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	<title>Alexandra Highcrest Magazine &#187; Chanel</title>
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	<description>I used to work in fashion, then I took an arrow to the knee.</description>
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		<title>America&#8217;s First Fashion Icon</title>
		<link>http://alexandrahighcrest.com/blog/2009/09/18/americas-first-fashion-icon/</link>
		<comments>http://alexandrahighcrest.com/blog/2009/09/18/americas-first-fashion-icon/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:49:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alexandra Highcrest</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fashion History]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chanel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Charles Dana Gibson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gibson Girl]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[icon]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[The Gibson Girl was the personification of the feminine ideal as portrayed in the satirical pen and ink illustrated stories created by Charles Dana Gibson during a twenty-year period spanning the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in the United States. The Gibson Girl set what some argue was the first national standard for a feminine beauty ideal. For the next two decades, the popularity of this fictional image ushered in a national mania for all things Gibson, and she sold saucers, ashtrays, tablecloths, pillow covers, chair covers, souvenir spoons, screens, fans and umbrella stands, all bearing her image. The Gibson Girl was tall and slender and endowed with an ample bosom, hips and bottom, molded into the S-curve torso shape by a swan-bill corset. The images of her epitomized the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Western preoccupation with statuesque, youthful features and ephemeral beauty. Her neck was thin and her hair piled high on her head in the contemporary bouffant, pompadour, and chignon (“waterfall of curls”) fashions. The tall, narrow-waisted ideal feminine figure was portrayed as multi-faceted, always at ease and fashionable. Gibson depicted her as an equal, and sometimes teasing, companion to men. Many models posed for [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Dior Considered Embroidery Dangerous</title>
		<link>http://alexandrahighcrest.com/blog/2009/07/17/dior-considered-embroidery-dangerous/</link>
		<comments>http://alexandrahighcrest.com/blog/2009/07/17/dior-considered-embroidery-dangerous/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 Jul 2009 07:56:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alexandra Highcrest</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fashion History]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chanel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dior]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[embroidery]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Look]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Christian Dior, creator of the 1947 spring/summer fashion collection that swept Europe and the Americas (coined &#8220;the New Look&#8221; after Harper&#8217;s Bazaar editor-in-chief Carmel Snow&#8217;s exclamation, &#8220;Its such a New Look!&#8221;) thought embroidery was dangerous. In Dior&#8217;s book The Little Dictionary of Fashion, (HNA Books, 1954) he described embroidery as, &#8220;One of the most beautiful things done by the hand of woman. But one of the most dangerous to use with elegance. I don&#8217;t like embroidery on day clothes-unless it is very, very simple.&#8221; Embroidery dangerous!?!  Monsieur Dior added, &#8220;If used discreetly it is good for cocktail dresses and in a more elaborate fashion it is wonderful for evening clothes. For a dinner party a short embroidered dress may be very nice, but you must only wear embroidery on suitable occasions, otherwise it is pretentious.&#8221; Christian knew a thing or two about pretentious.  The New Look&#8217;s silhouette was characterized by a below-mid-calf length full skirt, a large bust (not fashionable since 1912), and a small waist. In refutation to wartime and post-war fabric restriction, Dior used 20 yards of extravagant fabrics in some of his creations. The New Look initially evoked some resistance from women because the extravagant use of fabric made [...]]]></description>
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		<title>The First Bra</title>
		<link>http://alexandrahighcrest.com/blog/2009/06/05/the-first-bra/</link>
		<comments>http://alexandrahighcrest.com/blog/2009/06/05/the-first-bra/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 04 Jun 2009 18:18:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alexandra Highcrest</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fashion History]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[1914]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chanel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lingerie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mary Phelps-Jacobs]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Bra history dates back as far as ancient Crete but the word brassiere didn&#8217;t appear until 1907, when it was coined in an issue of American Vogue. Prior to 1907 early bras were referred to as soutien-gorges by the French or bust improvers (or BBs) by the Edwardian British. Most of the fashion designers of the early 20th century claimed to create the first bra and they all promoted breast restraining garments in order to mold their clients&#8217; bodies to the newer, simple straight dress styles. These early undergarments were similar to the tight camisoles of the 1980s and 90s. The term camisole was used for these garments at the beginning of the century but was replaced by &#8220;Bust Bodice&#8221; in 1905. Fashion bra history really began in 1914 with the first bra patent filed by the New York debutante Mary Phelps-Jacobs. Hers was the first elasticized, backless brassiere, designed to release women from their corsets and enable them to participate in sports and other activities without physical restraint (Coco Chanel must&#8217;ve approved). The prototype consisted of no more than two pocket-handkerchiefs and a piece of pink ribbon. She conceived the idea while dressing for a ball. The thought of [...]]]></description>
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