(See what we did there? Like the love child of ‘Got milk’ and ‘You’ve been tangoed’)
Laura Reynolds looks at the hype surrounding the collaboration.
Just a week to go until the man in red arrives...
Making lace
As mentioned last week, lace has historical significance for many cultures. My great grandmother was from Lefkara, a Cypriot Village famous for its lace. In 1953 The Queen was presented with a design for her coronation, complete with a crown in the centre. This illustrates the high quality workmanship and the high standard of lace products made in this area. Perhaps this was an introduction of lace into British culture that helped it to become more rooted than it had done before. A large commissioned piece of work could take an experienced lace lady 18 months to complete - does that give you an idea of its intricacy? Many people in a variety of different countries and cultures have dedicated their lives to working with lace - now that’s commitment!
Now that you know a little more about the making of lace you can start to appreciate the process more. Lace in the fashion world leaves little time for pieces as decorative as a lot of culturally based production lines such as those just discussed. Not all lace these days is hand-made. In fact, I bet little that is found in a whole drawer of girls’ lingerie is handmade. Despite all this, we’re going to stick with talking about wearing the really high quality stuff.
Making lace fashionable If you think of a square piece of traditional black lace (say, 1cm x 1cm), think of all the tiny holes and as if the lace is a sieve those holes will only allow lace to occasionally seep through into designers’ notebooks in small quantities. You might find that a sleek black dress has a thin lace edge to add detail. You will not very often, however, see lace used by designers in a big way, and by big I mean BIG!!
On the Autumn/Winter 2008 catwalk Prada used lace in a big way…a big and beautiful way that gave their outfits an elegant yet bold air of sophistication. To wear this style on a budget, grab your high-street staple piece and add more lace to the other components of your ensemble. To wear Prada inspired lace like a lady, find a lace dress that is purely that, or a skirt that has lace ruffles and shouts loud…think lace with more lace!
At first glance, the Prada lace colour scheme is quite neutral - dark colours and beiges and whites. But then there’s the odd pastel blue skirt thrown in and the bright orange ones too! A particularly impressive outfit is made up of what seems to be a chunky black lace design skin-hugging all-in-one piece, with a small, puffy and very short black satin skirt over it at the waist. Try to think of the most sexy, glamorous, luxurious lacy Andy Pandy pyjama suit you can (look up the original Andy Pandy if you can and you’ll see what a contrast his outfit is)!!
If you’re looking for high fashion lace but something a little more unique, look up Chaneland look for trailing over-coat type lace pieces to tie everything (orthis gorgeous cape). You could track down an Alice Temperley little lace dress and I’ll be really jealous (one of my favourites is number 10 under the Current Runway section of the website)!!
Alternatively, buy some lavish lace and add it to a simple dress or skirt (stitch carefully, ladies) to create an item for your wardrobe that will come into fashion time and time again and be a token of your commitment to lace, as well as a show-stopper!
Whether you choose to make a dull white skirt into a classy little number, or invest in a designer whose lovely lace concoctions steal the show out of their collections, remember that committing to lace might not be a bad idea after all…
…I’m going to enjoy my life-long lover affair with lace - I hope you do too!!
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