An Illustrated Fashion Blog by Angie Réhe

While most of my friends were working on their tans last summer and generally having a social life, I was living a mushroom-like existence, up to my elbows in pencils and ink.  What’s new you ask?  Not much! Except that taking pride of place right now on my bookshelf is my copy of The Model’s Handbook, published this month by Penguin books, and illustrated by moi.

Words from the wise written by Marlene Donovan, it’s jam-packed with incredibly useful advice for both guys and gals wanting to make a career from modeling.  But really – who reads the words anyway when you have such a fabulous array of illustrations to feast your eyes on!

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Exactly 42 days ago I was standing on the rooftop of the Met Museum in NY feeling like a shrimp on a barbie and sweating from pores I didn’t know I had.  I have to try very hard to remember how this felt because this morning doing the all-too-familiar sprint to the train station my nose came close to snapping off from frostbite.  My skin is dried out and I forget what my neck looks like because I pretty much shower in scarves right now.

What the hell is going on Melbs?  The trees seem to know Spring is coming so when are you going to get on board?

Just asking.

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I need only the flimsiest reason to visit Paris, particularly when it’s just a channel away.  Cristobal Balenciaga, Collectionneur de modes was the deciding factor, and the plethora of other shows were just icing on the cake.

Besides being one of the most influential and talented designers of the 20th Century (he was one of the few designers throughout fashion history who could actually design, cut, and sew the garments with his own hands), Balenciaga was also an avid collector of historical garments which formed an inspirational archive for him to draw on.

Keeping up the Parisian tradition of curating incredible shows, this exhibition showcases garments from his historical archive, along side garments which the curators consider to be the likely outcome of the inspiration.  Genius!

It may have taken a little walking in circles and a lot of swearing to find the temporary new home of the Musee Galliera, but it was so well worth it.

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Take it from someone who escaped to 22 days of northern hemisphere summer (with the exception of London) and inspiration – it’s stinking cold and pretty miserable here in Melbourne – still.  Of course we Australians wouldn’t dare complain about the rain, having almost ran out of water last summer, but oh my it’s hard to force yourself out of the house.

But of course it’s worth it when you do and what better reason than to learn to draw?!  Fashion Illustration! The Patsyfox Drawing Salon opens up a new term next week, so get in quick.  Places left in all levels – Introduction to Fashion Illustration, the brand-spanking-new Next Level, and Super Sunday Sessions in Creative Fashion Illustration (advanced).

The Next Level is the new kid on the block, and addresses the gap between the Introductory course and the advanced classes, where core skills are reinforced, new media explored, and new territory covered – like Menswear for example!

Learn more here, or contact me with any questions.

Some of the fabulousness of last term… Or view the student gallery here.

City of lights, city of love, to me – city of light red wine, goats cheese & fresh tomato stack, cafe creme, lemon tart, waiters who flirt with you, hilariously rude service, and let’s not forget – city of Art! There’s nothing shabby about the art scene in New York and London but when we reached Paris I was thrilled and stressed at the same time to see a formidable line-up of must-see exhibitions, and just 48hrs to do it…

Step 1?  Stick a bottle of red in your bag and head through the streets to the Seine then follow it all the way to the fabulous Eiffel Tower and create a bit of your own art.  Stopping for a cafe creme first, bien sur!

Art starts on the streets.

Chilling on the grass with Jaclyn.

‘Cristobal Balenciaga: Fashion Collector’ at Les Docks – full splendorous post coming this weekend -worth the wait…

And right next door – Comme Des Garcons ‘White Drama’ – full post also coming…

Bob Dylan – l’ explosion rock a la Cite de la musique.  So many brilliant photos by Daniel Kramer in the 60s.

And the poster I just had to have – almost as wide as I am tall – and then escort back to Melbourne via London, Tokyo, and Sydney – now safely overseeing my drawing table.

Spotted in the tunnels of the Metro near la Cite de la musique – a Robert Crumb exhibition!!!  Paris just kept getting better…

And just when you think your happy bubble is as big as it can get, you see this poster around the corner from your hotel…But run out time to see the show!..But wait, it’s just up the street!  Cue 50m dash to see the exhibition when I should have already left for the airport.  Full points, it was ridiculously collectible and great.  How could it not be in a gallery called T Rex?

The spoils of the outing – vintage postcards and REAL Elvis gum from the halcyon days.  We may have technically missed our plane, but Elvis was smiling.  See you next time, Paris…

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Not a whole lot of drawing going on in old blighty so far, but plenty of talking about it, which is a start.  Feeling a little distracted by the pretty flags – everywhere, so beautiful!

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I admit to a slight obsession with the balloons floating overhead the Governors Ball.

How to spend a Sunday in New York?  Try a music festival on a grassy island in the summer sun.  Sure we fried in the sun, but Beck headlining and a spectacular ferry ride back to Manhattan at the end complete with drenching-by-rain made it all pretty sweet.

Not an entirely shabby way home.

Straight back into the gallery action today with the Gagosian gallery on both Madison and in Chelsea.  Amazing to see so many Picasso artworks with no-one around!  I wouldn’t have found it myself without the hot tip and company of the fabulous George, who later ignored my resistance to the idea of trekking to The Strand to peruse the endless shelves of covetable books.  Resistance was indeed futile.

Hours later I still have ridges in my arms from the many kilos of books.  Only a glass or two at Balthazar could soothe the pain.  And how.

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Prada: Women always try to tame themselves as they get older, but the ones who look best are often a bit wilder.  Thinking about age all the time is the biggest prison women can make for themselves.

Shiaparelli: Ninety per cent [of women] are afraid of being conspicuous and of what people will say.  So they buy a grey suit.  They should dare to be different.  Although I am very shy… I have never been shy of appearing in public in the most fantastic and personal get up.

34 degrees on its way to a predicted 36, what felt like 100% humidity, and everything chafing.  Undeterred and taking in a record number of Starbucks iced lattes on the way, we trekked uptown today to the Met Museum and took in the delights of Shiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations.

While it never would have occurred to me to group these two designers together in a show, I have to admit the similarities in their approach and scope is striking.  The Met Museum never fails to mount an excellent and thoughtful exhibition, and they have access to an incredible archive of garments.

Baz Luhrmann has directed a series of orchestrated conversations between Elsa Shiaparelli and Muccia Prada which play out on the walls behind the garments.  Somewhat contrived but interesting nevertheless, Judy Davis plays the role of Shiaparelli.  One of the more interesting points raised was Shiaparelli’s conviction that the upper body was the most important and therefore where she concentrated design features.  Why?  Because a woman in society was generally sitting at a dinner table and therefore only seen from the waist up.  Hence the heavily beaded/embroidered jackets, shoulder pads etc.  In contrast, Prada is more interested in the lower half of a body, saying it is the centre of more power – sex and birth for example!

The beautiful cloth-bound catalogue was selling for $45, or if you’re not dropping by NY in the next little while you can grab yourself a copy through Booko for around $38.  Do yourself a favour.

Thank you to the guards who were so slack in spotting the sneaky photographers!  Needless to say, you’ll find much better in the book.

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Though starting the day at all is a slight challenge right now as my body refuses to accept the new time zone, when I eventually did start it, it was a winner.  Spending the afternoon with the incredibly special Bil Donovan?  Unbelievable. Topping it off with a night of life drawing at the Society of Illustrators, followed by a classic burger at a Soho diner?  Supremo.

My interview with Bil will be appearing soon.

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