A Redheaded Woman

Maureen Dowd (a redhead) wrote a terrific column last week about the death of the grown-up romantic comedy. She has an email give & take with Sam Wasson, the 28-year-old author of Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M., the best seller about the making of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I agree that the stupid movies probably confuse younger people a lot. Too close an inspection of many cupcake & pink unicorn blogs is worrying. Infantilization--especially when you do it to yourself for cryin' out loud--ain't (grown-up) sexy. Here's a bit of what Sam has to say:

"I am not joking when I say that because there is nothing to see (especially, and tragically, in romantic comedy) my girlfriend and I have had to stay home and in some cases fight. If there were better movies out there, I am sure so many relationship disasters may have been averted. Also, romantic comedies, the good ones, taught me how to love, or at least instructed me on how to try. If I were falling in love now for the first time and going to see this garbage thinking this was real, I would be in deep [expletive]. It was only after I saw ‘Annie Hall’ as a wee Jew that I realized what it was to be a person in love. It has been a touchstone ever since." Really, you need to read the column, here.*

Today I thought good thoughts about all the (many) redheads in my family, friends, former colleagues, actresses, a great singer-song writer (who inspired the song), & a columnist for the NYTimes. If you choose to be a redhead, I salute you & welcome to the club. My hair hasn't been red-red in quite awhile, but most people still think of me as one. Here are a few for some Sunday fun. (Sadly none are of friends or family -- or me -- because I Have Yet To Scan, But I Promise To. Really.) ciao-for-now

*PS: And now, I'll add a redheaded man to the list; as much as he has peeved so many of us, Woody Allen did write & make Annie Hall.

Update - a few people have emailed, what the hell? So here's part of the song:

A red headed woman
It takes a red headed woman
To get a dirty job done -Mr. Springsteen

[photographs via verdoux, myvintagevogue, AMC. There were others I liked but wow, tumblrs that I won't name because they are not sexy, they are gross.Ooof. See? These people don't know the difference.]

Week's End - Blast from the Cold Past

A desperate-looking man at a bus stop, "They're after me." I sighed inwardly, oh no. Poor man. Then travel memories behind the Iron Curtain (still firmly drawn) flooded in. Observing weird comings & goings in Vienna, among other places. Going through Checkpoint Charlie. And ongoing amongst us innocents in the DC neighborhood (& more so in N. VA)? Crazy traitor Robert Hanssen not 5 minutes away, oh-so-busy honing his spy-craft (& perversions). (Have you seen Breach? Or read Eric O'Neill's book?)

Read/re-watch Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; Smiley's People, but especially Richard Burton in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. Now, that, as a professor (& friend) said to me when I was rather young, that is the whole bloody dirty nasty business right there. Hey, he knew nutty Ezra Pound. Who was I to question him on these tangled matters?

So that man, in the beautiful Burberry trench* right near the Phillips Collection? You never know. They could be after him. I gave him a quarter for the phone.

Here's John le Carré's website.

Off to scary dental doings. (Shades of last summer.)

*I know. A cliche. Life is like that sometimes. It was a Burberry. Speaking of clothes, the above shot is via myvintagevogue.

Sunday Shopping - Of Swim Suits, Kaftans, & Muu-muu-ness

As I am a water baby, I have several swim suits. I can't find a photograph of my two favorites--a navy & white polka-dot maillot & a black & white dotted halter with short swimming skirt (no, I had nothing to hide when I bought it in, of all places, a tiny chic shop in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on some road trip or other). Before you think, oh what a bore (about bathing suits anyway), so many people stopped me on a trip to Greece about those suits that it was weird. It isn't always easy, finding that simple well-made something. I tried to help. This also happens with hats; again, I help or try to. I do not say, Oh I couldn't possibly remember or It was a gift. (Unless, indeed, it was.) That's so mean-spirited.

What I really need as I cannot wear these suits, currently, is a caftan/kaftan. À la Elizabeth Taylor when she had "the chubbies." Gawd. It's too late to order one /shop for one --it's 100+ degrees out; it's too late to sew one. So indulging self in vintage bathing suit pix, & a few kaftans, links.

