I didn’t make it to the Louis Armstrong Museum when I went to NYC but I can’t wait to get my hands on this new book. As well as being a jazz legend (which is by the by for me, I have nil knowledge of jazz), Armstrong was a prolific collagist. This book showcases some of his 650 mini collages (all made on cassette boxes) and 20-odd scrapbooks. Heaven!
I spent last weekend dipping in and out of the Stylist book I bought a couple of weeks ago and can I say it was money well spent. In particular, this quote from Allure creative director Paul Cavaco resonated with me:
“Richard Avedon would ask, ‘What’s the surprise?’ And you’d go, ‘It’s the purple sock,’ so he’d go ‘Okay, move the pant leg up.’ I worked with great visual people who would ask, ‘Why am I looking at this? What is great about this girl? Yes, she’s beautiful, but they’re all beautiful. Show me what is different. Is it lipstick; is it not? What is that hand doing? Is it just shoved in the pocket? Should it be out or should it be showing a nail?’ You have all these options; what are you going to choose? The world is that open; how do you make it yours? That’s the editing process.”
Wise words. The book seems to feature mostly Conde Nast stylists (W, Vogue, Allure) which isn’t all that surprising as Style.com is behind it but Sarah Mower’s writing is spot on and it’s just so interesting to get a bit of an insight into these backstage creatives.
WORDS: Disneyrollergirl
IMAGE: Richard Avedon
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It’s no secret that I’m a bookaholic and I love reading oral histories and biographies about underground movements, pop culture and subcultures. Off the top of my head I can enthusiastically recommend Please Kill Me by Legs McNeil, Edie an American Biography by Jean Stein, The Last Party by Anthony Haden Guest* and Days in the Life: Voices from the English Underground 1961-71 by Jonathon Green as fascinating, insightful reads. One I hadn’t heard of is Berlin Bromley by Bertie Marshall, a book I read about on this blog.
Marshall was one of the Bromley Contingent, a group of suburbanites which included Siousie Sioux amongst their number who were key players in the early London punk movement. This book documents his growing up in gloomy seventies suburbia and the drug-addled years that followed. (Not a lighthearted read then…)
*Actually this one is rather hard work as the story (about the rise and fall of New York’s nightlife in the 70s) does have so many twists, turns and characters but it’s a worthwhile read to dip into and get a feel for the hedonistic goings-on of the era.
Pic: http://www.honeyee.com/blog/
