All posts by Gwyn Conaway

Fashion, music, politics, sports

[February 26th, 1967] Geoffrey Beene, The Master of Modernity

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by Gwyn Conaway

As I lounge in my silk dressing gown this morning, sipping a cup of tea, I find myself loath to venture forth into the day. Must I don nylons and lady-like undergarments composed of hooks and wires and straps? Come to that, must a man wear a tie and a suit jacket? Today, I am belligerent about the world and its rules.

Rather than prepare for the office, I have turned towards fawning over the designs of Geoffrey Beene. Taking my rebellious streak into consideration, this is a perfectly logical digression. This rising fashion designer shares my distaste of formality and convention, and to my delight, has been turned away from fine restaurants for refusing to wear a dinner jacket on more than one occasion. I applaud his rejection of tradition, particularly on mornings like this, on which I have no intention of following the rules of decorum.


Geoffrey Beene, photographed in 1965, sporting a very relatable affably unimpressed expression.


Geoffrey Beene designs, Harper's Bazaar, 1967

Womenswear has become increasingly structured and columnar these last few years, and as a result has lost connection with the human body. Interestingly, this disconnect is by design. Pierre Cardin is quoted as saying that he doesn’t consider the woman within his gowns, but thinks of each creation as architecture. Though this is certainly a valid design approach, particularly in avant garde, fashion is no longer ruled by the elite and their runways. Rather, the young and broke have become a ringing voice within the industry; a voice that calls for freedom of movement and accessible fabrics.


Pierre Cardin’s Cosmos Collection was released this winter, but has been labeled too impractical for the market.


In comparison, Beene’s football gowns strike a fanciful balance between glamour and leisure that has piqued the interests of the younger, more personable generation.

Mr Beene is rather new to the industry, but his impact is already creating ripples of change. From a rural Louisiana town, he understands the importance of mobility, something with which many designers are currently unconcerned. While the likes of Rabanne, Courrèges, and Gernreich are focusing their designs on the distant future, Mr Beene is designing for today. Miniskirts are lengthening back towards the calves, textiles are relaxing, and notions are regressing from metal zippers and snaps to wooden buttons and ties.

Mr Beene is doing exactly the same, concerning himself primarily with modernity and autonomy. His point of view is uniquely American working class, with the goal of giving control back to the wearer, prioritizing comfort and mobility. To achieve this, he employs primarily sportswear materials, such as athletic mesh and wool jersey. Wool jersey was originally developed for men's swimwear at the turn of the century, and is his favorite medium for women's eveningwear today.


Two models stand in Beene’s fitting room, which is designed to feel comfortable and leisurely, much like his work.

Take, for instance, the eveningwear above, which debuted this winter. Note that the evening dress to the right combines Mr Beene’s love of sequins and lame with a collared cotton eyelet blouse. Collared shirts and cotton are both unconventional choices for an evening gown, as they’re usually associated with daywear. The use of daytime materials and cuts allows the woman wearing a Beene creation to feel simultaneously familiar and elegant. This combination highlights a sense of leisure, a facet of fashion that is traditionally relegated to the study, the resort, and the bedroom.


Beene poses with two models wearing his cocktail dresses from this year. The relaxed fit and miniskirt length suggest daywear while the materials, marabou and sequins, suggest eveningwear. Another perfect blend of American sportswear and formality.

Fashion is going through a metamorphosis, swinging from the uniformity of the Space Age and Mod fashion to a more temperate, organic frame of mind. I often see these pendulous motions swinging from one extreme to the other, and I am convinced that Mr Beene’s modern point of view is going to break open the fashion establishment. Personally, I’m looking forward to a more blasé approach to formality.

[Come join us at Portal 55, Galactic Journey's real-time lounge!  Talk about your favorite SFF, chat with the Traveler and co., relax, sit a spell…]




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[November 28, 1966] Truman Capote's Ink and Paper Cinderella (a party to end all parties)

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by Gwyn Conaway

Truman Capote has thrown a party and it might just be the talk of the century!


Truman Capote grew up in Alabama during the Great Depression and strived for a life of luxury and fame. When he finally found acclaim, it became apparent very soon after that he had the personality and audacity to fit the high society bill.

This rising star of American literature published In Cold Blood, his first widely acclaimed piece of work, with Random House Publishing earlier this year. Though the “nonfiction novel” propelled the small-town Alabamian onto international bestseller lists and the critic’s chopping block, securing both his notoriety and fortune alike, it’s this week's "Black and White Ball" that has bestowed him with the mantle of high society.


Oscar de la Renta and Françoise de Langlade wearing cat masks at the Black and White Ball, held in the Grand Ballroom of the Plaza Hotel, November 28th, 1966.

In fact, there hasn’t been quite this sort of mystery surrounding an invitation since Paul Poiret’s A Thousand and Second Night in 1911. Capote has, perhaps, received inspiration from the late French fashion designer in taking painstaking care to design his guest list and requiring a strict dress code for the spectacle of the soiree. While Poiret’s guests wore harem pants, lampshade dresses, and turbans inspired by the Ballets Russes’ Schéhérazade, Capote’s were instructed to wear masks, black, and white.


An illustration of Denise Poiret by George le Pape at One Thousand and Second Night, the infamous party at Chez Poiret. If guests arrived without something to wear, they were given something or politely turned away. The shapes and adornment of Poiret's fashions strike a chord with us today, and can be seen at Capote's ball as well.

Of course, Capote couldn’t throw such a lavish affair for himself; that would be in very poor taste, after all. All summer, he sat by literary agent and editor Eleanor Friede’s poolside, considering his guests. He carried his book with him all through the fall, crossing names off, adding new ones, taking notes. His little book became a subject of great curiosity, and so did the guest of honor. Most of us believed he’d choose one of his “swans”, the beautiful women he cavorts with these days, so imagine my surprise when he chose Katharine Graham, publisher of the Washington Post.


