Day One: Oh my Yves!
I went to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts last weekend to see the F1 race. My interest in cars is purely in the mechanical side, mostly to fulfil a need to understand and conquer a particular system, and not at all on the sport side. I can’t tell you which team had which driver who placed whatever. To compromise, we agreed to also go to to the MMFA to see the Yves show.
I’ve always admired YSL as a little girl. My mom had a collection of his mid-range products – perfumes, silky scarves and the odd tunic- and a huge range of lower range interpretations of his clothes (read: knock offs). In the mid eighties, YSL was the definition of the powerful woman, simultaneously of the world of suitcases and society although I have now learn that the two can never truly mix. YSL represents my mother just out of her youth as a socialite housewife.
The show was at the top level of the classic old building. It was largely divided into four sections: His most (in)famous pieces, his exotica and theatrical pieces, his pop art pieces and finally his lofty gowns.
The most outstanding piece in the first room was obviously the Bride’s Gown 1965 which could be described as a wool iron maiden in the most flattering terms and a giant tampon in the least flattering terms. I watched a video of the model that had to walk in this. The way the lower half of the dress moved was extremely sexual – she looked sort of a pulsating … white sausage?
For course the first room also contains his debutante-light 1964 cocktail dresses and 1958 Trapeze Robes. They were just so lovely and feminine. The hats remind me of Japanese Shinto wedding hats. The coquette, just-learning-to-wear-heels gestures of the mannequins complete the look.
I also loved the teeny-tiny sequined dress that ZiZi Jeanmaire wore in 1990. So hot.
I want to wear the ink cocktail dress in his 1981 collection for fake prom, but, of course, I already have a dress just like it.
The next two rooms were his “ethnic” rooms and they were a disappointment. I hate Chinoiserie with all my heart. I find that any attempts at it look clumsy and rigid in comparison to the real inspiration. and Yves just could not win me over. His “Opium” series – with the black glossy peasant hats – looked insulting and uninspired. I have a dislike of wealthy or middle class people that feign tragedy or an under-privileged past by appropriating symbols of poverty from other cultures so the glossy models with makeup on that costs as much as a week’s meal for the true wearers of the peasant hats were a no-no for me. I’ve really never understood ethnic chic. I don’t know if other minorities feel the same about this as me.
Another no was the ghetto-fab evening gown of 1971 in camo. Yuck much?
There was a medieval inspired gown from 1969 that looks like …
… a Jedi outfit. I showed one of my friends this and he was riveted that the women of New York dressed like Jedi Knights during the F/W of 1969.
I loved almost every piece in the ballroom gown room. My favourites were the coat of ostrich feathers from F/W 1990 and lovely pink cocktail dress with the huge bow on the back.
Another darling dress (SS 92):
Doesnt that just say “I’m the happiest girl in the world”?
Of course, a Yves retrospective isn’t complete with the Hommage a Piet Mondrian.
The show ended with a cycling tape of Yves responding to questions from the Proust Questionnaire. I was surprised at the boyishness of his voice. There was something delightfully sexual in the energy of the exchange.
Below is the Proust Questionnaire. I invite you all to fill it out.
What is your chief characteristic?
What is your main fault?
What are your favourite qualities in a man?
And in a woman?
Who is your favourite historical figure?
Who are your favourite heroes in real life?
If not yourself, who would you be?
What is your idea of happiness?
What is your idea of misery?
Where would you like to live?
What talent do you wish you were gifted in?
For what fault have you the most tolerance?
Who is your favourite painter?
And composer?
What is your favourite colour?
What do you hate most?
Do you have a motto?
What would you like to do right now?
I took the liberty to go first:
What is your chief characteristic?
Secretive
What is your main fault?
Suspicion
What are your favourite qualities in a man?
Self sufficiency and ambition
And in a woman?
Her curves
Who is your favourite historical figure?
Camille Claudel
Who are your favourite heroes in real life?
My grandma
If not yourself, who would you be?
A princess in a castle with a pony
What is your idea of happiness?
