Watching......Little Women

It takes a stellar story to withstand three film adaptations, but Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, does just that.
Like a lot of little girls, Little Women was one of those books I read over and over again. Such a sweet, beautiful story of sisterhood, growing up, love, and loss. I love it still. And Jo March! Probably one of my all time favorite heroines. Her tomboy antics, free spirit, fierce family loyalty, and her passion for writing made her my idol. I wanted to BE Jo March. It's funny because my middle name is Jo, and I always hated it because I thought it was a boy's name, until I read Little Women and then I learned to love it!

My favorite film is the 1949 version starring June Allyson, Janet Leigh, Elizabeth Taylor, and Margaret O'Brian. I'm not sure this is a completely objective analysis because this was the first version I ever saw and a special film in that my grandmother introduced it to me and I remember us watching it together countless times. I love the costumes, the accuracy of the story line, and as a whole, I prefer this cast to any of the other adaptations. Although I love Katherine Hepburn as Jo in the original 1933 version, ultimately I think June Allyson is the most convincing. And the young Elizabeth Taylor is brilliant as Amy. Even at her most selfish, vain, and ridiculous you just can't help but love her. The clothespin on the nose always used to make me giggle. I even tried it myself once, but, wowzers! It hurts!

I really didn't care at all for the most recent version, starring Winona Ryder. I think Winonoa Ryder is a great actress, but I just don't think she's well suited for historical roles. I loved her in Girl, Interrupted, Reality Bites, and How To Make An American Quilt, but not as Jo March.

In any event, such a special story. It's almost like a rite of passage of girlhood to read Little Women for the first time. My daughter is only one right now, so I guess we're still a ways off, but this is one of those stories I really look forward to sharing with her.

Browsing........Week #2

A few of my favorite links this week from around the world wide web! Have a lovely weekend! Cheers!

#1 Pinafores

Thanks to Necessity is the Mother, an adorable little shop featured on ETSY this week, I am now completely obsessed with pinafores. Oh my goodness, are these not just exquisite? For some reason, they make me think of Samantha, my favorite American Girl Doll when I was a little girl. If I’m not mistaken, Samantha’s birthday outfit featured a white frilly pinafore over a pink striped dress. I remember thinking that was just the prettiest thing ever!

But now, older and wiser, I actually like these simple ones much better than frilly, lacy, over the top ones. The buttons are super sweet and I love that she recycles old fabric from thrift stores, yard sales, etc. Although I would love to order one of these beauties, I’m not sure that’s in the budget right now, so I’m actually toying with the idea of making one myself. Perhaps even matching mother/daughter pinafores for myself and my little one, Katie Mae. Granted, my sewing skills are not stellar, but with lots of handholding from my mom and grandmother, it just might be possible. I’ve been scouring ebay and etsy for vintage pinafore patterns. I’ll let you know how it goes….

#2 Imelda May

One of my favorite websites, Queens of Vintage, featured a podcast with Irish songstress and vintage fashion icon, Imelda May.

I had never heard of her before, so I hopped over to her website and myspace and now I’m a big fan! She has such an amazing voice, and what’s more, her fashion sense is through the roof. Look at that hair! And those outfits! Sort of like a burlesque 50s bad girl. Rizzo meets Mae West meets Billy Holiday? Definitely worth checking out.

Great YouTube video of "Johnny Got A Boom Boom"

#3 Edwardian Couture

While we’ve got Edwardians on the brain, I also enjoyed this collection of Edwardian inspired couture fashion from style.com.

#4 Electric Edwardians

I discovered this amazing film series via Marmeecraft, who in addition to being an incredibly talented artist with the most whimsical, imaginative paintings, also has excellent taste when it comes to books, movies, etc. Electric Edwardians is a collection of extremely rare documentary footage of everyday people going about their lives in the pre-World War I era between 1900 and 1913. Apparently, the negatives were discovered in the basement of a house about to be abolished in Blackburn, England. Can you just imagine finding such a treasure! So far, I’ve only watched the ones available on You Tube, but I added the film itself to my Netflix queue. Fascinating stuff.

#5 Boater Hats

So everyone knows by now that boater hats are all the rage this spring. I wasn't sure at first how I felt about them at first, but I have to admit they are growing on me.

There's something just so jaunty, perky, and devil may care about these slightly askant sassy little hats. I think I actually prefer the more simple straw ones to these glitzy Marc Jacobs numbers. I love this one from the ever lovely Rhiannon and Clever Nettle had an excellent post with lovely photographs and great advice on finding the perfect boater that has been making the rounds lately. There's something almost Huckleberry Finn-esque about these hats that makes you want to play hooky and sail away on a raft!

And of course, my favorite boater of all time: the absolutely perfect in every way, Mary Poppins!