Katharine Graham, the guest of honor, and Capote in attendance at the Black and White Ball. Pictured to the right is her mask, designed by famous American designer Halston.

Katharine Graham has hinted that she felt more like a prop for Capote’s whims than a guest of honor, but the baffled newspaper president accepted his invitation. The evening has revitalized her social standing and thrust one of the most important women in America back into the spotlight. Graham took over the capital’s most important daily publication after the unfortunate suicide of her late husband, Phillip Graham in 1963. Since then, she’s faced a tumultuous fight for recognition in a world in which men have dominated since the dawn of the periodical. Choosing Graham was ingenious. Although her influence and power reaches far and wide, she lives deep within her work and has rarely surfaced to socialize since the death of her husband. As a result, the queen of the press became Capote’s Cinderella, and the linchpin of the party’s success.

To be fair, the rest of the guest list didn’t disappoint the gossipers either. In fact, it put the party squarely at the top of this century’s list of places to be and people to see. Though the likes of first daughter Lynda Bird Johnson, Frank Sinatra, Gloria Vanderbilt, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were among the socialites grooving until four in the morning, it wasn’t necessarily the star power that made this party so thrilling. The hotel doorman, Andy Warhol, and a few residents of little Holcomb, Kansas, where he did research for In Cold Blood, were also invited. It’s true that high society parties like this are usually a strict in-crowd affair, but at the Black and White Ball, the more than five hundred guests were rubbing shoulders with people they never would have met otherwise. This cross-pollination of economics, politics, and culture is perhaps the last we’ll see for quite some time.


Notably, Capote’s critics were not invited to the ball. Kenneth Tynan of The Observer, for example. He vehemently criticized In Cold Blood and accused Capote of hoping both killers, Richard Hicock and Perry Smith, would be executed for the real massacre behind the novel so the ending would be more cathartic. Capote's infamous notebook is displayed on the right.

The party itself was a carefully designed spectacle. Although gloves have gone out of fashion in recent years, thanks to the dissipation of social modesty caused by the Beatnik and Mod movements, department stores and glovers ran a shortage this month in preparation for the big day. Milliners also faced a heavy burden, filling orders for fantastical masks and surreal headwear. And while the preparations for the ball were hectic all across New York City, the parade of costumes was just as eclectic and exhilarating. Capote proclaimed he was inspired by the Ascot scene in My Fair Lady and his guests took this to heart.


My Fair Lady came out in 1964. It was directed by George Cukor and starred Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison. The Ascot scene has proven to be a major influence in the fashion world, and will likely continue to be referenced for decades to come. Bravo to costume designer Cecil Beaton for his lasting legacy!




Top: Princess Lee Radziwell, sister to former First Lady Jackie Kennedy, shows off her couture treasures to the adoring press; Middle: Andy Warhol, cult pop artist; Bottom: Guests who built their own masks out of papier-mâché and paint. The range of who's who at this party was enormous! Wildly different politics and economics. Who could have guessed we'd see these faces at the same party?

Maybe Truman Capote really did throw the Black and White Ball as a frivolous exercise in his newfound fame and wealth, but I see a gathering on the cusp of great division with far more significance. Although the theme was meant to inspire a sort of graphic elegance in the song-and-dance of high society entertainment, Capote’s guests betray a social experiment at the heart of his event. What with the rise of the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam War protests, the Women's Movement, and so much more, could Capote be signaling to the Old Guard that the world is changing? Considering he chose to honor Katharine Graham, after months of reflection, and dressed the entire event in the colors of ink and paper, I simply can’t imagine this was all a convenient happenstance.

In truth, we often belittle the significance of spectacles like these until they are a distant memory, blinded by the wealth in attendance and whether or not the champagne was chilled or the dancing rowdy. Perhaps we suffer from jealousy in wishing we had been there ourselves, that we had walked the red carpet parade and smiled for the tabloids. Though I suffer from the same afflictions, of course, I still must ask myself: when is a party no longer just a party?

The Black and White Ball is on the wobbly edge, in my opinion. Was Capote simply bold in throwing aside the social conventions of like rubbing shoulders with like? Or did he adorn a politically charged event in the trappings of an extravaganza? Regardless of the answer, or maybe because there doesn’t seem to be one, he managed to pull off the party of the century.

[And while it might not quite rival Capote's party, the permanent floating event in Portal 55, Galactic Journey's real-time lounge, is always jumping!  Talk about your favorite SFF, chat with the Traveler and co., relax, sit a spell…]




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[August 22, 1966] Been Beatnik So Long, Hippies Looking Up to Me

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by Gwyn Conaway

I just set down my brand new copy of Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me, a novel written by Richard Fariña, and I can confidently say that the colorful lights of hippie acid tests have finally overwhelmed the intellectually trendy monochrome of the beatniks. And though this has been a steadily changing tide the last few years, it now appears to be an inevitable rise that will affect our fashionable futures for years to come.


The novel is a modern Odyssey following the adventures of a college student named Gnossos in his search for a woman in green knee-socks. Most of the novel centers around challenging our systems of education and government, seeking karma, and liberating youth from the tyranny of traditional morals. In an act of divine poetry, Fariña died earlier this year in a motorcycle accident here in California, at the start of his book tour in San Francisco, where so much of this movement is coalescing.

California has become the center of a massive shift in popular culture this past year, seducing young intellectuals to its college campuses and festivals in a rapidly growing snowball of illicit substances, music, and self expression. This has led us into new, uncharted fashion waters dominated by natural fibers, hand-embellished adornments, and a color palette inspired by the pursuit of nirvana.

