Christmas Rêverie 20 Haute Couture dresses to get you into the Christmas mood
Diala Aschkar, Art Director at Orient Palms, France

Christmas Rêverie

20 Haute Couture dresses to get you into the Christmas mood

I selected 20 gowns from the Haute Couture Fall-Winter 2016-2017 collections of Elie Saab, Zuhair Murad, Georges Hobeika, Ralf & Russo and Guo Pei, 20 exceptional gowns to inspire us and get us into the Christmas spirit, with their magical birds and feathers, flowers and foliage, dragons and flamingos.

T.S. Elliot’s poem “The Cultivation of Christmas Trees” explains this need to escape into a world of magic and wonder. These gowns produce the same "glittering rapture, the amazement" that a child feels when looking at a decorated Christmas tree. We long for the “reverence and the gaiety” of childhood to remain, soothing "the bored habituation, the fatigue, the tedium". Christmas festivities symbolize hope and new beginnings.

What does it feel like to be dressed by a whirlwind of flying birds in cobalt blue, to be enveloped by a transparent canvas for a vegetal pattern to be laid on ? Elie Saab’s two ethereal poetic visions exude sensuality with their single long sleeved design and revealing transparency. The visual movement is anchored on the shoulder by a brooch of birds in sequins.

Elie Saab presents a modern Christmas winter garden; the blossoming of multicolored flowers in feathers and crystals is extended with embroidered flower motifs lines, creating a "multi mediums painting" dress.

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The mother and daughter pairing in long silk guipure dresses with organza embellishments adds to the splendor of New Yorkish balls, the main theme of Elie Saab’s collection.

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Birds and feathers embroidered with black and gold silk threads, sequins and crystals seem like flaunting in the air with this Elie Saab long split dress.

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The ostrich feathers embellishing these jasmine white tulle dresses and guipures recreate old Hollywood glamour.

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Georges Hobeika’s cascading golden flowers are well balanced with the silvery branchs.

We can almost smell the verdant odor of the tree when looking at Georges Hobeika’s magnificent emerald green dress with rich foliage covering a nude tulle top.

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Georges Hobeika’s collection felt like walking in a Christmas forest haloed in gold and vivid colors.

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Two siren dresses for two different styles; on the left a rich and dense foliage for a baroque feel and on the right lotus flowers dotting a lace dress inspiring gaiety and cheerfulness.

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This intricately beaded golden dress displays a magnificent flower bouquet that springs from the bottom of the skirt. Little details add to the preciousness and sophistication of the look: ribbons on sleeves, beads as necklace and delicate hems cut in zigzags.

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Ralph & Russo powdery pastels of pink, nude and blue create a soft enchanted realm. The silk organza gown with an autumnal print on the left is appliquéd with metallic cut-out flowers and butterflies, whereas the sky blue gown on the right is appliquéd with silk tulle ruffles and embellished with glass beads and gold feather thread-work.

The Chinese designer Guo Pei presents maximalist glamor inspired by mythical creatures. Incandescent cascading gold metals create the look of a futuristic empress. The gown on the right has a dragon perched on the shoulder like a protective deity, rising from the intricate copper mesh of the bodice.

Luau green fits very well the Christmas mood at Zuhair Murad. A climbing foliage of embroideries set gracefully on the bodice like a Winter garden. Violet flamingos and foliage embroideries on a lace bohemian gown propel us into a world of fantasy.