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Agyness Deyn in all her raven splendor, was seen on the streets of Manhattan in feathered lower lids, creating a permanent look of coyness.  Squint your eyes and she is averting her gaze, a gesture that is universally recognized as a signal of  sweet submission.  Are the days of aggessive feminine warpaint coming to a close?  Lily Allen wore innocent reverse raccoon eyes this summer, projecting wide eyed dolly-like innocence.   Below, 1970 era models fake a similar gesture with fashion glasses  by French designer, Courreges.  See more eye makeup affectation here.

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Photographer Susan Wood captured some lovely moments of public figures who weren’t quite at the peak of their fame… yet.  A younger Martha Stewart kindling her domestic empire, Yoko Ono and John Lennon at home, Anderson Cooper as an aristocratic child. Some of my favorite Susan Wood photos in the Getty collection show David Letterman at home, in Westchester New York.  These are intimate and playful photos that belie the unruffled character we see late nights on television.

Somehow, after news of his office affairs was aired, every vaguely flirtatious gesture is loaded with sexuality that went unappreciated before. Letterman has always had a buttoned-up sex appeal and  Drew Barrymore played on his bashful rigidness in 1995 when she flashed him on set. The scandal has potentially made Letterman more human, sexier and blessed with higher ratings.  It has also potentially alienated a portion of viewers who will find his behavior inappropriate?  Which camp are you in?

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Mary Travers, the golden girl of the early 1960′ s folk movement died yesterday after a long battle with leukemia. Albert Grossman recruited Travers along with Noel “Paul” Stookey and Peter Yarrow to form a folk band from the disperate pool of talent floating around the Greenwich Village folk scene in 1961.  Together they popularized Dylans’ “Blowin In The Wind”(he shared Grossman as a manager), John Denvers “Leaving On A Jet plane” and laid a path for other mixed gender folk bands such as The Mama’s and The Papas. Travers had a singing career both before and after Peter, Paul, and Mary but she is best known for her role as the soulful blond harmonizing alongside Peter and Paul.  She had started a family before fame came knocking on her door in the early ’60s.  Her two children and third husband survive her.  Take a look at this stunner songstress’ life in pictures here.

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TORONTO, ON – SEPTEMBER 15:  Director, actress Drew Barrymore attends the “Whip It” press conference during the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival held at Sutton Place Hotel on September 15, 2009 in Toronto, Canada.   Barrymore is no stranger to the allure of the 1980s and here she rehashes the decades high and low points all at once.  Bleachy jean jacket, teal stockings, belted long dress… The most striking element of Drews’ look are her inky paintbrush tips, calling to mind Debbie Harry and Terri Nunn’s 80’s era black on blonde looks.  This is a very safe way to show rebellion as it can be lopped off  at a moments notice.  It can be pulled back to look conservative but it more or less resembles a blonde bob.  Pretty clever!  What do you think of Drews new-wave underside?

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While it was on the horizon for a while, Patrick Swayze’s early death on September 14th was no less impactful.  A man who was synonymous with vigor and spark, was reduced to a slight figure in his last few months, suffering from invasive cancer, but he took the disease in stride.

Swayze had a unique set of skills and interests.  He embodied a complicated mix of vulnerability, grace, and bravado.  A former football player who wrote songs,  danced ballet and flew planes  he proved that as an actor, he could carry two substantial leading roles, in Ghost and Dirty Dancing. To someone of my generation, who was entering adolescence in the late 1980s, he was “the man” in Dirty Dancing; a disciplined rebel with a soft spot.   Looking over photos of his life, it is without a doubt, his enduring relationship with his wife of over 30 years, that is most touching.  Our wishes go out to his surviving spouse, Lisa Niemi today.

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The fashion forward Sienna Miller and Chloe Sevigny have both been spotted wearing sunglasses with a bridge similar to the classic Ray-Ban Wayfarer with a more rounded eye shape. Both Grace Kelly and Andy Warhol wore the same rounded key hole style. Do you think it is the shape of shades to come? To see more images click here.

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Classic is the thing now, with the current state of the economy, right?  People are “shopping in their closets” and investing in fashion staples like plain white shirts, trench coats and little black dresses.  Have you seen all of the rugged Filson bags on shoulders and Barbour jackets on backs?  Not exactly exciting fashion, but it’s tried and true.  Inoffensive enough in appearance to last a while and hearty enough to take a beating.

The same attitude towards spending can be applied to interior design.  Recently, the king of “classic”, Thonet, paired up with Japanese lifestyle designers, Muji for a collection of furniture.  The pieces aren’t inexpensive, but with the mindset that you are making an investment in classic design and quality materials, the price tag might be right.

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Michael Thonet is the originator of the ubiquitous “vienna cafe chair”.  You are familiar with the chair whether or not you know it’s origins.  Made of bentwood (usually beech), it’s sinewy curves and graceful proportions yearn to be sat in and yes, photographed.  You are reading the Getty Images blog, which makes me think you are interested in photography.  Right now, Thonet is hosting a photo contest through the end of 2009 featuring their no. 14 chair.  Go here for details.

The chair has many imitators but they are all based, more or less on Thonet’s No. 14 chair from 1855.  It has been called the most influential furniture design in history.  It takes very little wood to create, is very light and therefore inexpensive to ship.  You see them on stages, in restaurants, bars, in set design, and homes of all kinds.  Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec depicts the chairs in his paintings of Parisian cafe life, Picasso used one in his studio and  they are in the MoMa permanent collection. Can you imagine Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly upstaged by a piece of furniture?  They are above (top right) Even Ikea manufactured their own plasti-wood version called OGLA.

See how Thonet’s designs invade our subconscious here.

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