I actually went to the CVS today to buy some peeps to decorate the top of a coconut cake. But it looks like they’re all out and are probably sitting in these dioramas for the Washington Post annual Peep Show (VI). The winning diorama was “OccuPeep DC” by Cori Wright of Falls Church, VA. And the Post jumped right on the “Power to the Peeps” subject line. How could you resist. Click on HERE to go to the Peep Show slide show. I also enjoyed the “Peepville” a parody of the Facebook “Farmville.” The cake will just have to stand on its own.
I was in NYC a few weeks ago, and there was definitely something in the March air. Children were playing on playgrounds, the hustle didn’t seem as brutal as it had been just before fall when I last showed up on the scene. However my last visit was the day before the Occupy protestors took to the park on Wall Street. After protestors were cleared out by police from Wall Street they took up a new occupancy in Union Square. It was only a few hours after I left the Union Square area the NYPD took charge again. The following evening it was the 1 million Hoodie march for Trayvon Martin. Seems like a good time for a Bill Cunningham distraction just for the sake of life balance.
GRAND OPENING OF THE HOWARD THEATRE Today was opening day for the Howard Theatre. This was my first time ever in the space. The Howard closed before I was able to buy a ticket for a show. Some people have seen this movie before. The historic venue had two re-openings in the past. The last hurrah may have been in 1980. The venue remained closed or more like in waiting until someone with the vision, connections, and financial backing could breath life back into it. Location made it a challenge. A subway helps. A combination of committed public and private efforts (Visit Howard Theatre Restoration – http://www.howardtheatre.org.) The Howard Theatre has a grand old history in Washington, D.C.
Built in 1910 as one of the few if not first African American professional performance venues in the United States, it hosted vaudeville artists and minstrels, big band and jazz from native son Edward Kennedy Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn, comedians, soul brother #1 James Brown, Otis Redding, the Supremes. In its hey day, the Howard wasn’t an audition venue for the big time. The Howard was the big time. Before there was an Apollo, there was the Howard Theatre. It’s going to be an interesting reawakening for the Howard. There were lots of hopes waiting outside to see the new space. Hope to relive the sweetest memories of youth. Hope it will bring employment opportunities to residents. Hope it will never close its doors again. Hope that this will be more than a spring fling.
Mid August anticipation builds and I start nagging the newsstand shops about the arrival of the September issues – primarily Vogue. I started this draft around September 6 and now September’s almost over. But I’ve still got issues. And those issues are sitting on my coffee table. The September issue is to fashion magazines what Cannes may be to film. But these days, Venice and Toronto might change that seasonal trend. Pretty soon I’ll give the one more look and they’ll be gone. One I will keep around for a bit. Another may go on permanent loan. The first to go into the dead newspaper basket without another look will probably be American Harpers Bazaar.
Harpers Bazaar is usually the first out the gate and consistently my first disappointment. More on that later. The hanger-on will be New York Fall Fashion. This one comes in my mailbox. When I pulled out the magazine with China Mashad on the cover (1 of 4 covers for the weekly), I knew instantly, August had trumped September.
Mashad was photographer Richard Avedon’s muse in the 1950s and 60s. Not only does she have attitude (in the good sense) and style in her photos, she has a fascinating story. Same for New York magazine in recent months: attitude, style, and fascinating stories. There was something decisive about this fall fashion issue even the fashion spreads. Decisive not in a “yes/no” way but more like a road map that actually gets you to your destination. Interpret that as you wish. I declare New York the winner of my annual September issues review.
My only issue with New York is the same-o-same-o about “different.” “Diversity” isn’t different. It just is. By now I get it that Harpers Bazaar doesn’t recognize what is. They just are what they are and aren’t interested. While riots burned in London, Manchester and other austerity drenched U.K. cities, Bazaar was happily putting “Upstairs Downstairs” and Maggie Thatcher to bed. Yes, I’m a fan of “Masterpiece Theatre” and if we’re doing downstairs fashion, it would help to be able to see and distinguish the fashion models from the stand ins. Am I saying, draw sharper class lines? I know Meryl Streep is playing the Iron Maiden in a film due out this year, but is that a catalyst for fall fashion? I suppose in its effort to beat Vogue to the September issues punch, there was no time for anyone to shout “Stop the presses” and reshoot at least the Thatcher spread with more punk pepper. Perhaps they’ll make up for it with a Wall Street theme for December. Gifting time. The occupation of lower Manhattan began right after NY fashion week and continues. This Wall Street Upstairs/Downstairs has everything the fashion editors at HB could want in a theme for a fashion spread.
