Posts Tagged ‘British history’
Then and now…
Filmmaker Simon Smith has come up with a clever way to show how much (or little) London has changed over the last century.
In the 1920s, Claude Friese-Greene filmed his travels around Great Britain for a project called The Open Road. He used a film coloring process based on the one his father developed, exposing black and white film through color filters. Claude’s project still captivates viewers today; the British Film Institute eventually restored and re-released it for a 21st century audience.
The London portion of The Open Road inspired Smith to make his own, matching version. In his six-month project, titled London In 1927 and 2013, Smith re-shot each of the scenes Friese-Greene documented 86 years prior. He then lined it up with the 1927 footage for comparison…
email readers click here for Smith’s film
Read more at “London, Then and Now (1927 to 2013)”; and see Friese-Greene’s The Open Road here.
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As we redouble our efforts to master The Knowledge, we might recall that it was on this date in 1915 that Great Yarmouth became the first British town attacked from the air in WWI, when two German zeppelins (which had intended to attack Hull, but gone astray) dropped bombs on the Norfolk port. Zeppelin attacks continued and soon reached London… “shaping” the urban landscape that Friese-Greene captured just over a decade later.
The aftermath of a zeppelin bombing in London. 1915
“Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing”*…
The Robe à la Française, a gown popular throughout much of the 18th century, consists of an open front robe exposing a highly decorative underskirt, double box pleats at the back showcasing expansive ornate Rococo textiles, a square neckline and a conical shaped bodice achieved by a stomacher. The stomacher, or the triangular panel at the front of the bodice, was a separate component of the dress and often featured elaborate ornamentation. Zac Posen’s Fall 2013 showcase, featured a golden yellow gown with a similar triangular shaped bodice. This 18th-century reference was not constructed with an additional panel, rather through clever gathers and darts.
Lilah Ramzi is a graduate student of fashion history fascinated by the antecedents of modern couture…
I have come to the realization that much of the creative material produced and designed today has its roots in a previous incarnation or is essentially part nouveau.
Part Nouveau can be used to characterize fashion photography, fashion trends and ultimately anything within the creative field that borrows, reappropriates or is directly inspired by a work which preceded it.
The blog seeks to aid our contemporary eyes, so used to being presented with the newest and latest within the creative world, to recognize and give credit to what has come before.
In 1937, Elsa Schiaparelli launched the fragrance Shocking de Schiaparelli, packaged in bottles which resembled a female figure. The curves were supposedly based on those of the provocative actress Mae West, who also served as a muse to surrealist artist Salvator Dali in the creation of a mouth-shaped sofa modeled after West’s bee-stung lips. Jean Paul Gaultier’s similar body-shaped bottles have become a signature design throughout the brand’s range of fragrances.
Viennese Secessionist artist Gustav Klimt’s gold-leafed, kaleidoscopic paintings have been referenced, reinterpreted and looked to for inspiration by countless artists and designers. In Judith and the Head of Holofernes, Klimt presents us with his version of the biblical tale featuring his muse and reported lover, the Austrian socialite Adele Bloch-Bauer. In describing her F/W 2013 collection to Vogue, designer L’Wren Scott revealed, “I’m having a gold moment” looking to Gustav Klimt’s portrait of Bloch-Bauer for inspiration.
Keith Haring began his short career in 1978, producing paintings, sculptures and murals in his signature cartoon-like graphics until his premature death in 1990. Haring’s philosophy to heighten the accessibility of his art was reinforced by his Pop Shop, a store which carried Haring memorabilia, home goods and clothing all featuring Haring’s signature designs. In 2011, shoe designer Nicholas Kirkwood paid homage to Haring with a collection of footwear showcasing Haring’s aesthetic and in doing so, continuing Haring’s commitment to enhance his artistic reach.
See more exploration of Picasso’s famous assertion that “good artists copy; great artists steal” at Part Nouveau.
