Frocking life : searching for Elsa Schiaparelli / BillyBoy* ; edited by Jean Pierre Lestrade, a.k.a. Lala.

Author
Boy, Billy [Browse]
Format
Book
Language
English
Published/​Created
  • New York, NY : Rizzoli Ex Libris, 2016.
  • ©2016
Description
xxi, 384 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 24 cm

Availability

Copies in the Library

Location Call Number Status Location Service Notes
Firestone Library - Stacks TT505.S3 B69 2016 Browse related items Request

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    Summary note
    The owner of the largest collection of Elsa Schiaparelli garments in the world writes about his lifelong love affair with the work--and the entire persona--of the iconic designer. At age fourteen, designer and artist BillyBoy* had a transformative experience, brought on by the discovery of an Elsa Schiaparelli hat in a Parisian flea market. So began a love affair with Schiaparelli clothes that has lasted more than forty years. For BillyBoy*, Schiap's designs are talismans: they not only show how the chic designer revolutionized fashion, but also speak to him powerfully about how she lived her life. An artist working in Switzerland with a glamorous and fascinating past, BillyBoy* adopted Schiap as a guardian angel of sorts and has spent a lifetime searching for her through her clothes. Inspired by Shocking Life, Schiap's own memoir, this book will resonate with anyone who loves historic haute couture. Built around some of the most iconic pieces ever created by the designer, it is a book about endless discoveries and the meaning that can be transmitted across decades by a simple piece of clothing. Peopled by dazzling characters from Schiap's inner circle and the worlds of art and fashion in 1970s and 1980s New York, London, and Paris, this is a scintillating yet profound homage to a woman who saw life as art, and who inspired a young boy to do the same.
    Bibliographic references
    Includes bibliographical references (pages 369-383).
    Contents
    • Foreword / Jean L. Druesedow
    • Preface / BillyBoy*
    • Billyboy*: a queer gentleman of fashion / Jean Pierre Lestrade a.k.a. Lala
    • pt. 1:
    • "Oh, it's a hat"
    • Childhood
    • Leaving home
    • A young queer in Manhattan
    • Superstars
    • All styles big and small
    • Art Deco-chrome-my inner anti-bourgeoise woman
    • Money and soul contracts
    • Mister modern
    • Surreal couture
    • Paris-London-Paris
    • Love, and I mean L.U.V.
    • Schiap Schiap Schiap
    • The two Bettinas
    • Surreal Bijoux-MDVANII
    • ... and many more
    • pt. 2:
    • Elsa's childhood
    • Elsa as a young woman
    • Elsa in Paris
    • "Schiap" 1929-1933
    • 1934
    • 1935-1940
    • The war years
    • Postwar 1945
    • The 1950s
    • 1954-1970
    • Artistic collaborations
    • Epilogue.
    ISBN
    • 9780847843862 ((hardcover))
    • 0847843866 ((hardcover))
    • 9782016935323
    • 2016935324
    LCCN
    2016935324
    OCLC
    884297976
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