Friday Five: Olympic Parade of Nations

One of the biggest talking points of any Olympic Opening Ceremony is the parade of nations, more particularly, the outfits they are wearing. So I have taken it upon myself (fashionista that I am), to give you the lowdown on the haute couture (in roughly alphabetical order and with the chosen highlights in bold and italics).

Andorra has a huge team considering the size of the country, but then they are in the middle of the mountains.

Saudi Arabia/ Arabia Saudita have half a dozen skiers (both downhill and X-country) so they are all in Predazzo and Livigno, leaving the oven-ready baked potato name-bearer to enter the San Siro solo.

Australia is, according to the commentary, "the most successful warm climate country in Winter Olympics history". The green and gold always stands out, and gets confused with South Africa.

Austria enter the Cortina catwalk in nice knitted beanies, not just carrying the flag but carring the flag-bearer too. 

Belgium look like cheery cheeses (Babybels perhaps) in bright yellow snowsuits. 

Brazil are kitted out in very odd three-quater-length purple puffer outfits with rainhats featuring a green underside. I think they look like Lewis Carroll's caterpillar after a few too many tokes on the hookah, waiting to break out into butterflies. They do break out into a samba at Cortina (complete with back-flip), but it's all a bit peculiar. I read that this is in fact "a reinterpretation of the brand's (Moncler) signature Karakorum down parka, which was originally created for Italian mountaineers Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli during their 1957 ascent of K2. The flag bearers are in structured white capes with a long-flowing silhouette with a hood, adapted from expedition gear intended for protection in snowy conditions. The colours together combine to create the flag", which is also revealed on the inner lining. Curiouser and curiouser.

The Canadians look like Lululemon Christmas puddings with an embroidered oversize maple leaf on their one-of-many-layered jackets. They also sport idiot mittens and converted baggy baseball caps. The commentators tell us they are one of the largest and most gender-balanced (actually with more women than men representing their country) at these games. Again, I learn from reading, that these outfits feature, "a convertible quilted wrap vest as the 'statement item' [I think the statement might be 'send help'], as it can be worn as a vest, scarf or packed up as a pillow (also, the maple leaf is massive when unfurled). For extra frigid temperatures they've also been equipped with an optional nylon taffeta insulated 'shacket', emblazoned with a print inspired by Canada's nature trails."

Czechia get a lot of flack for their Mondrian-styled knitted jumpers in red, white, black and yellow. They are in fact inspired by graphic designer, Vojtech Preissig (1873-1944), whose work has apparently influenced the entire Czech creative scene. The athletes also wear knee-length shorts and socks, and I don't care what anyone says; I like this modish look.

Cyprus have one athlete who is competing in the alpine skiing. In broader terms they have only won one medal at any Olympic Games, and that was in sailing. One suspects they have more sea than snow to play with.

Colombia have great jackets and scarves accessorised with a wide-brimmed gaucho-style hat.

Croatia's all-red outfits are snazzy.

Denmark has the oldest continually used national flag in the world. While this is an interesting fact in itself, it probably tells you a lot about the impact of the uniforms.

Eritrea mean (snow) business in practical green jackets and funky multi-coloured scarves.

Germany are inexplicably kitted out in ponchos and bucket hats that look more music festival than Milano, and one suspects the designer might have been on one of those 'field trips'. 

Call me biased but I love Great Britain's outfits designed by Ben Sherman. Sylish and modern with a strong colour palette, they project an image of collective sincerity and confidence. The zip-up jumpers will be highly sought-after and the hand-knitted hats and scarves by Tom Daley for flagbearers Brad Hall and Lila Fear are pure class.

In their Winter Olympics debut (two skiers), Haiti dress to impress in hand-painted jackets showcasing striking images by designer Stella Jean. The design incorporates a riderless red horse set against a tropical blue bckground, inspired by artist Edouard Duval-Carrie. It seems the original design featured a portrait of Toussaint Louverture, but was modified to remove the image to comply with IOC rules against political symbolism. I mean, it simply wouldn't do to champion an abolitionist on a world stage!

Iran are kitted out in red, white and green snowboarding attire with a geometric design.

Ireland might as well be going to the pub on a gloomy Sunday in their cream knitted jumpers and (tea) cosy-looking woolly hats with shamrock emblem. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but I'm just not sure it screams Olympics.

Kyrgistan (both of them) are also sporting special headgear - I learn that this is the traditional ak-kalpak. 

