Vanessa Austin Locke: Countryphile
I first met Chrissie of Curve Couture when I modelled for her at Brighton Fashion Week, back when Brighton Fashion Week was just one show called Brighton Frocks. So this year I was thrilled to see that Chrissie was showcasing on the enormous runway at St Bartholomew’s for BFW 2013. The designers showcased were a mixed bag, and I wasn’t necessarily impressed with everything I saw. But I noticed that Curve Couture had caught, not only my attention, but the entire crowd.
“Corsetry is such a striking statement that it generally turns heads whether it’s good or bad”
Corsetry is such a striking statement that it generally turns heads whether it’s good or bad. However, there’s a gaze that is drawn from excellent corsetry that you simply don’t get from every flimsy, plastic-boned ‘corset’ that you pick up on the high street, that will lose its shape after two outings and really shouldn’t be allowed to call itself a corset because it is, in fact, a basque.
The name of the new collection is Countryphile, and since I have now returned to my roots and am myself a countryphile once again, I can fully appreciate the romance and seductive eccentricities of the English countryside and those who ride it. Bareback. Naked. In the rain. In Hunter wellies. With a flask of damson gin. I’m sorry, where were we?
These corsets take a traditional Edwardian cut in lace and leather (my favourite combination), and combine it with sharp tailoring reminiscent of Hermes fall 2004, if somewhat saucier. But if you’re thinking that a corset is just for the female form, think again. Chrissie presented two male models in corsets, which drew a communal exclamation from the crowd. Far from looking camp or feminine, these boys projected steely, hard power and an appealing, erotic confidence that dismissed any questions of sexuality, whilst retaining it entirely. Chrissie explains that, “when you wear a corset you feel like you’re wearing armour.” And it was an armoured impression that I drew from the young models, both male and female, before me.
I find myself in my element at present. Autumn in the English countryside is my natural habitat. The melting, weakening sunlight takes on a dozy glow at this time of year. Wriggling things burrow into warm, damp earth that gives off a nostalgic fragrance so rich and natural, whilst being entirely fresh. Tweed and leather both have their own scent – wool, horses, wood smoke – that ferments with the rotting forest floor, and we wrap up warm. We armour ourselves. We strap ourselves in to keep from crumbling into the decay and sleeping there ‘til spring.
To this armour, these straps, we add a touch of lace, or silk, or velvet; a nod to the richness of the season, and the beauty we can bring to the bleakest winter days. And as the countryside gives itself back to itself, we can feel peaceful in the knowledge that none of its bounty will be wasted, but rather slip back into the earth, to return next year.
Curve Couture’s Countryphile collection embodies this essence in my mind, and that’s what I love about style; when you can express the complexity, whimsy, sensuality and idiosyncrasies of a thing like the English countryside in autumn, in something as simple as what you wear, you can live stories.
I’m delighted to see this artist’s work reach new standards of excellence. This latest collection, in my humble opinion, makes Curve Couture the South East’s top corset designer-maker.
www.curvecouture.co.uk
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