NEW YORK (AP) – “Think pink! think pink! when you shop for summer clothes. Think pink! think pink! if you want that quelque chose.” That advice, sung as an epiphany in the 1957 musical film Funny Face, has definitely been heeded – just take a look around at fashion and media. The fascination around pink – each shade and hue with its own connotation – has driven those cultural engines for generations, revving into full force as we reach peak Barbie season.
NEW YORK – (AP) It was all over the fashion runways. Women’s Wear Daily raved about Armani dresses in this material. Harper’s Bazaar called it one of 2022’s biggest trends. At Britain’s film awards, celebrities partied in Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren and Gucci versions. It’s even found its way down to casual wear, in jeans, T-shirts and slouchy overshirts. Once the luxurious material of nobility, velvet’s now a fashion favorite at both the private-label and mass-market level. And as often happens, what rides high in fashion ends up doing the same in home decor.
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – Missing Millions is a 1922 silent film with a darkly prescient title – like the vast majority from that era, the movie all but vanished in the ensuing century, survived mostly by lobby cards. Scarcely bigger than letter paper, the cards promoted the cinematic romances, comedies and adventures of early Hollywood. More than 10,000 of the images that once hung in movie theater foyers are now being digitized for preservation and publication, thanks to an agreement between Chicago-based collector Dwight Cleveland and Dartmouth College that all started when he ran into a film professor at an academic conference in New York.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – In a series of Peanuts comic strips that ran in mid-April of 1956, Charlie Brown grasps the string of his kite, which was stuck in what came to be known in the long-running strip as the “kite-eating tree.” In one episode that week, a frustrated Charlie Brown declines an offer from nemesis Lucy for her to yell at the tree. “If I had a kite caught up in a tree, I’d yell at it,” Lucy responds in the last panel.
NEW YORK (AP) – In this winter of hunkering down at home, there’s a trend that’s just right for the times: quilts as decor and as art. An artistic quilt might be displayed prominently on a wall, thrown over a couch, or just folded and hung from the rungs of a ladder. (Or you could cozy up with it.) “Quilts bring warmth, depth and texture to any room,” says Suzy Williams, a quilter and graphic designer in Oak Park, Illinois. She offers tutorials and patterns for quilt-making on her website, Suzy Quilts.
NEW YORK – The freshest style in decor these days is … mixing styles.
Traditional and contemporary often work well together. Think abstract art with an overstuffed chaise, or an 18th century-style toile wallpaper with an ’80s-era lamp. The appeal is in the pleasing tension between the styles; sophisticated, artsy, yet livable.
NEW YORK – If you want to freshen up your kitchen, look no further than Grandma’s old casserole dishes.
Vintage kitchenware is back in style — pieces from the mid-20th century painted with flowers, bright colors, and specific functions, such as bracketed chip and dip bowls or four-piece refrigerator storage sets.
PEORIA, Ill. (AP) – No matter how intricate the art or meaningful the message, Andrew Hattermann says his studio’s work comes down to one simple thing: Beauty.
“We try to make a church more beautiful than it’s ever been,” the Peoria resident says. “That’s our goal.”
LOGANSPORT, Ind. (AP) – He was known as a “numbers guy” for 55 years. Then, one fateful day, Logansport resident Clarence Kapraun turned his back on the infinite possibility of sums and found favor in letters. But it was only one letter, really. Specifically, the “Ms,” as he said.
“The Ms” are this retired math teacher’s name for his M&M collection.
KOUTS, Ind. (AP) – Since he was a young boy, Chip Horn heard stories about the 1951 John Deere Model B tractor that plowed through his family’s history.
“Just stories,” he told me. “I never physically saw it.”