Jackie Kennedy 
James Dean 
The Supremes 
Elizabeth Taylor 
Queen Elizabeth 
Grace Kelly
Showing posts with label vintage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vintage. Show all posts
Snapshot
Jackie Kennedy James Dean The Supremes Elizabeth Taylor Queen Elizabeth Grace Kelly
Passports In Our Pockets
Still feeling bit by the travel bug; my passport needs more stamps. Passports I will probably never be able to compete with? Those of the rich and famous. I'm really enjoying this collection of photographs from icons of yesteryear. Marilyn Monroe was stunning although it also looks eerily like a mugshot and Katharine Hepburn seems so unimpressed (in the best way).Laughs & Lies
Lately I've noticed a number of vintage photographs with amusing, however inaccurate captions beneath them. The above picture was labeled "in 1921, early suffragettes often donned a bathing suit and ate pizza in large groups to annoy men…it was a custom at the time.” On tumblr this image was reblogged thousands of times and people added, "great form of protest--let's bring it back." I agree it would be an awesome form of protest, however while the picture is from 1921 it's actually from a pie eating contest at Tidal Basin. The only statement these women were making was that they liked pie and wanted to win a contest.
Another photograph I've noticed falsely labeled is the picture below, which was captioned "sex education class, 1929." Additional commentary was added for each person's unique expression and while the reactions would be quite hilarious if it was a candid, that's not the case. This picture is a screen capture from the film The Wild Party, starring Clara Bow. With that picture the caption is easier to debunk--candid 1920s photographs of classrooms really don't exist and also--why didn't everyone immediately recognize Clara Bow? The term "it girl" was coined after her, Betty Boop was modeled in her style, and even the more recent film The Artist directed the lead actress to follow her style of high-energy acting. There's a wonderful BBC documentary on the actress that I recently spent an afternoon watching, available here. Like my earlier post on Louise Brooks, Clara Bow was a quintessential flapper who was first celebrated and then vilified for her more "modern" ways and humble roots. Hollywood loved her because she was box office gold, but other actors wouldn't socialize with her and despite the 56 films she made during her short career she is often forgotten when remember silent movie stars.
Aside from my tangent on Clara Bow, the question for me remains: why with the fake captions? Is this some wonderfully effective Internet prank--a joke between friends that went viral? Further, how many other joke captions out there am I believing? The second image brought an instant eye roll from me only due to my familiarity with Clara Bow; other silent movie stars are more difficult for me to place and thus photographs featuring them easier to deceive. I suppose all this serves as another reminder to not believe everything you read on the Internet...
Helen Levitt
Helen Levitt is sometimes called "the most celebrated and least known photographer of her time." Her photographs received several solo shows while she was alive and today they circle the web, but her name is not one on the tip of your tongue when you start to name famous photographers who worked from the 1930s onward. Levitt grew up in Brooklyn and dropped out of high school to pursue photography, in the 1930s she was drawn to the transitory chalk drawings of New York's children street culture. This series of photographs of those chalk drawings and the children behind them formed her photography style. Although candid and always urban in setting, Levitt's photography has an artistic touch--she was also known as "New York's visual poet laureate." While she worked in color in later years, it is these early black and white photographs of children and chalk that are catching my eye this summer. 
Romi's Window
Endlessly amused by these reactions to artwork in the windows at Romi art gallery in Paris as photographed by Robert Doisneau in 1948. Although it also reminds me of this quote by John Berger, "you painted a naked woman because you enjoyed looking at her, put a mirror in her hand and you called the painting “Vanity,” thus morally condemning the woman whose nakedness you had depicted for you own pleasure."
Footlight Parade
When I picture musicals my mind goes back to the films I grew up with which far from Hairspray or High School Musical, were predominantly movies made in the 1940s through 60s (what some would deem "The Golden Age" of musicals). One of the greatest choreographers from this era was Busby Berkeley. His large numbers often placed chorus girls in geometric patterns that echoed the moving patterns of a kaleidoscope. While he specialized in large numbers also was known for his "parade of faces" during which he would individualize each chorus girl with a lingering close-up. I don't really know why this style of production lost popularity because there's something magical about that can't be compared to the often computer-enhanced elaborate scenes of today...
