Glittery Celebrity Glam and Eye Candy

Jean Pigozzi/Helmut Newton Foundation. A photograph of Carla Bruni and
Jean Pigozzi in Venice in 1991from the exhibition "Pigozzi and the Paparazzi"
at the Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin.

I asked an artist friend who had been to the Helmut Newton Museum in Berlin to comment on the following NYT article, describing the photo exhibit. She said the article was “deliciously rich”, adding: “It certainly delves into the psyches of American and Europeans (each country has its own distinct persona) + some fine takes on the paparazzi, celebrity protocol, fan expectation and wish fulfillment, status + responsibilities of roles + reinventions + detachment + creativity AND luxury.”

Bikini design now 62 years old

Ursula Andress in James Bond's Dr. No

On July 5, 1946, French designer Louis Reard unveiled a daring two-piece swimsuit at the Piscine Molitor, a popular swimming pool in Paris. Because Parisian women were embarrassed to model, Reard hired showgirl Micheline Bernardini to wear the inaugural "bikini." Reard was inspired to call his design after a U.S. atomic test that took place off the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean earlier that week. Ever since, you might say, “bombshells” have been particularly attracted to bikinis.

It was 1962 ( I was 15) when I first saw a woman actually wearing a bikini. She appeared as Honey Ryder, played by Ursula Andress in the James Bond film Dr. No, and later I would often see the bikini and less in the pages of Playboy.