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Whenever I go to France, I recall a very special pilgrimage in 1996, to Albi, the home of my favourite artist Henri de Toulouse Lautrec.

Toulouse Lautrec

It was January, the best time to travel because there are no tourists.

In Albi we visited the family seat and the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec in Place Sainte-Cécile.

The museum was set up by his mother after his death at the age of 36 from syphilis and alcohol — because no one in Paris was interested in acquiring the work of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

The next day we drove about twenty miles from Albi to the family’s country house, the Château du Bosc.

It was late afternoon and the sun was turning the snow pink. To our surprise, the Château was open and we saw a tiny old woman in green gumboots pottering about in the garden. She invited us in, we paid the entrance fee and she proceeded to show us around.

She explained that everyone in the family was “born with a pencil in his hand” and after a day of shooting, they drew. Except of course Henri, who was crippled.

We looked at the wall where there were marks to measure his growth (maximum 4’11”). We saw his school notebooks filled with ‘scribbles’ that displeased his tutors. I was happy to hear this as I too was always in trouble for scribbling.

I remarked that it was fortunate that Toulouse Lautrec was a crippled dwarf because thus he spent his short life drawing and painting in brothels instead of riding and shooting in the French countryside.

My husband, whose French is better than mine, looked at me in horror but our guide was delighted, “That’s exactly what we all say!”

When it was time to leave, she told us her name: Nicole Bérengère Tapié de Céleyran, and as my husband surmised earlier, a direct descendant of Henri de Toulouse Lautrec.

Yvette Guilbert

Written by: Gladys Perint Palmer

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The buzzword in Paris is “flower power.” Remember you grandmother’s rubber petal swimming cap? Here it is in fabric on a savvy Dior client, blooming all over.

Words and Illustration by: Gladys Perint Palmer

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Armani Privé
7 place Vendôme
July 6, 11 a.m.

Giorgio Armani knows how to please clients who can afford, not borrow, Armani Privé — with 18th century floating ‘panniers’ in the back. In front, Front Row ladies of a very uncertain age, are on their own with unforgiving cut.

After Armani there wasn’t a taxi left on 7 place Vendôme. The Ritz erected ropes to contain the many hungry angry clients going out to lunch — without limos.

Armani Privé coming

Armani Privé going

Words and Illustration by: Gladys Perint Palmer

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Christian Dior by John Galliano
Musée Rodin, Paris
2:30 p.m., Monday July 5

We can all look like Christian Dior Haute Couture by taking Rob Curry’s corset class and Jean Lamprell’s tutu class — and don’t forget a roll of cellophane.

Words and Illustration by: Gladys Perint Palmer

Click here to read more of “Picture This” by GPP

At the time of writing this blog post (July 1st), there are changes in the Haute Couture schedule. As mentioned last week, you can access the schedule on www.modeaparis.com The exact translation is mode (fashion) à (at) Paris.

Givenchy whose slot was 4 p.m. on July 6 is now showing a few pieces to private clients and some members of the press who will better appreciate the cut, workmanship and fabrics.

The focus will be fashion and punctuality instead of celebrities and hours of waiting.

Hubert de Givenchy – or to be exact – Count Hubert James Marcel Taffin de Givenchy – opened his house in 1952 and retired in 1995. By then, he had sold the business to LVMH. Bernard Arnault installed John Galliano; followed by Alexander McQueen; followed by Julian Macdonald as design directors. In 2005 he appointed Riccardo Tisci.

During the original designer’s tenure the Givenchy shows, always at 9:30 a.m., started exactly on time. (As were Gianni Versace’s shows in Milan). When the Brit boys came on the scene the waiting time and the celebrity quotient rose alarmingly.

Last season, Givenchy Haute Couture was shown in the evening at the Intercontinental Hotel.

We waited. And waited. Kanye West and Amber Rose waited; Stella Tennant — who proves that after she has seen Paree she can go back to the farm and appear without makeup — waited; Hubert de Givenchy’s muse Bettina waited; Tavi Gevinson waited; seventy minutes after starting time, the press booed the arrival of R & B singer Ciara.

January 2010 Givenchy front row: Simone Micheline Bodin Graziani — otherwise known as Bettina, now in her mid eighties, and Hubert de Givenchy’s muse, after whom his first collection in 1952 was named — and the teenage blogger Tavi Gevinson waiting for the show to begin.

