JOSEPHINE BAKER CHEZ MAGNIFIQUE (c)

by Polly Guerin














Dear Josephine: Your legendary performance in Paris conquering racial prejudice, your Rainbow tribe of adopted children , and your amazing espionage work during WWII all add up to words: Stupendous, Amazing Diva, Formidable!!! The world may remember your beautiful dancing body, costumed for the Danse des Bananes (Banana Dance), but by the 1930s recognized as a sensation, chanteuse extraordinaire and a movie star, you were Europe's highest-paid entertainer. Your elegant fashion style was the height of chic and imitators of your celebrity followed.
CHEZ JOSPEHINE
My vicarious thrill of visiting the restaurant, Chez Josephine, named after the club Chez Josephine, which you opened in Paris in 1926, brought back remembrances of an extraordinary individual, a woman of steel but with a sensuous body that one reviewer said, "She is in constant motion, her body writhing like a snake." The Chez Josephine restaurant that honors your name and your memory, owned and run by your adopted sons Jean-Claude and Jarry (Jari) in Theatre Row, 42nd Street, New York, is as beguiling and enticing as the memory of "La Baker," the first Black superstar given the nicknames the "Bronze Venus" or the "Black Pearl."
Le Revue Negre
Rising from humble birth, Josephine's early years were desolate to say the least. Living as a street child in the black slums of St. Louis, her street corner dancing attracted attention and she was recruited for the St. Louis Chorus vaudeville show. From there Josephine made her name as a vaudeville cutup and dancer during the Harlem Renaissance, performing in "Tan Town Topics" revue in 1925 in the Plantation Club, above the Winter Garden Theater (Broadway and 50th Street). Later Josephine landed in the chorus of the popular Broadway revues Shuffle Along (1922) and The Chocolate Dandies (1924). Perhaps it was as the last dancer in the chorus line that Baker honed her skills as a comedian for in this position the dancer was expected to perform in a comic manner, as if she was unable to remember the dance, until the encore, when she recovered and performed with additional complexity. But it was her performances in Paris at the age of 19, when she appeared in La Revue Negre as an exotic "savage," topless and barefoot, dressed only in a skirt of feathers (the bananas came later) that transformed her into a Paris sensation. Baker's success coincided with the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes (Paris, 1925), which later gave us the term "Art Deco." The event included exhibitions of ethnicity including African art and Baker represented the Black Goddess--a sensual, creative force and fashionable icon of the era.
Chiquita Her Pet Cheetah
In later shows in Paris, 1930, she was often accompanied on stage by her famous pet cheetah, Chiquita, who was adorned with a diamond collar. "One night the cheetah escaped from Josephine's compound of animals and made his way to a house in an adjoining village and tried to climb into bed with an elderly lady. When the officials demanded that Chiquita be put in a zoo, Josephine lowered her head mourned its absence saying, "He died." As far as Josephine was concerned, her jungle cat behind bars at the Jardin D'Acclimatation might as well have been dead." (Wm Wiser, The Great Good Place/W.W.Norton & Co.)
PEPITO, HER MANAGER
Under the management of Giuseppe Abatino, or Pepito, a self-appointed royal who sometimes assumed the title Count of Albertini, Josephine's reputation changed dramatically and her stage and singing voice went from being a 'petite danseuse sauvage' with a decent voice to 'la grande diva magnifique.' Pepito had a quick study of manners and mores, and passed on these refinements to Josephine, transforming her into a woman of fashionable chic. Josephine could be seen crossing the Pont Royal with Chiquita, her jewel-collared pet to coordinate with her matching outfit.
Honors & The Rainbow Tribe
Josephine most successful song, "J'ai Deux Amours" (Two Loves Have I), 1931 reflected her affection for France and when World War II broke out, she volunteered to spy for her adopted country. She devoted herself towards raising funds for De Gaulle's Free French forces and operated as a spy during her travels. However, none of the honors received---the Legion of d'Honneur, the Medaille de la Resistance and the Croix de Guerre for her military service---nor the celebrity attached to the name 'Josephine Baker' could pevent the foreclosure and loss of her chateau, Les Milandes, in 1969. Long before Modanna and Angelina, Josephine Baker was the ultimate celebrity adopter. The chateau, a home for her adopted family, housed twelve orphaned children, of various hues and personalities, collected in the countries throughout the world where she had performed, an international family of outcast infants she called the Rainbow Tribe. In the spirit of the United Nations and "the Family of Man," Baker wanted to show that people from anywhere could live together in what she called, the "Village du Monde." (World Village) She was the first entertainer to create a virtual theme park with a simulated African village, J-shaped swimming pool and even a nightclub with herself as the main attraction. However, Josephine's extravagances and mounting debts forced the chateau's closure and the court evicted her and the children in 1969.
Homage to Baker
It is comforting to know that Baker's extraordinary story, objet d'art, posters, costumes and film clips are preserved in the Chateau des Milandes Museum in southwestern France. One can tour the chateau and even see one of the children's bedrooms as well as Baker's unprecedented taste for personal luxury. Long Live "La Baker"style. http://www.milandes.com/.

