Edita Vilkeviciute, photographed by Sølve Sundsbø for the November issue of Vogue Nippon’s beauty supplement.
A study in beauty, indeed.
Images: TFS.
Déjà Vu: Ophelia
Shakespeare’s Ophelia:
O, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown!
The courtier’s, scholar’s, soldier’s, eye, tongue, sword,
Th’ expectancy and rose of the fair state,
The glass of fashion and the mould of form,
Th’ observ’d of all observers- quite, quite down!
And I, of ladies most deject and wretched,
That suck’d the honey of his music vows,
Now see that noble and most sovereign reason,
Like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh;
That unmatch’d form and feature of blown youth
Blasted with ecstasy. O, woe is me
T’ have seen what I have seen, see what I see!
-Hamlet, Act III, Scene I
Waterhouse’s Ophelia:
Ophelia by John William Waterhouse, 1889.
Vogue’s Ophelia:
Rooney Mara in Vogue, November 2011, photographed by Mert and Marcus.
Ophelia, through the brush of Sir John Everett Millais:
I must go and look at this 1852 version of Ophelia by Sir John Everett Millais at the Tate Britain, on each London visit.
Ophelia, through the lens of Mert and Marcus:
Mert and Marcus take Mara on a Pre-Raphaelite journey.
Inspiration never fades…
Image sources: Wikipedia, Vogue.com.
Boys and Girls on Film
The boys are back.
The original scene stealers and directors of fashion films in the form of music videos are in top form, after more than 30 years. Duran Duran have given us a piece of visual culture as only they can deliver, in a shiny, oozing new vid for Girl Panic, featuring not models of the moment, but models whose collective momentum changed the face of fashion.
In other words, the girls are back.
Helena, Cindy, Eva, Naomi and Yaz are the girls on film in this classic rock star meets runway romp. The ladies each play a member of the band, with the Durans making cameos, along with Dolce and Gabbana, a chauffeur and a few other notable characters.
Is it cheeky?
Is it tongue-in-chic?
Is it dripping with double D-dom?
Why yes, darlings, it is.
It is a Duran Duran video after all.
In true media form, the December issue of UK Harper’s Bazaar has an editorial to accompany the video’s release, with a Super cover. The video was directed and the editorial, photographed by Jonas Akerlund.
The ladies, in Dolce & Gabbana corsets.
Cindy as JT. She's got that look Down!
Eva as Nick. It's all about the shoulders, 'innit?
Naomi as Simon - hams, both.
Helena as Rog - hard to define which one of them is cooler.
Mrs. Le Bon as the band's rotating guitarist. Loved the attitude.
These ladies make the 40s look insanely good.
These boys make anything look good, really.
Editorial images: TFS; Duran image courtesy of DuranDuran.com.
Glossy in Gucci
Harper’s Bazaar Spain featured a glossy group of images of French model Aymeline Valade, photographed by Txema Yeste. She is wearing Gucci archive pieces, to celebrate 90 years of glam at the House.
Aymeline Valade for Harper’s Bazaar Spain.
Having a Bianca Jagger moment.
Prima donna.
Taking a stroll down the Jerry Hall-way.
Sidney Bristow, eat your heart out.
Like something from a Ferry video.
Demure - and damn sexy.
Mortisha mode.
Gucci worth going ga-ga over.
Images, via TFS.
Anouck Anew
It was so nice to see Anouck on the cover of a magazine…
Models on mag covers – imagine that!
Anouck Lepère photographed by Asa Tallgard for Elle Russia, November 2011.
Image: TFS.
Dotting Your Eyes
No, your eyes are not dotted.
In Oz, actual summer was spotted.
Its breeze…its pure ease.
Whist we sit cross, in our tweeds. What a tease!
Alina Baikova wearing Stella McCartney in Vogue Australia, November 2011.
Image: MaxXone
Another Cover
Another to love.
Rachel Weisz on the cover of Another Magazine: Issue 21.
Image: Frillr
Meisel’s Mixed Metaphors
If Frida Kahlo was a Victorian Goth, Flamenco-dancing gypsy, who lived in a surreal painting in India, this is what she would wear.
Mr. Meisel – just when I was starting to yawn, you took me to a dreamy state.
I know these might be disturbing to some – and portray images of women as blah, blah, blah… To me, they are like paintings…surreal, fantastical paintings – and they become a visual study of form and space.
Stella Lugosi? Oh. Stell. Ah.
Haunted - when the minutes drag.
Sarvangasana Stella.
Ethel Granger meets Anna Dello Russo meets Dita Von Teese.
Echoing Granger's record-breaking (likely back-breaking) and heart-breaking, 13-inch waist.
Waist not, want not. The woman in the Guinness Book of World Records, who had the world's smallest waist - Ethel Granger.
A wife for Shelley's Frankenstein?
Meisel’s shoot was inspired by Granger, but I saw many mixed metaphors here.
Like Frankenstein’s monster, this too, is a piecing together of odd parts for a mad result, with the modern, monstrous mode being concocted with digital tools.
I don’t take each photograph in a magazine literally. Vogue Italia has always crossed a line – but I think they do so to provoke, to evoke, to start conversations – and to present fashion as art form.
The debate goes on…
Déjà Vu: Mothers of Pearl
In the Heroes-themed issue of V Mag, Ms. Winslet recalls…
Kate's call to Liz, eyebrows and all.
…Ms. Taylor and her pearls.
Elizabeth Taylor in Ash Wednesday, 1973.
We all know Ms. Taylor loved her pearls and other baubles. Well, now her entire collection of gems is going up for auction in December. Christie’s in New York will be selling the 300 pieces, valued at over $30 million. And yes, The Ring is included amongst that number.
Save your pennies, darlings – and be extra sweet to your sugar daddies, if you have them.
