Two for the Road

Yesterday I watched Two for the Road with Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney. Being a life-long Audrey fan I'm not quite sure why I've never watched it before, but I think it must have been because of other fans telling me that it wasn't one of her best. It does suffer from a bit of self-conscious grooviness that afflicts some films from the latter half of the sixties, and I wasn't entirely convinced by Hepburn and Finney's love/hate affair/marriage, but the film does have some genuinely funny and poignant moments, the Henry Mancini score is simply beautiful, and visually it is gorgeous. Set mainly in the South of France it has scenery, cool cars and high fashion galore.

Since becoming a star I believe this was Audrey's first vehicle where Givenchy was not responsible for her costumes. Instead off-the-peg designs from Paco Rabanne, Mary Quant, Andre Courreges and Tuffin and Foale were used to dress Audrey's character as she grew from young travelling choir girl to wealthy housewife. The result is some seriously cutting edge outfits. Check out the black vinyl suit. Or the two evening dresses by Paco Rabanne: the psychedelic shift and that mirrorball-esque silver dress with matching earrings. My favourites from the film though are the swimsuits Audrey wears in the beach and pool scenes (love that pastel one) and the simple jeans and sweater sets she wears in the falling in love scenes. A pair of high-waisted jeans with a sweater and slip-on shoes never goes out of style for weekend wear.

Check out the trailer for the film here. Audrey was 38 when it was made and was as beautiful and stylish as ever.

Marilyn Monroe

Further to my last post here is a selection of favourite shots of Marilyn taken in 1962. She was slim, luminous and chic in that last year of her life (let's not debate here what her actual state-of-mind may have been). 1962 was the year that she was hired, fired and then hired again on the film Somethings Got to Give (images 1 & 7) and that she left New York and memories of Arthur Miller behind to buy her own house in Brentwood, LA. That year she sang happy birthday for the US President, vowed to push Elizabeth Taylor from the cover of all the tabloids, posed for Bert Stern for the famous last sitting (image 6) and began working on an autobiography with photographer George Barris (images 2, 3, 4 & 5)
Last night I went out with a few girlfriends to see My Week With Marilyn and I thought Michelle Williams was amazingly good. I haven't seen Meryl in The Iron Lady yet, but surely her performance is deserved of an Oscar? Just like Marilyn, I couldn't take my eyes off her.

Swimwear, 1963

These sultry images are from a swimwear shoot for the December 1963 issue of US Vogue photographed by well-known NY based music photographer Art Kane. The theme is the bandeau swimsuit, very much back in vogue again now, although perhaps it never really went away. After all there's nothing quite like a strapless swimsuit to create a nice even tan.
Starting this minute down south, coming north with a splash this summer: the bandeau bathing suit, slashed straight across the top, showing marvellous shoulders, cut shifty or bare through the middle.
The bikini featured in the last photograph (bright green according to Vogue) looks very similar to my own bright pink bikini, care of Zimmermann. Here is a pic of me wearing it on my most recent trip to Mission Beach in Far North QLD two weeks ago. The husband and I spent a lot of time exploring the area and we found a few gorgeous swimming holes at the foot of the mountains with the clearest freshwater imaginable. The other photo is of me wearing my favourite new vintage shorts care of Grandma Takes a Trip. The top is from The Vintage Drawer, the sunglasses are a second-hand market find and the handbag is Marc by Marc Jacobs.

Shangri Las

I've recently discovered 1960s 'tough' girl group the Shangri Las, best known probably for the single 'Leader of the Pack'. Not only did lead singer Mary Weiss (she's the blonde one) have a lovely voice (the band were actually a quartet rather than a trio, but Mary's sister Betty rarely toured with the rest of the group and so doesn't appear in many photos) but their songs express so brilliantly adolescent longing and angst, all from a decidedly female perspective. Oh, and the girls had great style too. Youthful, cutesy but a big rough around the edges too.

Here's them performing one of my favourites: 'Out in the Streets.'

Tzaim Luksus - Art Nouveau

In the March 1966 issue of US Vogue I came across this wonderfully colourful editorial entitled Art Nouveau - flowering again in America.

The story claims that in 1996 Art Nouveau was undergoing a spirited renaissance in contemporary design: furniture, decor and fashion. And one of the most exciting torchbearers for this renaissance was American painter turned fabric designer Tzaim Luksus. Luksus had received a COTY fashion award in 1965 for his startling prints and in the same year that this editorial would appear, he would show his own dress collection. He would keep showing into the mid 1970s, as a fan of the tent and kite silhouettes.

In this case the fabrics are Luksus' but the designs are courtesy of Geoffrey Beene and Pauline Trigere. I love the originality and modernity on display here, the models back lit beautifully by stained glass. The last dress is a particular fave.

The photographer was Gordon Parks and if you can steal a glance away from the dresses to the hairstyles, you'll discover they are completely wild? God knows how the models posed with such heavy hair pieces. So 1960s.

And doesn't Verushka look stunning in the last two pics?

Late 60s Goldie

The other night I watched Goldie Hawn's first starring movie role in 1969's Cactus Flower, co-starring Walter Matthau and Ingrid Bergman. Goldie won an Academy Award for her turn as the ingenue Toni Simmons who attempts suicide in the opening scene. It's interesting that her daughter Kate Hudson's breakout role in Almost Famous wasn't dissimilar.

