Yet again Gaultier brings his Autumn/Winter Couture collection to us with the usual flamboyant fun that is his unique take on clothes. Beehived attitude, tailored sharp cuts and lairy 60's prints were seen on the catwalk in Autumn, reminiscent hair of the Supremes, Bardot and our own Winehouse, who gave big hair a whole new bench mark, this collection really shows how eccentricity, clashing peices and gaudy patterns can actually go so well together. I regularly delight in mixing stripes, animal print, houndstooth and spots, they shouldn't go together but 9 times out of 10, assembled with OTT hair and exaggerated 60's eye make-up, you can pull it off.
Most of us can't afford to be driven by our chauffeur to our local Harrods to let Jean Paul create our style with his many mannequins sporting these looks, so what do we do? The Highstreet doesn't always work, how many of us have bought an outfit only to discover later that we must have been temporarily blinded by the lights in the shop to even think the items would look good together...I have and I've done it more than once, but the beauty of these panic buying mistakes is, you will probably pick something up in a Charity or Vintage shop that will fit in with that 'mistake peice' to create a masterpeice of a one off outfit that nobody else has.
This is the trick, creating your own style with old and new peices, you'll find them at the bottom of your wardrope, in the charity bag in the garage your mum was meant to take to the shop 6 months ago, the loft, Junk shops, Charity shops, Car boot sales, Vintage fairs, clothes swap parties, the list is endless. As a buyer, wearer and seller of one of Vintage peices, I find it incredibly frustrating after discovering a new shop somewhere in the country, making the effort to travel there, crossing 25 miles whilst fantasising of all the amzing clothes, that when I actually get there, the shop is full of 50 pairs of levi's that have been cut at the thigh to make DIY (pffft!) shorts, 50 lumberjack shirts, 50 size 20 dresses that rememble tents and don't forget the 50 pairs of 80's shoes only stocked in a size 3. I don't know how many others out there get this but it's happened time and time again and rarely do I ever actually buy anything in these shops.
However, on the rare odd occassion you do find something you like, there will normally be something attached to the item that you won't like, or there'll be a stain on it, or it just won't be cut to your shape.....but you like the collar right? Now here's the advantage of buying reconstrucion Vintage, it's the same as Gaultiers effortless collection and the same as buying off the shelf on the High Street, all the hard work's done for you. But does it look any better? Well there's the debate, you cannot confidently say that you will turn up at a party and somebody else won't be wearing your 'quirky' Topshop number, but if you buy that dodgy 70's shirt you spotted in the Brick Lane shop, find a clashing v-neck jumper/cardigan to show off the collar (you love), dig out that navy pencil skirt from Oxfam and team the lot with the 4inch thick waist cinching belt you bought at the seaside and you have yourself an outfit that nobody else is going to be wearing.
The current trend is mixing these styles, we've seen it with Vivienne Westwood and Christian Dior this Autumn/Winter too.
Does the Catwalk take from the street or vise versa. I don't suppose we will ever know, there are strong arguments on both sides, but what we can say is, to achieve a unique, interesting look, mix new and old and don't dismiss something that doesn't immediatly agree with how you initially think it should look.
You don't have to blow £200 on a dress that looks oh so 20's/50's/80's, whatever you're into, you can stay current, richer and probably come out looking more stylish, by looking in less obvious areas and having more fun creating something new.
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