VIBRANT OCEANIC COLOR: Pantone's selection for 2019

~ oOo ~

What do the colors below all have in common?

Yes, they are color guru Pantone's declaration of the dominant hues for textiles,
accessories, dishware, bedspreads -- you name it -- for the past decade!

And this winter, they have brought us ...

ta da ... 

Living Coral ...

                  • VIVIFYING!

                                                    • EFFERVESCENT!!

                                                                                             • CONVIVIAL!!! 

... a cheerful salmon-peachy-creamsicle-y color.

It's an "animating and life-affirming coral hue" with a golden undertone 

"that energizes and enlivens with a softer edge", and sometimes lures goldfish.

Check out some Living Coral fashion items below

This Marc Jacobs model (spring 2019 collection)

is about to be devoured by a cocooning coral reef.

Fashion vignette

A digression: thoughts on Pantone and the royals ...

Diana could pull these colors off ...

While the current crop of young royals likes to dress in harmony
with each other ...

For a pictorial study of how Pantone came to choose
Living Coral as 2019's favorite color, see this link.
(NY Times, 12/5/18)

(Looks like a Roz Chast drawing to me!)

~ oOo ~

 

“The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love color the most.” 
                                                                          John Ruskin

CELEBRATIONS: Contemporary Chanukah menorahs

There is an endless variety of contemporary menorahs available these days, 

in shops and online. With Chanukah 2018 coming soon, I decided to revisit  

Mad for Mod's 2015 posting about this design phenomenon.

°     °     °     °     °     °     °     °     °     °     °

 Skyline menorah, designed by Jonathan Adler

    This now-classic piece of Judaica is included 

  in several prestigious design museum collections.

One of the things I like best about being Jewish is the fact that decorative arts are so interwoven into our traditions, both at home and in public spaces. This is an outgrowth of the ethic known in Hebrew as Hiddur Mitzvah, which translates roughly as "the beautification of a commandment." Judaica in silver and gold, wood, glass and earthenware abounds in the form of candlesticks, wine goblets, tzedakah (charity) boxes, mezzuzot (door post prayer boxes), seder plates, spice boxes, and -- of course -- menorahs, which are traditionally placed in windows, to illuminate and affirm miracles for all.

You don't have to be Jewish to love these designs!

                  Flexus menorah (above)

          This menorah can be configured any way you like,

            and the candle holders can be used individually

                                 throughout the year.
                  Available through the MOMA Design Store

City Lights glass menorah (above)

Carmageddon (below)

 both by Shardz

Stanley Saitowitz architectural menorah

 Clear glass geometric menorah

  Column Menorah from Crate & Barrel

              Beaded traditional menorah by Jillery

This menorah matches my Sabbath candlesticks and wine goblet.

                                  

 Musician menorah

Shoshi Art Glass of Israel

                                                                                           Water blossom menorah

According to Jewish lore, the ancient temple menorah was made of golden almond-blossom-shaped cups. This modern take on that design inspiration sets a ring of almond blossoms in a shallow pool of water. The pool reflects the candlelight, and also provides a safe way for the candles to sizzle out as they burn down. 

        Lotus menorah by Michael Aram

       Available from ModernTribe.com

 

and a 

"Save the Elephants"menorah

by Jonathan Adler

The possibilities are infinite ...

Posting originally published 12/20/15

MAD FOR MOD reaches 100,000 page views!

100,000!

When I started writing this blog, I mainly did it as a way

to remind myself of upcoming events and special exhibitions in

the design world. It has slowly grown from being my personal calendar to

a resource for design lovers all over the world.

As of yesterday, I had 100,000 page views!

I've written about pink flamingos, 

the role of costume design in establishing character,

New Yorker cartoons, mid-mod gingerbread houses (see above),

skyscrapers, Chihuly glass, the color pink, and much, much more.

Do you have a favorite posting or two? Please comment 

in the grey box under the word "labels", at the bottom of each posting.

Commenters will be entered in a drawing to win a

beautiful newly-published photography book about American jazz,

photos by Arthur Elgart.

~ oOo ~

POSTWAR STYLE: Costume as a character in "A Place to Call Home"

• first posted 2/27/18; reposted 7/18/18

If you're missing the costume dramas that kept us entertained during 

the last decade or so -- I'm thinking of Mad Men or Miss Fisher's
          Murder Mysteries or Downton Abbey -- you might find your 
             heart's desire in A Place to Call Home,

       "Australia's little series that could."  (Sydney Morning Herald)

This series makes a meal out of period fashion and design from the 1950s, 
treating it as a quintessential character in the show. Sweet shirtwaist dresses,
twirly A-line skirts, padded shoulders, "twin sets" (a matching shell sweater 
and long-sleeved cardigan ensemble, often worn with pearls) 
and single-breasted coats abound as the choices for women.
 
For men, dapper hats (think Don Draper's classic fedora) worn with comfortably fitting full-cut, slightly drape-y suits are what's in. The prevailing design  
ethos of the era was being able to take virtually any man’s body type 
and make it look good through proper tailoring.

Below: Actor Brett Climo is perfectly appointed and
appropriately slouchy here as George Bligh, a wealthy landowner 
from Inverness with a heart of gold.

°     °     °      °     °     °
     

Above: vindictive, conniving villianess Regina Bligh (Jenny Baird),

 dressed to kill, in rich mauve and jet black. She

reminds me of the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz. 

 Regina was toned way down

 by three years of repentance in a psychiatric hospital. 

If you're an aficionado of the show,

you'll have noticed the dramatic change in her costumes

from bright, spotlight-grabbing primary colors to 

neutral, wishy washy ones.

Costume director Lisa Meagher

 says that she puts Regina (Jenni Baird) in florals 

when the character is "trying to be nice".

°     °     °     °     °     °     °     °     °     °

Sara Nordman, just off the boat, arriving in Australia

I've always put the show's heroine Sara (played by Marta Dusseldorp) 

above fashion, due to her history as a Holocaust survivor and her wise  

down-to-earthness. Below are a couple of her looks.

Is Sarah's lovely sweater/jumper an argyle pattern or not?

See comments section (below) to read a lively debate about this subject!

°     °     °     °     °     °     °     °     °

Below: Abby Earl as Anna Poletti,

trying (unsuccessfully) to be happy as farmer Gino's wife. 

But no ...

 

She's much happier being Anna Bligh,

bestselling author and elegant glamour girl.

°     °     °     °     °     °

 

Anna's formerly secret parents, bohemian Carolyn and 

Dr. Jack Duncan (Sara Wiseman and Craig Hall)  -- a married couple

in real life -- strike a stylish Bonnie and Clyde pose.

°     °     °     °     °     °

Family matriarch Elizabeth Bligh (played by Australian film icon Noni 

Hazlehurst) starts off in the series as a judgemental, intimidating character, 

but life experience forces her to see her homophobia and anti-Semitism for

the ugly traits they are. As her attitudes soften, so

does her wardrobe. 

°     °     °     °     °     °     °     °

Where's season 6, Lizzie?

~ oOo ~

Seasons 1-5 can be watched on Acorn.tv

Season 6 is currently beginning production. 
Update: Season 6 has completed production, and
will be aired in fall 2018.