Little Augury has a particularly pretty kaftan love post from last summer (including modern & vintage photographs). If only I'd seen her post a month ago. You'll enjoy nosing about her blog. Also, Sasha at Liberty London Girl (always interesting & fun), recently posted on Tallulah & Hope silk kaftans. I just cannot afford these but it's nice to look. With my background in the Maghreb & Middle East & rest of the Mediterranean-bleeping-Basin, one would think I'd have an emergency kaftan on hand. (I gave a good one away some years back.)

Muu-muus, anyone? I called every garment my stylish grandmother put on (after proper company left) a "muu muu." She did not correct me as it was the "moooo" sound that I so wanted to use. (I mean no disrespect to Hawaiians. Some friends sport those prints fabulously. It sounds counter-intuitive, but I'm too small to wear them well, no matter what my weight. I did not realize the possibility of the toned-down muu muu before today. )

On the way to the beach, I might buy a half-bolt of gauzy fabric & wrap self in it. A gigantic bandage sitting under a large market umbrella, that could be me. (I'm too young to be terribly eccentric! What will my excuse be later on in life?) Otherwise, as the sun sets on those off to drinks-before-dinner, I'll be patrolling the shore in a long white nightgown. I think that's the hour when the first victim became dinner in "Jaws." Uh oh.

[some images via myvintagevogue (the website is looking spectacular); some via LIFE Archives; & Elizabeth & Richard by the great Henry Clark via Retro Vintage Mod Style]

Santa in Black & White

December 1953 [via myvintagevogue's tumblr blog]

Week's End - Dachsie Dress

I'm running late. I know I always write that...let me be clear: I am not late for events or people. I'm one of those reformed people who are usually early. (Also, I'm too self-righteously indignant about The Late Bunch. Hence, the label personal character defects.) It's snowing, I'm coordinating a local group's little gift-wrap-for-donation at a bookstore this evening, can't find my snow boots, want to post pictures on both blogs about Tina Tarnoff, see here. And dozens of boring bits, including deadlines. So I play with the time/space continuum by posting this dated Friday, but it is Saturday. Because I can & the earth will remain spinning. If it doesn't, man will I be cheesed off. Because I would've gone to George Clooney's new film. Anyway, real Week's End will come up some time later this weekend & do justice to Tina.

When I saw Mary-Laure's darling dachsund Benjy the Oracle's photograph just now on AUREA, I knew this dress would be perfect for her. (Yes, I see that it's a skirt...that would mess up the alliteration, silly.) The photograph is via busy Jess's myvintagevogue. I maintain that she does not sleep, really. For you dachsund lovers, take a look at Liberty London Girl's hilarious find of a dachsund nativity set.

A rushed adieu....

Week's End - Lena in Black & White

Glamorous Lena in 1948 (in Paris & NYC). I cracked up listening to various versions of I Feel Smoochie (LH reportedly singing it in close-up club shot). I could not pull off saying it, much less singing it, & be glamorous. (Yes, I know I am not glamorous no matter what. Don't rub it in! Snarl.) Julie the Cat seemed to enjoy a few versions of the song but then, being a modern sophisticat, she barfed onto the modem, nearly shorting it out. This sums up the last few weeks.

Update: 9 May 2010 - RIP, Lena. She did a lot more than look fabulous; she fought for civil rights - her own & others (notably, African-American GIs in WWII). Obituary, here. It's more than annoying that everyone seems to have chosen "sultry" for their headlines. Ah well.

[photographs by Yale Joel & W. Eugene Smith for LIFE archives/Lena arriving in Grand Central Station via myvintagevogue]

Sunday Shopping

Perhaps not so much pretend shopping as actually pondering. I saw this Wallis Camel Statement Collar Coat on Liberty London Girl. It reminds me of coats my mother wore. The coat advertisement is not the same but the camel coat is the theme here--never goes out of style. The second image is Charm magazine's December 1948 cover. It startled me. A few tweaks & it could be a cover this year. (first image via myvintagevogue; second via myvintagevogue/tumblr /JUST COVERS)

Have a good Sunday evening (hello to Aussies & Kiwis...starting out your work week).

xo/svs

Week's End - Happy Hallowe'en!

Boo! Please visit GG's blog. There are all sorts of free sources & links to holiday craft sites. Have a fun weekend! xo

[Ava Gardner & feline friend via myvintagevogue; glow-y mask via LIFE archives, no photographer credit available; Victorian postcard via a great free clipart source, Vintage Holiday Crafts, here.]

