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From The Complete Gone With the Wind Trivia Book By Pauline Bartel, here's a nice factoid for your brains:

Selznick insisted on complete authenticity in the costumes. For instance, he directed Walter Plunkett to use expensive lace to make petticoats for the ladies. Ann Rutherford, playing Scarlett’s sister Carreen, voiced her opinion that the cost was extravagant especially since the audience would not know the lace was there. “But you’ll know it’s there,” was Selznick’s reply. 

I've rounded up the following in the spirit of "but you'll know". And here's to you, Selznick, ya mean old bastard.

Hinged Cuff Bracelet, ca. 1479–1425 B.C., Egypt

According to the Met Museum  the inner inscriptions of cartouches and epithets of Thutmose III suggest that the cuffs were a gift of the king.

Bonnie Cashin, 1950, American, wool and silk suit

Ok, a strong breeze might mean that They'll Know, too, but I'll be damned if I can resist a good contrasting lining.

Chaumet concealed diamond wedding band

I've seen variations on the "diamonds on the inside" ring. The simplicity of the outer design here makes this one my favourites. Sah clevah. 

And finally, did you know that in their early days, the Ksubi (then Tsubi) boys inscribed their jeans with original poems? I haven't been able to find any images so I guess I'll just post their 2011 Kolors video (again):

Now that's poetry.

order for the garter

It seems like a weird oversight that a resurgence of sleeve garters hasn't accompanied that of collar tips (which, I'll have it noted for the record, I picked up on ages before the trend happened. Dick yeah!) and the massive shirt trend in general. Here's Robert Redford wearing some in The Sting (made in 1973 but set during the 1930s):

Be warned - the sleeve garter is not without its detractors. Writing in the Perth Sunday Times on May 26, 1940, the writer Richard Hughes (using the pen name "Dr Watson"), made particular mention of this unusual accessory. Regarding the victims of "Australia's Last Bushrangers," Patrick and James Kenniff, Hughes wrote:

If P.C. Doyle hadn’t worn a pair of shirt-sleeve garters to keep his cuffs at a fashionable length, and if he hadn’t been so effeminate as to carry a bar of soap… the charred and pounded remains of the two corpses would not satisfactorily have been identified as Doyle and Dahlke.

Wait, maybe that is an endorsement for sleeve garters? I'm also not sure if he's being tongue-in-cheek about the soap thing, but I suspect he was a nothing-in-cheek kinda guy.

And while we're on it, how grand is this ad for calculators from the November 6, 1952 edition of the Brisbane Courier-Mail?

Someone should let Contex know that the gay 90s are totally having a revival moment.

Young + Free for 1% Glue

Dear friends, I recently entered the 1% Glue Fashion Design competition, and would actually die of heaven if you could go to this website:
http://www.onepercentglue.com/vote
and "like" (you need a facebook account, which is a bit blergh) my collection, Young + Free by Anusha Rutnam.

Here is my collection, oh lordy I hope you like it.

TAFE Ultimo's 2012 Applied Fashion Presentation

In late 2012 I attended the catwalk presentation of designs by students from TAFE Ultimo's Applied Fashion Design and Technology course. I left the show with a plan to blog about it straight away. Four months later and here we are.

The best thing about the show was how dramatically varied the different collections were. For example one minute this gorgeously subtle dress by Emma Noord came down the runway. (Dove grey and daffodil yellow? That's a dream combo, right there.)  -

Nek minnit you've got Cassilda Parkinson's heavenly creatures gracing the catwalk:

There was a definite other-worldly vibe in the room when, during rehearsals, Parkinson's models sauntered past backstage. It was like being present as an emissary of wood nymphs had entered the room. I'm pretty sure I heard the distant tinkling of wind chimes and smelled orange blossom on a mysterious breeze.

