1912-1954 Jacques Fath

[DosViolines]

Fath Black Taffeta Two-Piece Dress
Grisette, French, 1951
Horizontally gathered and tucked, fitted blouse with round neck and black button closure down center front, elbow length sleeve with starched white handkerchief linen cuffs, voluminous skirt shaped into umbrella folds, crinoline lined, thin black leather belt, size 4, labeled: Jacques Fath/Paris.
See Harper's Bazaar, September 1951, p.157 for wool version, "outstanding success of the Paris collections".

doylenewyork

 

[DosViolines]

thefrock

 

[SomethingElse]

This is a detail image of one of the dresses in post #3.

1951 Ball gown. Black silk velvet with ivory silk satin, white mink, and gold metal trim. Known for flattering dinner dresses that set off the head and shoulders with an audacious décolletage, Fath created a cantilevered outer bodice with a modest ivory satin underbodice. The extended plane of the outer bodice is like the soaring shapes of Saarinen's buildings, establishing an artifice within the canon of modernist restraint. Fath played with contrast—of matte and shiny, of ivory and black, of white fur and gold bullion—as a rich textural perimeter for the dress.

metmuseum.org

 

[DosViolines]

Jacques Fath Evening Gown & Ephemera, 1949

whitakerauction

 

[DosViolines]

Jacques Fath Silk Cocktail Ensemble, Late 1940

whitakerauction

 

[DosViolines]

Jacques Fath Reversible Linen Dress, 1949

whitakerauction

 

[cheiby11]

beautiful thread!

 

[DosViolines]

Jacques Fath Evening Gown, c. 1950

whitakerauction

 

[DosViolines]

Lady Alexandra wearing a Jacques Fath evening dress, Paris, 1948.

vam.ac.uk

 

[SomethingElse]

A rare and early Jacques Fath ball gown and matching cape, early 1940s, the gown labelled `Jacques Fath, Paris', of deep rose-pink satin, zip-fastened centre-front and with zips to both cuffs, the bodice embroidered with stylised flowers and seeds, large elliptical topaz coloured pastes, chunky beads and raised couched threads and braids and scattered silver and gold sequins, the gently gathered skirt which culminates in a padded, quilted band at the hem; the matching cape with similar quilted detailing to the angular collar and hem, bust 91cm, 36in, waist 71cm, 28in, (2) Jacques Fath (1912-1954) was one of the most influential designers in post-war Paris. His first collection was in 1937 and he was named as one of the most important designers of 1939. On the outbreak of World War II he enlisted in the army and was taken prisoner in 1940. On his release he re-opened his house in Rue François 1st with his wife Genevieve and produced clothes for those who could afford them during the occupation until 1944 when he moved to Avenue Pierre. His success grew as did his client list and he named among them Rita Hayworth who chose him to design her trousseau for her wedding to Ali Khan. He died of leukaemia aged forty-two.

kerrytaylorauctions.com

 

[SomethingElse]

Watermelon chiffon cocktail gown, mid 1950s, labelled, with horizontal pleats of chiffon to the breast in contrast to the narrow vertical pleats of the skirt which gradually widen towards the rear seat of the dress.

kerrytaylorauctions.com

 

[DosViolines]

Modèle de Jacques Fath automne-hiver Paris 1955
Vintage Fashion Photography

 

[DosViolines]

W. Maywald. Jacques Fath .1950
Vintage Fashion Photography

 

[Navygreen]

Dress at post #38 is so beautiful <3

 

[SomethingElse]

1959s, silk.

imamuseum.org

 

[gius]

my instructor was trained by Lucien Pierres, the head/overseer of Fath's workshops (in Paris i believe) ..like Chanel's Mme Martine

one evening she brought her embroideries and beadworks
it was interesting to see it with a likeness to the work here, especially this piece
http://www.thefashionspot.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=62224&d=1116860139
http://i19.tinypic.com/4tr0nb6.jpg
i've never seen such unique embroidery, they really look like jewelry as themselves, just attached to garments.. so many materials. even the thread looks like jewelry

