BRITISH PATHÉ: CHRISTIAN DIOR FUR SHOW IN LONDON (1969)

Ordinarily I wouldn't mind the unseasonably warm weather we've been having.  But you know, I'm "between sizes" right now (which is too say a little too chunky for the slim-tailored shirts that make up the better part of my closet), and I was really counting on hiding under sweaters and coats until at least April.  Guess I'd truly be distraught if I had a new coat from this (unbelievably groovy) Christian Dior fur show from 1969, as reported in a wonderful vintage British Pathé newsreel.  Swoon! 

There is so much here to celebrate:  that Sixties sense of chic, the use of white to enhance the stage presence of the coats, the groovy electric organ music ("if the coats didn't send the customers, the music certainly did..."), and of course all that odd, playful period modeling that seems (sadly) almost unfathomable today.  Frankly, I am living for all the synchronized "jigging about," especially in a chinchilla cape! 

I've written a little bit about Sixties style modeling before on The Social Design -specifically I think on a scene from a '68 Ungaro show used in the Catherine Denueve film Manon 70.  I wish I had a better grasp of the vocabulary of choreography, dance, and movement -  but to me there really is something paradoxical about the dominant modeling expressions of the time that both bewilders and entrances me.  It seems they sought to simultaneously exaggerate both the lines of the clothes and also the terrific sense of movement and freedom of the age.  The result is a recurrence of stiff, stylized postures that work quite well for print editorials (and here I definitely have Peggy Moffitt on the brain) but when applied to the movement of runway come off, well, a little bit bizarre...

It sort of calls to mind some observations I once read in a feature on the Audubon-inspired painter Walton Ford and how there is something distinctly unnatural in the naturalist Audubon's work,  because he was in fact not working from live models but rather from "freshly shot birds pinned into macabre dioramas."   Well, Dior isn't using dead birds but rather ballet dancers - and to great effect in my esteem.  And in my amateur musings on the Sixties modeling milieu I am probably discounting the influence of popular dance anyway. I will also add that Geoffrey Beene, a designer of great intellect, often cast dancers for models in his shows as well.

I wholeheartedly invite anyone with an opinion on Sixties modeling to chime in, or Sixties fashion for that matter (but really, I'm not so interested in the anti-fur sentiments)...

Enjoy!

THIS IS THE BLOGGING OF THE FRIDGE OF AQUARIUS...

Sometimes don't you just think you'll fall asleep if you see another stainless steel kitchen appliance?  Of course the greatest threat of such an acute and décor-triggered case of narcolepsy is hitting one's head on an equally ubiquitous granite counter top.  Last month I had to replace my old refrigerator and found the choices wanting: black or white (which apparently in any other form I love) and of course good old stainless steel.  It brought to mind the Eighties when I thought it was beyond stylish to have commercial grade stainless in the kitchen, especially glass-doored refrigeration units.  Clearly a far cry from the dulled-silver hell that constitutes the American middle class kitchen of today.

Of course what I really wanted was a mustard yellow fridge: please do think sunny Provence and please do not think Harvest Gold - although we did just watch Super 8 and were charmed to see its inclusion in the period kitchen sets. (Still, I am short
a macramé owl hanging to really pull it off...)  What I actually did end up getting was yet another stainless steel model - because, simply, neither black nor white worked with the existent scheme and the last thing I wanted to do was initiate a domino chain of kitchen redecorating.  Stainless steel really is nothing if not neutral. Yawn...

I guess I just didn't know that what I really ought to have done was this: travel back in time and pick myself up a "Match Your Mood" number from Westinghouse! 

I hope you enjoy this most compelling promotional film, one that vividly illustrates the decorative benefits of the company's "Complete Refrigerator," circa the late Sixties.  You'll see it starts off slow and moody as Young Mrs. Homemaker contemplates the winter landscape.  But then, like all groovy things, the electric organ kicks in.  And although it's not documented in the film, perhaps she's paid a call to her M.D. on the way home, since from the looks of her abrupt bout of uncontrolled shake dancing and home decorating, I myself am led to believe she's just gotten a needle of B12 and speed in her butt.  And then soon enough everyone's joining the party.  You will have, too, before all is said and (re)done...

Well, it's a terrific blast from the past - great visual and musical fun.  But on a realistic note, it's a good reminder of what Interior Design can and should be: a world of stimulating customization, a world of expression and license.  Face it, no one gets into the trade for the thrill of spec'ing one of three standardized finishes.  And I think this is one of the reasons I am so often keen on Sixties design - it really oozes optimism, possibility, and a certain kind of freshness and freedom - virtues which are always in style, if you ask me.  And there's something that's definitely out for 2012, and that's neutrality.

And as a matter of fact, I really do want a Mrs. Robinson zebra-striped fridge to match my Mrs. Robinson zebra-striped shift.  More than you know...

Enjoy! xo

Westinghouse ... "The Complete Refrigerator"

SEXY BEDROOM FROM "FIVE DOLLS FOR AN AUGUST MOON" (1970)

     
   

#19: ONE MAN'S CAMP IS ANOTHER MAN'S PORN

So when I posted all these clips from Mario Bava's Five Dolls for an August Moon on YouTube, I also included the very short one above, just because I thought it was kind of a hoot and was having a "why not?" moment. Well, as it turns out, some of the other videos posted at the same time have had less than 100 hits - and yet this one has had over 6,000...

