Marilyn Does Vintage

I know I've written a lot about Marilyn lately but that's because, since my husband bought me a copy of the fabulous photographic book Metamorphosis Marilyn Monroe for Christmas, I've been a little obsessed. I was so dazzled by the photographs in the book that I was prompted to read Joyce Carol Oates novel Blonde which had been sitting on my bookshelf for about a decade. I've got no idea why I didn't read it earlier - especially as I've been a fan of Marilyn's films since childhood - but perhaps it had something to do with page length (considerable) and false impressions. One can never really know what celebrities are truly like unless you spend significant time with them (I've met enough of them in my time to know) but overall the impression I've had over the last few years - contrary to the 'difficult' persona cultivated by the gossip press while Marilyn was alive - is of someone damaged but also very likeable. Blonde is a novel - it is not a biography - but it draws on Marilyn's life heavily and is a powerful story of celebrity, beauty, sexuality and womanhood.

Anyway, back to the pretty pictures ...

It was only on receiving Metamorphosis that I discovered this amazing set of photographs Marilyn sat for with Richard Avedon for the December 22 1958 edition of Life magazine. Labelled the 'siren' series of photos, in them Marilyn poses as greats from Hollywood's past: Clara Bow, Jean Harlow, Lillian Russell, Marlene Dietrich and Theda Bara.

A letter from Marilyn's publicist Joe Wolhandler in January 1959 (courtesy of the book MM Personal) says the 'issue of Life magazine that carried your picture set an all-time record in sales. More copies were sold of that issue than any other issue in the history of Life. The figure was 6,300,000 and more could have been sold if they had printed more. Life's circulation department tells me that this is the highest circulation figure in their entire publishing career.'

In the latter part of her career Marilyn was very much in control of her own image. These pictures are testament to Avedon's talent and Marilyn's smarts. And they go to prove that retro has always been in vogue for portrait and fashion photography. Even in the 1950s they glamorised the flapper age.

Promo Trail!

Michelle Williams - who just won a Golden Globe for her performance in My Week with Marilyn - has been hitting the campaign trail with aplomb. Pulling out elegant look after look, here she is in Jason Wu, Chanel, Miu Miu and then Jason Wu again. Some people find her style a bit too cutesy or whimsical, but I love the fact that she has a style 'persona' but it still happy to experiment too. And I LOVE her hair.
I read the books that the film are based on during a plane trip the other day. The first book The Prince, The Showgirl and Me was a fun and gossipy read about life on a film set in the 1950s. It appealed to the old movie buff in me. My Week with Marilyn (the author's supposed 'lost week' where he had an almost affair with Marilyn Monroe) was only so so, but I could see the filmic potential in it. I'm looking forward to finally seeing the finished product.

And what of the rest of the Golden Globes? I love to look at pretty dresses any day, any time, but these big events of late tend to be a bit ho hum. It's not very often that you see a truly dramatic dress. So, for me, my pick from this year is Evan Rachel Woods in Gucci Premiere. Not necessarily something I would wear but ERW looks smashing in it. And what's not to love about a plunging neckline, sequins and feathers, all in the same dress.

2011 Book Love

Over the last couple of days, while I've been assessing my year, I've also been assessing my reading year. Books are such an important part of my life - not only do I work in them but I also consume them rabidly - that it would be a sad twelve months indeed if I didn't come across a number of works that had touched me, and at least a couple of books to add to my all time favourites list.
I remember saying to someone at the beginning of this year that I'm not a big memoir person. Too self-indulgent perhaps, or too limited. But as I reflect on my reading year I realise that I've actually read some bloody brilliant memoirs this year. In fact over the years I've read some seriously great memoirs which I would unreservedly recommend to any other readers: The Year of Magical Thinking (Joan Didion), Truth & Beauty (Ann Patchett), Lucky (Alice Sebold), The View from Castle Rock (Alice Munro - part memoir, part history, part fiction) and Borrowed Finery (Paula Fox).
I guess that, because I find novels so expansive and so representative (and because of that so TRUE), they are the books that overwhelmingly make up my top 10, 20 or 50 books of all time. Having said that though, when I look back at 2011 I would be hard pressed not to include these three beautiful memoirs in my ten favourites of this year.

