Monday Moments in Makeup History - The 1960's

This post is inspired mostly by the new series, Pan Am, which celebrates the glamorous Golden Age of air travel. Bouffant hair-dos, Mack the Knife, adorable little hats...really, what's not to love here?? Forget the poor rating on IMDB and reserve judgment for yourself - to me, it was kind of like a Mad Men but for chicks. Anyways, enough of my prattling; on with the show!

The Sixties were a tumultuous period in history - the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, the Stonewall riots, the first man to walk on the moon...the list could, quite literally, go on and on. It seems only natural, given all that was going on throughout the world, that the makeup and fashion would change and vary so radically throughout the decade as well.

It started out beautifully enough, with the adulation of that famous First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy - all pill box hats, cropped jackets with matching knee-length skirt, capri trousers or 'clamdiggers'. The makeup and hair was just as elegant, with beehive or chignon hairstyles atop dramatically done-up eyes and nude or pale, frosted lips. Ladies wore gloves, and crossed their legs delicately at the ankle.


Then came Mary Quant with her mini skirt, which just happened to coincide with the onset of the Sexual Revolution. Hemlines and hair lengths shortened, much as they had done in the 20's, whilst the conservative prohibitive views about sex were loosened almost to the point of being non-existent.

By the end of the decade, all hell had broken loose - both fashionably and (some would say) morally speaking. Both women and men wore their hair long, with elaborately patterned tunics over bell-bottomed jeans and sandals, not to mention a whole lot of patchouli. They practiced 'free love' as well as experimented with conscience-altering drugs as part of their protest against the rigid Puritanical roots that had so long formed the basis of American culture. But that's enough out of me and my half-degree in Sociology... let's just say that, glamorously speaking, it was a dark, dark time.


I could probably write an entire dissertation on the effect that the Sixties has had on almost every decade that has come after it, such was its impact on every level of society on a global scale, but neither of us have the energy for that. But if you are interested in learning more about the looks that had become popular - and frequently come back round into fashion again and again - click here for some great information and resources. And with that, I will leave you with what is probably the most recognizable face from the Sixties.

The Original Waif herself - Twiggy.

Beauty Icon Wednesday:The One & Only, Coco

Name: Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, August 19th 1883 - January 10th, 1971

Otherwise known as 'Coco'

Known for: how about everything we recognize as modern fashion today? Yeah, that should pretty much cover it.

I swear I thought I’d already posted this. As in to the point of searching frantically through the Icon post history to check. I must have just dreamed it. 

Oh well, it was really only a matter of time before my memory went. 

Anyway, without further ado, let's get on with it, shall we?

Although sadly not all of us can afford the luxury of owning a Chanel suit, what we must remember is that Mme Chanel has touched each of us in a number of much more subtle ways. Without her, we might not have the now iconic Little Black Dress. Or the trouser. Or the jersey dress. Opera length pearls worn with a simple shift dress would not be the epitome of chic. I could go on and on about how Chanel forever changed the face of fashion but I think you get the idea…

There are some arguments that she was not the original, that she used men of wealth and position to get where she was. Perhaps there is some truth in that. However when you consider that she started life as an abandoned orphan, started out making clothing from material that no one had ever considered before and paid back every cent of any money she ever borrowed from one of her male lovers, I’m willing to look past that. And if she did indeed use men to her advantage, well then, I’m okay with that too. It’s not like men haven’t been doing the same – not for money, perhaps, but a variety of other things like sex, status, revenge – for centuries.

Instead, I would much prefer to focus on her achievements and contribution to fashion and beauty. And how I can get my hands on a vintage Chanel suit. 

Beauty Icon Wednesday: Model Moments, Then & Now

Name: Karen Elson, born January 14th. 1979


Known for: Red hair, strong bone structure, marrying an equally pale rock star (Jack White)

Name: Mikhaila 'Coco' Rocha, born September 10th, 1988


Known for: Pale skin, high cheekbones, dancing an Irish jig down a Jean Paul Gaultier's runway.




Smart models – which is not an oxymoron by the way - know that they can only trade on their genetically blessed features for so long before losing out to something younger, newer, fresher. But the ‘Slashie’, as in model-slash-actor, has been done to death, so what’s a poor model to do? Well, here's how two of the industry's most successful commodities are coping with this Brave New multi-tasking World.

