S'09: Couture Chanel

I don't know if I can express to you how wonderful Chanel is this time. The details shots make my breath catch in my throat. You're going to think I'm being melodramatic, that's fine. I don't give a damn about the world. When I look at these...they are the world.
To quote:
"The room was all white, with every pillar deeply garlanded in giant paper flowers, tables covered with laser-cut paper cloths, and the staircase laden with yet more cutout roses and camellias. As the girls started to descend in pristine, precision-cut silhouettes, heads decorated with exquisite paper-flower tiara constructions, it was clear this was going to be a Chanel moment to treasure."


It was also clear Uncle Karl has been reading and LOVING Flowers in the Attic, by V.C. Andrews. Oh, the glory.

This Chanel show was definitely the loveliest show presented this season.

And the sequencing from white to black to white again is totally brilliant. It took me a while to finalize my thoughts about this show, though, and I think that it's because the show is tasteful to its own detriment.

I mean, these are all absolutely beautiful, but it's hard for me to get really excited by them. It definitely seems like a reaction to their last, more dramatic couture show, and while Karl Lagerfeld's versatility is certainly worth applauding, I still miss the build of excitement that the previous show had, with its increasingly outlandish shapes (remember the HOOD? And the WEDDING DRESS?). The most climactic moment of this show comes from that enormous head-flower, and not from the clothes themselves.
STATUS: Gorgeous, but bloodless.