The fashions are three years old…
but I’m in love with this two hundred (plus) year old background
to the Vogue photo shoot in France under the creative direction of
Grace Coddington…the heroine of The September Issue documentary
released in 2009. Caught a glimpse of the last half on TV the other
night and loved getting a peek behind the scenes of these
incredible photos, and the dreamy aesthetic and drive
of Coddington’s imagination.
The pages of this photo shoot were done at Versailles…
The escalated art form of painted boiserie never fails to
thrill me.
Madame Dange…from my earlier If Walls Could talk post here
La Révélation du Cabinet des Fables here
This wonderful video tells the story of a restoration of a c. 1750 boiserie, painted with illustrations
from La Fontaines fables, in the boudoir of Madame Dange’s home on the Place Vendome. A subsequent
heavily gilded redo of the boiserie by a 19th century French military governor is carefully removed on
half of the walls, leaving behind both 18th and 19th century versions to illustrate the different
aesthetics of both eras.
Back in the pages of Vogue…
The teal scrolled with romanticized gilt…
Always keep your eyes open…
Here’s a clip from the documentary that focuses on Grace Coddington
gazing over the gardens of Versailles …out of the whole bustle and glitz of the movie
she was the most inspirational element…a fellow dreamer…
(click to start, and then click watch on YouTube)
More about Grace here
Just a bit of eye candy for the end of September…
a diversion from all things practical!
A celebration of the beauty in the background…
More from my Paris Cafe post here
More gorgeous boiserie on Lyrical Walls here