31 July 2010
He Said She Said
"The grand style follows suit with all great passion. It disdains to please, it forgets to persuade. It commands. It wills." - Friedrich Nietzsche
Weekend Reading List
I spent an hour Saturday afternoon in Page One with T looking at the glossy, well-organised YSL (2010) page by page. I count this as a rare pleasure: this sort of sharing of a passion with someone discerning and knowledgeable and interested. Much more nourishing than sitting down to an indifferent meal, or getting drunk. It's a lovely retrospective book (yet another one, perhaps the last one, the best one yet?) that is the catelogue, published under the aegis of the French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, for the Petit Palais museum exhibition of Yves Saint Laurent’s works (an archive of over 300 garments) last spring. That's Ms Bruni, the former muse, modelling the 1988 'Braque' wedding dress called Doves. I will go back and buy it to read the interviews, essays, although I dare say I would not discover so many new things.
And then T showed me the book of Guy Bourdin polaroids, which we agreed no one else but he would buy; And then we chatted animatedly about Matthew Goode, and Giselle and Isabelli in the new (too dreary) Muse Mag, and about Adrien Brody on the cover of this men's magazine looking like he was recovering from a serious bout of food poisoning (why would anyone run a cover like that?), for the length of the queue to the cashier (it was so nice to see Singaporeans buying books - we are such a nation of readers!) to buy the August Vogue Paris. And in the usual order of things, T had to eat a Mosburger and drink and a large ice tea, and then we went to that CD shop and T bought a DVD of Leap Year because Matthew Goode is in it.
And then just as soon as the cab door shut, I tore into the Vogue Paris and before I was home, just as I rounded the Newton Circle corner, I regretted buying it. It's bad, patchy, uninspired. Is it the season? Magazines are in a bad way now, aren't they?
I then I sat me down with a (blue and white Ming) bowl of cherries and leafed through the Visionaire #32 Where (2000 - already a decade old), sort of travel-themed, a stack of postcards that comes in an Hermes folder. It's a mystery why Hermes would want to be associated with this project which rather lowers. LB gave this to me one afternoon recently, for no apparent reason, in his darkened room in Orchard Towers and with Little Chris showing me his travel snaps of his grand tour of Italy: Ponte Vecchio, the Coliseum, the Trevii fountain, Michelangelo's David. Little Chris, 21, reminded me of the Victorian debutantes in E M Forster, Edith Wharton and Henry James who had seen just such views on their grand tours. He's of that age, and has that innocence.I think the postcards were only slightly more interesting, just ever so slightly more, than the unpeopled snaps.
And then I retired early to bed, the night howling with wild winds bringing sheets of clean, cold rain that shook the windows. I drank a cup (pink and gold Wedgewood) of hot almond milk, and swaddled in my various pillows (duck down, memory foam, microfill, cotton, kapok) read an Agatha Christie I've never read before (so truly rare!) Problem at Pollensa Bay.
And then sleep claimed me.
30 July 2010
29 July 2010
Evandro As Brad Davis As Querelle
I want to say that the fit of the sailor's cap here is wrong and has a (unintended, dunce-like) comic effect; The neck though, is good.
Evandro Soldati shot by Giampaolo Sgura for Hercules #8. Poor Mr Soldati is one of those male models fated to not wear very many clothes. The clothes keep falling off everytime they stylist puts them on, the buttons keep unbuttoning of their own accord, popping open. Pants fall down, jackets shrug off; He seems to resist clothes... Querelle is of course the iconic (if unwatchable) 1982 Fassbinder movie (his swan song) that is long on style but short on interest, fated to be referenced over and over again... He Said She Said
"You can see genuine smiles and phony smiles. Put-on smiles you see a lot of teeth. The “Mona Lisa” smile is the best, like in “Windblown Jackie. (1971)” The “Mona Lisa” smile is the beginning of the smile, with the eyes and lips. It holds the future. When you see the teeth, it’s too late and not as great."
