SATURDAY SHOW ♥ VIVIENNE WESTWOOD'S BUFFALO GALS ♥

BUFFALO GAL (GIRL) STYLE PART 3
(read part 1 and part 2)

malcolm mclaren and some buffalo gals

So here is where it all began...with one of the very early collections from Vivienne Westwood (in collaboration with her beau Malcolm McLaren) back in Paris in 1982-ish (might have shown in 1981 actually)...if you really look at it, including the makeup and androgyny, it looks very pre-pre-grunge...

VIVIENNE WESTWOOD'S ICONIC BUFFALO GIRL/GAL
(REALLY IT WAS CALLED "THE WORLDS END COLLECTION") 
FALL WINTER 1982/1983 COLLECTION. 
THE SHOW WAS TITLED "NOSTALGIA OF MUD".
I DON'T KNOW...THEY REFERENCE IT IN BOTH WAYS ON OFFICIAL SITES.
VERY CONFUSING. 

“In March 1982, McLaren and Westwood opened a second shop. It was called 'Nostalgia of Mud' and the fascia was covered by a world map. The interior was styled like an archaeological dig. Visitors descended on recycled scaffolding to an earth floor and a heaving ‘mud’ pond surrounded by voodoo-like artifacts.”  See below!

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Nostalgia of Mud shop exterior

Nostalgia of Mud shop interior

From Westwood's site:

Buffalo Girls (Nostalgia of Mud), AW 1982-83

Colours: Mud.

Raw cut sheepskin.

Bras – underwear worn as outerwear. (pre-Madonna.)

Inspiration: Peruvian women wearing bowler hats and full skirts, dancing with their babies tied on their back.

What's interesting is that even though this collection might horrify some of you, this collection was EXTREMELY influential from the tip top to the bottom of the rack. For years after, we saw baggy jackets, overalls, slouchy shoes (her "Sack shoes" were featured in this collection), drabby khaki colors...I remember as a kid how much of these colors were also in fashion, along with all the day-glo neon stuff. I just don't know if this collection really and truly gets the credit it deserves. It was a big statement about the world, indeed. But it also created a style trend that would never really go out of fashion. Ever. The ideas and the pieces just morphed into other things. But the bones always go back to this Worlds End/Nostalgia of Mud/Buffalo Gals collection. 

I love this bra top. I really love it!

Here's a quote from Malcolm McLaren in 1982 about the collection...

“What’s interesting about England right now is that there’s a definite movement to get involved with the Third World: to wear African dress, and put it with a Dominican hat, throw in some Peruvian beads, and wear make-up like some of the tribes in New Guinea – simply because we have to go even further to demonstrate that we want to get out of this island mentality.”

i love this. i don't know why. but i do.

for the image above...

Front: Buffalo outfit by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren

Nostalgia of Mud, A/W 1982
The skirts were inspired by a photograph of dancing Peruvian women. The pattern was taken from a woodblock print on a record cover. 

Wrap skirt: printed cotton, with machine embroidered flowers and knitted trim Underskirt: hand-dyed synthetic wadding 

Hooded top: perforated cotton
Mountain hat: wool
Brassiere: satin and leather

Also important were the shoes. Some of these continue to appear in Westwood's collections. But they also have shown up for years (esp in the 80s and 90s) in different re-incarnations on a very commercial level. Her SACK SHOES especially are important in recent fashion history. Below are images from shoes worn in the Nostalgia of Mud (Buffalo Gals) collection:

Here's an actual invite I found online to the show!

And some footage in the video below from the show...!♡

more buffalo gals posts here

more saturday show ♥ lacroix at desigual

will add credits later as i can't remember them all!

FRIDAY FANCY ♥ OLIVETTI VALENTINE

When I was in New York City, a very old friend of mine who knew everything about my being a writer and editor once said, "Why don't you have an Olivetti Valentine? You should have an Olivetti Valentine...You MUST get an Olivetti Valentine..." to which I replied "I don't even know what that is." He was shocked and immediately ran over to my computer and looked it up. I fell in love.

