Sunday, July 24, 2011

MUSE: DORIAN LEIGH

The model that truly personified the look of the 50s would have to be Dorian Leigh:
Dorian in Jacques Heim

The dynamic poses, the cinched Dior silhouette, the snobby facial expression and the piercing blue eyes.
Dorian by Irving Penn in Dior


Dorian by Cecil Beaton

Dorian by Irving Penn
A muse, and sometimes more, Dorian and the eponymous Vogue photographer, Irving Penn, were quite the couple.

Revlon's Fire and Ice Campaign by Avedon

To quote the Campaign: 'Theres a new American beauty...shes tease and temptress, siren and gamin. dynamic and demure.  Men find her slightly, delightfully baffling. Sometimes a little maddening.  Yes they admit she's easily the most exciting woman in all the world!  Shes the 1952 American beauty, with a foolproof formula for melting a male! Shes the "Fire and Ice Girl"'

She was truly the face and the personality of of the time.
 
Dorian by Avedon

Suzy Parker by Penn

 





....And it all runs in the family: the supermodel Suzy Parker, is Dorian's sister.

Today, the model that really brings back the fire and ice of Dorian Leigh would have to be Coco Rocha:
Coco Rocha
 Coco in a stunning Zac Posen Resort 2012 truly captures the 50s look

Saturday, July 23, 2011

SOME INSPIRATION FROM VALENTINA

An American designer from the 1930-50s, Valentina could cut a dress with the complexity of a Vionnet and the simplicity of American sportswear
And sculpt a structural piece as modern as Francisco Costa's Calvin Klein.
The craftsmanship of her work gives voice to truly innovative American design


Images from the exhibition: Valentina: American Couture and the Cult of Celebrity at the MCNY in 2009.