Ahem, going on... Anna Priestly's collection was another stand out, with a fantastic Saint Augustine Academy vibe:

I cannot overstate the effectiveness of dressing a row of tall, attractive women in dark glasses. It's just so cool and intimidating.

And speaking of cool, I give huge props to Rosanna De Couvreur for her fearless swimwear collection:

Everything about it was just shockingly good. I can't get enough of the Magritte bathers. Here is a woman who understands that high fashion is all about the bush.

My absolute favourite collection, however, came from Zenji Kato - and this despite my total incomprehension/ fear of menswear:

I feel like such a geek being even tempted to use the term "Japanese avante-garde", but I mean, if the deconstructed half-blazer fits, right? And even though I would count Rei Kawakubo and Shinichiro Arakawa as being among Kato's aesthetic forebears, I also really feel like he's bringing something wonderfully new to the table. What else do you want?

cropped

Jessica Stam walking for Prada in Milan produced my favourite moment from the Fall 2013 Ready To Wear shows so far.

It's all about the hair. Which is particularly impressive given that just weeks ago Stam was shooting off some pretty unacceptable Carol Brady vibes:

The Prada moment sent me into full-on "this looks like this" mode (which, as a fashion blogger, is totally my wont). The first example to come to mind was Taina Elg in George Cukor's 1957 film Les Girls:

Next up is the incomparable Leslie Caron as she appeared in The Glass Slipper (1955):

It is with Stam, Elg and Caron in mind that I issue this decree; Forthwith, off-the-shoulder garments may only be worn by women with pixie haircuts. Furthermore, women with pixie haircuts may only wear off-the shoulder-garments. So let it be written, so it shall be done.

marble chill

It seems as if for one of their Spring 2013 Haute Couture looks, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli went into the archives - just not the Valentino ones.

Valentino, Look 11:

Balenciaga 1968:

I actually really like the Valentino ensemble and wish there had been more like it in the collection. I mean, everyone knows that Chiuri and Piccioli can do embroidered/ lacey/ beaded florals with a blindfold on - a little austerity would be pretty cool in what is shaping up to be a very romantic Haute Couture season.

Regarding flowers and trees

From Tim Blanks' review of the Chanel Spring 2013 Haute Couture collection:

Karl Lagerfeld can't move mountains just yet. Today, he had to settle for a mere forest, shipped into the Grand Palais tree by tree. His guests wandered through the woods till they happened upon a classical amphitheater. "Neo-classical," Karl clarified. He was dreaming of Weimar, sylvan hub of German Romanticism in the late eighteenth century, home to Goethe and Schiller.

Moved some trees? He's in good company. The film director F.W. Murnau (of the other Weimar) also had a predilection for freighting foliage. From Bronwyn Cosgrave's Made For Each Other: Fashion and the Academy Awards:

Murnau was an uncompromising perfectionist. For one scene in Sunrise, he insisted a species of deciduous tree be transported hundreds of miles from Lake Arrowhead to the Fox Hollywood lot, where three hundred Mexican laborers glued new leaves to its withered branches. Once erected on set, it so displeased Murnau, he insisted more new foliage be manually applied while swarms of salaried extras hung about waiting for their cue. 

Those crazy Germans!

Seriously though, the Haute Couture collections are so aggressively flora-oriented this year. For me a lot of it borders on being saccharine and I'm not sure that I love it. What I do love is the return of gentle bubble and tulip hems.

Chanel:

Armani Privé:

Christian Dior:

Utterly (but not too) sweet.

Pinhead idea

In the latest edition of me predicting a trend that will never (ever) come to fruition, allow me to present the pinball machine:

Bearing in mind that we just can't seem to quit graphic fabric prints and particularly symmetrical ones, I was actually a little surprised to realise that the idea hasn't been done by some Black Milk-esque label.

So I set about finding the perfect pinball image, a "classic" pinball machine design. Post web-trawl, however, I'm now not certain that such a thing exists. What's striking is how incredibly varied pinball design seems to be.  If there is some essential, classic design, I haven't been able to find it - and I love the idea of a thing with no true face, like a writer who has only ever created parodies.

