The Richard Avedon show at ICP will inspire you to add some glamor into your life with the parade of enviable cinched waists, hats by Paulette and Lilly Dache, arm candy like Gardner McKay and Mike Nichols, and of course gowns, suits, and coats by decades of the worlds best designers like Dior, Gres, Fath, Balmain, Patou, Carnegie, Cardin, and Galliano.
The photos of familiar names like Audrey Hepburn, Suzy Parker – who poses on one of my favorite photos with Chanel, and Lauren Hutton – also in a favorite shot, smoking a joint on the beaches of the Bahamas – sit next to a long list of new names, at least to me that I have had tons of fun researching since: China Machado (our first non-Caucasian covergirl), Sunny Harnett (a statuesque blond that managed to look high class 1980s in 1954), Henrietta Tiarks (one of “the best known debutantes of the 50s”), and Emilien Bouglione (the beginning of a long line of circus performers).
Also on view are neat wire miniatures in costumes photographed by David Seidner, it was in this corner that we saw gray haired grand dame (who we all fell in love with in Unzipped) Polly Mellen, who disappeared as quickly and surely as she came.
A gorgeous, huge book accompanies the show and includes more photos but has a hefty price tag ($85). Sarafina and I settled instead for the $2 winking eye of Jean Shrimpton button.
But what do you think?