In the latest of commentator quips we are told that Lichtenstein is such a friendly nation that during the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, they sent 80 soldiers to war and returned with 81, having befriended an Austrian officer who joined them on the return journey. This marked their last military action before disbanding the army in 1868. Clearly they are lovers (and bobsleighers), not fighters.

Lithuania in matching knitted scarves and bobble hats look like an incomplete Rubik's cube.

Madagascar's team features the first African woman to compete at three Winter Games.

Malta is one of only four countries to be represented by women only (there is only one 'team' member and she is a cross-country skier).

Mexico have smart parkas showcasing ethnic motifs.

Moldova are very primary with their blue jackets, yellow scarves and red hats.

Monaco also only have one athlete at the games. He is an alpine skier and he looks like a saggy baggy astronaut.

Mongolia may be the least populated country in the world, but they are certainly staking a claim to be one of the most stylish in super-smart dress tunics and statement headgear. In team kit inspired by the Great Mongol Empire of the 13th-15th century, their official Instagram account explains, "Using Mongolian cashmere - long relied upon by our nomadic people to endure harsh winters - we have created ceremonial deels [kaftan-like garments] that honor traditional history and culture, alongside premium cashmere knit casual ensembles inspired by alpine ski sweaters rooted in Western mountain culture, enriched with motifs of the Mongolian ger [yurt] and nomadic life. Through these designs, we proudly present to the global sporting stage the resilience, wisdom, and warrior spirit forged over thousands of years by Mongolians who have endured the eternal winters of the Central Asian highlands. What we carried through winter, we carry to the world."

Just to balance the scales a little, I have absolutely nothing to say about Montenegro.

New Zealand's outfits are boring black but saved by the dramatic kākahu "(a traditionally-woven Māori cloak, known as Te Māhutonga representing mana, leadership and national unity, first worn in 2004 and passed between flagbearers to connect them with past, present and futre Olympians)".

Remember Pacers? Well, you know what Nigeria look like then.

Norway are the most successful Winter Olympic nation, and they are also doing well in the knitwear competition.

Out of 147 medals available in speed skating, The Netherlands have won 133 of them. You'd have thought people might see them coming.

Poland arrive with one woman doing an ice-dancing lift above her partner's shoulders. It just feels a bit like showing off.

Puerto Rico's flagbearer looks super-stylish in a winter skirt and bright top and their hairstyle is pretty cool too.

Serbia's flagbearers appear to be fighting over waving duties.

Slovakia have a funky design on the puffer jacket and beanies.

Slovenia look like they might be standing on the sidelines at kids' sporting matches and freezing their butts off, but they have got bright green mittens. Although there is no green in their flag, the reasoning for this is because it symbolizes "the country's lush forested landscape".

Spain are rocking their red snowsuits and bobble hats, asking, why be stylish when you can be fun?

Chinese Taipei have great boots.

Uzbekistan appear to have left some brand new jeans in with the whites.

Team USA have duffle jackets and knitted jumpers with their flag incorporated into them, belted baggy trousers and solid tramping boots. Their outfits are designed by Ralph Lauren and they look pretty fly. They are third last becasue they will host the 2034 Winter Olympics.

France will host the 2030 Olympics, so they are the penultimate team on the catwalk, wearing all white with blue and red accented highlights.

And Italy bring up the rear, as it were, as the current hosts. Designed by Giorgio Armani, are fairly military-looking with understated grey trousers and jackets with red, white and green trim with matching bobble hats. The music changes for them as DJ Mace shifts the tunes to some banging rave opera Rossini samples. And that's your lot.

Friday Five: Tennis Observations from the Australian Open

Naomi Osaka's garb was the talk of the court, and beyond, as she emerged from the catwalk tunnel in a jellyfish inspired getup. It consisted of (and I quote), "a pleated miniskirt over wide-legged trousers, a wide-brimmed hat with a white veil and a parasol, an on-court outfit featuring a watery turquoise and green palette and soft frills on the warm-up jacket and dress, alluding to tentacles". She says she is discovering beauty in unexpected places like the underwater world and working with artists who care about meaning.

She said, "Fashion for me really opened up when I stopped thinking about how it would be received and started thinking about how it made me feel". And it obviously makes her feel good because she played a great game to move through to the second round. The young Croatian opponent didn't know what hit them. After all, why float like a butterfly and sting like a bee when you can do both like a jellyfish?

