29 Tuesday Nov 2011
Posted in stuff to see
The Dallas Museum of Art is one of two U.S. cities that will be showing his work. Comprised of more than 140 haute couture and ready-to-wear pieces from the 1970’s to the present. And yes, Madonna’s cone bra will be waiting for you. It shows there till February 12th, 2012, then onto the de Young in SF in March. Thank God it’s coming to the west coast!
http://www.dallasmuseumofart.org/View/Gaultier/index.htm
Check out the museum shop. Gaultier totes, hats, umbrellas, tees…
So cute!
28 Monday Nov 2011
Set in Shanghai during WWII, “Lust, Caution,” directed by Ang Lee, 2007, is a marvel of restraint. Wang Jiazhi, played by Wei Tang, gets swept up in a wave of patriotism and activism that ultimately **SPOILER ALERT **destroys her. Coveted costumes by Lai Pan.
Wang goes undercover to seduce and entrap Mr. Yee, played meticulously by Tony Leung Chiu Wai. Mr. Yee collaborates with the Japanese occupiers to mercilessly silence the resistance. Along the way Mr. Yee falls in love with Wang, and Wang, against her will, falls in love with Mr. Yee.
The film is plotted brilliantly and at first you think that Mr. Yee is going to get his just desserts, but he is saved by Wang who ultimately cannot let him be killed.
Be forewarned, there is some freaky deaky sex here. Tony Leung is not the sweet forlorn Tony Leung in “Chungking Express,” he is a hardened, masochistic, soulless being. It’s not gratuitous, it’s to show the evolution of the relationship. At first Mr. Yee practically assaults her, she is just something to be conquered and humiliated in his eyes. Next, it becomes more like mutual lust. Lastly, Wang succumbs to her growing feelings and makes love to him, and his hardened heart softens and lets her in. The bedroom is the only place they can let down their guard safely.
Ok, so let’s talk about the clothes. Shanghai has always fascinated me. It’s always been a diverse city because of it’s trading stature. Russians, Middle Eastern people, Americans, Europeans have always lived there and established businesses there. The people living there adopt things from other cultures that they like giving the nature of the clothes a truly modern mashup of influences.
I love that Ang Lee opens with this Mah Jong game. Mah Jong is a way to pass leisure time. These women haven't a care in the world as their country is being torn apart. He conveys it all by them playing this game, with perfectly manicured nails.
You know a film is gonna be a good reference when the extras look this good. Love the huge clutch.
Wang and her wonderful hat and trench.
Maybe it's my narrow exposure to Chinese fashion, but I'd never seen a striped cheongsam. Doesn't it make it soo fresh? It melds the European and Chinese aesthetic perfectly.
Love the graphic scarf against that rich color.
It's damp and raining, and she still looks perfectly turned out.
I need to find a great rain hat like this.
Here it is from the back, gives you full coverage. And look at that cute bow.
I don't know if the lace is her slip or if it's trim on her hem, but I love the look.
Here she is again with that great hat and trench, this time with large clutch. I think I need to get one of those.
**SPOILER ALERT** At the end, Wang realizes the price of her mercy to Yee as she and her friends stare down an endless abyss that is to be their grave. It shows you that in the fog of war, an act of humanity can cost you your life.
If you’re designing for FALL, this would make a great springboard.
HOMEWORK: find a great trench and rain hat. Let’s put our umbrellas in storage.
26 Saturday Nov 2011
Posted in stuff to see
Tags
Audi, BMW, Honda, LA Auto Show, Michelle Wie, West Coast Customs
I went to the auto show yesterday. Now, I’m from Anchorage, AK, we don’t have auto shows up there, and all the years I’ve lived in LA I’ve never gone. I mean seriously, paying $ to see cars? Don’t get me wrong, I love a hot car, but this is LA, hot cars (and girls) are everyone. So ubiquitous, that it’s not that big a deal (to me.) So, I went. I have to say, it was pretty cool.
We did have a purpose. My mother-in-law needs a new car and we checked out the new models, sat in them, tried them on for size. But I was mainly interested in the presentation, and the new direction. After all, it is sorta a fashion show for cars, right? New colors, lines, redesigns, etc.
Honda's F1 car. Form, function, design, performance.
Kia, in my humble opinon, did the best merchandising. Right product (styling, options), right price, (inexpensive relatively speaking), right time (recession), for their customer (urban, young men). They collaborated with West Coast Customs on a few cars, and the new products look pretty dope.
Plaid, wood interior.
Back seat, step down knick knack holders.
Old school video game, turntable, and a little bit of mother nature for that California boy.
They did a Michelle Wie car. Michelle Wie is a young women's golfer. While a stretch, I think this is their attempt at getting urban/sporty girls attention.
