Cutting edge

This has to be one of the very best covers Australian Vogue has ever done ­– at least as long as I have been reading it.

Back when I bought it I was already at art school, but it didn’t take a graphic design student’s eye to see that the sharp graphics and literally cutting-edge composition made a striking cover. A cover that must have been influenced by iconic magazines of this era, such as the Face; a cover that had visual appeal and would guarantee hands would reach for it on the newsstand.

I particularly like the typography, the way in which it fills the negative space, and interacts with the model’s silhouette. You would never see Australian Vogue cutting a face in half today!

It is amusing to note however that the cover does not at all fulfill its promise with the editorial layouts inside.

Still, I’ve kept my original copy on my shelf for 18 years on the strength of it.

Australian Vogue, April 1990. Photograph: Martyn Thompson.

Two tales

She's a ghost wafting silently through the abandoned house, all you can hear is the sound of the wind fluttering the curtains, a sigh barely discernible. Who was she, you wonder? Who did she dream and yearn for that she is still anchored fast to the earth?

~

She utters no sound, only the hard and fast breath escapes her lips as she runs with all her strength down the path between the trees, hands clenched into fists. The gravel crunches beneath her feet and the wood is still, listening.

~

Two very different images – except for the obvious fact the models have their backs to the camera – yet they both evoke mystery: one ethereal (clothed in Armani), the other earthy and completely filling the present moment.

I have had these tearsheets for years, but I have always loved the way the images completely draw me into their worlds, and make me wonder about the story within.

Picture credits: (top) William Garrett; (bottom) unknown.

Evoking scents and sensibilities

From the good old days of Australian Vogue… May 1989. Javier Vallhonrat took these photos; I think perhaps they were first pieces of his work that I saw and I thought these were beautiful. (I still do.) In fact, I am embarrassed to admit that I loved the second image so much I made a painting of it. It wasn’t a bad facsimile, but I shouldn’t have been copying a photograph.

Each image evokes the scent of a perfume; just the names conjure up the 80s for me!

(Left) Sweet anointed nights – the supremely feminine bouquet of Paris (1983) by Yves Saint Laurent. (Right) In the scented evening air, Giorgio (1981), a crush of many precious blooms including jasmine and orange flower.

Paris lingers in my memory chiefly because my cousin used to wear it. I occasionally met her for lunch in South Yarra, and I found the extremely sweet scent of roses far too much for my delicate stomach, competing as it did with the more prosaic aromas of smoked salmon pasta.

I’m amused to note that not only does that page have daubs of pink oil paint smeared on it, but so does the cover of the magazine.

(Left) Worn closest to the skin, a multitude of fragrance chords lightly spiced, in Parfum d’Hermès (1984). (Right) Scented assignations with Byzance (1987) by Rochas, a harmonious blend of woods and spices, fruits and flowers.

I have no idea what the former smells like, but I am delighted to inform you that I actually wore Byzance. I loved the bottle: round cobalt glass, with a round stopper with embossed gold lettering and a pink tassel. It truly conjures up memories of my early 20s. I still have the cobalt blue velvet bag it came in; stuffed in the bottom of my bathroom cabinet, I think I keep curlers in it.

Vallhonrat does not seem to have his own website, but plenty of people have written about him. He made his start in the world of fashion, but moved into art photography. I have recently started to see his work again in British Vogue, which was a pleasant surprise, but before that I was thrilled to find this out-of-print book in Amazon’s Marketplace. The photo I painted appears on the first spread; the editor obviously liked it as much as I did!

Masked, but not terribly dangerous

Another homage to Holly, of course, this image above has been pinned up above my desk for a number of years. It has become a part of the furniture; sometimes it is completely covered by other tearsheets and scraps of interest. However, after posting up yesterday’s What I Actually Wore entry, I thought of this photo torn from British Vogue.

I originally ripped it out because I really liked the window treatment, but I’ve never been able to find the right kind of lace to emulate the look in my home.

