Crystal channels Rita, Joan, Dovima ...

I'm becoming more and more convinced that Crystal Renn is one of the most dynamic and versatile models working today and these photos - from a selection from Vogue Germany, photographed by Sebastian Kim - demonstrate why. Every photograph is a wonderful transformation.
Enjoy some pretty for the weekend! It is a long one here in NSW.

Transformers

I'm enamoured of this editorial from the September issue of W Magazine, shot by Steven Meisel and styled by Edward Enninful. The models have been styled in barely there make-up as 'themselves' in clothes that they'd be comfortable wearing in their day to day lives. Then their entire looks have been completely transformed to help them channel style icons from the past including Gala Dali, Babe Paley, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland and Dovima. This editorial, entitled 'Transformers' is as good a demonstration as any of the transforming powers of fashion and the art form that is getting dressed. Love.

A Midi Can Be Mightly Lovely

I like the floor skimming maxi skirts that are back in vogue right now, but unfortunately I'm not the right height to wear them. I can, however, wear a knee to calf grazing midi skirt and this pic of Keira Knightley strolling around LA with her boyfriend had me wanting to pull out all of mine and pair them with a crisp white shirt. There's something eternally chic about a fulsome skirt in a bright colour or vibrant print cinched with a belt and paired with a tight top. Dovima and Ava Gardner (in Mogambo) demonstrate how to work the look in summer with a sleek halterneck or off-the-shoulder top. A cropped knit works well for winter.

As an aside I watched Mogambo recently and Ava was absolutely mesmerising in it. She lit up the screen as the cheeky girl with a heart of gold and her beauty was breathtaking. The scenery was great too, but those two elements were the best part of the film. I found Clark Gable and Grace Kelly's romance kind of lacklustre, which is funny considering that they were having a real-life affair while filming.

Photo credits BD/Flynetpictures & Conde Nast Archive/CORBIS.

Models of the Past: Part 1

The July issue of British Vogue has a story entitled "History of the Supermodel" which looks at the top models and beauty trends of the last twenty years.

I would argue that the supermodel moment was unique and of its time; limited to the late 80s and early 90s when a group of beauties became serious movers and shakers in the fashion industry, moving products and magazines, commanding fortunes, dating rock stars and becoming mainstream celebrities. I know I was pretty obsessed with the supers in my early teens, but many other people who didn't salivate over Vogue every month knew just who Linda, Christy, Naomi and Cindy were too. No surnames needed.

While I know who the top models of today are, my hubbie, for example, would probably only be able to recognise Giselle and maybe Miranda Kerr (she gets an awful lot of press in Australia).

Vogue's story was interesting - a collection of quotes from the top models, photographers and casting agents of the last two decades - but there have been key models shaping the look of an era going back for yonks. So in this post I thought I'd take a look back at some of the top names of the 1950s.

Bettina - given that name by designer Pierre Balmain - was a French model and early muse for Hubert de Givenchy. Interestingly she married playboy Prince Aly Khan who had previously been married to Rita Hayworth, and she - pregnant at the time with their child - survived the car accident that killed him in 1960.

Post modelling she worked as a designer, poet and composer.

Jean Patchett - whom I've posted about plenty of times before - was an all American head turner famous for her beauty spot, not unlike Cindy Crawford would thirty years later. Jean was the first superstar of the Ford Modelling Agency and she worked from the late 1940s into the early 60s before retiring to raise her family.
Her family have actually started a website about her which is a must visit for anyone who loves 50s high fashion.

Mary Jane Russell was another American and star of Ford who, at 5ft 6, was rather short for a model, even in those days (Suzy Parker was 5ft 10 and was, before she became famous, considered too tall for modelling).

Mary's long neck and classically elegant features suited the New Look styles of the period and she was a favourite of photographer Louise Dahl-Woolfe.

Dorian Leigh's Wikipedia entry says that she is considered the world's first supermodel. As the term hadn't been invented yet (Janice Dickinson lays claim to coming up with the title), I'm not so sure about that, but she was certainly one of Ford's first top models who gained a reputation in the US and in Europe. While Mary Jane Russell was only 5ft 6, Dorian was only 5ft 5 (my height!) and was already 27 and had two children when she started modelling (it may feel like models are getting younger and younger, but there is certainly a history of teens appearing on the cover of Vogue).

