The Red Ballon Soup/Dress

I was amusing myself by making a movie list the other day. I can't quite make the connection between making lists and crawling out from an existential crisis, but it felt very reassuring. Slight obsessive-compulsiveness does replace actual joie de vivre when one feels socially lazy, it seems. While going through the narcotic task of unnecessary itemizing I experienced a regression to "Le Ballon Rouge" (1956) by Albert Lamorisse

I saw it some months ago at my friend O's -to whom I own most of the 80's items in my movie list- while having the reddest soup ever thanks to the chef's fortuitous excess use of spices. "Red Balloon Soup", we called it. Two nights and several more alcohol in her bloodstream after our friend the chef would admit resenting our mockery. Good old times. Anyway the film reminded me of another set of balloons I saw recently walking down the runway at Jil Sander's spring  2011 show

 

source: Style.com

It's taken some time for it to grow on me, despite my fondness of Raf Simons' minimalism. I guess couturish maximalism is supposed to strike as unsettling at first, specially coming from him, but the more I see it the more I enjoy it. I would certainly enjoy escorting a girl wearing a balloon dress. Imagine how lovely it would be, striding along holding her arm fretting that she'd go flying upwards the minute I loosen my grip. Maybe they come with a GPS system?