The Swelle Life

Merry, Chanel-wearing Puppets at Printemps

One of the best things about the holidays is the fantastical, magical shop window displays. Imagine what Chanel might conjure for the Paris department store Printemps: articulated puppets geared up in quilted, metallic outfits à la the 2.55 bag, dancing in a garden of golden flowers, perhaps? Love the matching fringed bobs. And they answer to the name of 'Coco'. Of course.

Here's a man who is famous for his magnificent window displays, the lovely Simon Doonan, creative director at Barneys. Below, he talks about his Andy Warhol installation and how he approaches the creation of his displays (watch for a snippet of the Saks window with a doll that looks as if it's about to throw up):

Barney's Andy Warhol Window Display
by rocketboom

Happy Friday: Little Karl in Lederhosen!

Cathryn Horan of The New York Times posted this rare gem of a photo on her blog. Does that coy grin look familiar? How about the knowing pose? The inherent confidence? No? Imagine the hand is gloved in cut-out leather, the collar is stiffer and higher and the hair is white and tied back. You got it, this tiny fashion genius in the making is Karl Lagerfeld - IN LEDERHOSEN! You know, I did wonder whether this 'costume' is something only seen at Oktoberfest, and whether Germans actually really wear it (like Mounties in Canada - they don't work in that getup, you know!). Turns out, they do! Or, at least they did.

I am dying over the fact that he's wearing a white dress shirt and tie under the braces of the lederhosen. As a baby he probably scribbled a collar and tie on his onesies and requested Diet Coke in his bottle.

Via Catwalk Queen

Karl Lagerfeld Paints a 'Secret Ball'

Continuing on with features from British Vogue's Fantastic Fashion Fantasy issue, Karl Lagerfeld treats us to a series of paintings in which he imagines events (with the Batman movies in mind, it would seem) at the most exclusive party of the year - a ball hosted by an unnamed Russian woman in honour of her billionaire husband. There was no press, no red carpet, no charities involved, and the guest list remains a mystery.

"Hairstylist Katsuya Kamo has designed a veiled headpiece similar
to those he has made for Junya Watanabe. The guest has topped
this with a vintage diamond headpiece, believed to be set with
emeralds from the treasury of Tsar Alexander II"


"The male guests are all in Tom Ford tails, though these two
gentlemen have added Batman-style masks. Their leather gloves are by
Causse. She is in a Marios Schwab jacket, a Louis Vuitton headpiece
and carries an Alexander McQueen Faberge bag from this season"


"A masked guest dressed in colourful Tao"


"She is in gold Givenchy with another Kamo headpiece.
The Asian gentleman wears a vintage Cartier headpiece
of emerald, diamonds and feathers in his turban"




"This guest accessorises her pink Giles ensemble with Chanel lace
gloves and a 1912 Cartier bandeau with a huge sapphire. Her Cartier
necklace of the same year was bought at the Paris Biennale in
September 2008. Her companion is a distinguished gentleman with a
black monocle, who reminds Lagerfeld of someone now dead"




"The youngest boy in the room is claimed by this guest,
in Alexander McQueen"


"This Gareth Pugh-clad woman is accompanied by a man
disguised as Heath Ledger's malevolent Joker"

Karl Lagerfeld Delivers His Fashion Manifesto

Karl Lagerfeld delivered an astute dissection of the fashion industry on Thursday as he introduced Harold Koda - a renowned fashion scholar and the head of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute - at the Fashion Group International’s Night of Stars. WWD provided excerpts from Lagerfeld's handwritten manifesto:

• “There is a strange and invisible borderline when fashion is not only fashion, but becomes the most evident and most easily visible expression of an area.”

• “Fashion as history is beyond fashion, and it is not only limited to clothes.”

• “It is difficult to imagine today that people who shaped the fashion of the first 50 years of the 20th century never had an exhibition in a great museum during their lifetime….Designers (called “couturieres”) were happy to dress people (mostly women of society). They designed with the icons of their times in mind — before that word was used as we use it today. They had muses then….For Chanel, it was simpler. She was only her own inspiration (what I admire).

• “The face of fashion is now in the hands of a small group of big companies and they often own several important and influential fashion brands. They also help to make it possible for museums to stage important shows.”

• “Fashion is today also about big shows like Hollywood productions. In the past, designers made fashion history by dressing people who had a real life in those clothes. We should learn a lot from that. Red carpet (another invention of our times) helps to distort fashion by giving it a fake and too glamorous face.”

