Bastille Day and Beyond

Jeudi 14 juillet 2011
HAPPY BASTILLE DAY!
 On Bastille Day, our couture techniques class had class for five and a half hours.  We were taught how to work with feathers by feather expert and designer Jean Louis Pinabel.  Monsieur Pinabel taught us how to recognize the feathers of different birds, including the goose, pheasant, duck, emu, and many more.  He also showed us different techniques on how to curl and strip the feathers.  He lectured for about four hours, leaving us only an hour and a half to work on our projects.  We had the option to either make a clip, headband, or hair comb.  Naturally, the couture techniques students chose to make the hair clip, which was the most difficult of them all.  Monsieur Pinabel had a small surprise for us as well; if we wanted to use the BEAUTIFUL feathers of the pheasant, we had to pluck them off of the skin of a dead pheasant.  He had a bag of different pheasant skins, some of which still had the heads.  Since the feathers were so gorgeous and I was feeling adventurous that day, I braved the skins and plucked feathers from the bird to use in my hair piece.  Using a special glue, we attached all the feathers of our choosing to the clips, making sure that we did not leave any glue marks and did not leave any feather "shafts" showing.  We had to work quickly because we were short on time and I was afraid I wasn't going to finish.  Fortunately, I finished on time and was extremely happy with the results.

My feather hair clip

Feather clip in my hair

After class we had 2 hours to get ready for Bastille Day.  We all dressed up in formal attire and wore high heels out for the first time in Paris.  We took a bus to the dock and boarded onto a small, but beautiful boat.  We were served four courses: an appetizer plate, the main course, a cheese and salad plate, and desert plate. 

Delicious fish

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Appetizer Plate (yes that's caviar) 

Dessert Plate

After dinner, the director of admissions and the shibori professor started the dance floor.  At 11pm, the boat docked on the side of the Seine River and the fireworks began next to the Eiffel Tower.  They lasted for about 45 minutes and, during the finale, the Eiffel Tower began sparkling.  It was an amazing and unforgettable sight.

Brittany, Laura and I during the fireworks

Boat Cruise in front of the Eiffel Tower

Vendredi 15 Juillet 2011
On Friday, we worked on our Madame Gres dress in the morning.  Working on the dress was a little difficult early in the morning because we were out so late on the cruise the night before.  We made some progress and are getting closer to the end each day.
In the afternoon, we took a trip to the couture house of Yves Saint Laurent.  They had a temporary exhibit of his work that was open to the public.  We were given the opportunity to see behind the scenes, including Yves Saint Laurent's design studio/office and his room of archives.  Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos, but please just take my word that it was one of the most amazing sights I've ever seen.

Samedi 16 juillet 2011
On Saturday, we had class for 8 hours.  PAA arranged for Mme Brigitte Lenoir, who worked for Yves Saint Laurent for 23 years, to come in to teach us some of the couture techniques she used while working for the company.  We learned how to make the YSL tailored sleeve and also how to make the flap to cover a pocket to be put on a couture tailored coat.  She showed us the inside of the jacket (under the lining) and explained each part of the stitching and construction process.  It was a great opportunity to have Mme Lenoir teach us for a day.

Dimanche 17 juillet 2011

Today, we went on our excursion to Monet's garden and Giverny.  Giverny is about an hour and a half outside Paris in a quiet, rural area.  Since Claude Monet is my favorite painter, this was a dream come true for me.  When we arrived, we walked through the gardens and saw the lily pads, the bridge, and the boat that are in Monet's famous garden paintings.  We also had the opportunity to tour Monet's house in Giverny.  The house is very large for the time period.  There were paintings inside, but the Monet paintings are replicas since the originals are in museums around the world.  Monet was inspired by Japanese artwork, so much of his house was filled with Japanese influence.  After walking around Monet's property and spending entirely too much time and money in the gift shop, the entire couture techniques group went out to lunch at a small cafe set in a beautiful old house.  Although it was around 62 degrees and overcast all day, and down-poured when we were walking to the bus, I had an amazing time.  I am so grateful that I get to experience everything I have been doing since I got here.  It really does feel like a dream.

Me in Monet's garden