FLEUR COWLES 'FLEUR ON FLAIR' MAGAZINE

Thursday, October 22, 2009

FLEUR COWLES INTERVIEWED By Polly Guerin, Fashion Historian

Dear Fleur: When I first met you at the Lowell hotel in New York City in 2003 you were ever more the embodiment of a remarkable woman, the vibrant author, painter, ambassador, hostess, philanthropist, raconteur and most famously the creator and editor of FlAIR Magazine. The magazine's legendary keyhole covers with distinctive peekaboo cut outs, fold outs and pop-ups intrigued and mesmerized readers who coveted each issue for its artistic pleasures.The reproductions of artworks and a variety of paper stocks created an a magazine of amazing novelty. Famed artists including Rene Gruau, who enlivened such magazines as Marie-Claire and Femina in the 30s,, contributed to its pages. At the time I interviewed Fleur she said, "The magazine has never been repeated copied or equaled, and its name and fame are still alive today. I gave my 12 FLAIR issues to the archives of the Fashion Institute of Technology, so that students may reference these remarkable journals, but I miss Flair and I miss you.
FLEUR COWLES (pronounced 'coals') took great pride in her short-lived magazine, FLAIR. It was published in the 1950s during her marriage to Gardner Cowles Jr., known as Mike, the publisher of Look Magazine. Fleur said, "I wanted each issue of Flair to be different, to be a sense of surprise. No issued followed a formula. I insisted that each issue be unexpected in its coverage and diverse topics. I intended FLAIR to be a new dimension in magazine publishing and the most beautiful publication anywhere to provide a priceless source of artistic innovation."Turning the pages of FLAIR with its die-cuts that revealed one sensational novelty after another was a graphic surprise that enhanced the reading experience. Fleur reminisces about how she created the Paris edition's double page spread with its window views of the Place Vendome. "Amusing as it may have seemed to a passerby, I simply sat in a doorway of a building, in the Place Vendome with my drawing pad and sketched out the various places of interest and these became the vignettes in the double page spread. In the magazine one couldlift the little windows and view inside the Ritz Hotel's tea garden, the boutiques of Elizabeth Arden, Coty, Elsa Schiaparelli and Lucien Lelong."Fleur Cowles, who rose from modest beginnings in New York became a social icon and friend of the powerful and famous of her era, was born, according to census records, on January 20, 1908 and died at the age of 101 in 2009. She was the daughter of Morris and Lena Friedman and her name at birth was Florence. It is alleged that around the time that she married Mike Cowles that she changed her name to Fleur.Her career began, she said, at age 15, when she became an advertising copywriter for Gimbels department store. After several marriages and a divorce from Cowles, who she divorced in 1955, Fleur married Tom Montague Meyer. Fleur gave up editing after marrying Mr. Meyer, but continued to write books and chronicled her life in her book, "She Made Friends and Kept Them" (Harper Collins). She also illustrated a number of her books, including "People As Animals," "the Flower Game" and "The Life and Times of the Rose.""I have an idea a minute," Ms. Cowles once said, "I'm a born idea myself." Fleur recommends taking life with 'no regrets' saying, "Avoid the big 'What If?' That's a terrible regret. Life is a continuous circle, it's not just about money, but about pride, advice, giving happiness, and creating one's dream."Thank You Fleur for with you as my muse I am following my dream to it's fullest potential. In 1994 the harry Ransom Humanities Center at the University of Texas, Austin, opened the Fleur Cowles Room, a replica of her study in London.
Posted by Polly Guerin at 7:43 AM 0 comments
Labels: FLAIR Magazine Caused a Sensation

