PearlModern

Holiday Chaos and the Soothing Sounds of Songbirds

2011-11-24T19:37:00.002-05:00

The holidays have me in a tizzy! Fashion crazed shoppers run amok, the pursuit of all things glittering and gleaming and recipes, endless recipes flying everywhere, vying for a place at the table.

Having had a father that was a chef and having grown up part time in a professional kitchen environment where music was played constantly as a motivator and as an instrument of calm (mainly Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk) it has become essential to have good music playing while a feast is being prepared.

In the midst of all this chaos I have found calm and pleasure listening to some great songs by favorite songbirds of yesteryear.

Below are a few favorite photos of the great Peggy Lee.

I absolutely adore these gloves and have been looking everywhere for a similar pair to no avail!

Next is the song "Black Coffee" performed by Peggy Lee.

The next song is one of my favorites by Peggy Lee, "You're My Thrill".

Below are a few photographs of Diana Dors, a great starlet.

Below is the very funny Diana Dors song "The Gentleman is a Dope".

Next is my favorite Diana Dors song "Roller Coaster Blues".

Below are select photos of the wonderful Julie London.

Below are two sultry videos of Julie London accompanied by the Bobby Troup Quintet performing on "The Julie London Show".

Below is the fantastic jazz singer Nancy Wilson.

In closing, we have two upbeat songs performed by Nancy Wilson sure to get the kitchen jumping!

Treasure Hunting - Glamorous Ghosts In A Country Manor

2011-11-09T00:47:00.000-05:00

Freak snowstorm aside, we just returned from a wonderful weekend in the country visiting Victorian mansions and digging for fabulous treasures in countless antique stores.

We had the great pleasure of enjoying cocktails in one magnificent house in particular. Our friends have decorated their late 19th century home with such care and superb taste that we have been relishing the memories of each of the rooms since our return.

The house is arranged around sublime vignettes, utilizing the most fantastic decorative objects and pictures from the last 200 or so years, from the Baroque to high modern without ever forgetting to honor the gorgeous architecture of the house. It was truly like walking into the pages of The World of Interiors magazine. The house was described by one of the owners as a personal Wunderkammer, a perfect description of a perfectly beautiful home.

Moving through these many rooms, up and down staircases, resisting the urge to slide down the shiny polished banisters, treading gently over French silk carpets, careful not to let my small vintage Celine handbag knock over a frighteningly fragile Bavarian porcelain folly (a priceless accident I would never live down), I began thinking about the scenes these rooms have been witness to over the last century. I wonder what songs have been played on Victrolas to Hi-Fis with party revelers wearing clothing that one might find eccentric today...

The images that are inspiring me this week derive from this idea of imagining one great old house and the history of fashion that the privileged people have worn in these rooms, from Edwardian finery to the sleek lines of the Art Deco era. Maybe it's because of Halloween, but I could swear that I saw out of the corner of my eye fantastically dressed ghosts going about their ghostly day, moving from room to room lighting candles and then blowing them out.

Below is a beautiful photo of an Edwardian girl. I love the way her striped fur wrap is worn so casually. The plumed hat is also quite fantastic.

Below is a great studio shot of an actress wearing an insane dress that appears to be made of silver silk velvet and chinchilla. The way she is standing, hand on hip with just the right amount of bangle bracelets is perfect. The head wrap is also great with the scarf ends hanging long with glittering beaded tips.

Below is a stunning photo of an actress wearing a magnificent pleated dress with fabulous accordion pleated wings.

This next photograph is unusual and beautiful. I love the placement of the two jeweled bows and double heart beauty marks.

Beneath is a great image of the beautiful actress Veronica Lake looking absolutely gorgeous.

Next is a beautiful photo of the actress Kathryn Adams. I love the vertical ruching at the shoulders. The tassel necklace is beautiful. Lately we have been collecting a variety of tassel necklaces for the Pearl Modern store from Hattie Carnegie to Etruscan revival. There is something so fun about the way they swing!

Next is a photograph of the always beautiful actress Carole Lombard in the most exquisite beaded leaf patterned dress. Amazing!

This next image is so haunting. It is of the actress Marion Davies, the lover of infamous publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst.

Below is a photo of the silent movie actress Mary Brian, who played Wendy Darling in director Herbert Brenon's 1924 silent movie adaptation of 'Peter Pan'. I love the rhinestone buckle detail at her waist.

This next photo is a wonderful image of the actress Kay Francis from the 1920s. The all white outfit is so chic and modern that I could imagine it having been designed by Giorgio Armani.

Beneath is an image of the actress Toby Wing. This corduroy dress is quite amazing. The geometric details and the diamond shaped belt buckle are excellent design elements.

Next is a stunningly goth image of the actress Suzanne Ridgway from 1938 taken by master photographer George Hurrell. I have a scarlet red dress just like this that needs to be exhumed from the wardrobe immediately!

Below is another amazing 1938 photograph by George Hurrell of the actress Whitney Bourne. This is just a perfect photo. I love the use of the hat and the long netting is mysterious, sexy and slightly subversive.

This next image is also mysterious. She looks like a James Bond villainess in her high heeled boots.

Below is a photo of the actress Elaine Dunne, who played Vashti on the "Wild Wild West" television series in the episode "The Night of the Infernal Machine" in 1966.

Next is a photograph that I absolutely love of the Swedish stage actress Viveca Lindfors. The styling is absolutely perfect.

The next photo inspiring me this week is of actress Merle Oberon. Born in Bombay in 1911, she made her way to England and then to America, where she had a long career appearing on television. To me, she exudes an exotic beauty with eyes that could tell many dark stories.

On a lighter note, in closing, we have a very surreal photo of the über glamorous actress Anita Ekberg from 1955, sitting in possibly the strangest chair we have ever seen. We wish we had been at that costume party!

Love Letter to Lacroix

2011-10-21T03:18:00.000-04:00

Lately I have been thinking a lot about and collecting French Haute Couture from the mid 1980s to the late 1990s. The Paris runways are always decadent and über glamorous, but this particular time period bore fashions that were particularly Baroque in their luxe. Of course, Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel is an obvious example, with his icy elegance as are Galliano and McQueen, but lately I've been obsessing on Christian Lacroix and his legacy of fantastical creations that summed up that era with an exuberant joie de vivre.

I first fell in love with the designs of Christian Lacroix as a young girl, hungrily flipping through fashion magazines. I recall the first image was of his iconic silver haired model/muse Marie Seznec in a giant poufy skirt and laced bodice, a dizzying cross between a towering strawberry shortcake and Marie Antoinette on hallucinogens.

Unlike other designers, whom you practically need a chisel to crack through the impenetrable façade of reserved sophistication and cool, with Lacroix's creations you are invited into the fantasy to revel at the technicolor plumage, exotic patterns that rhapsodically clash in the most brilliant way, all tied together with endless ropes of sparkling rhinestones.

During Christian Lacroix's runway extravaganzas, the models would invite you in to their cabaret with cheeky rouged smiles and flirty glances, making the clothes seem extra sexy, approachable, even touchable. Wearing Lacroix, you would be the life of the party or even the party itself, decked out like an iced pink champagne cake.

Next is a fantastic early Christian Lacroix runway show from 1988.

In the above video at 1:55 is a model in a yellow and black jeweled bustier with a canary yellow chignon who is wearing the large Christian Lacroix gold cross necklace that we are currently featuring in the Pearl Modern store.

available here

Below is an incredible black and gold ensemble from 2007.

An artistic masterpiece from 2009.

Next, we have a Christian Lacroix runway show from the Fall/Winter of 2002/2003.

I truly miss Christian Lacroix and the magic he created every Spring and Fall. He was a master couturier at the highest technical level, but most of all, he was a genius visual artist, a painter whose media was the lightest tulle, the richest velvet and the most divine feathers.

In closing, we have a tremendous Christian Lacroix runway show from 2003.

Fall Fashion Inspiration Part 2 - Slightly Wicked

2011-10-06T09:19:00.000-04:00

The arrival of Fall has me in a slightly wicked mood. I'm loving fashion that is wickedly glamorous or just downright wicked in a kind of naughty, black spiderweb stockings kind of way.

Below is a photo of the actress Melina Mercouri that reminds me a bit of Daphne Guinness and perfectly illustrates what I find glamorous right now. The combination of veil, brooch and black gloves is perfection.

I often look at the beautiful portraits of the last century for fashion inspiration. The clothing, hair, jewels and overall decor of the sittings were so expertly conceived, yet they allow the spirit (sometimes wicked) to shine through the artifice.