I suspect that a lot of the vague pinball imagery floating around my brain is based on machines from the 1970s, a time when nostalgia for the 1950s (Grease-style) was rife. Interesting, but as inspiration for a fashion print, also kinda messy.

In terms of a fabric print that would appropriate the pinball machine aesthetic it might be difficult to create a look that was distinct from the comic book stylings of, say, Romance Was Born's Spring/Summer 2013 collection.

Another already familiar motif evident in the visual world of the pinball machine is the 1950s pinup girl:

- which morphs easily into the back arch-ery of Mudflap Girl-style sleaze:

Again, all very interesting, but not very original so far as fashion is concerned.

So is there anything at all worthwhile to be taken from the idea of a pinball print? If there is I think it has to come from a very literal representation of recognisable features of a pinball machine, e.g. bumpers, wire ramps and, most importantly, flippers:

In fact, the suggestive placement of flippers is probably the main thing this idea has going for it.

This means Waugh.

Lost In Translation is my least favourite Sofia Coppola film, but a thought just occurred to me, and - zero overstatement ahead - it changes everything.

Said thought concerns the hotel lobby exchange between Charlotte, her husband John, and Kelly the starlet. Coppola denies it, but it definitely feels like John and Kelly were based on the director's ex-husband, Spike Jonze and his erstwhile leading lady, Cameron Diaz, respectively. That would make Sofia, Charlotte, geddit? That was an aside though. What matters is this:

Kelly: But listen, let's all go out for a drink sometimes. Yeah? 

John: Yeah, yeah. 

Kelly: You know, call me, okay? 

John: Yeah, okay. 

Kelly: Alright. Listen, I'm under Evelyn Waugh. Shh, okay? 

Charlotte: [after Kelly leaves] Evelyn Waugh? Evelyn Waugh was a man. 

John: Oh, come on, she's nice. What? You know, not everybody went to Yale. It's just a pseudonym, for Christ's sake.

Fasten your seatbelts folks, here's my (decade in-the-making) revelation: Evelyn Waugh's first wife was also called Evelyn. As in, her name was also Evelyn Waugh. Does my excessive use of italics impress upon you the immense importance of this realisation?

What does it all mean!? Is Charlotte not only a snob but a dumb snob too? What does that make Sofia?Is Coppola making a wider statement about the lack of recognition comedic actresses in Hollywood receive? That the kind of comic precision seen in the performances of Anna Faris, Cameron Diaz, Kate Hudson, Anna Kendrick and their ilk, performances that often result in box office succes but seldom attract critical praise (nor, indeed, attention), reveals a certain genius?

Probably not, ay. Well goddamnit, I didn't get pummeled for five years by the NSW Board of Studies English Syllabus just to NOT project my own views and feelings onto any given "text" I encounter.

gone dotty

Ugh I have descended into one of the least fulfilling internet research holes of my life. Does ANYONE know the name of these beadie doo-dads?:

You've seen this stuff before, right? As far as I can tell the technique has been confined to purses and bags, though why this might be the case is a mystery to me. I would buy the shit out of a t-shirt covered in the things.

Here's what I know:

• They are not technically beads as they don't have a hole. Rather they appear to be fused on to the fabric, most likely using a heat transfer, I reckon. Don't bother googling that though, lest you be sucked into the Hama Bead universe - as if Hama Beads haven't already claimed enough hours of my life.
• The earliest examples of the technique that I have been able to find are from the 1940s
• A brand called Lumared seems to have specialised in the stuff, along with a Hong Kong label called JEM
• Finally, and most mystifyingly, the style seems to have struck it big in the land of milk and honey

Seriously, there are, like, a thousand of these for sale on Etsy. I would get one if I didn't think it would look like an invitation for arguments about the Middle East.

