St. Louis, Part 2

I'm in St. Louis for most of this week.

One of St. Louis's many odd traditions is the Veiled Prophet Ball (now subsumed by Fair St. Louis). It is essentially a debutante cotillion with singularly disturbing iconography. Within the past 30 years or so, it has transitioned from being outright creepy to merely atavistic.

Photos via the Life archive and the Western Historical Manuscript Collection, University of Missouri-St. Louis.

It's purely coincidental that I posted twice this week about debutante cotillions; that each had some diametrically opposed motives at a certain time is especially awkward.

The Kinks in Holland, 1966

Originally taken for a Dutch music magazine, I've had these photos bookmarked for at least five years. Once in a while I take a look, and feel like I missed something incredible.


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St. Louis, Part 1

Off to the troubled but well-intentioned city of St. Louis for a conference. Posts will continue as usual.



It still looks about the same. All via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Harlem Debutante Cotillion, 1950, Part 2

Waaaay back in February, in the dawning of the Jenny Haniver blog, I posted these stunners from the 1950 Harlem Debutante Cotillion. I forgot until this week that I had more photos for a follow up post. Because weren't you dying to know how the party was?






All from the Life photo archive, obviously.

Vacation plans

In September I'll finally fulfill an ambition I've had for more than 10 years: Go Back to Greece. I have my plane ticket, but no other concrete plans yet. One of the places I'd really like to visit is Karpathos, a Dodecanese island northeast of Crete, where ladies in the village of Olympos still dress like this:




In typical Lonely Planet fashion, my guidebook bemoans the transformation of the villages into a "kitsch eco-Disney." But is there some superior alternative?

Vintage couture and accessories auction wrap-up

I went with Rose and Holly to the vintage clothing auction at Leslie Hindman. Either I have bad taste, or everyone else does. A lot of the stuff I liked failed to meet estimates, and one of my 1990s picks didn't even sell. Many lots that I thought were underwhelming or disappointing saw stiff competition and healthy prices. But as my realtor would say, "This is actually good news." Because it meant I could buy a few of the things I wanted!

If you're hesitant about attending a live auction for whatever reason, I think that Leslie Hindman Auctioneers offer a good first-time experience. They have very diverse offerings and a relatively casual atmosphere. The young, energetic staff are professional and knowledgeable. And they had complimentary mimosas in the morning! Try it sometime if you're in Chicago.

Samurai armor

One of my dirty little secrets is that I can't sit through a Kurosawa movie. When we get one on Netflix, I eventually get bored and tell Jon to just let me know when the samurai fight starts.




via Asia and the Pacific Rim in Early Prints and Photographs, New York Public Library.

I also have a slight obsession with sashimono and sometimes try to think of ways they could be worn today.

Archery

Pretty much self-explanatory except for the last one.





All via Life archive.

Fore-edge book painting

Boston Public Library just launched an online exhibition of book fore-edge paintings. Stunning!


Be sure to watch the videos to see how these work.

Vintage couture and accessories, April 19

It looks like I'm going to the Vintage Couture and Accessories auction at Leslie Hindman this Sunday. Holly was power-blogging her selections from the online catalogue earlier this week. I previously posted some 1990s lots that caught my eye, but here are a few more picks:
Top to bottom: Christian Dior New York (that means "licensed Dior"); Mainbocher; Galanos; Courreges (if you're into heavy matching and Sharon Stone in Casino).

Sailing lessons

I finally took the plunge and signed up for sailing lessons this June. Hopefully I'll be better at it than I am at my current extracurricular activity, ballet.

So, umm, what should I wear?

via SI Vault.

True secrets of Bohemian Grove revealed!!!!

I first learned about Bohemian Grove in Jon Ronson's outstanding Them: Adventures with Extremists (read the extract).


Photographer: Gabriel Moulin. Bohemian Grove, circa 1906-1909. Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley. via Online Archive of California.

Case Study House #22

I feel like I must have a lot to say about the work of Julius Shulman - probably starting with something about empty space as a commodity. But since my guiding principle for blogging is Don't Try Too Hard, I'll just leave it at: "Eat our view, proles!"

Case Study House #22, via Stephen Wirtz Gallery.

Mod Monday

Wow, I am intrigued yet ultimately perplexed by minimadmod60s.com, a content-rich yet nigh-on unnavigable site about 1960s/70s fashion models (your first challenge: find the actual image archive). But if you persevere, there are some great mod graphics and photographs you might not find anywhere else:

Top to bottom: Chrissie Shrimpton, Anjelica Huston, Hiroko, Veruschka.

Plus, here's a charming memoir about modeling for Pierre Cardin. Thanks to Cookie, frequent commenter at A Dress A Day, for pointing the way.

Alix of Miami

Springtime on eBay means the Alix of Miami dresses are in bloom:



Fuzzylizzie has done some research on Alix of Miami, but like most Florida fashion, this line remains relatively unknown and under-rated.