art | I Get a Kick out of you

The 1930s Monogram Masquerade

February 22, 2012 by igetakickoutofyou

I have a favourite book of reference at the moment, for the 1930s. It’s called Fashion at the time of Fascism and it’s all about the influence and effects of the Fascist regime on fashion in Italy. The book explores many different angles of the industry, including beauty, the rise in fashion houses and italian celebrities of the time. Today I’m only looking at one very small aspect of it – as I shall no doubt use many more for […]

Categories: 1930s, Book Reviews, vintage, Vintage Inspiration • Tags: art, books, craft, design, diy, dressmaking, Fashion, fashion illustration, history, photography, politics, reviews, style, vintage

That’s Amore

February 20, 2012 by igetakickoutofyou

Sorry for the break in transmission. I’ve been away for half-term but more about that in another post. I did my usual round up of magazines before I went and for any 1950s & 60s Hollywood aficionados, Vanity Fair is a great purchase this month, featuring interviews with both Sophia Loren and Brigitte Bardot? What more can one vintage lover want? I was struck by Sophia Loren’s story. Its’ a very human one – not a typical rags to riches […]

Categories: 1950s, Fashion, Photography2, Vintage Inspiration • Tags: 1950s, art, design, Entertainment, Fashion, fashion illustration, film, films, history, Love, Magazines, movies, music, photography, reviews, Sophia Loren, style, vintage

Tango Collage, Space NK, Netaporter, Tabitha Simmons, Leighton Denny, Agent Provocoteur

A Touch of Tango

January 31, 2012 by igetakickoutofyou

So we went to our Argentine Tango workshop at PUSH. Wow, this dance is so much more complicated than I thought it was going to be. Watching it, you think it’s just going to be a bit of walking and flicking of the feet, but boy the intricacies and detail that goes into it, is way above and beyond any other kind of dancing I have done before. To see it done at its absolute best (without a trip to Buenos […]

Categories: 1920s, 1930s, Dance, Fashion • Tags: art, culture, dance, design, Entertainment, Fashion, fashion illustration, films, Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Biel, movies, music, Salma Hayek

Pleasing on the Eye

January 25, 2012 by igetakickoutofyou

I think I may have OCD! I get a buzz out of little coloured-covered books – particularly if they are part of a series. It’s not a huge exciting thrill – more of a kind of content satisfaction. Please tell me I’m not alone in this sensation. I’m sure I’m not! The catalyst for this post is a series of pocket sized interior/style books by Paumes, which you can purchase from Bodie & Fou. They are written in Japanese – […]

Categories: Interiors • Tags: art, books, design, Fashion, fashion illustration, home, Interiors, lifestyle, photography, reviews, travel

Pretending to be Plain

January 19, 2012 by igetakickoutofyou

“Carmen Dell’Orefice..who has had three husbands and more hot dinner boyfriends than one cares to count later, is still known as just plain Carmen – though the plain has nothing whatsoever to do with her appearance” Norman Parkinson I was fortunate enough to catch the Carmen Dell’Orefice exhibition at the London School of Fashion, at what I thought was the very end date – however – lucky readers, they have just extended the exhibition to the 31st January. So after […]

Categories: 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, Photography2, vintage, Vintage Inspiration • Tags: art, books, Carmen Dell'Orefice, Cecil Beaton, design, Exhibition, Fashion, Harper Bazaar, Irving Penn, model, photography, reviews, Richard Avedon, style, vogue

Just Peachy

January 11, 2012 by igetakickoutofyou

How beautiful are these? I must admit I have encountered Bernadette Pascua through Miss Moss not through an extensive knowledge of fashion illustration! Miss Moss is absolutely right, I can’t get enough of her work. They are so simple and subtle in colour but – wow, really pack a punch. Bernadette is an illustrator based in Brooklyn who started drawing after completing a textiles degree. Not a native New Yorker, Bernadette moved there as a seventeen year old and says: […]

Categories: Fashion, Illustration, Interiors • Tags: art, beauty, Bernadette Pascua, Decade Diary, design, Fashion, illustration, Interiors, music

Getting the “Hedkandi” Treatment

December 28, 2011 by igetakickoutofyou

The week before Christmas I went along to a Fashion Illustration exhibition, arranged by the Fashion Illustration Gallery, in Bruton Place. Expecting the normal rather impersonal affair of an exhibition I was surprised to find an intimate gathering with none other than David Downton and Jason Brooks, in person. David Downton you’ll no doubt be familiar with – having done many projects with Vogue and, in particular, illustrations for The Golden Age of Couture exhibition at the V&A. There were […]

Categories: Illustration • Tags: art, David Downton, design, Fashion, fashion illustration, Hedkandi, Jason Brooks, jewelery, music, topshop