GLOVES, THE FASHIONABLE ACCOURTREMENT (C) By Polly Guerin

Gloves, an indispensable accoutrement of elegance, have had their place in fashionable society as items of feminine coquetry, romance and duels of honor. Historically they were emblems of status and power, worn by royalty and church dignitaries. In ancient times gloves served their purpose as a protection and embellishment. Today, however, the importance of the glove seems to be relegated to whims of fashion, worn with wedding dresses or gala balls.

THE SIXTEEN BUTTON GLOVE

Imagine the fashion of the sixteen button opera glove, popular in the nineteenth century, as a subject of sensual intrigue. It could take an hour just to put on a pair of these gloves, requiring the use of glove stretchers, powder and button hooks. With the absence of a lady’s maid, each little button had to be undone by a lover who knew how to kiss the revealed arm of his amorata with passionate pause. Such a scene of patient anticipation could easily be re-enacted in a romantic novel.

GLOVES IN FASHION

Every once in a while models sashay out in fashion shows wearing gloves, but it still doesn’t do much to entice women today to complete their outfit with gloves. Instead, gloves seem to go back to their original purpose and appear in cold weather, more as a protection rather than making a fashion statement. However, in the Renaissance, fashionable women wore opulently embroidered and perfumed gloves of silk, linen, and kid leather. A woman might carelessly, but intentionally, leave a glove behind her indicating that she expected to be followed.

ANCIENT GLOVES

The gloves of kings and church nobles were richly ornamented with gold, silver and precious stones. They were part the investiture of a knight. A gauntlet flung down in front of an adversary was a challenge to battle or a duel. Ancient gloves were luxuries of the privileged classes, while the peasants wore coarse working mittens. If ever there was a glove fetish collector Queen Elizabeth 1, who ruled England during the sixteenth century, was one. So fond of gloves she amassed more than 2,000 pairs, which were maintained by a wardrobe mistress. Napoleon was another great lover of gloves and encouraged his Empress Josephine, and the ladies of the court, to dress in the height of fashion.

THE ENTERTAINMENT NOTABLES

Mme. Sarah Bernhardt was one of the great glove-wearers of all time. She was responsible for popularizing the over-the-elbow gloves which she wore on one of her American tours. Not to be outdone Lillian Russell, the famous New York society beauty and actress was also known for influencing glove trends, particularly wearing fingerless white kid opera gloves. Similarly another entertainment notable, Michael Jackson did a lot to promote the penchant for wearing one glove and admirers adapted the look.

THE VICTORIANS

Elongated kid gloves, called mousquetaires, were so skintight in the Victorian era that many young women squeezed their hands into a size smaller to achieve an elegant look. It was acceptable, and positively an alluring sight, for ladies to slip their hands out through the button- or snap-fastened wrist opening of long kid gloves to eat or drink while keeping the glove itself on. Harrison Fisher’s painting, “Girl Taking Tea in Gloves,” illustrates a young woman’s ability to nonchalantly dine while wearing gloves.
NOWADAYS GLOVES COME IN A WIDE VARIETY OF MATERIALS COLORS AND LENGTHS. FABRIC GLOVES BEGAN TO BE WORN AFTER WORLD WAR I AND BY THE 1950’s WHEN WOMEN WOULD NOT LEAVE THE HOUSE WITHOUT A HAT, GLOVES AND HANDBAG, SYNTHETIC MATERIALS BECAME AVAILABLE REPLACING LEATHER TO SOME DEGREE.

The Hankie, A Fashionable Coquette (c)

Handkerchief Hems

Fragile and delicate, imbued with feminine coquetry the handkerchief, a mere square of linen, commanded a major role in designating royal favor or marking the bonds of love and even marriage. Early in the sixteenth century we begin to recognize handkerchiefs under that name, but they were confined to the nobility and upper classes. Who else could afford the extremely rich silks trimmed with luxurious Venice gold lace which Henry VII carried to demonstrate his noblesse oblige. An early fashion trendsetter the King elevated the handkerchief to royal status and it has remained a fashion accessory ever since.

