MOD Monday - GO GO Girl Sandy Sarjeant

The mod culture born out of the 60's, pretty much originated in London and the U.S., however it migrated to Germany soon after.  Popular everywhere was the rise of GO GO dancing that followed the mod fashion craze.  GO GO dancers, unlike strippers, kept their clothes on and entertained the crowds by gyrating to the hip beats.  Initially originating from New York, the idea of GO GO dancing arose from female patrons at the city's famed Peppermint Lounge, getting up on the tables and dancing.  This in turn led to nightclub owners hiring dancers to promote their own clubs.  By no doubt, in regards to styles that came from this vintage era, GO GO boots were #1!  I'm always interested in learning new stuff be it about people, places or things in general and I happened to stumble upon Sandy Sarjeant who was the ultimate mod mama in her time.  There isn't really too much information on her other than the fact that she was from Germany, was a singer & gained her popularity from her mad GO GO dancing skills & fancy footwork. Sarjeant put out a hit song in her country, titled 'Can't Stop The Want' that never gained popularity here in the states.  the YOUTUBE vid of her performing it is a hoot as she seems to be channeling James Brown!

                        
***Stop by the shop today and check out our cool selection of MOD 60's GO GO Boots!***


pics: tumblr.com, myspace.com, youtube.com

MOD Monday - Julie Driscoll

In the 60's, music had a huge influence on the fashions that shaped the 'Mod movement' and British singer Julie Driscoll was definitely in the realms of those who inspired people to dress a certain way.  Hailing from London, England, she started out staking her claim to fame by covering a Bob Dylan original titled "This Wheel's On Fire" and soon thereafter became instrumental in defining the psychedelic era that was British music.  In her teens, Driscoll was the prez of the Yardbirds fan club.  

As she progressed on through to the 70's she focused her musical talents in the genre of Jazz and since then goes by the name of Julie Tippet's, having taken on her married name.  In the late 60's, Julie's bohemian style became truly representative of the vintage mod fashion scene.  

The bohemian 60's was different from the hippie 60's in that it wasn't about baring your feet and wearing flowers in your hair.  It was more of a flowy maxi skirts, floppy hats, boas, faded torn blues and cheese cloth blouses that you can see through (I know because my aunt had one!) were what boho was all about. The mod mix in of course was the pixie hair do that was being duped by everyone from Twiggy, to Mia Farrow!

This Fall 2011, we've been seeing a resurgence of the vintage mod styles in stores everywhere!  Mod boho is one of the simplest to emulate with just a few simple additions to your wardrobe.

My fave Julie Driscoll tune is "Season Of The Witch" which was originally put out by the artist Donovan.  In her time, she was totally a hipster chick!



pics: tumblr.com, psychedeliclion.blogspot.com, polyvore.com, broadcast090511.cocolog-nifty.com 

Going For Baroque?

Of all the style trends that were popular for Spring/Summer 2011, I have to say the oddest in my opinion was the 'Baroque' style sunglasses frames & the variations produced by several designers.  Baroque, by definition was an era in which everything in regards to music, clothing, dance and art were overly exaggerated.  This started in around 1600 in Rome Italy.  I'm sure you'd know exactly what I'm talking about if you picture the women as well as the men who wore the tall white wigs and elaborately adorned clothing?

So now you get the idea in regards to what Baroque is all about right? O.k., so there's this designer, Moo Piyasombatkul, who's such a newbie that Wikipedia hasn't even categorized her yet.  Anywho, this 23 year old Thai designer who lives in both London & Bangkok has come up with her own take on vintage Baroque by creating the most architecturally inspired eye wear frames.  She intricately embellishes each pair with opulent porcelain motifs inspired by versions of 17th century furnishings.  She came up with the idea when she spontaneously repaired a pair of her fave broken glasses with clay.

She was quoted as saying that "Whatever the body relates to is jewelry & statement pieces can change a look entirely"...


Don't know about you, but I don't plan on running out and going for 'baroque' anytime soon?  I'll stick with my good old vintage aviator frames...    




flickr.com, trendelecreme.com

MOD Monday

The 60's will always be known for its designing styles that included the shapeless shifts & geometric prints.  The 'mod movement' originated in London and caught on quickly in the states.  Not everyone knows this, but mod fashion was hugely inspired by pop art.  I thought it would be fun to post some fashion advertisements from the Mod era of the 1960's. 


This is an ad for Tangee lipstick from 1960 which from first glance would have the reader assuming it was an ad for clothing!

Dolly Talk eye shadow circa 1960

Irazu Airlines...Love the mod stewardess uniforms!



Junior Bazaar magazine always featured the most current fashion trends...

The vintage 60's was the dawn of the bikini, go go boots, psychedelic prints and mismatched colors.  It was the decade of the biggest shift in design trends...


: urbanmodernista.com , sewsixties.blogspot.com  , tumblr.com , wikipedia.org

'MoD' Monday

This week the word 'MOD' isn't referring to any retro fashion style, it's about 'MoD...Models Of Diversity.' 

Models Of Diversity is a non profit organization based out of London that advocates for the recognition of men and women of all colors, shapes, ethnicity's & abilities. They even sponsor modeling workshops for individuals with disabilities which is way cool!  They strive to fight against inequality and have a zero tolerance for the 'size 0' mentality that more often than not is the status quo mind set of the fashion world.

How often do we really see a true representation of anyone?  Magazines airbrush and crop and in real life catwalk models have to be stick figure thin to even get a gig!  'MoD' holds firm to the concept that 'not everyone is model potential' in the sense that the individual still has to have marketability, however, they reject the ideas of today's 'norm' that include a narrow range in regards to age, race, etc...   


Angel Sinclair, founder of 'Models Of Diversity' is herself a former model who began campaigning for model equality because she was appalled by what she was witnessing in regards to the way people were being treated if they didn't fit the mold. Although, I am all for this movement, from a realistic perspective I cannot foresee that there are going to be any size 20 models hired by Dior or Chanel to strut the catwalk anytime in the near future. The sad truth is we are a 'look oriented' society people! And it's only getting worse!  How many girls and women these days have issues relating to 'not being happy with themselves' in regards to their appearance?  How many have eating disorders because of it?

When you can listen to the news and hear of eight year olds undergoing plastic surgery in an attempt to counteract bullying you can pretty much assume that the idea of 100% equality on any level is pretty much a mute point!


As long as the media keeps exploiting the idea of 'perfection'...there will never be 'equality'!         


pics: thumbs.dreamstime.com, fionasboots.com, prlog.org, womenstudiesjmu.wikispaces,com, benbarry.fils.wordpress.com