Fashion Critic Mr. Blackwell Dies in Los Angeles

Does anyone really set out to make something a tradition? I don't think the Fashion Critic Mr. Blackwell realized that he would begin a Fashion Tradition when he issued his first tongue-in-cheek criticism of Hollywood fashion disasters for the reigning stars and other celebrities in 1960. From Zsa Zsa Gabor to Britney Spears, no-one has escaped Blackwell’s notice. For almost 50 years as sure as the countdown on New Year’s Eve, Mr. Blackwell’s Worst Dressed list was announced each January. Mr. Blackwell passed away yesterday in Los Angeles. He was 86.

I remember the year when Cher was number one on his worst dressed list “A million beads and one overexposed derriere”, and his remarks about Princess Diana before she learned how to dress for success “she has gone from very young, independent, fresh look to a tacky, dowdy style.” Although, his list was created to spotlight the awful choice of clothes the celebrities had chosen, it seemed that many celebrities didn’t enjoy a laugh at their expense. He told the Los Angeles Times in 1968 that designers were forgetting that their dress was to enhance women. . . “Maybe I should have named the 10 worst designers instead of blaming to women who wear their clothes.” Oh, but what fun would that have been.


His first list in 1960 included Lucille Ball, Brigitte Bardot, Yvonne De Carlo, Shelly Winters and others. Britney Spears seems to have topped the list for most of the decade of the 2000’s and in 2004 he had this to say about the Pop Star Diva, "What’s left to say about the new Mrs. Federline? A clothes encounter of the catastrophic kind.” Was Blackwell softening when he left Spears off the list in 2007? He gave this as his reason "For those of you who were expecting to see Britney's name adorn the 2007 list, I felt that it was in appropriate at this time to make comment, when her personal life is in such upheaval. I hope 2008 is a better year for her."

Richard Blackwell's career was as varied as the women he named to his worst dressed list. He was a fashion critic, journalist, television and radio personality, former child actor and appeared on all sorts of television talk shows and numerous guest appearances in television series. He wrote two books to describe his life in the fashion industry Mr. Blackwell: 30 years of Fashion Fiascos and an autobiography, From Rags to Bitches.

“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Blackwell%27s_Ten_Worst_Dressed_Women_-_1960s"

Thursday Thirteen - Hollywood Stars and The Valley They Called Home

The San Fernando Valley, north of Los Angeles was the place to live if you were a Hollywood actor or actress from the early days of film to the current days. It was a serene valley away from the hustle and bustle of the lights, camera and action of Hollywood. Sometimes, Hollywood’s famous would hide behind big gated fences to maintain their privacy and others we were proud to call our next door neighbor.


Bob Hope (Entertainer and Actor) – longest residency in Toluca Lake

Lucille Ball (Actress) - televisions most beloved red-head and star of the I Love Lucy television show (1951 – 1957)

Marion Ross – (Actress) America’s favorite mom in the television show “Happy Days”

Henry Winkler (Actor, The Fonz in the television series “Happy Days”

Gene Autry – (Singer/Actor)

Sandra Tsing Loh, (Author) - “A Year in Van Nuys” and radio show host for The Loh Down on Science on the radio station KPCC

Britney Spears (Singer/Actress)

Richie Valens (Singer) -“La Bamba” and “Donna.” Tragically, he died in a plane crash at age 17.

David Kopay ( Football celebrity)

Frankie Avalon (Actor/Singer)

Amelia Earhart – (Aviationer)

Bing Crosby – (Singer/Actor) – his song “San Fernando Valley” climbed to No. 1 on the Billboard charts on the week ending April 20, 1944.

Roy Rogers & Dale Evans (actor/actress/singers)


~Valley Girl~

Britney Spears Fights the Forces of the Dark Knight

The shocking court news came last week that Brittany awarded sole custody of her kids to Kevin Federline or K-Fed as he was nicknamed by the media. Wasn’t K-Fed the bum that Britney kicked out of her house, because he wasn’t working, his singing career was really going nowhere and she wasn’t satisfied with him as a husband or as a father? How is it that K-Fed can be awarded sole custody of his kids, Jayden James and Sean Preston with Britney getting only visitation rights?

Britney Spears was America’s pop music singing sensation less than five years ago and her downfall started as soon when she married Kevin Federline. The marriage was a disaster from the beginning and sent her on a downward spiral. Even though she’s been trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life and career she also fights against the evil forces of her own Dark Knight. Through her own actions she became a danger to herself, her kids and her singing career and the result is the battle she must fight with K-Fed to win her kids back. Britney became her own worst enemy and single handedly fueled “The Britney Economy.” Businesses showed a profit where she visited. The paparazzi stalked her every move, her photo graced the front covers of magazines. She was on the cover of People Magazine in excess of 40 times. Britney Spears in her downfall period probably became more of a household name, than she ever was before. Even this blog, Valley Girl Musings, added to “The Britney Economy” with the different posts written about her. Can Britney turn back the clock of time and recapture what she used to be?