Below are three gorgeous photos of the actress Janet Leigh that beautifully show how the inner self can be revealed in a great portrait.

Recently I have been looking at portraits done of burlesque dancers. These portraits are not about nudity, but are much more about conveying a stage presence, an ownership of the stage and the complete possession of the audience's gaze. These photos were often displayed in glass window boxes in front of burlesque theaters. The photos had to be striking enough to lure in the curious.

Below are two photographs of Lana Turner. In the first photo, she is wearing a gorgeous beaded dress and has an incredible expression. In the second, she is almost androgynous, but is also a powerful woman atop her steed. This photo reminds me of the iconic photographs taken of Georgia O'Keeffe in the desert.

I recently found this photo of Boy George and it made me think about how beautiful he was in these early photographs from the 1980s. I was always entranced by how he expertly used makeup in such a genius way, highlighting those beautiful eyes and lips. In the current era of Lady Gaga, I feel that Boy George and Culture Club were way ahead of their time as far as styling and fashion go.

Below is a favorite performance of Culture Club's "Time (Clock of the Heart)" on Top of the Pops in 1987.

Below is a photo of the actress Sabra Samar looking fabulously decadent and a photo of the great Lee Meriwether (Catwoman in the Batman movie of 1966) looking wicked in leopard print with a gorgeous black cat.

Below are two photographs from the 1950s of scantily clad young men looking wickedly seductive. The first one is wearing a great leather jumpsuit with the perfect boots and cap. The second one is self explanatory and reminds me of a photo Karl Lagerfeld might take... at least for fun.

Next are two great photos of 1960s chic mod girls wearing first a matching black vinyl trench coat and fedora and in the second, just enough fur.

Below is my favorite photo of Claude Rains from "Phantom of the Opera" (1943).

Below is a gorgeous photo taken by Harry Langdon.

Next, a photo of Janice Logan from "Undercover Doctor" a film from 1939 adapted from the book by J. Edgar Hoover.

Below is an anonymous film still that displays wonderful light and shadow effects.

Below is a photograph of the actress Anne Francis. I love the way the cigarette casts a shadow under her lip that looks like a smudge. This photograph is absolutely perfect in its own mysterious way.

Beneath is a photo of Toby Wing wearing an amazing shirt that I absolutely covet!

Below is an inspiring photograph of a very young Barbara Streisand.

Below is an amazing photo of Jayne Mansfield posing seductively for the paparazzi while holding a small lapdog in one hand. The next photo is of Jayne Mansfield and Sophia Loren. I love the man walking into the frame on the left, his gesture and expression speak volumes.

Finally, here is a really entertaining video clip of another wild and wickedly sexy blonde, Mamie Van Doren performing a number in a nightclub from the 1959 film "Guns, Girls and Gangsters".

Film Noir Glamour - The Crooked Angel

2011-09-19T05:55:00.001-04:00

Lately we have been relishing the new BBC film noir drama "The Hour". This dark mystery has reignited a fascination I have with the cool, graphic look of the film noir style.

I have always been drawn to the stark lighting and menacing shadows in the films of Fritz Lang, Otto Preminger, Samuel Fuller and Alfred Hitchcock. I love when the opening frame is of an anonymous dark city street. A dashing stranger in a sharp suit, shiny shoes and black fedora casually leans against a lamp post, the only light source. He lights a cigarette and out of the corner of his eye, he catches a glimpse of a mysterious woman, her finger waves obscuring all but one smoky eye and a scarlet pout.

Above are two photographs of the actress Diana Dors from the film "The Unholy Wife". Diana Dors is often referred to as the British Marilyn Monroe. The femme fatale is an essential component of film noir. Portrayals can often be campy, bordering on B-movie absurdity. Below is the light hearted trailer for "The Unholy Wife" with Rod Steiger and Diana Dors playing this trope to the hilt.

In Samuel Fuller's excellent 1953 film "Pickup on South Street", Jean Peters walks the line between the stereotypically dim and cunningly street smart girl alongside the brilliant Richard Widmark. I love the tango-like banter between them in the video clip below.

Below are photos of Jean Peters and Richard Widmark.

Richard Widmark also gives an amazing performance as Harry Fabian, a London hustler in Jules Dassin's 1950 film "Night and the City" also starring the beautiful Gene Tierney.

Below is a clip from "Night and the City".

A classic of film noir is the Otto Preminger film "Laura" from 1944, starring Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews. Below is a still from the film. I absolutely love Gene Tierney's striped wrap jacket, so chic.

Below is a clip from the film "Laura".

Below are a few gorgeous photos of the actress Gene Tierney.

A great poster from the classic Hitchcock film "Rope".

There are far too many great Alfred Hitchcock films that fall under the heading of film noir to list here, so I have chosen to feature a favorite. In the 1946 film "Notorious" we have an incredible pairing of talent and beauty in the performances of Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant.

Below are two beautiful photos of Ingrid Bergman.

In the 1947 film "Nightmare Alley", Tyrone Power gives a stellar performance as carnie Stan Carlisle. Below is a clip from "Nightmare Alley".

Below are a few favorite photos of the dashingly handsome Tyrone Power.

"Dark Passage" is one of my all time favorite film noir movies. It stars the incredible duo of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, directed by the great Delmer Daves. This is a classic tale of revenge set in foggy San Francisco.

Here is the gorgeous Danish version of the "Dark Passage" poster.

Another great film starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall is Raymond Chandler's "The Big Sleep" from 1946. Below is a clip from the movie.

Below are a few wonderful photographs of the endlessly captivating Lauren Bacall.

A great, great film noir classic from 1950 is the movie "Gun Crazy" directed by Joseph Lewis. This is a wild cross-country shoot 'em up - full of bank robberies and terrific chase scenes. Peggy Cummins is amazing as Annie Laurie Starr. Below is the video sequence where we first are introduced to Annie Starr.

In honor of the smooth talking gangsters and gun-wielding vixens in these great films, we have devised a delicious cocktail that is sure to make a femme fatale swoon.

Cocktail Of The Week - "The Crooked Angel"

serves four

Ingredients:

8oz Godiva Milk Chocolate Liqueur

4oz vodka

4oz grenadine

4oz half and half

cubed ice

4 maraschino cherries

Combine all liquid ingredients in a cocktail shaker.

Shake well.

Serve in highball glasses filled halfway with cubed ice.

Garnish with maraschino cherries.

Enjoy!

In closing, we have a modern take on the film noir style in a music video from the band Pulp with their song "This is Hardcore". Pulp's frontman Jarvis Cocker is amazing.

Fall Fashion Inspiration - Deco and Daphne

2011-09-08T04:45:00.000-04:00

I'm back in New York. Autumn is in the air. I'm sitting in my car on a strange street in a strange neighborhood. It's early morning and I'm on the hunt for something great.

For me, autumn is a sort of rebirth. Excitement is all around. The fashion collections are about to be presented, fall fashion week is about to begin and the art world is coming out for the slew of art openings beginning this week.

I am a September girl and this week I will celebrate my birthday. I have decided to reward myself for a year's worth of hard digging, fabulous finds and lucrative sales with an amazing mid-century necklace by Hattie Carnegie that I found a few months back. I have been waiting for the fall to present it in the Pearl Modern store, but over time I have begun to love it too much to share. Sorry, jewelry collectors! Maybe it's my goth past, but I am really drawn to this necklace's cold grey metal heart. There is something about the steely color and industrial design that thrills me.

Hattie Carnegie was quite a character. As legend has it, somewhere on the journey from Austria to the United States in the year 1900, the young Henrietta Kanengeiser asked another passenger the name of the richest man in America, to which they responded "Andrew Carnegie". Soon, the entire family changed their last name to Carnegie, an obviously fortuitous decision.

Below is my favorite Hattie Carnegie large gold plated mechanical goose necklace.

Available here

Below are a few beautiful Hattie Carnegie ads from the 1930s and 1940s.

I love the change in seasons, when you take a breath and the air is tinged with a hint of icy-cold alluding to the cold winter ahead, coat weather. I adore dramatic clothing. I can't wait to throw a voluminous velvet cape on over a fitted 50's dress. A great, well-cut coat can be so sexy, an anticipation of what's underneath.

Below is a beautiful photograph of the actress Ida Vollmar.

Below is a mysterious photo of the Russian actress Olga Baclanova, also known as "The Russian Tigress".

