Jean Paul Gaultier

On Wednesday, Mellie took us to the DeYoung museum to see the Gaultier exhibit. I hardly have words to describe the exhibit. It was the most incredible thing I have ever seen. The best way I can describe it is as an almost religious experience. I was in completely awe the entire time, and was practically in tears by the time I left. I still don't have words to describe how beautiful it all was. The man is an insane genius, and if I could ever achieve even a fraction of his creativity, that would be incredible. So since I can't find words for the entire experience, here are some of my favorite pieces.

Beautiful Virgin collection dress - love the ethereal, serene quality.

This dress made me think of Joan D'Arc. I would totally wear this into battle.

 

Mermaid collection dress. I am in love with the decoration on the corset top - I could spend hours just figuring out exactly how he did it.

I just love his sense of humor. He refuses to follow the traditional rules of clothing, most notably the distinction between men's and women's  clothing.

Flayed skin bodysuit. This is part of a collection that also includes a bone corset and a vein bodysuit. It's super creepy, but in an awesome way.

Indian princess wedding gown. I love the combination of styles, and that he melds them seamlessly.

Leopard dress. At first, I thought it was actually fur, but upon a closer look...

The entire leopard part of the dress is beaded. This apparently took upwards of 1,000 hours, which is unsurprising, given the detail he put in. And can you see his face?

 

This dress is made entirely of ribbon. The skirt is one thing, but every part of the corset is done in ribbon, crossing at points for shaping, and just incredibly intricate.

Two wonderful denim-based dresses that defy the traditional place of denim. Both pieces are incredibly fluid, and are just stunning.

This dress goes from a denim top to a feathered bottom. I was amazed to see that an idea I had considered on occasion could be executed so far beyond my wildest dreams.

A fabulous garbage dress. This was obviously my missing inspiration for The Listener.

This seems like a perfect dress for one of my sisters. It's just so fun!

The entire dress is pleated, and in such a way that the extra plaid details come as a wonderful surprise.

Cage collection. I love the way this inverts the traditional shaping garments, so that the hoop skirt is on the outside, and beautifully decorated.

This is just such a fabulously creepy sketch - wish I could have seen the dress itself!