 

[gius]

This dress was worn by Lady Alexandra

Lady Alexandra Howard-Johnston (later Lady Dacre) was the wife of the Naval Attaché to Paris, 1948-50. She required an extensive wardrobe for the many formal dinners and state functions that she had to attend.
Lady Alexandra wore this dress at the official visit of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip to Paris in May 1948. She recalled that when she arrived at the Théâtre de l'Opéra with her husband, the Garde Nationale suddenly sprang to attention. 'I realised they had mistaken us for the Princess and Duke. That was the effect made by my splendid Fath.'
In 1971 Lady Alexandra gave some of her couture clothes to the photographer Cecil Beaton. He was assembling a large collection of fashionable garments to be given to the V&A and displayed in his exhibition Fashion: an Anthology. The V&A has kept Beaton's correspondence with designers, royalty and leading socialites of the day.

Evening dress (robe de gala)
Jacques Fath (1912-54)
Paris
1948 spring/summer
Silk satin, embroidered by Rébé with sequins and beads
Given by Lady Alexandra Dacre
Museum no. T.184&A-1974


vam.ac.uk

 

[gius]

Photography of Lady Alexandra modelling the dress by Jacques Fath worn to the official visit of Princess Elizabeth to Paris in 1948
Private collection


vam.ac.uk

 

[gius]

Iris Gris - parfum

Jacques Fath entered the Parisian high fashion system in 1937, continued during the war but his great moments were during the 50's the New Look Era. Until his premature death (1954) he was as famous as Dior or Balenciaga. He lacked the financial and business support that made Dior a big name, he was not a shape inventor like Balenciaga but he brought into Paris fashion a spirit of youth. A very handsome man, with his very beautiful wife (a mannequin) they were the king and queen of parties.

Jacques Fath put his youth spirit into perfume, right after the war, as did Balmain, Dior, Nina Ricci, Balenciaga, Piguet. His perfumes were not produced by Roure but he started with Coty and Vincent Roubert created the very first fragrances.
Iris Gris, an unknown jewel of French perfumery and one of the very best fragrances ever created, appeared on the market in the same moment when Miss Dior, L'air du temps, Coeur Joie made their debut and all of them bottled the youth spirit. It was 1947 - the legendary New Look - when springtime put a definitive end to the war period.

Until recent years, orris was not a common note (soliflore) in perfumery and there were a few orris perfumes but Iris gris is by far a monument of perfumery. I knew Iris gris but Denyse made an amazing discovery and found a sealed vintage Iris Gris perfume and thanks to her I was able to resmell it.

In 1947 something happened in the perfume industry. As Dior created new fashions that required a huge amount of fabric (impossible during the war) in the perfume industry ingredients became available again and also new ingredients made their way. The time when Roudnitska created Femme (1944) with what he succeeded to find in those hard days were over. Italy was liberated and started to produce orris. As it take 3 years to process the orris and obtain the concrete, we could say that 1947 (3 years after 1944) was also the time when new "free" orris entered the market again. It was also a time when the great chemists from Givaudan and Firmenich did intensive research on orris components, their synthesis and their production. Some Swiss patents from 1946-1948 show the great interest in "irone" research. Irones, a key ingredient in the orris concrete, are expensive products (even today) and though they are "cousins" of the famous ionones and methylionones (used in perfumes since the end of the 19th century) their production was far easy. The chemists Ruzicka and Naves established their chemical structure in 1947 . Providing important clients with expensive, tailor-made molecules, before they were on the market for everyone was a practice still in fashion today (the captives).