Incidentally, if everyone else is trying to stand out, Stan Wawrinka is going for the opposite approach and is practically camouflaged in his blue and white outifit on the Show Court Arena. His match against Arthur Gea (at 21 years old, Gea is nearly half the age of Wawrinka) went for four and a half hours with conditions and momentum changing frequently. Wawrinka appeared to love every minute of the epic five set match with a final set tie-break, even joining in a Mexican wave in an unscheduled pause for Gea to fix his shoe. The stealth approach clearly worked as Wawrinka is back to contest another round, once he gets out of the ice-bath.

The way Jannik Sinner is playing, he really didn't look as though he needed any assistance, but he got a free pass when his opponent, Hugo Gaston, withdrew from the game. Sinner was up two sets (6-2, 6-1) and appeared imperious, when Gaston called for an end to the contest and sat down to sob beneath a towel. Sinner sportingly went to commiserate and said in his post-match interview that he was surprised by the retirment although he could see that Gaston wasn't at his best. It's never nice to see someone abandon a game due to illness or injury, but Sinner bounced back and used the extra rest to breeze through his next round against the hotly-favoured-by-the-crowd Australian, James Duckworth.

Novak Djokovic plays a stunning game, and it is great to see him looking fit and fast and covering the court so fluidly with strength and perfect angles. I only saw the first-round win in straight sets, as I had to work (booo!) when he played the second round during the day, but as the score was exactly the same (6-3, 6-2, 6-2), I imagine it was equally comprehensive. Cue all the comments about how amazing it is that he can still manage to swing a racquet at the ripe old age of 38. He's still my favourite.

Gael Monfils bade farewell to Melbourne Park in a game that lasted for nearly four hours. There is something quintissentially French about the way Monfils shrugs and slouches his way through some spectacular tennis making it seem effortless. The crowd love him, even if he was playing an Aussie, Dane Sweeny. There was an on-court presentation for Monfils as he completed his 20th main draw at this tournament, accompanied by a standing ovation. It was all done respectfully and in a spirit of camaraderie and Sweeney, having secured his first ever win at Grand Slam level, managed to master his emotion in the post-match interview even when told he was up before Monfil's award because 'winners go first, mate.' Stay classy, Australia.

The top-seeded women are killing it, leaving the drama to those lower in the rankings. Number one seed, Aryna Sabalenka has cruised through her first two matches (6-4, 6-1 and 6-3, 6-1) despite being a little frustrated at dropping games due to the high standfards she sets herself. She also had to counter calls from other players for her to be banned due to the illegal Russian war, to which she replied, "Obviously I want peace, and if I could change anything, I would definitely do that. Other than that, I have nothing else to say. I am here for tennis. I have said enough in the past, and I don't want to talk politics here." I have thoughts about this issue, and whether politics can be kept out of sport, but I'm not sure taking up individual cases is the way to address it.

The next three seeds - Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova - have also all won their first two games in straight sets (albeit with Swiatek facing a tie-break in the first round). Thigs seem to be going according to plan.

New York Nostalgia: City of Girls

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

Bloomsbury

Pp. 466

This novel of New York and nostalgia is written in the framework of a letter. When Angela writes to Vivian asking, “Given that my mother has passed away, I wonder if you might now feel comfortable telling me what you were to my father?” Vivian decides to respond with the story of her life and, although we don’t actually know who Angela or her father is, and it’s quite some way through the book before we discover that, the format leads to a conversational style as Vivian talks to Angela without trying to upset or offend her.

Vivian grows up in a typical conservative WASP family in upstate New York, where there is an assumption that she will go to college, find a husband and settle down into the life of a wife and mother. Due to reasons of lethargy and lack of engagement, her parents pack her off to New York to stay with her Aunt Peg, who happens to run a rather dilapidated playhouse. Vivian has always been told that she hasn’t got a lot of talent, but she can sew, and she is soon making costumes for all the productions and winning friends with her skill with a needle and a tight budget.

When Vivian reaches New York and meets the showgirls, she is wildly distracted by their gossip and their glamour, and entranced by their lifestyle, which is different from anything she has ever known. The leader of this troop is the outrageously entitled personification of a whirlwind, Celia Ray. Her behaviour is infuriating and inconsiderate, but Vivian is happy to tolerate it because it makes her feel included into another world of conviction, enthusiasm and, above all, youth.

