Fashion's Great Divide |
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| Written by Jane Stabler | |
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Haute couture. Two little words that literally translate to "high" and "sewing". Trust the French to make it mean so much more, to so many people. AskBronny helps you understand.
For most of us, the words haute couture bring either a wistful smile or a defeated frown to our face. A wistful smile if you appreciate the beauty of couture and believe one day you'll mix it in couture circles. A defeated frown if the realisation that John Galliano will never hand make your wedding dress really cuts you to the core. Although us glamorous AskBronny types often do aspire to couture, and even sometimes blow our house deposits on a piece, for many of us the divide between what we consider fashion, and what is acclaimed as haute couture is often a ridiculously large one. You only need catch Foxtel's fashion channel for fifteen minutes to know that haute couture is often not destined for the street. Turning up to work dressed like half duck, half cowboy is not going to turn heads the way you want. Then there's also the problem that most couture is designed to look like the artistic impression – often having a real body in there ruins the whole thing! Imagine, a designer who doesn't want to see their clothes on people, just paper… there is a fine line between wearable couture and art. And when it comes to the wearable stuff, how many of us can really fork out a minimum of $30,000 (AUD) for a piece? As an example, a Chanel suit costs around the equivalent of AUD$60,000 almost five years ago! For those of us living on fairly modest budgets, it’s hard to conceive paying that kind of price for anything you can’t live in or drive. But if you're in the couture circle, it’s recognised that you're paying for the service, workmanship, design and the materials. And of course if you're not in the couture circle, you just recognise the fact they have spent the equivalent of your house deposit on a frock they will probably wear once. This only serves to widen the divide, and further cement the exclusivity of the couture circle. The biggest drawcard of couture of course is that it's all yours. We're not talking off the shelf, even though it cost $60k you could bump into your equally loaded friend wearing the same frock at a royal function kind of dress. We are talking anywhere from 100-1000 hours of manpower totally dedicated to making YOUR clothes, for YOUR body. With this kind of work ethic, it makes sense that Dior's fashion house can only produce around 20 couture bridal gowns a year. So don't feel bad that yours isn't one of them. Due to the extreme nature of some couture, and the incredible costs associated with its production, much haute couture actually runs at a loss for design houses. Their ridiculously out-there fashion shows are often based on selling a dream, a fantasy, and allowing the designers to create themselves silly, not on getting people to buy what they see. The publicity received from the couture showings only strengthens a design house's brand and gives the poorer of their admirers (ie: me) a dream that we can buy into. Sadly, I just can't buy in the stores. But don't dismay, as so aptly pointed out in The Devil Wears Prada, even those of us who think we don't relate to fashion are wearing something that has somehow been influenced by it. Even our $10 Target shoes are likely to have been inspired by a much more expensive and glamorous version from a designer somewhere in the world. In reality, the closest many of us will actually get to haute couture is pręt-a-porter, or ready to wear. Still incredibly expensive, this is designer wear that is lesser priced and made in volume. And the smart marketers at the design houses also know that by pricing bags and perfume within reach of a larger segment of the population, we consumers have almost convinced ourselves that we are up there in the couture league because our bag sports the coveted interlinked C's or we smell like the lady wearing the Dior gown. Not only that, it makes a lot more money for the design houses than those 20 dresses they sell a year! For many of us, haute couture provides a form of escapism, and a form of art. Some days I am utterly inspired looking through Vogue, and other days I am just depressed. Some days I watch the fashion channel and like what I see, and other days I laugh. Online fashion sites such as www.style.com also provide us wishful thinkers with a daily fix of what's fashionable, and usually what we can't afford. Fashion on any level is going to resonate with some people, and not with others, and couture is no exception. Whist I can recognise the art and talent that goes into many a piece of catwalk couture, the reality is that much of it will never be seen on anyone, and I guess that's the point. Couture allows designers to show their creative flair, and show what they can really do, when in reality people like me want the pręt-a-porter version, or even if money is tight, the knock off version. As much as I would like Mr Galliano to make my dresses, I would rather own my house outright. Couture is inspirational, aspirational and emotional. For many of us the divide between fashion as we see it, and fashion in the couture sense is inconceivably large. But even if we never buy couture, buy couture once, or can afford to buy it all the time, it doesn't shy away from what it is – high fashion, or high sewing. And any fashion loving girl can appreciate that. There is a small light at the end of the tunnel for those of us that just have to have a piece of high fashion, and usually you only have to look to e-Bay! Scouring second hand stores (especially in country towns where experienced op-shoppers don't venture) can produce some enlightening finds. And for those of us close to one, second hand designer stores (the Frock Exchange in Sydney for example) offer second hand couture at bargain prices. That is, if you think paying $650 for a second hand dress is a steal… but then, that's the world of high fashion! |
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