Something Borrowed
July 31st, 2008 § 7 Comments
This is an old photo — I have longish hair! — but I wanted to show you that I own this dress, which used to belong to my mother. It’s roomy and comfy and good for when I’m feeling self-conscious about my body, with perfect little buttons at the sleeves. I asked my mom if she could provide me with any pictures of herself in this dress and it turns out that she got a lot of use out of it; she wore it everywhere, including on her honeymoon and on her wedding day.
That’s my dad on the very right, and my mom in The Dress. She also showed me a bunch of other photos of her in her youth, many of which I will be sharing on this blog.
Diadem
July 30th, 2008 § 8 Comments
I had not even heard of a diadem before, but here is the one that I will be using in the wedding; it is from the 20s and from the Lower Garden District in New Orleans. If I ever had children (ahem), it would end up as an heirloom, for sure. According to Joe, the owner of Retro Active, diadems of this nature are fairly rare — this one still has all of its stones. I’m so afraid of breaking it or of something coming loose!
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This last one is amazing — from 1897-98, a diadem in the shape of a mermaid! I love how she is holding a giant stone in her tiny hands.
In my quest to find things about diadems from the Internet I came across the following article from the Society pages of the New York Times, March 20, 1921 (I have estimated much of the meaning and left some ellipses, as the scan of the page was crinkled and hard to read):
“There was an interesting display of jewel headdresses in the parterre Monday night at the opera, with b…deaux in the majority. Mrs. Ol… Gould Jennings, who was the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Henry White, wore one of the most stunning diamond diadems seen…. season at the opera, a striking r… to the black lace gown she wore, entirely void of ornaments or flowers. The diadem was worn low on the forehead, and its peak so high as to be almost crownlike. The band of diamonds narrowed out at the sides, entirely encircled the head. And the beauty of the diadem was the sparkle of the lights produced by the jewels not the usual vivid sparkle but a scintillating glow.”
Got $675 to spare?
July 29th, 2008 § 1 Comment
(all images from VISIONAIRE)
If you can get past the hypnotic animated video of a tall, skinny model in a black latex jumpsuit writhing around as she dons and doffs a variety of polo shirts, you might discover that the bookzine Visionaire 54 has come out with issue 54 SPORT, a publication that combines art, print, and — wait for it — the wearable. The Lacoste polo shirts come three to a book, forming one “set,” and are printed with work by artists such as Nick Knight, Peter Lindbergh, Karl Lagerfeld, Pedro Almodóvar, David Byrne, Michael Stipe, and Richard Phillips. Or you could get the entire set for all of the artist shirts and books; both the single set and the entire set come at major ducats ($675 and $1475).
I do, however, love the idea of a collaborative project involving a book and something wearable. Another bauble to rattle around in my tin-can skull.
One final note: I added a few extra thoughts to the “Mishmash” post a few posts back. They were brief enough such that I didn’t feel they warranted their own post. Also, I have done away with the “regular schedule” of posting; I’m posting at my own rhythm at this point, and hope that you will follow me as I do so. Thank you so much for reading and I do appreciate your visits to my humble little corner of the web.
HAIR!
July 29th, 2008 § 5 Comments
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The last time I had such a visceral reaction to something in a magazine was when I caught a whiff of my gardenia perfume from Estee Lauder’s perfume sample out of another back issue of UK Vogue. Here I turned the page and — HELLO! THIS is the hair I’ve been aching for. The last five years or so have been spent moaning and groaning over my inability to handle a single fingerwave; lately, the pin curls I fell back on for so long have been looking strange (is it the length? the kink? the technique?). Aggie, tell me your secrets, and don’t say “a million-dollar stylist.” I’m going to be experimenting with my damp dark locks and some bobby pins to see if I can do an approximation.
I’ve been asked how I do my current ‘do. I’ve got short, thick hair that is naturally straight; however, I’ve also got a perm, which I think helps. My technique is to pin curl after a shower (using mousse), sleep in the pin curls, and then tease section by section with a fine-tooth comb, bobby-pinning up each part such that it puffs up and out. I’m not sure if the pin curl part is necessary. It probably isn’t; I’m just used to doing it at this point.
Mishmash
July 28th, 2008 § 1 Comment
Eight days to go before I fly halfway across the country to Ann Arbor. My things are rapidly disappearing into boxes, leaving a scant amount of clothes to assemble outfits with. I’ve been calling my new landlord, figuring out when to pick up my keys, changing the utilities to be in my name, setting up online accounts, budgeting, surfing Craigslist, etc.
All of this is to say that I’m in a transitory period right now, so forgive me if I’m a little slow in posting. I have already set up for Internet to be installed the day after I move into my new apartment, so the transition should be fairly seamless, but Chris and I will be responsible for furnishing my completely unfurnished apartment and trying to get me settled into a new city, plus we’ll be saying good-bye to one another, in a way.
After reading about Totokaelo from Susie B., I decided I’d give it a go. Totokaelo is a La Garconne/Creatures of Comfort-esque site with a fashion community built-in; the catch is that joining the community involves a brief application process. (Nervewracking if, like me, you are both drawn to and repelled by in-crowds.) I won’t be buying anything from them in the near future, as the impending changes in my life leave no room for things like A.P.C. cardigans and Opening Ceremony boots, but I do love to window-shop.
The above picture is an illustration of how I’ve been wearing my hair lately. It’s short, but still tease-able. I’ve been teasing my hair for years, but I used to tease it all the way out, so that I had a giant puffball all the way around my head. It wasn’t flattering with my round face. One of my ex-roommates in college asked me why I did it and I said, defensively, “I just like it.” (She also said I dressed like a librarian.) I went around with a lion’s mane for years! My ATM card is a reminder of this.
If you’re not reading Threadbared yet, you really should be. Two new-ish posts in particular come to mind: one addressing the prevalence of young Asian women in the fashion blogosphere, and another addressing a recent Beth Ditto fashion spread in NYLON. (At this point I would be saying to you, “Hella s’maction!”; s’maction meaning ‘smarts in action.’)
I spent some valuable brain time trying to figure out how to turn Chanel’s two-toned legwear into a DIY project. Perhaps I can tackle this once I hit Ann Arbor.
Does anyone else want a tin ceiling? Is it just me?
Something Old, Something New
July 26th, 2008 § 2 Comments
“The most conspicuous occupation of the American woman of to-day, dressing herself aside, is self-discussion. It is a disquieting phenomenon. Chronic self-discussion argues chronic ferment of mind, and ferment of mind is a serious handicap to both happiness and efficiency.”
- The Business of Being a Woman, Ida M. Tarbell (1921)
Cornell has an archive of interesting documents, entitled HEARTH (Home Economics Archive: Research, Tradition, History) regarding various aspects of society and home economics published between 1850 and 1950. An entire section is devoted to fashion and related topics, including 1924′s “Dress and Look Slender,” which has the amazing opening sentence, “If there is any one thing in the world that is not wanted it is too much fat on a woman.” (I am glad that there was nothing else going on in 1924 that needed to be eliminated from society.) An article from 1925, “How to Tell the Fashions from the Follies,” states:
“Very few people who look into mirrors see themselves at all — let alone as others see them. If they did, how could barrel-like figures trick themselves out in tight, horizontal-striped coverings? How could round, fleshly faces surmount their circles with little knobs of turbaned hats? How could scrawny old shoulders and arms thrust their angles into the light of clear day? What are all these addlepates thinking of?”
Sound familiar? The language has been toned down, but I still feel like an addlepate any time I pick up most women’s magazines. (My friend Anna wrote a great send-up of the new Self here.)
