Sunday Thoughts: What Was I Thinking?

Lately I have been questioning my wisdom at twenty. Mostly how it relates to how in the world I ended up where I am now.

I don't know how well the life of a designer translates for most people, because when I have glimpsed the fashion world from the "outside" it seems very linear and almost harsh. It's marketing and it's an industry so I know there is an element of ick to it that people pick up on, and there is definitely an Us vs. Them feeling. Much of the time the fashion industry becomes all about keeping up with the Jonses of the It Bag world, (which is a ridiculous pastime,) and the focus is in all the wrong places.

The thing is, that when you are immersed in that world... I mean when that is your day to day, and your peer group, not just subscriptions to all the major fashion mags... it's about something different. Something completely different.

For one, fashion is an art form. I know, everyone knows that right? Not really. Not really really. Very few people are in the industry with the intent of getting rich and famous. Mostly because it is near impossible. It is an industry where percentage-wise, very few have reached celeb status,. And that is one of the first things you learn, because the fashion industry is harsh! It's aggressive, it's cut-throat, and it's completely unfair. When a girl who is used to being the It girl in her hometown walks into a modelling agency, she is no longer special. And this is true for every aspect. In truth, if you don't find your coping mechanism, you will get burned out really quickly. So what keeps everyone going?

They are not living in the real world!

The thing that keeps the fashion wheel spinning is that those in the center are completely and utterly removed from normal reality. Their way of being literally revolves around beauty as a way of life. Their talent, whatever it is, is dependent on somebody, or many somebodies, creating a reality out of the furthest reaches of their imagination. It is the closest thing to literal dream interpretation in the world of vocations. And there are teams of people whose role it is to keep that momentum flowing... absolutely nothing is impossible. Eventually you forget that your world is kind of, well... made up. When you go to your office party during the Christmas holidays, you probably dress nicely, have a few drinks and live a little. When you go to a label launch, fashion week, or "thank god that show's over" bash, it's not uncommon to have a plethora of ridiculously beautiful and half naked people with golden wings on their backs pouring you drinks. Or, say, a swimming pool with large air mattresses to float on. At the very least there should be a tea leaf reader. And whereas you might find wearing a tiara to be "a little much" for a night on the town, you would feel out of place if you don't have MUCH sparkle at a fashion soiree. Do you see where I am going with this? When this sort of thing is commonplace, you forget what else there is. And it needs to be your reality, because you need to continue to be a dreamer or you lose your muse. Fashion is an art that uses the human form as a canvas, and fabric, beading, steel rods and pretty much anything else conceivable as the medium. There is a dangerous side effect to the part where the lines of reality get blurred, but that is another post. What I am talking about is the part where one exchanges one "reality" for another.

Right. So cut to modern day. I only just recently came to the realization that I have a basis for my lack of reasonable thinking. That's how out of touch I am. Not only do I not function well in the real world, but I don't even know that I don't function well in the real world. When I left the city for the mountains, I immediately found myself a group of belly dancers and circus people to surround myself with. They are amazing people, and they make a way of life out of incorporating what they love doing into a living. But I am not a performer. I tried for awhile to organize them and PR them and be their business mind, but herding artists is very similar to herding cats. Possibly more difficult. I put on shows, I honed various art skills... I tried my hand at "normal" reality, managing financial institutions and working at a law office, somehow ending up in the role of Mom. My kids do their best to keep me in line as I have the attention span of a two year old on speed... my four year old regularly has to take my face in his hands to be sure I'm listening... While I'm certain they are having a good time, I'm not so sure that I've mastered the ability to impart a sense of... uhhh... responsibility so much.

If anyone has tread this path in the past and has something of useful advice regarding "fitting in"... please share. Until I come up with a replacement reality, however, I see no reason not to continue to believe in hoola hoops, feathered headpieces, outrageous garden parties and fortune cookies.

Ron and Draco... All Growed Up

 I don't know about you all, but I was completely addicted to the Harry Potter books till the movies came out. Not that I have any many issues with the movies, but you know how it is with an amazing book... the possibility of cramming it into an hour (or three) at the theatre is next to impossible. It was years ago now that I read them, but I still feel a great fondness for the characters. 