• “The great designers of the past were certainly not humble people, but they worked in the days before media buzz. What helps most of us a lot in a way, promotion (and self-promotion), did not exist before. It’s also something that makes our approach to fashion different (too different?). But what will survive from all that?”

• “Fashion is about the harmony between utility and beauty. But the sense of beauty in fashion changes quickly — nearly as quickly as fashion itself. Some people tell us that utility is itself the essence of beauty. That may be OK for sportswear (such an important part of fashion today and not always the best). I think there has to be another dimension to it, and Harold is our visionaire in that area. You don’t design a dress only because it’s easy to wear. It should be — but that reason alone could make fashion a bore.

• “A new fashion can appear having the same origins in inspiration and admiration in the past of fashion. The danger is for us designers to be too exposed to the seduction of the past.”

• “It is difficult to work out your own vision of fashion without being haunted by the beauty of the work of the people before us — even if they were also not immune to all kind of influences and inspirations to achieve a strong vision and a unique style.”

Photo: Kristen Somody Whalen

A Moving, Global Tribute to a Bag - Yes, a Bag

Photo: Todd Eberle for Vanity Fair

What do you think it would take to warrant a celebration hosted by the world's greatest cities, inspire artists to create works in tribute of you, and see thousands turn up to join in the collective praise being showered upon you? Significant contributions to reducing poverty? Hunger? Slavery? No. How about simply being the Chanel 2.55 handbag as it turns 50 years old?

This is the most coveted handbag in the world, mostly because it is the most famous handbag in the world. Sure, I would love one. Because of its beauty? It's chicness? No, because it's a Chanel 2.55, if I'm being honest. It's the must-have piece of any fashion-loving girl's collection, simply for its reputation alone. It's a part of fashion history. Some clever marketing combined with genuine adoration of the quilted, gold-chained, and somewhat matronly shoulder bag have ensured it is the one that all the others aspire to become, and all the ladies desire to carry, and it will remain that way for a long, long time.

The entrance to the pavillion

The flying saucer-shaped exhibition space is hugely impressive, a design that pushes technology to its limits (and surely eclipses the guest of honour). It's a moving, nomadic art pavillion designed by renowned architect Zaha Hadid, who Karl Lagerfeld handpicked for the project which is meant to bring together art and architecture. There's far too much detail to go into here - it's an astounding structure made of materials never used for buildings before - but you can read about it at the Zara Hadid blog.

It's in New York's central park now, and is coming to London, but I'm hearing both November and May, so we'll just have to see which it is. If it coincides with the Frock Me vintage fair I'm there! (Are you with me, Julie?)

Here's a look at the interior seating areas:

Photo: Todd Eberle for Vanity Fair

Fabrice Hayber’s Comfortable, an assembly of pieces by the artist inspired by Chanel products (that teddy bear looks like a gimp and really creeps me out. Awesome swings, though):

Photo: Todd Eberle for Vanity Fair

An aerial view of the pavillion:

What Goes Into Making a Chanel Haute Couture Coat?

Haute couture is the crème de la crème of luxury fashion. Made to order by a mere handful of approved design houses that adhere to the rigid requirements as defined by the Syndical Chamber for Haute Couture in Paris, the garments can cost upwards of $100,000. There are about 2,000 haute couture clients in the world, and of them only 200 or so are considered to be regular buyers (the rest just wait for the sales. Ha.). Of course, Chanel is one of the makers of these coveted works of art that so few are fortunate enough to own.

So, what goes into making an haute couture garment? To start, it's the uniqueness of design, the expert workmanship and the materials are of the highest quality. They are sewn, embroidered and beaded by hand, and several hundred hours can be required to complete one piece (not including smoke breaks. I joke - I imagine there's a daily sniff-inspection to keep the garments smelling like a cloud in paradise).

Chanel offered a glimpse into how one of the coats from their Fall 2008 Haute Couture collection was created (the final runway look pictured above). This exquisite piece of art-as-outerware took specially-skilled artisans three hundred painstaking hours to make. Here's what happened after Karl Lagerfeld handed his sketch of the herringbone coat to the premier of the atelier:

                      Step 1: The herringbone patterns are drawn on muslin

Step 2: The herringbone patterns are reproduced on fabric


  Step 3: For the sleeves, the tweed herringbone designs

                     are placed on satin.                                       

Step 4: The sleeves are then transferred to a wooden form

                              

                    Step 5: The tweed herringbone is placed by hand on the
                    satin to ensure a perfect fit.

