Jean Paul Gaultier - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Why is it that the Couture collections seem all over the map in terms of design. I would have thought that the recession would have caused a tighter editing in terms of overall collections.

From New York Magazine's The Cut
In response to being asked about the inspiration for his collection, Karl Lagerfeld replied
"I could not make the big ball gowns this time," he said, "because there are no more balls."

The truth is that, even during the boom years, there were never many balls that demanded haute couture. The couture world is incredibly small, and now, in the midst of financial meltdown, it is growing even smaller.

I agree that recently there never were many Balls.
Balls were a thing of the monde perdu, of world class high society hostesses like Marie-Helene de Rothschild, Babe Paley and Marella Agnelli.
Now we only have Red Carpet events and Fundraising Galas.

So what are we seeing in Gaultier's Couture show.
Are these dresses Red Carpet worthy?

The Good - An awesome bias cut lamé halter gown reminiscent of 1930's Movie Star glamour.

The Bad - Lamé overalls with a harem hem on the pants

The Ugly - An inter-galactic see through chiffon gown à la Princess Leia of Star Wars

I do like the idea of Gaultier's tribute to the sirens of old Hollywood, I just think that he needed to edit the collection down to fewer but more wearable....and saleable pieces.

We don't want to see the great JPG go the way of Lacroix.