playboy: before hef lost his groove

julie newmar in cat like ears backstage

vintage playboy cover from 1968. these were the glory years. this is when every cover showcased the bunny, but somehow hidden in the image, this one is quite obvious but it started a great premise for the magazine as an idea.

playboy club bunnies circa 1960’s

original playboys: dean martin and frank sinatra

the original Playboy Club in 1960’s Chicago is the centerpiece of the playboy club TV show and above trailer. set in 60’s and much like the upcoming pan-am show it’s a coat-tailer to mad men’s success. we’ll see how well it does.

playboy is one of the iconic magazines of the century, and it’s a shame what has become of it these days. magazines like paradis and others tried to emulate the early days of playboy but never as popular or successful as the mag once was. in its early glory days, playboy was much more than just a nudie mag. the clubs were cool, and a place the top liners wanted to be at. it had some of the greatest writers contributing to the magazine and discussing serious progressive issues. it was political, cultural, and it actually had girls you’d want to be with. that changed in the 70’s, and it progressively became worse, where finally it ended up being a truck drivers wet dream. french playboy in the late 90’s-2000 managed to implement a shift and made the french edition a better mag. french playboy used good photographers and models, but somehow in this world of ours; good things don’t sell. it closed down a few years ago leaving us with the horrendous US version. the playboy club TV show that is set to launch this month promises to revamp that era’s image but unfortunately, as displayed at the recent launch of the playboy club in london, the brand’s decay is deeper than imagined. it’s a brand with massive potential and a shame nothing is being done. we need a young hefner in charge. we propose dd for the task ; ) by xy

Agent Provocateur — Always Remember Your Agent Provocateurs


johan renck has done some very witty and interesting “shorts” for brands like h&m. for the first second, i didn’t think this one was quite up to par, but was going to include here because there seems to be a lingerie theme on TS of late.  on the other hand, this vid for agent provocateur is actually perfect for them… energetic, funny, and just the right amount of crass and ass. featuring paz de la huerta of course. by kl

Britpop to the rescue: blur’s boys and girls

lately no matter where i go, and mind you i don’t go to too many places, i hear the same tracks from the attics of 90’s britpop. this song was in my head from last night’s shindig, and i have to admit i dug it up just for giggles. but let me tell you, guilt does set in, so now, the real point of this… when i was young, old folks would go to lame places and listened to their lame childhood tunes to feel “young and nostalgic”.  herds of amateur violinists would work day and night to replay those very tunes in every freakin’ elevator. well, we barfed at that nostalgia. where i was growing up there was no turning back. now what is it with our complacent lazy bum generation that has made regurgitating herbivores the trend to fend? do we not have anything new to give? well i suppose not, cause when we try, we come up with some self-help crap like: born this way… maybe it’s best we stick to blur for now and just carry on with the aging process… by dd

Dutch model Dioni Tabbers by karen collins


mini vixens beware. dioni tabbers (supreme model management) shot in london on location at cromwell muse with stylist sasa thomann. love the 60’s feel and the vintage mini and its baby blue color (somewhat rare)… not that we don’t like dioni tabbers, but i’m just impressed at the chest room in the back of the this tiny of all cars. reminds me a bit of the french brand paul & joe campaign by the same photog. photographed by karen collins. by dd

LANVIN AGAIN

dd, kl already posted this video a week ago! thought your point is making sense, agree with the h&m bits. my favorite part of the video is this one above. by pp.

lanvin dance video: fall winter 2011


hmmmm…lanvin dance contest… i’m sure it will work and do very well given the audience, even though they may not be the actual clientele of lanvin.  i saw this, over the weekend when a friend was bragging how great it was. i’m not 100% convinced, but i do like the fact that it breaks with stogy world of fashion and brings some lightness and fun into fashion. now while albaz is a cooky, fun fellow, the brand isn’t.  H&M pulled it off well on the lanvin, lagerfeld, and viktor & rolf spots, i think this video which is a complete reference to burning rocks (fassbinders script) which we had posted ages ago.  it’s not executed as well as it could have been, and places the lanvin house line quite close to the H&M lanvin line, and that is not very brilliant. by dd