SQUAREING OFF ON SHAPE

It is rumored in fashion history that Marie Antoinette (1755-1793) had to trouble her pretty head about handkerchiefs which were offered in so many shapes that she had to put a stop to it. Her husband, King Louis XVI (1754-1793), made it a law and all handkerchiefs remained square. A fine lady or gentleman gave to their favorites, as a token of their love, little three to four inch square handkerchiefs. By the seventeenth century lace covered the fashion silhouette at the throat and wrists, and even the tops of boots. Handkerchiefs did not escape this extravagance and were edged with deep flounces of lace and were extremely costly.

DROPPING A HINT

As a communicator of love’s intrigue the handkerchief of finely crafted linen and lace was given, accepted, worn or even purposefully dropped to catch a lover’s attention. Many a lover could communicate their intention by the mere drop in the right place. However, there is the case of poor Anne Boleyn and her indiscriminate dropping of a handkerchief at the feet of a favorite courtier after a joust, and you know what happened, her demise was foretold. Then there’s negative side of handkerchief lore. In Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago manipulates a handkerchief to ignite Othello’s jealous rage. On the Orient Express a handkerchief with an embroidered initial, left at the scene of a crime, plays an important part in the investigation of a murder.

HANKY PANKY MEN’S FASHION

Men got into the handkerchief craze with noticeable flourish. The almost universal use of snuff in the eighteenth century offered many opportunities for the display of a fine handkerchief and their demonstrated use was a sign of good breeding. The First World War saw a curious revival of the handkerchief as a decorative accessory for men. As the breast pocket on men’s suits were now made on the outside it became fashionable to show a protruding handkerchief, which was sometimes colored to match the tie. In the nineteenth century the handkerchief spread to all classes.

HANDKERCHIEF CURIOSITIES

Children’s hankies were embroidered with the days of the week and during the 1920s and 1930s, several handkerchief books were produced depicting artist, Gladys Peto’s artwork. These charming publications contained six square children’s handkerchiefs made from Irish Linen, and covered subjects such as school time, nursery rhymes and Alice in Wonderland. Women found ingenious ways to use the handkerchief creatively and sewed several handkerchiefs together to make a fancy apron. The handkerchief hem on a skirt takes its cue from the handkerchief as does ordering a handkerchief table, a corner table in a restaurant where lovers can have some privacy.

DEMISE OF THE HANDKERCHIEF

Though people no longer dangle a handkerchief to catch a lover’s eye, women of good taste do carry a handkerchief in their purse or tuck it like a flower in the breast pocket of their suit. However, for most people today the Golden Years of the handkerchief have vanished giving way to the economy and hygiene of disposable soft paper handkerchiefs to use not only for colds but also for drying wet eyes during a soppy movie. But I’m old-fashioned and still carry a handkerchief as my feminine right to having something beautiful in my purse and on occasion to flourish before an admiring public.

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The Language of the Fashionable Fan (c) By Polly Guerin

Fans were once the language of lovers, communicators of emotion, declarations of approval and most essential the dress of no fashionable lady’s attire in the 18th century would be complete with the addition of a fan. This little accessory takes its significant place in history as the instrument of intrigue, love and scandal that it was apply been termed “the woman’s scepter.” Poets have written prose to it and minstrels sang ditties of praise to its pleasurable interaction with the opposite sex. Fashionable fans of yesteryear, though relegated to the museum showcases and in private collections, can still have the same allure and enchantment as they did in the Victorian, Belle Époque and the Art Deco era.

THE PRETTY COOLER

Imagine the world without air conditioning. Be it made of lace, ivory, painted silk or gem encrusted, the fan was an essential accessory in a stuffy, crowded ballroom. The years 1880-1890 were the Golden Age of the fashionable fan and ladies of the court and other royal pretenders counted on their elegant fan to communicate their heart’s desire. The fan has a long and storied history. There were fans for every occasion, painted or printed with picturesque landscapes, romantic images and most effectively as instruments of advertising. During the second half of the 19th century most fans were manufactured to promote the railroad, spas, restaurants, cabarets and magnificent perfume fans appear around 1910. Thousands of fashionable fans were also manufactured between 1900 and 1940 declining slowly after WWII to come a trickle today.

FLUTTER, FLUTTER

The fluttering fan charmed and entertained but much more elaborate was the etiquette of the fan, which was prescribed to describe a variety of emotional flutters: the angry flutter, the confused flutter, the angry flutter, the merry flutter and the amorous flutter to name a few. Young ladies were therefore instructed on the proper ways to handle their fan and if they failed to do so they were looked upon as being gauche and of the most bourgeois sort. In the 18th century ladies used the fan for more than keeping cool. Supposedly, there even existed a “language of the fan’ whereby ladies could send a message across the room without saying a word. It was essential therefore to be quite clear what message a lady wanted to convey.

