Loulou de la Falaise

Timelessly classic aesthetic

Loulou de la Falaise is dear to my heart because I, like so many others, emulated this style icon of the seventies that passed away last week. Loulou was the daughter of Maxime and both would appear to have been muses of and to Yves Saint Laurent. Loulou had denied that she was a muse and I was glad that she had not fallen into that trap. Instead she articulated that she had been very industrious in assisting to produce the aesthetic of the seventies apogee and later. Loulou was the antithesis of what fashion is today. She wore trousers combined with jacquard silk blouses and she wore pinstripe suit jackets like no one else. Certainly sometimes there was an androgynous feel to all this and yet at other times Loulou had a connection with the Orient as she sported a turban to her wedding in the late seventies. Loulou's sense of aesthetic through textiles was remarkably rich in look and feel; whether wool or silk. Her jewellery like all was bold and striking. The physical body as la Falaise interpreted it was slim and not as shapely as is accepted today. Models were not buxom; in fact it was regarded as passe then. Slender sleek silhouettes and beautifully thin ladies in bias cut gowns graced the catwalk of Yves Saint Laurent and thus the world.Loulou de la Falaise was one of the exponents of a happier time in history when we had more money, time and imagination to dress. That is how la Falaise inspired us. I will always remember her and her jaunty poses with hands in pockets of those cuffed trousers that looked like they were from Saville Row; that pencil slim skirt with the single pleat in the front. Loulou de la Falaise is a Lovemark for having without knowing it inspired a generation to avail themselves of her timelessly classic aesthetic sensibility. This night Loulou is transfigured into the twinkling constellation "moire". Voyage safely.

Anita, Canada - 12 November 2011