This is a hot car. It's also electric with a 154 mile range. It has two engines on each front and rear axles. It goes from 0-62 in 4.8 seconds. F**k you, big oil. Your days are numbered if they keep making cars like this.
I must say, I do like Audis. I know BMW's drive better, but these always look better.
BMW's new i, all electric vehicles.
The future is here.
24 Thursday Nov 2011
Posted in stuff to see
We took the little guy to Disneyland for turkey day. We made a pit stop in the lobby of this hotel for his nap. Modeled after the Arts and Crafts movement in California, it’s grand and welcoming with beautiful pottery and metal work on display.
A print hanging on a wall. Lovely.
A wall sconce by the elevators.
Love the colors and details.
Reminiscent of Belle Epoque drawings.
It's hard to see in this photo, but the background is iridescent, like mother of pearl.
Book cover.
Another book cover. Love the handmade feel of it.
And not a dwarf or mouse in sight.
23 Wednesday Nov 2011
Posted in R.I.P.
The Academy just had a reunion of the cast from “The Last Picture Show,” and it reminded me that I haven’t mentioned her yet. And shame on me.
Polly Platt was a multi-hyphenate before that was common. She wore many hats exceedingly well. She started out as a costume designer, but she had talent to spare. She wrote screenplays, “Pretty Baby,” was a production designer, “Last Picture Show,” “Paper Moon,” was an art director, “Terms of Endearment,” and a producer “Broadcast News.” Doing all that at such a high level is rare. Rarer still, is the fact she was doing all this in the late 60’s – 80’s when women in these jobs were scarce.
Polly convinced Bogdonavich that the novel, The Last Picture Show would make a great film. Even suggesting to shoot it like a European observing America.
She suggested casting Cybil Shepard (which made Shepard a star and Polly divorced.) She suggested moving the plot for “Paper Moon,” to the Kansas dust bowl and casting Tatum O’Neal (for which Tatum won an Oscar at age 10, youngest ever.)
As an executive VP at Gracie Films, she showed producer James L. Brooks Matt Groening’s comic strip Life in Hell and brought him in to develop something for the Tracey Ullman show. That became “The Simpsons,” which is in its 23rd (!!!) season. It’s not just her exquisite taste, but she really had a sixth sense for what would work.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0686895/
A pioneer, a gutsy visionary, and a nurturing mentor. A woman after my own heart. When I grow up, I wanna be Polly Platt.
22 Tuesday Nov 2011
Even with taking a year off (protracted negotiations ate into the shooting schedule) everyone is STILL talking about the fashion of “Mad Men.” Which is something considering the show is in its 5th season, and fashion has the attention span of a gnat.
There are whole sites dedicated to the show and its fashions, but I just wanted to post some pix of Jon Hamm since I’m jonesing for new episodes.
Wow. I love that he went with this mauvey shirt. That color looks great on him.
Much has been written about his throwback good looks: the square jaw, the maturity, the sheer masculinity of him. No guyliner. No tribal tattoos. No goddamn Affliction t-shirts (that are lame on a 17 year-old, much less a 40 year-old trying too hard.)
He reminds me of Gary Cooper, tall handsome, and looks great in clothes. Ever have a friend who throws on any ‘ol thing and looks fantastic? That’s what I’m talking about. It’s really not about the clothes (although having great taste doesn’t hurt), it’s about their attitude, and the easy confidence they project.
Coincidentally, there’s a new book about Cooper’s style, Gary Cooper: Enduring Style, by G. Bruce Boyer (a fashion writer of 35 years) and Maria Cooper Janis (Gary’s daughter.) It’s chock full of never-before-seen photos of her dapper daddy.
http://www.powerhousebooks.com/site/?p=7389
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
19 Saturday Nov 2011
Posted in Books, stuff to see
Tags
You either evolve or die. People keep saying books are choking, sputtering, dying a slow death. Books are not dying. 1) Because we won’t let them, because people still love reading a book, 2) Because they’re evolving, mutating, adapting to the tech saturated life that is the 21st century.
Patrick Carman’s Dark Eden can be bought as a traditional book, but also can be read with a app that enhances Carman’s written word. You can even buy it chapter by chapter with a app for each chapter.
When you were a kid, and you read, say Grimm’s Fairytales. When you got to the picture page, didn’t you just drink in every detail of the illustration? Even though you had pictures in your mind’s eye, didn’t a beautifully rendering drawing really illuminate the scene for you? I think this hybrid is that childhood experience on steroids.
I’m sure Dark Eden will be the next Hunger Games.
http://enterdarkeden.com/home/
Why put this on a so-called fashion/film site? Think about how this process can add or illuminate your own work, whether you’re a writer, designer, photographer, etc.
16 Wednesday Nov 2011
Posted in 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, Books, stuff to see
Vivian Maier (February 1, 1926 – April 21, 2009) was a nanny by trade, but a documentarian by heart. On her downtime she’d roam the streets photographing a myriad of people and things. Children, elderly, the discarded whether it be objects or people.
