Beli Wedding Magazine: 2011

Friday, December 30, 2011

corsets

Looking for corsets, and bustiers as costumes for an 19th century horror film I'm making. Looks like a bridal or etiquette boudoir. I could use some of those Victorian style heels too.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Courtney Stodden Back On Facebook

Back when 16 year old Courtney Stodden married Lost actor Doug Hutchison (remember Horace Godspeed?), at a ceremony in Las Vegas, she began tweeting sexy photos of herself, -something most girls do.

They became popular however, and soon she amassed about 40,000 twitter followers.

She also aroused a lot of hate, and after repeated 'inappropriate' flags, her account was removed.

Today however, Facebook did an about face and restored service, along with issuing an apology, saying that the lockout was an error. The starlet, who's twitter posts swing from lusty to religious has also just released an album.

Not only have her pics caused a sensation, but also the content of her post, which swing from the religious to lusty. In a recent interview with Us magazine, she claimed, 'God has sanctified me with my soulmate", speaking of Hutchison, who is 34 years her senior.

Along with her voluptuous figure, it's for post like these she's in the media spotlight. You can catch more Stoddenisms on her new single, 'Don't Put It On Me'.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Child Bride

Though this would be billed as a drama, it has some genuinely taught action sequences and it's written with a hard slang to emulate a hardscrabble Ozarks dialect. This emotional gem was made independently of the studio system, and was therefore exempt from many of the restrictions of the Hayes code.

It didn't' receive much distribution, and the director, Harry Revier made changes to the edit depending on the state he happened to be screening.

Some of the images are rather bleak, and the theme is dark, but it is a must see for any film lover, and depicts a marriage tradition prevalent in early Americas, and which continued in the region until federal laws were passed setting the minimum age for marriage. It also paints a picture of rural poverty which is neither overly sentimental nor degrading.

The production design is authentic, and times felt like a moving Brassai, or Walker Evans. In fact, Walker Evans' famous images of a white sharecropper family had been taken just two years earlier in 1936, as a part of FDR's New Deal Program.

Walker Evans, Hale County Alambama, 1936

Shirley Mills was 12 when she appeared in this, her first role. Reactionary controversy surrounds a skinny-dipping scene. However, the scene is beautifully shot, and not at all suggestive.

Something In The Way She Moves!

On Sunday, former beetle married American heiress Nancy Shevell in a simple ceremony in London. Nancy wore a full-sleeved above the knee dress designed by McCartney's daughter. Paul wore a dark blue suit with a pale blue tile. The couple were wed in a civil ceremony at Old Marylebone Town Hall, then returned to their home for a reception with guests.

Paul married his first wife Linda Eastman at the same location in 1969. The two were married for blank years, until she died of breast cancer in 1998. Several years later, McCartney met Heather Mills. A union that resulted in a bitter divorce.

Nancy Shevell and Paul met in the Hamptons on long island shortly after his divorce from Mills. This is Shevell's second marriage. She is the vice president of a trucking company owned by her father, and serves on the board of the MTA.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Preston Bailey

Event designer Preston Bailey's flair for creating lush and exquisite designs is well known, but what is not are his humble beginnings as a floral designer. You can get a lot of ideas for your own table settings in new his recently released book Flowers.

Friday, September 30, 2011

These Three

Check out Miriam Hopkins and Merle Oberon in the 1936 drama 'These Three'. It starts off idyllic and happy, but twists downward pretty deep. Bonita Granville's Milly Tilford is one of the most astounding bullies I've ever seen in cinema. She was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actress. I think she would basically would kick blank from the orphan's butt. I know so. Smiling Joel McCrea is determined, easy going, but ambitious. He's got something deep. Merle Oberon is lovely. The last scene was real good. This controversial A beautiful black and white film directed by William Wyler with cinematography by Gregg Toland. Also a youtube great print.

Merle Oberon before an automobile accident which left her facially scarred. She went on to continue acting and had some of her best roles after. A light, developed by a cinematographer to hide her scars on film, called and "Obie", is still used today.

The story is based on the true story of two teachers in Scotland who, in 1810 were accused by their students of lesbianism in their presence. The movie itself is based on Lillian Hellman's play 'The Children's Hour'. At the time the mention of homosexuality was illegal in New York State at the time. So the movie diverts the drama to that of infidelity. Still some of the beautiful cinematography is suggestive.

Lillian Hellman liked the film, and felt it preserved the central theme of gossip well.

In 1961 the film was remade with the same director as 'The Children's Hour", with Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacClaine.

The play has been revived many times since it's original release. Most recently with Keira Knightley, Ellen Burstyn, and Elisabeth Moss in London's Comedy Theatre.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Claire Pettibone

Let's just say I'm a big fan of Claire Pettibone.

Ethereal, yet not without substance, and presence. Ethereal can be annoying to a fella, but Claire manages the sexy as well as the comfortable. She is as much a storyteller, as she is a designer. Born in New York, the self described "true romantic" has a penchant for the lovely lines without petticoats.

Elizabeth Messina

With clients like Cameron Diaz, Mad Men's Elizabeth Moss, and Rebecca Romijn, she first gained fame as a lingerie designer, and was in fact the first American lingerie designer selected and sponsored at Igedo Lingerie trade fair in Germany in 1997.

Rock and Roll Bride

"I think I was about four or five years old, when we went to a very elaborate wedding. My mom said we came home from that wedding and I was just completely blown away. From then on, I started drawing bridal gowns."

You can check out Claire at her trunk show Kleinfeld's this weekend. Don't forget to schedule an appointment.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Wedding Shoes with Style

For that vintage look, try a design like these 15th century English wedding heels. This particular pair was brought across Atlantic on the mayflower. The wide sole at the ball of the foot allowed it to fit almost any size foot. You can probably find something like this in Etsy. Or google Victorian shoes.

Kim Kardashian's Zanottis

These are two of the three pairs Guiseppi Zanotti custom made for Kardashian for her wedding to Kris Humphries, the closed toe was for the ceremony, while the reception toe was for the peep toes, "with the amazing beads on them" she says on her website.

Silver Ice Jewel Peep Toes.

But take a look at these. Made of leather and silk, these sexy Zanotti wedding peep toes feature four inch heels with a baguette and aurora borealis broach at the toe. Peep toes are perfect for a prim look with an irresistibly sexy appeal. $733