Patterns in the Carpet

I don't know what mine are, much less yours, but I am interested. I am not referring to a new book by Margaret Drabble. But of course, a new book playing on a Henry James short story title is out & about. Ah well. It's up for grabs, that phrase/literary preoccupation/allusion/what-have-you. One could look at labels & conclude any number of things. I just did it myself...not really helpful. So here's a Lillian Bassman photo of Evelyn Tripp in the November 1948 Harper's Bazaar via myvintagevogue while I think about it some more. And write out a check to Made4Aid because apparently no one even bothered to go visit their site after my entreaties on both blogs. Wow. I'm pretty annoyed (& really disheartened).

Maintaining One's Composure

First, obtain some composure. It's on the to-do list. This photograph of Suzy Parker is by Nina Leen via myvintagevogue. Here's a link to Nina Leen photography. Where I learned that I have misspelled her first name. For over a year. The shame will eat at me while I am out today... no time to correct the attributions. This is seriously compromising any composure that I have had for a few hours. (I am not kidding. It is a sickness.)

S.

La Rentrée

Returning is decidedly difficult. Too many to-do lists. So off to make phone calls to remedy the situation, to swim, to ease la rentrée. It's usually one of my favorite times of year. (Except for natal day dread; more about which, perhaps, later.) Jumping into the autumn city swirl would be more graceful, I'm sure, if wearing a blue coat like this 1962 Yves Saint Laurent. One could glide in anywhere & no one would dare yell "You lie!" Yes, I'm still annoyed about the incivility towards our President. I keep referring to Professor Forni's Choosing Civility to keep myself under control. Yesterday I had it with me at a table wherein I had to hear all about why we [the organization] were wrong, misinformed, the usual. I kept glancing at my open tote, the book's title visible. It helped.

So that I don't just list complaints...I can report that I have been able to purchase some new clothes, books (a pile!), renew subscriptions, memberships, & so on. I am grateful.

bisous

PS: I first saw this Paul Schutzer photograph in myvintagevogue's flickr stream. Jessica has several terrific archival blogs. Her lovely official website, here.

Sunday Shopping

Hyperventilating from spending a lot of (necessary) money today. So I'm "pretend" clothes shopping. September magazines are piling up, including Vogue. I'm reading/looking at fluff instead of writing. I need a day off. The poetry & literary landslide has to wait for tonight. Overwhelmed.

Though it's a January (1962) date, I couldn't resist this image from Just Covers, another Jessica aka myvintagevogue project (the tumblr blog is also in the right sidebar--you can see the high-resolution image there). I have three (3!) broken SLRs here so no decent photograph of Julie the Cat. Still putting one in...

Have a good Sunday evening/Monday (depending on where you are)!

Week's End - Umbrella Girl

Off to procure a large, safe (beautiful) umbrella to weather threatening storms on their unwelcome way. Getting wet with Gregory Peck would be lovely; with the slim pickings in Washington, DC (over the age of interns), I'm choosing the bumpershoot* route. Have a great weekend wherever you are. xo

*or 'bumbershoot'. Stop the arguing over slang for 'umbrella'! Only on the Internet...

[photograph by Constantin Joffe, 1947 via myvintagevogue]

Girls in Their Summer Dresses

It's so very hot. Perhaps I'll find one more summer dress (on sale). One that assures me it's a dress that does things for me. Well, why would I turn that down? Speaking of advertising, Leslie at Work-in-Progress (lower right sidebar under writers & readers) brought The Women Behind 'Mad Men' from WSJ.com to my attention. I couldn't read the whole thing because it was verging on spilling the end of Season 2. No cable, no show. The Netflix Fairy brought end-of-Season 2 today. And yes, I'm still reading & swimming & yoga-ing (om) & will post regularly & with more juice than lately. Soon. It's hot out, what can I say?

[vintage advert via myvintagevogue - which is a fabulous website]

Party Dress

Go, and never darken my towels again. Groucho Marx

I can't help it (about silly Marx business, etc, it's a sickness.) Housekeeping, blog & home.

1) I want to move on from the somberness of the Taj Mahal post & take comments again; 2) this photograph reminds me of someone, ahem, being all dressed up for a fabulous time with real friends (not the air-kiss, embassy kind) & being told once again (by the same guy)...something has come up...somewhere-else-in-the-world-more-important-than-you-will-ever-be. For the 1,000th time This tulle-clad person usually never complained about dashed plans, but will admit to sliding down a wall onto a slightly dirty kitchen floor in a big floofy dress in disappointment.. For about an hour. Not in front of anyone, though. Ever. (OK, two cats.)

and 3) Most Important...