"I just had a passion to photograph. Shoot, shoot, shoot. I just did it and loved it and did it and did it my way. You had the satisfaction of shooting the picture. You develop it, you have it in your hands, and it gives you another psychic reward. Then you see it published — that’s another reward. Then you get the check. That’s the final reward!" - Ron Galella
"I just had a passion to photograph. Shoot, shoot, shoot. I just did it and loved it and did it and did it my way. You had the satisfaction of shooting the picture. You develop it, you have it in your hands, and it gives you another psychic reward. Then you see it published — that’s another reward. Then you get the check. That’s the final reward!" - Ron Galella
28 July 2010
He Said She Said
“Tadao Ando has to get over concrete.” - Peter Marino
I read with interest that Mr Marino, 60, has a wife and daughter.
You Meet Someone
You meet someone.
The other.
You meet the other.
You are polite. The other is polite.
You eat each other a little.
After his departure you are slightly damaged.
And what do you do then?
Do you repair the damage and do you become again what you were?
Or do you go on as you are?
Damaged, but lighter.
From A Glimpse of Nothingness by Janwillem van de Wetering [1931-2008]
The other.
You meet the other.
You are polite. The other is polite.
You eat each other a little.
After his departure you are slightly damaged.
And what do you do then?
Do you repair the damage and do you become again what you were?
Or do you go on as you are?
Damaged, but lighter.
From A Glimpse of Nothingness by Janwillem van de Wetering [1931-2008]
27 July 2010
Beyond
I'm afraid, dear children, that it's now time for us to say something about Anna Dello Russo.This woman is vulgarity personified, a female impersonator if there ever was one, and the antithesis of style. Ms Dello Russo will launch a perfume, Beyond (obviously the irony escapes this most unironical of drags) in December (purportedly smelling of vanilla and almonds) bottled in a golden shoe. I can wait, if you can. The "insider reality fashion star" intuits that now is the time to do a fragrance. Why? Oh, why?
Truly beyond.
New: The Photoshop Super Hair Growth Gel
You read it here first: Photoshop, the makers of Photoshop Day Cream and Photoshop Anti Age Serum (which has proven super efficacious in turning the 60 year old Madonna into a 30-something Faye Dunaway - chicken cutlets not included) has come up with the Photoshop Super Hair Growth Gel. Just pump this cool, tingling gel and sweep along naked pecs and abs (not fogetting the jaw, legs and arms) and a thick carpet of fuzz will begin to cover your body INSTANTLY!Any volunteers to slather this miracle gel over the obsessively smooth Cristiano Ronaldo?
26 July 2010
Unseen Kate
Amazing: I've never seen this photo of Kate before. She seems to be dresses in some sort of Eastern European costume? Bizarre!
Split
Lorenzo Martone has confirmed that he and Marc Jacobs split two months ago: "...We are not together, haven't been in 2 months. And we will not comment on it. Sorry. We r fine." [@lorenzomartone]
Daria!
The Vogue Paris fall (2010) round up stars Daria Werbowy, shot by David Sims. Big heart! I think it's thoroughly modern that a denim brand like Diesel thrown in together with high end labels like Dior.... And what can I say? Daria looks amazing, and the clothes look styled to suit her, which makes much sense of this season's ready-to-wear, which weren't superb to begin with.
25 July 2010
Just Added
I've just added two links to my list of favourites (left column). Off the Cuff has words of wisdom on wardrobe and style, and The Trad is about all things preppy. Happy Clicking! 
From Off the Cuff: "Be careful to not overuse your good shoes. Don’t wear the same pair day after day; they need to rest and dry out. After you get home, give your shoes a quick brush down, insert the trees and give them a few a day or two off. Should you get stuck in a rainstorm or have to tramp through snow, do not try and quickly dry out your shoes; that can permanently damage your fine footwear. Instead, stuff them with newspaper, set them in a room-temperature place and leave them alone. Change the paper if it gets damp but don’t rush the process. Also, make sure to brush off road salts or dirt immediately. Once the leather has air dried, insert your shoes trees and give them a good polish and waxing to recondition the leather."Both pictures are from The Trad.
24 July 2010
He Said She Said
"I've had my best times when trailing a Mainbocher evening gown across a sawdust floor. I've always loved high style in low company." - Anita Loos (1888-1981)
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