Debbie Reynolds' costume auction

On the 18th of June, Debbie Reynolds (from Singin' in the Rain and also known as Carrie Fisher off Star Wars' overbearing mother) will be auctioning off her collection of film costumes and memorobilia.  She initially tried to find a single museum buyer but, sadly, that didn't happen and now her huge collection will be sold off piecemeal.

I really hope that some of her items do turn up in a museum, because she owns some astonishing stuff, like Charlie Chaplin's bowler hat, Laurel and Hardy's suits, dresses worn by Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, that dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch (you know the one...) and a pair of Dorothy's ruby slippers.

She also has the curtain-material playsuits worn by the Von Trapp Family Singers in The Sound Of Music.  Joy.  Actual joy.

You can download the catalogue online.  Here are a few items I would buy for sentimental or pure greedy reasons if I had the funds.  This is just a small smattering, because the catalogue is a whopping 319 pages long. 

Thanks to Penny Dreadful Vintage for bringing this to my attention.

Marion Davies monumental oil painting by Federico Beltran Masses from Davies’ estate

'Messala' historic winged charioteer helmet rom the 1925 Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

Left - Eleanor Powell “Clare Bennett” black velvet jacket designed by Adrian in Broadway Melody of 1940. Right - Jean Hagen “Lina Lamont” camel coat with monkey-fur collar from Singin’ in the Rain.

Carole Lombard 'Connie Randall' gown by Travis Banton from No Man of Her Own

Left - Debbie Reynolds “Kathy Selden” green & white leaf patterned sleeveless dress from Singin’ in the Rain. Right - Ginger Rogers “Dinah Barkley” gold lamé dress from Barkleys of Broadway

Rita Hayworth “Maribelle Hicks” two-piece dress from Cover Girl.

Left - Susan Hayward “Jane Froman” pastel rainbow-hued ball gown from With a Song in My Heart, right - Jane Wyman “Belinda McDonald” green dress and tan sweater from Johnny Belinda.  If you haven't seen Johnny Belinda, watch it asap.  You will cry buckets.

Emerald-green felt “Ozmite” jacket designed by Adrian from The Wizard of Oz.

Go on, guess which film these costumes are from.

Cleopatra large-scale original concept painting of Elizabeth Taylor “Cleopatra” in her Alexandria apartment

Cleopatra large-scale original concept painting of Antony and Cleopatra on her royal barge by Ed Graves

Cleopatra large-scale original concept painting of a harbor scene by Duilio Savina

Cecil Beaton Book Covers

I found these while combing through the internet for an out-of-print book. If you're looking for something that's that bit to hard to find, ABE Books is the place to go. On their homepage was a feature on the books and illustrations of Cecil Beaton.

If you're like me and know close to nothing about Beaton, then this post by The Selvedge Yard is an excellent place to start.

I just love these covers. Now I just need a spare two and a half thousand dollars to buy a clean copy of Cecil Beaton's New York and see what's inside the beautiful watercolour dustjacket.






All pictures from ABE Books (this isn't a sponsored post, by the way)

P.S How great a title is 'My Bolivian Aunt'?
P.P.S You'd be surprised where you'd find copies of these books.  Check your local library - you might be surprised.

Wishlist

Barbour

Hassan Rahim at Blood is the New Black

Beat Up Creations

Pippa Lynn

Steve Madden

Danielle Scutt x Freedom at Topshop

Savage Salvage

Related #2: What's Your Time Period?

If I had to pick a time period, I'd pick the 60's and be a mod.  Typical of people who always want that they can't have, I don't have the legs for micro minis and am deathly afraid of scooters (or any two-wheeled transport).  I would be a terrible mod.

In yesterday's post, I talked about my dad and the punk movement in Dublin.  Any street style phenomenon that predates digital cameras in Ireland is usually woefully underdocumented.  Maybe it's because Ireland is such a small country, maybe it's because we're all really lazy - who knows?

On top of that, Mod culture is also woefully underdocumented (at least in comparison with other subcultures like punk) so there's not a lot to go on.  But here are a few Mod Links...

Mods go wild in Margate after a clash with rockers (source)

For all things Mod, Modculture is the go-to place.

Polka dot mod mini from Nod to Mod Vintage (could there be a more appropriate name for this shop?)

