Week 22: Opéra Garnier

From the crazy hair accessories of last week’s shoot, I decided to go for something a little more elegant and sophisticated...

Nestled resplendently in Paris's 9^th arrondissement is the great and famous Paris Opéra, where we did this week’s shoot. Originally called  "Salle des Capucines" (after the street it sits on) it came to be known as the "Palais Garnier" after the architect who designed it. The opera house was built between 1861 and 1875 as part of Baron Haussmann's restructuring of the city, and designed to reflect all the opulence and luxury of Napoleon III’s empire. The most expensive building constructed under the Second Empire, it is now widely regarded as a masterpiece and considered emblematic of its time.

It was the primary house of the Paris Opera company until 1989 when they moved to the larger Opera Bastille. Nowadays the Palais Garnier is mostly used for ballet and, (fun fact alert) Givenchy's Ricardo Tiscidesigned the costumes for a recent production.

When Opéra was built it needed a deep basement underneath the sub-stage area. This basement needed a double foundation due to the ground-water level being unusually high. This fact began the myth that the Opera house was built over a vast underground lake, a detail which Gaston Leroux incorporated into his 1910 novel The Phantom of the Opera.

Phantom of the Opera tells the story of Erik – a previous architect of the opera who is also a physically-deformed musical genius who always wears a mask. Erik lives under the opera, by the fabled underground lake and is believed by many to be the Opera Ghost. He falls in love with Christine, a young soprano, and does everything he can to help her advance her career. One night, when the solo is given to another leading lady, Erik causes a chandelier to drop into the audience before stealing Christine away into his underground lair. This scene in the novel is actually based on a real event; in 1896 one of the counterweights for the auditorium's enormous bronze-and-crystal chandelier broke, causing all 7 tons of it to fall into the audience below and killing one person.

It really is a remarkable building, elaborate baroque moulding, gold leaf, mirrors and red velvet cover almost every visible surface. All the halls and spaces are wide, so as to accommodate the enormous crowds (and the enormous hooped skirts of the women) who would frequent the Opera every night. It was a place to see and be seen, and what a backdrop for people-watching!

Having a certain fondness for the dramatic, I wanted to incorporate small touches of Leroux’s novel without it coming across too gimmicky. Taking inspiration from the various stage versions AND from BurberryProrsum's SS13 collection, I decided to turn this black brocade cropped jacket into a makeshift cape by tucking the sleeves inside. For the hair and make-up I wanted to keep it a bit gothic and striking, so went for the dark lipstick and eyeliner, taking hair-inspiration from Emmy Rossum's Christine in the film version.

The rest of the outfit was inspired by the flurry of Pre-Fall collections using brocade, jacquard and baroque patterns this year. Baroque may have hit its high-point several seasons ago, but touches of it can still be found at Alexander McQueen, Vera Wang, Versace, and Louis Vuitton (among others) and it is a style which fits perfectly with the opulence of the Palais Garnier.

I hope you all enjoyed your trip around the Opera, tune in for another beautiful Parisian spot next week!

Top - H+M
Skirt - ASOS
Jacket-as-cape - H+M
Shoes - New Look
All jewellery is my own