...Jessica aka myvintagevogue has (or will by July's end) closed her flickr account for good. They've given her no end of trouble & I don't know how she stood it as long as she did. Her tumblr blog is in the right sidebar.. I'll add her Blogger site & her website once I get the categories all straightened out. I've been replacing links as time permits from her flickr sets to her website and/or tumblr blog. MEANWHILE, please visit Jessica at the gorgeous myvintagevogue website.

And now, I have spent over an hour looking for the photograph attribution. Because I did not include it in the title when I downloaded it ages ago. Rats. Double rats. I'll find it tomorrow--while I'm waiting for the carpet cleaning fairies to spirit away the hideous-mess-masquerading-as-Persian-rug & return it minus the colonies of criminy-knows-what in the silk/wool. Then I'll become one of those women who make people take off their shoes. I'll just pretend that I'm back, elsewhere...where everyone does that anyway.

Hope your weekends were great.

[Norman Parkinson photograph of Jean Patchett via myvintagevogue]

Happy Vintage Fourth of July from DC

After so many years in DC, I've a cache of personal & professional-photographers-who-are/were-uh-friends Fourth of July fireworks pix. Where are they? I do not know. (I'm in the midst of tearing up the apartment, shredding, tossing, cleaning, etc.) I hereby vow to find photographs for Christmas in the next few weeks so I won't be caught up short then, too.

Fortunately, Jessica at myvintagevogue has two great vintage shots. The photograph above is by Robert Kahan , Glamour magazine, 1942. Jessica included, as will I, the Condé Nast Store website link.

(The other one, here...it's spectacularly Graeco-Roman-goddess-as-American symbol. My ancient history & architecture professor would be in heaven. Sadly, he is in heaven for real. And he would've enjoyed that cheeky comment, so no booing, please.)

The little red shot is a pathetic one of mine excavated from the desk drawer, undated. The collage & other shot are by ohad* on flickr commons (from 2006). Don't know where or if I'll see any fireworks tonight. All is in flux. I do wish friends who live at 13th & U with a rooftop were in town this year. A great place to have a drink, kibbitz, ooh & ahh, & then three floors down to the apartment. Just like that. Yesterday out & about on the Mall at the Smithsonian's annual Folk Life Festival, fabulous as usual. A friend & I had a lot of fun & catching up to do but ...just thinking about getting back on the Red Line to the Mall--which is not far--lacks appeal. For a fireworks fanatic (me), that's saying something.

Signing off with a cheery, Sparklers Forever!

Cat in the Rain

Back from successful crossing of many streets. After watching Z last night (Netflix Fairy), I just couldn't help but be wary of errant vehicles. If you know not of what I speak, rent it. Please. (And after the giggling about late 1960s fashion stuff, the 'hey, where are the women?' thing, etc..you'll think, more seriously about it. Plus, what great faces in that film.) [[Note: I can't find the photo/image I want to go with a favorite Hemingway story & it's annoying me. So that's the why of this title.]

Weather report: Storm, rain, possible hail & all kinds of mess later. I didn't believe it last night & returned to rain inside the apartment & a damp Julie the Cat. So umbrellas, shades of gray, stripes (les rayures), bridges, reflections, etc.

I have not been able to do a real post on Jessica at myvintagevogue. Not one that would do her justice. So I'll let her speak for herself (below) & catch up to her apres le deluge. Jessica does a great job & sources, sources, sources. Her sites are below & her tumblr blog is in my right sidebar. As I've remarked before, usually at the top (to the unitiated, that means 'recency'); she is one busy lady. I hope that you will pay her a visit on one of her sites. Her collections have been essential for memory re-collection--priceless, in fact. [Direct link to photograph above.] Update: I'm trying to format this type properly; Blogger is driving me crazy. And storms have commenced...

From Jessica's flickr account:

"Welcome to my time machine - I like to think of myself as a curator or historian. The fashion photos are from 1920 through 1965. The lovely ladies of the silver screen were themselves’ style icons and so must be included in a page representing fashion from those years. I hope you enjoy and tell a friend.