Do you want to organise your very own Mod Club Night?  Click here.

Richard Nicoll's collection for Fred Perry has more than a whiff of Mod to it.

Listen to the Modcast - more music oriented, but worth a listen.  Guests have included Matt Berry.  Oh Matt.  I love your dulcet tones.

Minidress from Hellhound Vintage

From Dave's Mod Photos

Recollections of a Mod life (lots more pics here)

Jumper Dress from Novella Bleu

Licentiate Column 28/04/11: Shopping Irish Vintage

I have two fashion bugbears. One is the bizarre weekly columns of a certain fashion writer for a certain Irish National newspaper, which I pore over weekly like a small child examining the progress of a greenish, particularly notched scab on his knee. Each week I’m increasingly boggled by the factual inaccuracies, patronising attitudes and overdone, lazy ‘shoes-equal-life’ metaphors and Coco Chanel quotes casually executed (in the ‘death by firing squad’ sense) by this writer.

But that’s a column for a country without libel laws. That column will never exist, which is a good thing, because writing it would probably result in such a cathartic burst that I’d expire of sheer happiness on pressing the ‘send’ button.

The other bugbear is much more manageable. That bugbear is the Irish vintage market. As complicated and full of cozeners as the average Dickens scenario, as full of scammers, well-meaning innocents and true-blue fanatics as an X Factor audition and more complicated than a marathon run of Twin Peaks, your average vintage market is not to be ventured into unless you’re very well-educated or have a weight to offload in the wallet area.

In Ireland, people aren’t out to make a profit; they’re out to make a killing. The vintage sector is no different. The problem of overpricing, in my estimation, is obvious in at least half of the Irish vintage vendors.

This is due to many different factors. Vendors buy from abroad and the price of shipping has to be factored in. Vendors buy a dress that they love, but is that little bit too expensive, so the price is doubled for resale. Sometimes vendors are just total chancers and slap a fifty euro price tag on a dress bought from Oxfam or worse, a dress that is obviously from the high street and only a few seasons old, but with the tags not-so-suspiciously missing.

A good rule of thumb is, if you like it and you think it’s worth it, then buy it. If you have any doubts, walk away. In a world where ‘vintage’ has somehow become a by-word for individuality, you’d be surprised how often similar items to the one you just passed up will come along. What’s for you won’t pass by you.
But, if you’re a tight-fisted miser like me, here’s some good resources.

1) Etsy. Etsy is a worldwide vintage and handmade market. The majority of the sellers are from The US, so the dollar to euro conversion will almost definitely work in your favour. Shipping is almost never as expensive as you’d expect and a bargain is never far away if you’re willing to cyber-rummage.

2) Elsa & Gogo. This Irish vintage accessory store has a carefully chosen edit of pretty, ladylike bracelets that look like they came right from Peggy Draper’s dressing table, at very reasonable prices. Elsa & Gogo have one up on the average vintage seller; their packaging is very beautiful and ripe for the gift-giving.

3) Tabitha Vintage. This online shop can be found on Facebook and is the brainchild of bloggers Una O’Boyle and Louise Ryan of Glamrocks Luna, an Irish fashion blog that compiles the very best of style inspiration. Their clothing is superlative grunge-chic, with prices so low I almost want to rub my eyes with surprise like a cartoon character. So, there you have it. Go forth, and shop wisely.

The Very Last Ten Things

So, I've been tagged by The Hostess Handbook and given a Kreativ Blogger award.  Ta very much for thinking of me!  Here's my ten facts.

1)  Although it's very nice to be thought of and tagged, and I really enjoy reading other people's posts, I hate these things.  Once you get them, you feel obliged to tag another ten people.  It's the blog equivalent of a chain mail and I find that I'm getting so many of them I'm eventually going to run out of facts about myself.  Although, I've been in an inspiration rut recently, I don't think that these make for the best posts. So, this is the last.  This must be the last.  Absolutely the last.  Final.  Full stop. Never again.  Cross my heart and hope to die be spanked until my bottom goes purple.

2)  At present there are three large men ripping up the tiles in my flat and installing a new boiler.  All I can say about that is - thank God for watertight tenancy agreements, if not boilers.