The Hippie Movement is most definitely a natural progression from the Beatnik Movement, following the ever-worsening divide between generations, the popularity of psychedelic drugs and dope, and the politics of questionable warfare. Both of these movements are centered around the crossroads between music and intellectualism, promoting a free love lifestyle through art and literature, with followers that migrate like pilgrims from one mecca to the next, relying heavily on their countercultural communities to find security rather than the suburbs and pensions.


Bob Dylan in San Francisco with poets Allen Ginsburg and Michael McClure, as well as guitarist Robbie Robertson, 1965. The beatniks adhere to the stereotype of a black beret, black turtleneck, and cigarette trousers and are iconified by idols such as Bob Dylan and The Beatles. The term, interestingly enough, also originated in the San Francisco Chronicle in 1958, combining The Beat Generation with the Yiddish -nik, which translates to -er. I suspect this is also in reference to Sputnik and served as a dig towards the Beat Generation, implying it was an unpatriotic and ungrateful youth movement.

There is, however, one defining difference between these two movements. While the beatniks feel dissonant and hopelessly separate from society at large, the hippies are overwhelmingly hopeful, striving to bring the world together.

This new wave of love and peace is particularly apparent in the Haight, a neighborhood in San Francisco where more than fifteen thousand hippies have migrated as of this summer, following the music of the likes of Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead. This great social experiment has transformed life in the bay area with parties like the Acid Tests organized by Ken Kesey and new businesses such as the head shop Ron and Jay Thelin’s Psychedelic Shop, supplying much of the Haight’s LSD and marijuana, and the coffee shop The Blue Unicorn.

And while the Haight is a petri dish of hippie ideals, it’s the events of Ken Kesey that are truly at the center of hippie fashion. In January of this year, he organized the Trips Festival in San Francisco at the Longshoreman’s Hall. This weekend extravaganza is now considered the first real gathering of hippies en masse. The crowd of ten thousand drank punch spiked with LSD to experience the music in an altered state of consciousness. Similarly, Kesey’s Acid Tests, a series of parties organized largely in Los Angeles these days, also heavily promote the drug and enhance its properties with the use of strobe lights, glowing paints, and black lights.


Note that the two men pictured here are wearing a corduroy jacket with a lamb's wool collar (front) and a poet's shirt with a paisley facing in the collar (back). LSD not only affects the eye, but all other senses as well. As a result, we see heavy use of textured materials in hippie fashion, such as crochet, fringe, and beading. This sensitivity to designing for "the trip" is an entirely new way of thinking about fashion.


A Grateful Dead postcard in comparison to the psychedelic paisleys (center and right). LSD causes undulation of sight, which brings us this sensationally warped graphic design and revives paisley as a major motif of the era. Note how the paisley is designed with "burn out", meaning that it's meant to replicate the bleeding of colors experienced by those tripping on LSD.

It’s this attention to LSD in the design of these events that has so thoroughly influenced the young rebellious fashions of today. Bright kaleidoscopic color palettes, unsteady stripes and warped geometric forms are commonplace among the hippies. This has led to the rise in popularity of paisley patterns, tie dye, and corduroy.

Tie dye has an especially close connection to the music scene and as such I think will be a defining fashion of this new movement moving forward. During parties such as the Acid Tests, a projector screen is used to light the band with swirling colors and bubbles. This swirling light show directly relates to the swirling colors now found on microbuses, t-shirts, posters, and more.


An insider look into the Trips Festival this summer. Where kaleidoscopic lights and patterns were used to enhance the effects of LSD. Compare the light show to the tie dyes below.


Tie dye and other symbols of the Hippie Movement have already permeated the fashion world from the streets up. Here we have a psychedelic vendor at a music festival selling tie dye t-shirts next to a exceptional velvet coat designed by American fashion designer Roy Halston.

The surge of hippies in California has truly taken us by storm, and the rise of head shops, communes, and music festivals is not well-liked by many. Divisive opinions on those that partake in LSD and marijuana have colored the hippies as mentally unstable vagabonds. Already there are rumblings of LSD being made illegal in The Golden State to curb the tide. This pushback by the more conservative echelons of America, however, only legitimizes the movement in the eyes of the young and passionate.

Which invites the questions: how polarized will this movement become, and what lasting effects will it leave in its wake? How will it change fashion? Will we move towards nature and organic shapes again? Will we abandon synthetic fabrics in favor of natural fibers? Will men finally return to moustaches and beards for the first time since the start of modern warfare?

Only time and upheaval will tell.

[Come join us at Portal 55, Galactic Journey's real-time lounge!  It's the grooviest place: Talk about your favorite SFF, chat with the Traveler and co., relax, sit a spell…]




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Fashion, music, politics, sports

[April 29, 1966] Young and Bold: Photographer David Bailey

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by Gwyn Conaway


David Bailey's Box of Pin-Ups was released in 1964 in the United Kingdom but never made its way (officially) across the pond.

Today has gifted me with a much-desired treat: a suite of photographs by the infamous David Bailey titled Box of Pin-Ups. This is a defining collection of photography, and I’m saddened by its lack of accessibility here in the United States. It has taken all year to find such a treasure! Let’s delve, dear readers, into the work of the defining fashion photographer of our time.


From left to right: Reggie, Charlie, and Ronnie Kray. Why is Box of Pin-Ups not available in the United States, you ask? Why, none other than Lord Snowden, of course. He bemoaned the fact that the Kray brothers (above) are subjects of Bailey’s lens. True, the twins Ronnie and Reggie Kray are crime lords in the East End, but history proves time and time again that one’s virtue is not necessarily the trait that defines an era, nor one’s importance in capturing it. History finds both the hero and the villain equally fascinating.

David Bailey is an intriguing example of the working class artist rocketing to fame in the Swinging London scene. Suffering from both dyslexia and dyspraxia, a young Bailey had to seek out creative outlets as he completely and utterly abandoned his schooling. In fact, he left school when he was only fifteen years old, bounced around from job to job, and served in Singapore in the Royal Air Force. It was during this time that he bought his first camera, a Rolleiflex.


