Molto Bella! Molto Mad Men!

If you saw Mad Men last week (and you should be seeing it every week), you were able to catch a rare glimpse of Don actually making Betty happy.  And all he had to do was take her on a surprise, all expenses paid trip to Rome!  The real surprise for us was finding out that “hitting on your own wife as if you were strangers in a Roman cafe” is a fairly douche-y move that we can get behind.  But, then, Don Draper seems to be a fairly douche-y guy that we can get behind.  Although, who wouldn’t hit on Betty with that coo-coo-it-must-be-Italy-in-1963 complicated up-do!

Here are some  examples of the real deal:

P.S.  This is what Don would sound like if he was Italian.

Despite Our Better Instincts

Whoa!  Back away from the lady and drop the scissors.  File under “dudes we do not want to be trapped in a tanning salon with”: Tom Ford.  We are genuinely frightened of this whorange himbo.  We are also genuinely frightened of his fragrance line.  For an idea of why, Google image search “Tom Ford Cologne”.  Just don’t do it at work.

You know who’s not afraid of this guy?  Harvey Weinstein.  Because he just picked up Tom Ford’s directorial debut at the Toronto Film Festival and is burning the midnight oil to get this thing a decent release in time for Oscar nominations.  And you know what?  It could be pretty flippin’ good.  Check out the trailer below.  It’s called A Single Man and it’s like a way gayer Mad Men or a slightly gayer Far From Heaven.

Rodarte | Spring/Summer 2010

There were a few shows from NYC last week that were pretty much universally praised and Rodarte was definitely one of them.  But, Lance une Mode is coming down with a split decision on this one.  While we like it for being a spastic mess of clothes that appear to be in an ever morphing state of decay we do have to admit that all of the pieces are a spastic mess of clothes that appear to be in an ever morphing state of decay.  In other words, it’s kind of a glass half full or half empty situation.  What we do agree on is that these clothes are hard to wear.  You need a sharp attitude and a sharp reason to wear stuff this wild.  So, Gwyneth Paltrow et. al., we better not see you sporting one of these things on some red carpet with a prom queen up do and some nude Loubautin pumps and then getting all bleary eyed when you see yourself on the US Weekly worst dressed list, ’cause Rodarte just wore you to an event instead of the other way around.

All weird unjustified cattiness aside, what we’re trying to say is decide if you like this for yourself; be brave, take a stance of your own.  Tell us what you think in the comments section.

There’s a video of the show over at The Moment.

Mary Katrantzou | Spring/Summer 2010

Lance une Mode loves color!  Maybe this comes from living in an environment that is mostly shades of concrete grey.  Although we post a lot here about wonderful styles of yesteryear, we can appreciate the cutting edge just as much as the next gal.  But, there’s one big problemo that we have with most  avant garde fashion: it’s almost all black!  (We’re looking your way Everything That is Sold in OAK.*)  Kooky original pieces can be understandably hard to market, so it’s safe to manufacture them in black.  But safe is the opposite of avant garde!

Well, it looks like Mary Katrantzou is aiming her printed textile love arrows right at our blood-red hearts!  She’s doing things with ink jet prints on silk that have never ever been done before.  In our book, that’s as cutting edge as D.B. Sweeney.  After last season’s collection inspired by perfume bottles, Katrantzou’s moved on to blown glass in general.  It would be more accurate to say her inspiration was blowing glass, because her prints have a heat and fluidity to them that is more of a verb than a noun.  This is only her second collection shown on London’s catwalks, but she’s already established a signature and we’re excited to see what she can do in the future.

Check out the full show at Style.com

*Sorry, OAK.  We still love you.  You’re still totally rad.

Word to Your Mom!

We love trying to keep up with the various Fashion Weeks happening this month, but after viewing a couple of shows in a row, L.u.M. tends to get E.T.M. fatigue.  (That’s Emaciated Teenage Model fatigue, ladies.)  Just when we thought we couldn’t look at another knocked-kneed Twilight fan clomp down a runway in clothes we can’t afford, along comes SYKES and knocks us out with these two beauties. . .

Gone Camping!

See You Next Tuesday!

♥ L.u.M.

And God Created Woman

Brigitte Bardot’s turning seventy-frigin’-five soon and to commemorate the occasion, the James Hyman Gallery is selling 75 paparazzi shots of the 60s icon.  And by paparazzi, we’re talking La Dolce Vita style… not US Weekly.  Be sure to visit the link above for a sweet gallery of the Bardot action and if you’ve got some extra dough, why not pick one up.  They’re going for as little as $800.  Not too shabby as far as art goes.

Ladylike Rides | Pink Chrysler Imperial (1957 – 1963)

During the post-war boom of 1955, General Motors was dominating the luxury auto market with its Cadillac line  and Ford was in close competition with its Lincolns.  In order to compete, Chrysler decided to spin off its Imperial line into a seperate prestige automobile.  (Also, in 1955, none of these guys were receiving a government bail out.)

Nothing says flair like the tail fins on this mid-century marvel.  And look at all that chrome.  And those taillights!  Sick!  Don’t you just want to squeeze into a tight black number with some stilettos and hit the Vegas strip?  You know, wander all over the room and blow on some other guy’s dice.

The 1960s models were built so strongly that they were banned from demolition derbies for being an unfair advantage.  Which is good if you’re not always paying attention to traffic because you’re busy applying your face in the rearview mirror.  (But who would put their make-up on at home when you could do it in this motorized vanity?) The Imperial came in a factory paint finish called Persian Pink. . . but many enterprising hot rodders have been known to amp up the kitsch factor on these babies with much more intense hues of pink.  Check out the gallery below including some shots from original Imperial brochures:

WWII Nose Art

We love pin ups!  Vintage pin ups.  From a time when men were men and women could enjoy a chili dog while still looking good in a bathing suit.

During World War II, military pilots brought the craft of nose art into its golden age.  Nose art is any non-sanctioned graffiti placed on the exterior of an aircraft.  Often painted by the pilots themselves, but sometimes by commissioned professional artists,  a lot of nose art featured risque images based on work by the great pin up artists like Gil Elvgren and Alberto Vargas culled from the pages of Esquire magazine.  Sometimes, when the flying aces copied the work of these masters, they somehow forgot to copy the girls’ tops.  Whoops!

Our fighting boys used the planes as a canvas to escape the rigid uniformity of the military, reminisce about life on the home front and cope with the impending aura of death using gallows humor.  Also, they ogled pretty ladies.  Here’s a look at some sexy pin up nose art we pillaged from the ol’ internet:

FRUiTS

Before there was The Sartorialist et. al., FRUiTS had street style on lockdown.  The smallish Japanese magazine comes out monthly and tracking it down is half the fun of having it.  What is it about Japanese girls that makes it so they can get away with wearing anything and everything (sometimes all at once)?   We consider ourselves brave and bold dressers. . . but some of the style of the girls that FRUiTS finds crosses over into reckless abandon.  More power to you girls!  In honor of FRUiTS, we’re declaring this Saturday and Sunday, The Weekend of Dressing with Abandon.  (Yes, we’re making declarations now.)  Even if you’re just going to the grocery store, you better be wearing at least a dozen accessories and a kooky hat.

Check out the new blog fuck yeah FRUiTS for some scans from the mag.  You can find copies at Kinokuniya Bookstore or you can subscribe through Amazon.