mariemarie
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Hey everyone. This news thread is up pretty late, isn't it? I'm sorry, but here it is, at least the Today in History =)
Fashion goes back to the future
NEW YORK: To those who lived it, the 1980s seem like yesterday: the dance-inspiring beat from Michael Jackson’s Thriller, so often replayed since his sudden death; the soulful ballad of Prince’s Purple Rain; Madonna out there in all her Gaultier glory bringing women the joy of sex. But there was something else that was out there in the 1980s: shoulders.
‘‘Like American footballers,’’ we in Europe said dismissively when fashion moved to the padded shoulder around 1984. Joan Collins in Dynasty gave this feminist statement a grand slam of glamour — and women of the Western world bought into it.
So pervasive were the pads that I remember finding a pair in a sewing store and sticking them right inside my sweater. If you didn’t bother to sew on a Velcro strip, your shoulder enhancement might slip from under your bra strap and suddenly endow you with a third female protuberance or drop directly to the floor, where — I cringe remembering — your only choice was to pretend to ignore the dirty white thing at your feet.
So it is with mixed feelings that I have to accept that big shoulders are back, and along with them, Madonna as the reincarnated Material Girl, marking the worst financial crash in living memory with an ultrashort hemline barely meeting laced boots at her thighs.
On the runways — and not just at in-your-face Balmain — the 1980s were everywhere. When Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton gave us a remix of the best of the ‘‘greed is good’’ era, it felt like I was reliving Christian Lacroix’s ebullient pouf moment, with a touch of early Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel thrown in.
Yet for anyone who reaches into the depths of a closet to drag a perfectly tailored Armani pantsuit from its transparent plastic shroud, the effect is uncertain. Maybe it could look great if worn — just the jacket — by a 20-something who would belt it and team it with drop-crotch trousers or skinny jeans. Or partner the mannish pants, jacked up on platform shoes, with a shrunken bolero. But as is, an iconic symbol of the 1980s might stubbornly refuse to have a second fashion life. Because ultimately, in setting a search engine on the past, a creative mind is looking for a spark of an idea — not a replica of the clothes.
The kids who bought slender Biba dresses in the swinging London of the 1960s might have thought they looked like family photos from the 1930s. But body mass changes with each generation along with body language — not to mention, hair, makeup, underwear and shoes.
Ah! Shoes. They are, of course, what makes such an enormous difference to the revisited ’80s silhouette now perched on top of thick platforms or caged sandals with vertiginous heels. In their original incarnation, shoulders were thrust out but then faded away below long exposed legs or straight pants. Now shoes are shouting for attention.
I had a weird experience when I visited an obscure Paris museum to look at an exhibition of accessories from the 1940s. There were all our shoes! Deprived of basic materials reserved for the war effort, necessity became the mother of invention. So designers created platform shoes that stood proud, made of straw, felt, cloth, cork or wood — not unlike those currently dominating store windows.
What did women in wartime, reduced to austerity chic, wear with these amazing shoes? There were fancy hats, made like kids’ crafts from paper and wood shavings. And there were plain but substantial suits with wide shoulders. Suddenly the fall season began to look less like ’80s redux with all its puzzling references to an era of flash and plenty — and more in keeping with the style and spirit of the financially challenged 1940s, when the Depression was still a harsh reality.
So the answer to this back-to-the-future thing seems to be that fashion is an eternal carousel — clothes come back around, but never in the same way. Those women defiantly showing off their Balmain duds, sharp shoulders to the fore, have more in common with bravado in tough times than with flashdancing on the sidewalk.
http://www.mydigitalfc.com/leisure-writing/fashion-goes-back-future-082
JACKSON MEMORABILIA ITEMS HELD BACK BY TOHME
A treasure trove of MICHAEL JACKSON keepsakes that were stopped from going up for auction have yet to be returned to the late superstar's estate - because the singer's one-time manager has failed to sign the release papers.
Julien's Auction House owner Darren Julien and his partner Martin Nolan agreed to return all 1,390 items they had hoped to put under the hammer in April (09) to MJJ Productions after the singer objected to the mass sale.
At the time of the settlement, MJJ Productions was being represented by Jackson's former manager, Dr. Tohme. However, the two parties have now split and a dispute over who is in charge has held up the return of memorabilia.
Tohme has complicated matters by insisting Julien's Auction House deal directly with him over the matter, while executives for MJJ Productions have warned against dealing with Tohme.
Julien and Nolan are keen to resolve the issue and send all the items back to the Thriller hitmaker's family in the wake of his June (09) death, but insist Tohme is holding up the proceedings by refusing to sign away his claim.
Julien's lawyer Jerry Hawxhurst tells TMZ.com Tohme was sent the release documents last month (Aug09) - but he's still yet to return them.
Tohme faces a legal fight with Julien's if he fails to sign the papers within weeks, but Hawxhurst admits taking the doctor to court would be costly and "completely unnecessary".
http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/story/jackson-memorabilia-items-held-back-by-tohme_1114799
Fashion goes back to the future
NEW YORK: To those who lived it, the 1980s seem like yesterday: the dance-inspiring beat from Michael Jackson’s Thriller, so often replayed since his sudden death; the soulful ballad of Prince’s Purple Rain; Madonna out there in all her Gaultier glory bringing women the joy of sex. But there was something else that was out there in the 1980s: shoulders.
