Famous Feuds: Gucci vs. Gucci

Even in Gucci’s fledgling years, the family was notorious for its ferocious infighting. Disputes regarding inheritances, stock holdings, and day-to-day operations of the stores often divided the family and led to alliances. Gucci remained one of the premier luxury goods establishments in the world until the late 1970s, when a series of disastrous business decisions and family quarrels brought the company to the verge of bankruptcy. At the time, brothers Aldo and Rodolfo controlled equal 50% shares of the company.

Poor Maurizio...

Rodolfo’s death in 1983 caused a major shakeup in the company when he left his 50% stake in Gucci to his son, Maurizio Gucci. Maurizio sought to bury the fighting that had torn the company and his family apart and turned to talent outside of the company for Gucci’s future.He went on to sell his stock in Gucci in 1993 for $170 million to the Bahrain-based investment group, Investcorp. In 1995, a year and a half after the sale of Gucci, he was gunned down by a hired hit man. His ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani was later convicted of arranging the killing.

Famous Feuds: Robert Smith vs. Morrissey

Shop Vintage, Click Here





The Cure's Robert Smith stated "If Morrissey says not to eat meat, then I'll eat meat; that's how much I hate Morrissey". Yet years later, to Entertainment Weekly, Smith says, "He was constantly saying horrible things about [The Cure]...In the end, I kind of snapped and started retaliating. And it turned into some kind of petty feud. I've never liked anything he's done musically, but I don't have any kind of strong feelings of animosity towards him as a person because I've never met him." Whereas, Morrissey refers to Robert Smith as a "whingebag", which is slang for: one who gets all sentimental, cries when drunk, is known as a complainer, and in general, is a total whiner .

Famous Feuds: Gore Vidal vs. William F. Buckley, Jr.

During discussions of the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests, the men were arguing about freedom of speech in regards to American protesters displaying a Viet Cong flag when Vidal told Buckley to "shut up a minute" and, in response to Buckley's reference to "pro-Nazi" protesters, went on to say "As far as I'm concerned, the only sort of pro-crypto-Nazi I can think of is yourself."

The visibly livid Buckley replied, "Now listen, you queer. Stop calling me a crypto-Nazi, or I'll sock you in the goddamn face and you'll stay plastered." After an interruption by anchor and facilitator Howard K. Smith, the men continued to discuss the topic in a less hostile manner.

Famous Feuds: Schiaparelli vs. Chanel

Girl should be 2 things: classy and fabulous...click here

-COCO CHANEL

Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel

Model: Linda Evangelista

Sunglasses featuring long blue eyelashes & small lenses were dreamed up by designer Schiaparelli in 1951.

Elsa Schiaparelli was an Italian fashion designer and is regarded as one of the most prominent figures in fashion between the two World Wars. Schiaparelli's designs were heavily influenced by Surrealists like her collaborators Salvador Dalí and Jean Cocteau. Schiaparelli did not adapt to the changes in fashion following World War II and her business closed in 1954. The failure of her buiness meant that Schiaparelli's name is not as well remembered as that of her great rival Chanel.

But in 1934, Time magazine placed Chanel in the second division of fashion, whereas Schiaparelli was one of "a handful of houses now at or near the peak of their power as arbiters of the ultra-modern haute couture....Madder and more original than most of her contemporaries, Mme Schiaparelli is the one to whom the word "genius" is applied most often".
Schiaparelli’s success caused intense envy on the part of Coco Chanel, her greatest rival. The two were continuously compared and constantly competed with one another. While Chanel was minimalist and conservative, Schiaparelli was outrageous and flamboyant and the pair fought to achieve popularity with the Parisian fashionistas. The rivalry was also heightened by the fact that the two designers moved frequently in the same social circles, with similar ambitions and aspirations. Chanel once called Schiaparelli 'that Italian artist who makes clothes'.

Famous Feuds: Bette Davis vs. Joan Crawford

Why am I so good at playing bitches? I think it's because I'm not a bitch. Maybe that's why Miss Crawford always plays ladies. - Bette Davis

The origin of the Davis-Crawford dispute was over a man – actor Franchot Tone. While Bette Davis was filming “Dangerous” (1935) opposite Tone, she fell in love with him, unaware that he was involved with Joan Crawford at the time. When she found out, animosity sparked. Davis was later quoted as saying about Crawford, “...She’s slept with every male star in MGM except Lassie.” Crawford attempted to become friends with Davis, but unfortunately, the damage was done.