The novel is a love story to a time and a place. The time was the 1940s; the place was New York City, more specifically, the Lily Playhouse. Sure, there was a war approaching, but with the callow and shallow nature of self-obsessed youth, Vivian managed to disregard it, even though her brother had just joined the navy. New York is a city of dreams, possibilities and action, and in Vivian’s eyes and breathless descriptions, the Lily Playhouse is where these dramas take shape. It would be a fabulous, chaotic place to work, but the business model is unsustainable, and it is the sort of atmosphere that can be regarded fondly with hindsight, but not last forever or be recreated. Elizabeth Gilbert, through Vivian’s reminisces, is expert at blending the brilliance with the base, and tempering the glow of nostalgia with the grit of reality.

A theatre is the perfect metaphor for presenting a bright surface to conceal a shabby behind, and the shows that were staged at the Lily are the essence of this. “To my mind there was never anything better than those simple, enthusiastic revues. They made me happy. They were designed to make people happy without making the audience work too hard to understand what was going on.”

Vivian spends a lot of her youth being told who she is, and what she should be, by men. She discovers another talent – that of making men desire her – and she works that angle for all it is worth, and far beyond, damaging her own and others’ relationships in the process. There is a freedom of sex which she interprets as power; it is not as if she enjoys the act itself, but she does relish the game. She is callous and flippant and frivolous, and she loves every second of it, until she becomes entangled in a scandal and is judged, again unfairly, for her part in the affair – men get away with indiscretions; women are discreetly got away. In typical Moll Flanders style, the later bits of her life, when she comes to realisations and profundities are not as interesting as the titillating sections of her wild youth.

City of Girls is mainly fun and frivolous. It has some dark moments hiding in the shadows, waiting for the bright lights of the big city or the playhouse to fade to leave behind the reality of life. It is a paean to concealment; through theatre, fashion and sex, but it is not superficial. It is one person’s account, but it is also a universal truth. After all, as someone who knew a bit about theatre once wrote, “All the world’s a stage.”

Loud but Never Square: 200 Years of Australian Fashion

“Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new.” - Henry David Thoreau, Walden

This exhibition highlights distinguishing features of Australian fashion through the work of more than ninety designers and makers. From the early dressmakers of colonial Sydney and mid-century salons of Melbourne's Collins Street to the inner-city studios of contemporary designers, this exhibition considers what and who has defined Australian dress.

I love the way it is curated, with each room concentrating on a different aspect or era of fashion - the lighting, setting and sound in each section has been carefully selected to highlight and support the appreciation of the progress or otherwise of design. Fashion is art: Sometimes it's brilliant; sometimes it's beautiful; sometimes it's banal; sometimes it's just pants.

We begin with colonial fashion, of which very few examples remain, as the early settlers were a little too preoccupied with establishing cities, industries and infrastructure to worry about preserving dresses. Fashion throughout the Western world at this time was inspired by developments in Paris and London, with fabric often imported from China and India. Being geographically close to these centres, Australia became part of this international fabric trade.

Empire-line and gold thread

When the gold-rush struck in the mid-nineteenth century people from around the world flocked to Melbourne, which became one of the richest cities in the world. In both Sydney and Melbourne dress was used to symbolise wealth, power and status.

The next section was set out like a department store, which feature changed the nature of urban shopping in Australia between 1850 and 1880. large emporiums of imposing grandeur with arcade windows, stylish interiors, tempting displays and a prodigious array of merchandise were flourishing in all the state capitals.

I heard some women saying how much they admired the tiny waists of these outfits and expressed a longing that they could wear such garments now. Clearly they didn't read (or care about) the accompanying panels that explained the supporting foundations that made the outward show possible. Women squeezed themselves into contraptions of steel and whale bone, crushing their bones, bruising their rib-cages and loosing their breath and consciousness to conform to the contemporary stereotypical image of feminine beauty.

Department stores created an environment where fashionable middle-class ladies could shop at their leisure. They were offered well-appointed mirrored areas, comfortable seating, fresh flowers, rest rooms and sections dedicated to different garments and apparel, such as fine gowns, underwear or millinery.

Accessories!

In the eighteenth-century the tailoring and dressmaking trades were traditionally divided between the sexes. Tailoring, historically practiced by men is the careful art of measurements, pattern cutting and shaping, while dressmaking is based on draping fabric round a form and was traditionally practiced by women. This division of labour was adopted all over the world and gave women in particular the ability to develop independent fashion businesses and trades.

In the nineteenth-century these conventions began to erode and tailors began to make men's as well as women's equestrian wear. While dressmaking and tailoring were sometimes an individual pursuit, early department stores, drapers and retailers often had their own in-house workshops in order to cater to clients' individual orders and tastes. This section was laid out like a workshop with dressmakers' dummies, bolts of cloth and tailoring equipment strategically scattered throughout.

