• Why do I get the impression that John Jay is either a fan of or an agent for the Westboro Baptist 'church'? - Will Marshall
  • Why is it that whenever there is a natural disaster in the USA our media is full of it for days? But if something happens elsewhere in the world, it's hardly mentioned, if at all. The Victorian bush fires and the Queensland floods were mentioned one day in the US media and forgotten the next - but we get a barrage every time there is a storm over there and it lasts for weeks with all sorts of stories about answered prayers and heroism - which never seems to happen anywhere else in the world. Have you ever also noticed that if there is a blizzard or a heat wave, it always stops at the Canadian border? None of these things ever happen in Canada. This constant Americanisation really gets up my nose. I have met adult Australians who didn't really understand that we are not part of the USA. I fully understand why the French are so ... French - and want to stay that way and not become a cultural colony of America as we have become. - Jack Richards
  • says so much about the human animal bond - life's experiences teach you who is loyal and truly loving and they are the ones you're most likely to reach for when you're at your lowest - melissa
  • Gee Jack, you've sure stirred up all pumpkin-scone bakers from Akerman's blog. They must be desperate for attention to chase you all the way to here. I think many of those extreme-right women secretly have the hots for you - and that's why they go out of their way to find you. By the way, I read your comments on Rudd's blog about SSM. I couldn't agree more! - Yasmina
  • Congratulations PJ and team!! A beautiful garden. Connecting to nature is what it's all about. - Fairy The Green One
  • Yes, and you are about as far from being a "rocket surgeon" as anyone who has ever graced this site. - Wendy Harmer
  • Relax Harry, I normally leave my contributions to online debate to a single entry or two but the response to my very brief comment led me into this discussion. You're right to say I had some connection with the writing, hence my joining in. But the connection was based on my not liking it. That's fair enough, people write pieces for sites like this in the full knowledge that they will be critiqued and that not everyone will like what they have said. If authors don't like it, they shouldn't put their writing out there. You may have noticed that I was not alone in criticising the article and so far no one has actually rebutted any of the points I have made - just complained about the way I have made them. If you disagree with the substance then go ahead and say where. I remember well being 16, but I'm not sure that it has much to do with what I wrote. Whatever poor behaviour I exhibited then - and there surely was some - my mum didn't write open letters about it to the paper or whatever media were available then. You've engaged me online without actually suggesting where I was wrong, but have you had a word with your mum re. what she publicly implied about the behaviour exhibited by you and your siblings? I gotta admit being part of this thread has been pretty enjoyable but it's probably for the best that I normally wouldn't have time to follow something like this over a couple of days - one could get sucked int pretty easily I guess. - Sly Place
  • The freckled duck is not rare. Its listed as 'Least concern' on the UICN red list. Just because CADS say its rare, doesnt mean they are telling the truth. Of course CADS had armed protestors willing to attend shooting locations. Laurie Levy openly admits that his supporters were prepared to break the law to achieve their goal. So heres an alternative hypothesis. CADS descended on the (officially) unattended, unmonitored Box Flats, and chose to make martyrs of several hundred birds to further their cause. It doesnt take a rocket surgeon to understand that that is just as plausible a situation as a rogue hunter. - leigh
  • so lovely, I am glad she got him back safely! aww :) - sami
  • So in 2015 a ranking of 70 and above will be mandatory for entry to University in NSW. So even if school standards are lifted for all by a massive increase in funding only the top 30% of year 12 graduates will be eligible for a University qualification? Or to put it another way approx 70% of year 12 graduates will not qualify to be considered for a university education. Now that's exclusive. I understand why University funding has been cut. Why focus so heavily on increasing the funding at school level only? - Michelle
 
12
Categories:  Fashion, News and Opinion, Style

I JUST ADORED ANNA PIAGGI

By Lee Tulloch
August 8, 2012

The fashion world has gone monochrome with the passing of Italian journalist and fashion eccentric Anna Piaggi yesterday, aged 81.

Piaggi was a familiar figure in the front row of international fashion shows and a snaparazzi favourite for her absurdist self-expression through appearance – the wacky outfits, often vintage garments mixed with extravagant contemporary pieces that few could pull off; the blue hair; the dashing capes; the jaunty little hats; the parasols; the crazy shoes and the defiantly over-made-up face, like that of a madam in a fin-de-siecle brothel.

Piaggi never seemed to care that this was unseemly behaviour for a woman of her ‘certain’ age. In fact, I think she rejoiced in it.

