Art Nouveau: a way of life

Perhaps one of the reasons why Art Nouveau is so interesting is because of its philosophy, that art should be “a way of life”. Truly living out their philosophy, the reach of the movement did not stop at what was traditionally known as “art”, but extended also into architecture (cue Victor Horta), posters (cue Jules Cheret), and even…fashion? Okay, I’m not too sure about what art nouveau fashion entails, but Google has directed me to Jean Philippe Worth, who designed the dress below:

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(Click here to find out more about art nouveau and art deco fashion) The dress is quite in line with what we learnt! It exhibits beautiful, flowing lines in its cut, from shoulder to waist to hip and all the way to the little train at the back, which is also seen in the floral designs that wrap elegantly around the dress, hugging the figure yet flowing almost effortlessly into a gorgeous swooshy-ness! (is this the dress version of a whiplash?)

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And certainly, one can never discuss Art Nouveau without mentioning Alphonse Mucha. Such fantastique. By the way, I couldn’t help noticing some of the similarities in the flowing dress design of Mucha’s work and Worth’s designs. They’re so pretty~ Mucha’s work pretty much epitomizes the whiplash (and the ideal feminine beauty?), and influences of Japonism is quite evident in the rather flat plains of colours and black outlines of figures. His work still retains the Western academic realism of the figure’s form though!
And to end of, just sharing a little cute poster of his:

It made me rethink my impression of Nestle.

Alfons Maria Mucha's Art Nouveau decorative paintings, advertisements and illustrations [dvdbash]

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