Chicago winter sports, Part 1

Skating the Charleston, 1926:



Via Photographs from the Chicago Daily News, 1902-1933, Chicago History Museum.

Varvara Stepanova

Photo #1 is Outfit of the Week. Better than a leather catsuit!

Yves St. Laurent you can afford

So, I'm guessing that most of you sat on your hands during the Christie's auction of the collection of Yves St. Laurent and Pierre Bergé (see my picks here, here and here). Since you saved so much money by not buying a Matisse, an Eileen Gray armchair or a very rare and important rat head, maybe you can cruise some other auctions:


All this and more on eBay.

Collection Yves St. Laurent et Pierre Bergé, Day Three

The end.
via Christie's.

Collection Yves St. Laurent et Pierre Bergé, Day Two

Top to bottom: Ingres, Ruhlmann, Gray, Cheuret, Lalanne
via Christie's.

Girl on a motorcyle

Marianne Faithfull in a famously ridiculous movie:

Anke-Eve Goldmann in real life:

Thanks to Northstar Vintage for the tip.

Collection Yves St. Laurent et Pierre Bergé, Day One

Sorry if you had your heart set on any of these, but they're already sold:







Top to bottom: Duchamp, Calder, Brancusi, Klee, Leger

via Christie's.

Harlem Debutante Cotillion, 1950

The LIFE photo archive is pretty much the best thing to happen, ever. These portraits by Herbert Gehr are so beautiful I might actually die:

Stay tuned for more!

Mesa Verde National Park, 1917, 1939 and today

"In what is now this Park, a Spanish exploring party discovered cliff houses in 1541. At that time the buildings had been abandoned for generations. No one knows how many centuries or millenniums had then elapsed since the Mesa was deserted. The age of these cliff houses has been estimated from five hundred to five thousand years. Modern discovery of the region appears to have been made by a government geological party in 1874." -- Enos A. Mills, Your National Parks, Houghton Mifflin, 1917 via Google Book Search.



Russell Lee photographs via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information Photograph Collection.
What everyone was looking at, via Flickr.

"It is true that their civilization was different from ours of to-day, and happily different from the European civilization of that time...They possessed a keen sense of right and wrong, and in ethics they may have averaged higher than the European." -- Mills

Spring coats

Less than a month until spring equinox!

The most positive things I can say about springtime weather in Chicago is that it's not as cold as winter, and you get plenty of chances to wear your spring coat.

Bonnie Cashin probably made the best spring coats:


Try eBay and enokiworld.

Plateau beaded bags

These are right at the top of my list of Things I'd Collect if I Had Unlimited Funds and Facilities.


via Steve Elmore Indian Art and eBay.

Fine Photographs, February 22, 2009

Horvat and Lartigue via Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.

Key West Hand Print Fabrics

Key West Hand Print Fabrics was founded in 1961. They had a small factory in the keys that produced hand-screened fabric and resortwear.



both via eBay.

Key West Hand Print also produced fabric for Lilly Pulitzer during the brand's Golden Age. They still sell some Lilly-like fabrics, though I don't suppose they're hand-printed in Key West anymore.

"Small Safari" rayon and "Animal Zoo" cotton knit on sale!

Be aware that unlike sailcloth overalls, the current line of Key West Hand Print Fashions is decidedly not a must for Resort 2009.

Mineola Dog Show, 1908

All via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, George Grantham Bain Collection:





"Ladies' Kennel Association of America's Sixth Annual Show.— Held at Mineola, N. Y., June 4, 5, 1908.—Dogs, 582; absent, 113— Championship Points—3. Judges:—Midgley Marsden, England— Bloohouncis, Mastiffs, St. Bernards. Newfoundlands, Irish Wolfhounds, Russian Wolfhounds, Deerhounds, Greyhounds, Esquimaux Dogs, English Foxhounds, Setters, Retrievers, Basset Hounds, Dachshunde, Whippets, Collies, Old English Sheepdogs, Dalmatians, Chow Chows, Samoyedes, Schlpperkes, all Toy Breeds (except Pomeranians), and Miscellaneous Class. C. Houlker, England—Poodles, Bulldogs, Airedale Terriers, Bull Terriers, French Bulldogs, Fox Terriers, Irish Terriers, Scottish Terriers, Roseneath Terriers, Welsh Terriers, Black and Tan (Manchester) Terriers, Skye Terriers, Bedlington Terriers, Dandle Dinmont Terriers and Pomeranians. Rudolph Vohl, Hewlitt, N. Y.—Great Danes. Dr. Henry Jarrett, Philadelphia, Pa.—American Foxhounds, Chesapeake Bay Dogs and Sporting Spaniels." -- First Annual Directory of Breeders and Exhibitors of Dogs in the United States and Canada, C.S.R. Co., 1908 via Google Book Search.