three things

It's my birthday eve today, so just a quick post; I have celebrating to do! Today's celebrations include trips to some of my favourite Auckland op shops, and watching the Judy Garland version of A Star Is Born. Oh how I love Judy. Almost as much as I love birthdays. ALMOST.

1. More Pretty In Pink. I wasn't a huge fan of Andie's clothes (maybe partly because I remember when people really wore beige stockings), but I really liked Iona's. Maybe my thirties will be the time to start experimenting with wigs?

2. I've been hoping to make it to California Design, 1930-1965: Living in a Modern Way at the Auckland Art Gallery since we arrived - it looks great! The exhibition includes furniture by Charles and Ray Eames, and graphics by Saul Bass. I love mid-century Californian design, which can be traced back to the first time I saw The Parent Trap as a kid, and fell in love with Mitch's house. The house deserves its own post (it's my dream-house, and the day I read it was built on a sound-stage was a notable step in my journey to adulthood). If I make it to the exhibition, I'll let you know if it deserves its own post too.

3. Cher (and Greg Allman), getting the jump on my birthday celebrations at a Doobie Brothers party wbw (way back when; is that already an acronym in use, or did I just start something?). Photo from Old Loves, which always has great photos of some of my favourite people. I don't know what she's wearing, but I LOVE it. Cher and Judy Garland = INSPIRATIONS.

film inspiration: Duckie Dale

Perhaps because we didn't always have a tv and vcr, and my sisters and I were readers from, well, the time we could read, there are a lot of 80s classics I didn't see (Adventures In Babysitting a notable exception; I wanted to be Chris so badly!). I've caught up on some, and totally dug them: Dirty Dancing, Die Hard, Stand By Me. I've caught up on some and had to turn them off because, without the lens of sentimentality, they were awful: The Goonies (don't hate me!), The Big Blue. And there are some I still haven't seen: Footloose, Top Gun, Gremlins (although my sister had the movie book, and it scared the shit out of me).

So until a couple of weeks ago, I hadn't seen Pretty In Pink, and to tell the truth, was a little embarrassed about it. I actually gave it to a close friend for her birthday one year, even though I totally knew it implied I'd seen it and was saying - look, we're so old, but remember when we weren't? Pathetic! But I digress. Finally I watched it, and I was... underwhelmed. Maybe I'm too old for it now, but I just didn't connect with anybody (except maybe the Dad, heaven help me), and I felt as if some scenes went on and on, and then sometimes as if a scene had been missed. However, what I did love was Duckie's wardrobe.And his lip-synced performance of Try A Little Tenderness - the best! There are boys around who dress similarly but there's just something kind of hollow about it; like they're New Wave simulacra? I don't know; there's just something genuine about the way Duckie dresses. His shoes are beaten up and dirty because he doesn't have much money, and he rides a bike in them... and he's Duckie. By the way, did anyone else think Andie ruined two good dresses? Okay, sorry, sorry. Happy Friday! My first Friday in months at my pub in Auckland... Hurray!

"It's the end of the month, they're out of toilet seat covers!"

"It's called a sense of humour; you should get one, they're nice."

"I'm not particularly concerned with whether or not you like me, because I live to like you..."

film inspiration: student exchange

Whether or not you remember Student Exchange (Mollie Miller) will probably depend on your vintage. Wikipedia tells me it was a made for tv movie that came out in 1987; I remember watching it on vhs at my cousins' house around 1989. I was too young to properly get the storyline then (watching it today was stressful; what about their early acceptances?! why can't Neil just TONE IT DOWN?!), but I distinctly remember Carol/Simone's wardrobe, and how completely amazing it was.

Fast-forward twenty-something years, and here I am, sick in bed, and still being blown away by both Carol's AND Neil's style. The hair! The hats! The super-wide belts! The colours! The hair! The scarves! THE HAIR! Why don't people wear fake plaits anymore? When did mouse stop being an acceptable main-character hair-colour? And when did fringe up become a crime?

As soon as I'm well again, I'm on the lookout for a pink bomber jacket, I'm stocking up on hair-spray, and I'm rethinking the removal of the shoulder-pads from the dresses I've bought for the shop. In the meantime, let us all enjoy these grainy screenshots I took (the version I watched hasn't been remastered; may it remain in its grainy 80s glory forever). DRESS FOR SUCCESS!