Fresh Dressed

05 Saturday Sep 2015

Posted by Angie in Men, stuff to see, Women

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1970's, 1980's, Addidas, B-boys, Bronx, Brooklyn, Fresh, Fresh Dressed, gold chains, Harlem, Hip-Hop, Kangol, Queens, Rap, Rappers

CNN Films is delving into the Rap/style game with Fresh Dressed, a doc on the history of Hip-Hop fashion.

Kangol, gold chains, Addidas. Still dope.

Kangol, gold chains, and Addidas. Still dope.

Fresh Dressed

Unfortunately you can’t stream the whole thing but you can watch it as a live stream when they air it on CNN.

If vintage Hip-Hop is your thing, and you haven’t seen Wild Style (not the Lego chick), then you must watch it NOW. You can stream it on Netflix. No Netflix? You can visit their site for a taste.

A landmark doc on Hip-Hop.

Wild Style

Peace out!

Ooh La LA, Le Festival 2013

10 Tuesday Sep 2013

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French music festivals, French pop music, Jacques Doillon, Jane Birkin, Lou Doillon

Lou Doillon. Hmmmm. How envious am I of her life? Jane Birkin, singer/actress/style icon as your maman, and French film director, Jacques Doillon as your pere.

She herself drips nonchalantly of French urban chic.

Casually chic chick.

Anyhoo, she is now promoting her first album, PLACES, and will be performing at the El Rey in LA on October 11, as part of the Ooh La LA fest. This festival is the only French music festival in Cali. So all you franco-style-philes get your billets, now! Toute suite!

http://oohlalafestival.com/artists/lou-doillon

Turner Classic Movies Film Fesitval 2013

13 Saturday Apr 2013

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Eva Marie Saint, Jon Voight, Julian Sands, Max Von Sydow, Turner Classic Movies Film Festival

It’s that time again. The TCM Classic Film Festival, y’all.

If you want to see restored films such as, “Badlands,” “The Great Escape,” “Giant” with James Dean lookin’ fine as all get out, and Buster Keaton’s classic, “The General,” this is the place to be.

Anyone doing a denim story or denim photo shoot should know this film as a reference.

If you want a fashion fix go see, “My Fair Lady,” “Bonnie and Clyde,” “A Room with a View” (my favorite film, with Julian Sands speaking after!)

If you want big Golden Age of Hollywood musicals they got, “South Pacific,” “On the Town,” “Guys and Dolls,” “Flying Down to Rio.”

Wash those men right outta your hair… One of the few Hollywood films that dealt with racism directed at Asians, in a musical no less.

Gay men, they got “Funny Girl,” and “Mildred Pierce,” OH-KAAAAY. Not to mention all the guests, everyone from Max von Sydow to Eva Marie Saint, to Jon Voight (speaking after “Deliverance,” insert dueling banjo music here.)

How many editorial spreads and collection inspiration feature Hitchcock blondes? Too many to count.

I wish I could just camp out and watch them all!

http://filmfestival.tcm.com/

LACMA Stanley Kubrick show

10 Sunday Mar 2013

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Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Stanley Kubrick

Kubrick. Even the name sounds geometrical, weighty. Who isn’t in awe of the creative monolith of Mr. Stanley Kubrick?

I went to the show with the little guy, so forgive the out of focus pix. I debated whether I should even put them up. Or whether I should go back alone to take better pictures… I was fooling myself. Who’s got the time, really?

But hey, an out-of-focus pic is better than nothing. I was literally pulled in every direction and only had my iphone (3GS, sigh) because dealing with the mommy bag, and real camera and a 3 year old was not happening.

I think these are from “Eyes Wide Shut.” Sorry couldn’t write anything down either. You get the jist.

Here are some of Kubrick’s camera lenses. He was such a technician as well as having a superb eye.

I love how they displayed the slides from “Lolita.”

I almost gasped when I saw this. Of course one of the most famous film costumes, and my camera is out of focus. Sigh. Apologies.

This one isn’t that bad. Miracle.

kubrick typewriter twin dresses the shining

So here’s Jack’s typewriter and creepy twins’ dresses from “The Shining.”

From “Barry Lyndon.”

Diana Vreeland: “The Eye Has to Travel”

01 Monday Oct 2012

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Diana Vreeland, Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel, fashion documentary, Vogue

Before there was Anna Wintour, there was D.V. Diana Vreeland ruled Vogue with an iron fist, albeit one clad in jewels and velvet. I think she’s the one who said, “More is more.” She directed Vogue that way, steering through the tumultuous 60’s and 70’s, in an explosion of art, color, revealing skin, newly realized feminine power, and diversity. Capturing the popular, cultural zeitgeist like no other since. Editors these days don’t have the vision or the balls to do what she did. She pushed for not just ethnic diversity, preferring personality over perfection. Lauren Hutton and her gap-tooth smile as one example.

It’s a book and a doc. The doc is in limited release now. The book is over 350 pages of fantastic images that any would-be magazine editor, fashion designer, stylist, photographer, graphic designer should run out and buy.

And to think, she didn’t start her magazine career till she was in her 30’s and didn’t land the Vogue gig till she was in her 60’s. Let all us late-boomers take heart.