Recently, I have been inspired by film noir costuming, the genius orientalist fashions of Paul Poiret, the draped dresses of Madeleine Vionnet and the designs of fashion houses Berthe and Premet.

Below is a portrait of the great couturier Paul Poiret.

Below is a photograph of the legendary art doyenne Peggy Guggenheim in a luxurious, oriental patterned Poiret dress.

Below is a 1920 illustration by Raoul Duffy, "Croquis de Modes no. 7" from the Gazette du Bon Ton.

Next are three examples of Madeleine Vionnet's designs.

Below are illustrations from Berthe and Premet.

There is something wonderful about the outfit worn by this Romanian girl in the photo below from the 19th century. I have always had an affinity for the peasant dresses that Yves Saint Laurent designed. This skirt reminds me of those iconic designs, with its beautiful pattern and luxurious drape.

Below is a photograph from the 1920s of the actress Anna May Wong. I love the drama of the long sequin mesh scarf worn as a headdress.

There was a wonderful retrospective exhibition this summer of the great couturier Madame Gres at the Musee Bourdelle in Paris. Below are a few photos and illustrations from the designers oeuvre.

Below is an illustration from 1948 of an outfit from Madame Gres (on the left) and another from Elsa Schiaparelli (on the right).

Below is a fantastic Madame Gres ensemble from 1960.

I am very excited to visit the upcoming exhibition of Daphne Guinness' select pieces from her vast wardrobe presented at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. The show runs from September 16, 2011 to January 7, 2012. This exhibition is not to be missed if you are at all enthralled with the mastery of the modern couturiers from Karl Lagerfeld to Alexander McQueen.

In a decidedly goth mood, here are two photos of the perpetually dashing Rudolph Valentino, whose styling I am looking to for winter inspiration. This hat is gorgeous!

Below is a still from the 1921 film "Camille" starring Rudolph Valentino and Alla Nazimova.

Finally, being that it is September, one must start considering their Halloween costume. Inspired by the amazing photo below, I am considering dressing up as a manic and disheveled Cleopatra. Who will you be?

Treasure Hunting - Ignorance Is Golden

2011-08-26T02:12:00.004-04:00

I have just spent a wild two weeks digging in gold country, not for gold nuggets mind you, but for other buried treasures. You would think that great finds would be few and far between in the middle of nowhere, but this trip has been absolutely brilliant!

I started out early each day, navigating open highways, then two lane roads that eventually turned into spooky dirt roads punctuated with abandoned, rusted-out pickup trucks and fallen down clapboard lean-tos.

These roads sometimes lead to a once grand Victorian mansion down a shady lane, glorious in former days, its gaily painted gingerbread now faded and peeling, its handmade sign announcing its new life as an antique store.

I love when shops bust at their seams with any and all manner of things. Like a natural high, I thrive on the process of sorting through the chaos, digging through the layers of time and brushing away the dusty silt of history to reveal the signature of a great master, once heralded, now forgotten, primed to be rediscovered by today's savvy collectors.

It was down a dusty road like this, while following a sign directing me to the historic downtown that I came across some of my first fabulous finds.

The historic downtown turned out to be a one block long transplant from the Old West. The first shop was jam packed with the same chipped china patterns that I always see, so I left. Across the street was a storefront with an impressive assortment of antique suitcases and vintage embroidered Western shirts. The shop was overloaded with frocks, frills and tarnished silver. After flipping through countless moth-eaten frock coats and unraveling lacy petticoats, I came upon a giant snake-charmer's basket overflowing with silk scarves. Like a clown trick, one after another, I pulled out psychedelic, op-art Vera scarves until I reached the bottom and pulled out the most magnificent blue silk Schiaparelli scarf, as voluminous as a schooner's sail.

That same day, I decided to drive ridiculously far to a one horse town where I had once by chance happened upon an excellent antique fair. Unfortunately, it was Monday and I soon discovered that all of the antique stores were closed. I decided to walk the main drag, hoping to come upon an open shop so that I could quell my itch to find something new. Empty storefronts were now occupied with temporary operations selling well-used children's gear like duct taped strollers with wobbly wheels.

Next door was an old-timer's steakhouse called the Palomino Room. It was around the corner from a delightful establishment named Miss Bunny's End-Up Bar.

I wandered into a Western wear store and asked the saleslady if she knew of any shops that sold "different kinds of things". She directed me two miles up Main Street, past Antelope Road, with the directions "you can't miss it, it's between the Holiday Market and the Long John Silver's".

Inside, there was row after row of bric-a-brac on shelves that betrayed the location as having once been a convenience store. The first thing that caught my eye was a gorgeous black and apple green Murano glass ashtray. Its sexy, voluptuous form seemed to still be molten, the glossy green inside flecked with gold aventurine. This glass piece was sitting on top of a long, clear glass topped vitrine. I scanned the vitrine with eagle-eyed intensity at the random, crappy jewelry and dimestore watches that you always see. Suddenly, as if hit in the eye with the beam of a pen flashlight, a glint of gold emerged from the muck. Sitting there on the top shelf of the glass case was a large, gold brooch in the shape of an Aztec warrior mask.

This brooch was clearly made of gold, with finely cast features that were powerful and haunting, with a beard of golden teardrops. I turned the piece over to examine its maker's mark. On the back it read "Marbel, Mexico". This was to my surprise, astonishingly, a creation of the genius Mexican metalsmith Salvador Teran, cousin of the great Los Castillos brothers. Besides being one of the most accomplished silversmiths of his time (the 50's and 60's) he also created fantastic mosaic pieces for both the wall and the tabletop.

available here

This fantastic gold brooch was made especially for the glamorous Marbel department store of Mexico City. How such an unusually beautiful and obscure piece of jewelry history ended up in this glass case in the middle of nowhere next to broken toasters and faux Hummel figurines is anyone's guess. Discoveries like this keep me searching further out down the road. Needless to say, I grabbed up the gold fast, paid and got out of there.

The next day, while exploring the country backroads, I discovered a small, nondescript shopping center with a grocery store, a bait and tackle shop and the ubiquitous Western wear and saddlery. In this strip mall I found a shop that was half animal shelter, half antique emporium. Serenaded by yipping, yapping and constant meowing, I set upon finding something interesting. On a tall shelf, crammed between souvenir ash trays from unsavory destinations and wind-up, sad-faced angel music boxes, I glimpsed a porcelain cream and sugar set that I immediately recognized as being both genuine art nouveau and as pieces of extremely fine quality. The patterning was refined. The hand painted lines and gold banding initially reminded me of favorite Egyptian revival pieces, but the motifs spoke more of a Viennese taste, therefore older. I gently flipped the sugar bowl over and was thrilled to see a hand painted mark that read "Jul. H Brauer, Hand Painted China". Knowing I had a rare treasure, I carefully removed the creamer, hoping that the teetering tower of ashtrays wouldn't come crashing down. At the cash register, I asked the shopkeeper/kennel operator if she knew anything about the pieces and she looked at the bottom of the sugar bowl and said "These aren't anything special, just some not-so-old dishes made in China". Laughing hysterically inside of my head at the woman's sheer ignorance in not knowing the difference between hand painted china and Made in China, I smiled, paid and left the store.

This stunning cream and sugar set was designed and painted between 1910 and 1920 by the famous Pickard Chicago Porcelain Company and Limoges artist Julius Brauer, who after leaving Pickard and taking their best artists with him, started his own workshop, producing fantastically beautiful pieces that are now quite scarce. In my hands I held pieces of decorative art history, just waiting to sit proudly on a fine silver tray in a beautifully appointed room, appreciated for their elegant good looks and fascinating history.

On my last weekend in gold country, I woke early to attend two estate sales. At the first sale, after the crowd's mad rush through the door, I was astonished to see these people, whom I was sure were educated pickers, grabbing everyday household items like old Bundt cake pans and napkin holders, failing to size up the contents of the house, missing the fact that this woman, while she was alive, had amassed a very fine collection of Asian porcelain.

While making my rounds, I noticed a glass fronted china hutch that people kept running past without looking in. Inside was a beautiful set of fine porcelain rice bowls and condiment dishes, as well as a lovely, small hand painted Chinese tea pot. When I flipped one of the rice bowls over, I saw that it had a yellowed label from an auction house with a lot number and an inscription that read "Japanese Imari, over 100 years old". The pieces were in fabulous condition, their indigo and rust decorations clear and vivid.

