Fashion Nostalgia

It all started with Twitter. I tweeted about The Big Sleep (1946) with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall and then the Humphrey Bogart Estate started following me. Curious, I went to their profile and followed the link to their Facebook page (all this social networking lol). There, I found a couple hundred pictures of Hollywood's #1 actor and his leading lady Lauren Bacall. As I browsed through the countless photographs of the actor gone too soon, I came across the March 1943 Harper's Bazaar magazine cover that started it all. That was probably one of the most beautiful photographs I've ever seen. As many inspirations do, it sparked me to Google, one of the most useful tools of the 21st century, vintage Bazaar magazine covers. This led to the discovery of a little Tumblr blog, Fashion Nostalgia. I feel like the title of this blog sums me up perfectly. As I browsed through her blog I realized this is what people need to be about more often, the reason I love stars like Victoria Beckham, people need to place more importance on dressing for the occasion. Life is an occasion and we should always aspire to be the belle of the ball in our day. I hope she doesn't mind that I swiped a few photos from her blog, but here are my favorites. Starting with the beginning of a love story.

All photos from Fashion Nostalgia. Except for the Bazaar cover from Bogart fb page.

I love the blazer Audrey is wearing in the second picture. That's what I'm all about this fall, plaid, structured, power blazers. The sailor pants in the third picture, I die a la Rachel Zoe. I feel like the last picture might be a newer interpretation only because her face looks little more contemporary, but I love this skirt anyway. Oh yeah see what I mean about Lauren and the Bazaar cover. Amazing.

Happy Wednesday!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Storytellers

In my anticipation for the new Maxwell album, VH1 made my weekend when they aired his Storytellers show. I think it goes without saying that the man makes me drool, but his voice and his music make the doors of my soul part like the red sea. A little dramatic, I know, but not an exaggeration. He's an amazing artist. I had sort of been a secondhand listener stealing my mom's Urban Hang Suite CD when she wasn't paying attention, but as I got older I started to explore his other songs on my own and came to realize the man is really talented. So...I was so excited when he came back in late 2008 and even more excited when my friend and I scored tickets to his concert. It was, well...I screamed like the last victim in a horror movie, again dramatic. But it also made me realize something. The reason why 8 years later he was able to come back to sold out shows and Madison Square Garden, he's amazing. I feel like Maxwell is one of those really genuine artists who is truly grateful to his fans for appreciating what he has to offer. At the end of his show, he looked out into the crowd with the most genuine smile on his face, like he was amazed. Of course he's talented, but more than that, he's a humble human being who acknowledges that talent gets your foot in the door, but the fans make you successful.
I DVR'd Storytellers because Friday was my little brother's birthday, so I had to watch it a little later, but it will now definitely be a permanent fixture on my DVR. He performed a lot of my favorites, Fist Full of Tears, Sumthin Sumthin, Pretty Wings, Ascension,  and one that I wasn't so familiar with, but now can't forget Drowndeep: Hula from his Embrya album. Seriously, it's probably one of the most amazing songs I've ever heard.
I read this description on Ebony Parent:
Drowndeep: Hula (written by Stuart Matthewman and Maxwell; recorded by Maxwell) — What’s intriguing about this song is how the layering of voices, the instrumentation and the choice of the words create a sensuous, seductive sound. Fleeting phrases like “liquid kiss” suggest romance while the overall meaning of the words remain vague and mysterious, not quite making sense. For instance, listen to the sensuous repetition of the phrases “ooh ah” and “in us,” or the modulated pitch of the tabla drumming way back in the mix. The genius of this song is how it uses sound itself to capture the feeling that lovers experience.
~ Jon O'Bergh
I've never been an expert on instrumentation, vocalization or musicality in general, but I felt like this was pretty accurate. Anyway, the song's amazing. He sang it beautifully on Storytellers and I had to have it. I'm not actually sure what the title means though, so Maxwell, sir, if you read this post chime me in lol. Thanks!

By the way the first picture is now my computer background. I love this look on him. 

Photos from VH1.com

Enjoy the rest of your week!