The next day she was quoted in WWD: “I’m so happy I was able to be on time — well, sort of.” Riccardo Tisci’s Givenchy was elegant, especially the tailored frock coats and the final exit: a hand pleated lilac and purple silk organza dress worn by Natalia Vodianova. On March 7th, this dress was worn by Zoe Saldana (from the movie Avatar) at the Oscars.

P.S. On June 3rd, Bettina Graziani was appointed Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters by Frédéric Mitterand, the Minister of Culture and Communication.

Written by: Gladys Perint Palmer

Click here to read more of “Picture This” by GPP

The only good thing about the incredibly shrinking Haute Couture in Paris is that there are far fewer letters to write.

To get an invitation, it is necessary to be accredited to a publication and then write to each house. I write to every one, in case. You can visit www.modeaparis.com to find the schedule, designers and more.

When I started covering Haute Couture, there was Yves Saint Laurent (himself), Hubert de Givenchy (himself), Emanuel Ungaro (himself), Valentino (himself), Gianni Versace (himself), Christian Lacroix (himself) Pierre Cardin (himself), Balmain (Oscar de la Renta), Lanvin (Claude Montana), and of course, the great survivors Christian Dior (John Galliano) and Chanel (Karl Lagerfeld). It was also the time when Carla Bruni Sarkozy, now the First Lady of France, was almost a supermodel.

Carla Bruni modeling Yves Saint Laurent at the Hotel Intercontinental in 1997

The schedule five days or longer. Now, it lasts three days and a fourth day has been allocated to the jewelers on or around Place Vendôme. Read more…

… and the last words of wisdom written on the Vancouver Gallery walls:

…What poet, sitting down to paint the pleasure caused by the sight of a beautiful woman, would venture to separate her from her costume?
– Charles Baudelaire

GPP: Remember, the woman comes first; the costume comes after. For a time you may strip the woman of her costume while you learn to draw the body.

Enjoy drawing the beautiful woman even if your model is not so beautiful and relish her costume.

Have a wonderful semester!

First the body..

…then the costume!

Written by: Gladys Perint Palmer

Click here to read more of “Picture This” by GPP

Here is the next great quote every artist can take to heart:

Every proper artist is more or less a realist according to his own eyes.
– Emile Zola

GPP: Yes, it is true, we all look at the same thing and see something different. Artists who paint see in ’shape;’ those who draw see in ‘line.’ Some see in combination. I happen to see everything in line.

And here is the rub. If your instructor sees the same as you, you will understand what he or she is talking about. That’s the reason students benefit from different instructors. We connect with artists via our eyeballs.

People who have astigmatism (a bit cross-eyed) see an elongated figure; Modigliani and Goya are good examples. I have astigmatism — probably the reason I became a fashion illustrator.

I also have a highly developed sense of the ridiculous and a low tolerance for political correctness so my fat figures can turn into caricatures.

My favourite models at Academy of Art University:

Rosemary with lipstick

Diana with gun

Written by: Gladys Perint Palmer

Click here to read more of “Picture This” by GPP

Welcome new fashion students, continuing students, and those of you getting ready for New York Fashion Week who probably never left the building.

Welcome especially to those who will be taking a drawing class this summer, onsite and online. Drawing is my passion and my profession.

On June 7th I saw an exhibition in Vancouver called “The Modern Woman” – works direct from Musée d’Orsay in Paris, by Dégas, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Manet, Vuillard, Mary Cassatt and more.

On the walls, a clever curator posted important quotes that totally summed up my feelings about art and fashion. (May I remind you that if you are unfamiliar with the names I drop in my blog, please look them up… I mentioned this last week on the subject of research.) Here is the first example. The next two will be on Wednesday and Friday.

“Draw lines… many lines, from memory or from life”
– Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres

GPP: And when you pick up your stick of charcoal, don’t hesitate or feather – just draw a beautiful, positive, wicked line – and if it is wrong, so what? Draw another line near to it. Never on top of it. A line on top of another line kills it.

Do you see in shape or line? Or both?

In drawing class, if you are American don’t use an eraser; if you are British, don’t use a rubber! Remember the saying about the United States and Britain — Two Great Nations divided by a Common Language.

Text and drawings by Gladys Perint Palmer, Executive Director, School of Fashion

Click here to read more of “Picture This” by GPP