At the second estate sale, I made my way around the many rooms, circling back countless times as to not miss anything. I noticed a cardboard box containing various perfume bottles. On closer inspection, I realized that they were clearly crystal. When I asked about them, the person running the sale said that no one was interested in them because they were plain glass, without decoration. I took all four, as well as a flowered hat box containing a wonderful, veiled white French hat. When I got the perfume bottles back to my room, while examining the largest one, I was extremely excited to see the identifying mark of early Baccarat crystal etched into the bottom. This perfume bottle, insultingly accused of being plain and unadorned glass was, in fact, a very fine and beautiful antique French Baccarat crystal perfume bottle from around 1905 that had been passed down and clearly loved by this woman, kept and treasured for over one hundred years.

One of the other perfume bottles had a beautiful design with a distinctive wave shaped stopper. The bottle itself felt wonderful in the hand, its sides softly grooved to fit a woman's fingers. On the bottom of the bottle, it was marked "Zofaly, France". After much research, I discovered that it once contained the famous scent named "Passion de Zofaly" from 1946.

These rare treasures, temporarily lost to time, often misunderstood or overlooked, are mine and my vintage collectors reward for weeks of digging, not for gold, but for beauty.

If you have any stories of similar discoveries, we would love to hear them!

Collecting Hats Is Serious Business - 60's Mod

2011-08-06T08:17:00.000-04:00

We at Pearl Modern absolutely adore mod style. We are attracted to the sharp architectural cuts, clean lines and futuristic optimism present in clothing and design made in the mid 1960's. Mod style is as radical as punk rock, but in a way that is so distilled that its psychology is elusive to anyone lacking an educated and refined eye. What may look like a simple white coat is actually a complex structure, perfectly balanced in geometry but that sits slightly askew, causing the odd passer-by to look twice and then come to the conclusion that this garment is the most stylish white coat they have ever seen.

Mod styling incorporates wit and whimsy into the details, for instance, whether you're exaggerating the bend in a brim of a hat to cast a mask-like shadow across the face or by cutting a hem on a radical diagonal or by lining buttons up like a game of tic-tac-toe, just because it looks cool - you are stretching your imagination of what is possible aesthetically, but within the confines of a purist's tent.

Below is a shot from a 1965 space age photo shoot, featuring cutting edge fashion from Pierre Cardin.

As far as hats go, we collect and sell every sort of chic topper from the 1920's through the 1970's, as long as we can imagine wearing them ourselves. For me personally, I get strangely excited when I see an almost abnormally tall, velveteen helmet with a cocky, slightly arrogant brim and a girly, sweet leatherette bow. Call me eccentric, but what could be more fun than wearing a fantasie on the top of your head, perched like a folly, like a canary's cage or simply like a hat that will make that random stranger say "Damn, that hat is awesome".

Below is a sunny, mod 60's Empress Marché exclusive melusine fur felt hat.

Below is a slick, 60's mod take on a classic Trilby as done by Betmar.

available here

Below is an illustration of an Adolfo hat from the 1960s.

Below is a photo of the iconic 60's model Peggy Moffitt.

Below is another 1960s Adolfo hat illustration.

Below is a plum velvet bubble hat, made in Italy in the 1960s, exclusively for Marshall Field & Company.

available here

Below is a great photo of Sophia Loren trying on hats in Rome.

Below is a beautiful photo of Jean Seberg from 1969 taken at the time of her film "Pendulum".

Below are two views of an English made 1960's emerald green bubble cloche hat.

available here

Below is a photo of the amazing Faye Dunaway in a giant white hat.

Last, we have a photo from 1963 of a model wearing a Pierre Cardin ensemble with a fantastic graphic hat. Doesn't she resemble a mod Kirsten Dunst?

Summer Through Kaleidoscope Eyes

2011-07-29T02:10:00.000-04:00

The lingering perfume of summer, a combination of patchouli and Hawaiian Tropic permeates my memories. Summers in California were steeped in psychedelia. Hippie girls wore cut-off shorts and tie dyed Grateful Dead tank tops. Their worn down flip-flops clapping the pavement sounded like castanets as they ran down to the beach to meet their boyfriends and make out. Off in the distance, third rate mariachi music melded with Led Zeppelin, or maybe the Stones. Long haired skaters in board shorts got high and ate pizza while the sun set and the seagulls swooped down to steal what was left.

Below is a great rendition of the song "Summertime" performed by Yuya Uchida and the Flowers.

When I was little, my father and I used to visit the Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome way up in a canyon owned by one of his drinking buddies, a bearded rich hippie, a dropout with Hollywood parents. On one of these visits, a gathering called "The Festival of the Sun" was taking place. I remember swarms of half-naked men and women rapturously dancing to drums, flutes and chanting, dappled sunlight through the oak grove casting strange sun shadows on their spinning bodies. Their faces and bodies were painted like animals or with paisleys and swirls. Their eyes were bright and big, like cats. When they would spin and twirl and entwine with each other, the colors on their painted skin melted into one another and my vision expanded like the twisting of a kaleidoscope.

Below is a classic 1960s photo of Goldie Hawn from the fantastic, wacky television show "Laugh-In".

Below is a psychedelic photo of the rock band "Eric Burdon and the Animals".

Below is a classic psychedelic hit by the Austin, Texas band "The Golden Dawn" entitled "Starvation" from the album "Power Plant" released in 1968.

Below is a classic short film of a very psychedelic Brigitte Bardot. Very weird and not to be missed.

Next is a fun and flirty film from 1968 with very cool fashion, not for the meek.

Below is a photo of the iconic 1960s model Veruschka wearing Emilio Pucci.

Beneath is a perfect bohemian dress designed by Oscar de La Renta in the late 1960s. Perfect for exploring the Souk of Marrakesh.

available here

Below is an amazing Emilio Pucci cape from the 1960s.

Below is a very unusual dress made from exquisite hand printed fabric designed by Roger Milot for Fred Perlberg in the late 1960s.

available here

Next is a classic psychedelic song from the iconic Turkish musician Bariş Manço entitled "Lâmbaya Püf De", roughly translated into "Blow out the Lamp" from 1971.

Next is a short montage of Eastern European and Danish sci-fi films from the 1960s set to the music of Mulatu Astatke, the great Ethiopian jazz artist.

In closing, we have a song by the new psychedelic rock band from Liverpool, England "The Wicked Whispers", (pictured above) who very successfully bring psychedelic sounds into the modern age. The song is entitled "You Wouldn't Believe".

Bewitched and Bottle Blonde

2011-07-22T07:48:00.000-04:00

As a young girl, every day after school I would go to the babysitter's house. What I remember most about those long afternoons waiting for my mother to pick me up are the TV shows that I would watch for hours on end, stretched out on the orange shag carpet. I was thoroughly enraptured by an endless loop of "Scooby Doo", "Gilligan's Island", "Fantasy Island", "Bewitched" and "I Dream of Jeannie" reruns.

I loved "Gilligan's Island". Every kid loves the idea of a deserted island where one can build forts and explore. The characters were so attractive. Ginger wore shiny gold skin tight dresses, Mary Ann was farm-girl sexy and the professor was handsome. Mr. and Mrs. Howell were your fantasy rich grandparents. Even Gilligan was strangely cute and super endearing in his floppy white hat.

"Fantasy Island" was a mysterious and surreal place, a sort-of love Purgatory where couples sought the spiritual guidance needed to return to reality from the amazing Mr. Roarke, played by Ricardo Montalban. As a child, while watching "Fantasy Island", I would at times wonder if Mr. Roarke was what God looked like. He wore perfect white suits and had a commanding demeanor. He had a French-Filipino manservant named Tattoo and an uncanny ability to make mystical things happen, like love. I was transfixed.

My absolute favorite shows were "Bewitched" and "I Dream of Jeannie". Samantha on "Bewitched" and Jeannie were my perfect female role models. They were stereotypically beautiful, bubbly, blonde and attached to handsome, dashing men who adored them. In the case of Samantha, she was a perfect mother too. Other than being naturally beautiful, Samantha and Jeannie wore fantastic clothes. Samantha wore cute dresses, often in psychedelic patterns. At times she wore fabulous gowns (depending on the time period she was time traveling in). The outfit she wore most often was fitted capri pants and a perfectly tailored button down shirt, an outfit she made look effortlessly chic.

Jeannie, of course, wore her genie outfit, which was hilariously campy and downright sexy. It's amazing what sheer pink tulle and metallic gold trimming can do for a girl, especially in a glittery genie bottle.

