OUT OF THIS WORLD

Spy Vibe has covered the space-age fashion of the 1960s extensively in its first three years. It's a topic dear to my heart, and evidentially to our readers, as well. Our post, Mods to Moongirls, has been visited over 35,000 times. Designers like Cardin, Rabanne, and Courreges are local heroes. As Victoria & Albert curator, Jane Pavitt, has discussed in her writing, much of the inspiration for the moon-look came from the styles developed by NASA, and spoke of modernism and the growing cultural anxieties over radiation. The fashion designers were early adopters of cutting-edge materials from the science sector, and masses of slender baby boomers cut the modern look in their new synthetics. Looking back at some of the images by Richard Avedon, we can also find examples of true NASA style being adopted by the mavens of high fashion and pop culture. Here are just a few examples from Avedon that include Jean Shrimpton and Paul McCartney. 

The reflective surface of the Gemini suits had both an athletic and fetish quality that reminds me of this quote by artist, Andy Warhol: “It was a perfect time to think silver. Silver was the future. It was spacey. Astronauts wore silver suits. And their equipment was silver, too. And silver was also the past. The Silver Screen. Hollywood actresses photographed in silver sets. And maybe more than anything else, silver was narcissism. Mirrors were backed with silver.” –Andy Warhol

Over ten years after the Gemini silver suit, designers kept its retro chic look alive for James Bond's mission in space in Moonraker. James Coburn as Derek Flint images below from Hello Spaceman here (check it out for some fun Doctor Who images with the Cybermen!).

OUR MAN EN ROUTE

I made a whirlwind trip through NYC on Saturday to gather materials for an exciting Spy Vibe project (still hush hush). One obligatory stop was the Strand, maybe the best used book shop I've seen. Spy Vibers may remember my coverage of the excellent Fear and Fashion book by the Victoria and Albert Museum found during my last outing. Saturday's search uncovered another gem from V&A about fashion from the Swinging Sixties and the Diana Rigg (Avengers) biography. Train time was spent drooling over numerous Eurospy movie posters on eBay and listening to the Ian Fleming audio story I come back to most often, From a View to a Kill. Never has an assassination on motorcycles been so beautifully written!