Emma Forrest's memoir Your Voice in My Head focuses, essentially, on the author's relationship with her therapist. Suffering from depressive episodes throughout her young life (and she is still young) this therapist had seemed to be the only person who had really made a dent in Forrest's sadness. But then he died.
Your Voice in My Head is really Forrest's way of writing out her grief and her feelings are so raw and honest and beautifully drawn you can't fail but be moved. There is also a lot in this book about family and familial legacy as well as romantic love (and lust). Oh, and an awful lot about self esteem. There is much in here that any woman who has had her heartbroken could relate to. And haven't we all at one time or another?
Jeanette Winterson is a tremendously talented writer. Her way with prose is sigh inducing, in a majorly good way. There are passages in Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? that had me wishing I had a pencil with me so I could do some serious underlining. If you've read Winterson's debut novel Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit then her memoir will definitely intrigue. The first half is basically the true story from which that novel was drawn; the story of a working-class childhood of a bookish little girl adopted by a fiercely religious (and completely mad) woman. If it's possible, the real version of Winterson's mother is even madder than the fictional one. The second half of the novel is Winterson's very affecting story of her search for her birth mother. And finally Joshua Cody, a young 'un on the literary scene - he claims this will be his one and only book - has written a story about mortality and a brush with death. An intellect and musician living the life in New York, in his 30s Cody was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.

This book is such a pastiche; it includes musings on poetry and art interspersed with diary entries from himself and his mother during his stay in hospital, as well as deeply personal remembrances of his father, existential crises, sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll and lots, lots more. The prose style is actually quite pretentious but I kind of loved it. I found it deeply original and honest in its affectation, if that makes sense. I felt, when I read it, that this was REALLY HOW THIS GUY WAS. He was someone I would want to sit down and have a meal with. I actually really hope he writes some more.

And what of fiction, you may say? Well my runner up for my Book of the Year (only including novels I've actually read, mind you) is Malcolm Knox's The Life, an unfortunately little read story about an Australian surf champion from the 60s and 70s battling mental illness. Simply brilliant. And my number one is most definitely Jennifer Egan's Pulitzer Prize winning A Visit From the Goon Squad. What I wouldn't give to write like her.

Early Jean P

From the same 1948 issue of US Vogue as those photos of a 16-year-old Elizabeth I posted comes these two images of the glorious 50s top model Jean Patchett. Jean would have been only 21 or 22 when these photos were taken, and in the first year of her modelling career, which lasted until 1963. She signed with an agency in early 1948 and by the end of the year she was already a cover-girl, gracing the pages of Vogue.

The editorial that the photographs come from is called 'Fashions For A Man's Eye' and has models posing in some of Vogue's favourite recent frocks for the benefit of a panel of men who give their thoughts. It's all quite amusing really and is a concept still used in magazines today.

As the point of this issue is 'Will a man like them?' we went to four acidulous young columnists, who were part of the male rebellion against the new-born new look a year and a half ago; showed them the dresses, invited them to say exactly what they wanted to about them, pro or con.

You might like to know that the judge for Jean's first dress said men embarrass easily. This dress isn't embarrassing.
And for the second dress the male critic said I like halter-tops. They show off a good back.

When it comes to men, it seems not too much has changed. All the men declared that they detested ballet flats! (Lucky we don't care what they think).

The advertisements in this issue are just as exciting to pore over as the fashion editorials. I think my favourite frock is the gorgeous Patullo - Jo Copeland for the opening of the Opera ... for a brilliant ball. Patullo - Copeland was a shared ready-to-wear label designed by Jospehine Copeland, based in New York, that existed from the 20s through to the 60s. You can read more about her over at the Vintage Fashion Guild.

Interestingly her daughter, the novelist Lois Gould, wrote a memoir in the 1990s about her mother, from a child's perspective. Called Mommy Dressing I'm sure it would provide a fascinating insight into the world of early American high fashion.

Giveaway: Horrockses Fashions

To celebrate getting over the 200 follower mark (thanks so much to all my lovely readers!) I thought I'd run a giveaway of the divine Horrockses Fashions book from V&A that I've blogged about previously here.
Horrockes was a UK textile producer and fashion label of the 1940s and 50s. This wasn't couture but everyday style, and their fabrics were so spectacular that they were worn from Queen Elizabeth down. For Fabric nuts, this book is an absolute dream.
Below is a pic of me from the other weekend in my very own Horrockes frock, at the top of Barrenjoey Point looking out towards Pittwater and the Pacific Ocean. It's hard to believe, now that the wintry weather has made its drastic reappearance, that it was so deliciously warm only ten days ago.

