{think pink}

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.
I come from a family that is overdosed with estrogen. My mother was the 5th daughter of five girls, & I'm the 5th daughter of five girls. With all the great things that a strong family of women entails, comes the not-so-great things like breast cancer. Many family members have had cancer, not all breast cancer, but cancer all the same. Some incurable-I've lost a couple of aunts to the disease--and some who have overcome it-I have aunts & a sister who are survivors.

Around the globe people are doing a variety of things for breast cancer awareness.
You'll have noticed an increase in pink. My artist friends here at Alfred have put their creative powers to use and have decorated breast cancer awareness bags, displayed & on sale at the Cohen Centre. Some women are trekking all the way to Machu Pichu; others are cycling from London to Paris. 
So, I thought I'd make my nod to breast cancer awareness by blogging on pink.
Whenever I think pink, I think of the classic 1957 movie Funny Face, starring Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire.

We are introduced to the latest season's trend of pink early on in the movie through Maggie Prescott, the head of a leading fashion magazine, Quality. She serenades the viewer with her Think Pink song.

{Maggie Prescott during her 'think pink' song. Images from Glass of Fashion}



{this outfit starts off great: looks like a pink stole}




{turns into a ruffle, fur overskirt. just gives it that quel que chose!}



Think pink! think pink! when you shop for summer clothes.
Think pink! think pink! if you want that quel-que chose.
Red is dead, blue is through,
Green's obscene, brown's taboo.
And there is not the slightest excuse for plum or puce
or chartreuse.
Think pink! forget that Dior says black and rust.
Think pink! who cares if the new look has no bust.
Now, I wouldn't presume to tell a woman
what a woman oughtta think,
But tell her if she's gotta think: think pink!

pink for bags! pink for shoes!
Razzle, dazzle and spread the news!
And pink's for the lady with joie de vive!
Pinks for all the family.
Try pink shampoo.
Pink toothpaste too.

Play in pink, all day in pink,
Pretty gay in pink.
Drive in pink, come alive in pink,
Have a dive in pink.
Go out dancing but just remember one thing:
You can get a little wink
If you got a little pink
In your swing.


Think pink! think pink, it's the latest word, you know.
Think pink! think pink and you're Michelangelo.

Feels so gay, feels so bright.
Makes you day, makes you night.
Pink is now the colour to which
you gotta switch!


Think pink! think pink on the long, long road ahead.

On the road, think pink!
...think pink and the world is rosey-red
Everything on the great horizon,
Everything that you can think

and that includes the kitchen sink,
Think pink!

Think pink, think pink
Think pink, think pink
Think pink, think pink!

So how does Audrey fit into it all? Well, she's Jo Stockton, an unsuspecting intellectual, who works in a bookstore in Greenwich Village, NYC, and is drawn to philosophical inquiries. Quality  magazine decides they are going to feature the season's newest idea--the smart woman--and the photographer, Charles Avery (Fred Astaire) is in search of an intellectual backdrop to make up for the stupidity of the model. So Quality descends, unsuspectingly, on Jo's bookstore.



{Avery, of course, sees potential in the bookish Audrey}



{as a philosopher, modelling strictly goes against all Jo's beliefs, but Quality arranges for her to drop off a 'delivery' of books and they try to transform her}

{Audrey flees from the scissors, and escapes into the darkroom, only to find Fred Astaire there (who she has already found herself falling in love with)}



{He realises that Audrey's face really does have potential and he convinces her to agree to the modelling, since he guarantees a trip to Paris (side note: love the desk!)}



 Audrey is willing to put her scruples of modelling aside, if it means she gets to go to Paris. She has always dreamed of going to Paris because she longs to attend the famous lectures on empathicalism by the well-known Dr. Emile Flostre.

The rest of the movie follows Jo-as-model through Paris, while Jo-the-philosopher tries to fit in time with Dr. Flostre & the empathicalists.

The result is fantastic shots in fantastic Paris in fantastic givenchy!

& her stunning wedding dress:

inspirations from Polyvore:

think pink kitchen inspirations:



{how about this lovely old fridge?}



{or this modern version from HiSpek for £1059.99}

{Sid Dickens' tiles recently featured on design*sponge (Silk Road collection)}



{wouldn't these look great in a 'think pink' inspired bathroom or even funky kitchen? also Sid Dickens }

Some potential options:



{these are taken from Honey&Fizz with no credits on the designers, unfortunately}



{from annie schlechter photography}




{how about some fabulous pink doors?}

  


{or this pink Cadillac?!}



Tucked away in the back streets around Saint German you can find some great little restaurants and caffes similar to the ones Audrey visits in Funny Face. Sit down & have some moules frites, enjoy the people-watching, and sip a glass of wine.

{Passage St. Andre from le best of paris}



{I took this photo a few years ago when I went to Paris to join my middle sister who was on a business trip in Africa (but she had a stopover & some meetings in Paris). I was living in Italy, conducting doctoral research at the time, so made a weekend trip out of it}



& to end...here are some more pink ideas inspired by funny face. enjoy!