Listening To....Darrell Scott

I mentioned earlier in the week that my husband and I went to a Darrell Scott show at our favorite Asheville music venue, The Grey Eagle, this past weekend. If you’re not familiar with Darrell Scott, his style is a bit hard to define, but when he can stand on a stage and rip your heart out with his soulful, powerful lyrics, it doesn’t really matter whether you want to call it roots, Americana, blues, country, folk, or whatever. It’s just really, really, really good.

I’ve seen Scott before, but I was just utterly blown away Saturday night as he stood on the stage, all alone, hopping from instrument to instrument, belting out the most powerful songs with such intensity; it was absolutely electrifying. Most of the time, when you go to shows, even shows where there really is a great appreciation for the music (not just bar hoppers looking for background music), there is an undercurrent of conversation, people moving around, and so on. Not Saturday. It was almost like being in a church (well, not exactly), but the entire crowd was so captivated and so intently focused on the performance….it was really amazing.

Even though Darrell Scott is perhaps best known for his incredible, literary songwriting, his latest album, Modern Hymns, (the CD that has been playing nonstop in my car for the past few weeks), is actually a collection of “cover” songs, selected by Scott from his various songwriting heroes, like Leonard Cohen, Gordon Lightfoot, Kris Kristofferson, Joni Mitchell, Guy Clark, Bob Dylan, and others. I love the concept of an inspiration album, because whenever I find an artist I admire, I’m always interested to know the idols and influences that guided them on their artistic journey. It sets off an inspiration chain where you discover all sorts of new artists and genres. I guess it's the old rule of thumb, that if you like one artist, chances are, you'll appreciate artists' they admire as well.

If you can’t tell, I always sort of struggle when writing about music. Really there’s not a whole lot of point to it that I can see. I suppose the best thing to do would be to just point you to some links where you can listen and decide for yourself, so that’s just what I’m going to do! :) Enjoy!

Darrell Scott Homepage

Myspace

New Moon New Music

You Tube Videos of two of my favorite songs from the show Saturday

Memory Like Mine

You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive

Reading....Sylvia Plath

Although I read The Bell Jar in high school, my Sylvia Plath obsession didn't hit hard until my late teens and early twenties. It was around the same time I started wearing a lot of black and had a brief, disgusting fling with smoking cigarettes. Thankfully, it was relatively short lived and I must say that I'm glad those days are over. It's much more pleasant not having to pretend to know everything or to wallow in the throes of post-adolescent angst. Even so, I still have to admit to an enduring admiration for Plath's brilliant poetry and a fascination (albeit a slightly morbid one) with her strange, disturbing, tragic life. A few days ago, I read that Plath's son, Nicholas Hughes, a science professor in Alaska, tragically committed suicide last week, after a long battle with depression. When you think of the horrors that family has had to endure, it's almost unbearable. I hadn't realized that Ted Hughes mistress, Assia Wevill, also killed herself and their daughter, Shura, in a sort of copycat version of Plath's own suicide. Really, very dramatic, depressing stuff. Critics like to point out that Plath's talent was not that great, but that the public has a morbid fascination with her biography. Even though I concede that her tumultuous relationship with Hughes and her ultimate suicide certainly created the cult status she holds with angsty adolescents, I think it's unfair to view her solely in that light, rather than as the brilliant poet that she actually was.

I hadn't read Plath in years. In fact, a few months ago when I was sorting through some old books, I almost sent a volume of poetry and The Complete Journals of Sylvia Plath to the thrift store where I donate my old stuff. For some reason, I held on to them, and I'm glad I did. I've been flipping through these books the past few days and while they are disturbing and frightening (perhaps largely because they can't really be read in isolation, without the taint of knowing the tragic outcome of her life), I still find them very intriguing. Especially her poetry. It is through her poetry that her real, raw talent shines brightest. This was my favorite poem, back in those bohemian days of shunning love and marriage (again, so glad that's over :) !)

I really loved the movie, Sylvia, when it came out, although I haven't seen it in years. Gwyneth Paltrow is one of my favorite modern actresses and I think that with her cool reserve, sophistication, and obvious intelligence, she was ideally suited for this part. Daniel Craig played the part of Ted Hughes. In spite of the sad story, the movie was strangely beautiful. And even though I run the risk of sounding amazingly shallow, I just loved the literary chic costumes in this movie.

Watching.....Cold War Comedies

It might seem at first glance that the possibility of nuclear holocaust would be no laughing matter. But in fact, there is an entire genre of 50s and 60s films that do just that. My husband introduced me to most of these movies, all of which are so quirky and hilarious.