Both characters always looked perfectly put together and un-mussed, even in the midst of utter chaos, or, in the case of Samantha, while riding a broom or skipping through time.

Below is a favorite episode of "Bewitched".

The trait that both of these characters share that most impressed me as a young girl (other than their mysterious abilities of making things happen with one's magical nose, by blinking, snapping or vanishing into thin air) was their wherewithal. By the end of each episode, they had succeeded in making everything fall into place. Samantha and Jeannie were clever and used their smarts and feminine wiles to make things happen, all while navigating around endlessly annoying and manipulative snooping neighbors and family members out to steal husbands or to send Samantha and Jeannie literally back to the dark ages.

Below is a favorite episode of "I Dream of Jeannie".

At the end of every episode, there was always happy resolve. The family unit was intact, dinner was magically prepared and set out on a perfectly laid table and amorous looks were exchanged between Samantha and Darren and Jeannie and Major Tony Nelson. It was fantasy and romance at its best and most ridiculous.

Below is a picture of Barbara Eden (Jeannie) wearing a fabulous Emilio Pucci ensemble.

Below is a photo of Barbara Eden (Jeannie) wearing a gorgeous leopard print coat.

In Rotation - Nancy Holloway

2011-07-19T04:40:00.001-04:00

This week at Pearl Modern we have been listening to the song stylings of Nancy Holloway. We first discovered Nancy Holloway while we were in Paris for an exhibition. We heard her rendition of the Little Anthony and the Imperials song "Hurts So Bad" on the amazing compilation album "Mélodie En Soul Sol Paris 70's" and were totally blown away.

Below is the song "Hurt So Bad" from Nancy Holloway from its original appearance on her classic album "Hello Dolly".

Nancy Holloway was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1932. She briefly lived in New York City in her late teens and early twenties, doing odd jobs for little pay. In 1954, at the age of twenty two, she made the courageous and correct decision to move to Paris. One evening at the jazz night spot the Mars Club, she was dared to sing on the stage. Her performance was so well received by the audience that she was offered a regular singing slot at the club.

Below is a clip of Nancy Holloway in a club performing "Prends garde à toi" in 1964.

Holloway toured frequently through Europe and the United Kingdom and ended up performing at the famous Moulin Rouge. In 1963, she signed with Decca and released a number of excellent albums. Nancy Holloway was popular in Europe because she charmingly sang American songs specifically for the French market, mainly sung in French, but with an unabashedly American accent. She had many cameo appearances in French films and appeared on countless magazine covers.

Beneath is the song "Désappointée" from the above Decca release from 1963.

In closing, a wonderful song entitled "As Long As He Needs Me" from the album "Hello Dolly" from 1969.

Funky Pretty

2011-07-14T04:00:00.004-04:00

Collecting magazines is one of the great passions and pursuits of my life. To say I might have 10,000 magazines in my archive may be a huge underestimate. I have been collecting all sorts of magazines in a serious way since I was twelve years old. As a young girl, there was Tiger Beat, Teen Beat and Bop, all of those girly heartthrob magazines, full of pictures of brooding boys with come hither eyes or golden boys with perfect hairstyles and heartbreaking smiles. Below is an introspective photograph of a young Johnny Depp.

My stepsister had a shelf in her bedroom that held a precious collection of Seventeen and Surfer magazines. For a girl growing up in California, this was an essential library of beauty tips to help you charm that gorgeous surfer guy, the mythic perennially tan, blonde and salty skateboarding superhero. My stepsister and I would sit on her waterbed and read these magazines one after another, taking mental notes on which lip glosses will make your lips look most kissable, while listening to The Cure, The Violent Femmes and The B-52's "Whammy". Below is a video for the B-52's song "Legal Tender" from "Whammy".

When I was twelve years old, a posh work colleague of my mother's (who was well traveled and always fashionably dressed) bestowed upon me a gift that would change my life, opening my eyes to other worlds and ways of living. Like a fairy godmother in stilettos, this woman gave me her collection of international fashion magazines.

There was Donna, Vogue Italia, Paris Vogue, British Vogue, Tatler and on and on. The lady was Italian by birth and favored Italian magazines and Italian fashion, so there were a lot of Italian titles. She was the mistress of a powerful businessman, so she often took short trips to Paris, London or Milan, where she would pick up new reading material at the international newsstand.

These magazines were a revelation of style, glamour, beauty, elegance and wealth. Everything was so exotic and jewel encrusted. Women had fantastic, perfectly painted faces with eyes drawn black and hair that fell in soft curls, almost impossible to replicate in one's own bathroom.

Soon, I would convince my mother to buy me Vogue or Bazaar and I would almost sacrilegiously, very carefully remove my favorite pages from the binding and tape them to my bedroom wall. I learned so much about fashion from staring at these outfits from Yves Saint Laurent, Valentino, Claude Montana, Azzedine Alaïa, and Christian Lacroix. This is a passion I still indulge on a daily basis, an addiction to beauty.

The girls in these images represent the exuberant style of the 1960s to 1970s. Although this era was before I was born, it is a time period that I tend to gravitate to visually. I find inspiration in the fantasy makeup and the carnivalesque patterns. The photography was experimental and took risks with angles and lens distortion, which gave the models and clothing a fresh, new look.

'Funky Pretty' is how I like to describe this vibrant style. Pretty girly-girls experimenting with crazy style in a psychedelic atmosphere. Contemporary fashion magazines emulate this look, but it is the vintage fashion photography that I really love.

Brigitte Bardot is of course an icon both for her style and beauty, as well as for her screen presence. She was naturally photogenic and looked most beautiful when casually posed.

Below is a video from Paris Aktuell, that ran from 1966 to 1970 featuring the fashions of Ungaro.

Below, we have a fun and campy French clip from the late 1960s that shows great fashion and style from that era.

Twiggy, Veruschka, Penelope Tree and Jean Shrimpton would have to be the most famous models of that time period. One particular photography book that I have always loved is "Veruschka" by Vera Lehndorff, where Veruschka is completely painted to blend in with her surroundings, so that she almost disappears. If you haven't seen this book, it is definitely worth getting.

Natalie Wood was an excellent actress and a great beauty. This is an amazing photo of her looking so angelic, yet seductive, relaxing at the beach... a one of a kind beauty.

Julie Christie was so great in the classic film "Shampoo" with Warren Beatty. She perfectly personified the free and easy, yet utterly glamorous look of the day. Her features are so interesting because she can look soft and romantic at the same time as looking willful and edgy, without changing a thing. This complexity has been used brilliantly by every director she has worked with. This photo below succeeds in best highlighting these characteristics.

The next clip is of the legendary Marianne Faithfull performing the song "Hier ou demain" from 1967.

Below is a photo of Cher looking fresh, young and perfectly styled.

Below is an incredible photo of the brilliant Sophia Loren looking punky, mod and fabulous that appeared in Vogue in 1970.

Last, we have a video made for the Santa Cruz, California band 'The Vox Jaguars'. The video is a great montage of cool 60's girls dancing and scenes from Russ Meyer's "Faster, Pussycat, Kill! Kill!" set to their song "Swagger".

Swingtime In The City / The Swingin' Tangerine

2011-07-08T05:00:00.002-04:00

Here at Pearl Modern, we have been getting feisty from the heat and it put us in the mood to listen to a lot of swinging jazz. We figure, if you're going to sweat anyway, you might as well dance! We flipped through stacks and stacks of records and have discovered many lively tunes to share with you. But, to start out the evening on the right note, here is a sunny, bubbly cocktail inspired by warm nights and dancing in the city - guaranteed to lighten the mood.

Cocktail Of The Week - "The Swingin' Tangerine"

serves two

ingredients

1 oz triple sec

1 oz tequila

1 oz light rum

1 oz vodka

1 oz gin

2 oz fresh squeezed juice from one tangerine

4 oz Orangina

a splash of lime juice

crushed ice

one lime, sliced for garnish

directions

combine all liquid ingredients in pitcher and stir

fill highball glasses halfway with ice

pour mixture over ice

garnish with slices of lime

Enjoy!

Swing is a wide-ranging genre that had international appeal from roughly the 1930s up until the early 1960s. We love the glamour associated with the big band era. The fashion was sassy and extravagant. The musicians in the orchestras looked so dapper in their matching tuxedos. The great dance halls and supper clubs like the El Morocco and the Copacabana were palaces devoted to all things fabulous. The beautiful and handsome dined on oysters and caviar, sipping on cocktails with witty names, all while dancing the night away.