A LADY’S BODY LANGUAGE

The fan became an essential part of a woman’s body language. It could reveal or conceal a host of female emotions. The fan had significance when placed in specific positions. Placed near the heart it meant: “You have won my love.” A closed fan touching the right eye: “When may I be allowed to see you?” The right hand in front of the face: “Follow me.” A half-opened fan pressed to the lips: “You may kiss me.” Hiding the eyes behind an open fan: “I love you.” Opening a fan wide: “Wait for me.” Twirling the fan in the left hand: “We are being watched.” Fanning slowing can deter a swain’s attentions. Fanning quickly indicated: “I am engaged. Fanning slowing meant: “I am married.” Woe is it to the woman who did not follow the rules of fan etiquette for the right position was essential to attract for disengage a suitor.

IF TRUTH BE TOLD WHEN THE FAN RULED OVER ROMANTIC ETIQUETTE THERE WAS HARDLLY ANY EMOTION IN THE MIND THAT DID NOT PRODUCE A SUITABLE AGITATION IN THE FAN.

LUXURIOUS LACE, 'PUNTO IN ARIA' STITCHES IN AIR (C)

Madonna a Modern Lace Icon

Lace Makes a Comeback (c) by Polly Guerin

Lace has charmed and dazzled men and women for centuries. Think of sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century portraits of royal figures framed in exquisite lace ruffs, lace stiffened into jeweled fans, magnificent gowns lavished with lace, or the towering lace headdresses that became the rage in the court of Louis XIV. The production of lace was tedious and required dexterous hands to ply the needles or accelerate the wooden bobbins to create such works of beauty in pillow lace. So tedious and such an eye strain was the work that girls in convents were said to go blind creating these costly fabrics. Today incredible computerized machinery make it possible to replicate handmade lace and the production renders an affordable product that every modern woman can wear.

THE CRAFT OF PUNTO IN ARIA

Knowledge of the craft of lace making, ‘Punto in Aria,’ stitches in air, as the Venetians called the fabric, was jealously guarded in the Royal workrooms. Many nations depended on handmade laces for revenue, and pattern books were state treasures. In time, as laces came to be seen as the privilege of noble adornment, it became much in demand, and lace making spread throughout Europe. By the middle of the seventeenth century lace became a great luxury and an item of commerce and the craft was established as an industry. Lace literally overwhelmed the fashion taste of the period and was used with abandon on collar, cuffs, caps and even the tops of boots. The Puritans, however, give up lace believing it to be “a temptation of Satan.”

LACE GOES UNDERGROUND

No one know for sure when lace went underground, that is, from outerwear to underwear, but when Catherine de Medici went to France to wed Henry II in 1533, her bridal trousseau included ‘calecons,’ a Renaissance term for lace drawers. Taking the lead from Catherine, men and women of high rank began wearing elaborate lace trimmings on perfumed undergarments as an expression of their superior rank. Always sensitive to the aesthetics and luxury, the French began, early on, to combine lace with silk to make luxurious lingerie.
LACE TERMINOLOGY

The Venetian lace industry spread to France and thrived. Places like Valenciennes, Alencon, Argentan, Calais and Chantilly became identified and known for their particular style of delicate yet complex lace patterns. Valenciennes also called Val lace, is a flat bobbin lace of linen, Alencon, also called Point d’Alencon, is a delicate needlepoint lace and machine production with a cord-like outline of the design started in 1855, Chantilly appears to be the most elaborate with a scalloped design along one edge , often having an outline design of scrolls or vases, or baskets of flowers. It is widely used for bridal gowns and evening wear. The picture above features a Victorian woman with a large cape in Chanilly Lace.

LACY FASHIONS PREVAIL

Victorian women seem to have coveted lace not only for their gowns but also to decorate their parlor armchairs and tables. Flounces of lace were also used in runners that were placed on the mantle shelf or to adorn pillows. Such was the luxury of a bygone era, but the modern woman is no less endowed and fancies ‘Punto in Aria’ not only for her delicate undergarments, but also for daytime and evening fashions. Created in a wide assortment of colors, and black , re-embroidered with gold or silver threads these luxurious garments are the prerogative of women everywhere.

