Monday, January 12, 2009

Be your own icon


It's funny how looking at a random object for long enough can make you look at lots of other things differently. One of my favourite parts of the NY trip was the Museum of Modern Art.

A new obsession with finding the perfect camel coat (like THIS ONE from Max Mara) was born when I stared at Warhol's 'Campbell's Soup Cans' (1962) for a little too long. It just happened. Everyone else was ooh-ing and ahh-ing, "it's iconic", "such a defining piece". I was thinking, "I have a cadmium-red wool blend scarf, it's that exact soup can shade. It's perfect, perfect red. Now nothing will be right until I own a camel coat, sandy beige (like the light to the left of the picture).
The (sorry) flavour of an era... condensed (again, fuck, I can't help it!).



Then there's Josephine Meckseper's 'Knee Highs' (2006) part of a series that aims to expose the links between politics and the consumer worlds of fashion and advertising. I didn't entirely ignore the message, but the 50's lingerie backdrop grabbed me, then white and brown patent took over, what a contrast! Slightly seventies, but in a different context, what a combination. What can I do with white and brown, God, where can I find brown patent pumps?



Finally it's Roy Lichtenstein's 'Girl with Ball' (1961). Never has a line drawing looked so happy. The lips, the hair, the suit, nearly fifty years old and still so fresh. Looking at her isn't enough, I want to be her. Is she were a word, she'd be 'Woo!'

That's me then, navy, red, mustard and white for summer. 2009's predicted neons and tropical brights don't suit me anyway... this year, I'm channeling 'woo!'

10 comments:

Emily said...

Haha, GREAT post, great blog, and the MoMA is indeed amazing!
Btw, your cat is adorable with the little hoodie =)


derangedmylove.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

I hate to be rude, but when I read "the perfect camel coat" I heard "the perfect camel toe" in my head and now I can't get the image out of my head.

Manuel said...

woo hoo!

Megan said...

Very nice! Channel away!

Your comment made me laugh and laugh...

Unknown said...

Oh oh! I feel a "Channeling Woo" trend coming on!

I've been looking at too many 1920's and 30's movies and I'm ready to channel a variety of "woo" all my own... like start by giving myself a wavy, slightly puffy bob (Good God, I'll have to perm my hair), dark, pouty lips and black eye liner all the way around...

But these things go so much better when two seemingly unconnected, random people begin channeling various brands of the same "woo"... if you know what I mean... no?

By the way, I love the brown and white... it's probably not stylish at all, and I'll probably be mocked, but I've been living in these: http://www.aldoshoes.com/uk/women/shoes/city-fashion/69281736-bobbie and I've noticed these on the site (and other variations) that seem like not too distantly cousins to the "knee highs" shoes...

Hmmm... (love this post!)

Unknown said...

Sorry, meant to say:

I've noticed these on the site (and other variations) that seem like not too distantly cousins to the "knee highs" shoes... http://www.aldoshoes.com/uk/women/shoes/city-fashion/71965977-fridars

certainly helps, don't it?

The Sexy Pedestrian said...

Emily - Welcome, and yeah, he's a ladykiller.

The U Blog - If 'camel toe' is the rudest thing to have popped into your head today you're doing pretty well. Or very badly, depending on how you look at it...

Molly- Obviously, the more 'woo' the better. I think the perm is the only way to go if you're planning on doing it everyday, hot rollers are a pain.
Thanks for the link as well, bring back brown!

Anonymous said...

SP, I wonder just how many times our paths crossed in NY given we went to so many of the same places!

The Sexy Pedestrian said...

I was the one balancing a cocktail, a cigarette and 40 shopping bags...

Anonymous said...

It was amomazing!