Okay so if you'd like to win this book, all brand new and in its original plastic wrapping, please leave a comment on this post. For a second chance at winning let me know if you have a favourite designer label from the past. One that isn't around anymore and perhaps you'd like to see resurrected or that you'd like to collect yourself.
And for a third chance, post about this giveaway on your own blog, or you can tweet about it too. Just let me know that you've done so.
I'll draw the winner randomly next Tuesday 4 October.
P.S. The last book giveaway I did the winner received her book but I just realised I promised a book to a runner-up - actually Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote - and I forgot to send it. Bad blogger. Bad book publicist. I'll trawl back through my messages to find her address, but if she's around please message me and I'll get onto it pronto.

Book Love of Late

I finally got around to reading Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger's account of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton's relationship Furious Love (HarperCollins). Written with Elizabeth's permission and containing many of Burton's love letters to Elizabeth for the first time (they are legion, poetic, epic) - this book is a seriously guilty pleasure. Most biographies of Elizabeth devote a chapter to each of her husbands and perhaps two to her most beloved Richard, so it is wonderful to read an entire books worth of sex, gossip, legendary fights, films (some brilliant, others campy), jewels and jet setting. The book gives background on Richard's impoverished and rather unusual earlier life and is perceptive about his insecurities and his demons. And of course, Elizabeth was not without her own demons. One wonders if their love would have developed differently had they met today, and also what would have happened to their relationship had Richard not passed away so young.

If you love the movies, if you love Elizabeth, if you love Richard and if you love love, then get your hands on this book, the perfect beach read.

And now for a few other books I've read of late and loved.
Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad (Corsair) so wowed me that I think I've recommended it to about five friends and even bought a copy for my mate Emma. Each chapter is like it's own contained short story, but all are linked by a group of characters, most of whom are related through music. It's experimental but the characters are authentic and their situations searingly honest in their evocation of human foibles and the vagaries of lust and love. I'm going back now to devour Egan's earlier books.

My friend Sassica introduced me to this accomplished debut When God Was a Rabbit (Headline) from English actress turned author Sarah Winman. It beautifully evokes an eccentric British childhood, first friendship and sibling love.

I was blown away by Hollinghurst's The Line of Beauty so I was beside myself to read The Stranger's Child (Picador). For me it didn't quite move me in the same way, but it sill kept me entertained and thoughtful. Spanning almost a whole century, the book is all about writing biography. Who do our stories belong to? And Hollinghurst writes so brilliantly about that English upper-class milieu.

I've read all of Ann Patchett's books and although I was initially sceptical about the whole 'New World girl goes to the Amazon' plot of State of Wonder (Bloomsbury) it really works here for me. A special writer and a special book (and she's currently in Australia too, for the Brisbane Writers' Festival).

And Skippy Dies (Penguin), set in an Irish boarding school, is one of the funniest books I've read in my life. I actually had to keep reading aloud passages to the husband it was so entertaining. But don't be deceived if you do decide to pick it up - and you should - because it is also a dark commentary on modern life, and a reminder of how tough it is to be a teenager.

