Hats in the Royal Wedding, part II

..... continues with London milliner Philip Treacy whose hats were made for an A-list of guests.

29^th of April 2011

For the Royal Wedding today Philip Treacy has designed hats for:

HRH Duchess of Cornwall

HRH Princess Beatrice of York (Ensemble by Valentino Couture, gloves by Cornelia James)

HRH Princess Eugenie of York (ensemble by Vivienne Westwood)

Mrs. Victoria Beckham

Mr. David Beckham

Ms. Tara Palmer Tomkinson (ensemble by Deborah Milner, shoes by Nicholas Kirkwood)

HRH Princess Michael of Kent

Ms. Zara Phillips (ensemble by Paul Costelloe)

Lady Gabriella Windsor

The Dowager Duchess of Devonshire

HRH Queen Anna-Marie of Greece

HRH Princess Marie Chantal of Greece

HRH Princess Mathilde of Belgium

Ambassador Angelopoulos

Ms. Kitty Spencer

The Duchess of Westminster (ensemble by Bruce Oldfield)

Ms. Isabella Calthorpe

Lady Frederick Windsor

Mrs. Galen Weston

Ms. Otavia Kent (gloves by Cornelia James)

Ms. Eliza Spencer

Ms. Emilia Spencer

Ms. Laura Parker Bowles

Ms. Anneke Taylor

Ms. Karen Gordon

Ms.Laura Bechtolscheimer (ensemble by Bruce Oldfield)

Ms. Georgia Coleridge

Ms. Arabella Musgrave

The Marquess of  Cholmondeley (gloves by Cornelia James)

Ms. Mima Lopez

Ms. Julia Ogilvy

Ms. Alfiya Kuanysheva

Ms. Calli Palmer

Ms. Katie Robyns (ensemble by Bruce Oldfield)

Ms. Rosie Wild

Ms. Alison Murray Wells

 A look at Philip Treacy's recent creations

Courtesy Philip Treacy

Hats in the Royal Wedding

Jess Collett is a milliner in London, who is probably making headlines this week for the wedding hat that she is not creating - that of Carole Middleton who changed her wedding outfit at the last minute, making a co-ordinating hat unnecessary.

The young talented designer is making hats for quite a few of the other guests however. She is in a unique position, being privileged to what the guests will be wearing. The invitation forbids decorations; such as flowers or feathers, since the hats will be worn in church. Consequently most of the pieces Jess Collett will be making are bigger hats.

Although, we don't have any images of the hats that Jess is creating for the big event, below are some images of her recent creations, in collaboration with Ercole Moroni, a florist / designer. These fabulous pieces are made of wood, perspex, and silk flowers.

Courtesy Jess Collett
This post is also featured on The Huffington Post

Paris: Life & Luxury, a vision of elite 18th-century Parisian lifestyle

Opening on April 26th at the J. Paul Getty Museum, the exhibition Paris: Life & Luxury re-imagines, through art and material culture, the complex and nuanced lifestyle of elite 18th-century Parisians who made their city the fashionable and cultural epicenter of Europe.

Evoking the elegant, prosperous world of Rococo Paris, this major exhibition brings to life daily activities that took place inside a Parisian townhouse. Through constellations of art and related artifacts, the exhibition follows the conventional activities in the cycle of a Parisian day, such as dressing, writing, collecting, eating, and evening entertainment. Featuring approximately 160 objects, half of which will be on loan from various museums and private collections around the world, the exhibition will include a wide range of paintings, sculpture, furniture, musical instruments, clocks and books.

Here are some of the most exquisite pieces from the exhibition Paris: Life & Luxury

Francois Boucher, The Milliner, 1746

@Erik Cornelius - Hans Thorwid

Francois-Hubert Drouais, Portrait of the Marquise d'Aguirandes, 1759

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio

Jean-Francois de Troy, Before the Ball, 1735

The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Jean-Baptiste Oudry, Still Life with a Rifle, Hare, and Bird ("Fire"), 1720

@Erik Cornelius - Hans Thorwid

Francois Boucher, Lady Fastening Her Garter, also known as La Toilette, 1742

@Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

Nicolas Lancret, Four Times of the Day: Afternoon, 1739-1741

@The National Gallery, London

Hangings for a Bad (lit a la duchesse), about 1690-1715

The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Jean-Francois Oeben, Mechanical Reading Writing, and Toilette Table, about 1750

The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Jean Romilly, Clock on Bracket ( cartel sur une console), about 1758

The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Courtesy the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Paris: Life and Luxury, April 26 - August 7, 2011


This post is also featured on the Huffington Post

Paper-Cut-Project: Artsy Wigs a la " Frank Gehry "

Another exquisite series of paper wigs from the artist duo Amy Flurry and Nikki Salk. They take paper and turn it into art pieces. Their most recent project is a micro-collection for Cartier, inspired by Frank Gehry architecture.

In the Spring of 2010, Amy Flurry and Nikki Salk were commissioned by Hermes for an exclusive Collection of 30 masks. Here are pieces from the collection.

Bear

Horse

Owl

Lion

Ram

Cockatiel

Courtesy Paper-Cut-Project

Atelier Swarovski by Mary Katrantzou

Inspired by perfume bottles, artisan brown glass and eighteenth century society paintings, British designer Mary Katrantzou's fashion collections revolve around icons of luxury. Her Atelier Swarovski accessories for A/W 2011 complement her imaginative design aesthetic with a collection of exquisite jewelry pieces.

Necklaces and pendants feature iconic talisman shapes made with crystal mesh, scattered with pendants and strung on luxurious cord fastenings. Earrings, rings and bangles are crowned with chromatic clusters of crystal beads, from fuchsia to emerald, amethyst and sapphire interspersed with silver shade and aurora borealis pendants.

Fashion designer Mary Katrantzou have incorporated the Swarovski crystals into some of her A/W 2011 collection pieces.

" It's great to be able to work with Swarovski. It allows me to add depth and a sense of luxury to the collection. There are unlimited ways to apply the Swarovski Elements. It's fantastic to have all that at our disposal."

Courtesy Atelier Swarovski

Mary Katrantzou

Dog Days, Silly Dogs by Gandee Vasan

Being a dog lover, I can't resist blogging on the four legged creatures when I came across these striking images from award winning photographer and artist Gandee Vasan.

Gandee combines fine art background with photographic and cutting edge digital manipulation skills, specializing in expressive animal photography. Originally a talented painter, he uses his artist's eye to "paint in" the most subtle nuances of the animal's expression in post production, lifting a good image into something really impactful. Gandee Vasan has received numerous awards such as The Royal Society of Portrait Painters Prize, AOP awards and more.

Gandee has also published several books on dogs and cats. His work has been exhibited at the National portrait Gallery in London and the Association of photographers gallery and his limited edition prints are in private collections and galleries.

Gandee Vasan lives and works in London.

The best mirror is a true friend

Courtesy Gandee Vasan