Carol Alayne

Were you aware that the Asian elephant was under threat? Because of the loss of its natural habitat, a result of expanding human populations, the number of wild Asian elephants is plummeting. The area they once inhabited stretched from the far corners of China, through Thailand, Indonesia, India and across Syria; some 3.5 million square miles and about the size of Canada. It has now shrunk to some 170,000 square miles – less than the size of Spain. I learned this at a special celebrity  launch reception for the charity Elephant Family held by one of my clients, Wendy Senturier, earlier this week.

What a special event it was; approximately 200 guests including celebrities such as Joanna Lumley and the Duchess of York. (It was covered by the London Evening Standard a few days later), The outcome of this initiative should be seen some time next year around the streets of London. The star auction items were a herd of 200  2-metre high, hand-made elephants which will be decorated, and  placed at a number of locations around the capital. The target is £1 million in order to secure land in Asia to create an elephant sanctuary, and the event made a significant contribution to this.

I am fortunate to have such a list of intriguing clients, and Wendy particularly so. She runs a highly regarded networking service for the international community with offices in London, Geneva, Hong Kong and Singapore. For this event, I created this sleeveless dress with a cutaway neckline from a silk chiffon print by Roberto Cavalli, a favourite designer of Wendy’s. This print was especially complex because of the juxtaposition of pearls, lace, animal print and floral motifs. With a brief of this nature it can take some time to understand the fabric thoroughly and all its design possibilities. In fact I hung the the whole length high up along a wall in my studio and lived with it for some time before I made the first cut. It’s always an interesting challenge to work within the constraints of a fixed length of print fabric; technically tricky too, when trying to match printed patterns on such a fragile silk weave.

Keep your eyes peeled next year around May to July when the results of this fundraiser will be seen around the streets of London. You can catch a flavour from a similar event that took place in Amsterdam earlier this year at http://www.elephantparade.com/. We wish the charity every success. As we know…an elephant never forgets.

Photo: thanks to Elephant Family

I think it was the blues singer Corey Harris who said,  “in order to know where you’re going, you have to know where you’ve been”.  Last week I spent some time re-visiting an old friend with a view to making a new one.

This knee length dress in wool crepe was commissioned last year.  It came from the first client via our TfW blog who wanted a simple elegant piece to make an impact during a special viewing at Christies; the international auctioneers of fine art.

As an inspiration she suggested looking at the French designer André Courrèges,  famous for producing immaculately tailored sporting clothes in the mid 60′s.  He became known as the socialites’ couturier, and his clients included the Begum Aga Khan, Princess Lee Radziwill, and the Duchess of Windsor.  His signature silhouette for a dress was an “A” shape that bypassed and concealed the waist.

This rich red dress is made from double wool crepe selected at Joel & Sons. The fabric has a deep texture that can be indented by topstitching, a technique similar to quilting that was favoured by Courrèges.

Wool crepe has a characteristic crinkled granular appearance produced both by the special type of yarn used, and the distinctive way in which it is woven.  It also dyes well in any range of deep jewel or soft pastel colours, with the texture of the fabric enhancing its hue.

This cloth has many attractive properties for a tailor or couturier.  From a design and construction perspective the relaxed weave allows a slight “give” in all directions, making it possible to shape and mold the cloth into sculptural lines that follow the contours of the body.  Newly developed stretch linings are compatable with an outer crepe layer to accommodate any movement.

For the wearer it creates a garment that is comforatable all year round.  It will also be durable, perfect for travel, easy to care for, and equally suitable for boardroom, day or evening wear.

There is a re-emerging trend for dresses as they seem to offer the ideal solution as an alternative to the more conventional skirt and jacket combination.  They are easy to accesorize and to wear with other separates.

Returning to our crimson friend above, in a short while it will return to the closet with a new companion to share the rail.

Earlier this year you may have seen the retail guru Mary Portas visiting the boutique of the designer who specialises in larger-sized garments, Anna Scholtz.  Amongst all the furore over the last year or so about ‘Size 0′ models it was refreshing to hear someone in the fashion industry comment that “the curvy customer is, in fact, the average British woman”.  I realise that this can be a sensitive subject, but if you are a bespoke tailor it is an issue that you have to address face on.