In October 1946 Firmenich came with a Swiss patent, a new production method of the highly appreciated irone that made possible new formulations for violet-orris perfumes.
In 1946-1947 orris was suddenly trendy: new molecules, available natural product.
Dior created enormous and expensive clothes. Fath created one of the most expensive and beautiful perfume - Iris gris with more than 35% of the natural orris inside. In 1946 Germaine Cellier created Coeur Joie a floral aldehydic with an orris note and in 1947 for Balmain Elysée 64-83, a floral jasmine (animalic) with aldehydes and orris concrete. Twisting the No5 formula with an orris variation was not a new idea. Chanel Mademoiselle No1, a lost perfume analyzed by Givaudan was a No5 formula with a high percentage with a special methyl ionone (violet-orris note). Orris notes were in the air in 1947 but they will not survive the huge success of Miss Dior and l'Air du temps.
Iris Gris, a perfume that captured the spirit of its time, was created by Vincent Roubert, the great perfumer from Coty, who was in charge with Coty's perfumes since mid 20's and who did the beautiful l'Aimant (a number 5 variation). But Coty created around 1913 a perfume that was never a success though it's a interesting creation - Iris. Iris by Coty is a typical orris concrete note with a spicy touch (like l'Origan) and an animalic jasmin-indole undertone.

Vincent Roubert, the Coty perfumer, was for sure inspired by the previous creation when he did Iris Gris, but he made it modern, youthful and pure. Iris Gris from 1947 is as modern today as it was in those days and though I smelled a vintage one ... the perfume has no wrinkle. It's a pure modernist perfume like Mies van der Rohe architecture (Barcelona pavilion) where simple lines are combined with expensive materials and textures.

Iris gris is clean but not soapy, rich but not old-dusty, with an idea as clear as today's Ellena creations and with a weightless lightness, hard to imagine with the ingredients of 1947. A perfume better than any orris niche perfume of today, simple and clear.

The perfume (a floral woody fruity but in fact an orris soliflore) is constructed around 2 ideas: orris notes + peach. Because orris and violet molecules are in general metallic/cold and usually express melancholy, the perfumer avoided this tendency with a soft peach note (undecalactone) that evokes a girlish skin complexion. The orris note is composed with all known orris notes (ionones, irones, methyl ionones, natural orris more than 35%). The woody note is mainly cedar-vetiver (their acetates for a light woody note). All other notes (jasmine, lily of the valley, heliotrope-lilac) are delicately drawn to support the floral-orris note and not to show their presence. There is an almost hard to detect chypre note (oakmoss - but I'm still not sure for that) and a light celery note (tuberose aspect and another trendy note in the 40-50's used in traces) still to check. There is of course musk and a very light carnation like that in l'Air du temps.
Iris Gris is the breath of angels!

PS: Iris Gris is often said to be from 1946, but as it was released later that year, I chose 1947 because I think the perfume was intended for springtime (see Fath couture collection&colours from that year) .

text from 1000fragrances.blogspot.com
image 1949 ad from okadi.com

 

[gius]

It seems we have reached the age where nothing is sacred any longer. We find ourselves at parties sitting around with other women, comparing leg hair and talking about the pros and cons of circumcision. So, it comes as little sacrifice to share one of those stories that used to make us cringe, but now serves as a big laugh.
Many years ago, when we were just a naive young girl (no, that's not the funny part) starting a career, we went to an office party in a blouse similar to this one. There is a very critical difference between the two, which we will divulge later. Anyway, we were in charge of handing out the drink tickets, and had a huge roll of tickets tucked neatly under our arm as we circulated throughout the room.
A good while into the cocktail hour, a co-worker finally had the decency to sidle up and whisper that our blouse was unbuttoned. And yes, as it was an asymmetrically buttoned blouse, and the button had come undone smack over the left boob. And no, we were not wearing a bra. Come to think of it, I guess this story still makes us cringe. Anyway, the offending blouse was disposed of, and we never could look an asymmetrical shirt in the eye again.
Now for the critical difference between that blouse and this version. The button holes of that horrid blouse were stitched vertically, and were just begging for the buttons to escape containment. The buttons of this blouse, however, are blessedly stitched horizontally, so the button stays put. Given a somewhat military look, this silky steel gray poly blouse has a stand up collar, with four stitched pleats down either side of the front. A nipped waist in the back gives it curve.

Made in France for the Jacques Fath Boutique, it is in excellent condition. Bust measures 34", waist 32", hips 37", shoulder 15", sleeve 23", length 26". $115
retrodress.com