Adrianus Van Der Elst Illustration for Olivetti circa 1970

 Upon reading about Anna Piaggi's passing, I also read that to the day she died, Piaggi always typed her stories up on an Olivetti Valentine typewriter. It was designed by Ettore Sottsass and Perry A. King in 1969 for Olivetti and was hailed as a typewriter to be used everywhere other than the office (according to Wikipedia), because it was a modern take on a bulky machine, with finessed touches of 60s Pop art and an easy portable case. A beauty. And of course it comes in that amazing coral red color.

Roberto Pieraccini Illustration for Olivetti

 I haven't gotten my Olivetti Valentine thus far. I have some other typewriters, like the one I used growing up to retype song lyrics and write my own little fashion reviews and stories. But once I land a writing spot that I love, I will definitely add one to my collection.♡

more girl friday ♥ devon aoki meow kitty

images from moma

THURS SHOE ♥ MIU MIU BOWIE KISS BOOTS

OKAY...I can't decide if these Miu Miu Glitter-trimmed suede boots are amazing, or hideous. :) I think at nearly $1000, they are a bit much. I'd rather get some snakeskin heels. But if I saw them on a sale rack, would I rush over to try them on? YES. I think on sale, I'd get them. Because they're very Bowie/witchy/KISS looking. Part of me wonders who will buy these and the other part can't believe how Glam Rock they are...they look like they stepped out of the past and onto net-a-porter! I have another pair of shoes that kind of fit into this category once. My favorite Chanels. I saw them at Saks on the sale rack. They looked very very odd at first. Like silver glitter and red glitter and this cut out and a glitter ridged heel. But as soon as I put them on, I could quickly see the designer's intent. They are amazing and I'm just lucky not everyone saw the potential in them which gave me the chance to buy them at great price. They look like Chanel made them for someone in KISS. :)

Onto Miu Miu...honestly if I saw a vintage pair of shoes like this, the real deal, at a nice vintage shop...I'd buy them in a second. So I guess I do love these. So much. Because I do love Bowie and I do love KISS.♡

i mean, these look amazing. but they have to be on the right person with the right style.

that heel looks very old shoe...like vintage glam rock. not new. it's kind of a louis heel.

this toe also looks very 60s/70s. and witchy, too. looks like a vintage shoe.

more thursday shoe ♥ bernhard willhelm

GOODBYE TO SUPER FREAK ANNA PIAGGI

Fashion lost one of its true fanatics this week, Anna Piaggi who really epitomized what it means to be obsessed with fashion and to own your own style. I knew her as one of the editors or writers from Italian Vogue, the one with the crazy bright outfits and kooky hats. And blue eyeshadow rings around her eyes. I think the first time I ever was aware of Anna Piaggi was in high school, when I started reading Italian Vogue. Here are some other things you might want to know (from Wikipedia): 

Piaggi had a large clothes collection, including 2,865 dresses and 265 pairs of shoes, according to a 2006 exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. [I would love to see those!]

She was a muse to Karl Lagerfeld and Stephen Jones, and Manolo Blahnik made a lot of her shoes (she also worked with him).

And, to my surprise, Piaggi lived in New York (since 1950-ish), traveling to Italy and London. I had no idea at all that she lived in NYC! 

I wonder, like the great Hollywood movie stars, what will happen to fashion once these fashion giants start to leave us. And we're left with uber commercial brands in their absence. Scary and sad to think one day all of these amazing fashion artists will be gone. She was a fashion journalist I adored, and a super freak I loved. We need these kind of fashion super freaks to keep it real. Otherwise everything turns into commercial homogenized minimalised rubbish.♡

piaggi and blahnik in the 70s

piaggi and blahnik in the 70s

piaggi and ysl

piaggi and lagerfeld in the early 80s (i think)