The war of the Add-ons

Queen magazine, of which I only have a few brittle issues, had been around since the mid 1800s. And Harper's Bazaar was of course the first American fashion magazine, but its UK flavor was first published in 1929 (no less). In late 1970, Queen and British Bazaar joined forces to form Harper's and Queen, a fashion and socialite magazine that has been of varying quality over the decades.

In September 2007, the British Bazaar hybrid took the name Harper's Bazaar and is, for convenience sake, referred to as British Bazaar or UK Bazaar in the fashion community. Under the guidance of EIC Lucy Yeomans, the magazine has steadily produced high quality magazines and the March 2010 issue is a respectable 370 oversized pages.

Now, in fact, the standing of British Bazaar has become in just a few short years, on par with that of British Vogue itself. It's almost as if we're back to the stand off of the mid 60s.

The drama? UK Vogue claims that UK Bazaar is helping their ever increasing sales by the help of cheap add-ons.


Grace Coddington, then model, now editrix of American Vogue, shot for the cover in 1962.



Earlier from 1962,


1964 shot by Dormer.


1963 by David Hurn.

That all important Shrimpton head tilt

The 60s, pervaded by hippie models like Pattie Boyd, amazons like Verushka, waifs like Twiggy, oddities like Penelope Tree, exotics like Peggy Moffit. A true smorgosbord of diverse moods - but the first one, to bring a dramatically different mood was, of course, Jean Shrimpton, who came around in a time of absolutely perfect creatures (Dovima and Suzy Parker come to mind) with her deep blue eyes, sort of stubby nose and rather approachable look.


Jean in 1962, perhaps photographed one of the first times by David Bailey, with a distinct deer in the headlights aspect.


Jaded, cool and endowed with an incomparable head tilt, Jean is photographed by her now ex-partner Bailey surrounded by their previous, intense, sincere work. 1968.

The tales of the Last Rock Star - Or the only thing keeping Astrology alive

It is well known among those sane among us that there is one good argument for astrology: Axl Rose. Born in Indiana this day in 1962, he came to be the last rock star, from what it looks like right now and excluding those who would rather have been poets (Kurt Cobain). The day he was born is the most extreme day as far as conjunctions of planets go....virtually all heavenly bodies coincided into one beautiful position in Aquarius right at the moment he was born. Obviously a sign of things to come in more ways than one....

For the idea of the person as art - Axl Rose, William Bailey - is one of the prime examples. As most of these demigods, there is not just a perfect body moving aesthetically pleasing in space, evoking sounds that could make ovaries override the menstrual cycles of all women - it's also about the inside - for this man clearly has a complex brain in his possession, judging by the actions, thoughts and feelings that have emanated from him in the now 25 years he has been famous. And of course, one of the reasons he is so famous, is for his blatant, unforgivingly, politically incorrect statements.

I used to love her, but I had to kill her
I used to love her, but I had to kill her
I knew I'd miss her
So I had to keep her
She's buried right in my back yard


@The Late show ca 1988 with the "misogynistic" song "Used to love her (But had to kill her)". I choose to ignore those Marquis de Sade rumors, believe Axl's assertion that this is really just about a sick turtle and enjoy the show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTwNkyKKgAI&feature=related


A small collection of some the best pictures taken of him form around 1987-1990.