Paris was swinging in 1937. Women were wearing fabulous couturier frocks by Coco Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli and Jeanne Lanvin. Life was fast paced and decadent. Below is a montage of Parisienne life in 1937 accompanied by a perfect early swing tune entitled "The Sheik of Araby" played by the quintet of The Hot Club of France with Django Reinhardt on guitar and Stéphane Grapelli playing violin.

Fred Astaire was absolutely amazing, one of the greatest entertainers of his generation. Below is a clip of what many consider to be the greatest tap scene of all time, from the 1940 film "Broadway Melody of 1940". Fred Astaire and the incredible Eleanor Powell dance to the wonderful standard "Begin the Beguine".

Below is a wonderful clip of Eleanor Powell performing a dance number in her nightclub act, accompanied by a swingin' tune.

Next, we have a great song entitled "The Wonder of You" sung by Kitty Kallen with music by Harry James and His Orchestra from 1945. Kitty Kallen looks like the perfect rockabilly chick singing this song.

Keely Smith was an incredible song stylist who performed with her husband, the great bandleader Louis Prima. She had an amazing voice and a fantastic look.

The next clip is of Keely Smith performing the song "All Night Long" with Louis Prima in 1956.

The always glamorous and sultry Ava Gardner was married to two big band and musical giants, Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra. Isn't this dress fabulous?

And now, another musical interlude from the wonderful singer Anita O'Day, singing the classic "Take the A-Train" from 1958.

Lucille Ball had it all! She could act, sing and make us fall over in laughter. Most people know her for her hilarious, often self-deprecating comedy in "I Love Lucy", but she was also terrifically glamorous and chic. Below we have a clip of her combining all of her talents, performing "Jitterbug Bite" from the 1940s.

We will close with an incredibly campy and awesome swingin' Bollywood song and dance number from the 1965 movie "Gumnaam". The accompanying music is from the 1959 movie "Love Marriage" by the famous Indian composer Shankar Jaikishan. A true classic.

Drama In The Street: The Art Of Window Display

2011-07-05T03:27:00.000-04:00

We believe that window display designers are unsung heroes in the history of artistic expression and commerce. The genius of the window designer is the ability to utilize their vast knowledge of theater set design, sculpture, installation art, conceptual art and engineering and distill it into a moment where time is stopped, that evokes fantasy and wonder or is simply a meditation on aesthetics. The responsibility of the window designer is great because their creation will receive infinitely more views than any great master in a museum will on a daily basis.

Windows can be sleek tableaux, pure spaces devoid of spectacle where impossibly tall, aquiline, perfectly painted and coiffed mannequins seem to hover magically in their shiny new heels. They are dressed in the newest, just off the runway ensembles and perfectly accessorized. These tableaux are the window designer's genius visions, meant to appeal to the competitive shopping natures of the sophisticated and monied.

Below is a window display at Barney's, New York City in 1986, designed by Simon Doonan and Sandy Skoglund.

Great, memorable window displays may be the yearly Christmas extravaganzas, decked out with animatronic characters, a lifelike herd of reindeer, who turn their heads from side to side, their googly eyes glazed hypnotically by twinkling lights. They might be windows that have been magically transformed into jungles or some faraway exotic place, with mannequins sporting the newest khaki safari garb, perfect for the urban jungle.

The best window designers are chameleons who understand their viewers from the very old to the very young, whether it be Macy's winter wonderlands or the fantastic inventions of Simon Doonan in the windows of Barney's New York.

When pulling together images for this post, we were most drawn to window displays from the past that exhibited a quiet emotion, almost cold. Historically, many window displays have been purely corporate, with the signage of the business front and center, such as in the image above from 1957, advertising the new, state of the art General Electric appliances. The female mannequin protagonist, portraying the prototypical housewife, electric beater in hand, is caught, most likely in the moment of baking a cake. She is alone in her domain, a space perfectly designed, down to the speckled linoleum, so popular that year.

In the next images, we would like to share some photos we discovered while digging for materials in Switzerland. These are photos from Gebrauchsgraphik, 1967, of window displays for the Hermès, Paris, Faubourg Saint-Honoré store, designed by Annie Beaumel.

In 1927, Annie Beaumel began her career designing gloves for Hermès and then gradually morphed into perhaps the greatest, most eccentrically visionary of all window designers. Her work was surreal, anthropological and wildly sophisticated. Her designs for Hermès were so amazing that she received letters from the public thanking her for her "drama in the street".

Sultry '61

2011-07-01T02:17:00.011-04:00

This week, we at Pearl Modern have decided to focus on the year 1961, because it was an exceptional year and now, fifty years later, it is fascinating to see just how many classic films, performances, songs and fashions were produced in this one year alone. We unfortunately were not yet alive to partake of the cultural riches of this amazing year, but through digging, we have unearthed some timeless gems.

Below is a photograph of Princess Grace of Monaco and President John F. Kennedy during a visit to the White House, May 24, 1961 taken by UPI staffer James Altherton.

This was the beginning of a new era. The inauguration of John Kennedy ushered in a new optimism and Jackie Kennedy brought a new kind of glamour to the American spotlight that was classically elegant, yet fresh and easygoing, even at times cutting edge, with the early designs of Oleg Cassini.

The excitement in the air was palpable. Abstract expressionism was moving into Pop Art, with Roy Lichtenstein making his first Pop paintings using cartoon imagery, laying the groundwork for a sea change in how we see the world.

Many influential books were published in 1961, including such classics as Joseph Heller's "Catch-22" and two personal favorites, J.D. Salinger's "Franny and Zooey" and Roald Dahl's "James and the Giant Peach". The members of the Beat Generation were producing some of their best works. William S. Burroughs, after shocking the world in 1959 with "Naked Lunch" went on to write "The Soft Machine" in 1961.

Below is a photo of William S. Burroughs in Tangier, Morocco taken by Allen Ginsburg in 1961.

Some of the most memorable and stylish films were released in 1961. Warren Beatty and Natalie Wood starred in "Splendor in the Grass". Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren starred in "El Cid" and Natalie Wood starred in the timeless classic "West Side Story".

The one film from this year that set the fashion world aflutter had to be Federico Fellini's "La Dolce Vita".

Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg were stunningly sexy in this film as seen below in stills from the movie.

Below is a great song from 1961 by Julie London entitled Evenin' played over a video from Federico Fellini's later film "8 1/2" from 1963.

Another great Italian film from 1961 with incredible cinematography and a phenomenal cast is Michelangelo Antonioni's "La Notte". Marcello Mastroianni is again the epitome of suave alongside the brilliant Jeanne Moreau and Monica Vitti. Below is the original trailer for the film.

Below is a wonderful video of the great Brazilian jazz Samba and Bossa Nova singer Sylvia Telles performing Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Demais" in 1961.

Audrey Hepburn was one of the reigning darlings of cinema in 1961. This is the year that "Breakfast at Tiffany's" was released. Below is a terrific photo from 1961 of her looking charming and chic in a straw hat.

Fashion was in love with glamour in '61. Women dressed for evening in glittering gowns, furs and elaborate jewelry. This was also the early beginnings of a more mod look and it is very exciting to see how a new creativity was being born.

Below is an advertisement for Lindner Fur Salon of Switzerland, who specialized in designer furs from such couturiers as Christian Dior. This advertisement appeared in Du Kulturelle Monatsschrift, Winter, 1961.

Below is a photo from 1961 of a beautiful young woman in a fur coat standing in front of a sleek MG convertible. We are not sure whether she is a model or the lucky lady of the house. She looks very much like January Jones as Betty Draper on "Mad Men" or a young Martha Stewart during her modeling days.

Below are a few high fashion images from issues of Bazaar Magazine from 1961.

Below is a photograph of Margot McKendry and China Machado with members of the French press - dressed by Lanvin-Castillo and Heim, Paris 1961 taken by Richard Avedon.

1961 was a stellar year for French films. Jean-Luc Godard directed the classic Nouvelle Vague film "Une Femme Est Une Femme" or "A Woman Is A Woman", starring Jean-Claude Brialy, Jean-Paul Belmondo and the ravishing Anna Karina.

Below is an incredibly well-styled photo of the actress Anna Karina from 1961.

Below is another musical interlude from 1961, Françoise Hardy singing "Oh Oh Chéri".