Thank you all so much for all your kind word regarding this collection and for making this such a great experience for me.

Check out my website and blogs www.myvintagevogue.com or myvintagevogue.livejournal.com or @ photobucket s577.photobucket.com/albums/ss213/myvintagevogue & myvintagevogue.tumblr.com

Disclaimer: All photos unless otherwise indicated are not taken or owned by me. They are used solely for the purpose of discussion, education and inspiration. These images are not intended for any commercial purpose."

Reading in the Shadow of Vesuvius

Some favorite books, re-read every year. Shirley Hazzard on Naples/southern Italy where she lived for many years with her genius translator husband (mostly Flaubert), the late Francis Steegmuller. [**Please see below for important note re: second & third photographs by Robert in Toronto.]

Hazzard's The Bay of Noon, Greene on Capri. (Deeply admire her other novels, but concerned with this area right now. )I cannot fathom how one could be bored by Greene in Capri--even if they don't give a fig for Graham Greene, Shirley, Francis, or Flaubert. Or Capri. However, if you don't care about any of those things--what the heck is wrong with you?! [Oh dear. I just found a NYRB letter-to-the-editor mini-kerfluffle in 2000 between Greene's last companion, a lovely person, & the reviewer of the Capri book -- 149 pages, you can zip through in a sec & highly diverting-- & then he brings in Hazzard to answer charges. These NYRB back & forth l-to-ed can go on for years. This looks like a one-off. Here's that link.]

Hazzard-recommended Falling Palace: A Romance of Naples by Dan Hofstadter. I don't know how he did it, but he did. The city's antique & curio shops are among the characters in his novelistic-remembrance. Take a break from Paris & elsewhere, please, I beg you. And don't forget about the highly original Inspector Montalbano series by Andrea Camillieri. I don't know how I'd do without these people. Really.

**Second & third photographs by Robert in Toronto. When I saw his flickr set & what he wrote, I thought immediately of these books. So many who have gone for the first time, just freak out & leave. [Or they pre-freak out & never go., more's the pity.] Update: Robert suggested that I should put links to each photograph so that you might see the full-size; I agree. Here is the fabulous wall; here is the antique shop.

Here's what Robert writes: "Possibly more than any other city in Europe, Naples exudes an atmosphere and sensibility as palpable as its odour: it's not to everyone's liking. I was enthralled by the place, and, at every turn, inspired to shoot a photograph, even though the weather during our four-day stay was cold, misty, and wet. There is a lot to see, all of it accessibly on foot or by bus, and much of it unusual. In particular, the narrow, awninged streets of the old city teem with people and products to rival the medinas of Africa. But remain alert: a man with a camera is a ready mark."

buona notte, gattini & gattine

[Jean Patchett in scarf, Vogue 1950 by the great "lost" Vogue photographer Clifford Coffin via myvintagevogue on flickr. Jessica's tumblr blog is in the right side-bar & her website is looking great. Update 26 June 2009: here's link to myvintagevogue aka Jessica, who is adorable; upcoming post on her as soon as I can ask her, email, & then get back here.]

Shelter in Black & White

I'd feel better with this armor (& matching hat!). Adore umbrellas & usually in colors. Making do with a tatty, battered one, the color of dried blood, gag, that someone gave me as I left a meeting....six years ago. A twit (I'm being nicer than you can possibly imagine) borrowed a glorious Pucci-esque umbrella that I uncharacteristically purchased (full price). She promptly lost it. Never occurred to her to replace it--even when I screwed up my courage & asked. That's how it can be when other people have money & you don't. It just means "an umbrella" to them. To you? A major splurge. But now I'm fixated on this huge b&w brolly.

It's raining, it's pouring & we're to expect lots more. [by Nina Leen for LIFE, 1958 via myvintagevogue]

In the pink...

...OK, not really. I feel dreadful. What a bunch of well-meaning liars-with-pants-on-fire: it won't hurt.

So no, not Joan Collins with a pink dog; more like Lucy with an orange cat. This pix cracked me up. It was either this or "aspirin, it's what's for dinner" photo. This was funnier (& pinkier). Upright & outraged., earlier (see GG blog) but must lie down again. I can't even talk on the phone! (Not even the pretend on the phone with...., it's a Method thing...)

Mimph.

[via myvintagevogue/new blog on tumblr is down in right side-bar]