                     Step 6: Rigorous checking is carried out during the
                     mounting of the pieces, to ensure the proportions are
                     true to the design.

Step 7: The lining is affixed inside the coat.

         Step 8: Shoes are selected to go with the coat. The shoes are handmade
         in Massaro ateliers.

Step 9: The all-important fittings, during which final tiny but

                sometimes crucial alterations are made.

   Step 10: The look is ready and the model (lucky Kim Noorda) is prepped backstage at the Grand Palais in Paris before Chanel’s haute couture Fall 2008 show

Here are a few of my favourite pieces from the show:

Production photos via The Star Malaysia

Madness in Our House of Chanel

Well, the Chanel show was just as grand as you'd expect from Karl Lagerfeld. He opened with the song Our House from Madness, an odd choice, and one that didn't really work as far as the senses are concerned (see video, do you agree?), but was obviously handpicked to fit his concept. Lagerfeld wanted to recreate the days of old where shows were viewed in-house at the original Chanel boutique at 31 Rue Cambon, so he brought it to the Grande Palais in the form of a life-size facade of the building and a street runway.

There was a bit of goofiness in the show - a model wearing a swimsuit sported a pair of wraparound sunglasses with plastic sideburns attached. The model walking alongside her couldn't seem to hide her smirk, you know she was glad it wasn't her.

Closing the show were five male models who strutted down the 'street', dressed in slight variations of young Karls. Come on guys, you know you want to rock this. Do it, please (is that Wilmer Valderrama on the right?):

 

Here are my picks from the women's looks (I'm guessing the guys' thing was a novelty Karl did to amuse himself). A new hosiery look debuted here - half sheer and half semi-opaque black tights that gave the classic tweeds a young, fresh update, and looked plain weird with other outfits. The collection has been said to be a bit all over the place, while other fashion reviewers raved about the range of inspirations. I liked it. I didn't love it. But that's okay, there will be another show coming along in no time, and 75 year-old Karl Lagerfeld has no plans whatsoever to retire. Thank god.

 

Photos: Style.com

Karl Lagerfeld Saddles Up His Models for Paris

Karl Lagerfeld showed his namesake collection in Paris Wednesday, and it didn't rival the impact of his impressive show for Fendi in Milan last week. But then again, his duties for Fendi and Chanel require efforts that will elicit the biggest oohs and ahhs and ensure continued success for the long running fashion houses, so maybe it's okay that he sends out models looking like female versions of him for his own label. Hard to believe, but most of the clothes were black, or black and white, rounded out by a few silver and navy looks. And a few crisp shirts served as a further reminder of who's behind it all, if the bag with his face on it got by anyone. The dominant accessory was huge, black leather belts that kind of resembled saddles. Pleated peplums in what I'm guessing is organza and dresses in a leaf print softed things up a bit. And there were some curious black ornaments on some of the girls' arms, necks and throats. To be honest, regarding Kaiser Karl, I'm really just waiting for Chanel.

Photos: Dominique Maitre

Karl Lagerfeld Slaps Tom Ford, Loves His Suits

 

In an interview for Time magazine's fashion feature America: Conqueror of the Global Menswear Market, Tom Ford talks about how he filled a gap in the menswear market, wants to focus on his personal relationships in the coming years, and would like to dress Prince Harry, who he thinks "has a great look." The article includes a portrait of Ford photographed by Karl Lagerfeld.

Click to the next item in the feature and you'll find Karl Lagerfeld discussing Tom Ford's suits while sitting alongside his younger counterpart. Sure, hearing Ford describe how he's created a hybrid suit with an English cut and Italian construction is interesting and all (well, not really), but the video of the interview, lead by Time's Kate Betts, is well worth watching. When Lagerfeld refers to his hatred of being touched by strangers (and therefore dreads a suit fitting), Ford reaches over and lays his hand on his chest and shoulder, resulting in a swift and hard slap square on the thigh.

See the video here, and try not to get turned on. If you do, don't admit it to anyone.

