NOTICE-ME 1970s PAISLEY

Jonathan Adler's paisley print for upholstery

Madison Avenue window

Isn't it interesting that giant prints for home, fashion and art are making a  retro-return right now?  Take a walk down Madison Avenue.  We are seeing them in on the upholstery of Jonathan Adler furniture and in fun-and-statusy Milly dresses.  Stop at a news store.  We are seeing them on the 40th anniversary cover of W magazine with Rooney Mara wearing a geometric-patterned Prada coatdress. Make a turn onto Fifth Avenue and there are two gigantic Warhol flower prints taking twin-star positions on either side of The Met's main entrance doors, matched stunningly with equally gigantic real flower arrangements in the flower niches.  Take Fifth down to around 24th Street and there is a brand new Marimekko store with the same outsize poppy prints that made them a sensation from the 1950s to 1970s.

Admittedly, these giant prints are not always paisley, but there are enough paisleys to  make a noise about them -- not only Adler's upholstery, but single-paisley area rugs, giant paisley drapes, pillows and tablecloths from a variety of design houses and catalog companies.

It seems time to celebrate the Boomers (born 1946 to 1964) -- a generation influenced by 1970s-80s  Me Generation and rushing towards grandparenthood.  As Stéphane Houy-Towner observes, "Design fashion usually skips a generation.  The new generation likes to look back to its grandparents".  Perhaps Gaga's Little Monsters are not far from the Me's.  Both generations want to be noticed.  And yes, we do notice!  JP

TRIGḖRE WAS PERFECTION

Outsized paisley print gown from the 1970s.

Society ladies of the 1960s through the 1990s always talked about how well made her clothes were, how the Trigère brand of glamour gave them a special confidence.  French-born, she was one of the first American designers to adopt pants, not because they were trendy but because women wanted to wear them and she could make women elegantly sexy in them.  A couple of years before her death in 2002, Pauline Trigère appeared on the F.I.T. (Fashion Institute of Technology) stage during one of those famous Monday seminars, showed her audience a large bolt of fabric, cut it in one swoop and then easily draped and pinned that fabric into a perfect garment on her fit model.  Those 15 minutes or so demonstrated an unforgettable blending of talent, taste and incredible craft.

Then there was a party for her jewelry where the designer pinned a turtle pin in the perfect position on the dress I was wearing.  I wore it until the day the dress needed cleaning and in taking-off her turtle, I knew that I could never, never get it in the perfect Trigère spot again.

We are showing a giant 1970s version of a Trigère evening paisley, probably outlined in beading.  Even though the print is outsized to our 2012 eyes, there was an elegance of cut and pattern placement that again is perfection. 

Like the motif itself, her memory has the power to lift our spirits; much needed in the wake of Sandy the storm. JP

THE MET'S 17TH CENTURY ELEPHANT

ELEPHANT IN NEW YEAR'S BEST WITH BOTEH NECKLACE

This charming water color and gold-gilt work on paper, and cartouche with the possible calligraphy of Shah Jahan (1610-1666) was presented to Mughal Emperor Jahangir, Jahan's successor, during a New Year celebration of March 21 (year not given).

Elephants were prized possessions of the court at this time in the Middle East and this is a particularly proud elephant!  He or she is beautifully outfitted with a special necklace of boteh (paisley), in addition to other jewelry and tapestries.  But my teeth sort of ache for the way the poor tusks have been dulled and decorated.

The New Year's elephant is currently in the galleries of the Art of Arab Lands at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.  JP

HE PROMISED ME A PAISLEY WITH FEET

PETER ELLIOT'S PAISLEY TIES, SOME KITON FROM ITALY, SOME NEW-YORK MADE.

I once encountered a man with a special tie, the paisleys all had feet.  Not so far fetched a design idea when you think that the Victorian explorer William Moorcroft thought that paisleys were rather humanoid designs. I thought I would see that tie again but never did.