The Rolleiflex 2.8E is what I suspect his first camera to have been, released in 1956.

In 1960, a mere year into his career as a photographer, he began working with British Vogue, but it wasn’t until 1962 that he caught my eye. Vogue was beginning to promote younger fashions with a more modern feel, you see, and that work was to be done with a Rolleiflex. The camera is known for capturing movement and spontaneity, a must-have when photographing guerilla-style on the busy, gritty streets of Manhattan. So David Bailey and Jean Shrimpton, the Face of the 60’s herself, were tasked with a bare bones production. No hair or makeup artists. No lighted sets. Just the two of them, the photographer and the model, capturing what Bailey coined “Young Idea Goes West.”


Note the spontaneity of the images and how the fashions from Jaeger and Susan Small are caught in the flurry of New York life. British Vogue’s Lady Clare Rendlesham was reticent to feature this sort of realism in her magazine, which up until this point had focused on the aristocratic high polish of the 1950s.

I was so impressed with the journey of the series, seeing a young woman explore the wiles and wonders of the Big Apple. Truly, New York City is a chaotic and bustling town that is difficult to capture without having been there, walking down the streets at a clip. Bailey’s attention to this chaos is evident in the series, showcasing his mastery of the lens and celebrating his youth and boldness.


Bailey uses reflections in glass display windows and street poles to frame Shrimpton in the chaos of the city, while also capturing the candid reactions of local pedestrians as a way of framing Shrimpton’s role in this journey: a young woman full of wonder and wanderlust that can’t help but gain the attention of those around her.

Box of Pin-Ups is similarly youthful and bold. In fact, I’d venture to say that this is a seminal collection of photographs for more than one reason.

Firstly, a collection of photographs has never been sold in this manner before. It proves to me without a doubt that photographers of our times are cultural flames just like the models, fashion designers, and musicians they capture. I suspect we will see other photographers follow suit in the years and decades to come.

Secondly, the figures captured are not just the stars and starlets of our youth revolution. The collection includes such artists as Cecil Beaton, the famed war photographer, Rudolph Nureyev, the exceptional ballet danseur, and David Puttnam, an advertising executive. Bailey’s Box of Pin Ups captures the provocateurs of our times, the Swinging 60s, regardless of whether they’re already in the spotlight. His collection of movers and shakers is a look inward at the people inspiring our changing times.


From left to right: Cecil Beaton, David Puttnam, and Rudolph Nureyev.

However, the most interesting thing about the collection is actually distilled in the commentary of Francis Wyndham, who has included notes in the collection for each photograph. Wyndham astutely claims that “in the age of Mick Jagger, it is the boys who are the pin-ups.” This statement couldn’t hit the mark any more clearly than in Bailey’s collection. Only four of the subjects, out of thirty-six, are women.

This prompted me to look at the collection with even more sophistication. Bailey states it baldly in the title Box of Pin-Ups and in looking at his figures from that point of view, it’s clear that the male subjects are displaying their fashion choices – ergo their identities – with pride and vigor. This attention to vanity, as it’s often coined, is usually reserved for women’s modeling, fashion, and advertisement.


From left to right: The Beatles member John Lennon and record producer Andrew Oldham. Notice the unapologetic celebration of men's beauty here, in the delicate fanning on John Lennon's eyelashes and the bishop sleeve of Oldham's blouse.

Which invites the question: Has the arrival of sensations such as The Beatles, The Kinks, and Mick Jagger broken open a new era of male complexity? Since the early nineteenth century, men have been relegated to a very narrow range of roles. In fact, there was a concerted effort after the French Revolution to separate our material and social culture by gender: textiles, foods, furniture, colors, patterns, occupations, hobbies, education… And while women have been fighting these conventions for time immemorial, men have been conditioned to endure. Great minds, from Paul Gaugin to Oscar Wilde, have challenged these limitations, no doubt, but they have never been seen as the mainstream. Now, however, I see the potential for these defiant men to change our future. This fever our youth is currently experiencing… I hope it becomes much more than just a passing flu.

Thank you, David Bailey, for framing his answer to my question in the outlines of a beautiful box!




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[January 12, 1966] La Belle Époque in the Jet Age

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by Gwyn Conaway

Settling into my favorite armchair, I’ve found myself seeking relaxation and comfort at the start of what will surely be an exciting twelve-month turn ‘round the sun. Lounging in my favorite silk housecoat, a bite of Turkish delight and black tea at my side, I opened this year’s first issue of Life for some rather extravagant reading time.


An American couple fawn over the luxurious Damascus silk and gold brocade being sold by a Lebanese man in a market in Beirut.

What do you suppose I found nestled in the pages but evidence that my own extravagance is part of a larger atmosphere! Littered across this issue is a curious return to the lush grandeur of the La Belle Époque, the era at the turn of the century in which we became enthralled with the Ballet Russes and Leon Bakst’s vision of Schéhérazade, Alfons Mucha painted the natural world with feminine mystique, and we dreamed of Istanbul and the Orient Express. The veil of our world had been pulled back just enough for us to hear the mewing notes of the koto from Japan, to smell the scented smokes of hookah from Turkey, and to gaze in wonder at the recently excavated Temple of Apollo in Athens.


The first and most blatant sign was this astute advertisement for Maxim, a luxurious restaurant in Paris. The lush, organic elements of the restaurant’s interior and the patron in her floral dress perfectly mirror the chaotic beauty that is Art Nouveau and the fashions that accompanied the era. The decadent Parisian promenade dress from 1905-1906, pictured center, is an example of such styles and features not only the hallmark laces, florals, and feathers of the turn of the century, but also a Merry Widow hat fashioned like a tricorn. This, and the gathered ruffled trim at her skirts, is a throwback to the Rococo era of France in the late 18th century. Behind the women seated in the right image, you can sky a Rococo painting, bringing the opulence of the three periods together.