Karen Elson was my favourite model in the 90s. Coming out hot on the heels of the over-the-top 80's Supermodel, on the tail end of the Heroin Chic that Kate Moss embodied earlier in the decade, she emerged like an alien flower. With her orange-red hair and bleached out eyebrows, she was as freakish as she was beautiful. Karen's look was a refreshing change from what can so often become a revolving door of cookie cutter beauties. But even then, she was smart enough to know that her look would only last so long, and she evolved into an ethereal vintage fairy princess. Fourteen years after her first Steven Miesel-shot Italian Vogue cover, Karen is still modelling but, like any clever businesswoman, she has diversified. She's an accomplished musician, having released her first album last year, and is now launching a vintage-inspired collection of accessories for shoe retailer Nine West.  


Coco Rocha is my favourite of the new breed of model. Not going to lie - it doesn't hurt that she's also a Canadian. But it really wasn't until her flame-tressed campaign for H&M in the fall of 2009 that I truly fell under her spell. Her opposition to the anorexic industry standard and her recent agreement with Canadian retailer Jacob to star in an untouched ad campaign have only made me heart her more. But Coco is not just another pretty face on ridiculously long legs with fabulous hair - like Elson before her, she has also expanded upon her brand. But where Karen turned to the past for inspiration, Coco has fully embraced the future. In addition to her website, Coco also has a Facebook page, a Tumblr account and is very active on Twitter, where she interacts with her followers on a daily basis - just as every good brand should. 

I'm not too proud to say that yes, I follow Coco on Twitter. But I follow a lot of people. It is with some small amount of shame that I admit that as soon as I'm done with this post, I'll be looking to see if Karen Elson is on Twitter as well.  

Out of curiosity, you understand. 

Beauty Icon Wednesday: An Ode to Vivienne Westwood

Name: Dame Vivienne Westwood, born Vivienne Isabel Swire on April 8th, 1941

Known for: first creating the artfully slashed tees and bondage trousers worn by Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols in the punk Seventies, tripping up catwalk bitch Naomi Campbell with a pair of nine inch platform heels during a 1993 runway show, and gifting Carrie Bradshaw with her now-iconic wedding dress in the first Sex and The City movie. 


Vivienne Westwood is my favourite fashion designer. In keeping with the rock n' rebel theme that's been rolling through my life this week, I felt that Auntie Viv - as I so lovingly refer to her... I wish! - was the best and only choice for this week's Icon. 


One of my fondest memories of living in London was the circuit I would make during my lunch hours. I worked on Oxford Street, and at least once a week I'd routinely make a pilgrimage in homage to this Grande Dame. I would usually make my way first down New Bond Street, well away from the throngs of the main shopping drag, to the multi-level flagship store on Conduit Street that housed all three of Westwood's labels - Gold, Red and Anglomania. Then, after about twenty minutes of torturing myself there with things my beauty counter salary couldn't really afford, I would make the agony complete by heading across Berkeley Street, round the Square and up to her intimate and achingly beautiful Davies Street boutique. Sometimes I would reverse the order, starting at Davies before moving on to Conduit Street, but I would never fail to hit both locations. 




What I think I love most about my Auntie Viv is that she seems to incorporate everything I've ever idolized into her design aesthetic. Her nod to 17th and 18th century fashion history of boned corsets and bustles, her ubiquitous use of plaid, her moderately offensive t-shirts and safety pinned trousers designed as though it were a thumbing of her nose at mainstream society. And it would seem that Westwood's desire to shake things up shows no signs of abating; she has become quite active politically with regular and passionate campaigns for human rights and nuclear disarmament. And though it cannot hope to compete with her own sizable contribution to fashion history, the legacy will live on with her son Joseph, the founder of luxury lingerie brand Agent Provocateur. 


Although Westwood has no formal fashion training, having studied art and worked as a
 primary schoolteacher, her way of cutting clothes to best flatter and celebrate the female figure seems almost instinctive. And that would be the true female figure, with boobs and bum, and not that of a twelve year old anorexic boy. For me, she represents living, breathing proof that a woman can be or do anything and still be sexy, regardless of her age or lot in life. 


And so with that in mind, I ask you: what's not to love??