03 August 2010

The Mean Reds

"The mean reds are horrible. You're afraid and you sweat like hell, but you don't know what you're afraid of. Except something bad is going to happen, only you don't know what it is." - Breakfast at Tiffany's, 1958, Truman Capote.This fall, Tiffany & Co will be launching a line of new bags, which will reference the novella and the 1961 movie Breakfast at Tiffany's. This is its first women's handbag collection in 20 years; They say this is part of a bid to "extend its brand beyond jewellery" (translation: greed rears its inelegant head). Tiffany & Co previously tried selling handbags and scarves in the 1980s, but discontinued the items in the early 1990s. The highlight of the new line is the Holly clutch, which come in both satin and leather.The collection — which includes day and evening handbags for women, men's briefcases and bags, and accessories — was created by the designers formerly known as Lambertson Truex (Richard Lambertson and John Truex), who joined Tiffany about a year ago after the brand acquired their bankrupt leather goods firm from Samsonite.
Irony: The American jeweller Tiffany & Co were initially opposed to Truman Capote's use of their brand name for his novella.
Trivia: The iconic Givenchy black couture dress that Audrey Hepburn wore in the movie sold for $807,000 recently.

2 comments:

  1. 'mean reds': sounds like a bad case of anxiety disorder. those poor pre-Valium/pre-Xanax days...

    ps: Valium was only available in 1963, 5 years after the novella was published. From Wiki:

    'Diazepam was the second benzodiazepine to be invented by Dr. Leo Sternbach of Hoffmann-La Roche, following chlordiazepoxide (Librium) which was approved for use in 1960. Released in 1963 as an improved version of Librium, diazepam became incredibly popular, helping Roche to become a pharmaceutical industry giant.'

    source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diazepam#History

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  2. Anon: Indeed. I can't imagine how it must have been like... guess that's where alcohol came in?

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