I’m not the only one with September issues.
Ironically, British Bazaar’s September issue featured Beyonce on the cover. If it’s celebrity bump they’re looking for, then good for B HB since Beyonce’s baby bump was the crack news of the first week of September and then fell flat during fashion week.
I have nothing against Lea Michele of “Glee” fame. I love “Glee” and never miss it. But my “Glee” buzz never goes beyond the broadcast. I own no “Glee” CDs, downloads, or DVD sets. Even Vogue jumped on the “Glee” bandwagon with a centerfold of the cast to promote “Fashion’s Night Out.” The last reason I’d do FNO would be to see the “Glee” cast. Again, nothing personal. IMO British Harpers Bazaar‘s editor had the Wintour celebrity cover foresight.
BTW according to Women’s Wear Daily, the rag page for the serious, professional fashionista:
At the newsstands Vogue is up 12.7%, Harper’s Bazaar is down 14.3%
American HB editor in chief Glenda Bailey had this to say:
“It would be a lot easier if we could feature proven sellers like Jennifer Aniston or Gwyneth Paltrow on the cover every month, but we took some risks this year and tried stars that were a little outside of the norm for us, and they didn’t always translate into newsstand sales.”
Yes, everyone’s trying to reign in the teens, and in defiance, HB took the lead in ringing in the women who lunch and have the cash flow to buy the magazine’s features. Former super model and actress Isabella Rosellini had this to say in her interview in New York magazine:
“I don’t look at Vogue to ask what I”m going to wear. Because it’s something on a body too young. I have to look at the social pages to see women my age. To see how Amanda Burden is dressed and say, ‘Hmmmm, Maybe I should try that.’ They give advice to young people: ‘If you are brunette, this color would be best.’ But I would love it if the magazine said, ‘When you are in your sixties and your neck is like this, consider wearing this'”
Rosellini and her daughter Elettra Wiedemann (now a model) were one of 4 Fall Fashion covers for this year’s New York magazine (see above).
Some Vogue September issues are better than others and none has been better than the September issue that became the subject of the documentary of the same title. No documentary has promoted a magazine and its brand so effectively than “September Issue.” I actually own a DVD copy. One of the fashion features in this year’s September issue was a China theme dressed up kinda in the same way Vogue and HB does Kenya or another “Out of Africa” location with 21st century locals as backdrop. Models were capped with black page boys wigs. A few prominent Chinese movie types are included — director Lu Chuan, Daniel Wu and Fan Bing Bing as well as other cultural celebrities. This is no Sophia Coppola movie moment. When you’re hobnobbing with the ones who can buy, you gotta blend.
Just for fun, here’s the September issue cover for Vogue China. Hmmm. No page boys here.
Kate Moss was a good choice for the American Vogue cover having both model and celebrity wrapped into one package. Not only is she not 12 anymore she actually looks better with age. I pay more attention to Kate’s spreads now than I did in the 90s during the grunge/heroin chic era. In another Wintour coup, the September issue generated chatter in the fashionsphere (Read The Emperor’s Old Clothes blog). Vogue was the exclusive photographer for Kate Moss and rocker Jamie Hince’s wedding. Not only was the wedding a feature featured but also the designer of Moss’ wedding dress, the mericulous disgraced former Dior chief designer John Galliano. Regardless of Galliano’s remarks in that Paris bar or his dismissal from Christian Dior, it appears all is forgiven at Vogue especially when fashion’s concerned. And he did design and gift Kate Moss a stunning wedding dress inspired by the jazz age.
But Pultizer-prize winning fashion journalist Robin Givhan credits Moss for keeping the light on for Galliano:
“She is a model who has known Galliano some 20 years and must surely have a better sense of what is in his heart than those who can only judge him by what he said and what he did while in the haze of addiction. Standing on the outside looking in, the only thing to read into Moss’s choice of Galliano is this: She is his friend. And for a man who was once hailed as a creative genius, who has seen his professional life destroyed by his own hand, that must be a sweet salvation.”
Personally, I thought Wintour was hinting that this Kate’s wedding dress was her pick over the other Kate’s. Would Sara Burton’s design for Alexander McQueen make the cut for this year’s blockbuster exhibit at the Met.
Perhaps if fashion is going to have any relevance in the coming years, it might be wise to look to the edge with a golden parachute.
