Yves Saint Laurent handbags

In fact, i have no idea why i love Kim Kdardashian. See, She’s never done anything particularly creative for me to admire. She doesn’t appear to be pretending to be an actress or singer (and if she is pretending to be either of those things, she seems to be aware that we probably don’t believe her). I think her family’s reality show is silly and fun, but my favorite part of it is not Kim, but her sister Khloe. One thing that IS easy to understand about my love for her, though, is that she always wears fabulous clothes, shoes, and bags, like the YSL Medium Calypso Tote she carried recently while exiting a New York City hotel. It’s totally glam but also very chic.  Maybe that is why I love her.

YSL Y Tote

Do you have special taste in somthing? especially the handbags you would love to purchase?
Sigh. On days in which I am charged with the duty of reporting on the lives of Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag(-Pratt?)

But in all seriousness, could these two be any more annoying and unnecessary? I don’t see how. Maybe if Spencer continues to grow the flesh-colored beard into a ZZ Top-style monstrosity, they could be. At any rate, here they are, mugging for the cameras at the airport upon returning from SwinFluFest ‘09/their honeymoon in Mexico. Anyone else wish they would have gotten it? And, you know, not DIED from it or anything, but maybe had to stay home for a week so we could all catch a break? Really, any kind of flu would do, it wouldn’t have to be the swine type. But considering Spencer’s personality, it would certainly be…apt. I mean, just saying’.

At any rate, Heidi was carrying a cute bag at the airport, as she often does, so let’s focus on that. It was the Yves Saint Laurent Y Tote! And it was really cute, and the leather looks nice, and at least she has good taste in SOMETHING, even if it’s not boyfriends (husbands?) or plastic surgery.

YSL handbags

Ali is absolutely gorgeous and I love this entire look, too.She is so pretty! I love the whole outfit on her!
I don’t have a lot of experience with Ali Larter. I’ve never been a Heroes watcher, so she wasn’t really on my radar until I saw her in Obsessed, opposite Beyonce. And maybe it was trumped up a bit because she was playing a vixen in the movie, but I think she’s absolutely freakin’ gorgeous. Like, if I’m ever half as hot as her, that’ll be a good day.

I also wouldn’t mind borrowing her dress or bag in these photos – the bag in particular, of course. It’s a widely loved favorite, the Yves Saint Laurent Downtown Tote. Hers is cream-colored; I prefer it in black croc-stamped patent, although that version probably wouldn’t be appropriate for the season or the outfit. She’s such a pretty girl, though, that I’m sure most people aren’t focused on the bag – we’re all trying to figure out how to look that cute in flats, a cotton dress, and beach hair.

Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent, known as Yves Saint Laurent (August 1, 1936-June 1, 2008), was an Algerian born French fashion designer who was considered one of the greatest figures in French fashion in the 20th century.  In 1985, Caroline Rennolds Milbank wrote, “The most consistently celebrated and influential designer of the past twenty-five years, Yves Saint Laurent can be credited with both spurring the couture’s rise from its sixties ashes and with finally rendering ready-to-wear reputable”.

Yves was severely bullied while at school; he once told a reporter, “Whenever they picked on me, I’d say to myself, ‘One day I’ll be famous’. That was my way of getting back at them.” 

He found a refuge at home, where his parents allowed him to use an empty room to act out performances of plays for his family.  He eagerly devoured the theatre reviews in the French magazine Voge, and became fascinated not just by the descriptions of the plays but also by the descriptions of the costumes.  This led him to study the fashion sections of Vogue as well, and soon he was as interested in fashion design as he was in the theatre.

In 1950, Yves submitted three sketches to a contest for young fashion designers and won third prize. He then was invited to attend the awards ceremony in Paris in December of that year.  While he and his mother were in Paris, they met Michel de Brunhoff, editor-in-chief of the Paris edition of Vogue magazine.  de Brunhoff, a kindly man who enjoyed encouraging new talent, was impressed by the sketches Yves brought with him. Shortly after another win, he brought a number of sketches to de Brunhoff who recognized in them close similarities to sketches he had been shown that morning by Christian Dior, a leading haute couturier. Knowing that Dior had created the sketches that morning and that the young man could not have seen them, de Brunhoff sent him to Dior, who hired him on the spot.  In August 1957, Dior met with Yves’s mother to tell her that he had chosen Yves to succeed him as designer.  His mother later said that she had been confused by the remark, as Dior was only 52 years old at the time.  Both she and her son were surprised when in October of that year Dior died of a massive heart attack.

Yves found himself at the age of 21 the head designer of the House of Dior. His Spring 1958 collection almost certainly saved the House from financial ruin; the straight line of his creations, a softer version of Dior’s New Look, catapulted him to international stardom with what would later be known as the ‘trapeze dress’, which included dresses with a narrow shoulder and flared gently at the bottom. It was at this time that he shortened his surname to “Saint Laurent”.

In 1960 Yves started his own fashion house.  During the 1960s and 1970s, the firm popularized fashion trends such as the beatnik look, safari jackets, tight pants and tall, thigh-high boots, including the creation of arguably the most famous classic tuxedo suit for women in 1966, the LeSmoking suit.  He also started mainstreaming the idea of wearing silhouettes from the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s.  He was the first French haute couturier to come out with a full pret-a-porter (ready-to-wear) line.  He was also the first designer to use black models in his runway shows, and one of the first to use Asian and Pacific Islander models. 

He retired in 2002 and became increasingly reclusive, living at his homes in Normandy and Morocco with his French Bulldog, Moujik.  He died on June 1, 2008 (age 71) of brain cancer at his residence in Paris.  Saint Laurent’s body was cremated and his ashes were scattered in Marrakech, Morocco in a botanical garden that he often visited to find influence and refuge