THE LEGEND OF THE MINAUDIERE

Everybody knows that accessories make an outfit, and it seems you can never have too many evening bags, especially a Minaudiere. The French word describes an elegant but small, highly jeweled hard metal case that one can nestle in their hand. These charming little handfuls are more an art form than anything else and placed on the dinner table or worn at a gala event these minaudieres look like portable art. "Bubbles," the late Beverly Sills, had hundreds of them and mostly as gifts or bought from Judith Leiber the famed handbag designer, pictured here, who produced animal, avant-garde and whimsical shapes all jeweled and emblazoned with eye popping colorful rhinestones. Among Bubbles' collection, recently auctioned at Doyle, were a Doctor's Bag Minaudiere, A Shell Minaudiere, an Elephant Deity Minaudiere, and a wide assortment of Faberge Egg Minaudieres. Minaudiere in its original sense was a charming way to describe a coquette, a person with affected manners.
Contemporary minaudieres are just that coquettish but their incarnation is ascribed by Deborah Chase, (a new RWA/NYC member) in her book, TERMS OF ADORNMENT: The Ultimate Guide to Accessories (HarperCollins), as having been created by Van Cleef and Arpels in 1930, when Charles Arpels noticed that one of his clients was using a metal Lucky Strike box as a purse. He adapted the look and named it after the wife of his partner, Estelle Van Cleef, who was "minaudiere" (charming). At first minaudieres were made of gold plated or silver metal and encrusted with genuine gems, but the look was too delicious to remain exclusive. Within a decade you could find the dainty purse on female arms throughout America. Deborah recommends that, "You look for vintage mother-of-pearl, petit point, or beaded minaudieres in flea markets and antique stores and to modernize the minaudiere change the short wrist strap for a long chain so that you can hang the small bag from your shoulder."
Mad about a certain book cover? Your own, of course! Have it immortalized on a square-shaped minaudiere. That's the concept behind a magical new line of limited edition minaudieres by Paris-based, Olympia Le-Tan, evoking first-edition covers of 21 classics. The collection is handmade in France, using canvas, embroidered flet applique and silk thread, with a brass strictire. Each minaudiere book retails for $l,500 and the boutique Colette is the exclusive Paris distributor for the collection. (213 Rue Saint-Honore, 7500l; +33-1-55-35-33-90.) Now that's a great new way to promote your romantic book. Not only is a book minaudiere a good marketing tool, it will certainly draw attention to your novel and You. Perhaps you can find a handbag manufacturer who can personalize a book minaudiere for your best selling novel.
Terry Mayer, jewelry designer, takes it one step further and creates book miniatures in silver or another alloy, and imprints the title of a book on the cover so you can wear the little jewelry book on a chain, front and center. Visit her at www.terrymayerbells@aol.com. ♥
BIO: Polly Guerin's first job in journalism was as Accessories Editor at the fashion bible, the trade newspaper Women's Wear Daily where she honed her skills on writing about accessories and later as professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology she lectured on Product Knowledge explained how accessories were made and manufactured. Polly is also a vice-president of Romance Writers of America/New York Chapter. Visit her at www.pollytalk.com with links to her Internet PollyTalk column and www.amazingartdecodivas.blogspot.com.

NANCY CUNARD: REBELLIOUS HEIRESS

NANCY CUNARD: BORN TO BRITISH UPPER CLASS, THE BEAUTIFUL HEIRESS OF THE CUNARD SHIPPING FORTUNE, NANCY CLARA CUNARD (1896-1965) WAS A WOMAN WHOSE REMARKABLE JOURNEY TOOK HER FROM A PAMPERED LIFESTYLE TO DEVOTING MUCH OF HER TIME TO FIGHTING RACISM AND FASCISM.

