Divasoria

I am obsessed with early 20th century life! I know, such an over-arching era but whenever I look at my grandparents’ photos or read their old journals and letters, I feel so connected and so fascinated with their lives during that time. Most of the artists, writers and designers I really admire are from that age – Coco Chanel, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Picasso, Gustav Klimt..I felt like the 1920s and the 1930s, in particular, changed the way we looked at modern life and culture.

Here is a picture of my grandmother and her sister. This was probably taken around 1920. How chic were they? Loved the head wraps and shoes.

Another photo from the era, here is my grandfather with fellow Filipino undergrads in Boston. My Lolo Goring finished his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Lolo Goring went to complete his graduate degree in Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. This has got to be my favorite photo of his EVER. This is totally Great Gatsby. SO CHIC!!!

Another photo from the 1920s, this is Lolo Goring’s cross-atlantic ship to Paris! He went on to complete his PhD at the Sorbonne. The crowd looked like it was so fun, must be a party every night. Lovely lovely lovely!

Here’s Lolo in the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris. Can you just imagine this time in the left banK? MUST BE AMAZING. He walked amongst the writers and artists of the so-called Lost Generation. I also loved their fashion!! If I were to pick an era(apart from my beloved 90s) for fashion and culture, it would be the 1920s.

The 1920s simply revolutionized womenswear forever. Women took off the corsets and petticoats for short and flirty dresses and trousers.

Symbolic as this was also the time women finally had the right to vote. Must have been an amazing time be alive in the midst of progress and prosperity.

Not in the 1920s but I must show you this photo of my grandmother who was the 1933 Miss Philippines(she’s the same little girl in the first photo – she’s the one with the bob on the right). LOOK AT THAT AWESOME CROWN. <3

And speaking of the 1920s, fashion, the lost generation and great gatsby, you must realize by now that I CANNOT WAIT FOR BAZ LUHRMAN'S THE GREAT GATSBY!!!!!!!!!

I kind of secretly loved the book when I first read it in high school because I loved the whole lifestyle and visuals the novel evoked. I had seen the old Robert Redford version when I was in college, that one I thought was ok and very preppy. But this new Baz Luhrman-Leo Di Caprio take has gotten me beyond excited!

AHH!!! Gives me tingles and as a late adapter to the Leonardo Di Caprio bandwagon, yes guys – I only like Leo now that he’s reaching middle age I hated Titanic back then but found Leo kind of amazing when he started making Martin Scorsese films. A friend also told me that Leo and I can be siblings because we sorta have that same wide face and a weird Eurasian look.(I know how gross am I to find a possible sibling hot! Lols)

Anyways, I’ve read so much about the art direction and costume design(i think, by Prada! make-up by Mac) and also about the music(Jay-Z produced OST with Florence and the Machine! the XX!!! ) for this latest re-telling and I could imagine how over-the-top Baz Luhrman can be – this is probably the movie event of the season. CANNOT WAIT.

The Great Gatsby is showing here in the Philippines starting May 17th.

i had spent the day rifling through papers, going to endless meetings and dealing with some technology issues but there was one thing that just stuck in my head above everything else – the passing of nora ephron.

ms. ephron, through her engaging and beautiful prose, made me understand the life and intricacies of modern womanhood. i read her books and old new yorker essays since high school and i’ve felt such a deep connection with her through her work.

i may not know nora personally but i had always imagined her to be exactly like that voice in her writing – sharp, self-deprecating, funny, intelligent, sassy, engaging and unequivocally modern. she wrote about a whole variety of subjects and often unpredictable but entirely entertaining and introspective. i had read heartburn while recovering from my very worst heart break, i had gone through countless of her essays and blog entries when i felt empty and vulnerable. and after every reading, her writing had managed to always make me feel better about myself.

her movies? when harry met sally? sleepless in seattle? you’ve got mail? all in my top 20 favorite movies. her films were the ultimate romantic comedies and had the right amount of humor and romance. and they probably defined what “falling in love” meant for a lot of girls, including myself.

