Wow, it's October. That seemed to come round quickly. The rapid passing of another month can be skimmed over quickly with the happy news that this month brings the next Kerry Taylor auction. It's typically wonderful stuff, with the lots including Lucile sketches, an abundance of Ossie Clark, a gorgeous Ascher scarf and Queen Victoria's drawers. Anne Dettmer's collection of American and French fashion has added some really interesting pieces to the selection but, if I was forced to pick just one thing for me (it's a hard life), it would probably have to be this Yves Saint Laurent Lips dress for the Rive Gauche line, and dating to around 1971. Though I wouldn't mind 19 pairs of Terry de Havilland shoes either.
On the subject of Yves Saint Laurent, there's going to be a new biopic apparently, with handsome French actor Gaspard Ulliel as Yves, and William Dafoe doing a turn as Warhol.
Here he is again (well some of his clothes), as snapped by Charlie Porter, on one of the storage units at the V&A's new Clothworkers Centre. This new fashion study facility looks really amazing, though my brain can't quite handle the shot used in the Time Out article - I watched Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy last night and Blythe House, the home of the centre, is used as the location for Spy HQ. I'm half imagining Gary Oldman popping out of one of the cupboards too!
Someone who would definitely love to get his mitts on the V&A's archive is Arnaud de Lummen who is buying up old designer names, convinced of their money-spinning potential. And when the names are as 'magic' as Mainboucher and Poiret, perhaps I see his point.
A very different archive that's recently been discovered is the sweater collection of Loes Veenstra. Since 1955, she's knitted over 500 jumpers, previously stored unworn in her house in Rotterdam. There's now a book of her collection and some of her sweaters are for sale. And there's this wonderfully colourful and happy video too.
To really labour the point that it's always worth digging around in an archive, I love this story about Hemingway's hamburger, recreated using a recipe in his archive of papers, held at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. The result? "I had never experienced such a combination of flavours in a burger before," gushes the writer. Quick, scour your cupboards for Mei Yen powder now!
Given the overall theme of today's links, how could I leave without showing you the beautiful Required Reading Index Organizer bag? It's taken from a new bookish-inspired collection from Kate Spade (found via To Be Shelved) that takes librarian chic to its extreme. I wholeheartedly approve.
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THIS MONTH ON LAST-YEAR GIRL:
* I went to Berlin: here are some of my favourite vintage shops.
* I visited God's Own Junkyard and marvelled at the incredible neon creations.
* And found a great new source for youth culture material, PY-Zine.
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NEW BOOKS ON LAST-YEAR GIRL BOOKS:
* A 1950s Penguin edition of Christian Dior's autobiography Dior by Dior and a hardback edition of Diana Vreeland's D.V.
* Two issues of one of the 60s most influential magazines, Nova: November 1967 here and December 1967 here.
* Ernestine Carter's Magic Names of Fashion (read my review of this book)
* And some 1950s fashion and beauty advice, courtesy of Betty Page (read my review of this book)
Thanks so much for the link to the V&A's Clothworkers Centre. That's an incredible facility.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome. It looks amazing doesn't it? I can't wait to go on a tour.
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