Fantastic Friday Fashion Fun!!
I like clothes. Sure, I can be a no-nonsense engineer and scientist, and a cynical and studious academic, but I also like lots of girlie stuff, like scrapbooking and knitting and clothes. I was not very fashionable as a young girl, but I read plenty of books on historical costume, fashion, and design. Now, I still read books, as well as reading magazines like Vogue and W (which is a name I've never quite understood; I know what Vogue means, but what does W stand for?). My personal style has slightly improved, but I always wish I had more and cooler clothes.
One of the best books I have ever seen on style and design is Those Glorious Glamour Years, by Margaret Bailey. It chronicles clothing designed for films of the 1930s. The sheer volume of the information and photographs, displaying painstaking research and attention to detail, more than make up for the few shortcomings, which are poor copy editing (plenty of spelling and typographical errors) and rather dull graphic design. TGGY features plenty of gorgeous women in gorgeous clothes, with chapters on fashions for evening, day, sports, bedroom, and historical epics. Superstars like Davis, Lombard, Dietrich--all are very evident, as well as many other talented beauties, less well-remembered, such as Claire Trevor, Fay Wray, Madeleine Carroll, and dozens more. One can see the evolution of styles from the early to the late 1930s, identifying major and minor trends. And any student of design can learn from the genius of Adrian in his development of the images of luminaries at MGM: Crawford, Garbo, and Shearer. See beautiful costumes from The Women, Prisoner of Zenda, Gone With the Wind, several DeMille films, et al. Understand the use of clothing and accessories to develop characters and advance plots. And most of all, just look at the pictures! Dream about maybe, someday, having an outfit a little bit like that... I'm actually learning to sew, and soon, I'll be wearing vintage 30s suits and gowns. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to get away with hats.
It was a hard day today. I was exhausted, for some reason, had a hard time getting up this morning, and struggled to focus at work. I went to the eye doctor for a follow-up visit, after getting new contacts last week, and also had a dilation procedure. Jeff called me during the examination, telling me to drive to the Winters', rather than driving home, as he and Ben wanted to go out to the Lazy Dog Cafe after a long hard day at work. Amanda and I took her new car (the red convertible VW Bug) down to Huntington Beach, meeting the guys at the restaurant. We had a good dinner, and now Jeff and I are ensconced on the couch, watching Sci Fi Friday.
I absolutely must do homework and housework tomorrow!
One of the best books I have ever seen on style and design is Those Glorious Glamour Years, by Margaret Bailey. It chronicles clothing designed for films of the 1930s. The sheer volume of the information and photographs, displaying painstaking research and attention to detail, more than make up for the few shortcomings, which are poor copy editing (plenty of spelling and typographical errors) and rather dull graphic design. TGGY features plenty of gorgeous women in gorgeous clothes, with chapters on fashions for evening, day, sports, bedroom, and historical epics. Superstars like Davis, Lombard, Dietrich--all are very evident, as well as many other talented beauties, less well-remembered, such as Claire Trevor, Fay Wray, Madeleine Carroll, and dozens more. One can see the evolution of styles from the early to the late 1930s, identifying major and minor trends. And any student of design can learn from the genius of Adrian in his development of the images of luminaries at MGM: Crawford, Garbo, and Shearer. See beautiful costumes from The Women, Prisoner of Zenda, Gone With the Wind, several DeMille films, et al. Understand the use of clothing and accessories to develop characters and advance plots. And most of all, just look at the pictures! Dream about maybe, someday, having an outfit a little bit like that... I'm actually learning to sew, and soon, I'll be wearing vintage 30s suits and gowns. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to get away with hats.
It was a hard day today. I was exhausted, for some reason, had a hard time getting up this morning, and struggled to focus at work. I went to the eye doctor for a follow-up visit, after getting new contacts last week, and also had a dilation procedure. Jeff called me during the examination, telling me to drive to the Winters', rather than driving home, as he and Ben wanted to go out to the Lazy Dog Cafe after a long hard day at work. Amanda and I took her new car (the red convertible VW Bug) down to Huntington Beach, meeting the guys at the restaurant. We had a good dinner, and now Jeff and I are ensconced on the couch, watching Sci Fi Friday.
I absolutely must do homework and housework tomorrow!
posted by Kiti at 9:20 PM
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