When Britney started divorce proceedings she ended up on the losing end and was ordered to pay K-Fed, some astronomical monthly support figure. K-Fed got temporary custody of the kids after she refused to give the kids back at the end of one of her visits. She had locked herself in the bathroom refusing to come out and this started the procession to take her to the psych ward at the U.C.L. A. hospital. At this point every move she made whether good or bad had the paparazzi chasing her. The lawmakers even went so far as writing a new law and naming it after her, “The Britney Law”

After a second hospital stay and losing custody of her children and a court appointed conservatorship was granted to her father to monitor her affairs, Britney seemed to get better. She cleaned house by clearing out those people who had managed to take advantage of her. She stopped her late night Paparazzi attention-getters and started wearing underwear. She learned to stay at home and out of the spotlight and less was heard in the news of her until she was involved in a fender bender at night and even that was pushed to the fourth page of the paper. Her father suggested that she keep herself busy and so she went everyday to a dance studio in the city of North Hollywood and taught girls how to dance. Much like our nations slumping economy there seemed to be a “Britney Recession” on the horizon.

The custody battle seems to be temporarily over with the announcement of Britney giving sole custody to K-Fed; just who is Britney’s attorney and why did this play out like it did? Was Britney promised that if she gave up custody that she would get more visits with them? It may not matter what Britney does in the future because the court system and the America public seem to have a bias against her because of her past and her celebrity status. The American public puts celebrities on a pedestal and when they fall from grace, it all becomes front page news and its there for all to criticize. Will Britney ever have more of an advantage than the Dark Knight?

Hollywood Trivia and Fun Facts - At The Movies

The good old U.S.A. celebrates its 232nd birthday this week on Friday, July 4th birthday.

At The Movies: The Fourth of July has become synonymous with the actor Will Smith. No less than four of movies have been released in time for the fireworks, Independence Day, Men in Black and the comic western The Wild, Wild, West. On the big screen this weekend Will Smith in his typical humor plays Hancock a wisecracking homeless, alcoholic superhero saves the life of a man who is determined to make him into a true hero the world can adore. It was in 1996 the first of his four movies Independence Day was released and had us forever watching the skies above the valley.

Say Thanks and Display it Proudly: In L.A. there appears to be another trend starting with the all too familiar shortcut for the word thanks “thx”? What I thought was an anomaly of seeing one license plate that read “THXUMOM” became a second plate “THXSUPS.” Just who or what are you thankful for?

Pamela Sue Anderson, actress and maybe best known for her scantily clad role in the television series, Baywatch turned 41 on July 1st.

Hollywood Walk of Fame: The country music duo of Brooks and Dunn will be immortalized on the famed Tinsel Town sidewalk in Hollywood on August 4, 2008. They will join other music notables this year including George Harrison (The Beatles), Christina Aguilera, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Ricky Martin.

Angelina Jolie was admitted to the hospital, July 1st in the south of France in the town of Nice. Angelina and Brad and their brood of children have recently begun calling Nice their home along with their seaside residence in Malibu, California and others around the globe. The hospital’s address should make Brad and Angie feel right at home. It’s on Nice’s California Avenue.

Britney Spears will soon be responsible for fewer accidents in the valley, less paparazzi clogging the streets and will no longer require the escort services of the Los Angeles Police Department on her late night runs to the hospital. It has been reported that she is selling her house in Studio City, California. Good luck to the next city where she puts down roots.

Did ya know? Author Francine Pascal, author of Sweet Valley High and 35 other books with the theme around the prom never attended her own high school prom.

****

Valley Girl

Lights! Camera! Action! Welcome to Hollywood!

“For my family
To see me
On that silver screen
And I know I can't go wrong....
Cause I finally found my song
I'm headin' where I belong...Hollywood”

(Lyrics sung by Los Lonely Boys)


No matter how many times you experience Hollywood, it’s still easy to get caught up in the excitement of the glitz and glamour that make up this over-sensationalized, extravagant and pompous town.

Still you find yourself drawn in by the excitement of the lights, the crowds lining the streets, and billboards as big as three story buildings displaying the latest movies, Get Smart, Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Sex in the City.

Saturday night the Valley Girl and her family were cruising Hollywood Boulevard, of course, it was in a mini-van and not one of the limos or fancy sports cars. That night it made no difference what car you were driving, the flow of traffic was slower than the pedestrians walking on the boulevard. One drives through Hollywood to get noticed and catch a glimpse of somebody famous, not to get to your destination in record time. Even Jim Carrey in his role as God in Bruce Almighty would have had a hard time parting the traffic to the sides of the road. There was certainly no room for all that horsepower to gallop.