You notice her winking wit, sly humor, graphic sensibilities right away. This was the 50’s and 60’s, the great boom time in post-war America, but she seems more interested in the ones that were being ignored by the wave of optimism and upward mobility.
Her story is sad, but compelling. She never married, didn’t have many close friends, but loved the children she cared for as if they were her own. Three of the children ended up helping her out financially when she became destitute and alone in her old age. She hoarded rolls and rolls of undeveloped film and put them in storage. When she passed away, her storage lockers went up for auction and that’s how John Maloof, realtor and amateur historian, found her. He has since been her biggest cheerleader, staging exhibitions, and getting a book of her work published, “Vivian Maier: Street Photographer.”
Looks like it could've been taken by any street style blogger, yesterday. Timeless. New York, 1954.
Looks like a movie set. January 9, 1957, Florida.
Her charges said she was like Mary Poppins, and in this self portrait she really looks the part with the hat, bicycle and long overcoat. She's inspiring me to write a character based on her. 1959.
You can tell how shy she was by her self-portraits. She likes seeing herself as tiny reflections, or just her shadows. She never looks made up, always with a plain, serious, somewhat self-conscious expression. 1953.
The great irony is that all this fame, money, and acclaim showering her is posthumous, and all the attention might have made her uncomfortable. But at least she gets the adoration, and respect for her life long dedication to her art.
If you’re in the Brooklyn area on Friday, November 18, there will be a slideshow presentation and Q&A with John Maloof at the powerHouse Arena.
In related news, “treasure found in a storage unit auction…”
http://news.yahoo.com/man-reported-500-000-worth-treasure-storage-unit-200501811.html
Makes you wanna go on “Storage Wars.” Who knows you might find some gold, or the next Vivian Maier.
16 Wednesday Nov 2011
Posted in 1880's, stuff to see
If you’re in London (you lucky doggie) before December 11th, you can catch this exhibit at the Royal Academy of Arts, which consists of paintings, and sculptures by Degas, and photographs and films by him and his contemporaries. Photos and film were the cutting edge of technology and Degas was right there, using them to enhance his work.
I love dancers and love his work because of how he captures moments. It’s funny that he’s now seen as a very popular, warm, fuzzy impressionist, but he was radical in his time. He was obsessed with capturing the human body in motion.
Edweard Muybridge, 'Woman dancing (Fancy)', plate 187 of Animal Locomotion,, 1884-86, Collotype on white wove paper, 18.4 x 41.7 cm. Royal Academy of Arts, London. Image © Royal Academy of Arts, London / Prudence Cuming
You have to remember that before photography, the only way you’d have a picture of someone or yourself was if it was painted. When photography (new technology) became available, people adopted it for their own uses immediately, much like our own age. Below is a Carte de Visite. It’s a thin photograph mounted on thicker card stock and you’d give it out to friends and visitors. Having your own photograph must have been thrilling. People started trading cards with each other. It was so popular that you used to display all your friends cards and try to buy celebrity cards. Meet the great-great-grandma of Facebook.
The skirt is divine. 'Portrait of Marie Sanlaville in Costume for Don Juan', c. 1866–70, Carte de visite, 10.3 x 6.2 cm. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. Bibliothèquemusée de l’Opéra. Image © Bibliothèque nationale de France.
So I pretty much gasped when I saw this photo. It’s so evocative. It’s like the image itself is projecting through time from the 19th century. I could see this inspiring photo shoots, cinematographers, and designers.
Edgar Degas, 'Dancer Adjusting her Shoulder Strap', c. 1895-6, Modern print from gelatin dry plate negative. 180 x 130 mm. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. Image © Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
Here’s a short video:
12 Saturday Nov 2011
Posted in 1920's, stuff to see
Tags
1920's clothes, Bérénice Bejo, Jean Dujardin, Mark Bridges, Michel Hazanavicius, silent film, The Artist
This film is gaining tons of momentum and might be the first silent film in 83 years to be nominated and win for Best Picture. Jean Dujardin plays a silent movie star who has a difficult time transitioning to talkies. Maybe because it is SO different, black and white, and silent, that it really sets itself apart from all the noise out there. It may also be the sweetness, the innocence (no blood, no car crashes, no bullets) that tugs at people’s heartstrings, and makes them vote for this movie. It’s also a love letter to the movies from a movie lover.
We’ll see… And so should you. I’d be remiss not to mention the 20’s costumes by Mark Bridges look perfect. It is the point of this blog, non? Opens November 25th in LA.
"The Artist" directed by Michel Hazanavicius, starring Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo.
Article on the costumes:
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/nov/06/entertainment/la-ca-sneaks-artist-costumes-20111106
The Fashionéaste 
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