A Year of Pretty - December 28, 2014

We are almost at the end of another year. Which means I am almost at the end of my A Year of Pretty for 2014. I think after 2014 is through, I am going to go back to posting under some of the headings I have used in the past - "Delicate and Pretty", "A Little Bit of Lovely", "Shoes and More Shoes".

While it has been fun to bring a daily dose of something pretty, it has also been a bit of a time grabber. Not so much in the actual posting each day, but in the researching and finding background information, chasing broken links down a dark rabbit hole to try and credit original sources; and of course.....hours spent scrolling through Pinterest and other such sites.

(For those that want to admire a whole bunch of Pretty at one time, I invite you to a collection called "oh. .  pretty!" that I have curated, both for your enjoyment and my inspiration).

There has not been any snow so far this December in Vancouver. Well, up on the mountains, yes. But not in the city itself. So for today's Pretty Post I thought I would bring the snow to you by way of this STUNNINGLY GORGEOUS suit ensemble from the Chanel Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2014 / 2015 collection. I have watched (a number of times) the videos on how these pieces are hand crafted and painstakingly put together. Utterly amazing.

It would take me years...YEARS ! to complete a garment such as this. So I can understand the astronomical price tag that this jacket and pants would go for. If I had to hazard a guess, I would put this at being no less than $35,000.00. Yes, thirty five thousand dollars.

Okay, so back to the garment itself. The detailing is smart. The play between the expanse of white in the jacket and the cording effect of the beading is beautiful. The beading not only acts as a decorative detail, but serves to contour the lines of the body. Essentially, it is a tuxedo jacket with a mandarin collar that morphs into a long tunic. I'm noticing now that in one of the pictures (above), it is worn with leggings, in another (right) the model's leg is visible. In a show, these two looks would be presented one after the other. Which means the jacket combo was made twice?


No, but wait! It's a tuxedo jacket with biker shorts! Now that I have watched the video of the fashion show again, the model is clearly wearing a tuxedo-jacket-cum-tunic over a pair of long biker shorts. Only Chanel could make biker shorts this glamourous. Here is a screen shot from the youtube video (left).

But my train has left the tracks. Back to this Winter Wonderland look. The beading reminds me of Christmas tinsel and holly berries, with all the twiggy bits poking up out of the snow.

So while beaded biker shorts may not be your kind of thing (and honestly, for me I would do without them and wear plain leggings, either in the same warm winter white or in red to match the red "berries" with a cable knit pattern and red patent leather stilettos), this tunic would definitely be a show stopper at any company Christmas party or New Year's Eve gathering. But heaven forbid Carl the Clumsy from Accounting doesn't bump into you with his glass of red wine, or your Uncle Leon drop his plate of Swedish meatballs on your lap as he leans over to kiss you hello.

If you are interested in watching the whole production, the youtube video is here: