Of Classic Cinema's Fashion

Everything changes in 80 years.  Yet how much more does it say about the staying power of stars from the golden age that they still look gorgeous and distinctive in absurdly outdated fashions?

The double breasted pinstripe will probably never come back, unless one happens to join a crime family, or if one is being overtly ironic.  But Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. still looks dapper as ever out in 1938's "The Young in Heart":

Likewise, Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer's absurd outfits in the classic 1939 "A Love Affair" do not make us shake our heads.  They are both so magnetic and good-looking that we can ignore Dunne's football sized shoulder pads with some kind of bowtie, and Boyer's ridiculous plaid number.

I suppose this means that it is the star in the outfit - and not the label or the cut of the fabric - that makes an outfit work or not.  So get out the pomade and the upper-crust early 1900s Atlantic American accent and go to work.

Peace, Love & Wellness Fashion

Who doesn't love a good festival?  It gives you something to do on the weekend and drives business and consumerism.  This weekend, I went to the Peace Love & Wellness Festival in Palm Beach Gardens. 

The fest was peaceful, I found products and services that I loved, and I am certain the local business in the Midtown, Palm Beach Garden's area did well.  

As a Fashionista, I noticed the fashion. They had free yoga, so many showed up sporting their best yoga pants/ yoga outfits. I suspect it was a marketing technique. There was a retail story/yoga studio that sold bright, vibrant yoga fashions.  I ended up obsessed with yoga pants when I left.   Although, at the $75 price tag, I left without a pair.  One day.

The kids joining in on the yoga fun and  fashions!

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Caribbean Brutalism

In discussing all things brutalist in the architectural commentary on our blog, we have not yet examined any hybrids of our favorite type of building.  Now, then, we bring you the aesthetic delight of the Virgin Islands Superior Court complex, to which we give hearty cheers:

I hesitate to argue that this is 1993 building is a brutalist hybrid of sorts.  But I think a case can be made that this complex does represent a combination of both Caribbean and brutalist influences.  The red roof with its Caribbean shapeliness certainly reminds one of typical St. Thomas dwellings (see below), and the structure itself, with emphasis on the concrete, with its strange third floor overhang, and its minimalist window arrangements, does remind us of more typical brutalist pieces.  I heartily approve of this rather cheery take on brutalism, and give you this study as evidence that brutalism does, indeed, continue to live on and influence architects even in our day.

Kid Fashionistas

I was reading This 4-Year-Old And Her Mom Make Incredible Paper Versions Of Famous Dresses and I was blown away.  Fashionistas come in all ages. Little Mayhem is getting started early and I hope it's a hobby that she can turn into financial support one day. She is located in Ohio, it got me to thinking about kids and their fashions.  

What I like about FashionbyMayhem is that it encourages little Mayhem to be creative and recreate the latest Hollywood looks, but not necessarily to need buy them. It's more about her creative nature and that should be nurtured.  Little girls' interest in fashion can be a tough area to nurture.  You don't want to encourage bad behaviors such as bullying, or becoming label whores.  But you do want to encourage the creativity, and independence they can gain from fashion.  

Nia, my bestie's daughter, is a little fashionista in the making.  She will sit and watch entire episodes of project runway with me. We will discuss the show like two college aged girl friends. I encourage her to wear scarves; what six-year-old do you know is bold enough to dare to wear scarves?  She has her own sense of individuality and will on occasion fight with her parents about what she is wearing.  Totally acceptable for a junior fashionista.  

Who know's I could be hanging out with the next Coco Chanel or Carolina Herrera.  Point is it's important to give kids a healthy dose of encouragement when it comes to fashion. 

And here is Nia in one of her favorite outfits.