When assessing a client with, to use the accepted euphemism, a fuller figure, it does present a different set of challenges for both maker and wearer, and I feel that the continuing trend for covering up rather than emphasizing assets takes away the opportunity for rejoicing in one’s own body shape.

Often I find it to be the case that insufficient time has been spent by a client in assessing their true anatomical structure, for example whether they are ‘big-boned’, or have a larger body mass.  As each of these has a different reaction to the act of standing or sitting it can have considerable implications for the way in which a garment is cut.

Three of my clients come to mind who are completely at home with their proportions, and all have, in their different ways, to lay themselves open to public scrutiny.

The world famous dramatic soprano Jane Eaglen first came to me when she had just broken on the operatic scene and I made a concert dress for her American debut at the Hollywood Bowl.  She not only had to have something with all the glamour of a first night,  but also it had to be something  against which she could push when her diaphragm was in full extension.  In some ways it had to become a part of her performance equipment.  An interesting combination of robustness and elegance for a woman who is  tall with a substantial figure and a personality to match.  We worked on emphasising this with an emerald raw silk gown which had beaded accents, and combined it with a long iridescent silk chiffon coat.

Clarissa  Dickson Wright wanted a garment for an occasion too; The Conservancy Ball.  But it also had to be one that would merge into her wardrobe in a practical way.  Her links to the countryside and the National Trust led the way to a  2-piece rifle-green, wool-crepe top  with a long 8-panelled skirt which broke into soft flutes at the hemline. Over this we made a sweeping shooting cape  from lightweight tweed with a fine leather trimming.  So…practicality with style.

One of the most interesting commisions recently was from Gieves and Hawkes who asked me to create a piece for the Lord Chamberlain of Tonga on the occasion of the coronation of the new monarch.  This garment had to make less of a statement because of the contrast  with the ceremonial garments.  In this instance it was midnight blue silk-satin with an Empire waistline and a long exagerated A-line skirt.  We were however given full permission to add any accents we thought appropriate, so to soften it we included a scalloped neckline and a hint of beading to match the sparkle of the occasion.

If I were to sum up the common elements from each of these projects I feel that there are three points to be made.

1. Don’t sentence yourself to wearing dark colours all the time, and have a sense of your own unique colour palate; more of this in future posts
2. Don’t squeeze into a smaller size, wear something that fits your build
3. Think vertically with detail, and accents that draw the eye forward and up e.g. longer lapels, a longer jacket opening with fewer buttons, detail around the shoulder areas

The exceptional soprano Jessye Norman is once reputed to have said, when being encouraged to enter a crowded elevator by turning sideways, “Honey, with me there ain’t no sideways”.  Frivolous comments aside,  let’s hear it for the women with fuller figures!

Photo: Public Domain

MacCulloch & Wallis is one of the last remaining trimming merchants in the UK.   I have been taking the advice of their proprietor, Victoria Connolly, for the past 17 years but strange as it may seem, until now I have not had the opportunity to look closer at their business, and fascinating it is too!

Their property in Dering Street, Mayfair, looks much the same as it would have done in the days when a tailor, seated and cross-legged, would have occupied prime place in the shop window.  The size of their premises are deceptive (three ‘coal holes’ were converted into offices) and hold an enormous inventory of trimmings, threads, haberdashery, fabrics, equipment, milllinery and bridal fabrics. Much of this has been assembled over time and as other haberdashers have closed M&W has absorbed their stock.  They also have a substantial on-line presence.  Often they get access to the cloth left over from some of the high fashion collections and it is incredible to see some of these fabrics away from the catwalk.

They have an equally wide customer base supplying local alteration tailors, independent dressmakers, designers,  and a number of specialist makers who work for film and theatre.  Their staff are generally drawn from the fashion colleges as they reach the end of their degrees, and in many ways working in this environment acts as a ‘finishing school’, supplementing academic studies with practical experience.  Often you will find they balances a part time job with M&W as whilst making the transition to independent designer.

They aspire to be a ‘one-stop’ shop and certainly have never failed me.  They have the air of an old-fashioned shop keeper and in fact the interior is recognised as being of ‘historical interest’, the consequence being that there is a protection order on all internal fittings and architecture.  Well worth a visit, and as you search for your purchases take a little time to appreciate its sense of ‘old world’ charm.