Apparently footage of smoking from a pretty lady's foot plays better than mod Italian interiors and swingin' organ music. Especially in the Middle East, as this video has been most viewed in Syria, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates respectively.  Maybe it has something to do with the feet being very dirty and insulting in Arabic culture. This video might very well be completely obscene over there! I don't really know, though, anyone is welcome to chime in and explain the appeal...

Well, fortunately I'm the kind of person who gets hotter from mod Italian interiors and swingin' organ music than foot smokin'. And I rather liked the rest of the scene, as well:

 

There's that great Umiliani soundtrack, for starters - this time integrated into the scene as music from the radio.  And then, really, why not get out of bed feelin' fabulous? So fabulous in fact you want to dance around a little in your pleated chiffon caftan? Well I'd probably do the same if I had a zebra skin rug like that, too. Or maybe a big beefcake in bikini briefs and gold chains. Or again, really more so the zebra skin rug...





PIERO UMILIANI FOR "FIVE DOLLS FOR AN AUGUST MOON" (1970)

 
 

 

As I've written before, Mario Bava, who directed Five Dolls for an August Moon (5 bambole per la luna d'agosto), historically discounted the film. In fact, apparently he cited it as his worst.  Well, whether or not that's the case, it was definitely the best work of Piero Umiliani, who composed the film's very groovy, mostly upbeat soundtrack.  Full of swingin' electric organ and very engaging and diverse percussion, it's a terrific exercise in theme and variation.  I personally put this on par with the soundtrack from Jesus Franco's Vampiros Lesbos of 1971. They're terrific in their own right, and both exceed in quality the film for which they were composed.

Above, a scene from the film when Professor Farrell burns his secret formula everyone is hot to get their murderous little hands on - and the organ goes crazy! Well, I won't lie - from Ray Manzarek's keyboard work for The Doors, to Italian cinematic jazz, and everything in between - electric organ from the '60s and '70s fascinates me. Then of course and somewhat sadly the synthesizer came to the fore and the organ pretty much died away in pop and cinematic applications. And though it did retain a small niche in jazz, to me it will always be the sound of an era, really.

Here, more tracks - breezier, sexier, probably more typical of the album. Listen to these when you drive your car at night in the summertime, with the sunroof open and all the windows down...



The Five Dolls/5 Bambole soundtrack is available from iTunes in 22 tracks, but eMusic.com, while cheaper, is also offering a 34 track version, with even more variation on Umiliani's catchy riffs.



COCKTAIL PARTY SCENE FROM "FIVE DOLLS FOR AN AUGUST MOON" (1970)

  
  
  

 #16: EXHIBITIONISM AND CUTTING GLANCES: ENNUI'S NATURAL ANTIDOTE.

I mean really, how much lounging around a villa is one possibly expected to endure? Sometimes the very best you can do is - oh - spontaneously erupt into wild, unbridled dancing.  It never hurts to make yourself the center of attention, provided of course you're already gorgeous and put together.  But if that's not your style, consider the potential of heavy and intriguing eye-play...

A great cocktail party scene from the film "Five Dolls for an August Moon" (5 bambole per la luna d'agosto, and also known, rather unfortunately, as "Island of Terror").  That's fabulous euro scream-queen Edwige Fenech in the heavy eyeliner and big, sexy hair letting you know who's the belle of this ball.

A great favorite of mine among the Italian stabby films.  Mario Bava directed this film in 1970, and though it is often written that he was not proud of the final result (it was hastily produced, the cast was already hired before he signed on to direct, et cetera), it is still a stunningly delicious piece of eye (and ear) candy.  Like most giallo films, the plot is thin and basically beside the point - it's more a less a variant on Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians" - but who cares?  Otherwise it's rich with a masterful use of gorgeous, saturated color and features a fabulous Italian modern villa, some great clothes, a charismatic cast, and a very, very groovy soundtrack from my absolute favorite of the Italian cinematic composers, Piero Umiliani.  I ask you then, what's not to love?

From a strictly interiors standpoint, note the sparing and effective use of red to accent the otherwise fairly neutral interior, harkening of course back to #12: IT'S ALL ABOUT THE RED ACCENT PIECE.  I have quite a bit more to post on Five Dolls, interior and otherwise.  I hope you enjoy as much as I do!
 
 
 

DISCOTHEQUE SCENE FROM "DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT" (1972)

#11: THERE IS SELDOM ANYTHING GREAT ABOUT YOUR NATURAL HAIR COLOR.

From Luciano Ercoli's 1972 giallo thriller "Death Walks at Midnight" ( La morte accarezza a mezzanotte). Actress Nieves Navarro (then working under the name Susan Scott) plays beautiful model Valentina, who takes some experimental psychedelics and psychically witnesses a brutal murder. In this scene she's laying low from the killer in a swingin' discotheque. And really, I ask you, what better way is there than in a highly, highly conspicuous silver wig?  Well, Valentina is smart, 'cause with all these disco hippies and the groovy organ music, the only thing gettin' killed in here is conventionality.