the first old movie I ever loved

I must have watched Where the Boys Are (1960) a dozen times before I was 12. I was completely in love with the girls, the boys, the clothes, the cars, Ft. Lauderdale in the 60s - all of it. This was the world I wanted to grow up into (no matter how far from reality I knew it was.) If that's what spring break in Lauderdale was really like I'd go every year. Heck I'd move there. Into this motel -




Yvette Mimeaux is heartbreakingly beautiful, and she wears gingham in almost every scene.




Love the little white daisies w rhinestone centers. Doing this soon.




helloooo George Hamilton



There are lots of good bathing suits, but sadly no sunglasses of any sort on anyone. And 1960 was such a great year for shades.. it's my only complaint with this movie.





Connie Francis has the most lovely voice. And that's Frank Gorshin (the Riddler) as a hipster douchebag.



So many good cars



Lots of scenes of the girls getting dressed up - it's a carnival of pretty dresses and crinolines and frothy pastel underthings









Connie Francis' belt w this green dress is clear plastic with little white plastic flowers.




Man I had such a crush on Jim Hutton's character, TV Thompson. I guess I still do. He'd be the one in the helmet here. I mean George Hamilton's pretty, but I do tend to prefer goofy.



Also, TV is a really good nickname.

and there's a Marilyn-esque bombshell, for good measure



She's one of those underwater mermaid ladies that swims in a glass tank in a fancy restaurant - like Weeki Wachee but with dinner. I love that that used to be a job.





I haven't seen the one they made in the 80s - it's not on DVD yet - but I have a feeling it's going to disappoint me bigtime. I'm sure I won't be hard in love with all of the ashtrays and pool umbrellas and beach hats and lamps and every other tiny detail..






Apologies for the old school screen caps (read: pointing camera at computer screen) but it is apparently not possible to take screen caps of DVDs on a Mac! (Yes I tried the templates trick to no avail. ) This is the first super annoying Mac issue I've come up against. Super duper annoying.

best bathroom

My favorite fixtures ever - Arthur's mint porcelain sink, tub and toilet on the short-lived live-action Tick TV show (click the link to watch instantly if you have Netflix.)




Just the most perfect vintage shade of mint and pleasantly chunky porcelain lines. These have been in my head as the ideal since the show first aired in 2001. I know I'll never have them but in the house in my head this is what's going on.

movie inspiration: why change your wife?

This week it's Cecil B. Demille's Why Change your Wife? - 1920, starring Gloria Swanson. It's the old story of the man who goes out to buy something nice for his wife, but picks up a lingerie model instead. Post-divorce, the wife takes refuge in shopping, and reinvents herself as a confident, independent, thoroughly modern woman. Again it's the perfect set-up for amazing costumes.

There are a lot of incredible shoes, though most look like they'd be torture to actually wear. People were still wearing 'straights' at this time - no left or right, both shoes were the same shape. These look like they have some distinction between left and right, but it's minimal.





beaded stockings




ladies pants in 1920 - keep in mind this is a lingerie shop, these are not for wearing in public





swimwear





the perfect shoes for the beach, no?


here is a shot of the resort



Gloria Swanson just drapes this liquid metal lame' on herself in about 3 seconds and it is the best dress I've seen in a long time





I imagine this military-inspired draped velvet dress is a golden yellow.


and here is what you wear underneath such a dress


the lingerie model


she adds the little heart shaped mole to her shoulder, then applies perfume to only her mouth, fur cuff and the heart sticker.




and the most outstanding piece in the film - a zebra cocoon coat.



I highly recommend this film, and not just for the clothes. The acting is really very good - far better than you might expect from the time period.

the best vampire movie you never saw

Rockula is, by far, my favorite vampire movie. In fact it is most often what I name as my favorite movie ever. This is usually baffling to people since virtually no one has seen it, and it sounds wicked dumb from the title alone. Sadly, Rockula seems doomed never to come to DVD, but you can watch it in 9 pieces on you-tube or scour your local video stores for a VHS copy like I did. Mine doesn't play anymore - I wore it out over prolly a hundred viewings. That's not an exageration at all.

I first saw it when I was 14 - my step-mother used to tape all the Dean Cameron movies for me - and it was a huge inspiration to my then-developing idea of what cool is, due in a large part to the absolutely pitch-perfect 1990 costumes. When I found out this morning that the costuming was done by Pamela Skaist - now Pamela Skaist-Levy of Juicy Couture - it all made sense.

You'll have to excuse the poor quality of these screen shots - you tube compression is ugly - but you can still get an idea why this movie stuck hard to me.



Toni Basil plays the most beautiful vampire ever - she has this 40s /what-we-now-know-as-Juicy-Couture thing going on that just slays me. That's a little white bolero w yellow puffballs, worn over a vintage cream beaded wiggle dress that we never get a great look at.



She rocks the giant bows pretty much throughout the whole film. She also raps. I'm telling you this movie is good.

Then there's Tawny Fere doing the quintessential 1990 thing



That's 50s vintage shortened in front only, with cowboy boots. She wears it with this motorcycle jacket with a Madonna painted on the back




Add this to the best shades ever file:




OK back to Toni Basil. Throughout she piles on the costume jewelry, and this version of the giant bow has morphed into a 40s floral tilt topper





here is the first thing we actually see her in - satin wiggle and a coque-feather fascinator



yeah I really love her whole thing


Giant evening bow, and piles of paste jewels. Seriously, slutty 1940s vampire mom is maybe my favorite look ever.

I tried hard to get a good cap of this dress, but it was impossible. You just have to watch the movie.. but here is the top part anyway:



those points at her hips are sort of pagoda-panniers, with a long slim brocade pencil skirt beneath. Here's the back:



This dress is art. I would love to really get a good look and know more about it.
I think my wardrobe goal in life now is to collect the pieces to be this woman.


I couldn't get any good caps of Thomas Dolby's wardrobe (yes, the She Blinded me with Science guy) but it is insane. He does this 60s Donovan at a rave thing that comes off as a sort of Seussian steampunk. Suits in insane prints, Lennon sunglasses, tiny top-hat with daisies on it, bell-bottoms, and an outstanding car:



Gotta love the car-as-fashion-accessory. Why have I been driving a soccer-mom truck for the last 10 years?

Bo Diddley is in it too, and the music is actually good, and the script is even funny. I am constantly referencing lines from this movie in my head. Really, it's a shame that rights issues are keeping this one out of public consumption. Or rather that the only way to consume it is with the crappiest picture quality in the universe. Apparently Paula Abdul was supposed to play the Tawny Fere part, and I can't help thinking if she had that this would be on DVD already. But Tawny is great in this, don't get me wrong. Everyone is very committed to the insanity here. And Toni Basil.. I'm telling you - life changing.