The September Issue

26 Sunday Aug 2012

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Lady Gaga, R.J. Cutler, The September Issue, Vogue

It’s heeeee-re. And it’s a monster. If you haven’t heard already, 4.5 lbs, or 916 pages. Whoa. USPS, I feel for you, brothers and sisters.

This is THE issue we all wait for all year. But strangely enough it’s always the same, just different models. Plaid, black, wools, leathers. But who cares. It’s a big-‘ol fantasy picture book. And we love it.

Lady Gaga September Vogue 2012.

If you haven’t seen the doc, “The September Issue,” please do. You can stream it on Netflix. It shows the behind-the-scenes workings of putting this behemoth together. Although short on hair-pulling confrontations, there is some creative tension that bubbles up in the form of eye rolls and general passive-aggressive sighs.

The September Issue documentary, directed by R.J. Cutler.

James Bond Exhibition

09 Monday Jul 2012

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Barbican Centre, James Bond, James Bond fashion, James Bond in film, London museums

For all you vacationing fashionéastes on a jaunt through Europe this summer, check out The Barbican Centre’s “50 Years of James Bond Style,” in London. What pops into your mind when you think of Bond, James Bond? Girls, gadgets, guns, and of course, sharp suits.

They have everything from sets, to props, to costumes. Connery’s Savile Row tuxes, Brosnan’s Brioni suits, to Craig’s isty bitsy swim trunks. They even made a life-size Jill Masterson, covered in deadly gold paint.

Yes, Pussy Galore is in this one. Subtle, non?

http://www.barbican.org.uk/bond/#info-tab

Cleopatra at California Science Center

25 Monday Jun 2012

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California Science Center, Cleopatra, Cleopatra VII, Egypt, Egyptian artifacts, Heracleion, Ptolemy

Two countries constantly in the the spotlight now are Greece and Egypt. It’s fitting that Cleopatra decides to show up in LA now.

Cleopatra, I had forgotten so much about you. When I think of you, Liz Taylor comes to mind instead. I went to the new Cleopatra: The Exhibition (not the most earth-shattering title, I agree) at the California Science Center to get reacquainted. Cleo was actually Cleopatra VII, descended from Ptolemy, Alexander the Great’s general, which makes her Greek, not ethnically Egyptian (Lots of Ptolemys and Cleopatras in that family tree!). But she was the only one in her family to learn Egyptian so that made her very popular amongst the common folk. She was a skilled politician but the might of the Roman army was too great even for her. She was the last Pharaoh of Egypt.

Many of the artifacts were found submerged at what was Heracleion, the site of Cleopatra’s palace and temple. It was destroyed by earthquakes then a tsunami. Others were found along the eastern Nile delta.

Found at Heracleion.

Colossi, gigantic statues of kings and queens, stood guard at temple openings. Only priests and the Pharaoh were allowed in, but you were allowed to worship the colossi.

Some rings that would look at home at Barneys.

A gold coin. I guess this is why people want to go back to the gold standard. Gold lasts.

Absolutely amazed something this delicate could survive for thousands of years underwater! Alabaster. Translucent. Just amazing.

This looks like David Yurman, no?

Gorgeous bracelet and earrings. The bracelet is gold leaf and agate from 117-138 A.D., and the gold and pearl earrings are from 332 B.C. – 313 A.D.

This stunning gold and carnelian necklace is from 332 B.C. – 313 A.D.

Cleopatra saw herself as the earthly embodiment of the goddess Isis and Aphrodite. The knot on this toga is a detail associated with Aphrodite.

I thought jewelry designers/fans would get practical inspiration from this post. But if you’re a history buff like moi, it’s just thrilling to see stuff like this in person. This is the only west coast appearance of these artifacts, so check it out if you can.

http://www.californiasciencecenter.org/Exhibits/SpecialExhibits/Cleopatra/Cleopatra.php

In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States, at LACMA

18 Friday May 2012

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Alice Rahon, Frida Kahlo, Gertrude Abercrombie, Helen Lundeberg, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Remedios Varo, Surrealism

This was such a great show, and exposed me to artists I hadn’t heard of before like Alice Rahon, Remedios Varo, Gertrude Abercrombie, and Helen Lundeberg. I think surrealism suits women well. It’s dreamlike and fantastical, full of symbolism and enveloped in feminine mysticism. It concluded May 6th, but a book is available at lacma.org.

http://shop.lacma.org/products/in-wonderland

Frida represents, of course. Sorry for the bad angle, couldn’t get a better position.

Alice Rahon, self-portrait and autobiography, 1948.

Alice Rahon, close-up of Ballad for Frida Kahlo, 1956-1966.

Alice Rahon. Mercy for the Judas Effigies, 1952.

A very inspiring show. It made me want to paint again.

Noir City Hollywood: 14th Annual Film Festival of Film Noir

19 Thursday Apr 2012

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14th Annual Film Festival of Film Noir, Alan Ladd, American Cinematheque, Film noir, Hollywood, The Great Gatsby

Starts Friday at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, presented by the American Cinematheque. The opening night film is the 1949 version of “The Great Gatsby.” Yes, it’s usually not considered a noir film, but it’s adultery, murder, gangsters are all noir usual suspects, so I guess it does qualify as noir.

This version stars Alan Ladd as Jay Gatsby, the bootlegger turned new money hero to old money Daisy Buchanan. It goes till May 6 and features some pre-code films.