Source

3)  New celeb crush - by that I mean 'guy on TV who is cute', not an actual crush (that would be weird):  Dave Franco.  Funny, great smile, seems smart and looks a little bit like an ex-boyfriend, but not so much that I'm totally repulsed.  Yes, he's James Franco's younger brother.

Melodramatic enough for ya? (source)

4)  Last book read - The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber.  I was really excited to get this as an early birthday present (thank you Alan!) and it was excellent - up until the last hundred pages or so.  The TV adaptation currently running on the BBC also looks amazing and has a great cast.  Although I don't know how I feel about the prospect of a full frontal Chris O'Dowd.  Oh, I know he went to LAMDA and everything but he'll always be Roy from the IT Crowd to me.



5)  Can't.  Stop.  Listening.  To.  This.  Song.  Against my better judgement.  Ev'ry day I'm shufflin'.

source

6)  My birthday is next week and a fluo Cambridge satchel is at the very top of the wishlist.  Add some Danielle Scutt for Topshop jewellery and I'm channeling my inner Man Repeller.  P.S.  I'd love one in leopard print.  Cambridge Satchel Company, if you're reading this...



7)  New film obsession - Paris is Burning, as seen at Style at Set last weekend.  I'd be foolish NOT to try vogueing on my next night out.

8) That Can Be My Next Tweet invents new tweets made from your old tweets.  Recycling is good for the environment.  But not for my imagination.  Ugh.  What a mental image.

9)  Speaking of which, I'm on facebook AND twitter AND Pinterest - so come say hello.  Validate me with your friendship!

10)  The last and most important point.  As I've said, there's been an inspiration drought sweeping the area lately, so I've set myself a challenge and I need YOUR help.  I've decided to write about any fashion/style-oriented topic that is put to me.  Every single one.  No matter how out there, or seemingly normal, I want to write about it.  Even if you don't think it's my cup of tea, I want to know.  You can give me a word, or a link, or a picture to bounce ideas off.  Leave any and all suggestions in the comments.  And thank you.

I Heart Shen Plum

I'm having a serious girl crush moment on the work of Toronto-based illustrator Shen Plum, whose line drawings are a mix of storybook perfection (anthropomorphic animals)and gorgeous, brightly-hued girls with prismatic rainbow accents

Yeah Yeah Yeah's Karen O

Pics 2-4 from Girls Girls Girls (hopefully nothing to do with the Motley Crue song)

Mournful but not morbid, ethereal without being wishy-washy and dreamlike without veering into cliched 'fairy-Lula-girl-in-a-wood-with-a-floaty-dress-on-a-tyre-swing' territory.  Just my cup of tea.

Shen Plum shows her stuff mainly in Toronto, but you can buy jewellery and other bits from her Etsy shop, prints from ES Illustration and super-cool badges from Stereohype, which are getting nicely settled into my wish list as I type.

My Personal Style Resolutions #13 Blondorexic

My name is Sian, and I run Blondorexic - it's a mash-up of outfit posts, editorials and pictures I find inspirational, with the occasional video thrown in. I like to look at the transition fashion makes from design, to runway, to street, and I try to bring this across in my blog. My main inspiration source is film. I'm also studying History at Trinity College Dublin, and tend to base my outfit posts on a student budget.


2011, unlike most New Years, definitely seems to be a year for change. Normally I don't even bother making resolutions, and, besides style resolutions, this year was exactly the same with one difference - I became a productive person. Both my bedroom and wardrobe have gone through a complete overhaul in the past week - a far cry from my usual post-Christmas food-induced stupor that renders me completely useless until the return to college.


So with this can-do attitude in mind (wouldn't Obama be proud!), I firmly decided upon my 2011 Style Resolution: The Five Piece French Wardrobe.


When I first read about this on afterdrk.freshnet.se, I thought it was far too extreme a wardrobe diet for someone who buys as many clothes as I do to undertake. However, on closer inspection, the Five Piece French Wardrobe could be exactly what I, and my fellow recession-damaged shopaholics need. The main rule of the diet is to only buy five new key pieces per season (ie. ten per year), not including basics. It's up to you to decide on the rest of the rules, like if you want shoes to be included as one of the five pieces, or hats, or jewellery...you get the point. I had wanted to start buying less, but better clothing, so this 'diet' seems perfect.

