Sable Starr: Queen of the Pussies

Here are some photos of 70's groupie teen Sable Starr. Famous groupies tend to be the coolest, most popular, most aggressive, and most charismatic girl in the room, so it's always kind of a downer reading their stories- had they been guys, they probably would have been rock stars themselves.

Sable was like 14 when she dated/slept with all these dudes, which seems like it flew a bit more in the 70's. Not that I'm condoning it, man. These pubescent groupies would hit the scene in halter tops, daisy dukes, boas, and mile high platforms.

In her memoir, I'm With the Band, fellow famous groupie Pamela Des Barres trashes Sable and her ilk; I guess the baby groupies were mean to her and called her an "old bag" in front of the Whiskey or something which she took personally even though she was only 23 herself. To quoth Bebe Buell, "Who does Pamela think she is? Queen of the pussies?"

Anyway, she had the 70s trash look down, that's for sure.

Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg Are Gross

Since I moved to New York especially, it seems 60's French pop is inescapable. Sometimes I think if I hear that song "Bonnie and Clyde" with Jane Birkin or whoever* it is singing in that French accent I'm gonna kill someone. It seems like everyone can conveniently play this shit because it is retro and French and seems vaguely stylish and won't offend. I am also tired of seeing photos of lank, blank-faced Jane Birkin and disturbingly frog-like Serge Gainsbourg all over fashion inspiration posts like he is not old enough to be her inbred father.

It's as though we've forgotten these canonical relationships of past eras were informed by the extreme sexism of their day, especially the 1960's era musicians and "their women."

Seriously, these look like people you'd see getting into a violent altercation in a dollar store.

Ugh! What is this nasty chauvinistic shit? May I remind you he sang a song called "Lemon Incest" with his teenage daughter? Aside from the fact that people still seem convinced the French are superior fashion-wise to Americans even though I see French people everyday who look just as shittily dressed as those of us in the US, with the advent of fast-paced modern technology it matters less and less what the story of the images we are posting as inspiration on our blogs are.

I recently read Faithfull by Marianne Faithfull, and for much of the book, she talks about being depressed, drug-addicted, anorexic, angry regarding how she was used and only valued for her beauty, all the while this fiction of her as a person and especially Mick Jagger's girlfriend was being created. But these aspects don't show up in our inspiration posts.

It's not like we can't post photos of Marianne to inspire us, but if we have the internet to repost photos we know nothing about, we also have it as tool to find out about these people and not gloss over the fact that Serge Gainsbourg is gross, you know?

*I guess it was Bridget Bardot. Whatevs.

Inspiration: 60's Kids

How come yuppie/Park Slope kinda parents always dress their children, who are named Noah or Wyatt, in crocs and cargo shorts? Do kids demand crocs by name? These kids look like total slobs! How about dressing kids, as well as yourself, more like a child or tween from the 1960's? Peg legged pants, converse high tops or Keds, simple windbreakers or striped t-shirts, this is a look anyone can and should have.

This kid looks awesome, check out the old school Pepsi bottle matching his t-shirt. Speaking of which, the simplicity of the 80's Coke/Pepsi logos was so cool. Now everything has a pumped up, airburshed look. If you think my love of old crap doesn't extend to the old soda logos, think again. In San Francisco, we don't have bodegas, we have corner stores, which always had signs with the old soda logos on them. Maybe I will do a post about it someday on Little San Francisco, that blog I never update about San Francisco no one reads!

Peg legged pants, Keds, and a t-shirt. And a bouffant!




This is more 70's, but whatever.

Dandyism: Better than Cargo Shorts

Ever unpowdered, unperfumed, immaculately bathed and shaved, and dressed in a plain dark blue coat, he was always perfectly brushed, perfectly fitted, showing much perfectly starched linen, all freshly laundered, and composed with an elaborately knotted cravat.

- Barbey d'Aurevilly, "Du dandisme et de George Brummell

That Purple Rain poster was very hard to find a photo of, which is too bad because Prince's suit is epic and was clearly custom-made for him, though you can kind of see the metallic paisley and big buttons. Not that if you are reading my blog you haven't looked up close at that poster before anyway, and are also obviously well acquainted with the naked shower Prince poster too.

This image is too small, but trust me, this shit is graphic!

Once dandies were part of our culture, and though we have some modern day dandies, they are much more rare. It seems a lot of guys these days are attempting a modern dandy look, with rolled up skinny jeans and little oxfords, but what they don't know ---and all those seen in the photos above clearly do--- is that dressing like a dandy means nothing without an eye for quality, fabric, and fit. All of these we have certainly have lost the ability to recognize, but people were probably much more aware of when most clothing was handmade and meant to last. Black men of an older generation seem most likely to be dandies these days.

People can't afford bespoke suits, but you don't need bespoke suits to be a dandy. Anyone can starch a shirt. Austin Scarlett, a consummate dandy if there ever was one, amazed me on the first season of Project Runway with his morning ironing routine. The best thing about this look is the effort put into it. It's a perfectly studied flamboyance, as opposed to the flashy and trashy flamboyance I also heartily approve of. It's the opposite of what modern dressing is all about- throwing on some harem pants/pajamas/shants and a beefy tee featuring an off-color reference. Dandies do not wear wraparound sunglasses or flip flops. They tuck in their shirts. Today people don't really have any easy way of learning about clothing even if they wanted to. It's not like you can take a trip to your local department store. There is something intrinsic about the way a true dandy dresses. They have a deep understanding of what they are wearing, an understanding so few people seem to have. "Masculine" attire need not be broad and frumpy. Today's Men's Wearhouse style suits feature clingy legs and boxy blazers, but we can do better.

In conclusion, study the photos of these dandies. Look at the cut of their shirts, their well-coiffed hair, and the ease with with they wear these clothes. This tailored and covered up look is hella fine, but does not rely on conventional good looks to make it work.

Photo Key Which I am Usually Way Too Lazy To Do:

1. Man in the perennially blighted Mid-Market district of San Francisco

2., 3., & 4. Clearly Prince.

5. Katherine Hepburn

6. Fred Astaire in a dandy-inspired number

6. Frida Kahlo and family

7. Josephine Baker

8. Portrait of Una Troubridge

9. & 10. Oscar Wilde

11. Radclyffe Hall

12. Noel Coward

13. & 14. Andre 3ooo and also Big Boi but he's not the focus here, though his suit is cool too

15. Don Cornelius, who I couldn't find better photos of

16. Austin Scarlett outshines non-dandy Tim Gunn

17. & 18. These are the type of David Bowie photos I would paste on my locker in high school. Damn, this was good look for him.

19. John Waters

20. & 21. Marlene Dietrich

22. Yves St. Laurent

23. David Bowie

24, Quentin Crisp

PS: There is a show on Lifetime with Austin Scarlett and Santino from Season 2 where they road trip around and make dresses for non-fancy people and it's pretty amazing!

Gay Photos, Etc.

I haven't posted in a while, but I haven't stopped "blogging" or anything, don't worry. I've been kind of busy and most of my posts take time/inspiration, so sometimes it is hard to be totally consistent. Expect more ranting about shants and how they relate to feminist YA novels/hipster subcultural appropriation/ glam rock stars/long haired 70's teenagers in the near future!