Posted by Rebekah Roy on December 26th, 2008
If you want to understand Harold Pinter’s influence on fashion and pop culture then the video for "Just" is a great place to start. Actually, any time you see a man with a thin tie acting jaded or menacing in a fashion shoot or ad, that’s Harold Pinter’s influence at work. In today’s over-the-top culture, Pinter’s less-is-more approach is something to learn from - sometimes it’s best to leave something to the imagination.
It’s such a normal part of the fashion vocabulary that we often forget where it came from. Why is this ad for Dior’s Autumn/Winter 2004 campaign so cool? It’s modern, but definitely gets a lot of it’s cool factor from the whole Angry Young Men era in British theatre.
Nobel Prize-winning British playwright Harold Pinter died on Dec 24, 2008. He’d been suffering from liver cancer.
He wrote more than 30 plays including The Caretaker, The Birthday Party and Betrayal. He directed over 50 stage, TV, and film production, included The French Lieutenant’s Woman. He was an actor, poet, screenwriter and director.
Harold Pinter stood up for what he believed; he didn’t set out to be popular or famous. Pinter was born to a Jewish dressmaker and tailor in East London in 1930. He was involved in battles with fascists and was fined £30 by magistrates in 1949 for having, as a conscientious objector, refused to take part in national service. Pinter was known for his left-wing political views and was an outspoken critic of US and UK foreign policy. He was a supporter of the Anti-Apartheid Movement and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. In 1985 he went to Turkey with Arthur Miller to protest human rights abuses and the lack of free speech in Turkey, and U.S. support for the country. They were asked to dinner at the U.S. Embassy and Miller, as the guest of honour spoke of democracy. They were both asked to leave.
“Being thrown out of the U.S. Embassy in Ankara with Arthur Miller — a voluntary exile — was one of the proudest moments of my life,” Harold Pinter
Pinter has been writing since the early 50’s and it’s hard to realize how great his influence has been. In the 60’s the Oxford English Dictionary entered the word "Pinteresque"
"marked especially by halting dialogue, uncertainty of identity, and air of menace."
One of the little-known things I find charming about Harold Pinter was that he was the Chairman for Gaieties Cricket Club.
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Posted by Rebekah Roy on March 4th, 2008
I’ve always loved visiting costume houses! Most of the costumes come from different musicals and theatre shows. It’s a great place to go if you’re looking for period clothes for a shoot or anything a bit unusual!
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Posted by Rebekah Roy on November 26th, 2007
I love going to costume houses and going through all the rails. I’m doing some prep work looking for some items for an upcoming video shoot for The Feeling!
These don’t even look like hats; they just look like huge ornaments or crazy big flowers but actually they’re hats. Some of these hats were used in the film Titanic! How cool is that!
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Posted by Rebekah Roy on September 24th, 2007
One of the fashion shows I styled at London Fashion Week for Spring/Summer 2008 was for Daydream Nation, and it was a wonderfully quirky show, a combination of catwalk show and theatre piece! Here’s a review from Fashion Capital:
The much raved about Giles show closed the day on the official schedule but the Fashion Capital crew were up for something new and decided to go ‘off’ and check out the Daydream Nation show at the ICA. Instead of the usual array of expressionless models marching up and down the catwalk Daydream Nation put on a live performance that was a combination of mime, dance, clever choreography and live music. While you may think that such an ambitious show could well take away from the clothes the performance was creatively arranged so that the models interacted with the garments. Most of the pieces, after-all, were multi-functional and could be worn in a number of ways. Wearable and yet quirky designs shown in a charming and amusing presentation – it was a great way to end the day.
Click here to read the full story.
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Posted by Rebekah Roy on September 24th, 2007
Daydream Nation London Fashion Week SS 2008.
As we walked through to the theatre a lady attached to a pillow who was
eager to sleep on our shoulder greeted us. She was one of many
wondering figures wearing pyjamas and serving coffee to the sounds of
another whistling sweet dream lullabies; these actors gave a fun
introduction to Daydream Nation, whose SS08 collection was titled;
‘Good Morning I’m Sleeping’.
This was certainly no ordinary catwalk show, the models/actors were
constantly in character, sleepy and dreamy, their motions down the
catwalk or stage were slow and evolving as they yawned their way
towards the audience. With a focus on neutral shades, executed in
calico and jersey fabrics, Daydream Nation’s SS08 collection included
beautifully slouchy cotton dresses, with heavy frill bottoms, tiered
and layered.
A focus on necklines ran through the collection, with pleating and
folding of the fabric creating exaggerated necklines and collars to
simply shaped garments. There were injections of black amongst the
neutral colour palette in print on jersey, and layers of frills to
skirts. The pillowcase style tops were signature to this dreamy
collection, creating a funnel neck and hood-like effect when worn in
varying ways. The collection was made up of versatile designs, often
garments that can be transformed, like trousers, which become shorts
once they are hoisted, and tied. This performance was an interesting
way to view a collection, and never a dull moment was to be had with
Daydream Nation.
Laura Ellis.
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