A WOMAN'S CROWNING GLORY, A HAT TO MATCH (C)

A WOMAN’S CROWNING GLORY, A HAT TO MATCH ©

By Polly Guerin,

The Fashion Historian

Hats have always functioned as more than mere head coverings. The styles created by different civilizations also proclaimed the rank and status of the wearer. It distinguished people by degrees of social class, profession and religious order. Head gear also defined the etiquette of an era, and hats were always an important part of regional and national costume. So what became of a one’s crowning glory?

DEMISE OF MILLINERY

Hats were an important aspect of American and European fashion, until about the 20th century when men and women started going hatless. Today one hardly ever sees women wearing hats. Exceptions being at church services, weddings, race courses and other special events. Construction workers give us hard hats, baseball caps identify with the all-American spirit, and the beret seems to be mainstay worn by women as well as men in the private and military sectors. Millinery has a broad and ancient history.

THE EGYPTIANS

The early Egyptians were proud of their wig headdresses. In the beginning wigs were adorned with a tasteful gold band. In time, however, this ornamentation became more elaborate and symbols of Gods emerged like ram’s horns or the sun disk. However, it took Queen Nefertiti to introduce the wide-topped crown, but other queens preferred to adopt the vulture headdress, a symbol for motherhood. To top it off the Greeks had their own take on hats.

CROWNING GLORY

Cretans’ hats were a lavish affair---jeweled berets and turbans; huge towering fezzes were worn at a jaunty tilt. Tall, candle-shaped crowns plopped onto wide, flat brings. By the sixth century B.C. women had a nice range of hair styles to choose from. Queens and Goddesses got to wear golden coronets or most regal of all a crescent-shaped diadem, the Stephane. To protect their coifs from the weather, Etruscan men and women might affect a tutulus, a curious pointed hat with an upturned brim. Always the fashion followers by the mid-eighth century, many women copy Charlemagne’s mother, Bertha, who wears her long hair parted in the center and held in place with two thick braids and a headband around her forehead.

THE MIDDLE AGES

When we think of the Middle Ages we picture the period as romantic but it is the era of the Crusades with men going out with snoops, hoods and a variety of hear gear. Women of importance and rank, like Eleanor of Aquitaine wear a high headdress, a pointed cone-shaped hat adorned with a view which helps her to achieve the elongated silhouette inspired by Gothic architecture.

PUTTING ON A THINKING CAP

Men have their day in the 13th century. In an era when most people were illiterate, teachers and philosophers wear square-cut caps which are fit tightly against their skulls and people start talking about “putting on their thinking cap.” Women’s pillbox-shaped caps with their attached chin straps do have some charm but Robin Hood hats with pointed visors and high crowns are in fashion. When Isabelle of Bavaria arrives in France to marry Charles VI, she brings with her outlandish millinery and women of her court sport bourrelets—wide, padded rolls, anchored on top of their hair and the towering cone shaped headdress grows to fantastic proportions. In the Renaissance the Mary Queen of Scots, a veil suspended from a rigid frame was de rigueur.

LOUIS XIV RULE

In the 1670s and 1680s, women adopt a variety of hats---beautifully embroidered snoods stretch over hair buns, hoods for protection and best of all, glamorous wide-brimmed picture hats. By 1735 Fashion Dolls, exact replicas of fashionable French Ladies, from their headgear down to their makeup travel to the Colonies and American women of rank and wealth adopt Parisian style. However, the saga of fashion hats takes a turn for simplicity for the new settlers and the wide-brimmed bonnet carries them forward into the new frontier.

THE WORLD OF FASHION

In the world of fashion, women’s hats were hardly functional at all. Like the tiny cocktail hats of the 1930s that perched at angles on a woman’s head, it was pure décor of the most charming of decorative accessories. Much of the credit for wearing impressive hats today can be observed at black community churches where women take pride in wearing their crowning glory as a sign of respect and their regal privilege. Mad hatters done their fantasy hats at the Easter Parade in New York, and hats of picturesque splendor offer a picture opportunity at charity functions and race track openings. However, once upon a time a woman would not have left the house without a hat, which completed the outfit. In folklore the hat represented a queen's crown and declared to the world that a woman was indeed a Lady.