Dorian was a neighbour and close friend of Truman Capote and legend has it that Dorian was his inspiration for Holly Golightly.

Dorian's little sister Suzy - who went by her real surname of Parker - became an even bigger star than her sister. She was the first model to earn $100,000 in a year, appeared on the covers of every major magazine of the age and went on to star in Hollywood movies.

The story goes that Dorian made Eileen Ford sign her little sister sight un-seen, and Eileen, expecting a petite, very thin, dark haired and blue eyed beauty just like Dorian was rather upset to discover she had signed a tall, freckle-faced red-head with a hip measurement of 36 inches (the ideal for a model is 34 inches which to me seems very slim, but I guess that's because I'm a pear shaped girl who is blessed/cursed with 37 inch hips).

Eileen later went on to call Suzy "the most beautiful creature imaginable" and Richard Avedon said of her "there were great models before and after Suzy, but she was something else - a red-headed force of nature, a wolf in chic clothing, the one flesh-and blood woman in a world of exquisite creatures."

Certainly I think she was one of the great beauties of the last century.

Born in New York City, Dovima's unconventional beauty made her one of the most sought after models of the 50s. Who can forget her glorious turn as snooty model Marion in Funny Face?

Cool blonde Sunny Harnett was another New Yorker who became famous in the 50s. Sunny, once she retired from modelling (and she shot campaigns for many top brands and appeared in both Vogue and Harper's regularly), actually became assistant to Eileen Ford.

The girl gave great cheekbones and I love the last image of her wrapped in a Jean Desses coat.

The images of Cindy, Christy, Noami et al posing together care of photographers like Peter Lindbergh and Patrick Demarchelier have become iconic in themselves, so I was exited when I found this old Edith Small advertisement featuring the three top models of their age: Jean Patchett, Suzy Parker and Dovima.

Are there any 50s ladies that I've forgotten?

Meanwhile next stop is the swinging 60s!

Rare Photos

My friend Michael sent me this link through to some supposedly rare celebrity photos. I'm sharing with you some of my favourites of films brightest and most gorgeous ladies, including Vivien Leigh looking regal above.

The beautiful but tragic Romy Schneider.

The equally as beautiful but tragic Marilyn Monroe.

I heart Meryl.

Grace Kelly: elegant wherever she went.

Cheeky Elizabeth Taylor.

Audrey (and Dovima). No surnames required.

Sexy Barbra Steisand.

Ava demonstrating why she broke Mickey and Frank's hearts.

Think Pink! Think Models!

I was having sleep issues last night and to tide me over until the sandman arrived, I slipped the Audrey Hepburn classic Funny Face into the DVD player. It is a silly movie really; while Audrey played opposite many men much older than her (Rex Harrison, Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant), the love-affair with Fred Astaire seems completely unconvincing to me. But the reality is no-one watches it for the plot as it is all about the divine clothes, and for the first time last night I noticed that two of the most famous models from the 1950's - Dovima and Suzy Parker - appear in the film. Suzy Parker is actually the cute red-head with the pink toothpaste in the delightful opening song 'Think Pink.' Check it out:



Suzy Parker was the highest paid model in her day and her story is not unlike other famous models of more modern times like Lauren Hutton (who has gap teeth and a crooked nose) and Kate Moss (who is short with bowed legs) in that she didn't fit the usual model beauty mould. Suzy had red-hair and freckles and was considered to be relatively 'big boned' (though I hate that expression, and her photos do suggest otherwise). She was, for a while, the face of Chanel.

Here are some beautiful shots of her.

Another 50's "supermodel", Dovima has a speaking part in Funny Face as the haughty looking but street-wise speaking model Marion. Some classic shots of her below.

But my favourite model of the period - and who actually graces my living room wall - is Jean Patchett, who I think has a less patrician and more cutesy girl-next-door kind of beauty. She isn't in the movie, but I'm including a few pictures of her anyway, fittingly wearing pink.

Jean is a bit similar in looks I think to the breathtakingly beautiful Natalia Vodianova, who appears in an editorial in the May issue of US Vogue posing as some of histories most famous mannequins.

Here she is as Suzy Parker, in an amazing looking Marchesa gown reminiscent of Audrey's famous ballgown in the film Sabrina.

And as Dovima.

Natalia as the lovely Ms Patchett and in an amazing Dior suit with Balenciaga brooch which could both easily be mistake for coming straight out of 1950 as well. Love the hat too!