Sarah Burton: Pre-Spring Alexander McQueen

Sarah Burton’s much-anticipated first full women’s collection for Alexander McQueen was inspired by samurai warriors, along with the work of 1930s anti-fascist dollmaker-Surrealist-photographer Hans Bellmer, according to New York Magazine. The bold, strong-shouldered warrior is evident in the clothing; I’m not so sure about the eroticized, dismembered doll influence, but any art the Nazis deemed degenerate is eternally relevant.

La Poupée, Hans Bellmer, 1936; Self-portrait, Hans Bellmer, 1930s

To see more:

Preview Sarah Burton’s First Full Women’s Collection for 
Alexander McQueen (New York Magazine)

McQueen's First Collection Without McQueen (Jezebel)

The Art of Hans Bellmer (ICP)

Surrealism: Hans Bellmer’s Mutilated Bodies (Junk for Code)

Grey Gardens: The Prequel

On August 1, the Grey Gardens Collection will be releasing I Only Mark the Hours That Shine, a transcription of 11-year-old Edith Bouvier Beale’s private, handwritten diary, which is comprised of detailed daily entries from 1929, offering a glimpse into her luxe life in New York and the Hamptons. The book was edited by Eva Marie Beale and contains an introduction by Bouvier Beale, Jr. Notice the cover — even at an early age, Little Edie could work a miracle with a scarf.

Littera Canina

In Latin and the romance languages, the letter “R” is usually trilled, earning it the sobriquet littera canina. Plus, doesn’t the right leg resemble a dog’s at a fire hydrant?

Wilde Child

A few weeks ago, I overheard the following conversation while watching the view of Hollywood from a plateau in Runyon Canyon.

Mid-20s starlet: “I’m working on a movie, The Beautiful and Damned.” 

Friend: “Is that by Anne Rice?” 

Mid-20s starlet: “No, Forster.”

Just in time to set the record straight on what Forster actually did write, or to prevent his work from being recognized solely through Merchant Ivory Productions, two new biographies of Forster have come out, so to speak, and Michael Levenson’s review in Slate.com compares their merits. One, A Great Unrecorded History: A New Life of E. M. Forster, by Wendy Moffat, focuses almost exclusively on Forster’s personal life. The other, Concerning E.M. Forster, by Frank Kermode, restricts its focus to the art of making fiction. 

Levenson’s review implies that each of these biographies offers a partial picture of Forster that the other book could help to complete. But perhaps it’s through Forster’s own work, that we may find the most revelatory insights into his personal struggles, the secrets he kept -- especially from his mother, and his work life. Levenson says, “In the long-suppressed novel Maurice the title character blurts out his truth, ‘I’m an unspeakable of the Oscar Wilde sort.’ ”

Perhaps the under-read starlet was right -- Forster may have written the original book on being beautiful and damned.

Recommended:

Aspects of the Novelist: How to keep E.M. Forster's sex life from eclipsing his sentences, by Michael Levenson

A Great Unrecorded History: A New Life of E. M. Forster, 

by Wendy Moffat

Concerning E.M. Forster, by Frank Kermode

Maurice, by E.M. Forster

Related:

Truly Wilde: The Unsettling Story of Dolly Wilde, Oscar's Unusual Niece, by Joan Schenkar

Stuff You Missed in History Class: How Oscar Wilde Worked 

The Beautiful and Damned, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Princess Bride

Sweden’s next Queen, the 32-year-old Crown Princess Victoria, defied convention by marrying a commoner, Daniel Westling, on Saturday, June 19, 2010, but paid homage to tradition by wearing a cameo-decorated crown that was most likely a gift from Napoleon to the Empress Josephine.
The central cameo depicts Cupid and Psyche; since the seven cameos are different shapes and colors, it's unlikely that they were originally intended for the tiara. 

The tiara was worn by the bride’s own Queen Silvia, at her own royal wedding on June 19, 1976. It was also worn by Princess Désirée when she married Baron Niclas Silfverschiöld in 1964, and by Princess Birgitta when she married Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern in 1961. The tiara was bequeathed by Empress Josephine to her granddaughter Josefina who became the Crown Princess of Sweden on June 19, 1823, when she married the future King Oscar I.
Crown Princess Victoria’s bridal look included a duchesse satin off-shoulder gown with a 16.5" train designed by Pär Engsheden, along with matching fabric-covered shoes, cameo drop earrings, and a cameo and pearl bracelet.
Left: Crown Princess Victoria on her wedding day.
Right: A cameo appearance by Queen Silvia.

Whatever Will Be Will Be

The Que Sera, Long Beach.

Que Sera, The Man Who Knew Too Much.

Day Tripper

Fourth Street and Cherry Avenue, Long Beach, CA
It's the rare parking lot that has the power to endear, but that's how it is at the intersection of Fourth Street and Cherry Avenue in Long Beach. Rusted metal and automotive relics provide a welcoming tableau for cars and bikes, making it more convenient to spend an afternoon vintage shopping, lunching at Number Nine or Lola’s, seeing a movie at the Art Theater, or browsing for a second-hand book. Plus the beach and miles of bike paths are just a few blocks away.

Give Ps A Chance

Practically Perfect P

Park It Right Here

What's lovely about the word “park” is that it can add the verdant, intangible luster of actual trees, swings, children, benches, lawns, nannies, strollers, the elderly, bread crumbs, wild parakeets, flashers and adulterous lunch hour assignations, to any apartment or motel.

Have a Cow Already

Today is National Black Cow day. If you’ve never been subjected to a black cow (aka root beer float, brown cow or sassy cow, depending on the region) at a Fourth of July picnic or a church youth social, here’s a recipe: Chill a tall glass. Plop in two scoops of vanilla ice cream and two tablespoons of chocolate syrup. Pour cold root beer over it slowly and watch it froth up. Top with whipped cream and a maraschino cherry. Or not. Serve with a straw and a long-handled spoon. It’s more fun if you don’t share.

Bananas

In an interview on HuffPo, Jean-Claude Baker says that his mother, Josephine Baker, revived post-war French haute couture, that she gave her costumes to a transvestite, and that, despite Jean Cocteau’s claim that his lover created the legendary banana skirt, all credit goes to Christian Dior.