Schéhérazade and Paris stayed with me as I came upon an article about the burgeoning Vegas atmosphere to be found in Beirut. Lebanon was once part of the Ottoman Empire, which has been a fascination of Europe for a thousand years or more. The region was an inspiration to Leon Bakst in his design work, and he lit Paris aflame with his fantastical interpretations of the ancient culture just beyond the veil.


A small selection of costume designs for Schéhérazade by Leon Bakst, 1910.

Of particular note to me was the belly dancer in the subterranean bar of the Phoenician Hotel in Beirut, in which I immediately recognized George Barbier’s illustration of the Ballet Russes’ fantastical production.


Right, Schéhérazade, George Barbier (1913).

This revelation led me to a further inspection of the people in the Beirut photograph series. I was astonished to find the tunic worn by the woman enjoying a mezze of hommos and kibeh resembles Bakst’s scenic design for Schéhérazade.


Note the color palette and use of swirling lines and shapes to convey a hazy depth, an other-worldly mystique.

There is indeed a very strong sense of nostalgia taking over the decade, just as there was fated to be. As we race towards the heavens in our Gemini 6, uniform our young women in trapeze dresses and vinyl, and experience a social technological revolution, we find ourselves torn. On the one hand, we yearn for progress, to push forward, to explore. On the other hand, we cling to Mother Nature, to the chaos of beauty, to romance. We are celebrating both things in equal measure. Even this issue of Life shares its pages equally between the two opposing ideals.


Even within the Neoclassical revival, we see a split personality. Ann Lowe’s floral design on the right, known as the American Beauty dress, is a perfect example of the nostalgia for nature we’re currently feeling, while on the left, we can see an example of orderly geometry, an aesthetic symbol of reason and progress.

This tells me that the distance between our generations is bound to grow, and unrest will continue to boil through the next decade. Our young people are leading us into a new age. For La Belle Époque was also a time of turmoil and division. World War I was on the horizon. The battle for women’s liberation and suffrage in America was being waged at full force. The young sought escape through Mother Nature and loosened propriety thanks to the advent of cocktails and condoms, a shocking lapse in morality as far as the older generations were concerned.


Charles Dana Gibson invented the Gibson Girl, a combination of the voluptuous woman and the fragile lady, which was meant to encapsulate the modern woman at the turn of the century. The dichotomy of her roles is playing out in our own times as well. Striking the perfect balance between the return to nature and the march of progress is a unique struggle for women in fashion today.

This so perfectly mirrors the current state of affairs that I’m shocked I hadn’t noticed it before! The Vietnam War, just like World War I, has inspired a revolution of philosophy, an existential unrest in the youth that has no choice but to bubble up and make itself known through the advent of new fashion, new music, and new ways to perceive the world. The war between Progress and Tradition has always permeated history, but now it is going going to the turf with awe-inspiring style. I will be keeping a close eye on this as we head further into the year.

[Come join us at Portal 55, Galactic Journey's real-time lounge!  Talk about your favorite SFF, chat with the Traveler and co., relax, sit a spell…]




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[October 16th, 1965] The World According to Bonnie Cashin

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by Gwyn Conaway

I have recently fallen back in love with the ever personal, exhaustively practical designs of the worldly Bonnie Cashin.  From ballet costumes to uniforms for servicewomen during World War II to Coach, there’s no doubt she has had a far-reaching influence on our culture.

Bonnie Cashin wearing a wool zebra-striped tunic, early 1960s.

A staple of American design, Cashin is most known for pioneering the sportswear culture we now thoroughly enjoy. But her work has been far more diverse than one is led to believe. She lends a worldly view to American design, and explores other cultures through silhouette and textile alike. Let’s explore her inspirations and creations.

In 1960, Bonnie Cashin visited South Korea. Here she dons a gat, a black horsehair wide-brimmed steeple hat which is traditionally worn by noblemen and scholars during the Joseon period. Perhaps this foreshadows her interest in symbols of status and power.

I would be remiss to not first introduce Cashin’s most recent invention, the Blanket Coat, an evermore popular trend that will most assuredly be in style for a decade or more. While at first, the Blanket Coat seems to follow the boxy trapeze cuts ubiquitous in fashion, it does so from a long-informed fascination with the shapes and details of other cultures. This style, derived from her recent interest in the Japanese kimono, departs from the expected silks and linens and turns instead to delicate, fuzzy mohair wool which softens the look. Bold colors and patterns, though not directly derived from kimono, are inspired by Eastern color schemes, which at first glance create discord to the eye but settle into a harmonious and energetic palette.

Blanket Coat, 1965. While the bright yellow and pink palette of this coat may be jarring at first, it's worth noting that this is the color palette of a young unmarried Korean woman's hanbok.

Her interest in kimono doesn’t stop there. Recently, she released experimental suits of tweed wool. These curious pieces portray Cashin’s devotion to character and story. Note the kimono displayed traditionally on a wooden pole, in comparison to the angular shoulders of Cashin’s design. I was floored by Cashin’s clever jab: that women are often the dressings of the room. This silhouette lends the woman’s tapestry its own agency, thereby freeing the woman from conventional expectations.

This particular silhouette rose in Cashin's fall/winter 1964-1965 season. The kimono pictured right is made of rinzu silk, circa 1800-1840.

Beyond silhouette, textiles also play a bold role in Cashin’s creative expressions. Cashin looks to symbols of power and translates them into womenswear. Born in 1908, before women’s suffrage (embarrassingly, we’ve only had the right to vote for forty-five years) and witness to the bravery of women at war, I can’t help but surmise that Cashin’s designs are for women with strength of character. (On the ethicality of appropriating symbols of power from other cultures, I tend to believe it’s best to leave them in the hands of their successors. However, after centuries of Western fashion committing the same fashionable faux pas, I doubt there will be an end to this design philosophy anytime soon.)