Just a brief post to let you know about an article we wrote for one of the specialist Human Resource (HR) websites; Changeboard.  It is devoted to how our appearance can influence the perceptions of others and came via one of our Canary Wharf clients.  It also started the thought that perhaps we should  contribute a little more to the debate around this subject.  So…..from the end of November we will be starting a series of posts about the ways in which we can all maximise our personal impact in the way we present ourselves.

The Duchess of Windsor said “when it is right there is nothing to replace it”, American Vogue dubbed it the “Ford” because it was as ubiquitous as the automotive, and Coco Chanel confessed, ” a little black dress is difficult”.  It is hard to believe that this perennial which became such a feature for Audrey Hepburn is over 80 years old. In the Daily Express today it made an appearance again, prompted by the new Bond film, Quantum of Solace.

In this instance it appears to be invested with a durability not normally associated with haute couture as it appears to be the garment of choice for the actress Olga Kurylenko as she plummets to earth on a parachute in the company of Daniel Craig.  Aren’t modern fabrics wonderful!

In the same spirit that Pascal said “I am sorry for writing a long letter I didn’t have time to make it shorter”, in its brevity the LBD requires an equal degree of finesse in creating its subtlety of curves and figure-hugging simplicity.  Much of its personality is created in the cutting process which has to be exact. Silhouette, neckline,  and hemline all interact and have to be in balance. It really is garment design in its purest form with no fuss or frills and  little room for error and carries the same degree of risk as the ‘shodo’ calligraphers who get only one chance to make their mark on the paper.

I made the dress above for Ute Lemper when she starred in the opening of Chicago in 1998, and it still looks as fresh and alluring as it did when it first went on stage.  It also had a sense of theatre as you can see from the shoulder strap.

So when thinking of reviving your wardrobe remember the words of Christian Dior.  “You can wear black at any hour of day or night, at any age and for any occasion.  A little black dress is the most essentail thing in any woman’s wardrobe”

What an unexpected, and intriguing pleasure it was to meet with Grayson Perry the other night at the opening of the exhibition of works by the artist Kishio Suga.  Suga-san is one of the leading artists of the Mono-ha School (The School of Things); a movement that swept the Japanese art worldfrom the end of the 1960s through the 1970s.  The exhibition was held at the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation in Regents Park and was timed to complement  the Frieze Art Fair.

Grayson is an admirer of  Suga-san’s work and after the initail presentation we had time to chat.  I have long wanted to talk to Grayson, not only about his work as an artist, but more irresistibly, about his passion for cross-dressing and the role he plays in the design and making of his striking garments.  Luckily there was a photographer close by and we were able to capture the moment before he was whisked away.

We talked in particular about the Art of Savile Row and I mentioned its eponymous BBC TV programme when he was featured commissioning a suit from Richard James.   I remember a fascinating bit of perceptions at play between the customer and his tailor which had to be worked through. A kind of ‘Victor/Victoria moment’ came to mind!.

The designer/maker issue came up and how rare it is for there to be a shared understanding of the actual making side. I told him a story about working with a certain feisty French designer who handed me a set of cartoons – over exaggerated, with proportinally distorted figures in ‘anti-gravity’ poses.  To prove a point, our team of makers decided to build one of his Safari jackets to scale and the result was something of a hibrid, somewhere between  Dan Leno and the corps de ballet.

Very pleasant indeed to have such an exchange over a glass of wine…By the way…he has sensational legs………..!

Photos: thanks to www.peopleplayuk.org.uk and www.commonwealthballet.org

With my first trip to Japan to research the design of the ‘kimono‘ imminent, our latest commission couldn’t have been more appropriate.

These are samples from an elegant dress we created recently for the Minister of Culture at the Japanese Embassy, Minister Mizutori, (now Director of Finance for the Japanese Foreign Ministry).  The garment was required for the formal ceremony at Buckingham Palace when the new Ambassador, Shin Ebihara, presented his credentials to Her Majesty, The Queen.

Minister Mizutori is a prominent figure in Japanese diplomatic circles and she is widely acknowledged as having achieved much by the innovative ways in which she has promoted Japanese culture in the UK.

There are certain protocols that have to be observed when dressing for this kind of event such as the length of sleeves, acceptable décolté , and how to fit in with other attendees.  Also, the fact that it was during the middle of the day made for a brief with some additional challenges.