One that has struck me of late is Isabella Blow. It is certainly her uniqueness that attracted so many.
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“She would say, ‘I’m going to be a bag lady, I just know it,’” says Treacy. “She talked about the Marchesa Casati, who lived on a park bench and every time she got money, she spent it on gardenias.”Casati
Isabella 
Schiaparelli
What struck me was her resemblance to Elsa Schiaparelli. That's what this story is about. The physical appearance is there,the rarity of a unique beauty- the black swan. Both women were photographed by the greats of their day and there are many portraits of them to consume. Their beauty was unconventional but potent. It is their sense of knowing themselves and what their strengths were that enhanced that potency and makes us go back to portrait after portrait and look for their secret. Fashion plays it role, brilliant photography too- But it is the women themselves that capture.
"There is no excellency of beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion."
Sir Francis Bacon
Sir Francis Bacon
Isabella Blow by photographed by Phil Poynter
George Hoyningen-Huené photographed fashion legend Elsa Schiaparelli
Isabella Blow by Steven Meisel
Isabella is credited for the discovering and launching Alexander McQueen (above pic) and when McQueen was hired by Givenchy everyone assumed his muse -Isabella would go along with him. It never happened and the once tight relationship was fractured. Isabella was hurt- though she had the constant appearance of not just style-but money- she needed to earn a living. Her creative collaborative efforts were accepted but never financially rewarded. Many of Blow's friends felt she should have owned an agency or designed her own line -the ultimate outlet for a fashion force like Blow.Schiaparelli's relationship with the Dada and Surrealist movements led to collaborations with Dalí, Cocteau, and Giacometti. Chanel referred to her as 'that Italian artist who makes clothes' (not nice-Cat.) Her collaborations with various artists contributed to the vast range and variety of her work. Schiap was extremely successful and able to call her own shots throughout her career. Perhaps this is just one area that frustrated Blow in her fashion quest.
Isabella and crustacean (above and below)
Schiap's Crustacean Dress
Elsa Schiaparelli's famous crustacean dress was made in collaboration with Salvador Dalí and worn by Wallis Windsor. The Duchess was one of Blow's much loved fashion icons, as exhibited in her London flat- a painting of WW.
WW in the dress
Isabella's Duchess painting of Wallis Windsor
Schiaparelli in her apartment
THE Ladies' APARTMENTS in the color purple-above( photograph by Fritz von der Schulenburg)
...more images of the two~ by famous photographers-
1. Since most women do not know themselves they should try to do so.
2. A woman who buys an expensive dress and changes it, often with disastrous result, is extravagant and foolish.
3. Most women (and men) are color-blind. They should ask for suggestions.
4. Remember-twenty percent of women have inferiority complexes. Seventy percent have illusions.
5. Ninety percent are afraid of being conspicuous, and of what people will say. So they buy a gray suit. They should dare to be different.
6. Women should listen and ask for competent criticism and advice.
7. They should choose their clothes alone or in the company of a man.
8. They should never shop with another woman, who sometimes consciously or unconsciously, is apt to be jealous.
9. She should buy little and only of the best or cheapest.
10. Never fit a dress to the body, but train the body to fit the dress.
11. A woman should buy mostly in one place where she is known and respected, and not rush around trying every new fad.
12. And she should pay her bills.
and a little love from Isabella Blow:
1."SHOW SOME FLESH"
2."A BAROQUE HAT REQUIRES A VERY SIMPLE DRESS" (Schiap would approve)
3."WEAR WHITE- IT STINKS OF LUXURY"
4.ALWAYS WEAR LIPSTICK-"SHOVE IT ON & YOUR MOUTH FEELS LIKE A SEXUAL CREATURE"
5.ONE MUST ALWAYS MAKE AN EFFORT TO DRESS WELL "NOTHING ELSE IS GOOD ENOUGH."
