You may have noticed that the last two Too Gallant posts featured illustrations.
I decided to start doing this because I often have an outfit in my head that I can’t find any photographic examples of and I’ve never been too comfortable doing ‘personal style’ shots. I’m not terribly adept at illustration, I really just wanted a vehicle to transmit my ideas (though hopefully practice will bring improvement!)
When posting a link to one of the posts on Twitter, I made a joke about being “no Rene Gruau,” Which left me thinking the obvious: why have I never done a post on Gruau? His dynamic, expressive and original fashion illustrations put him at the forefront of his field.
Gruau creates images which look more like works of art than illustrations – and indeed his work has hung in the Louvre before now.
Gruau illustrated for top clients such as Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Dior and others in his 1950s heydey. His clean, bold style and sparse compositions have been imitated by many followers since then.
One other thing I love about his illustrations is that he tends to stick around a simple, dramatic palette of black, white and red. For me these are the Holy Trinity of colour — anyone who knows me personally will be able to confirm that almost all my outfits consist of these three hues! So I guess in a way, Gruau is not only a source of guidance in illustration, he’s my styling inspiration as well.
Rosa Abbott is an arts, fashion and culture obsessive originating from Yorkshire, England, and currently living in Dublin, Ireland. On top of being a student at the illustrious Trinity College, she is a freelance journalist, writing for a number of Irish publications, and also edits the visual arts section of entertainment magazine Totally Dublin.
When she’s not up to her eyeballs in writing, Rosa works as an assistant to stylist Aisling Farinella and volunteers at various art galleries. Her musings on life, style and art can also be found over at her blog, Too Gallant.
