Posted on 01/16/2007 8:36:43 AM PST by NYer
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Donatella Versace has often raised eyebrows and hemlines with her outrageous designs for women. Yesterday, however, she stunned even blasé fashionistas by launching a clergyman look for men, inspired by Father Georg Gaenswein, the handsome 50-year-old private secretary to Pope Benedict XVI.
The outfit, modelled at the Milan menswear 2007-08 winter collection, features grey-black trousers and jacket with a clerical-style collar. I was thinking of an austere, severe and ethical man. I find Father Georgs austerity very elegant, said Ms Versace.
Spirituality was not the same as bigotry, she said, adding that she was open to the idea of civil unions between gays or heterosexual couples. Proposals to make civil unions legal in Italy have divided the centre-left Government of Romano Prodi and aroused fierce opposition in the Vatican.
It is the moment to display the muscles of the mind, not those of the gym, Ms Versace said. Fashion needs more rigour. She said she had used a fabric that was as soft to the touch as the wings of an angel. The result was dubbed priestly chic by fashion writers.
Father Gaenswein, an amateur pilot and keen tennis player, hardly ever makes public comments, least of all on the frequent tributes to his good looks in Italian gossip columns. Last year he broke cover to complain about satirical sketches on Italian TV depicting the Pope. Satire is fine. But these things have no intellectual quality and offend men of the Church, he said. The sketches have been dropped.
Father Gaenswein became personal secretary to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 2003, and moved into the Vatican with him after he was elected Pope. When Father Gaenswein turned 50 last July he gave a rare interview to Vatican Radio revealing their daily routine.
The Popes day begins with Mass at 7am, followed by morning prayer and a period of contemplation, he said. Afterwards we eat breakfast together, and my day then begins with sorting through the correspondence, which arrives in considerable quantity. He said that he accompanied the Pope to morning audiences, followed by lunch together, a short walk and a rest, after which I present to the Pope documents which require his signature, or his study and approval.
A Versace spokeswoman confirmed that the clergyman look had been inspired by Father Gaenswein, adding: Few other places in the world are as influential as the Vatican.
Should read .... Monsignor Georg Ganswein
Ganswein, Ganswein, he's our man
If he can do it, anyone can
Catholic Ping
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What an idiot this designer is! Does she think that the Monsignor designed his own look? There could not be hundreds of other priests with the same look right there in Rome alone, right, airhead?
A few years ago, some priests doffed their clericals. Now they're 'de rigueur'. Lol ....
Daughter, I think.
No that was stupid ... sister? She's old and raddled.
Sheesh! This is so silly, and such a waste of time. Some people will say anything, no matter how stupid, to get their names in the papers.
I don't follow the celebrity nonsense, but I think this woman is the sister of the male Versace who was murdered on a houseboat in Florida some number of years ago by a raging homo.
From that picture, I'm guessing that Versace is using priests, but not nuns, for "inspiration"?
I don't know much about fashion, but I kinda like it! The "priestly" look on the left sure beats the hell (so to speak) out of the other fashions!
You've never seen a silver lame' habit? ;) Might get the Sisters to go back to the formal religious outfits rather than the pant suits.
I have to confess, I didn't read the article at all.
I just came for the pictures.
*sigh*
I'm glad to say I didn't see any Golden Globes last night, and I look forward to missing the Emmys and Oscars whenever they're on, too!
**
Same here, my FRiend. I never did get into that tripe, even before they started all of their anti-American rhetoric. The end-all and be-all of the lives of most celebrities is to get attention, and, of course, after every single one of these events the MSM -- including FOX News -- obliges them by publishing their disgusting remarks about the President instead of ignoring them they way one should ignore a 2-year-old's tantrum.
She's prepping us for the Burqa/Hijab next season.
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