fashion birds: women of style

veruschka von Lehndorff : the other tall, german, cool girl, in new york

vreeland / avedon / vera (veruschka) / vogue

also look for original 1971 documentary “veruschka – poetry of a woman”

veruschka (born vera gottliebe anna von lehndorff) was one of the defining supermodels of the 1960s, standing around 6 ft 3 in (190 cm)—an extraordinary height for a fashion model at the time. born into a prussian aristocratic family, her father was executed by the nazis in 1944 after being linked to the plot to assassinate adolf hitler, a tragedy that profoundly shaped her life. she became famous for her chameleon-like ability to transform her appearance, often using dramatic makeup and body paint to disappear into characters rather than simply model clothes. she also made a memorable cameo in michelangelo antonioni’s materpiece BLOW UP, the iconic 1966 film that captured the era’s fashion scene. in the 1980s, after falling out of fashion’s spotlight, with editors demanding younger and younger models, she reinvented herself as a performance artist, collaborating with photographers on elaborate art photography. along with nico from the velvet underground she was the other tall german “cool girl” in NY.  by xy

CATEGORIES: clips, fashion birds: women of style

fifteen things i’ll never do by mae west

mae west black and white

1] Take another woman’s man. Not intentionally, that is. Even though all’s fair in love and war and it ain’t no sin.

2] Try to be anything but myself at all times, publicly and privately, except on the stage or screen, for that’s where acting belongs.

3] Cook, bake, sew, wash dishes, peel potatoes, eat onions, or bite my nails.

4] Wear white cotton stockings or join a nudist colony.

5] Like opera, number thirteen, yodelling, cold spaghetti, rats, snails, men who shave their necks, or over-ripe bananas.

6] Care for people who whistle in dressing rooms or checks that bounce as high as the stratosphere.

7] Play mother parts, sad parts, dumb parts, or a virtuous wife, betrayed or otherwise. I pity weak women, good or bad, but I can’t like them. A woman should be strong either in her goodness or badness.

8] Go nuts about classical music, sandwiches, cigar smoke, places that smell like hospitals, and black nail polish.

9] Get excited over night clubs, contract bridge, fan dancing, bobby sox, the stock market, badminton, or bust developers.

10] Be thrilled to death by orchids, anonymous love letters, souvenir postcard folders, earthquakes, slave bracelets, or beds with hard mattresses.

11] Be bothered by Scotch money-lenders or boys who lisp.

12] Believe the worst about anybody without complete proof nor will I believe that it’s useless to struggle against so-called Fate – the phony!

13] Walk when I can sit, or sit when I can recline. I believe in saving my energy – for important things.

14] Write a story that is unsophisticated, because I believe that innocence is as innocent doesn’t.

15] Marry a man who is too handsome, a man who drinks to excess or doesn’t carry his liquor like a gentleman, a man who is easy to get, easily led into temptation – unless I do the leading.

 

wise words from the blonde goddess of doing wrong but making it feel oh-so-right. such the temptress! by sv

CATEGORIES: fashion birds: women of style, musings