A Bevy of Books

It has been a while since I've done a 'what I've been reading lately post'. Most of these books I've read in the last few months, although in the case of Freedom (Fourth Estate), I actually read it last July in proof form (thanks Jane!) whilst on holiday in Fiji, and now rather belatedly I'm joining the chorus of readers espousing the virtues of this book. Franzen's novels might only come around once a decade, but they are quite seriously literary crack. I've had nine months to ruminate on the fact that I enjoyed Freedom even more than The Corrections and I think that was because I found it more hopeful. Despite 9/11, despite the GFC, despite the tragic/comic events that befall Patty and Walter, this book has a lot of heart. It is both hilariously funny - I actually had to read some parts aloud to hubby - and moving. It is ambitious in scope and unflinchingly honest; it reads as though it was written without any pretension or fear. Fingers crossed novel number three isn't another nine years away. Oh, and it was great conversation fodder at my office for a few months. There was a lot of hype about this originally self-published book, Anthropology of an American Girl (Allen & Unwin) by a young American writer. After some success it was picked up by a mainstream publisher, edited somewhat, and released to the wider trade. I started it on a Sydney-Perth flight and couldn't put it down. It probably could have done with some further cuts, but one reviewer called this book 'literary crack' (which is what I called Freedom when I was reading it) and it isn't hard to see why. Set on New York's Long Island in the eighties, the book follows the romantic adventures of a young heroine, Eveline, from high-school into college. The plot sounds kind of generic but the execution is entirely original. Some of the language lapses into pretension, but some of the passages are truly inspired, and the picture of first love that Thayer Hamann creates is scarily authentic. Remember when you were so in love that you thought you might die? My main frustration with this book, apart from some of the too flowery language, was that Eveline is not an entirely sympathetic character. Of course she doesn't have to be, that's just the way the author imagined her into existence, but I did find myself occasionally wanting to throw the book at my tiny (plane) window because of her passivity. Eveline just kept letting bad stuff, and bad men, happen to her. Having said that I thought the young male characters in this book were some of the best developed and truest I had read in a long time. The author 'got' the bravado and competitive nature of young men down pat. And I couldn't stop thinking about this book a long time after I finished it. I'll be very interested to read what Thayer Hamann does next.

Ever since I read Brooklyn I've been completely in love with Colm Toibin's writing, not to mention the fact that he is absolutely adorable. I went back in time and read his novel based on the later life of Henry James, The Master. I lent it to my Mum afterwards and we both agree that it is an almost perfect book. I'm serious when I say reading his prose is a bit like listening to The Beatles White Album or gazing at one of Van Gogh's later paintings; the beauty of it warms your soul. I also read Toibin's latest collection of short stories The Empty Family (Picador), which had me weeping on a plane. I can't gush enough about how much I love Toibin's writing. The Pleasure Seekers (Bloomsbury) is a gorgeous first novel about a blended British/Indian family. In the late 60s Babo heads to London to study and work, and his family are initially horrified when he declares that he is determined to marry his Welsh girlfriend Sian. The book then follows Babo and Sian and their families over the next thirty years or so and the cast of assembled characters are delightful and funny and richly drawn and were very hard to leave when the book finished. I love, love, loved this.

In the book world we call Maggie O'Farrell a literary/mass market cross-over author. In other words, she's hugely popular, and with her expert plotting and sympathetic characters, it isn't hard to work out why. Her latest, The Hand That First Held Mine (Headline) has two separate but interlinked stories; the first follows a young woman, Lexie, and her love affair with an older man in the 1950s London art scene and the second heroine is a present-day young mother and artist, Elina, who is struggling after the traumatising birth of her first child. I got quite teary at the end of this book, which I read in one wonderful weekend.

And now to a book that hasn't come out yet ... The End of Everything (Picador) is being published in the middle of the year, but it has already done the rounds in our publicity and marketing departments. Unanimously my colleagues and I loved it. The author, Megan Abbott, is an award-winning crime writer, but this is a bit of a 'literary' departure for her, but it does contain crime elements. Told from the point-of-view a thirteen-year-old girl whose best friend goes missing one summer, it reads like a cross between Virgin Suicides and The Lovely Bones. It has an almost retro feel to it, even though it is contemporary, or perhaps it is just because it is set in childhood. It is very perceptive about that age when sexual feelings first begin to stir, but in heart and mind you are still a child. The sense of menace Abbott builds is very powerful and it has a great ending too, quite controversial. A good book for reading groups methinks.

In between all the books I read for work (and you can read more about them in this interview with me at The Australian Literature Review) I've also read David Vann's sad but beautiful Legend of a Suicide and Caribou Island (Penguin), Alex Miller's romantic Lovesong (Allen & Unwin), William Boyd's Any Human Heart (which is about to be released as a mini-series with Matthew McFadyen) and his great spy novel Restless (Bloomsbury) and I took a trip down memory lane recently and revisited Gone With the Wind, which I hadn't read since I was 15!

At the moment I'm thoroughly engrossed in Julie Orringer's The Invisible Bridge (Penguin) which is a historical romantic saga that reminds me a bit of Doctor Zhivago. For a first time novel from a young American writer it is pretty darn impressive, and its a real page-turner as well. In fact I might get back to it right now, but meanwhile I'm happy to take recommendations for other books. I find personal recommendations are still the best way to discover new books and authors, particularly as I await patiently for Jeffrey Eugendies new book The Marriage Plot (Fourth Estate) to hit shelves later this year. Squeal, squeal! I've already been promised an early proof.