Karl Lagerfeld's Spring Bag Collection Preview

I really should re-name this blog Dresses and Karl Lagerfeld. Well, another day, another news bit about Kaiser Karl. Right in line with the NY spring shows is a preview of his Spring 2009 handbag collection for his namesake brand. His press release states the line is "inspired by the designer’s passion for modern architecture and photography, and especially by his spirited lifestyle and iconic personality." Some of the styles feature handles with cut-outs the shape of Lagerfeld's ever-present sunglasses, which I guess is a literal interpretation of the "iconic personality" part of the inspiration.

The collection includes 42 designs which were approved by KL himself (well, I should hope so, his name is on them!). Prices range from 'you may be able to afford the plainest and smallest one' to 'you'd better start selling drugs'. Or, in currency, $585 to $3000 U.S.

Is it my sluggishishness for having eaten 'The Feast' at an Indian restaurant tonight or are these bags really rather 'meh'?

Source

Karl, Will You Accept One More 'Happy Birthday' Wish?

Dear Karl Lagerfeld,

Here's wishing you a wonderful day, however old you are. It's a shame you didn't have kids, so that they could have kids, because you would have made the wickedest Großvater ever (in theory, not so much in practice, let's be honest). I can see why your pride grows daily - you look way better now than when you were younger. Waaaay better. And isn't that what really matters?

Viel Liebe,
Denise

Karl Lagerfeld Prefers You Not Too Smart and Definitely Not Stinky

Scott Athorne interviewed the ALWAYS interesting Karl Lagerfeld for the Times' Sunday magazine. As expected, it's a very entertaining read.

Of particular note:

He doesn't like intellectuals: "I want to know everything, but I’m not an intellectual, and I don’t like their company. I’m the most superficial man on Earth.” (Explains his keeping company with Lindsay Lohan a few years ago).

Journalists are fine. But not if: "...they are really stupid, or if they’ve got bad breath, or if they smell. Yesterday [at the Chanel couture show] I had a problem. I said, ‘I’m sorry, you’ve got to tell this woman that she needs to be taken away. Her smell is not possible.’” (My most humble apologies, Monsieur Lagerfeld. I was starving so I grabbed a Royale with Cheese before the show.)

Other interesting tidbits include how his mother sent his sisters away to boarding school because she thought they were 'boring', but he (fist pounding on the table) WAS NOT!; he doesn't take himself too seriously (obviously) or see fashion as art, and says that if you dwell on the past then "you might as well commit suicide immediately." I gather he's not on Facebook, then?

Forget Sentiment, the Price Tag on Your Teddy is What Matters

Karl Lagerfeld has filled a gap in the market, that being a lack of luxury teddy bears at an appropriately exclusive price. (I hate it when I can only find teddies for $20.) The designer's $1500 limited edition Mini-Mich (only 2,500 were produced) is made of alpaca, comes with tight, slick black pants and that collar. This little Teddybär is available at Neiman Marcus next month.

I would love to see the confused looks on the faces of the kids who get these as gifts. There's nothing worse than a toy that thinks it's cooler than you.

Photo from W

Daphne Guinness On The State of Fashion

Yesterday, my google alert pointed me to an article on FT.com, (London's Financial Times) written by one of the UK's most illustrious fashion icons Daphne Guinness, which I was going to introduce and link to. Which is what I'm doing right now. Except that Susie Bubble covered it already - Ms. Guinness had mentioned her blog StyleBubble as an example of the significant influence blogs are exerting on the fashion industry - and she summed up the article so well I'm going to use what she said:

"...a nice stance on experimentation in street style being influential whilst at the same time lauding couture for propelling fashion's artistry levels and accusing the 'middle ground' of being diluted."

So, if that interests you, here's a good, quick read from the woman who owns possibly the most covetable fashion collection on the planet (including many jaw-dropping pieces of haute couture). More importantly, she has the taste, culture and knowledge to back it up, which makes it more a collection of art and therefore separates it - worlds apart - from the empty and obscene displays of football salary wealth more commonly seen these days.

Oh right, the article: Karl Lagerfeld and Grand Theft Auto

Photo is Daphne Guinness in the March 2008 British Vogue. To read more about this fascinating fashion stylist and producer (yes, I like her) read Times Online's My Life in Fashion: Daphne Guinness and her obsession with armour

B-Boy Karl Works it in Harpers Bazaar

Karl Lagerfeld revealed to Harper's Bazaar "Believe it or not, I love rap." I believe it, Karl. With your dozens of loaded up iPODS and the badass attitude that scored you the gig in Grand Theft Auto IV, it's not that inconceivable.