ONCE A FASHION ICON, MUSE OR LOVER TO SCORES OF DISTINGUISHED WRITERS AND ARTISTS SHE REJECTED A LIFE OF PRIVILEGE AND FORTUNE CHAMPIONING INSTEAD THE OPPRESSED.

IN HER EARLY INCARNATION SHE WAS A FASHION TREND SETTER, A POET AND WRITER OF ACCLAIMED MERIT. AN ATTRACTIVE SHIPPING HEIRESS, SHE SET STYLE AND HAD A FASHION SENSIBILITY THAT CAPTURED THE ATTENTION OF THE WORLD'S PRESS. PHOTOGRAPHED BY MAN RAY SHE WAS KNOWN FOR WEARING DOZENS OF AFRICAN BRACELETS ON BOTH ARMS AND THIS STYLE IN PART REFLECTED HER INTEREST IN AFRICA AND BLACK CULTURE. SHE WAS AN ASTONISHING BEAUTY BUT HER BRAIN AND COMPASSION RULED HER HEART.

Her name was linked with Aldous Huxley, Ezra Pound, James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, Langston Hughes, Man Ray and Constantine Brancusi to name a few. Perhaps the most profound relationship she shared was with Henry Crowder, an African-American jazz musician who was working in Paris and became her black lover. At this time she became an activist concerning racial politics and dedicated her life to civil rights but it cost her both her family and her fortune. Negro; An Anthology, edited by Nancy, came about because of her affair with Crowder and they both shared in its creation. The 850 page collection of articles, gathered by Cunard and Crowder was inspired by the excitement of the Harlem Renaissance, the negrophilia craze that swept Europe in the 1920s, and Cunard's desire to create a book that would help Blacks understand their African ancestry.

However, her mother, the aristocratic Lady Cunard, born Maud Alice Burke, an American Heiress in her own right, did not approve of such an Inter-racial relationship and Nancy became alienated from her family, and at one point she was cut off financially. Her pursuit of the Black cause created a great deal of negative publicity but she bulldozed her way ahead reflecting in her work her rage against her family and the London and American societies that rejected her. In that era of widespread prejudice it enraged the general public that a woman of such impeccable breeding could choose to 'get down' with Blacks. In May 1932, two years before the book was published, Cunard received anonymous threats and hate mail which included phrases like "you are a disgrace to the white race," and " either give up sleeping with your nigger lover or face the consequence." Any other woman with less fortitude of purpose would have fainted. Not Cunard, she put some of the hate mail in the book and rallied on as a champion of the Black race.

Such is the legend of Nancy Cunard but who would have ever guessed that the beautiful heiress of the Cunard shipping fortune would spurn a life of privilege and fortune to become a pivotal player in many historical events of her era. Fight for the oppressed was her mantra. In the mid-1930s her attention focused on the anti-fascist fight and the Spanish Civil War. Lois Gordon in her book, "Nancy Cunard: Rebellious Heiress, Inspired Life," recounts that as the only eye witness reporter for the Manchester Guardian she trudged to battlefronts in the midst of artillery fire. Her stories about the suffering of Spanish refugees became the basis for a fundraising appeal in the newspaper. Cunard herself helped deliver supplies and organize relief effort. Plagued by poor heal and the dreadful conditions she was forced to return to Paris, where she stood in the streets collection funds for refugees. She predicted accurately , that the "events in Spain were a prelude of another world war."

It is sad to know that in later years Nancy Cunard had on one to rally to her side and help her in her to fight to battle of mental illness. Her health deteriorated and she weighed only sixty pounds when she was found on the street in Paris and brought to the Hopital Cochin, where she died at 69. Her ashes rest in an urn number 0916 in the Cimetiere du Pere-Lachaise in Paris. Adieu, Nancy Cunard, an amazing Art Deco woman. Let's pay homage to the memory of this rebel crusader who spurned a life of celebrity to champion just causes.