Dress Up and Play

Happy Memorial Day!

Bust out the cute outfits- it's summertime!

Wizard of Oz illustration from I don't know who- found it in a magazine isn't it cute?

Old stuff

I'm a regular reader of Posie Gets Cozy .. a super cute blog about a lady in Portland who has created the most beautiful life for herself. It's how to do it.

Anyway, while catching up on my reader today (...I told you was not very up-to-the-minute) I read an older post  - with the pretty picture above-  about the upcoming 'Cranford' mini-series. Looks beautiful. I'm more of a netflixer myself so I'm definitely checking this out. Check your local PBS, it'll be probably be on again soon. 
Oh- the designer is Jenny Beavan... a woman living the costumer's dream, doing fantastic period costumes what seems like her whole career: Gosford Park, Jane Eyre, Jefferson in Paris, Emma, Sense and Sensibility..... the list goes on... and on.

Carrie

A. I'm not a very Up-To-The-Minute Blogger.... I've had my head buried in the sand every one has seen this (days ago) but me.

B. I said I wouldn't devote any time or energy on the whole Sex and the City stuff but this hat is deffinately costume worthy I had to do something about it so here are my favorite guys' take on the outfit (even though I don't entirely agree with them.)

So Sad

I'm not in business of upsetting people or celebrity gossip so I will not be recounting any details- most of which are too hazy to be anything but false at this point- but I will say how sad about Heath Ledger's death! And with a sweet little girl....

Okay, this is a post that had actually been saved for awhile, so I'm not trying to be grotesque by plastering this quirky pic of him here. I have actually been looking forward to this movie for quite awhile- and it had everything to do with Heath in this Makeup. I think this is such a fantastic look (Make up Head: Peter Robb-King who I think will deserve a gold statue for this one.) The posters, the aesthetic- everything is perfect about this character, of course all brought to life by the brilliant Heath. It's such a far cry from the suave, clean-lined Jack Nicholson version (which was fantastically hilarious at the time.) There's something about this wicked mess of a face... everyone- EVERYONE can't keep from commenting how perfect it is. THAT'S when you know you've hit it- when it provokes such a strong reaction- and the movie isn't even out yet!

The costume designer for this movie is a Ms. Lindy Hemming, who is a 60 year old brit who has already won an Oscar for Topsy-Turvey. She has also designed Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Batman Begins, Four Weddings and a Funeral, the Lara Croft movies, and a handful of the Bond films. Guess she's great at action.

Of course it will be awhile before the movie comes out- next summer supposedly, but it's already had so much buzz I'm sure it'll be fantastic. Some peeps from my generation are comparing it to The Crow (for obvious reasons that have nothing to do with Batman.)

I still can't believe it.

Sex and the City... the Movie

So... um... I'm sorry to say this for all the SatC fans out there but I am B-O-R-E-D of this show. Don't get me wrong there was a couple of years there where I was all about it. We had a mini-Finale party and everything... but I'm just plain over it. It had it's moment... and that moment is being beaten to death on My9 and TBS every night. However I couldn't help but wonder....

I saw this pic of the wedding dress today and thought in the interest of Creative Scholarship it's worth noting. And this sort of bright green/turquoise color of the feathers is a color I'm just in love with these days... Okay okay okay- yeah, I'm just a sucker for a Big Fat Dress so here it is.

And some other Pat Fields extravaganza:

This is pretty much all I'm devoting to this movie. (To be fair, I don't doubt the genius that is Pat Fields. Some of my annoyance is coming from the over-hype that's going to kill any fun out of this project. And that she's the only costume designer any non-costume interested person has ever heard of, except she's really just a stylist- a FANTASTIC stylist- but still a stylist. I would be enjoying this alot more if every 9 year old wasn't wearing feathers in her hair right now. But one does have to admit that alot of today's style will - in time- be seen as a direct influence of her work on this show. And for that history making artistry I salute her.)

October Couture

So, I don't just love eye candy...I love eye CAKE. This is a gorgeous spread from this month's Vogue mag... photographed by David Sims with an article by Sally Singer. How's this for a paragraph?:

Karl Lagerfeld offered a full wardrobe-suits, coats, dresses, and evening- united by a slim, dramatically linear silhouette, where volume, instead of being on the front[...] or at the back[...] was subtly on the sides. Encrusted in stones, dotted with pearls, stripped in leather, distrubed by gores and gussets and other dimensional tricks, the side seams most of all drew out those verticals in a woman's body that are so often obscured. There was a slither of black silk with shimmering silver racing stripes; a monastic tweed tunic with matching hood edged in wild avian fronds; a long sequined sheath with a floor length feathered tabard, lined in a splatter of black and white sequins. But the most important and inspiring idea of all was a tiny, corseted jacket shape with a three-quarter sleeve and a stiff peplum. It looked so modern, and, from a house synonymous with the boxy jacket, so fresh. It illuminated Lagerfeld's genius for translating something historical- in this case, a water-resistant early-eighteenth-century riding jacket that he found at auction- into a fully modern idiom. The riding jacket hung in the Chanel atelier on Rue Cambom in the weeks before the show. Too miniature to be worn by anyone- size 0 must have struck Bourbons as positively enormous- it served as an example of exactly what good design can achieve: beauty and utility that retain their relevance for centuries.

the Karl jacket mentioned above; Chanel Haute Couture

John Galliano for Dior; Christian Lacroix

Chanel Haute Couture; Galliano for Dior

Giorgio Armani; Christian Lacroix

Galliano for Dior; Christian Lacroix

Chanel Haute Couture; Jean Paul Gaultier

Lucia Di Lammermoor Opening Night!

