The largest shopping mall near my home is called Galeria Mokotów. Not only is it relatively easy for me to reach but it also happens to have a rather good selection of stores and clothing brands. Unsurprisingly, last week, when my best friend was in town, we decided to stop by and pick up a few last minute Christmas presents. We were walking from one shop to the next when a small photograph depicting a 1950s fashion show, carefully displayed on a little podium, caught my eye. I looked up and saw three enormous black and white posters hanging from the ceiling -- they portrayed fashion photography from the 1960s. I was much perplexed. Only a minute later did it sink in -- I was standing in the middle of a fashion photography exhibition, right in the centre of a shopping mall! The exhibition was designed around a circular rotunda which accommodated one of the many escalators. Along the balustrade small podiums were arranged showcasing Polish fashion photographs from the mid-1950s to 1988. It was, however, primarily the aforementioned, ceiling-hung blown-up images that caught the curious eyes of passersby. I noticed leaflets strewn around the floor describing the exhibition and its title. (Pictures of the leaflets and the design of the installations are at the end of this post.) From there I learned that the project was part of a newly founded initiative called The Designer Gallery, which is headed by fashion show choreographer Katarzyna Sokołowska. The exhibition itself, however, was curated by Agnieszka Ścibior, leading stylist and creative director at Viva! Moda magazine. After my friend left to catch her bus, I ran back and photographed the entire installation in order to write this blog post, so here we go!
Above: Photograph by Władysław Sławny, Presentation of Polish clothing companies at the Parisian Fairs, Paris, France, May 1973. Forum Archives.
Above: Photograph by Władysław Sławny, Presentation of Polish clothing companies at the Parisian Fairs, Paris, France, May 1973. Forum Archives.
While fashion models in the 1960s may not
have had the same following as those immediately recognized today, they
nonetheless represented a similarly desirable lifestyle. Photographed at events, wearing clothing from the most in-demand designers, their often recognizable
physique led them to be scouted not only as models but as actresses too. It was
their budding popularity that cemented the potential influence of models today
– celebrities who do much more than just walk runways.
A number of recognizable names come to one’s
mind when thinking of iconic fashion models of the sixties. Undeniable are
Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton or Veruschka. The later even appearing as herself in the
1966 Michelangelo Antonioni film, Blowup.
The 1960s is arguably the first decade that is seen as cool in contemporary society
and the poster girls of that time were, as they are also today, beautiful,
original and provoking. Teresa Tuszyńska fit this description perfectly and, in
a short haircut calling to mind Twiggy, was to become the British models equal in
a country where fashion seemed more limited than it actually was.
22 May 2014
I noticed the photographer Paul Wolff as the author of an image on the front cover of "Eva" magazine (see position number 4) and could not resist searching for more of his photographs. Turns out he had quite the eye. Just look at these images! Below I link an insightful article by Thorsten Overgaard, which talks about Wolff's relation to the Leica camera, but more importantly, includes some stunning photography.
Click here or paste in this link.
http://www.overgaard.dk/the-story-behind-that-picture-0122_gb-Dr-Paul_Wolff.html
Above:
Paul Wolff, "Textile Weaver", 1930s.
http://servatius.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/blog-post_1.html
Below:
Norbert Bunge, of Argus Fotokunst in Berlin, talks about German photographer, Dr. Paul Wolff (posted to Youtube by Thorsten Overgaard, 20 July 2016).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6ssIvQiT7s
Dr. Paul Wolff, "Das Opel-Bad", Wiesbaden, 1934.
https://plus.google.com/104539787714838412160/posts/j4enjA2pk5w
10 September 2017
Cassidy Zachary wrote an article about Terry Newman's recent publication, Legendary Authors and the Clothes They Wore. Who would have thought that Gertrude Stein was among the first wearers of Pierre Balmain, that Oscar Wilde was a member of the Rational Dress Society or that Virginia Wolfe wrote for British Vogue in the 1920s! Perhaps this book should be next up on your reading list?
Click here or paste in this link.
https://theartofdress.org/2017/09/10/legendary-authors-and-the-clothes-they-wore-by-terry-newman/
Buy the book on Amazon.
4 October 2017
My friend wrote a lighthearted article about hats in paintings. Interested in what a Dada-style hat looks like? Take a look!
Click here or paste in this link.
http://www.dailyartdaily.com/hats-from-paintings/
4 June 2013
The Fashion Institute of Technology describes its recent acquisition -- a nearly complete run of "Eva" magazine. This Czech-language women's magazine ran from 1928 to 1943 and is a wonderful source of insight into World War II fashion in Eastern Europe.
Click here or paste in this link.
http://blog.fitnyc.edu/materialmode/2013/06/04/hot-accession-eva-the-journal-of-educated-women/
29 January 2012
Throughout the years many brands and businesses fade away and are ultimately forgotten about forever. I am always excited when I discover a rarely talked about company from the past. Such was the case with Princess Pat, which only has two sentences describing it on Wikipedia! Read more about the brand here, Princess Pat -- The Real Story of this Cosmetics Brand.
Click here or paste in this link.
http://collectingvintagecompacts.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/princess-pat-real-story-of-this.html
Below: Products by Princess Pat c. 1920s - 1930s.