‘‘Like American footballers,’’ we in Europe said dismissively when fashion moved to the padded shoulder around 1984. Joan Collins in Dynasty gave this feminist statement a grand slam of glamour — and women of the Western world bought into it.
So pervasive were the pads that I remember finding a pair in a sewing store and sticking them right inside my sweater. If you didn’t bother to sew on a Velcro strip, your shoulder enhancement might slip from under your bra strap and suddenly endow you with a third female protuberance or drop directly to the floor, where — I cringe remembering — your only choice was to pretend to ignore the dirty white thing at your feet.
So it is with mixed feelings that I have to accept that big shoulders are back, and along with them, Madonna as the reincarnated Material Girl, marking the worst financial crash in living memory with an ultrashort hemline barely meeting laced boots at her thighs.
On the runways — and not just at in-your-face Balmain — the 1980s were everywhere. When Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton gave us a remix of the best of the ‘‘greed is good’’ era, it felt like I was reliving Christian Lacroix’s ebullient pouf moment, with a touch of early Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel thrown in.
Yet for anyone who reaches into the depths of a closet to drag a perfectly tailored Armani pantsuit from its transparent plastic shroud, the effect is uncertain. Maybe it could look great if worn — just the jacket — by a 20-something who would belt it and team it with drop-crotch trousers or skinny jeans. Or partner the mannish pants, jacked up on platform shoes, with a shrunken bolero. But as is, an iconic symbol of the 1980s might stubbornly refuse to have a second fashion life. Because ultimately, in setting a search engine on the past, a creative mind is looking for a spark of an idea — not a replica of the clothes.
The kids who bought slender Biba dresses in the swinging London of the 1960s might have thought they looked like family photos from the 1930s. But body mass changes with each generation along with body language — not to mention, hair, makeup, underwear and shoes.
Ah! Shoes. They are, of course, what makes such an enormous difference to the revisited ’80s silhouette now perched on top of thick platforms or caged sandals with vertiginous heels. In their original incarnation, shoulders were thrust out but then faded away below long exposed legs or straight pants. Now shoes are shouting for attention.
I had a weird experience when I visited an obscure Paris museum to look at an exhibition of accessories from the 1940s. There were all our shoes! Deprived of basic materials reserved for the war effort, necessity became the mother of invention. So designers created platform shoes that stood proud, made of straw, felt, cloth, cork or wood — not unlike those currently dominating store windows.
What did women in wartime, reduced to austerity chic, wear with these amazing shoes? There were fancy hats, made like kids’ crafts from paper and wood shavings. And there were plain but substantial suits with wide shoulders. Suddenly the fall season began to look less like ’80s redux with all its puzzling references to an era of flash and plenty — and more in keeping with the style and spirit of the financially challenged 1940s, when the Depression was still a harsh reality.
So the answer to this back-to-the-future thing seems to be that fashion is an eternal carousel — clothes come back around, but never in the same way. Those women defiantly showing off their Balmain duds, sharp shoulders to the fore, have more in common with bravado in tough times than with flashdancing on the sidewalk.
http://www.mydigitalfc.com/leisure-writing/fashion-goes-back-future-082
JACKSON MEMORABILIA ITEMS HELD BACK BY TOHME
A treasure trove of MICHAEL JACKSON keepsakes that were stopped from going up for auction have yet to be returned to the late superstar's estate - because the singer's one-time manager has failed to sign the release papers.
Julien's Auction House owner Darren Julien and his partner Martin Nolan agreed to return all 1,390 items they had hoped to put under the hammer in April (09) to MJJ Productions after the singer objected to the mass sale.
At the time of the settlement, MJJ Productions was being represented by Jackson's former manager, Dr. Tohme. However, the two parties have now split and a dispute over who is in charge has held up the return of memorabilia.
Tohme has complicated matters by insisting Julien's Auction House deal directly with him over the matter, while executives for MJJ Productions have warned against dealing with Tohme.
Julien and Nolan are keen to resolve the issue and send all the items back to the Thriller hitmaker's family in the wake of his June (09) death, but insist Tohme is holding up the proceedings by refusing to sign away his claim.
Julien's lawyer Jerry Hawxhurst tells TMZ.com Tohme was sent the release documents last month (Aug09) - but he's still yet to return them.
Tohme faces a legal fight with Julien's if he fails to sign the papers within weeks, but Hawxhurst admits taking the doctor to court would be costly and "completely unnecessary".
http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/story/jackson-memorabilia-items-held-back-by-tohme_1114799
Today in
Michael Jackson History
1978 - Randy Jackson appeared on "Soul Train."
Michael Jackson History
1978 - Randy Jackson appeared on "Soul Train."
1992 - A taped poem by Michael Jackson was broadcast on "The Maury Povich Show."
1995 - Michael Jackson's single "You Are Not Alone" debuted at #1 in the U.S.
2004 - A ruling was made public that denied a reduction in Michael Jackson's $3 million bail.
