Selda Bagcan is a Turkish folk singer best known in the ’70s. She can wail. I’d love to learn more about her.
Category: Ladeez
Easyriders
Posted by – July 6, 2010
“No hangups, no put-ons, no phoniness—just a right-on chick biker.” — Easyriders Magazine Issue #2, August 1971
I salute all the female bikers out there. Semi-nude models in motorcycle mags aren’t usually my thing — and I feel like reading contemporary issues of Easyrider would just make me laugh — but this girl is the real deal. I love that she had a Triumph. Badass.
[Via Sex Savages on Wheels]
Girl Crush: Anjelica Huston
Posted by – June 21, 2010
Is there an actress more debonair, more elegant, more handsome than Anjelica Huston? (That bone structure. Kill me.) The woman dated a young Jack Nicholson, for god’s sake. Her aristocratic film lineage aside, she’s just an incredible bad ass that doesn’t pander to fluffy pop culture roles and ages like a fine wine. I can only hope to emulate her style and vibe when I’m her age…and now.
Ruth St. Denis, Circa 1915
Posted by – May 30, 2010
Wow. Ruth St. Denis is a vision. A pioneer of the modern dance movement, she was the mentor and teacher of Martha Graham and created a dance repertoire that melded her interests in exotic mysticism and spirituality. She was definitely one of the early adopters. She lived from 1879 to 1968.
Sibylle Baier
Posted by – May 7, 2010
Listening to Sibylle Baier on repeat these days. She has the most amazingly clear, smooth voice that feels like it’s perched inside your ear just for you. The story of her first, almost lost album:
“‘Colour Green’ was recorded in Germany in the 1970-1973. In a particularly dark and moody period of her young life, Claudine, a friend of Sibylle’s, dragged her out from under the bed and took her on a road trip to Strasbourg, ending up across the Alps in Genoa.
“Upon the return from this trip Sibylle felt her sprits renewed and she set out to write the song “Remember the Day”, grateful for being alive. It was the first song she ever wrote. Recorded in the late 1970s in her home on a reel to reel recording device, the songs on ‘Colour Green’ are intimate portraits of life’s sad and fragile beauty.”
Some of my favorites. Listen here:
Lynn Yaeger is Adorbs
Posted by – April 29, 2010
Lynn Yaeger is pretty much the cutest little lady ever. Watching her geek out over her doll collections and vintage sweater obsessions is like looking into a mirror that reflects the future! I can’t wait to perfect my lil old lady look.
I Love Betty White
Posted by – April 19, 2010
I first started watching The Golden Girls on a regular basis when I was 12 or 13. I was at that awkward age where I couldn’t really get a job yet so I was spending my summer vacation at home with my younger sisters. Every morning (and I mean every morning) I’d turn on Lifetime, make a batch of muffins, a cake or a weird experimental jam made out of poisonous berries from the backyard (I baked to fill my free time) and watch endless reruns of Designing Women, Golden Girls and Mama’s Family. Hanging out with Dorothy, Blanche, Sophia and Rose on the lanai was one of my favorite pastimes, and it’s never really faded away. (I also based all of my preconceptions about Florida on their experience of Miami. All Caddies and sassy ladies in shoulder pads!) I still watch an episode or two every week, even though I’ve seen them all a billion times. It’s comforting.
Needless to say, all of the recent Betty White hype gets me totally pumped. I’m so glad to see her back in the limelight! This video recently surfaced and it makes me ever so happy. I knew that Betty had been in show business long before Golden Girls (I remember her on Mary Tyler Moore as well), but I had no idea she had her own short-lived television show in 1954! Here’s Betty singing “Nevertheless, I’m in Love With You.”
[Via Neatorama]
Swoon
Posted by – April 13, 2010
I already knew I was obsessed with Rachel Comey’s designs (and the shoes: don’t even get me started), but after reading this interview? Well, it’s a full-blown girl crush.
Strawberry Switchblade
Posted by – April 6, 2010
If I could hang with any music ladeez past or present, Strawberry Switchblade would be high on my list. It’s so obvious that they have fun and their gypsy-Egyptian-Frida-heavy eyeliner-polka dot fashion (and they made all of their outfits themselves!) makes me want to do a little dance around my bedroom. I’d love to go as Strawberry Switchblade for Halloween, if only to have an excuse to wear that much eyeliner. I love it, I do.
To prove my point on how adorable they are: they did a synth pop cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.” Damn!
Their most famous song, “Since Yesterday,” is so twee and sweet!
Vampira
Posted by – February 19, 2010
Vampira, mistress of the dark! The OG late night horror hostess set the standard for campy vamp in 50′s Hollywood (those eyebrows are not for the weak of heart). Maila Nurmi‘s wasp waist character originated at a Halloween party in 1953; Maila had actually come dressed as an interpretation of Charles Addams’ New Yorker cartoon character Morticia Addams (which had not yet become a pop culture staple).
The short-lived “Vampira” series only lasted one season, but she found a place in Ed Wood’s repertoire with an nonspeaking zombie/vampire role in Plan 9 From Outer Space (a crucial fixture in the camp scene!). Maila’s career descended into obscurity by the early 1960s and her place in sexy goth history was eclipsed by Elvira, who bit Vampira’s style and made a lot of money doing it. Know your icons! Vampira is the original.
Rumors abound to this day about Vampira’s unreal figure, including this gem: “The woman wrapped her notably 16″ waist in papaya powder at night. It ‘ate her flesh,’ as the actress herself put it, and helped her get her waist down to such impressive proportions.” (Um…)
The “Vampira look” lives on through all pale skinned ghouls in skintight dresses, Addams family obsessives and fan girls like me: I have got to dress like her for Halloween! The intro to “Vampira” is my inspiration, below. Love the smoke and music. (Though I cannot tell what she’s saying. Can you?)
Update: She’s saying “Screaming relaxes me so….” (Thanks, Lambert!)
[Inspiration via Discount and Vampira's Attic]
Nell Shipman
Posted by – February 15, 2010
What a beauty! I was immediately struck by this lovely lady’s fur hood, headband (predating the trend) and knowing gaze. According to some rudimentary research, Nell Shipman was an actress, animal trainer and Canadian pioneer in early Hollywood (her first production was in 1910!). She was known for playing strong, adventurous characters and was one of the first women to do a nude scene on screen. Learn more here.
Check out carbonated’s Ladies and Their Fame Flickr pool for more portraits of starlets.
Folies Bergère, 1940
Posted by – January 25, 2010
These saucy photos reveal the sumptuous backdrops and (sometime) costuming of revue and cabaret shows at Paris’s Folies Bergère in the 1940s. It’s kinda crazy to think that it’s still in business (and has been for almost 130 years). Photographer Robert Bothner is responsible for these eye-boggling images (the horse riding character at top slays me). If this was a production during wartime, I wonder what the opulence was like during Josephine Baker’s day. I’d love to see a photo of the audience.
[Via Marieaunet]