Afternoon dress (c. 1878) by Miss Margaret Scott

Miss Margaret Scott was considered one of Brisbane's leading dressmakers. She was known for her French taste and her gowns used fine imported fabrics, such as China silks as well as detailed finishes. She also labelled her garments following the precedent set by Parisian couturier Charles Frederick Worth. Miss Scott employed a small team of dressmakers and apprentices at her workshop and showroom - they made hand-finished gowns but they also used sewing machines, which had been introduced to Australia in the late 1950s.

These gowns are displayed with gilt mirrors and glass; satin drapes and plushly upholstered furniture; chandeliers and revolving stages, to mimic the prestigious department stores with their magnificent window displays and in-house parades. Many of these garments were one-off made-to-measure gowns based on French designs, involving ruching, beading and embroidery, and juxtaposing cling and drape.

An alternative silhouette to the romantic full-skirted gowns of the early 1950s, this embellished sheath projects Hollywood glamour. Creating a long slender line, fitted styles such as this caused hips to become a focal point. Emphatic details such as ruffles, darts or pleats often figured at the top of skirts to draw attention to womanly curves.

The ascendancy of youth culture and the look associated with it were pivotal to the radical social changes that took place in the 1960s. As areas of art, design and pop culture merged, fashion came to be seen and experienced in totally different ways. From the world of intimate exclusive salons to new swinging urban boutiques, fashion in Australia underwent a tremendous cultural transformation at this time. As ready-to-wear replaced custom-made, a new generation of talented young designers emerged to produce garments for their modern lifestyles.

From mini to maxi, baby-doll to unisex, fashion shifted from middle-age to teenage as the formal categories of day and evening-wear were exchanged for casual dress and the top-down dictates of couture were swapped for the trickle-up effect of the street.

In 1965 English model Jean Shrimpton caused a great stir when she appeared at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne in a white shift mini-dress that sparked controversy by being daringly short - the hem was four inches above the knee. She was paid a $2,000 fee (astronomical at the time) to be the judge of Fashion in the Field but conservative Melbourne was shocked and felt she had snubbed them by wearing no stockings, hat, or gloves, and they openly scorned and jeered her. Later she said, "I feel Melbourne isn't ready for me yet. It seems years behind London."

Naturally she was defended by the British press who wrote, "surrounded by sober draped silks and floral nylons, ghastly tulle hats and fur stoles, she was like a petunia in an onion patch." Every young girl wanted to be free, cool and elegant, like 'The Shrimp'. It was considered a pivotal moment in Australian women's fashion, and the typed words from various papers were projected on the walls above the fashion displays.

Corduroy was newly adopted as a fashion fabric in the 1960s, being well suited to the execution of a sharp, tailored line. The belted waist of this outfit reflects the early 1970s trend towards unisex attire, which saw traditionally ascribed masculine and feminine codes of dress become more androgynous. 

In 1973 Jenny Klee opened her Flamingo Park 'frock salon' in Sydney's Strand Arcade. She and her friend and fellow designer, Linda Jackson, produced clothing that was grounded in an affection for Australian iconography: kitsch and craft inspired by the landscape, Indigenous culture, and local flora and fauna.

Jenny Klee and Linda Jackson

Flamingo Park fashions

 

 

By the late 1970s, an alternative inner-urban fashion scene was evident in Australian cities. Australian fashion designers and makers were experimenting with unconventional materials and methods, and re-configuring traditional craft practices, blurring the lines between fashion and art.

To show off the force of established design in Australia, The Powerhouse Museum staged an exhibition, Australian Fashion: The Contemporary Art in 1989, of more than fifty designers, milliners, jewellers, shoemakers and textile artists. The exhibition later travelled to the Victoria and Albert Museum. This section, set up like a model catwalk with flashing lights and pulsing music (by The Cure and New Order among others) was a highlight.

 

Patchwork of Society by Alasdair MacKinnon - a collaborative work inspired by woollen 'waggas' - blankets made with tailors' swatches in Australia during the 1920s Depression 

 

 

 

 

 

Contemporary Australian designers respond to the country's landscape and reflect on the creative possibilities of cloth. They have responded to these conditions with innovation, ingenuity, humour and irony. While these designers have absorbed artistic, architectural, local and international influences, increasingly they are referencing Australian fashion history and the work of local designers of the past.

In the twenty-first century Australian fashion is a reaction to and revision of the existing fashion system.Today, as in its past, Australian fashion offers a rich landscape of possibility that each designer engages with in their own unique way.