most people would think that “when harry met sally” was the quintessential ephron movie that practically moved a generation of women to be adventurous and honest but i loved sleepless in seattle and secretly reveled in it. it was romantic and giddy and magical. who wouldn’t want to meet the man of your dreams while getting out of a cab, or by just listening to a radio show or…through the internet. at the end of the day, we all just want to fall in love just like in nora ephron movies.

whether it was in her movies or in her writing, ms. ephron’s candor and cadence have moved legions of women to accept things with humor and fearlessness and to enjoy life. all throughout the day, thousands of nora ephron quotes were shared over the internet and i couldn’t even pick one favorite. she has left us with a multitude of words to live by and images to aspire for.

i spent some of my free time re-reading the NYT obit and the comments were all so touching but nothing more as touching as this:

“Never thought you (Nora Ephron) could make me feel bad until today”

like many, i feel like i lost somebody special today. you were everybody’s friend, confidante and inspiration. godspeed, nora.

i watched the documentary “annie leibovitz :life through a lens” last night on a recommendation of a friend and i was completely riveted. the film starts with annie’s mother’s penchant for taking photos and her memories of the family’s time moving around in the clan’s station wagon. the story also mentions her time in the philippines as her dad was in the military during the late 60s.

the documentary also spent a good amount of time talking about her start in photography with the legendary magazine rolling stone.

annie lived the life only “kids” like me could dream of – meet influential people, go around the world with rock stars. but it also came with trying to keep up with a very self-destructive lifestyle.

but her most prolific era is her time with the conde nast magazines – vanity fair, vogue, w, etc. some of the most iconic images of our time are annie leibovitz photographs.

i was also very touched by her life spent with susan sontag – one of the brightest literary minds of the last century. there was something fascinating about two geniuses getting together.

but what ultimately breaks my heart about annie’s story, and it wasn’t quite discussed in the documentary, is her financial issues culminating with protracted legal battles a few years ago. business and art oftentimes do not mix.

Bill Cunningham New York Trailer from Gavin McWait on Vimeo.

this is THE fashion movie to end all fashion movies this year. bill cunningham’s new york is a documentary featuring the photographer and his work. as the man behind the new york times’ on the street, he pioneered street style photography even before the sartorialist was even walking! so influential is mr cunningham that anna wintour, yes, the devil herself, feels slighted and insecure when he declines to photograph her. YES.

and in this day and age of instant celebrity, self-importance and vanity, maybe we should take a look at this legend’s own down-to-earth lifestyle and real wisdom. maybe we can learn a thing or two about life.

a few years ago, i traveled to jakarta, indonesia to watch phoenix. and i was supposed to write a piece on the concert and about stalking sofia coppola. as you know, ms coppola is with thomas mars, the lead singer of phoenix. they have two kids now and live in paris.

i thought seeing phoenix in concert would be an amazing chance to stalk sofia. but fortunately for her, i didn’t get the chance. ehehehe!

sofia coppola is one of my biggest girl crushes. i think she is unconventionally beautiful and she is ridiculously stylish and has an impeccable taste and a keen eye.

here are a few of the pages she guest edited for french vogue a few years ago

other than being a muse and style icon, sofia coppola is also an award-winning writer and director for movies such as the virgin suicides, lost in translation, marie antoinette and most recently – somewhere. she is truly her father’s daughter.

but the thing that i find most fascinating about ms coppola is her decision to make quiet films – a testament to her down-to-earth beauty and lifestyle and a counterpoint to the privilege she grew up with.

and a few months ago, i found the most amazing recording of a then 5-year-old sofia being asked by her father, the great francis ford coppola, to talk to a future sofia. she was also asked to sing a song she learned during her stay in the philippines(yes, remember apocalypse now?).

sofia coppola at 5 by divasoria

so adorbs! <3

last saturday afternoon, i was invited to the private screening of the much talked about movie the social network. it’s a story based on the book “the accidental billionaire” which is about mark zuckerberg the facebook founder.

the story of mark and his friends’ success is sort of like a tale passed on the past few years. story goes – facebook was born out of drunken night in a harvard dorm room and founded by social outcasts and nerds. i’ve first heard about facebook in 2004 and i had registered using my fordham.edu account as during that time, you had to have a north american university email. i forgot about it and my friend celina urged me to activate it again. and so did a few friends and the rest, as they say, is history.

