Wild Men in Tweed

In honour of the ManStyle exhibition I reviewed the other day, I bring you here four wild men with a penchant for tweed and silliness in the Scottish highlands. They appeared in British Vogue, c. 1990s, and were photographed by Hanspeter Schneider.

I love how they’ve thrown themselves right into the theme of the shoot, and have no reluctance at all at being photographed pulling faces. Their eccentric outfits work wonderfully with the picturesque background. It’s only a pity that I haven’t kept the whole editorial.

 

The Great Escape

One of my tearsheet books is full of travel stories ripped from fashion and décor magazines over many years. It’s a great inspiration and escape just to flick through the pages. Most of the locations are exotic: countries of the Middle-East, the Far East, and Africa – cultures as different as possible from the one I grew up in, in Australia (as much as it is a melting pot).

In particular, these black and white images by Patrick Demarchelier in a 90s photoshoot for British Vogue are wonderful. The location is Egypt, and the model is Tatjana Patitz. It is not so much the clothing that fascinates me but the evocative backdrops, redolent of mystery and exotic flavour. … Although I am not sure if it would be recommended for a lone woman traveller to sit down at a café table with two men in a Muslim country. There are obviously different rules for models. Still, it makes me dream.

Click on images for larger versions. 

A Sorry Selection of Sinnamay Sculptures

British Vogue, c.1990; click on image for larger version

What better time to discuss ‘aristohats’ than just a few days after the Royal Wedding? It should come as no surprise to my regular visitors that I love hats – particularly vintage chapeaux. However, I was sorely disappointed in the fare on offer on Friday.

What a sorry collection of sinnamay sculptures! Nearly all of the hats were constructed from this gauzy plant fibre, and the trim – be it feathers, antlers, horns, wriggling tentacles, or gargantuan loops – was almost token. Everyone was wearing virtually the same hat – in a different colour. Boring. And almost EVERY hat was worn dangling from the forehead. What was with that? Did they all have the same stylist?

I found many of the outfits even more of a yawn. What was with all the monotone dressing head to foot? And so many conservative, sensible suits? Boring, boring! Were the guests really – as my friend Lulue suggested tongue-in-cheek – given a sartorial rulebook?

Everyone was wearing virtually the same hat – in a different colour

For all the controversy Philip Treacy’s hat for Princess Beatrice has provoked, at least it seems to have some concept behind it, rather than consisting merely of a sinnamay base, decorated with a bit of trim.

The hats in this page (top) ripped from a British Vogue circa the early 1990s look more interesting – or could it be just Lawrence Mynott’s lovely illustration style that makes them look so gorgeous? (I really like numbers 5, 7 and 8.)

Interestingly at the time this article was written, Philip Treacy was fresh out of the RCA, and the leading British milliners were Frederick Fox, Graham Smith and Philip Somerville. David Shilling states that ‘he designed nothing silly for spring’. But if you can't be silly in spring, when can you be?

Of Mangos and Wimples

This lovely summery image shot by Helmut Newton makes the cover of Australian Vogue, Summer 1960.

On the contents page, the credit states:

The look of now, on the beaches; a back bared beautifully to the waistline, and the stunning counterpoint of a hat as wide and sheltering as a beach umbrella. This one, in mango pink straw, is anchored against lifting sea breezes by a wimple of nylon marquisette. Weedmans, Brisbane and Surfers Paradise, 84s.

Quite a bit of poetic licence there: I have never seen a mango exactly this shade before. And a wimple? Presumably this is a tie under the chin, but that’s a rather unattractive description for a very pretty hat. I think Vogue should have kept that detail under its hat…

The Spirit of Christmas

It’s Christmas Eve at last, and it’s a warm summer’s day here in Melbourne. I have grown up with hot Christmases, so for me the notion of a snowy Christmas is exotic. That’s why I particularly love this photoshoot by Tim Walker from British Vogue, shot in Ireland. It’s not snowing, but that billowing tartan skirt looks so cosy, and an armful of holly is a simply wonderful concept. There’s an air of anticipation as they make ready for Christmas; a holiday excitement that makes them sing and skip.

I don’t know which issue of Vogue these pages are torn from, but I am guessing that it is at least 5–10 years old. Although there is a delightful touch of whimsy in the styling (hanging upsidedown; tipping through a window), there is not the Walker trademark of the utterly fantastic. This is not to say the shoot suffers any loss by it; rather it makes it easier to imagine inhabiting that cold Christmas world.

It’s a lovely inspiration for tomorrow however – I haven’t yet decided what to wear. Now a shot lilac silk dress beckons, and perhaps a pair of bejewelled green satin sandals too…

Click on images for larger versions.