{a library inspired by the philosopher Jo's bookstore in the movie & most importantly in pink! from nami*&Chitaki}



{think bohemian pink. photo & the 5 photos below from la maison boheme}



{think pink at christmas}

{think pink for sipping tea. from wedding bee}

{think pink while entertaining}

{think pink in the loo & in the bubble bath}

& one last thing. think pink when decorating girly cupcakes for one's niece. You can read all about this fantastic Alice in Wonderland party on baker hill homes' blog.

{getting help from the birthday girl on decorating}

{album covers, jazz, music, & mics}

I’ve always loved album covers…especially jazz covers. My love for jazz started early. I’d pick through my parent’s records & play them on our old record player. The album covers always fascinated me…I loved Sergio Mendez’s Fool on the Hill album, and admired the cover, until my sister Rachel told me that they were sitting on a woman’s body and you could actually see a “mummy mokey” (my younger self’s terminology for a breast). I was rather shocked & was embarrassed to play it…and was super nervous when I had friends over in the event that they should see it!

I loved jazz before I knew what it was. I’d sing with my Dad on the piano, often accompanying him on the treble or with my voice…My Dad is a brilliant piano player who composes songs in his free time, but he never learned to read music. Everything he plays is played by ear. A gift I unfortunately didn’t inherit. Every time I’m home (& when my parents are living not on a boat but in a house & have a piano at their disposal) I still accompany him.

Jenno—a dear friend of ours from the boat –brought over Harry Connick one summer when I wasn’t even a teenager yet & my love affair with him began soon after. I’d blare his music & believe he was singing it to me. His album We Are in Love reminds me most of the third & fourth leg of the third offshore voyage, as I listened to him playing in my walkman, sailing through the Caribbean and then up the eastern seaboard.

{How handsome is he? This is an album I've listened to a million times & I could listen to a million times more}

My love for Chet Baker soon followed. My sister Julia made me a mixed tape to listen to on my fourth offshore voyage (she stayed at home in love with her now husband). I listened to Chet non-stop. To begin with I thought he just sounded like a flat Harry, but his crooning wooed me along with the soft rock of the boat, and My Funny Valentine & Lets Get Lost were soon favourites.

{how apt is this album cover? I fell in love with Chet while sailing}

In High School I began spending my money on jazz albums. My first was Ella Fitzgerald’s Greatest Hits. Some of her songs made me laugh (Miss Otis Regrets, That’s why the Lady is a Tramp); some others hit closer to home. I got my Mum to buy a jazz piano book & I started learning how to play Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered, a particularly apt song for a teenager dealing with general angst caused by some crush or other.

Soon I began amassing a jazz library & learned all of the favourites on the piano, The girl from Ipanema, A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, Autumn Leaves, Long Ago & Far Away, Under My Skin, Our Love is Here to Stay…the list goes on.

When I moved to France right after High School I was re-introduced to Edith Piaf (she had been an important part of my French Immersion education). The little sparrow’s voice touched me, evoking a past France—a romantic France—that I longed for.  Edith’s voice and her lyrics are unique & deeply touching…”non…rien de rien, non je ne regrette rien…” and also touched my own love: “le piano, il etait beau…”

{the movie la vie en rose is an excellent re-telling of Piaf's life}

Dave Brubeck  & Oscar Peterson were staples in the Clark household, and truly, Canadian legends. I was fortunate to be able to see Dave Brubeck in concert with my parent’s for their anniversary a few summers ago. He shuffled onto the stage, fragile in his age, yet when he got up there, he performed as if he had the energy of a teenager…yet with the grace & experience of a man who had been doing it his whole life.

{this is the album cover I remember}

I particularly love the ‘look’ of album covers. I believe I ought to start collecting them & framing them.

{How funky are these?}



{some great inspirations from the girl from ipanema}





{love these B&Ws and also this pink cover}



{clasically cool Brubeck}





{love this funky chair}

  

{last but not least: one of my faves: the very talented Nina}




{I want a dress like this!}

...and on that note, taking inspiration from these albums & these singers:



{perfect dress for serenading. 1950s Vintage Taffeta Will Steinman Ball Gown, sold on Vintageous} 



{some Oscar de la Renta ruffles}

{A take on (& a tad more glamorous) version of Edith Piaf's LBD:}

Inspiration from Polyvore:

{Classic white triangle, a-la-girl-from-ipanema: Victoria Secret}

{classic horned-rim glasses, appearing on various handsome jazz singers on their album covers and lately appearing on the runway}

{My Dad sporting his horned rims in the 1960s (accompanied by my Mum, I believe on her graduation from Nursing and below, on their wedding day)}





{orange chairs inspired by the chet baker cover above: Retro ball chair (above, $1250 at vintagelooks); Andromeda Swivel Chair, below)}



{a dramatic, but simple dress, with a similar 'look' to Nina's dress above. From inspiredbythis}