The Mouse That Roared

I think this one is my favorite! Peter Sellers is hilarious as he plays multiple roles in this 1959 satire based on Leonard Wibberly's novel. The plot centers around the world's smallest country, The Duchy of Grand Fenwick. The enitre economy of this tiny, almost medieval nation depends on the export of vintage wine to America. When California bottles a cheaper version, Grand Fenwick falls into economic hardship and looming bankruptcy. The solution they come up with is to declare war on the United States, lose and accept foreign aid. The longbow armed invasion force sent to New York arrives in the middle of a nuclear drill that has left the streets and harbor completely empty. As they wander through the city, trying to find someone to surrender to, they happen upon a scientist with a special ultimate weapon that can destroy the Earth, leaving them in the unexpected position as the most powerful country in the world.
*There is a sequel to this film, The Mouse on the Moon, which I've just put in my Netflix queue. It doesn't have Peter Sellers in it though, so I wander if it will be as good? We shall see....

The Russians Are Coming

This 1966 film is so wild and zany, it's almost screwball. A Russian submarine accidentally runs aground off the coast of a small New England island. As they come ashore and interact with people of the town, chaos naturally ensues as the townspeople fear the worst: total invasion!

Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

This one is much more of a dark comedy. It's also one of those movies that I think you probably have to watch several times to really "get." Maybe I'm just saying that because I've only seen it once and definitely was left with a "What?" kind of reaction. But it was pretty funny all in all. An insane paranoid general, Jack D. Ripper, sends his bomber wing to destroy the U.S.S.R. ultimately triggering the actuality of nuclear annihilation.

Weekend Treasures!

The first weekend of spring was absolutely lovely. Perhaps a bit on the cooler side of perfection, but so sunny and cheerful. Saturday, I hopped on over to my little local flea market (it's a tiny one on a country backroad) and found a lot of great deals. I just love a good flea market. I used to think that the ones in bigger cities were probably better, but I'm not so sure anymore. Little backwoods ones, like mine, tend to be better for treasure hunters, because things are less picked over and prices are much lower.

There is also a great sense of comraderie at a flea market. The elderly gentlemen I bought these hats from was so charming and personable. It was really rather sad, because he was telling me about his wife, who had passed away years ago. The hats were hers and had been sitting up in their attic for over 40 years. He was very sweet though and seemed glad to see someone showing interest in them. In fact, I only bought the two hats on the left (for a price way too low, I tried to give him more money but he wouldn't take it!) and then he went out to his storage building and brought me this amazing pink fascinator and the other black hat for free! Unfortunately, I think the only thing I'll be able to wear is the fascinator. I always have trouble with vintage hats because I have a rather large head. Too much hot air in there I suppose. :) In any event, these are tiny, so I'll probably put them in the shop soon. But this little beauty is mine! So perfect for springtime!

At another booth I found these two brown leather purses. I saw one peeking out of a cardboard box under some sort of old tools, and the other was underneath it. Great shapes on both and I love the clasp on the squarish one.

I also scored some really sweet vintage dresses. Very fresh, springtime colors. These will also be going into the shop soon! The lady I bought the dresses from was so sweet, she gave me these great vintage earrings for free!

So after that perfect afternoon, my husband and I went to see one of my FAVORITE musicians, Darrel Scott, at The Grey Eagle and were completely blown away. More on that later in the week....

Here's to spring!!!!! Cheers!

Browsing....Week One

The next five mini-posts feature my top five internet picks this week....Enjoy!

#1 Photofunia

This site is just too much fun! Unleash your inner narcissist and plaster your face all over museum walls, billboards, magazine covers, and so on. Obviously, I got a bit carried away...

#2 Vintage Vogue Website

Vintage fashion lovers will fall head over heels for this fantastic site. My Vintage Vogue has compiled amazing, extensive collections of fashion photos from the 1920s - 1960s. I could spend hours perusing this site.....just lovely.

1920s
1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

#3 Designs by Bonzie

While randomly clicking through front page ETSY listings a few days ago, I stumbled across this magical Irish fashion design team, Bonzie. Wow! This is the kind of opulent, romantic, ethereal fashion that almost takes your breath away. I love the wide array of silk shoulder wraps, shrugs, boleros, and other fancies that delight the senses. I imagine wearing one of these lovelies would make one feel like the heroine in a Regency romance novel! Be sure to check out their blog as well.

#4 Sally Jane Vintage's Loft Living

Even though I've never actually lived in a downtown urban setting, I've always been enraptured by those converted warehouse or factory loft style apartments. Sally Jane Vintage recently posted pictures from a magazine feature on her fabulous Pennsylvania loft apartment. What a gorgeous home! I love the openness of the space, the abundance of natural light, the exposed brick, and perhaps most of all, the unique, vintage, repurposed style of their furnishings and decor. I've been a fan of her vintage fashion blog for some time now, so a peek inside her home, which is so perfectly compatible with her natural and eclectic fashion sense was a great treat! Beautiful and inspiring!