FASHIONING THE BODY: SEDUCTIVE CORSETRY (C)

By Polly Guerin

The Fashion Historian
As glamorous as corsets may appeal to women today, they were from the beginning a restricting garment that evolved perhaps from the chastity belt and the concept, decreed by men, of keeping women in their place. Despite the discomfort, women have been wearing corsets for almost 400 years putting social status, respectability and the pinnacle of feminine beauty over common sense values. Corsets were so tightly laced in the 1800s that they gave pain a new meaning in the 19th century. A girl as young as 11 years old was instructed by their society mother’s that the corset was an essential element of fashionable dress. Women appeared to be willing to be fashion victims, because it was considered not only unfashionable—even immoral—for a woman to appear in public without a corset.

FIGURE FACTS

Although doctors blamed the corset for a wide variety of diseases most of those diagnoses were unsupported but more dangerous was the fact that corsets did alter the body’s shape. Such a distortion of the natural body implicated the corset in aggravating existing conditions and digestive problems. The squeezing of vital organs from their original position in the body may also have contributed to the inability to bear children normally. Furthermore as a status symbol, the corset limited a woman’s mobility and it suggested that she could afford servants and needed a ‘lady’s maid’ just to get dressed. Even working class women succumbed to the allure of the corset and adopted cheap ready-made versions.

THE FAINTING COUCH

Striving to achieve the “ideal” figure, a woman was convinced that her waist was too large and accepted tight lacing to achieve a feminine 13-16 inch waist. Hence a ‘straight-laced woman” was not loose. As the corset was cinched tighter and tighter (think of Scarlet O'Hara in Gone With the Wind telling her maid “tighter, tighter”) it may have produced the desired small waist but it also reduced a woman’s lung capacity. Getting vapors was an obvious result as tight corsets were the cause shortness of breath and fainting was a common occurrence. Hence men came to the aid of a damsel in distress and smelling salts were summoned. To the cognoscenti a fainting couch was considered fashionable furniture of the day.

EROTIC FEMININITY

The corset prolonged the feminine prerogative to tempt a lover. The act of undressing and making love was a studied ritual in feminine coquetry. Not only did the corset support and uplift the bosom and idealize the female figure it extended the seduction process into one that took time and the delft hands of one’s lover to un-lace and un-trap the woman’s body for lovemaking. Women of the golden age of corsets did not engage in ‘quickie’ encounters but plied their femininity with flirtatious corsetry.

SEXUAL EMPOWERMENT

Corsets today, more modified but no less glamorous and seductive, have reappeared on the fashion scene as an outerwear garment and a source of sexual empowerment. No longer a garment of female oppression, the corset has reappeared and reconceived by Madonna and other show biz icons as a statement of the modern femme fatale. Women blatantly wear the fashionable bustier outside or inside a suit jacket and the strapless corset appears as the top of evening gowns. This age of liberation makes it no longer necessary to wear a corset for respectability but to establish one’s identity an independent and empowered female figure.
Books of interest: Fashion and Eroticism, Ideal of Feminine Beauty from the Victorian Era to the jazz age by Valerie Steele, Oxford University Press and Let There be Clothes by Lynn Schnurnberger, Workman Publishing.
Polly Guerin never wore a boned corset but is fascinated by the seductive world of corsetry and the role it played in women’s lives. Polly honed her fashion historian skills as a professor at The Fashion Institute of Technology and wrote “The Ties That Bind, A Guide to Historically Correct Undergarments” for doll enthusiasts. (Doll World magazine)

FOOTWEAR'S FASHION VICTIMS (C)

