Happy Valentine's Day/YSL Hearts

Some of my favorite Valentines cards are actually New Year's cards created by Yves Saint Laurent and sent to members of his close circle of friends. He created the cards for 30 years and always incorporated the word "love" in them.

His earliest cards were pen and ink drawings.

His later cards were often collages

Polly Mellen, a former fashion editor at Vogue Magazine for 28 years, was a close friend of Saint Laurent, and displays her treasured cards en masse ... in her powder room! 

Vogue, April 2009

Love and hearts were seen not only in Saint Laurent's cards but were also a leitmotif in his designs. 

Hearts could be seen in Saint Laurent's clothing designs ...........

Yves Saint Laurent Spring 1987 collection. Wool suit with red satin heart lapel.

1980s suit jacket

.....and in his jewelry designs.

1985 Yves Saint Laurent earrings.

Yves Saint Laurent 1980s earrings.

Bride at the end of Yves Saint Laurent's 1983 couture runway show wearing his signature heart shaped pendant necklace.

Happy Valentine's Day! Be sure to wear your heart on your sleeve! oxoxoxo

Loulou de la Falaise

 I was sad to learn this weekend about the death of a true original - Loulou de la Falaise. She was the muse and longtime friend of Yves Saint Laurent. He referred to her as his "little miracle" and was very influenced by her eclectic, bohemian style.  De la Falaise did not like being called a muse. She said, "I used to get very irritated by that term. For me, a muse is someone who looks glamourous but is quite passive, whereas I was very hard-working. I worked from 9 am to sometimes 9 pm, or even 2 am.  I certainly wasn't passive."

Betty Calroux, Yves Saint Laurent, Loulou de la Falaise 1969 London

De la Falaise met Saint Laurent in Paris in 1968 and by 1972 she was working for his company as a jewelry designer. She continued to work there for three decades. She adored designing pieces with brightly colored stones, crosses, hearts, and huge enameled flowers. She once said, "Accessories have an important role in our stressful lives. If you're going out to dinner and you haven't had the time to go home and change, you can take off your jacket and put on some jewelry."

Loulou de la Falaise at her wedding in 1977. Wearing YSL turban.

In 1977, Saint Laurent hosted an Arabian fantasy of a wedding for the marriage of de la Falaise to Thadee Klossowski de Rola. Saint Laurent designed de la Falaise's wedding ensemble seen in the photo above.

After Saint Laurent retired in 2002, de la Falaise started her own jewelry and clothing line.