CHRISTMAS GIFTS: ETHNIC CLOTHING

If you're lucky enough to live near shops that sell ethnic clothing (above) you might consider giving your significant other a folk costume gift. You don't have to buy the whole ensemble, just a nice element, something that looks good all by itself. 

Me, I think the Poles beat everybody in Europe, or at least they beat other women's designs. You'd never know it to look at the Polish girls in the picture above. They seem downright miserable. I wonder why? 

Here's (above) some Hungarian designs with a Gypsy influence. I wonder if traditional skirts were that high? Maybe they were.

This beautiful design looks like a synthesis of Polish, Russian and Scandinavian influences, so I'll guess that it comes from a place where all those elements merge, mmmm....maybe Latvia or Estonia. 

Boy, it's elaborate! Costumes like this were more common before The Reformation. After that designs were more austere.

Geez, one of the sexiest things a girl can wear is a simple white blouse (above).

Above, more white blouses set off with dark vests and embroidery. The country of origin? Maybe...mmmmmm...Danish???

So far as I can tell the best costume designs for men (above) come from German speaking countries. The problem is that they favor leather jackets and pants and those can be pricey and difficult to alter.

John gave me a whole outfit like this once. If I can lose some X#@%*& weight I'll wear it.

Fortunately Germans also make great woolen jackets and vests. The green makes a nice contrast with the red, white and black.

Now where do these (above) come from? East Europe? Armenia?

Above...Finnish?

Here's (above) a dress from Ireland. Wow, a nice blend of Celtic and Viking. I like the suggestion of lightning on the bodice. I don't know why, but the design reminds me that the true art of that country is storytelling.

There are lots of outlets on the internet (sample above) for this type of clothing. According to the ad embroidery is used as a protection against evil spirits.

BEATNIK COSTUMES

Three girls who are going to the same Halloween party might try something like this...The Three Bored Beatnik Girls. It's important to look bored and aloof if you're going to be a beatnik. 

Geez, I wish I hadn't shaken the camera when I took this. Thanks to Mike for revealing his p....to Theory Corner readers. Oh, "P" is for porcelain. I had to look up the spelling.

Here are the same girls, only in color this time. How do you like "Darn-Old Duck" in the background at the top?

That's all I have on beatniks, but I do have more pictures. What do you think of this painting by Carl Barks?  I stole this from Michael Sporn's site. Michael says its his favorite Barks Painting. It's one of my favorites too, along with the "Scrooge in the Klondike" pictures.

Michael's site: http://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/

Above, old crones from a dark ride that I can't identify. I have a great idea for a dark ride. Maybe I can work it into a story.

Where would Halloween be without spiders?

This (above) looks like an amusement park ride that takes its passengers straight to Hell then returns for more victims.

Nice!

Can't think of a costume?  Maybe a hat is all you need.

Sometimes (above) it's only necessary to cover the back of the skull. 

For outdoor work on hot, sunny days I could actually see having a hat like this. 

Thanks to TCM we have lots of Halloween movies to choose from. Here's a still from "The Innocents." 

This (above) is from my favorite horror film, "Burn Witch, Burn." It's based on a terrific book by Fritz Leiber, "Conjure Wife," and a wonderful screenplay by Richard Matheson.

Then there's the wordless underground classic (above), "Dementia."

Can you find the face in this Baroque wall detail?

Here's a couple of my favorite sequences from James Whale's "Old Dark House." Start at 49:00 and end with 106:00. I'm a big fan of the The eccentric/elocution-acting style that preceded modern acting styles and that method is vividly on display here. 

Watch for it in the character of Sir Robert (The old man in bed, played by a woman) and the in character called Saul. Melvyn Douglas was one of the finest practitioners of the smooth elocution style that replaced the old style so we have a clash of acting styles that produces lots of fireworks. 

SAVILLE ROW SUITS

Boy, I wish I could have a suit like the kind Connery wore in the early James Bonds.

I like that tailored look superimposed on a good fabric. The area around the shoulders and neck is especially important to get right. The fabric has to cling like a second skin.

Me, I can't afford a tailor-made suit. I get 'em off the rack.

They (above) never fit right. I probably look horrible in them.

How did Cary Grant do it? He looks like he was born in a suit.

Wouldn't you kill to have real, custom-tailored, Saville Row threads? You can have one like this (above) for just under $5,000.

Here's one (above) by Saville Row stylist, Tom Ford. It has an Armani influence and sells for a measly $2,700.

Since the hippie era men's suits have been regarded with suspicion as emblems of class distinction. They certainly are that, but they're also symbolic of efficacy, intellect, and sophistication. That last point, sophistication, requires a little history to appreciate.

In Louis XIV's time (above) men's clothes were all about ostentatious wealth.  

Beau Brummel, the great simplifier of fashion in Regency England (early 1800s), changed all that. He favored the look shown above. Even kings deferred to him.

Brummel later favored the modification shown above and, once again, everyone followed. Collars were lowered in imitation of the way naval officers dressed. Men like the military look.

Amazingly women's fashions didn't undergo a similar simplification. They continued to wear ornate, Marie Antoinette-style wedding cakes for a kazillion years or so. Sophisticated style was the domain of men from Brummel's time til after WWI.


                                                   
England is a cold and damp country so eventually Brummel's sporty look gave way to the frock (above), which was long and sheltering, and always buttoned in the front. The frock favored the tie which was initially used to show off the wearer's school or regional colors.

The older Brummel design was kept alive by sportsman and military men who preferred the freedom of movement it afforded. Horsemen especially favored this cut and, since most people rode in the mornings, this type of jacket was called a "morning" coat.

The modern suit jacket is the inevitable result of combining the frock and morning coat in one medium-length jacket that can be worn all day long.

Buttons on the sleeve came about because physicians insisted on them so they could roll up their sleeves without taking their jackets off.  Saville Row began by catering to the doctor trade, so the buttons persisted, even when they were no longer in demand. Maybe also because they seemed to denote military rank.

Sigh.

RANDOM THOUGHTS ON FASHION

Boy, women (above) sure like fashion! 

What's in now are thick eyebrows and unibrows. You see them everywhere. Some people attribute that to the influence of Joan Crawford in the forties. Maybe, but my guess is that it started big time with the rediscovery of the feminist communist painter, Frida Kahlo (above). Kahlo did a zillion portraits of herself which not only emphasized bushy eyebrows but also her girl mustache and jaw line hair.

That's Kahlo in real life (above), proudly displaying her mustache.

The Kahlo mustache failed to catch on but, as I said, thick eyebrows are everywhere.

Imagine how that makes girls like this one (above) feel. Lots of girls permanently removed their entire eyebrows thinking that thin, painted on brows were the height of chic, and would be with us til the end of time. Aaaargh! Fashion can be cruel. 

On another subject, I observe that a lot of women still like to knit (above).

And they still knit for their boyfriends (above), too.

On yet another subject, here's an outfit (above) that was around when I was a kid: bottle cap hat, loose top, ultra-tight calf-length skirt, and long, long cigarette holder. It was the "Pepsi Generation" look.

This (above) was around at the same time: Scoop-back dresses with face fish net festooned with little black balls or cloth bugs. John K is obsessed with these bug nets.

The latest fashion is sneakers with toes. They make everybody's feet look like Goofy's. This (above) is the most popular brand: "Vibram Five Fingers." It started as something for barefoot runners but now they're regarded as chic, and even couch potatoes have them. They require socks with toes.

Interesting, eh?