 

This is perhaps why I feel so amused by the idea of casting Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy in the roles of male model. I most certainly understand the savvy concept, the brilliance of borrowing their characters without actually using their persona to sell product. Marketing psychology fascinates me, and this shoot is bang on, but it still seems kinda like they should not be throwing Weasley and Malfoy in a room together with the purpose of selling clothing. It seems, I don't know... dangerous? LOL

 Either way, the idea to shoot Rupert Grint and Tom Felton at the Magic Castle in LA was pretty genius. Scott Sternberg of Band of Outsiders shot the pair himself on Polaroid film (also genius) and the results are exactly what the clothing should be represented by. (It doesn't hurt that the label's acronym is BOO which fits with the castle's creepy bits for a lookbook hitting the populace in the face right before Halloween.) More than anything, it's great just to see these two just having a good time.  

 All in all, a pretty brilliant scheme. Well played.

Nicoline Patricia Malina

I have just wrapped up a post over on the other blog that revolves around the photography of Nicoline Patricia Malina and a piece from Harper's Bazaar Indonesia. Based in Jakarta, winner of ELLE's Photographer of the Year in 2009, and with a client list that runs the gamut from Esquire to Coca-Cola, I am not sure why I have not come across her work before.

Shooting in some very impressive exotic locales would help any photographer along, but this artist has a gift for clarity of form and for combining saturated colour with surreal moods to evoke an almost alien feel in her work. It truly is otherworldly. Gorgeous.

Want and Need are Relative

Not very long ago, I FINALLY received some back pay that I have slogged through acres of red tape to reclaim from the government. I kind of knew it was coming, but also was prepared for them to find a reason why I shouldn't need it more than some Victoria politician who, say, needed a new antique desk for his office. So for the months where I waited with somewhat baited breath, I (thankfully) budgeted and prioritized every penny to pay down debt, fix up the house, and replace the computer and camera I so desperately need...  This post is dedicated to my family and friends who somehow (... seriously, I have no idea!!! :P) see me as extravagant and impractical. What??? You see? If I were impractical, would I have paid off the hydro...?

Or bought a

...Swarovski Skull ring from Alexander McQueen for $450?! Huh?!? If I were impractical, would I have paid down the Gas bill? Or would I have paid $1,385 for a crystal spiked cuff from Philippe Audibert? Or Prada Butterfly sunglasses for $290?

No, seriously... are we aware of how fabulous I would be carting my two rugrats around Nelson wearing butterfly sunglasses and spiked cuffs? Or perhaps a hand painted Swarovski necklace?

Because what else would I wear with my Swarovski...

MASK!!! I know, Right?!? Anyone who knows anything at all about me knows that the only reason the mask is not currently in my possession is because I didn't see it till today, but still... just sayin' :)

All from Net A Porter...

Noggins As A Canvas: The Steven Jones Milliner Competition

Today's post is dedicated to the recent display of bizarreness, AKA "the guests of the Royal Wedding". I used to make hats. Looooong time ago. It occurred to me that all those bitty pieces in the sewing room could amount to something. Lo and behold, after one trip to Roberta's on Granville Island, where most confections started at about two hundred smackeroos... the light bulb went on. So I took up millinery... of a sort. I created one hat in a particular design and by the time I was halfway through, three more had occurred to me. I loved it. About a hundred hats in I realized I was merely so so at it. The experience, however, taught me that making fabulous noggin-wear takes more than a cap with feathers plunked on it. There is definitely skill involved. The word finicky comes to mind. Persnickety would most likely also come to mind if I knew exactly what it meant.

Holly Gaiman. Creator of hats.

Anyhow... I digress. I caught sight of this hat this morning during my facebook stroll and even though I may have voted for it regardless because it happens to be made by one of my favourite author's daughter (he is tied with Terry whom he has worked with, so does he get extra points for that? He does do brilliant children's books, and definitely gets points for that...) I have to say that this piece is a work of art.

"Featherswept"

Holly Gaiman has created "Featherswept" as part of her Private View show from June. This piece, inspired by Japanese calligraphy, is an entry into a competition that will see the winner commencing studies with acclaimed British milliner, Stephen Jones. (Holly was mentored by Rose Cory, former milliner to the Queen mum, and also holds a masters in media and culture.) If you would like to see some of the competition and vote, you can visit the site. These are a few of my other favourites, although the list is so vast I didn't come anywhere near to getting through them all.

"Birds on Street Corners" inspired by graffiti artist Xenz. Submitted by Ani Stafford-Townsend.