In 1961, John Huston directed "The Misfits" starring Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift and Clark Gable. This would be Clark Gable's last film. Below is a photo of Clark Gable taken on the set.

Below is a photograph of Marilyn Monroe as a sultry cowgirl from "The Misfits".

In a highlight from another great film from '61, the great John Cassavetes directed musical superstar Bobby Darin and Stella Stevens in "Too Late Blues".

Next is a trailer for the film narrated by John Cassavetes.

Here we have a wonderful montage of stills from "Mad Men" with musical accompaniment by Gene Pitney, performing "A Town Without Pity" from 1961.

1961 marked the infamous comeback concert and recording of the legendary Judy Garland "Live at Carnegie Hall". In closing, we present you with a video montage and song selection by this queen of stage and screen.

Paper Dolls In Paradise

2011-06-25T22:37:00.000-04:00

As a young fashion obsessed girl growing up in a small California enclave, I took my fashion where I could get it.

Raised by a single working mother, I entertained myself after school at the library, pulling great stacks of photography books, books on fashion photography such as "Scavullo's Women" and books by Irving Penn, David Bailey, Horst, et cetera. I read every art book I could get my hands on. I even read whole sets of encyclopedias from Brittanica to the How-To library. I have always been almost pathologically image obsessed.

In a need to overcome adolescent boredom, I one day adventured into a sewing supply store, and walking past the spools of technicolor thread and endless skeins of yarn, I discovered a new library. On a large wooden table, there was one massive volume after another, laid out with names like "Butterick", "Simplicity", "Vogue", "McCalls"... a pattern book revelation!

In these volumes, there were drawings of cute, button nosed girls with dark eyes and high ponytails wearing frilly, fun dresses in crazy patterns and bell bottoms with t-shirts sporting slogan patches. All of the girls had tan skin, the color of butterscotch.

The Vogue pattern books were so elegant, with sophisticated ladies dressed in sharp looking suits and glittering gowns. They wore wild hats and big jewelry and had expressions on their faces of haughty dissatisfaction, as if they were thinking that they would rather be drinking champagne on a yacht.

These pattern books were full of endless fashion possibilities. One could look like a Disney princess or a hippie chick in a patchwork poncho and leather short-shorts. The illustrations for the most part were very accessible, not the flamboyant fantasies of a couturier designing dresses for only the gilded few. These were drawings of girls one could actually look like, a feat, of course much more easily accompished if your mother could sew.

Below is a fun Pop-Art romper that was made in Miami in the 1960s.

available here

Below is a fantastic lime green sundress designed by Oleg Cassini in the 1960s.

a available here

Below is an adorable pink gingham party dress from the 1960s.

available here

If you have any early fashion memories that you would like to share with us, please do!

Gardens of Dreams & Delight

2011-06-22T19:34:00.002-04:00

Above is a view of the Pearl Modern Garden, containing Globemaster allium, Bernini Oriental Hybrid Lilies, various hostas and a "Penelope" tea rose bush.

Our New York garden is a mysterious place. In the shade of the great mulberry tree, countless creatures of every description carry on with their daily duties, some as mundane as gathering fallen seeds or rotting leaves, or as violent and chaotic as waging war or relocating the colony. Birds of romance who mate for life holiday here - bringing their spouses year after year to take the waters and eat the gourmet seed we indulge them with. Swooping yellow Swallowtail butterflies arrive just as the Rose of Sharon begins to flower, drinking the sweet ambrosial nectar.

When the Casablanca lilies bloom, their intoxicating perfume suspends you in a magical invisible net. Time seems to slow down as you breathe in their indescribable scent, their long petals opening fully as if in one instant, a color so white, like crisp white sheets in the midday sun.

Jardin Majorelle is the jewel-like garden in Marrakesh, Morocco where the great designer Yves Saint Laurent lies in rest. The walls are painted a haunting blue that lies somewhere between lapis lazuli and cobalt glass. Gardens in North Africa are Eden-like oases where succulents grow with citrus alongside towering cypress trees as pointy as spears.

Below is a favorite photograph of a moonlit garden in Neuilly, France.

We love to host intimate dinners in our garden. We ritualistically light the candles in our collection of Indian, Turkish and Moroccan lanterns, their mosaic panes shine kaleidoscopic colors, making everyone look absolutely gorgeous.

The mysteries of the night garden abound. The nocturnal sleeping vines begin to creep. The hallucinogenic moonflower unfurls itself, and if you are very lucky, you might catch a glimpse of a luna moth dancing with the moonlight.

Cocktail of the Week - "The Moonflower"

serves four

2 oz St. Germain elderflower liqueur

2 oz lime juice (2-3 limes)

6 oz vodka

8 oz white cranberry juice

ice

chill glasses

combine all ingredients in a large ice filled cocktail shaker or pitcher

shake well and strain into chilled glasses

garnish with lime peel

Enjoy!

If you have any favorite outdoor entertaining ideas, please feel free to share them with us!

Beating the St. Tropez Blues

2011-06-19T03:02:00.013-04:00

We at Pearl Modern have many favorite places in this grand world, but when it comes to perfect leisurely shopping, long hours people-watching at outdoor cafés and sexy cocktails in late night boîtes, The South of France takes the cake.

On the train from Spain, we decided to randomly jump off at Toulon. What a nice surprise! In the mornings there is a wonderful open air market where you can pick up gorgeous local Mediterranean specialties. Each morning after drinking much delicious, milky coffee we would set out for the market. There are such good ones in port towns.

While traveling, we love to gather elements for a picnic, a little this and that. For instance, some plump figs and tangy spiced almonds from North Africa. You can easily throw together a simple salad of just-picked tomatoes, quartered on mustardy frisée, drizzled with a fruity green olive oil, a handful of torn basil leaves, sea salt and cracked pepper. In France, you can have the most perfectly simple sandwich consisting of just a baguette and brie and it will be a sublime experience. At the market, we bought sweets for later in the hotel room. One pastry in particular was divine! It had a flaky outer layer and inside, a custard that tasted of almonds and vanilla, pure heaven.

Antiques abound along the edges of the food stalls. You can find rustic thrown clay dishes and cooking pots, simply glazed and decorated, finer Limoges pieces and silver long removed from some great villa. We particularly love the provençale fabrics with their tomatoey reds and sunflower yellows with their scattering of wildflowers.

Below is a maxi sundress with a provençale fabric skirt, perfect for a modern day Jane Birkin.

available here

There is something so romantic about wearing a full, flowered skirt, espadrilles or gladiator sandals with a straw hat and just taking things in... slowly.

Below is a classic Lanvin shirtdress, just right for a walk along the shore.

available here

If you close your eyes, you can smell the wild sage on the air, its oils being released by the Mediterranean sun. You can taste the salty air on the tip of your tongue, sweet and salty, like boardwalk taffy.

Below is a vintage 1960s nautical woven handbag, ideal for holding all of your holiday essentials.

available here

When we think of France, we linger on the image of the amazing Alain Delon. Delon is seen here starring in "Plein Soleil" aka "Purple Noon", Rene Clement's reimagining of Patricia Highsmith's "The Talented Mr. Ripley", an excellent and dark film set in the Mediterranean. He co-stars with the beautiful Marie Laforet and Maurice Ronet.

We adore the voice and style of the great French singer Jacques Higelin. This is a consummate piece entitled "Amor Doloroso".

In the clip below, from the 1961 film "St. Tropez Blues" directed by Marcel Moussey, the legendary actress and singer Marie Laforet sings a beautiful song with her co-star Jacques Higelin.

Do you have any special memories of France and the Riviera? Please share them with us!

Cocktail Of The Week - "The Fresh Gondolier"

2011-06-13T03:13:00.006-04:00

We at Pearl Modern have created a cocktail to celebrate Venice and all of its watery mystery and flamboyant carnivalesque exuberance. Inspired initially by the classic Venetian Bellini, we have put a twist on it, keeping it fresh but giving it a more complex, almost lurid flavor...

Cocktail Of The Week - "The Fresh Gondolier"

Serves Four

2 c Lillet Blanc (chilled)

1/8 c Cointreau

1 bottle good chilled Prosecco

1 ripe white peach, thinly sliced

4 sprigs fresh mint

chill four champagne flutes

in a pitcher, combine:

Lillet Blanc & Cointreau, stir

place two to three thin slices of white peach in the bottom of chilled champagne flutes

pour Lillet Blanc and Cointreau mixture halfway up the glass

fill glasses the rest of the way with chilled Prosecco

garnish each glass with a fresh mint sprig

Yet again, it is time for the denizens of the art world to descend upon Venice for the festivities surrounding the Venice Biennale. The ultra-chic, black clad intelligentsia arriving from or leaving for Basel will boat through swollen canals, hopping from fête to fête, surely sporting the latest Prada platform loafers.