The magazine's September issue features a spread on designers dressing as fantasy characters. Others include Giorgio Armani as Fred Astaire, Roberto Cavalli doing Rhett Butler, and Michael Kors channelling James Stewart's L.B. Jeffries character from Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window. It appears that Lagerfeld rocking the Phat Farm jeans as a rapper is the most interesting character by far, which is owed to his being such a great one himself. What would we do without him? 

I wish the photo was bigger, or that I'd remembered to pick up a copy before leaving Canada, so I could closely inspect what is going on under his jacket - do I see his signature earlobe-grazing collar peeking out? Pure Karl.

I can't wait for the Jay-Z/Timbaland/Karl Lagerfeld collaboration.

Source

Lagerfeld Inspired by Organ Pipes and Fluoro Safety Vests

Karl Lagerfeld's inspiration for Chanel's Fall Winter 2008 Haute Couture show in Paris is fairly obvious, as the installation of massive metallic organ pipe structures at the centre of the circular catwalk at the Grand Palais would reveal. The full view of the display makes me think of a futuristic city arising from the post-apocalyptic rubble of a lost civilisation in a sci-fi movie. The show, the clothes (of course) and even the music are awesome, though you wouldn't know it from the look of sheer boredom on the spectators' faces (shall we assume the heat deflated their enthusiasm? This show could have been held on the surface of the sun and I would have been there with a goofy grin plastered on my face).

You can view the stunningly beautiful show in its entirety below. And (not) oddly, Lagerfeld takes the catwalk for his 'bow' at the end with a man wearing the fluoro-yellow safety vest that he is helping promote driver-compliance for in France (I love how he had someone wear it for him):

Update: Reader Mike Ryan was asking what the main song in the show was, it's Comme dans un reve by Seelenluft (no doubt handpicked by Karl Lagerfeld who is really up on his tunes - and kind of like Aqua on tranquilizers):

D'oh! I Missed The Simpsons at Colette

Let me clarify - I missed The Simpsons at Colette by about a year. So I'm not breaking any news here (unless you're easy on "currentness" being the criteria for news). I stumbled upon these photos of Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Jacobs and Alber Elbaz posing with Simpsons illustrations and immediately panicked, asking the world in general "How? How? How did I miss this episode of the Simpsons?" I was going to blame it on UK TV being a bit behind Fox's scheduling as very few U.S. shows run simultaneously in Brit-land (hmm... although I would have been in Canada then, as I am here now, as we are for the good part of every summer). 

Anyway, I was relieved to find out this was from from an exhibit at Paris' Colette (you must look at their website, it's so French in the way that Daft Punk is French - I guarantee you haven't seen anything quite like it). The illustrations were from a Harper's Bazaar feature from August 07 called The Simpsons Go to Paris with Linda Evangelista (illustrations by Matt Groening and artwork by Julius Priete). Incredible model she was, don't you think? One of the best ever? (And she's nabbed a most-coveted Prada campaign at 43!) She went to my high school in St. Catharines. I didn't know her, though - she left grade 13 when I was coming into grade 9. In the yearbook she had massive, frizzy hair. Look who's laughing now.

So then I was left feeling dumb and out of the loop for missing that issue. I really must pay more attention to Harpers Bazaar - though I have to say I'm really tired of US magazines putting over-exposed, American actresses on their covers, photoshopped to a level of flawless smoothness my almost three year-old daughter can't rival, and trying to look all modelly. (Like, their current cover is Jessica Biel. I'm not buying that!)

 

This display isn't creepy at all:

Source

Karl Lagerfeld Shows Off Cool New Robot Hand

Kaiser Karl recently appeared in public with what looks to be a space-age robot hand, replacing his right human hand (except for the fingertips which he apparently opted to keep). Whispers amongst fashion insiders reveal that the hand desperately required radical measures to repair what had sadly become a gnarled and wizzened appendage, due to years of obsessive self-cooling with a dainty hand-held fan and gripping ice-cold cans of Diet Coke (brilliantly remedied by his employment of a beverage butler, if only a little too late).

Sources say that this is the first phase toward a complete transformation, which we could all see coming, as Mr. Lagerfeld's face and ears are the only flesh he will now expose to the world (and sometimes that little window cut-out in his racing gloves). Speculation is rampant that his morph of choice is the tres apropo Cylon - the bio-mechanical, bad-ass beings from the TV series Battlestar Galactica. Watch for his grand debut at Paris Fashion Week,  A/W 2008.

