 “Live no longer to the expectation of these deceived and deceiving people with whom we converse. Say to them, O father, O mother, O wife, O brother, O friend, I have lived with you after appearances hitherto. Henceforward I am the truth's. Be it known unto you that henceforward I obey no law less than the eternal law. I will have no covenants but proximities. I shall endeavor to nourish my parents, to nourish my family, to be the chaste husband of one wife, - but these relations I must fill after a new and unprecedented way. I appeal from your customs. I must be myself. I cannot break myself any longer for you, or you. If you can love me for what I am, we shall be the happier. If you cannot, I will still seek to deserve that you should. I will not hide my tastes or aversions. I will so trust that what is deep is holy, that I will strongly believe before the sun and moon whatever inly rejoices me, and the heart appoints. If you are noble, I will love you; if you are not, I will not hurt you and myself by hypocritical attentions. If you are true, but not in the same truth with me, cleave to your companions; I will seek my own. I do this not selfishly, but humbly and truly. It is alike your interest, and mine, and all men's, however long we have dwelt in lies, to live in truth. Does this sound harsh to-day? You will soon love what is dictated by your nature as well as mine, and, if we follow the truth, it will bring us out safe at last. --- But so you may give these friends pain. Yes, but I cannot sell my liberty and my power, to save their sensibility.” "But are you sure you love me?" ...Nay, if they tell you their whole thought, they will own that love seems the last and highest gift of nature; there are persons whom in their hearts they daily thank for their existence--persons whose faces are perhaps unknown to them, but whose fame and spirit have penetrated their solitude--and for whose sake they wish to exist. To behold the beauty of another character, which inspires a new interest in our own; to behold beauty lodged in a human being, with such vivacity of apprehension that I am instantly forced home to think if I am not deformity itself; to behold in another the expression of a love so high that it assures itself--assures itself also to me against every possible casualty except my unworthiness; these are degrees on the scale of human happiness to which they have ascended; and it is a fidelity to this sentiment which has made common association distasteful to them. They wish a even and justful fellowship, or none.They can not gossip with you, and they do not wish, as they are sincere and religious, to gratify any curiosity which you may entertain. Like fairies, they do not wish to be spoken of. Love me, they say, but do not ask who is my cousin and my uncle. If you do not need to hear my thought, because you can read it in my face and my behaviour, then I will tell it to you from sunrise to sunset. If you can not divine it, you would not understand what I say. I will not molest myself for you. I do not wish to be profaned. -The Transcendentalist, by Waldo Ralph Emerson People who influenced Ralph Waldo Emerson Emmanuel Swedenborg portrait “A colossal soul, he lies vast abroad on his times, uncomprehended by them, and requires a long focal distance to be seen.” Emanuel Swedenborg born Emanuel Swedberg; 29 January 1688– 29 March 1772) was a Swedish Lutheran theologian, scientist, philosopher and mystic. He is best known for his book on the afterlife, Heaven and Hell (1758).
Swedenborg had a prolific career as an inventor and scientist. In 1741, at 53, he entered into a spiritual phase in which he began to experience dreams and visions, beginning on Easter Weekend, on 6 April 1744. It culminated in a 'spiritual awakening' in which he received a revelation that he was appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ to write The Heavenly Doctrine to reform Christianity. According to The Heavenly Doctrine, the Lord had opened Swedenborg's spiritual eyes so that from then on, he could freely visit heaven and hell to converse with angels, demons and other spirits and the Last Judgment had already occurred the year before, in 1757.
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 Profile of Pierre BalmainPierre Balmain is a French couturier who created his couture house in 1945, and one of the most prominent couturiers during the 50s who revitalized the Paris couture after the Second World War, together with Cristobal Balenciaga, Christian Dior and Jacques Fath. Unlike some of them, however, Pierre Balmain owned his couture house and personally directed it until his death in 1982, never closing it or selling to someone else.  Anne St Marie in a seal skin slip cover cape by Pierre Balmain, Photo by Henry Clarke,1955 for Vogue Biography of Pierre BalmainPierre Balmain was born in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, France, during the Second World War, he was called to the military service. When Paris was liberated, he went to work for Lucien Lelong, where he made a little crepe dress called ¨Petit Profit¨, which Lucien Lelong did not want to make but was quite successful commercially and more than 300 pieces were sold. It was in couture house of Lucien Lelong that he met and worked alongside Christian Dior and Hubert de Givenchy, both of whom who would create their own couture houses. In 1945, with the help of his mother and some ex-workers of Balenciaga, Bierre Balmain launched his own couture house, and presented his first collection: dresses and suits that fit the bodyshapes, all in dark and sober colors which would become his trademark. The launch was an immediate success, people like Duchess of Windsor ordered from the collection. Balmain began to travel a lot, embodying the French elegance of that time. In 1946, Balmain created his first perfume "ELYsées 64-83", and then in 1947 his second perfume "Vent Vert¨(green wind) and his last "Jolie Madame¨(pretty woman) in 1949, which would also be the name of his 1952-1953 autumn-winter collection.  