Too much, too much. June must be the final push on the event scene before people begin dispersing to the vacation scene. Again, just scratching the surface:
ITVS COMMUNITY CINEMA PRESENTS – “TWO SPIRITS” June 5 at 3 PM (Washington DC Jewish Community Center) June 12 at 5 PM (Busboys and Poets)
FREE – For reservations click on this link or call 202-939-0794. Other FREE preview screenings nationwide
Filmmaker Lydia Nibley explores the cultural context behind a tragic and senseless murder. Fred Martinez was a Navajo youth slain at the age of 16. But Fred was part of an honored Navajo tradition – the nadleeh, or ‘two-spirit,’ who possesses a balance of masculine and feminine traits. In relating Fred’s story, Nibley reminds us of the values that America’s indigenous peoples have long embraced. Visit www.communitycinema-dc.org for more information.
AN INTERVIEW WITH JOURNALIST HELEN THOMAS, FIRST LADY OF THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS CORPS Sunday, June 5 at 5 PM, Busboys and Poets, 5th & K Streets, NW Known as “the first lady of the White House Press Corps,” Thomas covered every President of the United States from the last years of the Eisenhower administration until the second year of the Obama administration. She was the first female officer of the National Press Club, the first female member and President of the White House Correspondents’ Association, and the first female member of the Gridiron Club.
Busboys and Poets’ owner, Andy Shallal will interview Thomas about her life and work — including the controversial interview with blogger and Rabbi David Nesenoff that led to her resignation/retirement as a Hearst columnist. Thomas, who is of Lebanese descent, has written six books; her latest, with co-author Craig Crawford, is Listen Up, Mr. President: Everything You Always Wanted Your President to Know and Do (2009).
EATONVILLE RESTAURANT CELEBRATES CARIBBEAN [CULINARY] HERITAGE June 12 – 17
Eatonville Restaurant, 2121 14th Street, NW Washington, DC 20009
June is Caribbean Heritage month. Eatonville Restaurant is devoting a week to Caribbean Heritage cuisine. Guest Culinary Artist Chef Oji Jaja of Kingston, Jamaica will add a Caribbean flare to the restaurant’s brunch, lunch, and dinner menus including June’s Food & Folklore event, “Caribbean Connections.” Special focus on Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica with steel drum music and guest DJs. Eatonville’s mixologists will be serving delectable libations featuring rums of the Caribbean and Jamaica’s signature Red Stripe beer. Reservations required for Food & Folklore prix fixe dinner. For information call 202-332-9672
June 15 – 26, Atlas Performing Arts Center
Step Afrika! teamed up with the Phillips Art Collection for a special collaboration involving their “Migration” series of paintings by the American artist Jacob Lawrence. Lawrence’s paintings, depicting the lives of African American who left the South for northern cities in the early 20th century, have been the inspiration for numerous performance works. Step Afrika! will bring their interpretation of this historic era in dance as only Step Afrika! can.
This is year 9 of the documentary festival featuring the work of U.S. independent filmmakers. THE SWELL SEASON, directed by Nick August-Perna, Chris Dapkins and Carlo Mirabella-Davis opens the festival on June 20th. THE SWELL SEASON follows musical artists Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, who captivated audiences and earned an Academy Award for their musical collaboration in the film, ONCE. REVENGE OF THE ELECTRIC CAR will close the Festival. The documentary, directed by Chris Paine, explores the triumphant reemergence of the “clean car,” focusing on four dynamic entrepreneurs dedicated to creating an environmentally friendly automobile. THE INTERRUPTERS, by HOOP DREAMS director Steve James, will be part of the festival. I’ve heard good things about this film. And the honorees for this year’s Guggenheim symposium are Chris Hegedus and D A Pennebaker (DON’T LOOK BACK, THE WAR ROOM, Al FRANKEN: GOD SPOKE, MONTEREY POP, KINGS OF PASTRY). Thanks to them, I have no desire to be a french pastry chef. Festival passes are on sale now.
“Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty” Through August 7 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Exhibition Hall
This exhibit of the late British designer Lee Alexander McQueen’s fashions has been up for some time. And I hope to pay homage in NYC this month. It doesn’t get any better than Bill Cunningham’s commentary, “McQueened” for the New York Times. Well, actually the museum videos narrated by curator Andrew Bolton of the Met’s Costume Institute are pretty good. The exhibit, just on the pieces alone, cannot escape what was the beauty, complexity, and tragedy that was Lee Alexander McQueen who committed suicide in 2010 at age 40.
My interest in state dinners are all about details: protocols, attire, guest list, entertainment, menu. I’m collecting a little data from last night’s dinner honoring Chinese President Hu Jintao.