P.S. now you know I'm a woman obsessed. Sad

The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond

I'm embarking on a movie journey this summer. Comcast On Demand has this section under the Premium Channels tab called the 'Preferred Collection'. There are literally hundreds of movies there. From their selection, I've created a summer movie list. It mostly consists of older movies as I am an avid TCM watcher and old movie buff (my favorite is Little Women (1949)), but there are a few newer movies on the list too. The most recent is The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (2010). I chose this movie for two reasons, first, it is an adaptation of a Tennessee Williams screenplay and if 1955s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (check out the 1958 movie, it has Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman, who was yummy) is any indication it seemed like it would be a good story. Also, it starred Bryce Dallas Howard, although she's not sporting that fiery red hair here, she's still an amazing actress. Also, Ellen Burstyn plays the aunt, she's good. One of my favorite surprises was male lead Chris Evans of Fantastic 4 fame and future Captain America, he shows the makings of a really amazing actor here. It doesn't hurt that he's cute either.
I loved how faux-fearless Fischer was. In the first party scene when she signals the African American band to play her 'song' and proceeds to dance to it for everyone, her reaction to their indifference or disgust shows how her individualism is really a ploy for acceptance. However, during her talk with Ellen's character, you see that she really is an amazing yet misguided individual. Her confession of having been in a mental institution hints that maybe she's tortured by her difference.
My favorite line of the entire movie was in the last scene when Fisher tells Jimmy that she knows no one will ever love her but that he could get used to her. I thought that was probably one of the saddest truths I had ever heard. True because a lot of people aren't experiencing the love they need or deserve they're just getting comfortable in their situations and that's sad.

I read on Wikipedia that Lindsay Lohan was also in the running to play Fisher. I think the right woman was cast. As good an actress as Lindsay is, Bryce captured the  cool indignation of Fisher in her portrayal that I think Lindsay might have overacted.
The film wasn't received well by critics, which is weird considering most of the reviews I read on Amazon were really positive. And I personally highly recommend the movie. Watch it and tell me what you think.

I love this picture.

Wish I was wearing...

I've been California, Hampton, Barcelona Dreaming lately. I'm in serious need of a vacation, so I made a few looks to live vicariously through. Check them out!!

I made these three looks on Polyvore. I really love using the site to get ideas out of my head. I especially love the leopard jacket. And the colors in the first set.

Enjoy your day!!

Current Obsessions

This summer I've been really crazy about:
Books on Education Policy and Poverty. My Amazon wish list is full of them.
Lucite bangles, especially Alexis Bittar. His stuff is so amazing.
Margherita Missoni, she definitely deserves a highlight post, her style is beyond.
Foreign films like Mad Love. It's completely in Spanish, but it's a really great movie.
Of course Ebay. I can spend hours browsing through the stuff on there.
This summer suit Mary-Kate is wearing. It is imperative that I own one.
The Zoe Report. I love the parallel universe she does at the end.
Rihanna's AMA hair (and dress). I love these curls. I'm not crazy about the little mermaid color she's been sporting lately, but I love this look.
All things leopard!!! Leopard makes me smile.
Bolthouse Mango Lemonade. If you've never had it, try it. It's life-changing!
Mock turban head scarves as per Eva. She looks so fly in this picture.
Lastly, Adele, who is my age and fabulous! Rolling in the deep is my favorite summer song although not at all light and carefree like typical summer songs.
Other things not shown are Amazon's Kindle. I have Kindle for PC and it's incredible. I especially love it for their collection of the classics and reading the New Yorker.

Hope everyone's Monday is off to a great start. Have a great week!!

Zac Posen Resort 2012

This season or sub-season, I'm trying to make an effort to review the collections as they're shown so I'm not stuck at the end trying to look at 50+ collections. So far I've been successful. This could have something to do with the fact that I'm incredibly bored, like seriously and looking at Resort collections is slowly becoming the highlight of my day, but I digress, I've seen them all so far. And my favorite, not only because of the designs is Zac Posen. I not only like what was shown, but how it was shown. Each look was like an advertising campaign in and of itself. Coco Rocha looked amazing, the clothes looked amazing and the photographs were killer. I saved my favorite looks so I could show them to you.

Photos from Vogue.com via Zac Posen

I think what I really love most is that Zac took a completely different approach to resort from any other collection shown thus far. First, the colors are so dark and romantic. Deep blues, crimson reds, blacks, and bordeauxs are completely different from the light, summery colors we're seeing from other collections. Also, his silhouettes are more evening and event-wear than swimwear. There were no swimsuits, or poolside pieces in this collection. I think that's what attracted me to this collection most, it shocked me. I'm thinking he would do something like other designers and show gowns at the end and some resort friendly pieces throughout, but nope, everything was dramatic and beautiful. I adore this collection, I really do.

P.S. Vogue.com is amazing for looking at the collection. I'll post about more of my favorites later.