Shoe Shaped Church | Taiwan.
January 17, 2016 § 2 Comments
I couldn’t resist posting. Making the rounds on social media this morning is a Giant, Shiny, Shoe – Shaped Church in Taiwan that was designed to attract female worshipers and tourists.
“In our planning, we want to make it a blissful, romantic avenue,” Pan Tsuei-ping, the administration’s recreation section manager, told the BBC.
But the inspiration behind the design — and, no, it’s not gender-normative commercialism — is anything but blissful. The BBC reports:
“The shoe was inspired by a local story. According to officials in the 1960s, a 24-year-old girl surnamed Wang from the impoverished region suffered from Blackfoot disease. Both of her legs had to be amputated, leading to the cancellation of her wedding. She remained unmarried and spent the rest of her life at a church.
“The high heel is intended to honour her memory.”
Just in case a giant high heel with a tragic back story isn’t enough to lure women to the new church, another local government official said the interior of the church, too, will cater to women’s apparently delicate inclinations. Quoted from — Taiwan Now Has A Giant, Shiny, Shoe-Shaped Church – NPR
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Alphabet | The Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge.
January 17, 2016 § 1 Comment
Bunny Boots, Apocalypse Now, 1979.
January 2, 2016 § Leave a comment
Costume sketches for Bunny #2, Apocalypse Now (1979), c 1976 at The Museum of the Moving Image, New York.
Apocalypse Now Trivia IMDB
The visit by the Playboy Playmates was based on an actual visit by 1965 Playmate of the Year Jo Collins. She was so popular with the troops that she was made an honorary GI. The Playmate of the Year character in the movie was played by Cynthia Wood, who was herself Playmate of the Year in 1974.
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Artist Ralph Barton | Woman In Dressing Room, January, 1915.
December 31, 2015 § 2 Comments
This morning wanting to get on the bandwagon with my Facebook friends who have been vivaciously posting New Years Greetings, I began to peruse the internet in search of my own when I stumbled upon the illustration here by artist Ralph Barton. The internet has a way of making you forget what you originally set out to do and before long I found myself swept away by his story and beautiful artwork. I hope you will take a moment and do the same.
~Wishing everyone a Happy New Year.
Courtesy Library of Congress.
A CASE OF MELANCHOLIA ~ The New Yorker
Ralph Barton and Charlie Chaplin.
On May 19, 1931, in his East Midtown Manhattan penthouse apartment, Barton shot himself through the right temple. He was 39 years old. His suicide note said he had irrevocably “lost the only woman I ever loved” (the actress Carlotta Monterey had divorced Barton in 1926 and married Eugene O’Neill in 1929), and that he feared his worsening manic-depression was approaching insanity. Almost immediately, his reputation dropped from sight; several years after his death, a caricature of George Gershwin sold for a mere $5. Ralph Barton’s ashes were returned to his native Kansas City and interred in Mount Moriah Cemetery. -Wikipedia
Carlotta Monterey.
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Salvatore Ferragamo Windows, Christmas 2015.
December 26, 2015 § 1 Comment
In 1955 my grandfather, Ben Benjamin, then the general manager for I. Miller shoes embarked on a European trip to help improve the production value of the I. Miller shoes being manufactured in Europe. In the letter below, written while they were in Italy, Salvatore Ferragmo’s sister, Rosina Ferragamo, is mentioned as worth seeing.
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Katie Elizabeth and John Calvin Smith.
November 14, 2015 § Leave a comment
Holidays on Facebook give us all a chance to share family photos and honor those that came before. This one posted on Veteran’s Day of college friend Malcolm B. Smith’s grandparents, Katie Elizabeth and John Calvin Smith caught my eye.
Daddy was a good looking man and a great catch. He had a great laugh and beautiful sense of humor. Below, Daddy before a grenade robbed him of his eyesight and happiness. He married once more, fathered another daughter. My sister Diane and I both gave him grandchildren, but he only lived to know my son. However from his bloodline, he now has grands and great grands. RIP daddy. Jerlean Noble
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My Favorite Shoe Bloggers Are At It Again, Check Out The Latest From TheHistorialist.
November 12, 2015 § Leave a comment
Fabulous Photo of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, circa 1966.
November 8, 2015 § 9 Comments
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton reposted from Hollywood Babylon.
I might run from her for a thousand years and she is still my baby child. Our love is so furious that we burn each other out. Richard Burton speaking about his relationship with Elizabeth Taylor.
Women's Footwear in America 