~Vive la France!~
  
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~ La fête nationale française ~
~ "Bastille Day" ~
As the current Wikipedia article accurately says: Bastille Day is the French national holiday, celebrated on July 14th each year. In France, it is called Fête Nationale ("National Celebration") in official parlance, or more commonly quatorze juillet ("14 July"). It commemorates the 1790 Fête de la Fédération, held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789; the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille fortress-prison was seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern French nation, and of the reconciliation of all the French inside the constitutional monarchy which preceded the First Republic, during the French Revolution. (Got all that? I'm going to be posting a lot more about it, both in terms of pictures and--you guessed it--fashion!!)
And that is Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the former supermodel and now wife of the French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Monsieur Sarkozy recently became the President of the European Union as well -- a post which will last for six months, in accordance with the guidelines.
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Okay, look at the window...
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And again. That...is...GORGEOUS!!!! :^D That really looks like a Monet painting, does it not??
As good as any custom portrait you'll find!
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This might be termed...
~ An Honorary Introduction ~
The cover of illustrated French magazine, La Vie Parisienne, January 12, 1924--
yes, she is indeed playing a very early version of the French horn--
and Ukrainian model Yevgeniya Kedrova at Dior Couture, Spring 2006.
And here with the cover from June 9, 1923, Woooo! Nice.
And close-up... Magnifique!
Mmm, okay, I think we found the kind of man she's looking for. Someone like...
The First Consul of the French Republic! :D
That was actually the title created by Napoleon himself after he took to power. And he was a Leo... just like me!!!! You know, don't believe that nonsense that every Leo is just a narcissistic, self-centered, ruthless power-hungry maniac (whether megalo-, ego-, or nympho-...or all of the above). We are not ALL impossible to deal with ALL the time... You just have to understand that Leos like to GIVE a lot of attention to others, as long as we GET a lot of attention. It's a sort of "mutual generosity" type of thing; not so crazy, right? But, okay...I suppose, maybe, that that there is SOMETIMES a thin line between being a benevolent king or just a complete dic-
tator. As you can see, I've got a lot to say about this, and in the next update, I will be
sharing some utterly fascinating historical and astrological research... ;D
"Premier Consul Bonaparte," by French painter Antoine-Jean Gros, circa 1802.
I darkened these pictures to accentuate the similarities a bit more--even in the skin tone...
And in this case I lightened the pictures to make the dark green velvet cloth match the floor...
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~ More Napoleonic Complexities ~
A Photoshopped edit of Jacques-Louis David's "Napoleon Crossing the Alps"
(the first Versailles version), 1802, edited by a graphic artist known as 'Mandrak'.
A detail from the original of that painting, flanked by two pictures of the
fashion designer John Galliano at the end of the Dior Couture, Spring 2005 runway show.
On the right: A detail from "Napoleon in Egypt," by French artist Jean-Léon Gérôme, circa 1867-68.
John Galliano Men, Fall 2005 - Two models and then the designer himself.
On the left: "Portrait of Napoleon (depicted as the King of Italy)" by Italian painter Andrea Appiani the Elder, 1805.

 

 
 
Merci... More soon!!!
~ Say, That's Some Nice Tailoring... ~
"Portrait of Napoleon as First Consul" by French painter Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, 1804,
(yes, a few different pictures of it), and German model Christina Kruse at Dolce & Gabbana, Fall 2006.
 

 

 
 
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Here I have created an eBay "interpretation" of the French bleu, blanc et rouge...
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...by which I mean a chicken cordon bleu, a glass of sauvignon blanc, and too much rouge.
(Is that supposed to make sense? No. It''s just a fanciful and entirely meaningless play on words.)
 
In the meantime, here are...
~ Some Other French-themed Style-Alikes! ~
 
 
Here the juxtaposition consists first of the cover image for the musical theatre adaptation of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel, Les Misérables -- and the image is actually a detail of an illustrated portrait of the character Cosette, as drawn by French artist Émile Bayard for the original edition of the book. Then, we have a few pictures of of British model Lily Cole at Dior Haute Couture, Spring-Summer 2006. (I have indeed taken liberties with the color contrast of each image that you see.)
...
Whoa! I scared myself !!!
(Good, then I'll definitely be doing more stuff like this <:-o)
 
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And now THIS... is

DEFINITELY Hardcore;;;;

 

 

 

 

 

Legendary French pop singer Françoise Hardy on the cover of Salut les Copains (Hello Friends) magazine, 1966, and then two different versions of the Chanel "Lucky Charm" 2.55 quilted flap handbag in black leather. The bag made its debut as part of the Chanel Spring-Summer 2007 Ready-to-Wear collection and was un classique instantané.

My personal favorite part is the needle-and-thread charm on the left-side one -- isn't that a funny idea?? I love when designers throw in literal, self-referential elements like that; it's like a little bit of deconstruction can actually enhance the final product--and this case cause it to be one of the things that makes it worth whatever price-tag is tied to it. The rationale goes something like: "I realize it's $9,000 (yes)...but how else can I be an example of the real, authentic, bad-ass biker style???"

Okay, seriously... now is this awesome or WHAT....
Different pose for both. And might I say -- DAAAAAAAMN!!!!

 

 
Oh, and let's not overlook what appears to be a Coco Chanel coin -- the next French euro? -- featured on both bags (See above and below)! That's for all the fashion-savvy coin-collectors (Les Numismates!) out there...
Oh, WAIT -- you KNOW I wasn't gonna leave out this >>>
 

 

 
And lastly, an extra to match the previous set -- first, producing the negatives, and then adding some pastels...! :D

 

 

 
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Moving from the origins of punk style to its polar OPPOSITE:
~ Behold, The Prototype of the Hippie Chick ~
A “Beautiful Decorative Embroidery” from the October 1920 issue of the French fashion magazine La Mode; then the terracotta sculpture “Satyr Lifting a Tambourine-Playing Bacchante,” by French sculptor Claude Michel, better known as Clodion, 1798; and then “Emma, Lady Hamilton as a Bacchante,” by French painter Louise Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, 1791.
 
 
One description of this particular work (below) noted that, in the sculptures of Clodion,
"Man is often the satyr, a little grotesque, a little clumsy, but only
to set off the piquant contrast of some slim, naked nymph,
herself by no means repelled by a rustic lover."
Wait--is suburban like the modern equivalent of "rustic"? ... It isn't?? Zut alors... (that is: Aw shucks...)
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And here we have...
~ The Illusion of Motion ~
The marble sculpture "Venus at Bath," by French artist Christophe-Gabriel Allegrain, circa 1767, and is 174 centimeters tall (about 5'7"), and then Macedonian model Katarina Ivanovska at Dior Couture, Spring 2006.
Another juxtaposition...
And with a backstage picture:
 
The Swedish contestants of the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest. They were indeed the winners for that year.
Check out the cameo at 00:45 –
 
Thanks!!! I do have many more pictures, but I do enjoy editing the sets one by one, so I will continue posting them in these types of installments, as I have thus far... Thank you all!!
~ The Fashioniste! ~
~ Interlude to "Vive la France! - Part 2" ~
"The Definition of Haute Couture"