If today you have an hour or two free, preferably around 2 in the afternoon, a good way to spend such hour is at Drout, the famous auction house where they are having an auction of items from the garde-robe of Madame Denise Boulet-Poiret, wife of acclaimed designer Paul Poiret. Organized by Beaussanat-Lefevre, it features a wonderful collection of evening clothes, casual dress wear, shoes, linens and laces as well as paintings done by Poiret. And while most, if not all of the featured items are still out of reach for me (I still need a bit of time to participate in these kinds of auctions), I took the liberty of viewing the items yesterday, during its free exhibition and I’m very glad I did.
Drout itself is located in the 9th arrondissement, on a stretch of street filled with antique dealers and art galleries. You might say that the ambiance is set, once you set foot on the street. When I arrived during the first hour of the exhibition’s opening, the room which housed the Poiret collection was already packed. Filled with serious vintage lovers and collectors, I immediately recognized the smoky throated voice of the proprietor of Ragtime, a wonderfully tiny vintage shop located at the 6th arrondissement. I was thrilled to realize that I was in the company of professionals. The items up for sale themselves are all wonderfully well preserved examples of Poiret’s work, with some memorable pieces. All of the pieces reflect the different influences Poiret had on his work, for example several feature Chinese, Indian and even Persian motifs. I particularly loved the Modele Lavalliere, dating back from 1911, which was a fuschia silk dress with a dark blue lining, delicately embroidered with crystals all along the hems and neckline. Also memorable was the Modele Lure (environ 1924) which was Poiret’s take on the Indian sari, featuring a gold and orange color theme. Another showstopper was Lot No 70 (environ 1921) called Cavalier Hindou and it is a black and silver evening dress where a closer inspection reveals the motif to be hundreds of tiny Hindu cavaliers cavorting all over the dress. There were as well some striking coats and caftans, one of which was North African inspired and featured dramatic black and silver threads slashed down the length of the dress and voluminous sleeves. The organizers have also taken pains to include in their catalog pictures showing Madame Poiret actually wearing the items up for auction. Clearly these items were not just modeled but more importantly were actually lovingly worn.
Seeing the dates on all these clothes, I realized that they were made at least over 80 years ago now, and it is amazing to see that they reflect a very modern, forward way of dressing for a woman of the 20s. It was certainly an hour well spent amongst the company of collectors and lovers of fashion and makes me look forward to a time when I can view and perhaps participate, in an actual auction.
Drout itself is located in the 9th arrondissement, on a stretch of street filled with antique dealers and art galleries. You might say that the ambiance is set, once you set foot on the street. When I arrived during the first hour of the exhibition’s opening, the room which housed the Poiret collection was already packed. Filled with serious vintage lovers and collectors, I immediately recognized the smoky throated voice of the proprietor of Ragtime, a wonderfully tiny vintage shop located at the 6th arrondissement. I was thrilled to realize that I was in the company of professionals. The items up for sale themselves are all wonderfully well preserved examples of Poiret’s work, with some memorable pieces. All of the pieces reflect the different influences Poiret had on his work, for example several feature Chinese, Indian and even Persian motifs. I particularly loved the Modele Lavalliere, dating back from 1911, which was a fuschia silk dress with a dark blue lining, delicately embroidered with crystals all along the hems and neckline. Also memorable was the Modele Lure (environ 1924) which was Poiret’s take on the Indian sari, featuring a gold and orange color theme. Another showstopper was Lot No 70 (environ 1921) called Cavalier Hindou and it is a black and silver evening dress where a closer inspection reveals the motif to be hundreds of tiny Hindu cavaliers cavorting all over the dress. There were as well some striking coats and caftans, one of which was North African inspired and featured dramatic black and silver threads slashed down the length of the dress and voluminous sleeves. The organizers have also taken pains to include in their catalog pictures showing Madame Poiret actually wearing the items up for auction. Clearly these items were not just modeled but more importantly were actually lovingly worn.
Seeing the dates on all these clothes, I realized that they were made at least over 80 years ago now, and it is amazing to see that they reflect a very modern, forward way of dressing for a woman of the 20s. It was certainly an hour well spent amongst the company of collectors and lovers of fashion and makes me look forward to a time when I can view and perhaps participate, in an actual auction.
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