"In Memory of: Amy Winehouse" submitted by Joosten Mueller.

"Yvette, en Vert" inspired by the work of Yvette Delort. Submitted by Tricia Roush

Brett Morley's submission.

"

"Embrise Regis" by Melanie Grieve.

Reversable "Halk/Kingfisher" sculptural piece submitted by Emma Yeo.

"Ma-sy" submitted by Masha Sylnyagina

And this has to go in there because top hats and octopi are two of my favourite things...

Submitted by Megan Bishop... who feels the same way.

If any of you have a serious hat thing, as I do, you really should go and check out the entire list... there are some brilliant works of art that I didn't include. Both structurally and imaginatively stunning. And vote!

*Sidebar: Not that I think everyone at the royal wedding was a hoot, there were a fair number of gorgeous pieces included, of course :)

The Last Great Glamour Icon Says Farewell

Larry King: "Elizabeth Taylor was a great friend, a great star and one gutsy woman. She was so special. You won't see the likes of her again…"

She of the violet eyes.

It goes without saying that Liz Taylor (or Dame Elizabeth Taylor to the little people) was one of, if not THE biggest name in Hollywood. She was known not only for her multiple Oscars in a plethora of movies that were destined to be classics, but also for the drama she brought off-screen to the media surrounding Hollywood. She was not only one of the major catalysts of Superstardom and Celebrity, but also of the idea that we as a society should be interested in the private lives of the rich and famous, because... well, she made it interesting.

“I’ve always admitted that I’m ruled by my passions.”

Stephen Fry: RIP Dame Elizabeth Taylor, surely the last of a breed…

Nobody can say that Taylor was not an intelligent and extroverted woman, especially the way she lived life as she pleased before the time that women in North America were allowed to do so. She always walked a fine line between putting on a grand show for the cameras and being labeled "too riske" for the common good. In the end, her tumultuous and drama-laden life and career earned her a cemented place in top ranks of Hollywood Icons, but in every sense, she also left that status far behind when she showed the world that she was also a giving and charitable lady of grace as she took on work benefitting AIDs research before it was a popular issue.

With co-star Montgomery Clift whose life she saved.

She has always been noted by her peers as being  a good and kind person. Her life on camera started with her early years and the choice of her relationships followed alongside.

On the set of Lassie Come Home

Wearing the Golden Football of one of her first notable bfs.

Nothing captured the media's attention more though, than the extravagance that Liz embodied. And nothing displayed that more, than her multiple weddings, their subsequent drama, and her choice of grooms.

Wed Conrad Hilton in 1950 at age 17.

Attendees in yellow organdy...

The hotel heir accepts a sweet token...

Liz married the first "Nicky" Hilton at her most extravagant wedding in 1950. Much of the wedding was promoted and paid for by MGM as her movie "Father of the Bride" opened one month later. Her $1500 dress was a gift from the studio, a creation by MGM studio designer Helen Rose (who also created Grace Kelly's wedding gown). The white satin dress, accented with seed pearls and beading, featured a sweetheart neckline that was covered with a chiffon overlay. She also wore a veil attached to a cap combined with a pearl tiara. The dress was very similar to the one she wore in Father of the Bride.

The marriage lasted eight months. To be fair, she was only seventeen at the time and although he had been sober for his courtship with her, he reportedly fell off the wagon during their wedding reception and was a less than stellar groom, flirting with other passengers on their honeymoon voyage and gambling. He was also, she would reveal later in life, abusive, although she would not recognize this trait until she felt less jaded with subsequent marriages.

If you ask me, in this photo taken while they settle a property dispute, he still looks pretty enamored. She looks much wiser. He went on to date Natalie Wood and Joan Collins, then wed and divorced an oil baroness before his early death in 1969.

wearing a fairly modest suit and pearls

One year later, Liz was married to British actor Michael Wilding in London. Michael was twenty years her senior and she was his second wife. He provided for Liz the stability she needed after her dramatic, albeit short, first marriage and she fell into the role of wife more easily in this second marriage.

While fairly accomplished in film and on stage overseas, Michael contracted to MGM during his years with Liz and co-starred in mainly dull roles. His most memorable role in the US was the Pharoah in the Egyptian.

