17th November, 2000. Alas, no completely correct answers were received in the Fashion Trivia Contest. Therefore all entries received were tossed into the hat, correct or not, and a name drawn. And the winner is ... Cathy Orosi, aka Labelle. Congratulations! Your prize will be wending its way over shortly. Many thanks to all who participated. The correct answers appear beneath each question. Answer these ten utterly trivial questions correctly, and you'll have a chance to win the charming 70s vintage Vuitton bag pictured at right. Please send your entry via e-mail no later than 15th November, 2000, to editor@popula.com. In the event that more than one correct entry is submitted, the names of all you delightfully clever creatures who deliver the goods will be tossed into the Popula homburg, and a victor drawn therefrom. (All correct entries will receive a Popula gift.) The winner will be announced with the next issue of Vintage Voice, on or about the ides of November. Bonne chance, and thank you for participating. |
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1. In what year was the photo at left taken? (Plus or minus three years acceptable as a correct answer.)
Answer: 1918 |
2. Balenciaga was given to using a particular Spanish word to describe the quality of elegance in a woman. What was it? Answer: The following remarks are taken from Secrets of the Couturiers, by Francis Kennett: "Balenciaga's philosophy was based on the belief that some women had an indefinable quality of elegance, while others did not. He would use the untranslatable Spanish word, 'cursi' to describe the lack of this quality, and to prove his point would say that two women, wearing exactly the same dress could create quite opposite effects. One would be vulgar, while the other would be distinguished. This attitude may account for the epithets 'daunting' or demanding' which are often applied to his work. To define the type of woman he admired, Balenciaga would quote Salvador Dali: 'A distinguished lady always has a disagreeable air'. But then it was always easier to respond to interviews with cryptic remarks. The Marquesa de Casa Torres could not have appeared disagreeable when Balenciaga halted her with the words 'How elegant'; she was undoubtedly beautiful, and dressed with exquisite taste." |
3. Two fashion notables of the 20th century were named Wallis. Name each one, and the year of her death. Answer: Wallis Franken, muse and later wife of Claude Montana, d. 1996; Wallis Warfield Simpson, Duchess of Windor, d. 1986. |
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4. By what means was the trimming at left produced? Answer: Crochet |
5. Which designer first marketed his own perfumes?
Answer: In 1911, couturier Paul Poiret was the first to marry fashion and fragrance, introducing his line of Rosine scents. |
6. Who invented the Shoe Hat and the Mad Cap? Answer: Elsa Schiaparelli |
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7. What's this? Answer: rickrack |
8. Who was Dior's successor, how old was he when he showed his first independent Dior collection, and what was the collection called? Answer: In January of 1958, Yves-Henri-Donat-Mathieu Saint Laurent, then aged 21, showed his debut Trapeze collection for the house of Dior. |
9. Name the designer of the infamous "Crayola" dresses of the 1980s. Answer: Christian Francis Roth, still an active New York designer, was forced by Binney & Smith (manufacturers of Crayola crayons) to stop manufacturing these dresses, which featured copyright-protected Crayola graphics.
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10. What Oscar-winning actress did Diana Vreeland "discover" as a model for the pages of Vogue? Answer: This may be a bit of an unfair question, because we cannot determine if there may not be more than one. The question was therefore not counted in tallying the answers received. But the answer we sought was: Cher. Mrs. Vreeland describes the discovery of Cher in her very entertaining autobiography, D.V. |
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