16 May, 2009

Stephanie: Yve Saint Laurent's 'Le Smoking'

Yves Saint Laurent Le Smoking

Yves Saint Laurent's legacy will always be the Le Smoking tuxedo suit. He was the first man to put women in pants and for that alone, all ambitious, independent women are indebted to him - big time. I don't think i will rest peacefully unless i can own a Le Smoking suit one day.. i mean, it is one of my many ambitions in life! The paradigm of the YSL woman prompts admiration. She is simply bad ass, cigarette in hand as she wears her dramatic black suit. Accentuating her small waist through the high waisted style of the pant, the androgny level is determined by the blouse of choice (or lack of if you're daring enough). The sharp cut defines her physique through exageration, where her legs appear strikingly long when she struts her stuff! Le Smoking is such an icon because it's where female androgyny and empowerment - in a sartorial sense - began, the idea of the YSL woman is even admired by Carine Roitfeld who had this to say:
"You know the idea of the Saint Laurent woman. What a dream she was: wearing trousers, hand in the pocket, no handbag, transparent shirt. I love that woman. It is exactly who I would have loved to be if I could choose. So I would have to go blonde because he loved the blondes, and I would have to have bigger breasts. But it's the idea of the woman I love, and I try to repeat this in my magazine (Vogue Paris)."
Classic. Here are some wonderful images of the Le Smoking suit - both old and new - in action:

(The Conception)

2 comments:

  1. Le smoking is a classic of course, but the first woman is GORGEOUS!

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  2. Yeah, Anna Selezneva really is gorgeous. All the russian models are :)

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