A web log, an æthereal scrap-book if you will, with a somewhat vintage flavour. News items, occurrences, experiences, thoughts and opinions related to Victoriana through to Fifties Americana can all be found here.
to all my readers, followers and visitors. I hope you all have as splendid a festive break as current conditions allow and enjoy the bank holiday weekend.
No sign of Easter Parade in the schedules again this year (fast becoming an annual treat in the Partington-Plans household) but fortunately I have a previous recording that will be pressed into service again tomorrow. What is your favourite Easter film?
Happy Easter everyone, I haven't forgotten you all! (Don't worry, I've got a couple of posts lined up for the next few weeks so hopefully things will soon be back to the "new" normal here at Eclectic Ephemera.) In more exciting news I had another article published in In Retrospect magazine, with a fourth hopefully for Issue 03 in a couple of months' time!
Did you see that B.B.C. Two actually put on Easter Paradeat Easter(!), on Good Friday morning? That was a pleasant start to the Easter weekend, I thought (even though I'd recorded it from their last showing of it in... November)! I can never get enough of the incomparable Fred Astaire...
Here's hoping you've all had a wonderful Easter holiday - not too much chocolate I hope! (I actually got my first egg in years - from work! What a nice bunch of coves, eh?) Well, roll on Spring!
"Blige me!", as my father would say*, nearly a whole month without a peep out of yours truly and I haven't even been anywhere near a hospital (actually that's not strictly true, but only for routine tests)! I'd forgotten how all-consuming full-time work can be. I can only apologise for not sticking to my once-a-week promise.
Anyway, the new job hasn't worked out after all that so I'm back to being a gentleman of leisure for now. I'm not too sorry, though, because it wasn't really for me (literally - towards the end I was doing things that weren't in the job description and completely outside my remit as they struggled to find work for me. That and other business practices that would make your hair turn white.). Ergo I'm slightly glad to be out of it; one door closes another opens and all that, too, is what I say!
So, now I can devote my time to this blog again (how I would love to make a job out of that, if only!). How are you all on this lovely May day (I hope it's as nice wherever you are as it is here)? Tickety-boo, I trust? I've got three or four posts lined up to write that otherwise would have appeared in April but for now here's a little something to tie in with the beautiful spring weather we've (finally!) been having here, as I get going again and see if I've still got the blogging knack.
I recently dug out an old recording of one of my favourite films, The Band Wagon, starring Fred Astaire - who else? - and Cyd Charisse (who always reminds me in this of our own dear Fleur). It never fails to brighten my mood and doubly so at this time of year thanks to a number of outfits sported by Fred that are not only perfectly light and spring-like but also easily attainable. Two at least are my go-to styles for spring/summer and if I can [just about] pull them off then anyone can!
The first tip-top ensemble makes its appearance at the beginning of the film, as washed-up movie star Tony Hunter (Astaire) arrives back in New York. The double-breasted suit looks as good here as ever, perfectly complemented by the matching shirt and tie, contrasting pocket square (naturally!) and the icing on the cake - or rather the hat on the head! - the jaunty straw boater. I haven't had a chance to try this particular look yet mainly because I don't have a double-breasted suit (for shame!), but that is the only thing from it missing in my wardrobe so watch this space!
Skipping forward to about half way through the film and Astaire's wonderfully put together pieces are only marred by the fact that he makes his ballet dancer partner Gaby (Charisse) cry(!). My attempt might also make you cry, but only for its woeful inadequacy next to the original.
No pocket square for me I'm afraid,
because on this jacket it isn't a real pocket(!) ;-(
I've just realised none of my pictures show anything below the waist (oo-er missus!) so let me assure you that not only am I wearing trousers, but they are also white cotton ducks just like Fred's. I've always loved how his trews and jacket are just ever so subtly different in shade, set off perfectly by the yellow shirt and tie plus the red pocket square.
Trying a "pose" for a change, rather than just
always grinning dementedly into the camera
But then Tony & Gaby go for a walk in the park, share a dance.. and all is forgiven.
So to the final dance number, Girl Hunt Ballet, and a suit that has passed into legend. Has Astaire ever looked more effortlessly cool? Another splendid light-coloured two-piece and hat, beautifully contrasted with a blue shirt and white tie. Looks familiar? Seen it somewhere before since? Indeed you probably have, for a certain Mr Michael Jackson was also a huge fan of Fred Astaire and one of Jacko's biggest homages to Fred was... the music video for Smooth Criminal. This, sadly, renders the following outfit difficult if not impossible to wear in public, unless you don't mind having Smooth Criminal sung (or just "Oi, Michael Jackson!" shouted) at you by every other person you meet. The way I look at it, though, is that if Jackson was paying tribute to Astaire by dressing like him so these people are in fact complimenting me by unwittingly likening me to Fred Astaire. At least, that's how I try to rationalise it.