Audrey Hepburn photographed with her dog Mr. Famous and pet deer Ip. Technically, Ip (full name Pippin) was not Hepburn's full-time pet. Hepburn worked with Pippin on the set of Green Mansions and the director requested that Audrey take the deer home and bond with it so Pippin would learn to follow her. For a brief period the two were nearly inseparable as she even took Ip shopping with her.
New Look
Du Juan looks gorgeous in these images for Numero China photographed by Yin Chao. The photographs echo the work of Willy Maywald (best known for being Dior's in-house photographer) quite beautifully. Christian Dior's debut haute couture collection cemented him as the father of the 1940s "New Look" which was defined by full, mid-calf to floor length skirts, small structured waist lines, a large bust and a gentle sloping shoulder. Dior wasn't the first to create this silhouette which was already nostalgic and caused public outcry since it debuted shortly after the second World War. Rations were still ever-present in people's minds and women had become accustomed to a more comfortable, boxy, and more prudent shape. Of course, the so-called "New Look" is even more dated to our eyes now, but evokes a bygone sense of glamour some wish we could reclaim. Regardless, the above editorial pays beautiful homage to the style.
Madame Gres
Gres is one French haute couture house that I desperately wish was up and running today. We get to see Chanel and Dior get re-worked by different creative heads, but for every line that survives there are dozens that fall into obscurity. Gres is one such line often forgotten by the average fashionista of today--however her unique approach to design was groundbreaking and still influencing designers today. Personally, I just dream of owning something as gorgeous as one of her Grecian-draped dresses.
Gres, was officially launched in 1942 by Alix Barton. She was formally trained as a sculptor but began her work in the fashion industry as a milliner. She worked largely with silk jersey and one dress could use from 42 to 68 feet. Her pleats echoed classical Greek scultpture and she said herself that she was a sculptor who worked with fabric. Bill Blass stated, "[fashion] only becomes art in the hands of Madame Grès." She also was one of the first designers to use cutouts in her work, but she used them strategically to display skin through windows of fabric in place of jewelry. Simplicity of line is at war with the difficulty and detailed construction of each piece, which stands alone as a work of art that both flatters and enhances the female form. This appreciation for shape often came from working directly on the body--draping on live models, contouring to their natural forms. She even encouraged her designs to be worn without underwear; directly against the skin (which is notable when you consider the highly restrictive and forceful undergarments popular in the 1940s-50s).
Although she worked into the 1980s, her house was always about classical style and she was not swayed by the fads of fashion. Her style (pardon the pun) was set in stone from the early days of her career. The house is largely considered extinct now, although the name was sold to a Japanese company and designer Koji Tatsuno serves as creative director of the line.
Gres, was officially launched in 1942 by Alix Barton. She was formally trained as a sculptor but began her work in the fashion industry as a milliner. She worked largely with silk jersey and one dress could use from 42 to 68 feet. Her pleats echoed classical Greek scultpture and she said herself that she was a sculptor who worked with fabric. Bill Blass stated, "[fashion] only becomes art in the hands of Madame Grès." She also was one of the first designers to use cutouts in her work, but she used them strategically to display skin through windows of fabric in place of jewelry. Simplicity of line is at war with the difficulty and detailed construction of each piece, which stands alone as a work of art that both flatters and enhances the female form. This appreciation for shape often came from working directly on the body--draping on live models, contouring to their natural forms. She even encouraged her designs to be worn without underwear; directly against the skin (which is notable when you consider the highly restrictive and forceful undergarments popular in the 1940s-50s).
Although she worked into the 1980s, her house was always about classical style and she was not swayed by the fads of fashion. Her style (pardon the pun) was set in stone from the early days of her career. The house is largely considered extinct now, although the name was sold to a Japanese company and designer Koji Tatsuno serves as creative director of the line.
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