It's quite funny watching comedies from this flower power era as some of them are so self-consciously groovy. The scene where Goldie and Ingrid are dancing in the nightclub is hilarious. Having said that, this is a really cute film, with great performances by the three main leads. And Goldie looks as cute as a button. The costume designer on the film was Moss Mabry, who was also responsible for Barbra Streisand's gorgeous looks in The Way We Were. Goldie wears lots of block colours, super mini mini skirts and long gold beads in a nod to hippie culture. There's a fabulous scene where Walter and Goldie are in the Guggenheim and Goldie is wearing a gorgeous navy suit with a red scarf. Love it.

And here's the original trailer.

Vintage Covers

It's a lazy Sunday night of TV ahead of my last week at Pan Macmillan, and my last author tour for them. What a better way to wile away some time than a trip down magazine cover lane. I'm loving these Harper's Bazaar covers from the 40s, 50s and 60s. I'm intrigued by covers where the model is facing away from the camera, they are playing with props or even when there is no model at all. The cover at the top is all about that glamorous earring. And there are so many gorgeous ways to photograph hats.
The covers of the 70s and early to mid 80s became very commercial and samey, until picking up again in the supermodel era of the late 80s. I might revisit those next, but in the meantime how cute does Audrey look in top to toe floral?

Winter 1963: Jean Shrimpton

At the Sydney Antiques and Collectibles Fair a few weeks ago I picked up this amazing scrapbook - one amongst a collection of many - that some devoted follower of fashion collated back in the 60s. The one that I eventually decided to purchase (because I couldn't justify buying all of them) was labeled 'Winter 1963'. Each image is either advertising or editorial, obviously from the best fashion magazines, and the very creative collector compiled them as though they were a catalogue. 'Winter 1963' starts out with fur, then heads into coats, followed by evening wear, accessories and then sleepwear and lingerie. I love, love, love it.
There are so many gorgeous images to scan for you but in the meantime here are just a few of the ones that feature the hottest model of the early 60s, Jean Shrimpton.
Oh, and I just found out that apparently a film is being made about Jean's love affair with David Bailey. I'll definitely be looking out for that one although one does wonder what the fiercely private 'Shrimp' would think about it all.

Is it just me, or is this Verushka in the pink?

Here Comes Another Bride

I enjoyed another wedding this Saturday, this time for my friends Jessica and Pete. 'Tis the season to get married, or at very least the age group, and I thought this celebration felt similar in flavour to my own; they used the same celebrant and caterers that we did and their setting was equally as beautiful as ours, although the historical and architecturally magnificent grounds of an old mental hospital has a bit of a different flavour to a grungy old surf club. The result, however, was that it felt a little bit like experiencing my wedding from the other side, and I've got to say the ride was really fun. I relish any opportunity to dance and dance and dance, especially now that my nightclubbing days are behind me.

I've worn this 1960s shocking pink dress to a number of weddings before but up until Saturday I hadn't had it in rotation for a couple of years (I bought it around four years ago from Inta-Vintage in Narrabeen). I had a couple of other shortlisted dresses but for some reason, as I was getting my hair done earlier that day (thanks Desmond and Molly Jones) I thought about this frock, and when I mentioned it to the hubby he said YES YES YES.
So, it turns out he rather likes this dress.
The skirt is really stiff and I love the frill on the bottom, and I wore a corset with it to try and get the perfect fit. I don't know whether that was wholly successful, but it did prevent me from going overboard on the blue cheese (yes, they served blue cheese!). My shoes are new ones courtesy of Alex Alex and I found a cheap little belt to bring the whole look together.

It seems lots of hip brides are finding their dresses in far flung places now and Jess is no exception. Her wedding dress was from the 1970s via Ebay and she had it altered to modernise it a bit, and for fit. Hopefully, once she's back from her honeymoon, I'll be able to source some better pics. I was having so much fun most of the night, I kind of forgot to take them!

Pink Cotton + Embroidery + The 1960s = the perfect dress for a garden wedding

Last week on Valentines Day my parents and I were lucky enough to attend the wedding of a very old family friend, and one of the lovely Vintage All Sorts girls who helped organise my wedding. Annette and her husband Ross had just a little less time to turn their day around than me and my hubby did. They were engaged on Christmas Eve and won a wedding on 14 Feb followed by a honeymoon in Vegas, all thanks to a competition run by Las Vegas Tourism (hence the showgirls hovering in the background).
It was a champagne breakfast by Sydney Harbour and the dress code was garden party. What a perfect occasion to wear this baby pink cotton embroidered dress that I picked up in Brisbane last year. In the midst of a busy work day, I managed to sneak a spare half an hour to dash over to the Paddington Antique Centre which houses a number of lovingly tended vintage clothing stalls as well as lots of great antiques too. And they are all live in a 1920s era picture palace!

Here I am with my Dad and I had to include a pic of my Mum too, as she made this lovely floral dress from a Vintage Vogue Pattern. Doesn't she look gorgeous? And isn't she clever?

The groom looked dashing in a Givenchy suit and the bride wore a mod-tastic white lace 1960s shift dress. Her bouffant hair-do was divine and had me green with envy. The only way I could ever get that much volume in my hair is if I wore a wig.