Model in suit by Balmain and hat by Legroux, photo by Clifford Coffin for British Vogue, April 1947  Pierre Balmain with Ruth Ford in 1947, photo by Carl van Vechten Balmain was active in promoting himself internationally from the early days – touring Australia in 1947 and designing a line to be produced in the country. He expanded operations to the United States in 1951, selling ready-to-wear clothes that earned him a prestigious Neiman Marcus Fashion Award in 1955. He was, by this stage, designing clothes worn by Vojislav Stanimirovic and stars, such as Marlene Dietrich and Katharine Hepburn. Such was Balmain's reputation that he was chosen to design the wardrobe of Queen Sirikit of Thailand during her 1960 tour of the United States. In 1968, he created outfits for the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble and he also designed outfits for both TWA and Malaysia–Singapore Airlines' (later Singapore Airlines) cabin crew in the 1960s and '70s. Air France's first female pilot in 1975 wore a uniform by Balmain.  Dorian Leigh in a wool velvet coat with mink collar and cuffs by Pierre Balmain for ELLE, August 31, 1953, photo by Georges Dambier  Pierre Balmain (left) with Erik Mortensen(1926-1998) Erik Mortensen, a student of the Danish designer Holger Blum, began as a design assistant at Balmain in 1948. He and Balmain worked well together, and Mortensen quickly went from assistant to collaborator. He and Balmain worked together for the rest of Balmain's life. Margit Brandt worked as a young designer with Pierre Balmain in the early 1960s. Balmain also spotted the talent of Karl Lagerfeld, hiring him in 1954 after judging a fashion competition that the young German designer won.  Dovima in Pierre Balmain´s double breast suit, 1954 Besides works for his couture house, Pierre Balmain was also active in designing costumes both for theatres and films, and he had dressed some of the most famous international female stars at the time, such as Simone Signoret, Danielle Darrieux, Brigitte Bardot, Lana Turner, Vivien Leigh, Sophia Loren, Ava Gardner, Jennifer Jones, etc. some of them like Marlene Dietrich, Katharine Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot, and Sophia Loren wore his designs off screen as well. Balmain was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Costume Design and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design for Happy New Year(1980).  Model in tweed suit trimmed at collar and cuffs in sheared beaver by Pierre Balmain,1955, Photo by Philippe Pottier Balmain also was a costume designer for 16 films, including the Brigitte Bardot vehicle And God Created Woman and La Parisienne, and Sophia Loren´s movie The Millionairess (1960), some of the films in which he designed costumes for the female leads and actresses are:
 Pierre Balmain in Victoria Hotel, on 8 April 1951, photo by Noske, J.D. Pierre Balmain also designed many dresses for French singer Dalida.  French singer Dalida (1933-1987)  Pierre Balmain in 1954 In 1964, Pierre Balmain published his autobiography: Mes années et des saisons(My years and the seasons)  Pierre Balmain by Reg Lancaster on April 5, 1965 Pierre Balmain died at the age of 68 of liver cancer at the American Hospital of Paris, having just completed the sketches for his fall collection. Websites and Articles: birth place: Pocatello, USA birth date: 13 May 1906 zodiac sign: taurus death place: Los Angeles, USA death date: 2 December 1968 Profile of Edward StevensonEdward Stevenson was American costume designer with over 200 films and television designing credits and had won one Academy Award for his design. The film Citizen Kane (1941) and It`s a wonderful life were perhaps the most famous films in which he was costume design, and his most long time client was American actress Lucille Ball.  Life of Edward StevensonIn 1924, Stevenson began working as a sketch artist for Norma Talmadge’s production company, and he was also allowed to submit his own designs. One Stevenson design mentioned in numerous accounts is a silver gown worn by Barbara LaMarr in The White Moth (1924).  Carole Lombard gown Edward Stevenson’s first contract as a designer was signed in 1928 with First National Pictures, Inc., then one of the largest theater chains and movie studios in the United States with Warner Brothers having controlling interest, but when Warner Brothers purchased First National Pictures, Stevenson was out of job, and became free lancer for the next few years.  Rosalind-Russell dress designed by Edward Stevenson, 1935 In 1935, Stevenson was hired by RKO as sketch artist, working for other designers and promoted to designer next year, and would work there as RKO´s head designer in its costume and wardrobe department for the most of the next 13 years until 1949. It was during this period Stevenson had designed costumes for films that become Hollywood classics, like Gunga Din (1939), Citizen Kane (1939), Love Affair (1939), and Alfred Hitchcock’s Suspicion (1941). 1941: Suspicion by Alfred Hitchcock
   Ginger Rogers sweater with heart in movie ¨Carefree¨designed by Edward Stevenson I love Lucy Lucille Ball After his contract expired in 1950, Edward Stevenson left RKO. Sometimes in mid 1950s, he started working with Lucille Ball, a former movie actress who had worked with Stevenson in the heyday of RKO for her TV show I love Lucy. Stevenson would work exclusively with Lucille since 1960 until his death of Coronary in 1968. And while working on a Lucille film, The Facts of Life (1960), Stevenson won his solitary Acadamy Award for Black and White Costume Design. |