Princess Pat Rouge endorsed by actress Loretta Young, c. 1920s
Princess Pat Lipstick, c. 1930s
Princess Pat Week-End Set, c. 1920s
Ever since I moved into my first university dorm room in 2014, I aimed to create the perfect pinboard. I wish I could have had the artistic freedom of Tezza, whose beautiful wall, covered to the ceiling with magazine scraps, polaroids and doodles, is the ultimate forms of inspiration. I however, was limited within the boundaries of my (thankfully rather large) pinboard. Yet, despite these constraints, I was able to create a collage that is both personal and eye-catching.
In every dormitory I inhabited my pinboard changed styles and content, fortunately, I am happy to say that my current one is my favourite! Over time, through trial and error, I have learned what works, what looks good and what to avoid. Below I list some tips and advice on how to construct that enviable pinboard - but remember, most importantly, it has to be unique to YOU.
1. To give your composition harmony create a gradient of colours. Do you see how in the top left corner of the pinboard there is a focus on warmer, yellow tones? These are then echoed in the yellow profile of the woman in the March 1934 Harper's Bazaar cover illustration poster, as well as in the yellow slogan-postcard on the bottom. You can also see these tones referenced in the opposite corner in the sepia toned photograph of my grandmother. A similar thing can be said about the colour green, which is prevalent in the central vertical line of the composition and then also seen on the left side in the other Harper's Bazaar cover illustration poster from February, 1929.
2. Use washi tape - it's cute ;)
3. Include a mix of types of photographs and illustrations. High-fashion magazine editorials, museum postcards of paintings, slogan postcards (the two I added are both from Paperchase), vintage magazine cover illustrations, personal family archives, Photo Booth pictures, polaroids, theatre or cinema tickets and images of favourite entertainers are all great things to include.
4. Think about texture. Is your image printed, developed from film, drawn, cut out or even ripped from a magazine? All of this adds interesting variety to your pinboard composition. Notice how the vintage 1940s photograph above stands out compared to the the early 2000s photograph below it. And the two also look different from the 1990s flash-lit image even lower. The same is the case with the trio of images from the Photo Booth and the tiny black and white image of Gabrielle Chanel, which was cut out from a recent issue of Harper's Bazaar.
5. Edges and framing. I already mentioned ripping vs. cutting images from magazines or simply from printed pieces of paper. But this little detail can significantly add to the aesthetic appeal of pinboards and collages. Above you can see how the slightly tattered edges of a few vintage photographs create a subtle change in style compared to the scalloped edges and thin white frame of the even older ones. Similarly, the Vincent van Gogh Starry Night postcard is framed with the painting in the centre, leaving a wide frame around it. The same is the case with the portrait by Allan Ramsay, however here the frame resembles a polaroid, which is another intriguing element.
6. Do not always use images. Sometimes you may end up with a bare narrow space with no image that will fit the blank spot. In such cases I suggest opting for patterns. Below you can see how I filled two spaces with a yellow floral print - it was actually part of a billowing dress photographed in a fashion editorial! It is these tiny detail that give your pinboard that "organised chaos" kind of feel.
Pinboards are an expression of yourself. Especially at school or at university, when new friends will probably often knock on your door, your unique pinboard will be able to do all the talking (although I do advise you do some yourself too) and offer insight into the kind of person you are, what interests you have, what you find beautiful, what you stand for, what your family is like, your values, and the experiences you have gained. They can take a while to make, because gathering content that truly expresses your vision and sorting through family photo archives is not an easy feat. Remember to enjoy the process though, because you will be looking a this masterpiece for a good while and nobody wants to reminisce about frustrating times or question hasty choices. Have fun and good luck with your creations!
Below are some examples of the collages Tezza created which, as I mentioned at the beginning, made me fall in love with this form of self-expression! Take a look, which ones do you like most?
Last summer, upon my mother's suggestion, I decided to visit the relatively newly opened Dollhouse Museum. A small exhibition space, situated within the previously inaccessible secret quarters of the Congress Hall in the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, it houses a rather impressive collection of historical dollhouses and, in most cases, includes the dolls for which the houses were made. Surprisingly hidden from view, due to its entrance through one of the Palace's inner courtyards, one has to circle the monumental Palace of Culture to find the entrance. Once you do, however, it is like stepping into a fairytale and the awe one feels in the midst of the tiny, beautiful worlds within is shared by both children and adults alike. I can guarantee you that!
When I saw Ingrid Bergman's outfits in the film Journey to Italy (1954) I could not help noticing, firstly, their timeless nature, and secondly, their modern accessories. One item that particularly caught my attention was the dark coloured leather-looking bucket bag, which Katherine Joyce (Bergman's character) carries, as she is she and her husband are being given a tour of their newly inherited Italian villa. It immediately called to mind the popular Mansur Gabriel buckets bags, which everyone was coveting not that long ago.
I find it peculiarly fascinating when items of the past resemble pieces currently sought after. One would think that what becomes desirable would be something new and fresh. Surprisingly (or maybe not) these are usually items which, if one digs back far enough, have been carried and used by men and women long ago. Just take a look at my earlier post about mesh bags!
Above: Film stills from the Roberto Rossellini film, Journey to Italy (1954).
Below: Similar styles of bags sold today (September 2017).
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