People by the thousands walked the streets enjoying the night life. If you know what to look for you can even catch a glimpse of the working girl looking to make a buck. Two young men, Hollywood hopefuls took their chance to find fame and fortune danced in their Speedo underwear. In the parade crawl down the boulevard there were no paparazzi surrounding Hollywood celebrities, of course, Britney Spears is at home with mom and dad and it was early in the evening for celebrities to be mixing with the regular crowd.

Like all things that come to end, so does Hollywood Boulevard miles west of the bright lights and Valley Girl returned to Valleywood away from the lights, camera and action that is Hollywood.

Britney Spears Goes Bump in the Night

It has been to quiet on the Britney front but, when she makes news it's behind the wheel of a car. Britney Spears was involved in another minor accident in the San Fernando Valley this week as she drove eastward on the Ventura Freeway at 8:30 p.m. according to a traffic report in the Los Angeles Times. She bumped the car in front of her as traffic came to a standstill causing that car to be pushed into the one in front of it. Her driving habits which at one time were questionable, when she was photographed driving with her son on her lap, resulted in no injuries to either car or driver this time around. Being that this is the Valley and the freeways are always jammed with traffic, fender benders are nothing new. However, I can think of a few celebrities who can bump into my car any day.

What celebrity would you want to bump into your car?

The Britney Law

It was written to protect her and other high profile celebrities. It was written because of her and the harrassment she receives. If it becomes a law it will remain on the law books in Hollywood history, long after Britney Spears has sung her final note.

It's the Britney Law, proposed by Los Angeles Councilman Dennis Zine and this law would provide a 20 yard "personal safety bubble" around high profile celebrities to protect them from the packs of paparazzi who continually pursue them. After Britneys escapade on Jan 31 to the U.C.L.A. psychiatric ward, it took 20 police officers a helicopter and a team of intervetion specialists to guide her through the streets at the cost of $12,000. The motorcade which was a football field in length still got stuck in the middle of the swarming media.

The paparazzi are such a nuisance in L.A. trailing the stars that they might as well be considered stalkers. Wherever Britney goes the paparazzi are sure to follow breaking all kinds of traffic laws in an effort to keep tabs on her. One might think that imposing this law would improve things and why hasn't it been done before.

Is law enforcement really incapable of protecting the stars from the media?

Does imposing a law telling the paparazzi to stay away at 20 yards really going to keep them away?

Why can't law enforcement communicate that to the media?

How does this law interfere with Freedom of the Press?

Why haven't the stars started using their own body guards to better protect themselves from the harrassing paparazzi?

why should Britney or any other high profile star be escorted using tax payers dollars? Yes, it's the responsibilty of the police to keep the streets safe, but shouldn't the high profile stars using the forces of the city's police officers pay the bill. These people are pulling the police officers away from crimes that could have serious consequences.

A Britney Spears Sighting

Britney Spears was definetely not an unidentified object when she was spotted in a confrontation with Paparazzi earlier this week in Mission Hills. It was a little before midnight and the paparazzi were stopped by the police and brought in for questioning and charged with reckless endangerment. Mission Hills is a small little city in the northeast part of the San Fernando Valley.

Now, as a Valley Girl whose lived her entire life in the San Fernando Valley there's plenty to do in the valley, but what would bring Britney to our little corner of the valley at a little before midnight? There's no stores open in the area and and unless she was planning on picking up the freeway to head back to Malibu there was nothing for her to do out here. Earlier in the day she was spotted at the Galleria shopping center, but that's a long ways from Mission Hills.

Obviously the paparazi thought her fascinating, and with all of her escapades lately, it sure seems like Britney is adddicted to attention and in dire need of a lot of attention. She is a singer and performer and should be on stage in front of thousands of people. When she's not on stage she seems to fall apart.

Mr. Blackwell Worst Dressed List

Once again, Mr. Blackwell has released his worst dressed list for 2007 and Britney Spears was not on the list. Well, of course, she wasn't on the list as I believe there were a few times she wasn't wearing underwear. That would certainly eliminate one from the list. But, he states that she has enough going on in her life without adding to her problems. Oh my! do I detect compassion coming from Hollywood?

First it's Jay Leno bringing donuts to the writers on the picket lines of the writers strike and now it's Mr. Blackwell leaving Britney off his list. There's definitely something brewing here. I just can't figure out what it is. It's been so long since I have seen this display of compassion towards other people. Now, I wonder if Jay Leno and Mr. Blackwell could teach compassion to corporate America?