Understated Dubai Will Blossom with Help from Karl Lagerfeld

Dubai has finally overcome its modest approach to living with plans for a fashion island or 'Isla Moda' as it will be known, by hiring Karl Lagerfeld to design 80 residential homes.

The man behind Chanel has high hopes for his influence on the project, saying, "Dubai is a fashion bud on the verge of blossoming into the next fashion hub of the world. Isla Moda has tremendous potential to be the style icon of the future and I intend on driving the island to high style stardom."

The first of five designers handpicked to take on the role of Mr. Brady, Lagerfeld's contribution will include a "limited edition line." In case houses in the land of the ludicrously wealthy designed by arguably the world's greatest living fashion designer wasn't already exclusive enough.

With the blazing temperatures and all the water about, I wonder if Karl will be tempted to revive his sizzling 1970 beach look? (You should see the full shot. I'd have shown it but I didn't know if you could handle the sexy.)

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Blooming Marvelous! A post eventually about 'The Most Beautiful Flower'

One of the first things I saw upon waking this morning (I starting writing this Saturday) was Saturday's edition of London's the Financial Times newspaper sitting on the dining room table at my mother-in-law's in Toronto. I was immediately curious.Why? How? Seeing 'FT Weekend' splashed across the front page, my first thought was 'Fashion Television Weekend? Could it be? On broadsheet newsprint?' (Canadians will well know the long-running CITY-TV Jeanne Beker-hosted fashion programme.)

Okay, it was 8 am and I'd been a bridesmaid at my (gorgeous) friend's (gorgeous) wedding the night before so the brain wasn't fully recharged (actually I whimpered pathetically when my daughter shouted 'GET UP MUMMY!' in my face for the ninth and loudest time). And the 'FT' font was the same (kind of) and if you're in advertising or marketing you know how powerful a font can be (immediate association with a familiar brand, so I can hardly be laughed at. A broad smirk and raised eyebrow is warranted, however). And I'm only in Toronto twice a year, so hey, you never know. Weirder things have happened (eg. The Jerry Springer Show was made into an opera in London and a roaring success at that). And I've been busier than a thong-maker before Pride Weekend since arriving so there hasn't been time for my daily fashion fixes and I was experiencing withdrawal symptoms.

So to be fair (what I prefer in place of harsh criticism) - it wasn't really so much a dunce moment as wishful thinking (I can believe that because I want to). How nice it would have been on an otherwise miserable morning to have sections and sections of fashion so vast it would require holding it all up between spanned arms, just to take it all in? (W magazine comes close to matching that description but that wasn't on the table.)

Well, turns out having the Financial Times right there was a good thing after all. For one, it was nice to see what's up in the UK - my primary home. More importantly, there was a piece in the Gardens section by Robin Lane Fox about the ''mixed weather" in the UK (is there any other kind??) giving the blooming season "it's best start in years." Included was a photo of the Paeonia Kelway's Glorious, what Fox believes to be 'the most beautiful flower in the world'. I really wish he'd posted the photo along with the editorial on the FT website because I can't find one as extroardinary. He describes this herbaceous peony as "very special; a free-flowering double whiteish form with a red mark in its middle and the most delicate blush of lilac-pink developing on the outer petals as it ages."

When I saw it, I wanted to eat it. The petals appear almost translucent, and opal in colour. The allure of the double flower is its lush texture, the ruffles upons ruffles which remind me of a Chanel haute couture gown - Lagerfeld has a way of envisioning the textured, feminine details of his garments in such a way that the execution resembles this particular lushness of the double peony. That's what I think, anyway.

Oddly, in every description I find of Paeonia Kelway's Glorious there is no mention of this 'delicate blush of lilac-pink' (the photos I've included depict the beauty of the double flower but the colour isn't anything special) and there is mention of a creamy centre, missing from Fox's photo and description.

So, why is his flower of the same name different? Are there several varieties of the Kelway's Glorious? ((Maybe, but I haven't been able to find evidence of this). Robin Lane Fox, if you have googled yourself and have come across this post and you don't mind admitting that you have done so, would you be a dear and explain it so maybe one day I might be able to see this 'most beautiful flower in the world' in person?

Yes, this does matter to me! Flowers are beautiful and they make me happy. Colour, texture, aroma - what more could you want? And they work so well in fashion. There's the literal approach - I love corsages and I understand the floral pattern trend, it can be pretty, fun and flirty. Then t