Cooler...
...than...
...Jackson
I'm sure I used to have a white tie many moons ago but I must have disposed of it before I realised it could have been used in making a [barely] passable Fred Astaire-inspired outfit, so the next-lightest pattern in my tie collection has had to fill in.
Well, I think I've proved to myself that the blogging bug is still very much in evidence with this returning film fashion post. I hope you've all enjoyed my continued [painful] attempts to emulate the style of the great Fred Astaire in one of his best films. Enjoy the rest of the Bank Holiday (those of you in the U.K.) and I hope to be back within the week this time! Cheero!
* No, I'm not sure what it means either. I think it's his own variation of "blimey". Anyway...
Well the clocks have gone back one hour to good old Greenwich Mean Time and thoughts have turned to the fast approaching night of 31st October - All Hallow's Eve! Inspired by a recent post by Mim over at Crinoline Robot, I thought I'd do for Hallowe'en what I did for my last two bloggy Christmases so I've cobbled together a selection of spooky songs from the 1930s and '40s by some of my favourite artists of the day.
Mysterious Mose was an early Betty Boop cartoon from the Fleischer Studios (who would later have further successes with their famous Popeye and Superman cartoons). It in turn was inspired by this song, written by Walter Doyle and also released in [April] 1930, originally by Rube Bloom and His Bayou Boys but swiftly recorded by a number of bands including Harry Reser, Cliff Perrine and and Ted Weems (with their respective Orchestras).
The great Cab Calloway features here twice - first in the seldom-heard 17th June 1931 recording of The Nightmare and then the later (28th February 1939) recording of The Ghost of Smokey Joe.
Me And The Ghost Upstairs often appears on Fred Astaire CD anthologies but was actually cut from the film in which it featured, 1940's Second Chorus. Luckily the raw footage still exists, albeit in pre-production quality and not subject to the final Astaire polish (not that you'd notice!) so we can see Fred jitterbuggin' and lindy-hopping with a ghost (actually his long-time friend and choreography partner Hermes Pan shrouded in sheets and wearing high heels!).
One from our English bandleader Henry Hall, who was well-known for doing child-friendly songs such as The Sun Has Got His Hat On and The Teddy-Bears' Picnic and who here performs a splendid rendition of Hush, Hush, Hush, Here Comes The Boogeyman, with singer Val Rosing, from 1932.
Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra are on fine form in this sweet version of a Larry Clinton composition from 1937, Satan Takes a Holiday.
We finish with the wonderfully-titled Celery Stalks At Midnight, originally recorded in 1940 by Will Bradley and His Orchestra but in this version from a year later (6th February 1941) masterfully sung by Doris Day, with Les Brown and The Band of Renown.
As well as playing these cracking and creepy tunes I have also lined up a Boris Karloff-fest for Wednesday night with a programme featuring Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein and The Mummy (plus Ghostbusters, of course - if I can fit it in!). Have a spooktacular time, everyone!
Today sees the 25th anniversary of the passing of the legendary Fred Astaire, who succumbed to pneumonia on this day in 1987 at the grand age of 88.
As my number one Style Icon I need little excuse to feature posts about the great man and this being the quarter-century since he left is reason enough to focus on him again. The Daily Telegraph has done their own pictorial tribute and I intend to add to that with favourite images and clips of my own.
What can more can I add, though, to what I've said previously and to what others have said down the years? There aren't enough superlatives in the world to do justice to Fred Astaire's dance skill, fashion and gentlemanliness. Seeing him on screen is the nearest thing to seeing heaven on earth. If I'm ever feeling down, or under the weather, I watch a Fred Astaire film and always feel better for it. No other actor-dancer is such a joy to watch and admire. He is like an æthereal being, floating from scene to scene, quite literally gliding around the floor and brightening the lives of everyone with whom he comes into contact.
Others may have come and gone, with Cary Grant running him close for "Best Dressed", but I'm in full agreement with those who say there has never been another like Astaire nor will be again. There are once-in-a-lifetime performers and once-a-generation singers/dancers/actors but Fred Astaire was a true one-off, a perfect distillation of song, dance and action.