Being in bed with someone I love
What is your idea of misery?
March 4, 2006
Where would you like to live?
On an island off Hong Kong, maybe Lantau, surrounded by boats
What talent do you wish you were gifted in?
Keeping friends
For what fault have you the most tolerance?
Ignorance
Who is your favourite painter?
Picasso
And composer?
Tchaikovsky
What is your favourite colour?
I like the combination of read, black and white
What do you hate most?
The willfully unexperienced; my personality; proof-reading
Do you have a motto?
Home is where one starts from. T. S. Eliot
What would you like to do right now?
See my uncle, tell him I love him and that I miss him
You are so lucky to have experienced visiiting the museum. The pieces look extraordinary. The brides gown is amazing and beautiful and such detail we’ll probably never see again.
What is your chief characteristic? generally friendly
What is your main fault? lazy
What are your favourite qualities in a man? knows what he’s doing
And in a woman? independent and ambitious
Who is your favourite historical figure? pierre elliot trudeau
Who are your favourite heroes in real life? free-minded, liberal thinkers
If not yourself, who would you be? Adam Giambrone
What is your idea of happiness? a pure mind, free of any bothers
What is your idea of misery? full of stress
Where would you like to live? suburbs
What talent do you wish you were gifted in? i wish i could snap my fingers
For what fault have you the most tolerance? ignorance
Who is your favourite painter? don’t know any
And composer? chopin
What is your favourite colour? white
What do you hate most? intolerance
Do you have a motto? everything in moderation, including moderation itself
What would you like to do right now? sleep
1) What is your chief characteristic?
I dunno…Ummmm…
2) What is your main fault?
Too shy…I don’t tend to say half of the things that pass through my mind.
3) What are your favourite qualities in a man?
To me, the expression “to be a man” means many things, such as honesty, loyalty, fidelity, sense of right and wrong, and independence, combined with a respect and acceptance of more feminine attributes in himself, such as sympathy, expression of emotions and spontaneity.
4) And in a woman?
My favourite qualities in a woman are the same as those that I mentioned in a man. I respect the traditionally feminine attributes, but I respect even more those women who rise to challenges and do not give-up. I find men and women who start the “blame game” in difficult situations very annoying.
5) Who is your favourite historical figure?
Leonardo da Vinci, Hypatia of Alexandria. There are also fictional people that I find interesting such as Artemis, Persephone, Psyche, Elizabeth Weir, Rodney McKay, Daniel Jackson, Frederick Wentworth, fictional D’Artagnan, Severus Snape, etc.
6) Who are your favourite heroes in real life?
My mom, grandmothers, my brothers, my dad
7) If not yourself, who would you be?
If not myself, I cannot think who else I would be!
8) What is your idea of happiness?
Happiness is the quality of knowing when to stop wanting.
9) What is your idea of misery?
Misery is the torment of waiting without knowing when to stop.
10) Where would you like to live?
I have thought of living in many places such as Hong Kong, a remote island off the Pacific, Paris, in a villa in southern France, etc, but it is only after travelling frequently that has made me realise that my home is really Toronto. I saw graffiti on the streets that read, “Open your eyes and realise that there is no place like here and no time like now.” I reread this poem when the going gets tough.
11) What talent do you wish you were gifted in?
Mindreading! Other than the impossible, I wish that I had spent more time learning how to play a musical instrument and explored dance and acting in my earlier years.
12) For what fault have you the most tolerance?
I have the least tolerance for irrationality, everything else I would have tolerance.
13) Who is your favourite painter?
Lucien Freud, Vincent Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Claude Monet, and also the sculptor, Auguste Rodin
14) And composer?
I like contemporary composers like Rachel Portman and Eric Serra.
15) What is your favourite colour?
Potpourri Green and (Purple) Wild Orchid
16) What do you hate most?
Stubbornness, irrationality, lack of an open mind, to name a few
17) Do you have a motto?
“Open your eyes and realise that there is no place like here and no time like now.”
18) What would you like to do right now?
Study for my first aid and CPR test and then sleep