Victorias

What follows is my third blog post discussing Queen Victoria in as many months. I'm not sure how to explain that, but damnit, I'm not ashamed. It will also be my second Victoria's Secret post of recent times. I've got a bit of shame for that one.

In her book of collected essays, The Water Beetle (1962), Nancy Mitford describes an incident involving Empress Eugénie of France and Queen Victoria, that took place during the mid-19th century:

When the Empress Eugénie paid a state visit to England she went with Queen Victoria to the opera. The Londoners sighed a little as the two ladies stood together in the Royal Box during the playing of the National Anthem; the beauty in her Paris clothes beside chubby little red-faced Victoria. Then the time came for them to take their seats. The Empress, with a graceful movement, looked round at her chair, but Queen Victoria dumped straight down, thus proving unmistakably that she was of Royal birth and upbringing. Had that chair not been in its place the skies would have fallen, and she knew it. The audience was proud of its Queen and never gave the parvenue Empress another thought – indeed, nobody in England was at all surprised when shortly afterwards the Second Empire collapsed.

There was a moment during the Victoria's Secret show in which Rihanna starting doing a strange - but definitely sexy - backwards-walk across the catwalk. Need I say it, dear readers? Girl did not look back.

A bit perfectly, that's Karlie Kloss in the background, doing her famous panther-strut down the runway. Karlie also attempted a Victoria's Secret-y smile. It wasn't... wonderful.

But who cares, right? Because, look, there's Rihanna.

This was all part of the What-If-Georgia-O'Keeffe-Was-A-Deranged-Sex-Robot section of the show. No words will convey the essence of this bonkers yonic bonanza better than this photo does:

Also bewildering but in more of a, "What the actual fuck" kinda way, was the presentation of the Pink collection, a line designed for teens and college girls. In an interesting marketing decision, Victoria's Secret seem to have decided to also use Pink to chase consumers from the rather smaller Filthy Old-Man Pedophile demographic.

I am currently reading the book Framing Innocence: A Mother's Photographs, a Prosecutor's Zeal, and a Small Town's Response. It is a non-fiction account of how an American woman had child pornography charges brought against her after taking photographs of her 8-year old daughter naked in the bathtub. With great thoughtfulness the author, Lynn Powell, explains how in reality the photos, and the manner in which they were taken, were totally innocent. This did not save the mother from prosecution and arrest.

I'm. Just. Saying:

Ew. Let's get back to everyday-bewildering. Here is a woman dressed as some kind of sex-leopard.

That's ok! Sex-leopards I can deal with - but why is the sex-leopard holding a dog?

I guess it would be smarter to accept that the VSFS is really just a big ol' shroom fest, and I should really stop thinking and just start experiencing, man. I was definitely getting some high-times vibes from Very Pretty Woman, Doutzen Kroes:

I also sometimes got the feeling that Doutzen was as puzzled by the proceedings as me. During interviews she often tended towards the Ron Swanson school of speech-giving:

"I refuse to lather Marlene up and kiss her ring like everybody else. Instead, I'll be delivering a speech of facts. Marlene is a woman. She has worked in the government for three decades. Thirty years. Properly applied, that's how long a good varnish should last. So Marlene, it is true that you have won this award."

In the same spirit let me conclude: The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show - It certainly happened.

Sumatra steez

Photo from the book Ubud Is A Mood, edited by Leonard Lueras

Seriously though, how much is too much to spend on a Sumatran bridal headdress? I went to Indonesia earlier in the year, and let me tell you, their headdress game is just insanely amazing.

West Sumatran bride, photo by Diana Australis

Minangkabau Bridal Headdress from the Yorkshire World Collections

Another Minangkabau Bridal Headdress

And by the way, do you look at these Indonesian headdresses and find yourself reminded of a Russian kokoshnik? Because me too!

Anna Pavlova, photographer unknown

Wow, humans, right? Truly, we are all made of stars.