Farrah Fawcett...In The News Again?

Farrah Fawcett is in the news today in spite of the fact that she passed away close to two years ago.  Her ex long time lover Ryan O'Neal has come forward to claim that he believes the stress from their tumultuous relationship brought on her illness and ultimately cost her her life.  I personally think that idea's a bit out there, but reading the article gave me my inspiration for todays post.

Farrah Fawcett was an American born actress and stated to have also been an artist although I had never heard of her stating any fame from it.  The only art I knew she was involved with, centered around the photo shoot she agreed to do for Playboy when she hit her fifties in the 90's.  Having turned down anything that had to do with being nude in movies and the media throughout her career, this came as a complete shock to her fans!  That spread was the best selling issue ever, topping out at over 4 million sold.

    
In her early career, Farrah started out in commercials & she was a spokes model for Breck shampoo, Noxema, Ultra Brite toothpaste & the 1975 Mercury Cougar.  She then went on to further her acting career landing a role on the popular hit show of the late seventies, 'Charlie's Angels' opposite Jaclyn Smith & Kate Jackson.  It wasn't until 1976 when she posed for the infamous red swim suit poster, that she became an overnight sex symbol.  That poster sold over 12 million copies world wide & the only overtly sexual aspect of the photo was that her headlights were on ah ha! 

She was also considered to be in the top 100 most influential fashion icons of the seventies with her skimpy clothes, big smile and mass of blond curls.  It was even suggested that she deserves some major kudos for inspiring the glamazon Victoria's Secret "Angel" look since her legendary hairstyle has been mega duped on the catwalk.

Unfortunately, I can't help but remember how in the end of her career, she became a bit wacky and eccentric with her flighty antics during talk show interviews & other televised media events.  I think this was due majorly in part to the fact that Farrah was having an issue with the idea of growing old.  It was evident in the bad nip/tucks, that she was chasing time and wasn't interested in the concept of aging gracefully...

All of that changed in the end as Farrah let go of worrying about esthetics or how the world saw her physical self when she let us all see her battle with cancer in a very raw and intimate account of her day to day struggle with the disease that ultimately ended her life.  She redeemed herself in the public eye and left behind her a legacy of strength, dignity and grace that will never be forgotten.


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MOD Monday!

We've decided here at Retro Threadz that every Monday we're going to be doing a flashback of popular vintage fashions or fashion models from the era of the 60's because seriously...we 'love love love' the fab & funky mod styles of that era so with that being said, when it comes to mod, "what goes around comes back around" as this colorful, versatile style isn't going anywhere soon!

Mod fashions and the models who wore them were brash and daring and definitely ahead of the times!  The styles of the 60's were owned by England but it wasn't too long before Americans hopped on board!    


The term 'Mod' is derived from the word 'Modernist' and is defined as...
mod ¹  (md)

n.

An unconventionally modern style of fashionable dress originating in England in the late 1950's & early 1960s.

adj.

1. In or characteristic of this unconventionally modern style.

         2. Fashionably up-to-date, especially in style, design, or dress.

In and around the 60's, two youth subcultures became ground breaking for mod fashion; the bongo beating bohemian beatniks with their berets and turtlenecks...

And the Teddy Boys with their spiffy dandy narcissistic style that made a man having interest is fashion socially acceptable...

From the mid 60's and on, the term mod was used to describe anything that was thought to be 'popular' & the 60's will always be known as defining Mod as the 'cult of the super cool'.  Today's fashion trends still continue to incorporate that concept into designs.

There is a bevy of 60's styles, fashions, fads, icons and trends to cover and we look forward to bringing them all to light for you... So make sure you stop by next week for our MOD Monday 60's retro rewind!  

Browse our 60's style digs!

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Retro Threadz Re-Cap On The Best & Worst Dressed at the 2011 Grammys

Did anyone happen to catch the 2011 Grammys this past Sunday? There were fashion faux pas galore! In my opinion, the two worst dressed of the evening were pop super star Rhianna and Florence Welch of ’Florence & The Machine.

First off it’s hard to believe that the see through mess Rhianna was wearing was actually a piece from the upcoming Jean Paul Gautier Spring 2011 collection and Florence’s drab yet busy all at the same time frock was actually a self inspired animal print designed by Givenchy.





This is a music awards event right?  So what's up with the Oscar'ish type evening gowns you know?   J-Lo totally captured the vibe for the night as far as I'm concerned in the mirror embellished mini dress that was designed by Emilio Pucci's Peter Dundas.




Kudos for the best dressed of the dudes goes to Adam Lambert who was tres’ chic and sleek in all black of course! Although I have no idea who he was wearing, I do know that he was adorned with gorgeous beaded necklaces by ‘Hellmuth’. A big… ‘Oh no you didn’t’ goes out to Ricky Martin who donned the tightest pair of silver, what appeared to be spandex space pants that I have ever seen! “Did I hear that right Ricky? Armani designed those….seriously?” Mr. Martin obviously knew ahead of time he was going to be presenting Lady Gaga’s performance so those trousers were a premeditated fashion disaster foiled attempt to upstage her I‘m sure!…





Speaking of ‘The Lady known as Gaga’…Have you listened really closely to the beat of her new tune ‘Born This Way’? It totally has undertones of Madonna’s popular late 80’s tune ‘Express Yourself’ in spite of the fact that Lady Gaga insists that Whitney Houston is her muse. Quite confusing I know! O.k., aside from that, was I the only one thinking Gaga was Madge redux circa 1980’s last night with her attire? Minus the pointy shoulders and Ray Charles glasses she was a complete doppelganger…




Gaga might very well be the performance artist extraordinaire but the truth remains…Madonna will always over shadow her as a cultural icon.


source : fashionspot gossiprocks justjared.buzznet theexaminer.com