See more great photos of Ms. Taylor in Everlasting Elizabeth.
Images: TFS and doctormacro.com, respectively.
Déjà Vu: Dovima vs. Ms. Moss
So while we wait for the September British Vogue, let’s review our August homework, shall we?
Here is the first shoot with Mrs. Hince – as photographed by Mario Testino for the August issue of the Vogue with the accent.
This might be the new Ms. Moss – but this whole editorial had me doing a déjà vu - a Dovima déjà vu.
Not a stance of circumstance.
No one cast a figure like the lovely Dorothy Virginia Margaret Juba, better known as Dovima.
Dovima, 1955 - in The colour for this season. And don't even get me started on the suit.
The burnt-orange clad bride. Echoes of a rich and colourful past, in that pose.
"Who stole my heart?"
"You did, you did." And oh, where have I seen that suit silhouette before, I wonder?
Maroon, how I hunger for you. I'm stocking up this year!
Collar ID - one call you'll want to answer. The frou of a ruffle without the frou.
The big collar, circa 1951.
She spoke paragraphs with one gesture.
Look who's talking now. And that skirt. I know. It's by Mr. Ford.
Note the placement of hands here...
...and here.
Kate makes it look like a cinch.
...and speaking of all things cinched...
The stare to nowhere...
...takes a girl everywhere.
I love the covered-up sexiness of the '50s.
I'm happy to report its return this season. Big time sensuality, in my book.
Dovima in yards and yards of Balenciaga, back in the day, for evening.
No longer sleeveless in Seattle - or Stockholm. Nothing like the slink of silk, I say.
It's all very lady-like, really. It fits us like, well, a glove.
The new power dressing - no need to blush - you, too can pull this off by putting it on. Pop tarts, take note.
The mass appeal of Dovima at the time, a Supermodel well before the word was coined, was undeniable. She defined elegance and wore clothes in a way that really allowed us to dream. These iconic photographs of her exemplify the very best in photography, in modeling, in style – in modernity – more than 60 years after they were taken.
The Moss appeal, too is undeniable. Since those images of a young Kate shot by Corinne Day and the emergence of Heroin Chic, this woman has carried us from the Supermodel heyday and grown up in front of our eyes. While she and Mr. Testino surely give a nod to Dovima here, she too, is already an icon. Lover her or hate her, but her place in fashion history, in modeling history, in style – stands on record – and will stand the test of time – 60 years from now.
And incidentally, this isn’t the first time I’ve done a Dovima double take.
More Kate. And yes, yes, I owe you my thoughts on her nuptials. Getting caught up slowly….promise.
Kate photos courtesy of British Vogue; Dovima in Balenciaga from Joao Chaves Spot. All other Dovima images courtesy of My Vintage Vogue - a wonderland of vintage fashion images and a constant source of inspiration.
Glamour Comes to Town
Four more sleeps – until no sleep at all.
It’s that time of year in Toronna – things are in a tizzy for TIFF.
Glamour is coming to town, kids.
Be ready for your HD close-up.
Isabeli Fontana glams it up for Vogue Paris, September 2011, photographed by Patrick Demarchelier.
The azure eye and the luscious red lip - lust-haves, this time of year.
Or make like Ms. Swinton (who will be gracing us with her grace this year) and keep a keen eye on subtle style.
Images: TFS.
Super September
What’s better than the September books?
September cover Supes!
First, there’s Cindy C in Louis V, vamping it up at 45 – as captured by Simon Upton for Harper’s Bazaar Singapore.
That's forty-tude, baby.
Three other Superfriends grace the cover of Vogue Spain, like the holy trinity of trend-setters. Photographed by Tom Munro, the girls are wearing star-printed Dolce and Gabbana frocks.
Eva, Helena and Claudia sought it, caught it and brought it. Again - and again.
I’ll take personality over plain Janes, any day – and more models on magazine covers! That’s what the fashion gods originally intended, ‘innit?
Images: TFS, MagXOne.
Déjà Vu: A Trace of Lace
There’s seeing double – and then there is seeing double.
Remember this August Vogue cover?
Claudia Schiffer by Miles Aldridge on the cover of Vogue Germany, August 2011.
Well now, there is this one with the same trace of lace and vampy grace.
I love them both.
Why rrreow when you can purrrr?
Anne Hathaway photographed by Mert & Marcus for Interview magazine, September 2011.
Images: TFS.
Seeing Double
There are special times in a girl’s life…
…when she gets her first pair of stilettos…
…when she finds her lipstick shade…
…when she picks up her first September issue for the year.
Elle US gets to be that first, this year – with a double dose of Gwyneth.
The goop scoop: Gwyneth, photographed by Carter Smith for the September, 2011 issue of Elle.
Mrs. Martin, channeling her inner rock star here, covers both sides of the mag.
Have I really been reading Elle for 25 years?
Must buy more goop for my face at once!
Images: JustJared.
Hot Cover Ups
The streets aren’t the only sources of heat these days.
In the blistering fight for your Tom Ford-shaded eyes, things are hot, hawt, haute on the editorial stands this August.
Which one will you pick up for a poolside peruse?
Freida Pinto by Mert and Marcus on Interview Magazine August 2011.
Claudia Schiffer by Miles Aldridge on Vogue Germany August 2011.
Kate Moss by Mario Testino on British Vogue August 2011.
And of course, there is always Tilda on W Mag.
By the way, Ms. Moss has been busy this summer. If you’ve been living under a rock or busy gazing at the stars, you’ll have missed that she is now a rock-star wife – aka Mrs. Hince – thus the header. I’ll have my take on the festivities + great photos in this space soon-ish – am in slow, summer mode. Forgive? It’s too hot to move so fast.
Images: TFS.
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