Visiting the Peter Elliot Men Madison Avenue store in late summer, photographer and web designer Isabelle took photos of Elliot's wonderful Italian-and-New-York-made paisley ties for this blog.  I consider the owner, Elliot Rabin, one of the Princes of Paisley and so asked him about the paisley-with-feet concept.  Always enthusiastic, he said he had a paisley-with-feet-fabric somewhere in his office and would find it for me!  Forgiveably, Mr. Rabin appeared to have more pressing issues that month than paisley with feet.  In September came his letter to customers explaining that the upper Madison Avenue store was closing but that Peter Elliot Women and Peter Elliot Blue for Men and Boys would remain open.  He hasn't said why he is closing the one store but I tend to believe that it must be that the New York store-lords are continuing their efforts to stamp out all smart small businesses.  (One wonders how many Sephoras, H&Ms, Bananas and Gaps the upper eastside can profitably hold.)

In any event, I have faith that when all the changes are completed, Mr. Rabin will find that paisley with feet!  JP

PAISLEY IN AN HBO SPECIAL

Last week's New Yorker Magazine cartoon reminded us that the paisley motif is always very alive, always up to some kind of trick to get our attention.  Whether it is a one-celled creature, a paramecium as the much-loved New York designer Charles Nolan called it, when I asked for his definition.  Or a magical repeat motif in scarf or blouse that wants to make every woman look much more feminine and attractive.  Or a preppy tie design to please the American male, an empire reference for his Brit counterpart. Most of us love the paisley, even when he is being bad.  When you come to think of it, he has had more seasons than Tony Soprano. JP

PAISLEY GETS "ETROED"

FOUR PAGES FROM ETRO'S FALL MAGAZINE CAMPAIGN

It is funny about paisley.  Some fashion seasons are universally paisley-friendly or even paisley-obsessed.  Some seasons are not.   It is hard to predict.

Sometimes, within the merchandising universe,  paisley pops up only on the designer level, sometimes only at Target level.  Sometimes it is strongest in the home decor area.  A recent spin through Target's website didn't turn up a single women's  paisley. Maybe in all fairness, that is momentary.  As this is being posted, Target paisleys might be getting assembled in China.

One of those paisley seasons for serious fashion appears to be Fall 2012.   Even Etro, the Italian-based family company with conflicted emotions about the motif, has plunged into paisley fashion with a big, bold ad campaign.  This is a company that identifies with the motif as brand tradition for its silk scarves, handbags, menswear and even dog beds, but sometimes gets nervous about paisley for its fashion collection. Its chic women's designer often prefers less predictable prints, maybe Aztec or Aboriginal.  However, this season, she applies a knowing hand to the motif in bold, beautiful ways. Well done, Veronica.  JP

DO YOU REMEMBER THE ITALIAN COAST?

EARLY 2000'S COAST SHIRT FROM THE COLLECTION OF DEANNA LITTELL.

 

 

 

Women or men -- which do you think gets most misted up about the paisley motif?  I think it is men with their tender remembrances of 70s and 80s decades past, often when they link very specific shirts and ties with important events. If they are from the Financial District, maybe the emotion is right now, tonight, with the comforting custom-made silk paisley dressing gowns that they run home to, accessorized by cigars and antique Waterford stemware filled with reserve scotch liqueurs.

Then, of course, as a separate category there is the Coast shirt of the early 2000s, not from the west coast of the U.S. but from Italy by way of Paris boutiques.  Sold as teammates to Weber pants and Anhaus knits,  all three labels were designed by Remo Ruffini, the man who is now CEO of the Moncler Group.  Bergdorf''s Men's Store seems to have been the HQ for Coast shirts in New York and recently a BG salesman predicted that the shirts will be staging a comeback.

Coast shirts are  known for their wearable patterns, usually touched with black.  They are a soft cotton not meant to be ironed, as in,"I just woke up early on the yacht and didn't want to disturb anybody."  The shirts work with jeans and white pants and, because they are fitted, women have been known to like wearing them also.  JP