Week 4: Cirque D'Hiver

In order to keep a nice sense of continuity, this week we were at another building designed by Jacques Ignace Hittorff (the architect who designed the Gare du Nord): the Cirque D’Hiver (the Winter Circus). Opened in 1852 by Napoleon III, it was originally called the Cirque Napoléon, though it was sensibly renamed in 1870 after the emperor was defeated, captured and exiled during the Franco-Prussian war.[..] One of the first ever indoor circuses, the Cirque D’Hiver was taken over by the Bouglione brothers in 1934 and has remained in the family ever since! I thought this would be a great place to do a shoot not only because it is a gorgeous building, but also because it has been involved in a couple of significant fashion events in its lifetime. For example, in 1955, Richard Avedon took his iconic photo “Dovima with Elephants" in the circus. Also, forty years later Thierry Mugler held a show in the Cirque D'Hiver to celebrate his brand’s 20th anniversary.

Ring - H+M, Bracelet - Little boutique in Pernety, Paris

Belt - Vintage (belonged to my Ma)

 I am a big fan of Monsieur Mugler’s clothes, and figured there was no better place to do a Mugler-inspired shoot, which is what you will be getting this week, dear readers.

For this shoot I used the "vivid colours" setting on my camera .
I have included a couple of pictures taken without (e.g. below) it to show you the difference.

Hat - Monki

Born in Strasbourg, TM started out as a ballet dancer with the Opéra national du Rhin when he was 14. 10 years later he moved to Paris and by 1978 he had designed his first collection and opened his very own boutique.  Having started his working life on a stage, it makes perfect sense that he has gone on to design costumes for theatres, the Cirque du Soleil and Beyoncé . His clothes are beautiful and brilliant and just a bit bonkers. He is known for his bold silhouettes, sharp tailoring, accentuated shoulders, severe curves and his flair for the theatrical makes me want to wear his clothes the second I lay eyes on them.

NOT MY PHOTO - blog.fashionanthology.com

Net Petticoat - Lindy Bop 

For this week’s outfit I tried to recreate one of the designs from his 1995 show (see above) and spent my Saturday  morning – and I mean my entire Saturday morning- making a hoop out of folded A4 envelopes and an awful lot of tape to go underneath a net petticoat. I’m not sure it worked exactly, but it certainly was hilariously fun to wear! I went for bright primary colours again, to match the cheerful simplicity of both circus performances and the building itself, as well as the children’s playground we ended up in.

 Being the winter circus (and because it is still, well...winter), I decided to give this outfit a slightly Cossack-y twist by adding the furry hat and feathery cape. And, because I was riding a residual craft high from the envelope-skirt-hoop, I decided to add a wedge of cardboard to the back of the collar so it could stand up, taking inspiration from another gorgeous Mugler creation.  

Collar - Topshop

NOT MY PHOTO - thierrymugler.tumblr.com

The man who created the flying trapeze- Jules Léotard – debuted this exciting new art form at the Cirque D’Hiver in 1859. His other great life achievement was attaching his name to the nifty little costume he wore whilst doing it. All things considered – it really would have been rude of me not to wear a leotard.

Leotard - Oh My  Love at ASOS

Now, to the shoot itself; when we left the house this week, joy of a roommate and I were wearing sunglasses – a positive sign when the outfit of choice is a leg-less bodysuit and a skirt made almost entirely of tiny holes. And it was all going so well until we got out of the[me]tro. Now, I love a freak hailstorm as much as the next person – but I won’t pretend it was enormously easy to look childishly carefree  and clown-like when you’re conscious of your joints seizing up – one by one – due to the cold.[Furthermore], this had to be the most embarrassing shoot we’ve done so far. There was a show on at the circus so we couldn’t go inside, and instead took refuge  in the less-than-sheltered children’s playground just in front of the circus.  We were watched by people. Lots of people. And if the tourist with the DSLR happens to be reading this – sir, you were kinda breaching my copyright a tad.

Boots - New Look

Anyway, that’s enough clowning about for one week – I better go and lavish my attentions on my poor, neglected dissertation. À la semaine prochaine (mes chers amis)!