JPG!

Another show I seemed to miss in all my haste, and what a mistake that was. I'll open this post with another admittance; I am pin-up obsessed. Ever since my gran let me have a peek at her scrapbook, filled with cut outs, drawings & face charts (she was a dressmaker, you see) of Betty Grable, Gypsy Rose Lee, Marlene Dietrich, Veronica Lake, Marilyn, Anita Ekberg and of course, the one & only Miss Bettie Page when I was 10, I fell in love with this magnificent idea of beauty. Pale, powdered skin, thick cat-like eye-liner and the eponymous siren-red lip framing the face of a wondrously curved beauty. Men of the 20's-50's had the right idea. My gran gifted me this scrapbook on my 18th birthday, and it still remains the most fantastic gift anyone has ever given me. Anyway, I digress.

This Jean Paul Gaultier show blew my mind. He mixed 50's opulence with loosely-tailored silhouettes, stockings adorned with tattoo-like motifs, draping silks and sleeveless macs. & yet, it wasn't the styling that transformed this collection from being another run of the mill 50's inspired collection, it was the hair and make-up. Having only recently, after some years, managing to master the art of the victory roll (an awesome tutorial!), I appreciate the difficulty and the level of patience require to achieve it perfectly (although I've never cheated and used foam cylinders..) The pin-up hair and make-up were only complemented by the transfer tattoos & nail piercings, giving it a punky edge.

I also loved how JPG called in some real badass models with sleeves & facial piercings, although I do wish I knew who they all were, no credit was given to them. An amazing collection that's totally whet my appetite this show season. Worth waiting for!