with frilly 70s tuxedo shirt. The outfit is simple, which is perfect, because the dress is so out there that we needed something to balance it. The best part about this outfit is the back of the jacket. She’s beaded together a skull, to make a broach. It’s a really wicked piece. Like I said, I never see her clothes before the photographers do, so I have no clue what else is coming for her, but I’m gonna leave mine at that for now anyways and say thanks for reading again and stay tuned for all kinds of Petey stuff happening over the next few weeks.

Until then!

Petey Couture Photoshoot in Detroit City - The Adventure

Hi Petey followers!!
Today I'd like to use this blog post to talk about the adventure that was the preliminary Petey Couture 2011 photo shoot this afternoon, December 14, 2010. As I mentioned in my last post, this shoot was for our application to Toronto Alternative Fashion Week showing this April 2011. We had one photographer - Justin Bondy of Wet Fresco Photography, two models wearing two couture outfits and two designers preparing for a shoot of epic proportions...at least for Petey the Troll. The five of us piled into the car with our double doubles and our high confidence and we headed off toward the Ambassador Bridge - one way to Detroit City.

Michigan Central Station is a Beaux-Arts era structure built in 1913 by the architectural duos Warren and Wetmore and Reed and Stem, the architects behind New York Grand Central Station and a variety of other similar train stations across the United States. It was built at a time of prosperity in Detroit, when Henry Ford's new "assembly line" style of making cars became all the rage, and every average joe could get a well paying job in a factory. With so much money flying around, the people of Detroit built the Michigan Central Station to be among the most grandiose, most luxurious buildings in America. Of course, in 1913 the prolonged dominance of the vehicle in Detroit had not occurred to the designers, who assumed the majority of passengers would be arriving by streetcar or some other form of public transit. Thus, when the state built the massive freeways across Detroit City and made it impossible to live there without a car, the use of the old train station became unclear. As the majority of the population moved to the suburbs, leaving their formerly beautiful city to ruin, the station went with it. In 1988 the last train left the station and they closed their doors, abandoning the building to the elements, scrap collectors and homeless of the area.

I can't stress enough the beauty of this building we saw today, even in the state in which it currently exists. The oversized arched front windows are all broken, and there are bits of the ceiling all over the floor, but generally, the place is not in the worst possible shape. I mean... it's no Grande Palais, but it isn't caving in or anything. The graffiti covers every available surface in a free floating dialogue in which some of the most reputable taggers are involved. Aside from the graffiti, there is evidence of human life throughout; empty pop bottles, cigarette butts and footprints are scattered about the floor of the main room. We got in with no problem under the fence and through one of the broken windows. The shrill cold seemed even more bitter in the shade of the hollow shell we were standing in and Meaghan and I worked hard to keep the models from freezing their fingers and toes off for some of the shots. For the duration of the time we were in the building - not more then 30 minutes - we saw no one else inside. No homeless, no other explorers, no one to bother us or even say a word. And it was fine. :)

It was upon exiting the building that we came to realize that it wouldn't be that easy after all. I hopped out the window and spotted a truck watching us on the other side of the fence demanding that we come to him, lest we be arrested. It was a Border Patrol officer and he was not in a good mood. He unlocked the gate of the barbed wire fence and we huddled out like teenagers caught smoking a j on school property. He lectured us for a while about all of the horrible things that *could* have happened while we were in there etc etc... then he got on the phone. Before we knew it, there were SEVEN Border Patrol vehicles surrounding us: five little artists from Canada-land - aka NOT the United States.
"Is this going to be an international incident??" I thought on the inside, while trying to keep my cool on the outside to avoid panic.
Of course, after scaring the hell out of us and causing frost to actually form on body parts of ours from standing out in the freezing cold so long, they let us go without so much as a slap on the wrist. The dude was even flirting with one of the models at the end for Christ's sake. Ridiculous.
So we warmed up, drove home and breathed a sigh of relief upon entering our lovely Windsor, where there are a lot fewer abandoned historic structures, a lot less of a chance you'll be hasseled by a gaggle of international border guards for taking some beautiful pictures.

Peace!

Hometown Ruins: Fashion Photography and Exploration in Detroit City

It’s been a little bit since I last blogged and the reason is simple. I’m in the process of packing up my life for the eighth time since I left my mom’s house in preparation for Petey the Troll Apparel’s relocation to the great city of Toronto. Additionally, we’re currently working on our application for Alternative Fashion Week in TO this year and it has proved to be a mammoth project. The setting for the photoshoot for the two outfits we’re planning on submitting is none other than Detroit city, Windsor’s pathetic, unemployed older cousin. So this post is going to be about my research on that fantastic town of ruins and how we plan to use abandoned structures in a dichotomy with couture fashion to represent the overall intended artistic impact of this year’s collection.

I first really became fascinated with Detroit when I took an architecture class in my third year of University. I was privileged enough to have Dr. Veronica Mogyorody as a professor in this class and have been addicted to modernist architecture ever since. The seed had been planted so when I was introduced to Detroit from an art historical perspective by Dr. Michael Farrell when I was finishing up my degree, I became obsessed. I also spent a lot of time working on Detroit research when I completed a final project for a History Workshop on the 1967 Race Riots. The decline and fall of this once magnificent city captivated me, and I’ve been in love ever since.

There's this really unbelievable documentary me and Meaghan watched after a trip to Detroit last week called Requiem for Detroit. We were across the creek earlier that day for fabric shopping, gallery visiting and of course, urban exploration. We were mapping out the locations for our next Couture photoshoot, and paid a visit to the old Michigan Central Station.

I cannot express to you how overwhelming it is to be around these abandoned architectural masterpieces in Detroit. Every empty building tells its own sad story about the fall of the great city that was once the 4th biggest in the United States. What attracted us to using these buildings for our photoshoot was the duality of the beauty and devastation that every inch of Detroit eminates. The Michigan Central Station, for example, was at one time one of the most glorious beaux-arts structures north of New York. It was built with the intention of being way over the top in tersm of elegance, luxury and style. It was meant to be the place where people first arrived in Detroit - the golden gate before entering the sparkling city. Did you know that once, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the automobile, the Detroiters thought it would be quite fitting (and quite humble... I must say) to paint the downtown section of Woodward avenue GOLD. Can you imagine painting Woodward avenue gold today? I thought it would be a fantastic art piece for someone to execute. If I have loads of cash one day (as all artists do, I'm sure,) maybe I'll do it... just for the remarkable sense of irony.

As soon as we returned from Michigan central Station that day I started looking up more of the classic abandoned buildings in the downtown core. One was the Book Tower. I've looked at the building from afar many times and never quite knew what to think. It reminded me of something out of Gotham City. It's one of the Italian Renaissance inspired buildings that was added to the city when they were still wealthy. The Book Brothers, in the early 1920s saw that the car industry was booming in this town and it looked like it could only get better from there. They built buildings along Washington Blvd in Detroit including this one which stood with to the old Book-Cadillac Hotel.

Our collection is about endings and new beginnings. Themes of darkness and death are the base, with ovetones of hope for renaissance and a brighter future. If a city like Detroit, with it's fascinating and tragic story is not perfect as a backdrop for this collection, I really can't think of what would be better.

We're going tomorrow to shoot the promo photos, so look for them within a week's time at http://peteythetrollapparel.com!!

Thanks for reading! Salut!