Pinup, vintage fashion, vintage home, Jane Austen's Emma, and Miracles from Molecules!
The Clairol Color Carousel was the most interesting fashion/beauty-related attraction at the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. Bill Young’s Nywf64.com has cool content related to the Carousel, including ephemera actually distributed at the Clairol pavilion. Take a peek at mid-60s hair and makeup culture!
“For Women Only! Take a ride on the Clairol Color Carousel. See yourself as a blonde, a brunette or a read head! Your friends will ask, “Does she… or doesn’t she?”
Those who’ve lived there will tell you that the “Berkeley Paths” quickly become an important part of life in the hills of Berkeley, California. The Berkeley Path Wanderers Association website presents maps, photos, and stories about the quaint pedestrian passthroughs that zigzag those hills.
Where did these beautiful footpaths come from? According to the Berkeley Paths history page:
Berkeley ‘s population grew rapidly in the early part of the century due primarily to the growth of the University of California, the extension of the Key System rail line from San Francisco in 1903, and the influx of refugees following the 1906 earthquake and fire. Traction companies were formed and bought large areas of undeveloped land in the hills to the north, northeast and south of the University campus, and platted residential lots which were sold individually to home-builders.
These new Berkeley neighborhoods (developed before the automobile became the common mode of transportation) included Claremont (1900), Northbrae (1907), Thousand Oaks (1911), and Berkeley View Terrace (1926). Due to the slope of the northeast and southeast hills, upper lots were relatively inaccessible. Pathways served as pedestrian transportation routes linking hill residents to rail lines, parks, schools, and as short cuts for neighborhood residents.
Some of you already know of my inordinate fondness for the Orchard Lane Steps, part of the path system off of Panoramic Way. It’s less than a block away from Memorial Stadium, just around the southern outside edge of Strawberry Canyon on Panoramic Hill. When I lived in Corner (yes, all the rooms have names) at the Alpha Omicron Pi House on Prospect, I had a full frontal view of the Orchard Lane Steps. The Bancroft Steps – which connected the end of Bancroft way to the stadium parking lot/Panoramic Way/Prospect above – was our daily route to and from campus from our house.
Yesterday was our Greater Bay Area Costumers’ Guild Falling for Vertigo: A Toast to Alfred Hitchcock’s San Francisco event. We had a wonderful time attending a guided tour of the Georgian portraiture at the Legion of Honor (an iconic Vertigo filming site), a nod to the fictional “portrait of Carlotta” that appeared in the film. Afterwards, we visited historic Fort Point, the location where “Madeleine” throws herself into San Francisco Bay, to explore the Civil War-era fort and behold the spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Marin Headlands. Our day ended with drinks and dinner at the Presidio Social Club (and for some of us, the Top of the Mark). Continue reading “Falling for Vertigo: 1950s Fashion and Alfred Hitchcock’s San Francisco”
Fashionable Emma Woodhouse: Costuming Austen’s Emma Adapted
Before the 2009-2010 BBC Emma miniseries came out – and before I’d even started this blog – my friends Vic and Laurel Ann of Jane Austen Today kindly asked me to do a quick piece about costuming in the three previous major adaptations of the novel: the 1971 BBC tv miniseries starring Dorin Godwin, the 1996 Miramax theatrical release starring Gwyneth Paltrow, and the 1996-1997 A&E/ITV movie starring Kate Beckinsale.
It’s based on a previous article on Emma costuming I prepared for Ellie Farrell’s excellent Celluloid Wrappers site, which is dedicated to film costume. Eventually, I’ll be adding a section on the Romola Garai Emma to that article.
My dad sent me this amazing 1936 footage of a Pontiac car assembly plant, remarking that it reminded him of the machine scenes in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. And he’s right; there’s such precision on the part of the workers.
As his friend Bob (who initially forwarded the video) stated, every one of those guys knows exactly what he’s doing…
This is really awesome footage… A 1936 Pontiac assembly factory… Note,
automation was already in place, the workers lack any & all safety equipment, glasses & helmets: and they ALL know exactly what to do & it’s getting done.Note also that when the body comes together with the chassis that it is in FULL trim! Interior, windshield, all glass etc., is already in place as it is dropped onto the awaiting rolling chassis. “AMAZING” Simplicity @ its best.
