tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785207417164829425.post1972643799793261119..comments2024-03-19T02:34:30.151-04:00Comments on The Blue Remembered Hills™: Fakin' itBluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07652670896513329236noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785207417164829425.post-4709091720955031252010-12-04T16:31:06.928-05:002010-12-04T16:31:06.928-05:00le style et la matiere, thank you. "That take...le style et la matiere, thank you. "That takes fakin’ it to makin’ it and that's often called success." How right you are, and beautifully put!Bluehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07652670896513329236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785207417164829425.post-54995512558589913342010-12-04T16:28:00.030-05:002010-12-04T16:28:00.030-05:00Flo, thank you. Seeing Vanderbilt's face on th...Flo, thank you. Seeing Vanderbilt's face on the magazine cover held no temptations for me. I have little interest in yet another celebrity hagiography.Bluehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07652670896513329236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785207417164829425.post-66286346619837225602010-12-04T16:23:52.590-05:002010-12-04T16:23:52.590-05:00dilettante, thank you. You are to be congratulated...dilettante, thank you. You are to be congratulated for taking such a stance. I've never understood quite why the Windsors are still so popular. Either one does not know the history of those two or one refuses to acknowledge it - seems to me there isn't a middle way.Bluehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07652670896513329236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785207417164829425.post-20084368631750782052010-12-04T16:15:06.213-05:002010-12-04T16:15:06.213-05:00Reggie, thank you very much. At the risk of soundi...Reggie, thank you very much. At the risk of sounding like a mutual admiration society I could make the same comments about your blog though I'd be less eloquent. Thank you, again.Bluehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07652670896513329236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785207417164829425.post-35703448192430529672010-12-04T16:11:13.306-05:002010-12-04T16:11:13.306-05:00Kehnan,
Certainly not insolent – your thoughts ar...Kehnan,<br /><br />Certainly not insolent – your thoughts are themselves thought-provoking. Constructive dialogue is the point!<br /><br />I agree, there are two strands to my thinking, but in my mind they are intertwined. I do believe shelter magazine styling has, over the years, changed from presenting rooms “as is” – almost as museum sets – to showing them as “lived in” – like habitats in a zoo. I’m primarily thinking of the magazines – everything from the lost and not (by me at least) lamented Lonny to AD. The world of catalogs is a different thing, although the same trend may have happened there to. I don’t look at many catalogs these days – just not my thing and besides we really don’t NEED anything more in our place. But it seems to me that, in catalogs, the “lived in” is the point. The idea is to make the reader picture themselves inside the photo. But that didn’t used to be the case with magazines.<br /><br />Also, I’m not really objecting to this trend; I am more bemused by it, and pondering its significance.<br /><br />The second strand of thought is, in my mind, connected, because it too relates to context. The stylists with their implied storylines are attempting, to my mind unnecessarily, to create context around the rooms, but there are also cases where context – genuine, rather than manufactured – is essential to understanding a room, a home, a situation, a person or a story. It’s the contrast between the added artificial context and the removed real context that intrigued me.Bluehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07652670896513329236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785207417164829425.post-39537922302955824432010-12-04T16:10:22.559-05:002010-12-04T16:10:22.559-05:00Terry, thank you. You're right - this is pop.Terry, thank you. You're right - this is pop.Bluehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07652670896513329236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785207417164829425.post-30098732526535616152010-12-02T16:17:54.611-05:002010-12-02T16:17:54.611-05:00Excellent post, Blue, as only you know to do. You...Excellent post, Blue, as only you know to do. Your magazines as ‘the decorating world’s equivalent of reality television’ made me grin. All the world's a stage though and our suspension of disbelief works pretty efficiently. I’m often bemused by the identification that seems to go on with celebrities taken, as you say, out of context. It seems the idea might be "if I know the role and I’m dressed/decorated for the part, I’m more likely to get my chance one day."? That takes fakin’ it to makin’ it and that's often called success.gésbihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18094108253356167918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785207417164829425.post-70220918868323823652010-12-02T10:56:06.587-05:002010-12-02T10:56:06.587-05:00You are always such a joy to read, but this time m...You are always such a joy to read, but this time more than usual because it's as though you've been inside my head, having my same thoughts. You, too, have had it. Might you be referring to the Sept. HB cover story, interiors formulaically done up [against an absurd Hollywood backdrop] by our local darlings, the Howards. <br /><br />I've gotten so cranky about Hollywood and UK royalty idol worship in publications that I've just furiously cancelled a couple of subscriptions. And here comes a revival worshipfest for Gloria Vanderbilt, c'mon. I pulled the T&C out of my mailbox, looked at her face and thought [sorry] you shameless trollop, why are we worshiping you? <br /><br />So thank you for your work, and thank you for being one of the few places where out-of-the-ordinary, sometimes lesser known, spirit-driven artists and accomplished individuals make the front page.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785207417164829425.post-57686934696860602502010-12-02T07:07:43.615-05:002010-12-02T07:07:43.615-05:00Couldn't agree more.
When I first started blo...Couldn't agree more.<br /><br />When I first started blogging, I had planned to travel more often in the land of the stylish, but found that oddly, I cared about other things more. My one ground rule, however, was that mention of a certain skinny woman from Baltimore and her over-plaided nazi husband and their over gilded interiors would never be mentioned. So far I've succeeded.The Down East Dilettantehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13950254669198151850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785207417164829425.post-13625789146418001212010-12-02T03:34:50.832-05:002010-12-02T03:34:50.832-05:00Pure brilliance, Blue. The writing alone is notew...Pure brilliance, Blue. The writing alone is noteworthy, the subject is highly thought-provoking, and the conclusion--well, irrefutable. Excellent work, my man. Reggie applauds you, and thanks you.Reggie Darlinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04044215790585354363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785207417164829425.post-64090708128284578712010-12-02T01:35:04.866-05:002010-12-02T01:35:04.866-05:00Please forgive me if this comes off in any way ins...Please forgive me if this comes off in any way insolent, as I'm genuinely intrigued by this piece.<br /><br />I'm wondering if this isn't conflating multiple issues? The first being a specific mode of image production that emphasizes traces of existence through situational and aesthetic evidence. You seem to place this method as coming into vogue "over the last two decades" and I'm curious to know what styling processes you would compare against prior to the early 90s.<br /><br />I'm also wondering if it's simply these forced efforts to imply inhabitants you object to, or the use of specific cultural signifiers? Is it the trail of discarded clothing, or the fact that you can read the brand name tags? Which venues are in question here? Elle Decor? The CB2 catalog?<br /><br />When you refer to the "fictionalization" of interiors, where are you drawing the line between theater and a "true" representation? <br /><br />The second issue seems to be the divorce of style and its arbiters from historical context. This post reads to me as if you're arguing simultaneously for a method of interior photography free of "story", but also somehow placed in contextually alongside the history of those who would commission and occupy the space. Am I reading this incorrectly?KEEHNANhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11747129650548156605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785207417164829425.post-25121843197956435922010-12-02T00:13:22.214-05:002010-12-02T00:13:22.214-05:00Camille Paglia said that albums allowed musicians/...Camille Paglia said that albums allowed musicians/promoters to sell personality/glamour. Rings true to me. Think album covers. This is where we are, this is pop.<br /><br />BTW: "toothpaste bespattered mirror" yeah.Terryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14154846109609330503noreply@blogger.com