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Fashionable Quote of the Week by Vidal Sassoon

May 21, 2012 by overdressedforlife

Image courtesy of Vidal Sassoon: The Movie.

My idea was to cut shape into the hair, to use it like fabric and take away everything that was superfluous.

- Hairstylist Vidal Sassoon speaking about his iconic five-point haircut introduced in 1963.

We lost Mr. Sassoon on Wednesday May 9th, 2012. I recently watched a documentary on him and was quite taken with his life story. Talented and gracious, Sassoon studied hair styling because his mother thought that would be a good fit for him. Although initially he wasn’t all that interested, he embraced the opportunity to apprentice with an East End London hairdresser and went on to revolutionize hair and fashion for women.

Thank you, Mr. Sassoon for making us look so fabulous as we set out to conquer the world.

(I highly recommend the Sassoon film not just for a detailed look at him but also for a fun and informative romp into 1960s fashion and style. In addition to interviews with the stylist and his friends and colleagues there are photos, news broadcasts, and commercials from the era. It is a visual treat.)

Click here to see the trailers.

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Fashionable Quote of the Week by Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada

May 14, 2012 by overdressedforlife

Schiaparelli suit. Vogue, September 15, 1938. Photo: Regina Relans.

Dress designing … is to me not a profession but an art.

- Elsa Schiaparelli

 

 

 

 

 

Miuccia Prada suit, autumn/winter 2004-05. Photo: Toby McFarlan Pond.

Fashion fosters clichés of beauty but I want to tear them apart.

- Miuccia Prada

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC just opened a new exhibit of designs by Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada. Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations runs now through August 19, 2012. If you can’t make it (sadly, I cannot) check it out online: http://www.metmuseum.org/impossibleconversations

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Mother’s Day Special with My Mom, Cindy Marshall

May 13, 2012 by overdressedforlife

Together my mother and I have been through many a challenge, loss, and heartache. But we’ve had fun and funny times too. I admire Mom’s bright spirit and how she faces everything with grace and courage. She’s not angry or bitter. She laughs daily at the world and herself. My mother is an impressive pillar of strength.

Of course it goes without saying that Mom is my fashion role model. She has shown me how to be stylish yet unique, classic yet avant-garde. I like that she’s a master at taking current fashions mixing them up and making them uniquely her own.

The photo above was taken when I was around nine-year-old. Mom is wearing a dress-suit in one of her favorite colors – burgundy. You can just see the cream skirt which had a diagonal plaid. Around her neck she’s wearing her father’s Annapolis ring on a double gold chain. I’m sporting a silly face paired with a blue and white spring dress, which had a red ribbon belt. I remember I used to wear that dress with white tights and white patent leather Mary Janes. This must have been after a special occasion - perhaps a school choir performance.

No one loves us like our moms. Happy Mother’s Day to my mom and to all mothers!

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Mother’s Day Special with Mary Ann Irwin and Cera Byer

May 11, 2012 by overdressedforlife

A lovely mother daughter photograph taken in 2005.

Meet Mary Ann Irwin and her daughter Cera Byer.  Mother and daughter chose to go classic black for their special photo. Cera has styled her hair in a glamorous up-do with a smashing red rose, which matches her lipstick.  Mary Ann added a bit of color shading  to her ensemble with a blue gossamer over-blouse from India. The most striking accessory is, of course, their smiles.

Mary Ann says: I am a historian who writes and teaches. Cera is fearless, a born performer. Since the time she was little she has had complete command of her body, voice, nerves, craft. I wish I had a tenth of her grace under pressure.

Thank you, Mary Ann and Cera. Happy Mother’s Day to you!

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Mother’s Day Special with Marjory Robbins Feeny and Robin Feeny

May 10, 2012 by overdressedforlife

This photo came to me from my friend Suzette Davidson. It’s was taken in 1957 in Vassalboro, Maine and includes left to right: Suzette’s Mom, Marjory Robbins Feeny with her mother Malvena Pearl Robbins holding Suzette’s older half-sister Robin Feeny and at the end is Suzette’s great-grandmother Edith Starrett Masse, who was the subject of Suzette’s senior thesis at Mills College.

Suzette says: My mother’s first husband, Joe Feeny, died of a heart attack when Mom was 3 months pregnant with Robin. Mom moved back in with her parents. She moved from Boston, back to the farm where she grew up, in Vassalboro, Maine. Robin was born in Maine. A few years after this photo of my family’s four generations of women was taken, my mother re-married a local widower who had three daughters. His name was Ronald Francois Lalime.

Marjory and Ronald went on to have two more children – Jody and Suzette.

Suzette adds – Mom is also an incredible cook. She was a dietician by trade,  who gave that up and built a beautiful gift shop on the coast of Maine. She ran the shop successfully for 20 years before her retirement.

The moms in our photo look so vibrant in various shades of blue. Marjory is very much of her era sporting a chic suit. Looks like she’s wearing a brooch that matches her earrings, which was also the done thing at the time.

Thank you, Suzette for sharing a bit of your family history with us. Please wish your mom a Happy Mother’s Day from Over Dressed for Life.

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Mother’s Day Special with Louise Hart and Kristen Caven

May 9, 2012 by overdressedforlife

I love this photo … I’m not in it, but I love it. It’s a snapshot of a mother and daughter looking simply chic in their winter threads. Probably one of those spontaneous shots, not staged and therefore completely charming.

Meet mother Louise Hart and daughter Kristen Caven circa 1969 in Boulder, CO.  Kristen is five years old and she recalls of that moment:  ”My knees were cold.”

Louise remembers that the caps and gloves were made from a soft Angora wool and she knit the caps herself. Kristen regrets losing hers.  

This is what Kristen has to say about her mother: Mom and I became a writing team after college and have written several books together! She is really my biggest hero. She has always been a bit of a world-saver since about the time this photo was taken. She “grew up” (as I grew up) to teach hundreds of thousands of other parents good parenting skills through her lectures and books.

Mom Louise:  Kristen and I have an amazing relationship – the opposite of what I had with my mother. I am so grateful and we are so blessed. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined the wonderful woman Kristen would become, or the rich multi-faceted relationship we would have! Currently we are writing a book on how parents can prevent bullying in their children for Hazelden Publishing.

Happy Mother’s Day, Louise and Kristen!

Readers, come back to Over Dressed for Life this week for more mother and daughter stories.

Posted in Fashion, Vintage | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments »

Fashionable Quote of the Week by Marisa Berenson

May 7, 2012 by overdressedforlife

Schiaparelli’s Shoe Hat, 1937.

We went through minimalism with everyone dressed in the same old dreary styles. People are returning to a more personal style. Surrealism is something that transports one into another world. And that is what we need these days.

- Marisa Berenson, actress, model and Elsa Schiaparelli’s granddaughter.  

Readers, you will want to know (of you don’t already) that the Metropolitan Museum of Art has a fashion  exhibit coming up – Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations – May 10th through August 19, 2012. The exhibit explores the similarities between fashion designers Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada.

Check out the website to learn more: http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2012/impossible-conversations/introduction

Posted in Arts, Events, Fashion | Tagged , , | 2 Comments »

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