Our one and only instance of being in the presence of Gina Lollobrigida was while on holiday in Rome years ago. We were dining on rigatoni pomodoro in a small restaurant not far from the Piazza di Spagna on a street with a wonderful old theater. While taking in the passers-by in all of their well put together finery, we noticed that the previously boisterous crowd of diners had gone silent. When we turned to see what was the impetus for such an abrupt quieting (fearing that a hot-blooded knife fight had broken out, as often does) and were startled to see the now older, yet still beautiful Gina Lollobrigida accompanied by two handsome young men walking into the restaurant wearing what looked like a long silk dressing gown and sporting a massive diamond necklace. It was the epitome of true glamour. We still feel privileged to have been in the company of a true Italian movie star, if only to be momentarily blinded by the glinting of her diamonds.

Venice has been the haunting backdrop of so many of our favorite films, such as Luchino Visconti's "Death In Venice", Alejandro Jodorowsky's "The Rainbow Thief" starring the incomparable Peter O'Toole, as well as Paul Schrader's "The Comfort of Strangers" with Christopher Walken playing such an amazing character that we often find ourselves reflecting on the image of him wearing a crisp white suit sitting in the most magnificent and decadent palazzo, his icy wife portrayed by Helen Mirren at his side. Another film we absolutely love is the Joseph Losey film "Eva" starring Jeanne Moreau, Stanley Baker and Virna Lisi. Jeanne Moreau is at her best in this gorgeous film from 1962, shot in hotel rooms, villas and bars that are grand and sinister, the architecture and decor luxurious and coldly unapproachable, very much like the character Moreau plays.

"Death In Venice", directed by Luchino Visconti, from 1971 features the magnificent performance by Dirk Bogarde, who also starred in another of our beloved Joseph Losey films - "The Servant" from 1963.

Finally, the tragically evocative Fifth Symphony (Adagietto) from Gustav Mahler that was used so brilliantly in the film "Death In Venice".

Collecting Hats Is Serious Business - Mr. John

2011-06-09T03:28:00.002-04:00

Mr. John was born John P. Harberger in Germany around 1902. He was as famous in the world of hats as Christian Dior was in the realm of haute couture.

Mr. John's hats were worn by the Duchess of Windsor, Gloria Swanson, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Gloria Vanderbilt, Lauren Bacall, Joan Crawford and Rosalind Russell. Mr. John created hats (astonishingly) for over one thousand classic films. His hats were worn by such film icons as Marlene Dietrich in "Shanghai Express" and "The Scarlet Empress", Greta Garbo in "The Painted Veil", Vivian Leigh in "Gone With The Wind" as well as Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes".

His work was featured on the covers of countless fashion magazines such as Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, photographed by Irving Penn and Horst P. Horst. Mr. John was a wildly creative genius milliner and a fabulously eccentric gentleman.

Here at Pearl Modern, we are always on the hunt for exciting hats. We have developed a deep appreciation for the creations of Mr. John. We tend to choose hats that have a certain "attitude", hats that a movie star on the lam might choose, worn with ridiculously large dark sunglasses. We love real glamour and think that one can look glamorous any time of the day and in any situation, from walking the dog to sipping cocktails. Hats are a brilliant way to up the ante with one's wardrobe, either giving your look an edge or softening it with a giant pouf of tulle sitting just so...

Below is an attention grabbing 1960's Mr. John woven raffia checkerboard hat with a daring black vinyl feather.

available here

Below is a wildly sexy 1960's Mr. John leopard print faux fur hat. Rawr!

available here

Below is a 1960's Mr. John mod Carnaby Street bubble hat.

available here

Below is a 1960's Mr. John chic bohemian floppy hat.

available here

For a more in depth look at the incredibly interesting life of Mr. John, please read this excellent article from Framework.

In Rotation - Scott Walker

2011-06-05T22:04:00.005-04:00

Here at Pearl Modern, we have been obsessing on the discography of Scott Walker and The Walker Brothers.

Beginning in 1964, The Walker Brothers recorded several albums such as "Portrait", "Images" and "Nite Flights".

In 1967, Scott Walker wrote and recorded the classic "Montague Terrace (In Blue)" released on his first solo album "Scott".

In late 1967, Walker recorded the whimsical song "Jackie", written by Jacques Brel.

In 1969, Walker released the haunting ballad "If You Go Away", a reworking of "Ne Me Quitte Pas" by Jacques Brel, with English lyrics by Rod McKuen.

From 1969's Scott 4, another Walker penned masterpiece, "Angels of Ashes", recorded at Olympic Studios in London.

Below are two album covers from the Walker Brothers. After their reunion in the 1970s, the final Walker Brothers album "Nite Flights"(1978) foreshadowed the future darker tone of Scott Walker's later work...

"The Electrician" from "Nite Flights"(1978)

Finally, an under appreciated bluesy number written by Scott Walker from his 1970 solo album "'Til The Band Comes In" entitled "Joe".

Cocktail Of The Week - "The Joan Holloway Martini"

2011-06-01T01:18:00.003-04:00

Inspired by the fiery red hair and sweet and sour nature of this iconic television character, we created this feisty cocktail just for you.

Cocktail Of The Week - "The Joan Holloway Martini"

Serves Four

8 oz calvados

2 oz sweet vermouth

4 oz martinelli's apple juice

1/2 tsp angostura bitters

1 tsp grenadine

fill cocktail shaker with ice

add all ingredients

shake well

strain into four chilled martini glasses

enjoy!

On the subject of cocktails, below is an art deco chrome tantalus. Perfect for presenting your rarest spirits.

available here

Below is an art deco chrome cocktail set, ideal for an intimate gathering of fabulous guests.

available here

Read This: Thomas Pynchon "Inherent Vice"

2011-05-30T00:43:00.007-04:00

Cover image: Darshan Zenith / Cruiser Art

Blow your mind!

Through a drug smoke haze, Thomas Pynchon's "Inherent Vice" takes us on a wild ride through late 1960's Southern California, painting a perfect picture of our post-hippie youth. At times the landscapes seem apocalyptic, but in reality they are just astute depictions of sprawl and decay juxtaposed with acerbic wit.

Below are photos inspired by the wordscapes of Thomas Pynchon.

Hollywood Freeway - 1969

Concrete Jungle Girl

2011-05-28T03:30:00.004-04:00

Below is a rare find, an amazing wicker monkey handbag from the 1950s. This is the perfect carry-all for a concrete jungle girl to transport her essentials (iPhone, fuchsia lip gloss and fancy chocolates).

available here

Jungle girl, show your wild side!

Below is a wild tiger print dress, the perfect neon camouflage for stalking your prey at night...

available here

A concrete jungle girl always needs extra flash, why not throw on a big chain with a wild beast surrounded by rhinestones! A hunting trophy, perhaps?

available here

Of The Tropical Persuasion

2011-05-26T02:31:00.004-04:00

The days are getting warmer and here at Pearl Modern we are going tropical! We have been searching the world for fun, graphic patterns and lush colors inspired by the legendary Brazilian style of Carmen Miranda, the fabulously decadent nightlife of pre-revolutionary Cuba and the fun-in-the-sun sixties of Waikiki Beach.

The fabulous dress below is from 1960's Guam, a geographical and cultural crossroads. Its flavor is both Polynesian and Japanese, with a little Latin flair.

available here

Waikiki Beach! Below is a fun and flirty 1960's Kamehameha mini dress that is the perfect thing to throw on over a bikini (with the perfect sandals, of course)...

available here

Copacabana - 1947

Below is a long, slinky gown ideal for cocktails and dancing late into the night...

available here

Cocktail of the week - "The Tropical Persuasion"

Serves Four

2 to 3 cups crushed ice
3/4 cup vodka
1/4 cup white rum
3 tbsp canned coconut cream
juice of two large lemons
1/4 cup superfine sugar
1 kiwi fruit, peeled and sliced

Garnish:

additional kiwi fruit slices

In an electric blender, blend all ingredients (except garnish) until frothy.
Serve in chilled glasses, garnish with kiwi fruit slices.

And the closing musical number for tonight is from the amazing Cuban upright bassist Cachao, performing a rendition of one of his famous descargas.