A perfect example of this is the wool coat below. Closely resembling Kente cloth, a woven textile worn by powerful men and women in many African nations, the coat takes on more meaning. These types of cloth have many different meanings and patterns, depending on the culture of origin. Here we see Cashin calling to what might be termed a “Primitive” pattern today, but what in reality is the cloth of kings and queens. I appreciate the poetry of a misrepresented textile being used in womenswear, as women are so often misrepresented and underestimated.

Left, Cashin's tweed wool and suede car coat. Center and right are images of Prestige Kente and Ewe Kente cloth from Ghana. Kente cloth is also utilized in countries like Nigeria, and printed onto Dutch wax cloth, the textile used to create their elaborate headwraps. Cloths like these were traditionally reserved for the most powerful people in the community.

Perhaps one of her riskiest forays into cultural design is her dive into Native American and Pakistani design. While she commonly uses suede in her styles, she takes her “Indian” inspirations much further in the design below. She is clearly inspired by Pakistani Ikat, or perhaps Swat (a type of wedding dress), silhouettes that share the trapeze torso and dolman sleeves so popular in the West now. She also pushes suede to new heights in this series, incorporating fringe and cosmic designs akin to the origin stories of Native tribes in the American plains.

Cashin's designs, labeled Indian Summer and Indian Territory (left to right). Note the fine suede leather and fringe, indicative of the American native nations, which wore deerskin and suede rather than cloth due to tall grass. Meanwhile, the shape of the top's design (pictured right) is reminiscent of Indian ikat or swat dresses. Cashin combined both "Indian" inspirations to make this look.

A Pakistani Swat dress of the 19th century. Swat are traditional wedding dresses in the Bengal region. Cashin's inspiration may also have come from an ikat-style tunic, dress, or coat. These are sometimes referred to as ikat kurta, and can be found across Uzbekistan, Nepal, Pakistan, and northern India. Note how the underarm is round, thanks to a gusset. This detail, among others, is emulated in Cashin's design above.

In short, Cashin’s worldly aesthetic lends power to the American woman. It’s well-known that she designs with the modern woman in mind: mobility and urbanity above all others. Despite her lightning-quick career and successes, she doesn’t allow herself to stick her nose in the fashion industry and keep her head down. Rather, she looks up at the world around her in search of true character and strength.

It's no wonder that the modern woman, so eager to explore the world and carve out her place within it, is entranced by Cashin's designs. 

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[August 4th, 1965] Queenly Fashion: The Style of the Powerful Women of South Asia

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by Gwyn Conaway

Farewell, Cleopatra! Hello, Maharani~

With summer well underway, silk wraps and teardrop jewels are in full bloom in the fashion scene. And while being in love with the Silk Road is nothing new in the West, we seem to be turning away from Egypt in favor of the majestic silks and gems of ancient kingdoms such as India and Thailand.

Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra, released in 1963 wearing the iconic 24-carat gold phoenix cape designed by Renie Conley. Note what Revlon has referred to as the “Sphinx Eye” makeup that has so heavily influenced women’s faces today.

Elizabeth Taylor’s depiction of Cleopatra in 1963 sparked a healthy obsession with women’s power in Europe and North America. Before we knew what hit us, her iconic smokey eye, dark brows, and blunt haircut took the beauty industry by force. Now, two years later, women are looking at powerful images in South Asia as a shining example of the adventurous spirit and strength of women across the globe.

Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur wearing a delicate sari and wrap, gold bangles, and two heavy strings of pearls as she discusses politics in a local community. The word “Maharani” can mean the wife of a great ruler, or “Maharaja”, but also a woman that is a great ruler. Great Maharani have wielded power in recent years in such places as Thailand, Nepal, India, and Malaysia.

Inspiration comes from India courtesy of Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur, a member of the Indian Parliament and a purveyor of the arts. Having won her electoral race in 1962 in the largest landslide in history (winning 192,909 out of the 246,516 cast), she continues to be a force of social change. Thanks in part to her, we see the traditional Indian paisley patterns and silk wraps reminiscent of saris this year in Vogue.

Perhaps one of her most impactful contributions to fashion though, is the popularization of Rajasthani blue. This beautiful color is vital to arts and crafts of the region, and has inspired a blue palette steeped in mysticism in the West. In Vogue this February, Jacqueline described this as the “Maharani mood” for the spring of this year.

An advertisement in Vogue’s Feb 15th, 1965 issue for Jacqueline’s Blue-Jade and Baby Ganges hues.

The Maharani isn’t the only Asian woman of power that has stolen our breath away. Queen Sirikit Kitiyakon, Regent of Thailand, is another figure that has been featured prominently in fashion across the world. Currently, her majesty rules over Thailand as its regent, having performed her duties exceptionally while King Bhumibol Adulyadej took a leave of absence from the throne to enter Buddhist monkhood in 1956, a tradition of kings in Thailand. Since then, she has maintained her regency as the second Siamese queen to ever hold that power.

The queen, left, sitting on golden cushions in Chakri Palace wearing a court Siwalai dress of gold and diamonds she initially wore to the Greek Royal wedding, designed by Pierre Balmain. Top right, she’s photographed wearing a Thai silk Boromphiman ensemble.

The queen is captivating not only for her grace and beauty, but also for the opulence of the Thai monarchy and traditional dress. The narrow sleeves, high necklines and columnar skirts the queen wears with traditional pride are a direct inspiration for our fashions here.

Queen Sirikit Kitiyakon was featured in Vogue of February this year with her children. Here she wears traditional Boromphiman formal attire, an inspiration for the womenswear we see today.