I went to the amazing *free* Metropolitan Opera Opening Night of the 2007-2008 Season in Times Square last night. It was scheduled to start at 6:30 but luckily started the second I got there about ten minutes or so late. They blocked off the entire Broadway half of Times Square and set out many seats and we watched on the big screen facing south of Manhattan. They hung giant speakers from cranes on either side of the roped off area and the sound was incredible. There was virtually no traffic noise at all (the right side of the street on the other side of the island was not blocked off...), no honking, no loud radios or engines or anything at all. I think everyone was just so into it, and those passing who didn't really know what it was all about just shut up to kind of take it in and figure it out. People came and went freely, which was nice actually. It contributed to the very relaxing and easy atmosphere. (I know! Easy and relaxing on the streets of Times Square!?) The back half was not very full at all when I got there, but then -oddly- almost completely filled up for the great mad scene in the Third Act. It's like everyone knew that this was the moment.

The opera was absolutely riveting. And I'm not just saying that. I'm sort of an 'Idea-of-Opera' lover I've sadly realized after watching this performance. I say that because I always always watch it on tv, but inevitably end up getting bored after a couple of hours and flip the channel. Maybe that's because of the commercials or because I always catch it in the middle... in any case, this performance completely surprised me and I can now say that I am a bona fide Opera lover. At one point I thought my eyes were going to bug out of my head, I was so riveted and glued to my seat. I had not planned to stay through the whole thing because it ended after ten and I had not eaten since lunch... but I just couldn't get up, I wanted to see the whole thing. I can't gush any more about it, it was simply amazing.

The Mad Scene, Act III

In between the Acts, in the almost half an hour Intermissions, there were interviews and backstage glimpses. The first intermission Mary Jo Heath talked briefly with Director Mary Zimmerman and surprisingly Mara Blumenfeld, the costume designer (sorry Mara! I got such odd photos of you!) The interview was brief but she talked about her thought process behind the production and their decision to move the time period to the Victorian era. The idea was that as Lucia goes mad, or is already mad and gets increasingly so, in their view, that the Victorian time period would be a great backdrop to emphasize this story in that respect.

The palette Mara chose was one of blacks, dark greys, gunmetals, dark greens, and only one hit of red in the 'villian,' Enrico's costume. Of course Lucia's wedding gown in the final act was a bright white which popped dramatically against the cast's black ensemble. There were alot of irridescent taffetas used, in almost everybody's costume, especially the ensemble cast. Brocades were used as well, though they too were very shiny. The production on the whole was very dark and moody with lots of bare trees in the backgrounds to add eeriness- it was almost like a ghost story.

Maestro James Levine in action, and taking a final bow with the leading lady. Don't you just love him! I always have, I think he's adorable. Not to mention a genius, of course.
I was very happy to see that after the first bow, the production team came up and joined the line, including Mara Blumenfeld, to take curtain calls. Afterwards everyone took a final bow on the balcony of Lincoln Center, where an audience was watching outside on a large screen.

fini.

The Little Mermaid

Every morning while Pat Kiernan and I chat about what's in today's papers, I am bombarded with commercials for The Little Mermaid coming to Broadway "so get your tickets now!" However the commercial is nothing more than a poster-like title card and a voice over. But my curiosity was peaked as to how they were going to do this whole swimming around on stage business and how those mermaids were going to get around in their fishy costumes. There's practically no information or pictures to be found (dang Disney machine at work...) although I found a blog wholey dedicated to this one production and has a few tidbit pics on there. What I have found though, is not promising with regards to design. Completely predictable and boring... and actually kind of garish and loud. Reviews all over trash the production design as well, but this is just my pre-judgement. It's not fair to say for sure until I've seen it (or at least better pics.) If they're looking for some advise however, I suggest this dress as a fabulous place to start!

Feist

So we can all see Feist's new video 1234 on the new Ipod Nano commercials. I never really took note of her until I saw the commercial- like pretty much everyone. It's a good song and all but what really got my attention was....THIS AMAZING BLUE SEQUIN JUMPSUIT!!

The video is sort of reminiscent of that old Gap Mambo commercial- or better yet, Bjork's It's Oh So Quiet video by Spike Jonez:

Teen Vogue

This month's TeenVogue features a Young Hollywood spread with some old school Showbiz style.