Oscar-nominated designers in 15th annual costume panel at the Egyptian
It’s such a fascinating “way in” when considering the different elements that go into making a successful feature film — via the vision and craftsmanship of the artists who create the costumes. Just consider one of them. Arianne Phillips, nominated for A Complete Unknown, has garnered prior nominations for Academy Award for Best Costume Design ...
Clothes make the man, in ‘Monte Cristo’ & ‘West Side Story’
If clothes make the man in real life, then it’s only more so in the movies. That’s when an audience is maximally focused and alert, and processing quick information about characters. I found myself repeatedly distracted, in an awesome way, by the stunning men’s wear in THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (2024), which I recently ...
Arts separatism for sale
purchase blacma teeshirt here The latest ‘merch’ from the Los Angeles County of Museum, the erstwhile color-blind LACMA, got our attention. What on earth is BLACMA? Let’s look into the teeshirt’s backstory. This shirt was made to commemorate the establishment of LACMA’s Black/African American Employee Resource Group (BLACMA) in 2021. This internal group of employees ...
‘People-wearing-color’ honor composer Allee Willis @ ‘Night of Wonders’ 1
It was all kinds of people, of all kinds of colors, wearing all kinds of colors — notably hot pink, fiery orange, neon chartreuse, and Princely purple — mixed into the same outfit. This passel of arty party people wended their way to Valentine in the Los Angeles arts district on September 21, for a ...
To unfold once more! My Miyake
Ed. note: It’s not every woman who can rock a high-fashion ensemble like the one above designed by Issey Miyake (1938-2022), whose immense trail of creativity left our world this past week. One lady who can is the London-based author and arts journalist Candace Allen, who writes about the inimitable look here: I’d been gifted ...
‘Comb-out’ cat fight in MGM hair salon
Memories of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio’s early-morning hair-and-makeup ritual as described by one of the era’s leading girls-with-curls, Leslie Caron.EXCERPTED FROM: Donald Knox, “The Magic Factory: How MGM Made An American in Paris” (New York: Praeger Publishers) 1973 One of the biggest fights between the ladies was in hairdressing. Sydney Guilaroff was the king of that ...
Guggenheim ‘Works & Process’ spurs artists in limbo
Dylan Crossman When performance venues shut down abruptly in mid-March, innumerable planned events were put on hold. That included the Guggenheim’s modest but high-profile “Works & Process” series, midway through its spring season which featured a mix of dance, theater and music events. Launched in 1984, the adventurous series “explores artistic creation through stimulating conversation ...
Gabrielle Chanel: friend, patron, artisan of dance 4
I was intrigued to receive a note concerning a new four-episode series from fashion house, CHANEL, entitled Gabrielle Chanel & the Arts. A new episode of the series, which spools on the CHANEL youtube channel, gives a whirlwind-but-witty overview of Gabrielle Chanel‘s personal and artistic connections with avant-garde ballet. At the turn of the 20th ...
Ready, set … go back to the movies!
They could open, but they didn’t open, last Friday. Confusion reigns in the largest cinema market in the country, Los Angeles, which also happens to be a hotspot of COVID-19 infection. The MPAA website mentions nary a word about movie theater re-openings. Here are the California Department of Public Health guidelines: Limit attendees in the ...
Bravo~! to the boyz of ballet
courtesy christian holder Former Joffrey Ballet dancer, costume designer, and choreographer Christian Holder, based in London, is a renaissance man of the arts in a way reminiscent of his very famous uncle Geoffrey Holder. It was my pleasure to see the indelible Holder dance with the Joffrey Ballet. And he has many further accolades beyond ...