The fashions and palettes of these women are far from the only things that inspire us. We’ve also turned to the jewels of South Asian monarchs. From dripping teardrop earrings to festoon necklaces laden with diamonds and rubies to golden bangles worn up on the forearm, Western women are mimicking the royal jewels as a statement about modern women, decadence, and power.

Take for example, the Patiala Necklace. The House of Cartier created the necklace in 1928 for Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala. It was encrusted with nearly three-thousand diamonds, one of which was the De Beers diamond, seventh largest in the world. The necklace disappeared from the royal treasury in 1948, shrouding the impressive collar in mystery and igniting imaginations.

Collars like the Patiala Necklace pictured left were worn by great male leaders of India. Adopting these elements of design in women’s jewelry in the West is a powerful statement for the fight against the patriarchy likely coming our way.

It’s refreshing to see our industry be inspired by not only the beauty of famous women in history, but also their independence and power. That young western women are looking up to figures such as Queen Sirikit Kitiyakon, Regent of Thailand and Maharani Gayatri Devi is significant. We are once again using our beauty and fashion, like many before us, as a statement of women’s independence and the history of our power. We are living in exciting times! I have much anticipation for whatever happens next.

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[May 20th, 1965] Monokini: The Madness Continues!

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by Gwyn Conaway

The Monokini, featured in orange. The Pope, Denmark, Greece, and the Netherlands have all banned it.

With summer on the verge, everyone’s attention is turning to swimwear, and I don’t think anyone will be talking about anything but Rudi Gernreich’s Monokini for a good while! The fashion activist is known for stirring up the hornet’s nest of Western sensibilities, apropos of his personal history and artistic goals. Let’s take a look at his past, and also at his shocking beachwear.

Rudi Gernreich, 1964.

Bear with me as I tell you of Rudi Gernreich’s childhood. He grew up in Vienna, Austria, the son of a stocking maker. He spent his afternoons in his aunt’s dress shop where he would sketch designs and share them with her clients. At age twelve, he was offered an apprenticeship by designer Ladislaus Zettel in London, but his mother declined due to his age.

His dress shop days did more than just betray his talent for fashion though. He recounts his first explorations of sexuality in fashion, and the liberation of women through their candid conversations in his young presence. His homeland was known also for promoting nude exercise during the time, in defiance of Western norms as much as for health. In 1938, Adolf Hitler banned this practice, and a sixteen year old Rudi fled Austria with his widowed mother for Los Angeles.

It was at this point that he began studying the arts in earnest. He attended the Los Angeles City College, and then the renowned Los Angeles Art Center School. He fell into fashion design some time after, a winding road that included dance and costume design, and a rejection of the American obsession with Parisian sophistication. He also helped found the Mattachine Society, a gay rights organization, in 1950.

Over the years, Gernreich's activist heart and artistic genius have formed a close bond, resulting in the scandalous Monokini. But we should have seen this scandal coming. In 1962 he predicted its arrival, saying that “bosoms will be uncovered within five years” in Women’s Wear Daily. And much to my amusement, he was recently quoted as saying that, for the sake of history, he had to fulfill his own prophecy before Emilio Pucci.

Peggy Moffit, photographed by husband William Claxton, in the infamous Monokini. It was named for its counterpart the bikini. A nice but inaccurate play on words. The bikini is named for the Bikini Atoll, an island used by the US for nuclear testing.

The result is the Monokini. Despite exposing the bust, it actually covers more skin than the bikini with its high-waisted bottom. Straps bisect the bust and run over the shoulders. In another nod to tradition and conservatism, the swimsuit is made of the same woolen fabric used in Victorian swimwear.

Women in 1925, wearing wool bathing suits. The material choices and shape of the Monokini speak to one of Gernreich's overarching goals in art: to humanize women rather than sexualize them through the freedom of their bodies.

The Monokini is a statement rather than merchandise. Although it’s currently on shelves, Gernreich has stated he doesn’t expect to sell any, and hadn’t intended to. In fact, he had to be persuaded to even take photos, calling on muse Peggy Moffit to wear it, and her creative cohort of a husband William Claxton to photograph it.

The journey of just the photographs itself is truly interesting. Look published the first photograph, from the back. Women’s Wear Daily followed suit, showing it from the front. When Gernreich approached Life about publishing the photos, their letter in response claimed they only print “aborigine” women’s breasts. (I would love to know Gernreich, Moffit, and Claxton’s thoughts on this! I hope notions such as this are abolished in quick fashion.) The image that lit the world on fire was accepted by Life however: Moffit with her arms crossed, covering her chest.

Despite Western reactions to the Monokini, Gernreich’s interests actually lay in the emancipation of women from over-sexualization and social censorship. He challenges the shameful gaze in Western beliefs, and tries to push society to see women as human beings rather than ‘other’. I find his work to be incredibly engaging and thoughtful, far more so than the tabloids make the Monokini out to be.

If the Monokini doesn’t single-handedly push us towards a moderate view of the human body, I’m sure Gernreich’s work in the next decade will!




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[February 2nd, 1965] Spring is a State of Mind.

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by Gwyn Conaway

Although the snowy blanket of winter is still upon us, fashion has already moved on to the vigor of spring! I just received my Vogue for February 1st, 1965 and opened its crisp pages with delight.  With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, I was expecting to see flouncy romanticism. What I found instead was fun, youthful, and quirky.

It seems the quirky attitude of the Valentine’s Day cards I plan to send out, featuring Wednesday Addams with a sweet little toy spider on her face, are more appropriate to the mood of the upcoming spring season than I’d anticipated.

Our decade, which has been defined so far with the sleek mod look of the Space Age, is getting a childlike update in 1965. The beautiful cocoons and narrow dresses of the early sixties are starting to blossom, quite literally. The stiff, boxy skirts and bodices are relaxing at the waist and necklines.