Note too, when the metal finishers are checking the sheet metal for minute & tiny flaws & defects, that they are wearing heavy leather work gloves. How would YOU like that repetitious job of placing ( 3 ) rivets in the ( 3 ) holes on the chassis for about 35 to 40 years?
Because I love Greco-Roman antiquity, I needed to make myself a chiton. Because I’ve performed Lady Emma Hamilton’s famous, classically-inspired tableaux vivants twice in the last twelve years, I needed to make myself a chiton. Because chitons are awesome and I like them, I needed a chiton.
By this point in the blog post, you might be asking yourself, “What the heck is a chiton? Who is Lady Hamilton? And those “tableaux” thingies?” I know it sounds like a strange combination of ideas, but it’s honestly not as complicated as it seems. In fact, the chiton – a very simple women’s (and men’s!) garment originating in ancient Greece and widely used as a basic dress or underdress for women in Roman eras – is extremely easy to make and wear. But I’ll get to that in a second.
Emma, My Inspiration
First, the Lady Emma part of the explanation. Our English Regency society puts on various events dealing with events and culture from the late Georgian period of British history. In the course of preparations for a ball honoring the great naval hero Lord Horatio Nelson, I somehow got roped into playing a role. And not just any role; I would be recreating Lady Emma Hamilton’s famous “attitudes.” Lady Emma performed these silent tableaux from 1787 through the 1790s and into the early 19th century, sparking several high-profile imitations and influencing modern dance and other forms of performance art over a hundred years later. Now, this was 1999 and I was crazy busy trying to finish my last year of law school. The last thing I probably needed on my plate was a performance of some sort, but for Emma Hamilton I made an exception.
Continue reading “Historic Costume: Greco-Roman Chiton and Lady Emma Hamilton’s Attitudes”
This piece was originally written for the Greater Bay Area Costumers’ Guild’s Finery newsletter, to introduce our Vertigo-themed costume event on February 11, 2012.
Despite her long studio career and a stunning cache of major awards (including a record-setting 8 Oscars, the most ever for a woman, and 35 Oscar nominations), costume designer Edith Head is a star whose name isn’t readily recognizable to most people. Her work, however, is instantly familiar to almost everyone. She’s the woman responsible for the iconic fashions appearing in mid century classics such as Roman Holiday, To Catch a Thief, Vertigo, and Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Head spent 43 years at Paramount, worked 14 years at Universal, and collaborated on various projects for other studios over the years, aggregating a portfolio of work totaling several hundred movies. “I do so many films that I would only like to send you work that is outstanding, or of importance to your collection,†she wrote in 1967 to the Wisconsin Center for Theatre Research, in response to a request to create an “Edith Head Collection†at the University of Wisconsin.
Her diverse collection of designs includes everything from period fashions to fantasy creations. Though she downplayed cutting-edge contemporary fashion’s influences on her work (“What is shown in Paris today is a dead duck tomorrow†she once said), Head was also in many ways a fashion trend setter. The popular demand for sarong-style dresses in the late 1930s and 1940s, for example, grew out of Head’s iconic designs for Dorothy Lamour in The Jungle Princess (1936). Continue reading “Edith Head: Star Costumer”
So I promised infos on my second birthday party outfit. I didn’t get any great pictures from that night ( which was a fun evening on Boatel Queen Mary in Long Beach), but I can show you what I wore!
My dress is the Trashy Diva 1940s dress in the Olivine Floral fabric. The colors are perfect and the fit is just divine. I made a pretty purple magnolia hairflower to go with it. The white anchor necklace is also by Trashy Diva – perfect for dinner on a ship! I didn’t wear the pictured white cardigan, though; instead, I added a light, short-sleeved, 1960s-style spencer jacket in a black jacquard fabric that I’d found at Lane Bryant ca. 2007. A gorgeous vintage rose brooch (a gift from my friend Cynthia!) finished off the jacket perfectly.