*Salvador Dali
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As we watch our backs (as it is, after all, the Ides of March), we might recall that it was on this date in 1949 that clothes rationing ended in England. Introduced on June 1, 1941, two years after food rationing, the program was an effort to assure fair access, but also to limit consumer spending and free up manufacturing capacity critical to te war effort (and subsequently, to economic recovery). As the Imperial War Museum explains…
When buying new clothes, the shopper had to hand over coupons with a ‘points’ value as well as money. Each item of clothing had a points value, usually displayed alongside the price. The more fabric and labour that was needed to produce a garment, the more points required.
Children’s clothes had lower points values in recognition of the fact that they would need new clothes more often. Pregnant women were given an extra allocation for maternity and baby clothes. Clothing exchanges were set up by the Women’s Voluntary Service to help meet the needs of women struggling to clothe their growing families.
Many women used furnishing fabrics for dressmaking until these too went on the ration. Blackout material, which did not need points, was also sometimes used. Parachute silk was highly prized for underwear, nightclothes and wedding dresses.
Ration coupon books
Rule, Britannia!…
What do Guatemala, Tajikistan, Luxembourg, and the Marshall Islands have in common?
Every schoolboy used to know that at the height of the empire, almost a quarter of the atlas was coloured pink, showing the extent of British rule. But that oft-recited fact dramatically understates the remarkable global reach achieved by this country.
A new study has found that at various times the British have invaded almost 90 per cent of the countries around the globe.
The analysis of the histories of the almost 200 countries in the world found only 22 which have never experienced an invasion by the British.
Find the other 18 unviolated nations in the full story at The Telegraph.
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As we realize that, perhaps, “Cool Britannia” isn’t such a bad idea after all, we might recall that this was the date in 1955 to which Marty McFly returned in Back to the Future (and Back to the Future II).
Thou shalt not…
Herman Cain's alleged extramarital affair with Ginger White lasted more than twice as long as Newt Gingrich's affair with Callista Bisek.
It’s possible that the trouble that led Herman Cain to “suspend” Herman Cain’s campaign for the Republican Presidential nomination is really just an elaborate conspiracy by a bipartisan coalition of five women who don’t even know each other to bring down his campaign. But in any case, in all of the discussion of the situation one question about Cain’s alleged conduct has been neglected: is it against the law?
As Tim Murphy writes in Mother Jones, in fact it is:
According to title 16, chapter 9, section 9 of the Georgia code of criminal conduct, “A married person commits the offense of adultery when he voluntarily has sexual intercourse with a person other than his spouse and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished as for a misdemeanor.” At least Georgia adulterers are in good company; adultery is a criminal offense in 23 states, with punishments ranging from a $10 fine in Maryland to life imprisonment in Michigan (at least according to one judge). It’s also prohibited by the Uniform Code of Military Justice…
Lest one wonder about one’s own exposure, Murphy and his colleague Tasneem Raja provide a handy map:
click here for larger interactive version
Murphy points out that (rogue Michigan judges notwithstanding) adultery laws are very rarely enforced. Still, they remain in the statute books of the states colored red (or should one say, “scarlet”?) thanks to the efforts of social-conservative activist groups and legislators, who’ve successfully resisted attempts to remove them… the same groups, of course, that were massed behind Cain, and now Gingrich.
Stranger than fiction, truth is…
Read the full story at “Map: Is Adultery Illegal?”
As we wonder if there’s a market in CDOs for the bonds of marriage, we might recall that it was on this date in 1936 that Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; later The Duke of Windsor) became the first English monarch voluntarily to abdicate his throne– a decision he made after the British government, public, and the Church of England condemned his decision to marry the American divorcée Wallis Warfield Simpson. In an address to the nation, Edward explained: “I have found it impossible to carry on the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge the duties of king, as I would wish to do, without the help and support of the woman I love.” The following day, his younger brother, the duke of York, was proclaimed King George VI.
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor (source)
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