Book Review: Movie Star Style

I mentioned that I was lucky enough at Christmas time to receive a copy of Edith Head: The Fifty Year Career of Hollywood's Greatest Costume Designer. I had read the book cover-to-cover by New Years Eve and now I dip in an out of it occasionally and most particularly when I'm watching an Edith Head credited film.
The book provides a fascinating insight into a truly accomplished woman and the photos and illustrations are to die for. I love old movies (well, the good ones), and as well as a snapshot of fashion history there is loads of Hollywood gossip and movie trivia contained within the glossy pages.
Edith started out at Paramount in the 20s when women rarely received a credit on any film unless they were starring in it. After assisting designers like Travis Banton and Howard Greer, it was Edith's costumes for Mae West in the early 30s really took her career to the next level, and she went on to mould the look of many famous stars including Dorothy Lamour, Barbara Stanwyck, Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly and Natalie Wood. In those days, before personal stylists and fast fashion, Hollywood stars often turned to studio costumiers for their civilian wardrobes too.
Edith hit her peak in the 1950s when some of Paramount's most successful films were made and she soon become a household name. She gave regular fashion advice on TV and in print and even, for a while, had a touring show so that movie fans could see some of her most famous frocks up close and personal. The shot above is from one of those shows.
Edith become close with many of the actresses she dressed (she was quoted saying that Grace Kelly was her favourite ever and they were friends) but like most she had a dark side too. Although she was much lauded and won 8 Academy Awards during her career there were, according to author Jay Jorgensen, a number of instances where she took credit for other designers works. Clearly she was fiercely ambitious.

As Edith become more and more successful she did less sketching of her designs herself but these old fashion illustrations were just so divinely pretty, I couldn't not include them. Here are some of Edith's recognisable designs from All About Eve, Harlow, The Great Race, To Catch a Thief and Vertigo.

Edith Head: The Fifty Year Career of Hollywood's Greatest Costume Designer is published by Running Press.

Fashion on Film: Elephant Walk

Its been lovely over the Christmas break to catch up on some non work related reading and watch lots of old movies, swim everyday at the beach, and generally do nothing much. One film I just watched was Elephant Walk with Peter Finch and Elizabeth Taylor. The dear hubby bought me a copy of Jay Jorgensen's beautifully illustrated Edith Head biography for Christmas (more on that later) and Head was the costume designer on this 1954 film.
Taylor plays a young English woman who marries a tea plantation owner who whisks her away to his plantation, Elephant Walk, in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon). The spectre of her husband's dead father hangs over the plantation, plus there is a creepy housekeeper, disgruntled elephants who are upset that their access to water has been blocked by the plantation's bungalow, and a love triangle with one of the plantation employees. There are echoes of Daphne du Maurier's classic Rebecca in the new bride's isolation and in the dramatic and fiery ending. I found the love triangle not particularly convincing, nor were the tense scenes particularly scary, but the film looks beautiful as it was shot on location in Sri Lanka. For a clothing tragic like me though Taylor looks absolutely breathtaking. Vivien Leigh was originally meant to play the role of newlywed Ruth but had to pull out of shooting because of ill health, and Taylor replaced her at the last minute. Here's a quote about the costuming for Elephant Walk from the Edith Head book:

The incredible wardrobe worn by the character throughout the film is explained in the script by a reference that the newlywed couple stopped off in Paris to buy a trousseau on the way back to Ceylon. The standout design was a gown of draped white chiffon with a gold corselet, which was very similar to a gown Edith had designed for Patricia Morison in The Magnificent Fraud. Edith also incorporated Indian design in a dress of silk linen with a molded later neckline with a full skirt that resembled an Indian sari, that was accessorized with a narrow belt embroidered with gold and pink pearls and a pink East Indian sari stole.

Personally my favourites are the candy striped dress with the asymmetrical neckline and the beautiful white evening gown with the gold belt. Taylor's waistline is very flatteringly highlighted throughout, and its very interesting to note that this film came out the same year that Head won the Oscar for Sabrina, for which the most famous gowns were actually designed by Givenchy, and unduly credited to Head.