Lovely Liza

Hello blogging buddies! I noticed that it's been more than week since my last post, but that's not because I've been feeling under the weather. I've actually been on the mend over the last few days. In fact, I had enough energy to go shopping for summer clothes (I basically shop in spurts -- twice a year to reflect the changing weather in Taipei with a few separates, shoes and accessories in between). But my photographer has been working overtime because his co-editor is on vacation and I don't own a tripod. So, no outfit posts! Heh.

Anyway, I wanted to share this enchanting video of a young Liza Minnelli singing and dancing on her mother's show. I've loved Liza Minnelli since I first saw her in "Cabaret" when I was about 12 or 13. I think she has an amazing combination of vulnerability, giddiness and strength and I admire her candor (and her sister, Lorna Luft's) about the tendency to alcoholism and substance abuse that runs in their family. And I am a huge fan of "Arrested Development." Loose seals forever!

Video: The Taiwan Song (台灣小調), 1959

When I first stumbled upon this YouTube video of Grace Chang (葛蘭), a Hong Kong actress of the 1950s and 1960s, I nearly started crying tears of joy. A song about how beautiful Taiwan is, gorgeous 1950s fashions (including lots of menswear), all in fabulous color... what's not to love?

As I wrote a few days ago, finding images of Asians and Asian Americans doing normal, everyday things (hopefully while wearing wonderful vintage fashions) is a new passion of mine. It is the logical result of being a lifelong vintage lover (well, lifelong since age eleven!) who now lives in Taiwan, and it is also a way of reconciling the conflicting feelings I have about collecting things from an era when so many people who looked me were repressed, abused or worse. A couple of my vintage photos were featured on Fashion for Writers and Threadbared. Jenny on FFW wrote a really great post on the emotional impact of being exotified and I cannot wait to read what Threadbared has to say about the politics of vintage.

(And please vote once every 24 hours for Shu Flies (舒飛), my blog about life in Taipei, Taiwan. To everyone who has already voted -- thank you so much! Your support really warms my heart. The weather is chilly here in Taipei, so it needs all the warming it can get!)

Vintage dresses live and in color!

8mm found film from roxanne on Vimeo.

I love this 8mm film from the early 1960s (I'm guessing) I found on Persephassa's Vimeo. It looks like a church gathering or some other springtime social event; everyone is dressed in lovely sun dresses and suits. It gives you a good sense of what ordinary women were wearing for dress-up days back then. I'm sure most of you have seen Persephassa's contributions to the wardrobe_remix pool, but if you haven't, be sure to take a look at her outfits. They are amazing.