Versace vs. Gaultier

If I had mad graphics skills I would show these models and the ones in the photo below all duking it out in a WWF cage match.  I love it when the two fashion powerhouses, Jean Paul Gaultier and Gianni Versace, go toe-to-toe fighting for the title "Supreme Overlord of Composition".  That Champion's Belt must be awesome!  I see it having not just rhinestones, studs and chains, but also intricate bead work, fabric flowers made of gold and silver lame, and framed by a multi-colored lace border.  The Pantone people can't possibly keep up with the Versace and Gaultier color creations.  It must drive them Banana Creme Pies trying to figure out whether the blue-gray color of the f aux fur collar on a jacket should be dubbed "Dusty-Skies" or "Chinchilla Dreams".  And there must be legions of sweat-shops around the world trying to keep up with their demand for sequins!

I have been a fan of Versace and Gaultier since my mom and I watched our first Academy Awards show together and she said that the beading alone on a Versace gown would have taken a team of skilled Italian tailors a week to sew on.  Now, I do believe that fashion should be accessible, but I also think that there is something to be said for excess.  The fantasy and forbidding of wildly elaborate gowns and clashing colors and textures forced to work with each others coupled with the exclusivity of the expensive treatments, excessive attention to detail and uncompromising craftsmanship is simply tantalizing.  The Frankenstien analogy, with the works taking on a life of their own, is most apropos.

I can't say who I root for more, Versace or Gaultier, in this epic war of couture.  Sometimes Versace wins me over with a shoe that has buckles, buttons and spikes, and sometimes Gaultier  gets me with a multi-colored block print pant suit with flowing arms and legs.  My head snaps back and forth like I'm watching the finals at the US Open.  But I am all the happier to have the sore neck in the morning after I finally say to myself, "It's okay.  They're both amazing."