Edward Gorey! Now I love him all the more.
Gimme some milk.
Jayne ,'Jaynestown'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Burrell - May 19, 2012 8:09:56 pm PDT #18836 of 28333
Why did Darth Vader cross the road? To get to the Dark Side!
DavidS - May 19, 2012 8:18:36 pm PDT #18837 of 28333
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Edward Gorey! Now I love him all the more.
Heh. He used to go to the New York City Ballet (he saw every performance for over 20 years) wearing a raccoon coat, sneakers without socks, earrings and rings on all his fingers. In the early sixties.
He was (of course) also a huge Buffy fan.
Typo Boy - May 19, 2012 8:22:25 pm PDT #18838 of 28333
Calli: My people have a saying. A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.Avon: Life expectancy among your people must be extremely short.
Early 60s were, as far as I know, the only time raccoon coats were a major men's fashion item.
DavidS - May 19, 2012 8:26:18 pm PDT #18839 of 28333
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Early 60s were, as far as I know, the only time raccoon coats were a major men's fashion item.
Shows how much you know! They're stereotypically associated with the 20s and the flapper era.
Typo Boy - May 19, 2012 8:27:19 pm PDT #18840 of 28333
Calli: My people have a saying. A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.Avon: Life expectancy among your people must be extremely short.
Learn something new every day.
DavidS - May 19, 2012 8:31:14 pm PDT #18841 of 28333
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
It's only a wiki away.
But it's standard for not only 20s pop culture to show college men in raccoon coats, but it was such a strong association that it perpetuated as the male flapper equivalent for decades to come in cartoons and whatnot. (Along with straw boaters and ukeleles.)
So, for Gorey to be wearing it in the 40s and 50s and 60s was an extreme affectation.
DavidS - May 19, 2012 8:33:42 pm PDT #18842 of 28333
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
That's as close to the stereotype of the young 1920s male as you can get.
Typo Boy - May 19, 2012 8:37:31 pm PDT #18843 of 28333
Calli: My people have a saying. A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.Avon: Life expectancy among your people must be extremely short.
Not an affectation in the 60s, at least not a lone affectation. It was a 57 fad be cause of Crockett series, and briefly a an affectation of the transition between beats and hippies. You could see tons of raccoon coats in 62. Was the first fashion excess I ever noticed at age two and three. As late as 67 Mad Magazine was still making fun of raccoon coats.
smonster - May 19, 2012 8:39:17 pm PDT #18844 of 28333
We won’t stop until everyone is gay.
So, for Gorey to be wearing it in the 40s and 50s and 60s was an extreme affectation.
Well, he seemed to be somewhat generally enamored of the aesthetics of the 20s, no?
DavidS - May 19, 2012 8:42:48 pm PDT #18845 of 28333
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Well, he seemed to be somewhat generally enamored of the aesthetics of the 20s, no?
Indeed, but Gorey was pretty much a flaming queen in the pre-Stonewall era. A very brave and rather radical assertion of style for the time. Men were not wearing earrings in that era, or rings on all their fingers or attending the ballet five times a week. And he mixed it up with his sneakers and his more Edwardian beard.
There was a certain allowance for it - especially in a place like Manhattan. But it was a pretty bold stance to take for somebody who was still working primarily as a cover designer for publishers.