Sharp Stylings #35: One For The Ladies

We can learn so much from yesterday’s fashion icons.  And living in a post-Mad Men world means we can even enjoy aspects of current male fashions! Every Friday, I’d like to start your weekend off right with a little style inspiration from either then or now. Hopefully, my fellow Mod enthusiasts will find the whole or some detail of the whole to appreciate and maybe even adopt.

Over the last couple of months now, I've been asked why I don't feature more posts on women's clothing. A couple of times, I've been asked to do a 'MOD FeMALE' type of thing... or get my wife to do one.

Puh-leeze. Listen, ladies. This blog here... it's for the fellas. It's for my bros and homeboys who just wanna crack open a beer, bust out some chips, and watch the game... while wearing nicely tailored clothing, well-shined shoes, and a pocket square.

But, I have heard your request and to show you how much I appreciate the female readers of this blog, today I dedicate a Sharp Stylings segment to you!

One of my favorite images of female style is off the back of an LP I bought years ago, 'Rubble, Volume 5: The Electric Crayon Set.' This is one of those images that, early on, made me appreciate designers and how inventive they could be with detailing.

Yup, it's those scalloped hems that blew my mind. It wasn't the scallops on the woman on the left that did it for me... it was the hems on the other woman's trousers and blouse. First off, her pants have perfectly-sized flares that look great with boots. Not too wide with a great shape that ends in those scalloped hems. And although I'm not a gigantic fan of bell sleeves, on a simple blouse, they're pretty slick. And again, what makes these noteworthy are those hems.

If you have a tailor you use, ladies, take this photo over to him/her, and see what you can do with this type of detailing. It's a pretty hip touch!

That's it for today... stay sharp this weekend!

1st Ever MOD MALE Contest Winner!

Well, well well... BIG THANKS to everyone who took part in the drawing for this little gift set:

And an overall HUGE thanks to all of you who have been reading the blog over the last few months! It's been fun writing about one of my most favorite subjects ever. Okay, who am I kidding? This is my most favorite subject ever! Now, you probably think that makes me pretty shallow and all, but, well... duh.

So, last night, I took the names of everyone who (1) became a follower and left a comment on the original blog post and (2) 'liked' the Mod Male facebook page and left a comment there regarding their favorite accessories.

Then, I put those names on little slips of equally-sized paper, folded them over, and taped them shut. I threw all the slips into a Tupperware bowl, shook it, shaked it, moved it all around, and then had my wife pull a slip of paper from the bowl.

And the winner is...

Wait. Before we get to the winner of the drawing, let's make this post slightly more interesting for those who didn't win or enter. How about some cool images of 1960s Mod female looks found around the interblogs? Yeah? Well let's go!

Barbara Eden in op-art and go-go boots from a blog with even more great photos, The Knack... And How To Get It.

Diana Rigg trying to get comfortable while remaining sand-free at a beach, from '60s and '70s fashion blog, Get Some Vintage-A-Peel.

Françoise Hardy using 'Mod' sunscreen, from the photo-filled blog, The Impossible Cool.

In-flight entertaintment from the pop culture (the good stuff!) blog, Voices of East Anglia.

Awesome brown op-art dress, from The Carnabetian Army blog, via Lemonade Loves... 

Nice 1966 Vogue spread. And for more '60s-'70s Vogue spreads, visit the Youthquaker blog.

Gals rockin' the all-white look from the Sweet Jane blog.

Okay, whew! Now, the winner of 1st MOD MALE giveaway:

MONIKA CANCILLA!!

Monika, you've just won 2 vintage Ernst ties (one with a slight snag, sorry!), a new pocket square, and a brand-new one-size-fits-all Bugatchi Uomo socks! I will be contacting you shortly to get your mailing address and these should be in the mail this week.

Thank you, once again, to everyone who has been supporting this blog and HAPPY HOLIDAYS! (Apologies to Gretchen Carlson and Fox News.)

One For the Ladies

There are 2 main reasons why I concentrate on the male side of Mod style on this site: 1) There are already several great blogs out there covering women's '60s/mod/vintage/current fashion, and 2) I'm a male.

But today, I will make an exception due to a personal pet peeve of mine: proper go-go boots. If you'd like a simple history of go-go boots, you can't go wrong with Wikipedia. Today, however, I'd like to keep it simple.

THESE are proper go-go boots:

The calf-high go-go boot. Rrrr....

Courregès's famous Space Age versions. Click here for more of his clothes designs.

My personal favorite, the Mondrian go-go boot!

Action go-go boots! And for a great story on a young girl's experiences with go-go boots in the 1960s, drop by here.

Note a common theme on all of the above: the more subtle, low heels, the slender, pointed toes. Trust me, you show up to a club in these types of boots and you'll have earned those jealous stares!

These, on the other hand, are drill team/cheerleader boots:


Oh, I bet those black circles had you thinkin' these were 'Mod' for a moment, huh?



Chunky heal and round-toed. Yup, cheerleader boots!

For the men whose eyes have moved beyond the boots, you can see more here.

Find yourself needing boots for a drill team routine, then you can find more here.

...oh yeah, we were talking about boots, huh...

Go-go Drill team boots after an Austin Powers make-over.

What do your eyeballs tell you? Yup, chunky heels and round toes... good for doin' cheers in, but not for turnin' Mod dudes' heads around (unless you're wearing the accompanying Laker Girl outfit). So ladies, next time you're hittin' the clubs and want to blow people's minds with your kicks (shoes, for the over-25 set), go the proper go-go boot route!

Oh, and to bring this back to the MALE Mod side of things, if these are considered the guy's version... I'll take 'em. (Oh wait, turns out I already have a pair of these!)