Note below (left), the beautiful narrow dress and its soft drape, cinched at the waist with a bold tape bow. All topped with the quizzical tall-domed cap. Beside her (right), sophisticated Town and Travel suedes complete with a sailor’s collar and a box pleat skirt back reminiscent of a school uniform. The effect of these combinations is perfectly summed up by the models’ expressions: curious and beguiling women, regardless of their age, will reign supreme this year.

February 1st, 1965 issue of Vogue

Ingenue, a fashion magazine for sophisticated teens, gives excellent insight for fashion to come. The iconic narrow coat, a staple in every woman’s wardrobe, is starting to soften around the neckline, leaving space for the column of the neck. Paired with slender bows about the jaw and felt hats to match the shoes (but not the coat), this early spring ensemble is at the height of this year’s fashion.

But perhaps most telling are the graphic shapes of flowers, stars, polka dots, and honeycomb in the accessories to the right. These large, simple symbols are what bridge the gap between the sophistication and playfulness I expect we’ll see in the months to come.

If Ingenue’s bold colors and simple motifs aren’t enough to convey the quirk of this year’s fashion, perhaps Vogue’s spotlight on “American Legs – Sweaters to Match” will convince you. These daring sweater and legging sets with contrast skirts and hats are gutsy and imbued with personality. Any woman sporting these fresh styles will certainly draw the eye.

The paillette theatre suit (left) is not only richly detailed, but relaxed by comparison to evening wear of the past couple years. Note the contrasting accessories as well as the slender, gathered waistband. The Trifari pins (right) are also bold, and a refreshing departure from adornment of the last few years.

Both professional women and aspiring girls feel emboldened to share their energetic personalities as a part of their fashion, rather than adorn themselves in chic geometry alone. We are seeing sophistication and youthful wonder coming together as our age defines itself as separate from the fifties. As the decade tips towards the seventies, I can’t wait to see what youthful inspirations we’ll discover. As the editor of Vogue wrote in their letter this issue, "Spring is a state of mind."




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[November 27, 1964] I'll be dressed for Christmas (JCPenney’s 1964 Christmas Book)

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by Gwyn Conaway

The smell of hot cider, the dazzling reflections of tinsel on trees, the fog of laughter in the air. It’s the holiday season at last! While others are contemplating the foods they’ll cook, the slopes they’ll ski, and the gifts they’ll give, I’m wondering what they’ll be wearing while they do it. Let’s crack open this year’s JCPenney’s Christmas Book and see what’s in store for the yuletide.

Both men and women are looking to the deep v-neck sweater as a casual staple for the winter.

This season is bold, featuring wide stripes, large plaids, ruffles, and plump quilting. Although the occasional pastel creeps into the palette, the primary colors of this Christmas season are white and red with pops of frosty blue and pink. This modern color scheme has made green feel outdated this year. Only one dress in the Christmas Book this year is green, and although the ensemble is sharp, the color doesn’t stand up to the energetic blues and pinks we’ll be seeing come December.

Childrenswear is especially dear this year, with ensembles such as the satin-stripe cotton ‘Pima Miat’ dress pictured below on the left with a nylon marquisette underskirt. The wide stripes feel more delicate with the pastel tone-on-tone palette, while the ruffled bib and sleeve give it the panache the season deserves.

In addition to the satin-stripe 'Pima Miat' dress, this page of the Christmas Book features a cotton velveteen jumper with cotton blouse (center) and a cotton velveteen bodice with rayon print petticoat that shows prettily under a sheer nylon overskirt (right) in both big sister and little sister sizes.

But of course, not all winter fun happens around a tree in our living rooms. Braving the cold is half the fun! I’m excited to see quilted ski parkas paired with black patterned toques and stretch ski pants, as seen below. A hood is hidden in the mother’s smart mandarin collar as well as the men’s while the daughter’s fur hood is proudly displayed: dyed mouton lamb’s fur. The Christmas Book also boasts a wide selection of after-ski boots in suede and capeskin gloves for all ages.

Women’s coats shine in this year’s issue as well. Two beautiful options caught my eye: the Milliken Mirette plaid (left) and trench coat (right), both made of rayon-and-acetate laminated to foam for a woolen look and feel. Water repellant, of course, and sure to be stylish well into the spring.

But of course, the pressing question, really, is what to wear during our precious holidays with family around the hearth. To my delight, JCPenney has offered a solution for the entire family. The red and white striped combinations below are sure to add a festive air to Christmas morning. Top off the sweet family portrait with matching slippers in either patent pleather or electrified shearling lamb.

If your family isn’t into matching styles, there are other options for girls and women to consider. Perhaps my two favorite items in the Christmas Book this year are the red peignoir and the pink cover-up below. The peignoir has a suede appearance for a glamorous but warm leisurely look. Simple lines accented by the narrow bow at the waist , a three-quarter sleeve, and the slanted trouser pockets all give this peignoir a classic, regal finish.The pink cover-up, also in a suede fashion, is bright and perky as well as warm. Its standing collar and self-fabric buttons aren't the only fun details. The pop of berry and fir stems that appear to be around the neck bring a youthful sparkle to the wearer. This one is also available in the frosty blue of the season.

Yes, JCPenney’s Christmas Book for 1964 is a delight, imbuing classic styles with a fresh palette. It addresses all ages and brings fun to the family, both through its selection of toys for the children and its collection of warm winter wear in pinks and blues. Not only is the palette of the season bold, it’s clever. By casting green off to the wayside, we now have a palette that could last through Easter. Looking forward, I wonder if we’ll be adding spring green back into the mix, in lighter, frothier colors for next year? A reinvention of the color, perhaps? Food for thought.

But rather than linger on my exuberant predictions, I plan to enjoy the season as it unfolds with a hot cider and some roasted chestnuts. 

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