I adored her. I first met her in the 1980s in Paris, at some fashion show or the other. I knew the wonderful Vern Lambert, the Australian fashion historian, who was Anna’s companion and ‘curator’ (she was married to the Italian photographer Alfa Castaldi, who died in 1995.)

Anna’s legend had preceded her.

I knew someone who had been to the famous dinner where she had worn a brace of freshly killed pheasants on her head.

As the dinner progressed, the blood dripping from the pheasants congealed and the dead birds reeked. It was not perhaps her finest fashion moment but it is one of the most remembered.

I was sure she would be some kind of monster but she was charming, curious, empathetic.

She was also thoughtful. It was she who convinced her great friend and collaborator Karl Lagerfeld to use the opal prints of another good friend, Jenny Kee, in his first-ever collection for Chanel.

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12 Responses to this article

  1. Wendy Harmer August 8, 2012 Reply
     
     

    I loved her too, Lee. What I like the most is that she went to her grave without thinking: “Would that suit me… should I wear that? What will people think?” There is so much FUN to be had and we are all SO drab by comparison.
    My fave is the lavender blow up plastic cushion tied to her head!!
    I’m glad to hear she was such a charming person too.

     
  2. Lisa August 8, 2012 Reply
     
     

    Wonderful article!

     
  3. The Huntress August 8, 2012 Reply
     
     

    I too, was saddened to read of Anna Piaggis death today. She was such a wonderful icon with such a fabulous sense of fun and freedom. The fashion world will be a greyer place without such a colourful woman.

     
  4. Serin August 8, 2012 Reply
     
     

    Sorry for my ignorance but I did not know of Anna- mind you she sounds like a true bohemian and it is so sad when such is lost to the “great here after”. But I also think the likes of Anna are exactly the types that will make it great- well such is my hope.

    RIP

     
  5. Lucy Clark August 8, 2012 Reply
     
     

    Lovely piece Lee – she was indeed a true original and the world will be a less exuberant place without her! Decaying birds … bless her…

     
  6. Florally August 9, 2012 Reply
     
     

    I am deeply in love with the idea of stashing away eccentric clothes for old age. – thanks for a reminding us all to live with flair (and perhaps feathers……)

     
  7. Mez August 9, 2012 Reply
     
     

    See, this is where the line between the left and right is clearly defined. I can appreciate that she was a lovely person, so are most people. But there is no way on earth that I would ‘celebrate’ her creativity and contribution to the world of ‘fashion’ or fawn over her wonderful eccentricities. To me, she was a crazy old bag lady with too much money to spend on her shallow addiction to attention.

    Who the blazers turns up to dinner draped in dead birds and subjects fellow diners to that?! Madness. Madness and rudeness. Unless there were other problems that were undiagnosed.

    What you call ‘creative’ I call ‘cockoo.’

    Show me a woman like Moira Kelly and I’ll show you something to celebrate.

    If Gina Reinhard had 2865 dresses and 265 pairs of shoes, which she doesn’t, would that make her the toast of the town? Is conspicuous consumerism more acceptable than a woman who employs thousands and works 18 hours a day? Rhetorical questions. I already know the answers.

     
  8. sherbie August 10, 2012 Reply
     
     

    Oh please, lighten up a little, Mez. The world would be a truly boring place if there were not eccentrics to brighten little corners of it. There are a lot of great and good people in the world and we could all mount our arguments.
    I always got a chuckle when I saw a picture of Anna – I never wanted to dress like her – but I liked her devil may care attitude Just as I’ll always have a giggle at what Lady GaGa is wearing, even if I don’t want to listen to her music. Life’s too short – Embrace the Eccentric!!

     
  9. Sharyn August 11, 2012 Reply
     
     

    Great article. I’ve seen photos of Anna over the years but never knew a great deal about her. I love how she just did what she wanted anyway. She was authentically herself it seems. I don’t have a stash of clothes for my old age but I want a Lily Munster white streak that I couldn’t pull off in my younger years as a goth due to my career. RIP fabulously Anna!

     
  10. Lou August 11, 2012 Reply
     
     

    I would love to have the “gusto” to be my true true self…I love her…totally eccentric..wonderfully creative..beautiful woman…too many “stiffs” in the world….too many judgmental ignorant people who are sooooo boring !!!

     
  11. Rivka August 13, 2012 Reply
     
     

    thanks Lee, she is my sartorial role model
    Rivka

     

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  • Will Marshall: Why do I get the impression that John Jay is either a fan of or an agent for the Westboro Baptist 'church'?

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