Saturday, September 6, 2008

Bob Dylan in Houndstooth

I don't display perfume bottles until they are empty. While removing the metal cap and plastic tubing, I finally noticed the houndstooth design on the bottom of the Miss Dior Cherie Bottle.
I used this perfume all summer and never noticed the pattern etched on bottom of the bottle.





I've wanted to do a post on the sculptors who design perfume bottles for awhile, but the pattern got me thinking about clothing designers who also decide to make perfumes. Some, like Dior and Chanel, create classics and some use the cheapest chemicals possible to make a fast buck.

And seeing the houndstooth pattern made me think about Dylan's transformation from his old Folksinger clothing to Mod suits. It wasn't a shocking, sudden transformation, but over a five year period he goes from shabby to sharp, from hobo to hipster. Still some people are offended by the changes in his musical and personal style and hate him for it.

On May 17, 1966, Bob Dylan stands on an English stage, wearing a fitted houndstooth suit and pointed boots in front of a 5 piece band with his fender stratocaster, playing rock and roll. There are boos and catcalls from the audience, as some feel he has sold out by "going electric" and finally, just before the last number, someone in the audience screams "Judas!" at him.

Sometimes I think even the 'very resistant to change' are transformed, even if it is only a slight change of thought, or for some, maybe not much more than a new haircut. But I can't imagine anyone wanting to be the same person they were a decade ago.


"A worried man with a worried mind
No one in front of me and nothing behind
There's a woman on my lap and she's drinking champagne
Got white skin, got assassin's eyes
I'm looking up into the sapphire tinted skies
I'm well dressed, waiting on the last train
Standing on the gallows with my head in a noose
Any minute now I'm expecting all hell to break loose
People are crazy and times are strange
I'm locked in tight, I'm out of range
I used to care, but things have changed."
--Bob Dylan