It was not until both were older and lost their star power that the studios invested in “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” (1962). Working so closely together on a project gave both actresses the chance to wreak havoc on one another for years of animosity. In one scene, Davis apparently kicked Crawford so hard that Joan ended up in the hospital with bruises and a concussion. When asked about working with Joan Crawford on the film, Bette Davis has commented: “The best time I ever had with Joan was when I pushed her down the stairs.”

Summer Sketches | Atlantic City, 1941

Two sketch artists at work at an attraction on the beach in Atlantic City, 1941.

All Alone with Neil Hamburger

NEIL HAMBURGER

Buddy Holly Animation for a Short Film

This animation was created for a short film produced by Bruno Miotto, animation by Kasey Lum, music by Gold Panda.

Tribute to Buddy Holly made by @fredestudio

Capes and Bikinis | Jerry Hall and Friends, 1980

Jerry Hall and friends model swimwear with capes and ballet shoes, circa 1980.

Lovely Gold | Unreleased Music from 1977

Michael Yonkers, is a legendary figure in Minneapolis music-lore, who, through his own modifications, created his own guitars and effects. Raised on a steady diet of Link Wray and the Trashmen, Yonkers pushed the boundaries of distortion and truly transformed it into a powerful voice. At the time, bands like The Fugs, Captain Beefheart and The Mothers of Invention had major label deals, but for reasons that remain unclear, dealings with the label fell apart for Yonkers.

In 1967, Michael cut his Telecaster down to a plank; one of the many modifications he made to his equipment. He still plays this same guitar on stage today. In 1971, Michael’s back was broken in an on-the-job accident in an electronics warehouse. His allergic reaction to the dye used in an X-ray procedure led to a degenerative condition of his spinal cord lining from which he suffers to this day. Michael Yonkers still resides in St. Paul, MN and has recently played shows with such diverse bands as Wolf Eyes, Six Organs of Admittance and Low. (Courtesy of Sub-Pop)

Listen to the samples at Drag City Records

Who Can It Be Now?

Back In The Saddle Again | 1968

Saddle Bridge, Memphis, 1968

Sandy Duncan's Glass Eye | 1990

Let the truth be told: Sandy Duncan lost sight in her left eye due to a tumor behind the eye which damaged the optic nerve. Despite rumors, she does not have a glass eye. She met her second husband, oncologist Dr. Calcaterra, when she had her tumor removed at UCLA Medical Center. They divorced in 1979, when she won the title role in the Broadway production of Peter Pan.

It's Genetic | Meyer & Sons, 1954

Drug Company Head Carl F. G. Meyer III with his father Carl F.G. Meyer II and his son Carl F.G. Meyer IV, stoically waiting, with dimpled chins and matching glasses, for the dawning of the great age of pharmaceauticals.

Street Seen | British Beauts in Black Leather Boots

The Decline of the West | Gun Girl, 1963

Gun girl glasses, 1963

Manhattan Melody | Street Seen in NYC, 1953

Debonair sunglasses for an afternoon stroll in Manhattan, 1953.

Sunning at the Senator | Ladies of Atlantic City, 1948

Ladies enjoy an afternoon in the sunroom at the Senator Hotel in Atlantic City, 1948.

Why So Syrias? | Intellectual Soldiers, 1940

French Foreign Legion soldiers at their Syrian Outpost, 1940.

Sweater Party | Marlee Matlin in 1987

Marlee Matlin in full-on eighties regalia, 1987.

Marlee Matlin, 21, signing while holding her newly won Academy Award for Best Actress for Children of a Lesser God.

Superfriends Marlee Matlin and Jennifer Beals in twin glasses, NYC.

Nude Chess in Pasadena | Marcel Duchamp, 1963

Photograph of Marcel Duchamp and Eve Babitz posing for the photographer Julian Wasser during the Duchamp retrospective at the Pasadena Museum of Art (now the Norton Simon), 1963. His major work, The Large Glass, or The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (1915-23), a construction of wire and painted foil fitted between plates of transparent glass, is visible in the background.

In 1912, Duchamp painted his famous Nude Descending A Staircase, which caused a scandal at the 1913 Armory Show in New York City. Duchamp developed a type of symbolic painting in which the image depicted successive movements of a single body, closely resembling the multiple exposure photography.

Stroboscopic study of a nude descending staircase, 1942. By the time this photograph was taken, Duchamp had stopped painting for 20 years and devoted himself to the game of chess.

Nude in Goggles | 1935

Beautifying techniques in the days before cosmetic surgery, 1935.