In a dream world, my five key pieces for this season would be...

A Vintage Yves Saint Laurent brown leather clutch. (click to see) It's the perfect summer clutch - classy enough for nights out, casual enough for barbeques, and big enough to fit all of your summery things in.

via luisaviaroma

Nina Ricci Draped Nabuk Wedges. Again, another item that could carry you throughout Spring and Summer, and could be succesfully worn with any number of different outfits. I'd wear them with black ankle socks, denim cut-offs and an oversized black shredded tee, YSL clutch tucked stylishly under my arm, of course..

via net-a-porter

See by Chloé scalloped cotton and silk-blend jersey dress. I think getting a dress is very important when following these rules, as it's an entire outfit in itself. This is another really versatile piece - nude goes with everything, black goes with everything, Chloe goes with anything...  How could you go wrong?

via topshop

Premium Red Suede Strap Biker Jacket. Living in Ireland, a good jacket is necessary even in Summer. This cranberry red suede is absolutely irresistible - it would be such a delicious colour on tanned skin. I did say in a dream world..

via luisaviaroma

AQA Contemporary Opals Ring. No girl can resist jewellery, and my personal favourite is a statement ring. You can't get more statement than this opal beauty from AQA; have that resting on your finger and nobody will even glance at the rest of your outfit.


Whether I have the willpower to stick to the Five Piece French Wardrobe and resist Primark's catwalk copies remains to be seen, but, just like the majority of the Irish people, what my wardrobe could really use is a diet after weeks of over-indulging. Hopefully my wardrobe's willpower is stronger than that of the majority of Irish people.


Happy New Year!

Sian. x

Odds and Sods

I've spent this weekend travelling (one and a half hour wait on a freezing platform, thank you Irish Rail) and working while sick, so I'm a little bit burnt out and uninspired.  I'm going on an enforced blog hiatus (I'm away from my computer and photos and such) and I'll be back on Thursday, hopefully reinvigorated by some family get togethers, cups of tea and plates of shortbread.  Ok, ok, I'm going to stop moaning... now. Here's a few bits that are looking mighty good to feverish ol' me at the moment.

This is my favorite Christmas song. When the horns come in...

My new shoes. They are fakey fake fake Miu Mius but they rock my socks. Incidentally, I should probably think about wearing socks with them. My toes are still sore from the last time I wore them out.

It's the End of the World as We Know It

Conor Walton is my favorite Irish artist.  His still lives are amazing, done in the style of the Dutch Masters - exploring similar themes using modern, everyday objects.  Sinister, sexy, funny, amazing.  He'll be giving a lecture on the aforementioned Dutch Masters in the National Gallery on December 14th.  He has stopped painting and taking commissions for the time being due to a personal matter (my mom is on his mailing list, feverishly waiting to snatch up a still life) so this will be a rare opportunity to interact with a great artist.

Have a great week everyone.  Hope it's a festive one!

A Christmas Wishlist

I'm so sorry,  I couldn't help it.  The spirit moved me and I said the C word on the blog.  That C word is Christmas, mind you, not what Charlotte for Sex and the City would primly call 'see-you-next-Tuesday'. Now that I've drawn attention to that, I have to warn you that there is ONE pic that might possibly be NSFW, but it's of an item of clothing, so it would depend on how easily offended you are.  Here's the list.  Check it twice if you must.

Clothes and Stuff

Siouxsie Sioux lookin' fierce

This epic t-shirt (to wear to job interviews and family christenings, obviously). Click here to read a totally interesting and absorbing series of posts about the evolution of the Tits t-shirt, brought to the masses by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm MacLaren.

 - Black yarn

 - White yarn

 - Big ol' knitting needles

 - Loose rhinestones

 - Lengths of chain

Ingredients for a top secret craft project - and by 'top secret' I mean glaringly obvious (it's a jumper).  The closest approximation I can find is on this stylish lady on Chictopia .  And it's handmade too.  It must be fate.  I'd like to make something a little bit like this, but sparkly.

On a side note for fellow Irish bloggers; were you forced to learn knitting in primary school?  I learned (and I say that in the loosest sense possible) knitting, sewing and crochet at the Presentation Primary and conveniently forgot my knitting needles and crochet hooks for about three years running.

