Yves Saint Laurent: The Retrospective

This summer I got the chance to visit the Yves Saint Laurent exhibit at the Denver Art Museum.  I felt so lucky that its only North American stop was right in my backyard.  

On my way into the exhibit, I stopped with my kids at a fun design station the art museum had in conjunction with the Yves Saint Laurent exhibit.  There was an activity for each step in the design process.  My kids loved doing it, and I thought it was pretty fun too.  :)

First, we made inspiration boards:

Then we sketched.  If you weren't artistically inclined, there were lightboxes you could use to trace templates.  I drew my own clothing, but I'm awful at drawing people, so I traced the form.  Now I kind of want my own lightbox--that would making pattern tracing SO much easier!

 

 

Here's my sketch!  

After sketching, you could drape a dress form, make a little tiny draped dress on a toy dress form, and model dresses on the runway.  I didn't bother with these, since I couldn't actually make what I wanted.  :)  But my kids thought they were great, which was kind of the point anyway.  :)

 

 

After having fun with the fashion design, I entered the Yves Saint Laurent exhibit.

 

Photography is absolutely prohibited in the exhibit (and they mean it!  I saw one lady get angrily booted from the exhibit!), so I got a few pictures from the Denver Post website and the Denver Art Museum website to show you (The two above, however, are mine.  No rules against taking a picture of the entrance...).

The exhibit starts of with his years as a designer at Dior.  

And then moves, somewhat chronologically (but not strictly so) through his other designs.  

They also had an area with his world-inspired designs...

...and an entire hall dedicated his use of color...

...not to mention, all of his tuxedo suits.

At the end of the exhibit was a display of his ball gowns.  

 

Since photography wasn't allowed, I took notes on my program about which dresses were my favorites, and then looked them up later in the exhibit's book.  

The Dior years are my favorite, since really I'm a Dior girl at heart.  The 1950s silhouette is my favorite.  

The colors in this one were amazing.  

I thought this was such a cute secretary-style dress.

Grace Kelly wore this one! 

I typically prefer the dresses, but I liked this pantsuit.  I especially liked the bow blouse and the cute hat.  Hats need to make a comeback.  :)

 

This one was from a collection of his that did not do well. I love this dress though.  It was made in the 1970s, but with a 1940s flair.  I'd wear it.  

This cape was amazing.  

There were so many beautiful clothes in that exhibit!  I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did! 

Balance

Every time I lose a follower, I stress out a little bit. It happens when I go too long between posts, or I don't post about sewing often enough. I want to be liked. I want my blog to be a success. I look at other blogs, ones that were little when I first started, and see them with hundreds or thousands of followers and get a little stressed. I see their fancy layouts, their gorgeous pictures, their travel to blog conferences, and I get a little stressed.

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But, I've decided not to let it bother me. I don't have time in my life to be a big blogger. I don't have family nearby to watch my kids, a maid to do my housework, a co-blogger to share the workload of blogging with, and I have things I'd rather do with my free time than sell ads or edit my html.

My kids are at a critical age. What they learn and do now will make a huge difference in what kind of teenagers they'll be, what kind of men they'll be. My kids are at a point in their lives where they need a Mom who listens to them and helps them with dioramas more than they need a Mom who is locked in the sewing room/computer room all day trying to have a good blog.

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Why am I writing about this? Because I'm going to let go of the guilt and the pressure. I don't want to feel guilty that I didn't get a post written or have time to make a dress because I chose to go on a bike ride with my son.

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Probably, not much on this blog will change.  I'm just going to stop feeling pressured or guilty if I don't have time to blog.  If I only get a post or two written in a month, I'm just going to let it go. If I lose followers because I'm not posting often enough, so be it. I would much rather that I have good kids who turn out right than have lots of followers and comments. (Though wouldn't it be nice to have both.  :)  )

I'm going to share and be proud of the projects that I do and I'm not going to force myself to create a project JUST so I have content for the blog (I already said that I hate craftiness for craftiness' sake anyway).  I'm striving for balance, and if the scales are going to be tipped too far one way, I'd rather it be toward my family.

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A Wedding Fit For a Princess

I saw this display at JoAnn yesterday. Butterick has knocked off Cate Middleton's wedding dress (and Pippa's maid of honor dress, and the flower girl dress). Awesome.   :)