This marriage lasted five years and saw Liz birth two sons, Michael Jr. and Christopher. During her final days of being Mrs. Wilding, Liz was swept off her feet by the producer of "Around The World In 80 Days".

Weds Mike Todd in February 1957.

In 1957, only three days after her divorce from Michael Wilding, Liz wed producer Mike Todd. Although 24 years older than she, she has admitted publicly that although not always easy, this was her happiest marriage. "He had a joy, a relish about being alive, a vitality that was so contagious," she wrote. "He was a fabulous con artist, could con the gold out of your teeth, but was terribly, gregariously generous." 

Liz's parents to the far left. Liz wears a hooded silk gown.

It was with Todd that she had baby girl Liza (short, of course for Elizabeth). Tragically, Todd would die when his plane, Lucky Liz, crashed in 1958 in New Mexico. Eddie Fisher, Todd's best friend, stated that no fragments of Todd had been found, and that his coffin contained only his ring. The marriage had lasted 418 days.

Liz and Todd attend Derby Day with Fisher and Reynolds following.

Marries Fisher in a green silk hooded number.

 In the time that followed, Liz would be portrayed in the media for being a home-wrecker as she married Eddie little more than a year later. An extremely popular pop singer, Eddie Fisher left his wife, Debbie Reynolds to marry her. It seems widely assumed that he had designs on her when she was married to Todd.

Liz, Eddy and Debbie.

When interviewed, Reynolds graciously said that she could understand being dumped "for the world's most beautiful woman (Taylor)", previously a close friend. Taylor and Reynolds later resumed their friendship, and mocked Fisher in their TV movie These Old Broads, wherein their characters ridiculed the ex-husband they shared, named "Freddie."

Fisher visits Taylor on the set of Cleopatra

Her next marriage to Richard Burton may have been karma for Fisher. While filming Cleopatra, Liz was to have an affair with her co-star where director Joseph Mankiewicz described their chemistry as "like being locked in a cage with two tigers".

Liz cutting Richard's hair the day her divorce from Fisher finalizes.

Frocked in yellow chiffon.

A few flowers in her hair.

Promptly after the release of the movie left Fisher for the Welsh actor. They wed in Montreal in 1964, nine days after her divorce from Eddie Fisher was finalized. They stared in many movies together, most notably "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" where they seemed to portray their own stormy off-screen relationship.

Some of my favourite photos of Liz were taken during this marriage. I think it was a time where she had come into her own both as an actress and as a person... and probably felt an equal to Burton, which may have contributed to their tumultuous relationship. Regardless of the media feast that they provided for the paparazzi, she seems to be more peaceful and relaxed in many of the photos taken during this time.

Dress no. 2

The two divorced in 1974 and remarried in 1975... and divorced in 1976.

That same year Liz married Senator John Warner. This marriage lasted until 1982. Liz states that when Warner was elected she started to feel redundant and began to eat and drink "with abandon" to try to console herself. She said "I had nothing else to do".

In October 1991, she married for the eighth and final time to Larry Fortensky, a construction worker. She had met Fortensky, 20 years her junior, while in rehab. The opulent ceremony was held at Michael Jackson's 2,700-acre Neverland Ranch. Jackson gave away the bride, who wore a pale yellow gown by Valentino. Fortensky's best man was Liz's hairdresser, Jose Eber. Among the 150 guests were Liza Minnelli, Eddie Murphy and former first lady Nancy Reagan. The marriage ended in 1996.


"I think I ended up being the scarlet woman partly because of my rather puritanical upbringing and beliefs," she once said. "I couldn't just have a romance; it had to be marriage."

Rest in Peace and Love Dame Liz, you will be missed.


* Hotel heir Nicky Hilton (married May 6, 1950-divorced January 29, 1951)
* Actor Michael Wilding (married February 21, 1952-divorced January 26, 1957)
* Producer Mike Todd (married February 2, 1957-his death March 22, 1958)
* Singer Eddie Fisher (married May 12, 1959-divorced March 6, 1964)
* Actor Richard Burton (married March 15, 1964-divorced June 26, 1974)
* Actor Richard Burton (2nd Marriage) (married October 10, 1975-divorced July 29, 1976)
* Senator John Warner (married December 4, 1976-divorced November 7, 1982)
* Teamster construction-equipment operator Larry Fortensky (married October 6, 1991-divorced October 31, 1996)

Photo credits to Time/Life, Splash, About.com