From jump…
First Lady Michelle Obama looked FABULOUS
This dress outshines everything on the red carpet of the Golden Globes Sunday. (IMO)
House Alexander McQueen produced this stunning gown. The hands on-designer is creative director Sarah Burton. From a cultural perspective, the color was perfect – red, symbol of fire, courage, the south, fortune, success, passion, fertility, happiness. Red is good. Red is great! Red looks fabulous on the First Lady.
Blurb from NY Times Cathy Horyn: Made for the McQueen’s 2011 resort collection, the style originally came with short sleeves, which Mrs. Obama evidently had altered to suit her taste. Most of all, her choice had a just enough pomp to signal the importance of this state dinner.
UPDATE: This just in from Robin Givhan, now culture and style editor for The Daily Beast/Newsweek. Robin is settling into her new job after 15 years as fashion editor for The Washington Post where she became the first fashion journalist to win a Pulitzer Prize. Robin published her first article for today’s The Daily Beast. And I’ll quote:
In Mrs. Obama’s considered fashion message, her full-skirted dress, from a British design house worn in celebration of a Chinese president, struck a blow for creativity. In grand and sweeping terms, one could argue that it symbolized the ability of a designer’s imagination to cross borders, connect different cultures, and ultimately express itself in a singular moment of beauty.
Yes, those are human rights protesters you hear outside the White House gates. I guess that gave the Chinese president a little taste of our “free speech” customs.
It’s no accident that Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of American Vogue and designer Vera Wang (who has design houses in China) were on the guest list. Part of the talks included intellectual property issues. Fashion, IT and entertainment have been the commercial victims of China’s casual acquaintance with copyright, especially when the country’s national appetites for designer labels and the latest media gadgets and block busters are on the rise with a growing consumer class.
Two former U.S. Presidents were guests: Jimmy Carter and William Jefferson “Bill” Clinton (the Secretary of State’s date).
But this didn’t deter American business tycoons from attempting to get an audience with President Hu even if the Speaker of the House John Boehner declined attending the state dinner in favor of a meeting with Chinese president on his “Hill turf. Afterwards, President Hu goes to Chicago.
Dinner was in the Blue Room of the White House.
The official menu from the official program (interesting reading):
Surf-and-Turf, pears, spinach. This suspiciously resembles the Food & Folklore menu I posted yesterday. Hmmm.
We haven’t heard much about the President’s trip to Asia since the breakdown of trade talks in South Korea. A bust according to news outlets. Was it a total bust? No one’s talking about it now. Personally, I like this photo of him having green tea ice cream on a visit to the Great Buddha of Kamakura at the Kotoku-in Temple in Japan. Will the President’s moments of Zen be interpreted as being out of touch?
I’m still trying to figure out why the headline, “Michelle Obama Wears Headscarf…” on Huffington Post. Michelle Obama in a hardscarf visiting a mosque Indonesia — how bizarre (read sarcasm). Fortunately, someone put things in context at the Washington Post in this slide show “Women, power, and the headscarf.” The First Lady’s Prova scarf was made in the USA. Her suit was by another American designer, Stephen Burrows. Burrows also designs for Target. Are we talking a trade deal boost for American designers?
Just breathe.
This administration not only inherited a massive national economic and mental meltdown, but must adopt big agendas when the time comes to make a move. “Change” is fast in elections; slow in governing. You go to Asia to talk security, trade, reaching out to Muslims, you’re not going to get everything you want out of the trip.
Just breathe.
Time to bring it home.
President’s Weekly Address
As President, time and again, I’ve called for new limitations on earmarks. We’ve reduced the cost of earmarks by over $3 billion. And we’ve put in place higher standards of transparency by putting as much information as possible on earmarks.gov. In fact, this week, we updated the site with more information about where last year’s earmarks were actually spent, and made it easier to look up Members of Congress and the earmarks they fought for.
The earmark debate is going to produce some interesting political drama in the months to come. We heard this in the 2008 elections. The problem with earmarks is they have benefits and abuses associated with them. When it comes to legislation, they can be necessary spending evils — for people who consider earmarks evil. States get building and infrastructure projects. Universities get research grants for science, humanities. Medical centers may get new state-of-the-art equipment. Someone may get a job thanks to their representative or Senator. Someone may get a big cash bonus.
On the website mentioned in the President’s Weekly, you may find earmarks worth fighting for and money well spent. And then, President Obama, offers an example of earmark abuse. We can’t afford Bridges to Nowhere like the one that was planned a few years back in Alaska.
President Obama’s Fellow Nobel laureate and Myanmar’s democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was released on Saturday. She had been under house arrest for nearly 15 years. This was not the first house arrest for Suu Kyi in her political career. Because the powers that be are still in power Myanmar, will the press call her weak as well?