By Polly Guerin, The Fashion Historian

Nowadays on the fashionable streets of major cities the thin, gravity-defying Stiletto Heel seems to have ensnared more fashion victims than any other footwear style. Yes, they are sexy but difficult to walk in and most importantly they throw the body off balance, and can cause other foot problems as well. Yet despite this fact countless women insist on spending big bucks to point their way to fashion footwear. Why? Because the classic pump is a power-wardrobe essential, a go-with-everything choice for women executives and females on the prowl. The Manolo Blahnik’s Tuccio pump, for example, comes in five heel heights and a variety of colors. The toe shape, too, called the vamp, varies depending on regional taste. A pair bought in New York has a slightly longer toe than one from bought in Dallas. Footwear history seems to repeat itself and women have been dying to follow the whims of fashion making footwear an indispensable accessory.
HEIGHT AND PRACTICALITY
Women throughout the ages have been trying to gain royal privilege. You no doubt remember how women of the most modest lifestyles in ancient China insisted on binding their feet to emulate the royal prerogative, but this crippling binding fashion rendered the ladies incapable of walking. It’s alright, I guess if you’re a royal and can be transported about on a divan by servants, but obviously this kind of portage was not available even to a social climbing peasant woman. As for platform footwear Carmen Miranda may have popularized this style but clog versions also go back to ancient China as well as adaptations of platform shoes as early as 1640. Defying the mud and filth in the medieval cities it was essential to wear shoes with stilt-like pattens of wood to elevate the foot and increase the wearer’s height or aid them in walking through the filthy streets. These practical stilt-like platforms were popular footwear and worn right down to Colonial America.
A HISTORICAL LEAP INTO FOOTWEAR
Until man invented footwear, he walked. That’s it barefoot! The invention of footwear was the first step forward in devising protection for the feet. The sandal is perhaps the oldest creation and has its incarnation as far back as the Egyptians and evolved in modern times as the flip flop. Jeweled sandals worn by the privileged few in the early Roman Empire were decorated with priceless gemstones and pearls. However, one could not exist by the sandal alone and eventually different styles were needed as transportation. Footwear back then identified with one’s lifestyle or work and shoes did not come sized for the right or left foot. In those early days it was just one size fits all. If you were a member of the wealthy class or a member of the court, however, you could have your servant wear the shoes for a while so that they could break them in for you. Going to great lengths to outdo one another in the 15th century women of fashion privilege and dandies outdid the pointed vamp statement with such an extremely pointed projectile that a gold cord had to be extended from the point to the top of their boot so that they could walk.
DECORATIVE DESIGNS
The French took the shoe and boot into further decoration with lace trimmed cuffs in the 17th century and the Cuban heel painted red was a style reserved for the king. The wealthy classes in Europe wore shoes in which the uppers were made in the rich brocades of the Orient, and from the looms of Venice and Genoa. During the Empire period in France women opted to imitate the Greek and Roman fashions and wore such diaphanous garments that only a delicate slipper could accommodate such attire. Costly to make and fragile these slippers did not last more than one night on the dance floor. Sadly, too, fashion victims who wore these sheer gowns in frigid weather didn’t survived either.
THE CULT OF HANDCRAFTED SHOES
Footwear was one of the great industrial arts in the Middle Ages and the workers bore a distinction of service with pride and production of a specific nature. Leather tanners, boot, shoemakers and cobblers were organized into guilds and each guild had it own armorial insignia attesting to the quality of their trade. Interesting, is it not, that the same tools used in the production of handmade shoes today are the same type of tools that were used in Europe in the l8th century? Handcrafted leather shoes or custom made shoes are an expensive rarity. Today, however, most shoes combine machine production with handmade features. Herman Delman, of Delman Shoe fame, who specialized in building shoes that were chic, yet comfortable, believed that skilled construction was essential to the creation of a quality shoe. He employed several notable designers over the years, including Roger Vivier, Herbert Levine, and Kenneth jay Lane as a means shaping the tastes of fashionable women across the country. An extrovert and proficient businessman Delman knew the power of educating the viewing public about handcrafted shoes. At one time, Delman store on Madison Avenue featured an oval window showcasing three cobblers at work. “Scandal Sandals and Lady Slippers: A History of Delman Shoes, Exploring the Company’s Vibrant History of Style, Advertising and Fine Craftsmanship" will be on view at The Museum at The Fashion Institute of Technology, March 9th through April 4th. Free Admission.♥

BIO: Polly Guerin, a former professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology took 20 of her students every summer on a fashion expedition tour to visit the Couture Houses and meet the designers in the fashion centers of Europe. Ferragamo’s shoe museum in Florence Italy was a main attraction as was the Gucci Factory just outside of the town limits. Culture was always part of the tour and included visits to Fontainebleau and Versailles in France and the Albert & Victoria Museum and Blenheim in England.
Labels: Herman Delman, Manolo Blahnik, Roger Vivier