Last Wednesday was an event that couldn't be missed! So much so that I went by myself! eep!
The Art Gallery of NSW is currently holding an exhibit - Pop to Popisim, which shows as you may guess lots of well known art works from pop artists from the 50's through to the 80's.
AGNSW likes to hold events called Art After Hours, which usually involves a bar, some music and various talks from relevant industry experts. Throughout the Pop to Popisim exhibition they have been holding events themed by each of the decades featured in the exhibit. The week before was 50's and this week is 70's. And I'm sure you can guess which one I went to!
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| Chloe and myself in a new dress made from the giant floor cushion found at the op shop! |
The 60's night was themed Mod vs Hippies, and while it wasn't the sort of Mods you'd see down in Brighton, there were lots of Carnaby street styled mods, go-go dressed, pop art styled girls and a few hippies draped in paisley with flowers and peace signs all over.
Here are some of the lovelies who kindly stopped for a photo!
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| Claudia in her soup can dress and perfect mod eye-make up and Alex in a classic mod girl outfit. She also had block heeled shoes to finish the look |
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| Chloe in her Paul McCartney silhouette dress she bought off Etsy and patent go-go boots from ebay with her boy friend Aaron. He has a Brian Jones and Velvet Underground/ Warhol Banana tattoo! |
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| I must admire the ingenuity in the Modrian ladies shoes - White boots covered with tape to create the blocks of colours (Cant find her name but she owns Recycology in Newtown) and the girl on the right did the right thing and made her two tone dress! I love the alternate pockets and buttons (I didn't manage to get her name either!) |
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| Another name I didn't get, but the beehive, boots and velvet checker-board dress were all amazing! |
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| From the Hippie side of the party- Kat with her holographic peace sign glasses and Rochelle with her ornate patterned smock |
One of the main speakers was Wendy Whiteley - wife, model and muse of the late Australian artist Brett Whiteley sitting in front of the huge art work - American Dream (1969). Wendy spoke anecdotally about life with Brett, living in the Chelsea hotel and life in New York in the 60's.
Towards the end of the evening they announced their best dressed competition winners - I didn't actually win at first, but when I went over to take photos the judge spotted me and got me a prize as well!
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| Hippies to the left and Mods to the right |
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| And me with my eye closed! Oh well... |
The prizes for best dressed included an Andy Warhol Soup can bag and a Jean-Michel Basquiat printed scarf.
It was a really good evening and it was so good to see all the 60's fanatics from around Sydney. There isn't many public events of this sort for 60's lovers so it was not one to be missed! This week is 70's which I'd love to go to in my Barbara dress, but I've got a lot of hand sewing to do!
Which of the outfits did you like the most?
I hope you're enjoying your week so far!
Cat xo
You all look so lovely! So many perfect mod style dresses! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks!!! There were so many good outfits and they all got prizes as properly deserved!
Deletewhat a fun event! your dress is fab as always and your pal chloe looks as if she lives the part--does she typically dress mod?
ReplyDeleteThanks!!! i only met Chloe that night, but she is deff a huge 60s fan and she even bought my last dress that i had for sale! she looks awesome of course with that haircut!
DeleteWhat a fun event this must have been! I think you and your friend chloe have the cutest outfits.
ReplyDeletethanks! I met Chloe that night but was so impressed to see her dress! it was awesome!
DeleteWhat a fantastic event! I love to see everyone really going for it and dressed up to the nines, don't they all look fab? Chloe's frock is awesome, I love the Mondrian-inspired outfits, but of course you look the most beautiful and original, Cat! xxx
ReplyDeletetotally! there's no point in having a themed party if everyone only sort of dresses up! the Mondrian outfit was amazing! so perfect for a pop art exhibition!
DeleteIt looked like it was a fun and stylish event! Such cool outfits!
ReplyDeleteit totally was!!
DeleteOh this sounds like the most fantastic evening and definitely something I would have loved to have attended. You must have had so much fun! Your sixties outfit is perfect. I thought I recognized that fabric! All those lovely ladies look fabulous as well and glad you got best dressed - well deserved!
ReplyDeleteSeeing your photo of Brett Whiteley's "American Dream" sparked my memory. I've seen it before in the flesh a few years ago and I've forgotten how incredible of an artwork it is! Did you view it in the section under his studio (which is amazing) or did they bring it out into the gallery?
ooh it was! i hope the GOMA holds something similar one day for you! American Dream is awesome and so huge - they had it set up in one room going around over 3 walls so you could sit to take it all in or walk around and look at the small details like we did. it was in the actual art gallery- the studio is over near central station so its no where near AGNSW. it was so wonderful to hear about how he worked on it - he did it all in one go in a massive loft and just worked and worked and added more and more until he was done!
DeleteWow this event looks like a LOT of fun - I love that Andy Warhol soup can dress!! Yours is lovely as well, its so great to see so many people put so much effort into their costumes.
ReplyDeleteyeah! isn't it a great dress! and it went so well with the bag she won!
DeleteEveryone here looks beautiful. Who won the competition. Are you going to the 80s night too at the gallery?
ReplyDeletethanks! everyone in that photo won! i did want to go to the 70s one - 80s is not really my thing - i would have have a thing to wear!!
DeleteI love the print of your dress and the event sounds like a lot of fun!
ReplyDeletethanks! it was very fun especially meeting all these 60s ladies!
DeleteWhat a fantastically fun event, and how fab everyone looks! I love your dress, much better than a cushion!
ReplyDeletehaha indeed! if i was living in a happy little hippie commune as cushion i might have stayed but it was of course destined to be a dress instead!!
DeleteThat looks like so much fun! There are some beautiful outfits too!
ReplyDeletevery fun! and all these girls were dressed magnificently!
DeleteHi Catherine, FAB photos! Yes, what a fun night that was! The 60's is my favourite era by far ! My name is Linda btw, and I have recently acquired a stack of 60's & 70's stock which I'll be selling at a few Vintage Fairs that are coming up soon. Check my "events" page on Facebook. I'm also opening another pop-up too! Exciting times!
ReplyDeletehello Linda! i tried to find your name on your website and forgot to check facebook! i always forget facebook! ill definitely try to make it to those fairs, i don't go to enough of them!
DeleteOops! I also meant to add I had the Mondrian Dress on, and made those boots!
ReplyDeleteyes i remember! you were telling me about your Italian boots and how you covered them up for the costume! :) xo
DeleteDressing mod, I can't think of a better way to spend an evening, except to have a mod event to go to as well. Look at all those incredible outfits. You look fantastic and of course deserved a prize. I'm completely a Mod girl, not so much hippie, but, really, anything but yoga pants excites me.
ReplyDeleteindeed! id love to go to a weekender here. they have some in sydney but i can never get anyone to go with me! i switch between mod and hippie, but thats cause theyre all "60s" and so therefore i dont mind!
DeleteYour blog has inspired to to get back into sewing and specifically designing a shift dress for myself. Hopefully I can practice enough to follow some of the more advanced patterns. :)
ReplyDeletePlease keep posting!
thank you!!! xoxo id love to see them when youre done! I will keep posting, just being lazy right now! lol
DeleteWow. There's no way I could choose one mod outfit as the one I love the best. You looked fab.
ReplyDelete