Twenty-five years seems almost meaningless for someone who has been immortalised on stage and screen (a happy thought has just occurred to me that, for nearly 4 years, Fred Astaire and I shared the same planet - a fact of time that scarcely seems creditable). In fact, "immortal" is the very word. Twenty-five, 250, 2500 - however many years pass I feel sure that the world will not forget the incomparable Fred Astaire and that we shall continue to celebrate him for as long as music and dance exists.
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***Don't forget that today is also the last day you can enter my 150 Followers Giveaway. The winner will be announced tomorrow so hurry, hurry, hurry!***
A Happy Easter to all my readers, may you all have wonderful time whatever you're doing. I'm away with the family for a couple of days, so we'll catch up after the Easter holidays when I look forward to seeing what you've all been up to. Don't overdo the chocolate eggs, now!
Appropriately for Easter, I saw my first daf of the year today.
Spring has definitely sprung, despite the indecisive weather.
Chances of Easter Parade being shown on the television over the Easter weekend? Probably non-existent (although I see Bringing Up Baby is on BBC2 on Saturday). Still, I leave you with this classic routine from the incomparable Fred Astaire. Happy Easter To You!
Isn't it always the way? When there's nothing in the news to blog about, I have itchy keyboard fingers but give me three or four posts in my Drafts and I procrastinate. So I must thank Missy Vintage for giving me an idea for something else to blog about while I wait for vintage news pick up again. Over on her blog MV has been looking at her "style icons" - ladies from the past who inspire and personify style and glamour - and the thought occurred to me, "why don't I do that for the chaps?". Already I've touched upon one such fellow, Bertie Wooster (and I shall return to him again in due course) but to begin with we'll start at the top, with Number 1, Mr Style himself - the great Fred Astaire.
In many ways embodying the elegance and refinement of the Thirties, Fred Astaire certainly kept right up-to-date with the latest fashions of the day and his influence can still be felt today not only in dance, film and music but also in men's style. Have not the top hat, white tie and tailcoat of formal evening wear become inextricably linked to this man, and rightly so? If you're ever lucky enough to attend an event that requires such a dress code, would you not feel even the slightest inclination to break into a little song-and-dance routine? I know I would!
But even Astaire himself professed to liking the casual look more and in this he also excelled. The word "casual" is bandied about a lot these days but in its modern interpretation generally looks awful. But with Fred Astaire it is the exact opposite. Tailored sports jackets and blazers, coloured shirts, ties and cravats, and classic slacks, the latter with that traditional Astaire touch - the tie as a belt. And no man since has been able to make the humble cardigan look quite so stylish(!).
The thing about the Fred Astaire "look" is that it's still relatively easy to obtain the clothes to get it, but it remains almost impossible to get close to his style - that's his personality, ease and fluidity of movement which I feel sure no-one will ever get close to matching again.
To get to within a thousandth of the sophistication and stylishness displayed by Fred Astaire is every right-thinking chap's dream. We may well achieve that, but nothing more. Pure, unadulterated Astaireness is unattainable. We can at least console ourselves with the knowledge that this incredibly elegant individual has been captured on film for us to enjoy and marvel at to our hearts' content.
The world is a better place for Fred Astaire having been in it and as long as his films exist we can forever be reminded of the epitome of male style.
His grace, panache and pure gentlemanliness are still an inspiration and I always have and always will look to him for sartorial ideas. Mr Astaire, we salute you!
I love fog, it makes everything appear so different and other-worldly. Buildings become indistinct shapes and dark figures appear out of the gloom as if by magic, only to be swallowed up again just as quickly. Streetlamps take on a spectral glow as they light up the fog beneath them and headlights are dulled almost to the point of invisibility as cars crawl along the road. It's probably more fun being snug and warm inside looking out on it than it is to be in it, although I admit I do enjoy a good autumnal walk, wrapped up nice and warm, even in a fog.
Rumour has it that some of us might even be in for some snow next week! I seem to be in the minority, but I love autumn/winter and this kind of weather so if it does snow, I shan't complain!
This will likely be my last blog post for while, as unfortunately (but necessarily) I must high myself to the hospital tomorrow afternoon to undergo an operation. As such you will probably not hear anything from me for at least 2 weeks, for which I apologise in advance.
In the meantime, however, to make up for my enforced absence I shall leave you with a veritable smorgasbord of "Eclectic Ephemera" that will hopefully keep you entertained at least part of the time until I return. And return I shall, have no fear, better than before! For now, though:
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As well as playing these cracking and creepy tunes I have also lined up a Boris Karloff-fest for Wednesday night with a programme featuring Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein and The Mummy (plus Ghostbusters, of course - if I can fit it in!). Have a spooktacular time, everyone!
