Dear Vintage Goddess...

Here is an interesting and thought provoking letter from a reader.

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Dear Vintage Goddess,

Television shows like "Mad Men" are so popular these days.  Do you think that retro 1960's clothing has become more popular because of our love of retro pop culture?

Thanks!
Maggie K.

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Dear Maggie K,

I love your question.  It would be naive (but nice) for us to think that clothing fashions rule the world and the earth revolves around vintage and retro clothing.  Although, I have to say that you are partly correct.

Traditionally runway fashions have always influenced home design 2 years after the fact.  But what does that have to do with clothing from a past era?  With the incredible resurgence of 1960's inspired designs, the entertainment and home decor industries have followed suit and joined the bandwagon, so to speak. 

Now it has become a chicken and the egg scenario.  Retro clothing influenced television.  Then television influenced retro "inspired" clothing and interior design.

Ursula Andress looking gorgeous

Some naysayers are saying that this is all going to come to a crashing end sooner than later.  The copycats will certainly see an end to their reign but true retro and vintage clothing will always have a great fan base.  That's because the real McCoys are not dependent on passing trends, but rather hold their values on different levels such as historical significance, sentimentality and the desire for individuality.

Carol

She Can Psyche It Like Sigmund!

cinemaknifefight.com

After watching every confusing episode of the television show "Lost", I felt truly lost and drained. So when we heard that its Producers had pulled another one out of the Rorschach Inkblot Test hat, I was both repelled and intrigued.

"Alcatraz" first aired at the beginning of this year.  What caught my interest at first was the cast: 

**Sarah Jones - Rebecca Madsen - the cop on the task force
**Jorge Garcia- Doc Soto - the geeky expert
**Parminder Nagra- Dr. Lucy Banerjee in present day, (Dr. Lucille Sengupta in 1963) - a Shrink with a past
**Sam Neill - Emerson Hauser - former police officer on Alcatraz, current leader of the task force

Garcia was the affable Hurley on "Lost".  Nagra  portrayed Jesminder Bhamra in the film "Bend It Like Beckham" and Dr. Neela Rasgotra on the hit show E.R.

Plot:

On March 21, 1963, all the inmates and guards disappeared from "The Rock", a.k.a. Alcatraz prison.  In total over 300 inmates and 40 guards just vanished that day.  Each week we saw them returning on their own or in small groups from the great unknown.  Why did they disappear and what are they here to do now?  They had all stopped aging on that fateful day in March.

Nagra's character is the most intriguing to me.  Although not an inmate nor a guard at the prison, she had also cheated time by not aging.  In the past, she portrays a psychiatrist who worked hard at trying to rehabilitate and help the inmates in any way she can with their tortured minds.  In the present she is part of the top secret task force.  So you can see that my interest in this show is not based on a sudden interest in the American Penal System.  No, that wasn't a Freudian slip!

igossip.com

The charm of this show is the retro angle.  Each episode showcases many flashbacks to the 1960's.  Nagra's character has the most fun with the beautiful wardrobe, hairstyles and make-up.  Dr. Sengupta is impeccably dressed.  And her hair comes to life when in the past.

There's mystery, time travel and all the grit and beauty of 1960's America.  Have a look.  You'll drool when you see the wardrobe and get caught up in the past at the same time!

Carol