You might have noticed I try to hide my face as much as possible in my photographs, so I am always looking for innovative ways to do so. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any animal masks such as Holly and ‘Fred-baby’ pinched from the dime store in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

And now the image is also apt in the superficial resemblance it bears to my own vintage dress.

This image is from an early 90s Ermenegildo Zegna ad, I believe. I certainly didn’t find the woman’s outfit inspiring even back then (but it is an ad for men’s fashion, after all); it was the kookiness of the styling that endeared it to me. I imagine the hostess of the party as an eccentric woman who puts a lampshade on her head on the spur of the moment … because it seems the right thing to do. And her guest, relaxed back in the couch and ready to be entertained, just throws his head back and laughs.

I’m now on the hunt for a vintage lampshade … hopefully you’ll see it on my head in the near future.

What can I say? This one is cute; a little saucy even. Some might call it kinky – but is it more or less so than my own Zorro mask?

Photo credits (from top): Mischa Richter, British Vogue; Ermenegildo Zegna advertisement, photographer unknown; Australian Elle, Feb 1998, photographer unknown.

Like sheep, they have all gone astray

Whatever happened to FOLLOW me magazine? I’m not talking about its most recent reincarnation in 2005 – a failed renaissance, and a short-lived one at that; I refer to the original magazine of the eighties. I was only a teen when I read it, and I didn’t have access to many international magazines (there was no Borders), but compared with what I could get my hands on then – Dolly, Cleo, Cosmo, Vogue – it was so much more original.

The editor of the relaunched title, Mark Vassallo said, "Back in the eighties we blew people’s minds with our forward-thinking and radical designs."¹ This was so true. When the latest issue hit the newsstands, I was so excited I would snatch it up and immediately buy it without even bothering to flick through the pages first.

Even today’s so-called alternative Australian magazines have a ubiquitous look about them.

As for the mainstream fashion magazines (yes, I’m talking about you, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar) why would I buy them when I’ve already read the articles printed therein on the pages of the international editions months ago?

Take a look at these spreads below, photographed by Martyn Thompson (now an internationally renowned lifestyle photographer) and styled by Jayson Brunsden (now a fashion designer). It’s not just their work that is admirable, but the art director and the copy writer have turned what could have been a pedestrian fashion editorial into something witty. They weren’t just interested in showing the clothes in every detail, but in the colours and shapes they make on the page. 

This was a magazine that was designed – not just laid out – in the manner of Alexey Brodovitch and Carmel Snow of Harper’s Bazaar in the 1930s–1950s.

I’ve typed out the captions for your enjoyment…

LADIES WHO LUNCH
Taking a cue from the couture of the Fifties, fashion wraps up, Balenciaga-style. So slip on the gloves, a real hat, a flash of technicolour, and darling, do lunch!

(Left) Totally coutured with the perfect accessory, the mini Kelly bag by Hermès. Bright red overcoat from Mondi, over Wendy Heather rust-coloured pullover; the hair wrapped and parcelled in Hermès ribbons. (Right) Lunch on pearls and cashmere in classic black by Trent Nathan. Strands of pearls from The Vintage Clothing Shop.

(Left) The chic suit by Robert Burton. Hair wrapped up in Hermès silk scarf. (Right) Perfectly topped in huge saucer-brimmed hat by Annabel. Rust suit by Ian McMaugh, over cropped black sweater by Wendy Heather. Earrings by Hermès.

(Left) Two ladies to lunch. Woollen wrap from David Jones, over Carla Zampatti suit and, in the foreground, suit by Charles Jourdan, silk scarf by Jendi. (Right) Flashes of Fifties technicolour in Covers bright mustard-yellow wide-collared jacket, bodysuit and brown skirt.

(Left) So chic, the shoe by Charles Jourdan. Rust-coloured pullover by Wendy Heather, the polo-neck strung with a tumble of jet beads from The Vintage Clothing Shop. (Right) Curved and carved in a wasp-waisted suit by The House of Merivale.

FOLLOW me, Feb/Mar 1988, Photographs by Martyn Thompson. Cover FOLLOW me #35, July 1988. Photographer unknown.

1 You can read B&T magazine’s full article here if you wish.