More Paris in November and Dior

The main focus of our trip to Paris was to see the fantastic Dior exhibit celebrating 70 years of the design house. We had tickets for the Tuesday morning and it was amazing!
This was the line for those who had prepaid tickets. From the red flags straight ahead and down around the corner was the line for those waiting to buy a tickets!

Pamela is waiting in line with my cane. We loved looking at all the interesting outfits the Frenchwomen around us were wearing.

This was among the first in the exhibit...you first saw the black and white photo in front then the light came on behind and slowly the dress emerged from behind until the photo was gone! Superb!

The curators created a really magnificent exhibit. Every room was set up in a different way and you had the feeling of going to a new exhibit each time. One of the themes was collections by color. I found this green dress so gorgeous. It was surrounded by everything in shades of green from every decade of the design house. Jewelry, perfume, clothes, sketches.

The gray collection was very elegant...there is Miss Dior, the first perfume made in 1947. It was in a beautiful Lalique, crystal bottle. There was lots of houndstooth print which was something Christian Dior loved.

 The reds were wonderful too. I think in order to show everything I would have to publish a book!

One of the rooms had beautiful cut paper flowers drifting down around the gowns...it was like being in a fairy garden. Dior loved to garden and one of his favorite blooms was lily of the valley(muguet). This gown was exquisitely beaded and embroidered. In other parts of the exhibit we could see sprigs of muguet tucked into suit pockets and tied to dress waistlines. So pretty.

 This white shirtwaist was one of my favorites. I love the way the collar goes up and the shape of the neckline and sleeves.

At the end of the exhibit there was a room of muslins on all sides with designer notes on them and we were able to get up very close to see the designs. It was such a clever way to display and make the simple fabric look beautiful.

We followed this young woman around. She was at the exhibit with what looked like a group of design students and this pose and her outfit was just so attractive. I'm glad I got the shot before others closed in around her. Looked a little bit like a Degas dancer. Maybe she was posing now that I think of it!

 We left the exhibit with our heads just spinning with beautiful impressions. I think I could have gone back several more times but it was late and we strolled past the Louvre, across the river to look in at Sennelier the art supply store and then to have a quick lunch.

We could feel a little bit of jet lag so we went back to the studio for a quick nap before we went to a concert of Vivaldi and Ave Maria at the Madeleine Church. I could not believe it but I hadn't been back there in nearly twenty years! It was a wonderful concert...the perfect spot.

More adventures to come but for now....bonne nuit!