now, facebook has become the biggest social networking site in the world, eclipsing the pioneers friendster and myspace and making the founder, mark zuckerberg the youngest billionaire in the world.

the movie social network is as much fact as it is fiction. directed by david fincher, screenplay by aaron sorkin, music by trent reznor, executive produced by kevin spacey, yadda yadda yadda – needless to say, this film had a lot of buzz and hype surrounding it. some critics have even heralded the social network the best movie of the year.

so how was it? i thought it was a pretty entertaining movie. it was fast-paced with a rapidfire script that only sorkin can create. i also thought it was well acted. revelation was justin timberlake.

as you all know JT is the epitome of cool. LOL! (and yes, i’m a fan) i’ve forgotten if i’ve seen JT in a movie, probably i have but in the social network, JT was funny and annoying, perfect for the role he played. he was sean parker, one of the founders of napster.

and you know what or who drove us nuts? the winklevoss twins.

they were these guys who supposedly first thought of the facebook idea which supposedly mark zuckerberg stole. whatever. LOL. the twins were portrayed as these spoiled, entitled brats. but man, were they HOT brats. the winklevoss twins were champion crew guys who eventually became olympians and like what they said “i’m 6’5, 220 and there’s two of us”. NAMAN.

and yes, i did google the real life winklevoss twins and they’re not too shabby either.

and i liked the scoring of the movie c/o trent reznor and atticus ross. to hear a sample of the music from the social network, go here.

thank you to raleene for the invite

the wide release for the social network will be on october 27th.

so i guess by now inception’s buzz has reached fever-pitch. even dora the explorer is joining the bandwagon.

all the inception-induced yacking all over the internet are rather funny and entertaining with sites giving their two-cents regarding the movie’s theories.

see, i typically read reviews from various sites like NYT, salon and NY observer – all three, by the way, gave bad reviews judging by the titles alone. for some reason, i decided to skip reading them and i had no real idea what the movie was about. i just knew leonardo di caprio was starring and it’s directed by christopher nolan. big whoop, right? so what did i think about it?

i liked it. i was pretty much entertained.

i think people who didn’t enjoy this movie,like the critics, just had too much expectations and did a lot of overthinking. it’s a MOVIE! it’s supposed to entertain right? i also didn’t think the movie was THAT super pa-intellectual, you just need to pay attention to certain details. i totally understand the negastars because i can get uptight too and hypercritical but thankfully for this one, i was totally in it for the ride.

and if you’ve watched a movie with me, you know how bored i get and i start fiddling with my phone. in fairness to inception, i hardly looked at my watch nor surfed the internet while watching. HAHA. that, to me, is an accomplishment for an ADHD-type A personality hybrid.

care to read more into inception? maybe you should read this – cinema blend’s “unraveling the dream within the dream“. or how about a humourous Q&A?

Q: What is inception?

A: Not quite. The victim must be in close proximity and hooked up to the same machine that all the invaders are hooked into. A lot more technical than supernatural.

for more of the hilar interview, go here for VF’s Can you enjoy inception if you’re stupid? FUNNY! (SPOILER ALERT)

p.s.
you know what made me paranoid after watching this movie? sleeping in trains/planes/public places! i am miss “drink tylenol pm to help me go through this trip” but inception kind of made me scared now. i might see leo in my dream. well wait, that ain’t bad either.

thanks to chuvaness, power plant mall, the french embassy and rustan’s for inviting me to the coco avant chanel premiere last monday. it was really a treat to be one of the first people to watch the movie in MNL. the fashion was amazing, as one should expect from a movie about one of the most revolutionary women in fashion. we wouldn’t be wearing black, trousers or the LBD without coco!

and great to meet kate torralba, a twitter star i follow! truly the renaissance woman.

photo credit – @katetorralba

p.s.
wouldn’t be awesome to have that backdrop for your wallpaper at home. LOVE!

the movie we’ve all been waiting for is finally here in MNL

there’s a chanel promo, too. read all about it here @ chuvaness.

another icon of my childhood has passed away.

your movies have captured and influenced a generation. you will be missed, john hughes.

p.s.
this is beginning to look like death blog. :/