It might just be me, but making things is so much better than just buying the finished article.  A mountain of studs to gussy up my biker jacket a la Burberry would be mighty useful too.

Books, books and more books...

Allure by Diana Vreeland - The out-of-print masterpiece has been reissued with an introduction by Marc Jacobs.  Possibly the funniest, wittiest writer of fashion ever.  Vreeland, that is, not Marc Jacobs.
The Mode in Furs by R. Turner Wilcox - So I can understand a bit more about fur and where the hell the idea of wearing an animal comes from.
Self Portrait in a Velvet Dress by Denise Rosenzweig - A peek into the wardrobe of amazing, flamboyant artist Frida Kahlo, who took up a big part of my Halloween post with her scarves, braids and traditional Mexican clothing.

Film Flickers

Totally unattainable

I've got a Mac G4, I've had it for five years and it still works great.  But it's a little bit knackered now and I need something that has more memory and runs a little bit quicker.  It also weighs a ton.  A new Mac Air would do the trick nicely.  So light, you can barely see it.  Just like Kate Moss.  Anonymous donors, start queueing here.

And...

World peace.  Not too much to ask, is it?

Hurrah for Winter (Ssh...)

Our second blog post comes from Jennie of What Will I wear Today.  Her post totally echoes how I feel about Winter, so much so that I read it and immediately kicked myself for not writing about it before.  It was sore, but without discipline, I'll never learn.  'Hem. 
You can also contact WWIWT via their twitter or facebook page.

Wintry looks from D&G, Christian Dior and Anna Sui

Ok, controversial statement, I know. Hear me out though. Some people wait all year round for summer to arrive. I don’t. I find summer oppressive. It is a relentless tyranny of waxing, exfoliating and tanning. We are poked and prodded all summer long under an inscrutable mandate from the magazines to be ‘bikini ready in 2 weeks’. We pander to the media expectation of a fawn-like cherub emerging from the ashes of our wintry old self.

Well here’s a newsflash – I don’t possess a cherubic version of myself. I emerge from the bowels of winter pretty much the same as when I entered: pale, pasty and probably still suffering from a cold. I don’t ‘do’ summer – I get hayfever, I get sunburn, I get frizzy, wispy stress-curls. Winter is like a warm, loving embrace after the tyranny of summer preparation.

Hide those pasty shoulders in a delicious Alpine knit. Celebrate your anaemic legs in a selection of tights and ankle socks. Embrace your gnarled toes and hard-soled feet in any of the splendid boots that are going to be stomping around all Winter. The 2010 Autumn/ Winter wardrobe is a feast of knits, layers, textures and ladylike restraint. Who needs a tan when you’ve got a camel coat? Who needs a toned midriff when you can ooze sexiness in a corseted bustier and a preppy cardigan? Who needs surf-chick hair when your shearing collar will do all the talking? Fierce, heeled military boots absolve your from any pedicure duties and a pair of tailored, peg-leg trousers will keep the lumpy bumpy at bay.

Jennie's A/W picks from Topshop

 So yes, Goodbye Summer (it was alright while it lasted) and Hello Winter (my knight in Alpine armour).

A short post on, eh, shorts

Since I was a child I had a morbid obsession with the tuba, specifically it's rumbling bass tones. What can I say, it moved me.

So, with the current vogue for leather shorts and the bass obsession, I should probably join a Teutonic Oompah band. Or maybe just buy some vintage lederhosen. Like the pair below.



There's a method to this though. The leather shorts I find in the shop are poofy around the hips and quite a lot have gathered waists and broad, voluminous turn-ups or perforated motifs. This will look suitably amazing on Alexa Chung, but I'm five foot nothing with a biggish bum. Buying vintage boys clothes means that the hips are narrower, ergo slightly slimmer arse and a silhouette that looks more like actual shorts and less like I've stepped into an extra-durable binbag stretched with starch.  This pair is also nice and worn, so I won't actually look like I'm in an oompah band (more's the pity)

Here's a bonus track for you. I'm going to listen to it with a stein of Weissbier.




P.S  The new Licentiate column for The Cork Independent can be read here.