What’s the best thing about the internet? Trick question, it’s everything. But mostly, being able to tap in a few words, "Rick Griffin" say; and then receiving in an instant, pages of results of the Californian artist's work, with comix, handbills, posters, album covers, as well as studio and life shots, featuring his influential '60s psych style, with that instantly recognisable hand-drawn lettering, strobing colours, and surf vibes aplenty. What an age.
“The cops now know the whole scene, even the costumes, the jesuschrist strung-out hair, Indian beads, Indian headbands, donkey beads, temple bells, amulets, mandalas, god's-eyes, fluorescent vests, unicorn horns, Errol Flynn dueling shirts—but they still don't know about the shoes. The heads have a thing about shoes. The worst are shiny black shoes with shoelaces in them. The hierarchy ascends from there, although practically all lowcut shoes are unhip, from there on up to the boots the heads like, light, fanciful boots, English boots of the mod variety, if that is all they can get, but better something like hand-tooled Mexican boots with Caliente Dude Triple A toes on them. So see the FBI—black—shiny—laced up—FBI shoes—”
At the risk of becoming a walking Tumblr of New Wave movie stills and inspirational quotes, I would like to state the following:
b) I still stand by my intense dislike of musicals; which makes no sense because I love both movies and music.
c) If you are a fan of movies, and in particular New Wave movies, and happen to be in Sydney, I recommend a visit to Kinema. I recently spent a humid Sydney night watching Breathless FOR THE FIRST TIME ON A BIG(GISH) SCREEN here and it was spectacs. I mean: this line.
FIN.
NEWS FLASH: I love all things ‘60s. NEWS FLASH: I also love France and French-related products, people, fashion and culture. NEWS FLASH: I found a TV show that incorporates ALL of these things plus MORE. Ok I’m going to stop doing that now. NEWS FLASH: I lied!
‘Dim Dam Dom’ was a French pop music show that ran in the golden era from 1965 – 70 and starred people like, oh, I don’t know, Jimi Hendrix, Jane Birkin and Anais Freakin Nin. NBD.
Everything about it: the ‘experimental’ camera work, the retro intro (with vocals from yé-yé popstar France Gall), the art direction and style… it’s a GOLDMINE of AWESOME. You’re welcome.
File this one under: further reasons to love the internets. Thanks internets!
Also file under: things to buy me for my birthday.
More info here at French Wiki
DVDs of the series available at Mod Cinema
Yes: I'm totally aware that pretty much every teenager with a Tumblr wishes they were alive in the 1960's/ dressing like Françoise Hardy/ protesting at the 1968 Paris riots. But I'm not going to deny my long-lived affinity for the '60s just because I want to be underground. Eff no.
Personally, I find the current fascination for the early '60s / late '50s culturally illuminating... it was a time known for dropping out of cultural norms and young people actually making a change in the world - a time when true change was not only possible, but apparent and tangible. Bam. I love that stuff. I love the cheekiness and meaningfulness and the playfulness and the rebelliousness and the sincerity of it. And there's something about it that appeals to people today, a fact made perhaps more interesting by the fact that Time's Person of the Year was The Protester.
But apart from cultural aims, attitudes, music and lifestyle (which all clearly rock hard), I also have a huge affinity with '60s style. Jane Birkin, Anna Karina, Pattie Boyd, every girl in Godard movies or Sam Haskins photographs, the Beatles. Sixties fashion is feminine, girlish, subtly sexy, a lil bit preppy. All things which I think suit me and my personality - not to mention that genetically I'm more Jane Birkin than Jane Mansfield. (Not that I'm 1% as gorge as the Birks, who incidentally is heading to Oz for the Adelaide Festival soon - yippee!)
Um, see what happens when I mean to write a simple intro for an Italian Vogue video on Annie Monroe of The Like? SEE WHAT HAPPENS YOU GUYS. Gosh.
So anyway I screencapped the crap out of it. Enjoy.
You can watch the whole thing and other style icon vids over at Vogue Italia here.
Fell a bit in love with these nostalgic black and white photographs of Annie Monroe (from my band crush, The Like), shot by London photographer James D Kelly. While this shoot has that '60s Godard vibe (natch!), as I delved more into Kelly's work (particularly his photographic diary), I couldn't help but think of Brassaï - that non-Parisian whose impromptu photos documented Parisian nightlife of the '30s and '40s so well. Both, to me, have the same immediate, journalistic feeling, a sense of slight seediness, and an undercurrent of stillness - like stills from a film that I'd totally love to watch.
All pics from www.jamesdkelly.com
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| Jalouse magazine |
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| www.elle.nl & Lookbook |
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| www.misspandora.fr |
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| abuffalostance.blogspot.com & www.shareordie.in |
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| Daily Alexa Chung |
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| www.misspandora.fr |
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| Vogue Italia March 2007 |
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| And what post would complete without a pic of Bardot playing the guitar naked? Correct answer: none. |
The US singer does the whole wide-eyed sixties thing so well it'd make Jane Birkin and Shelley Duvall warm 'n' fuzzy. Bonus points for bringing back hats.
Pics from dianebirch.com and www.myspace.com/dianebirch
Writer, editor, coffee drinker.
The Street Stylers
The Mags
Content copyright friggen awesome. Photos and images taken from other websites are linked and/or referenced back to original source.
