Sunday, August 24, 2008

PROJECT RUNWAY AND BETTIE PAGE (AND CANIFF!)

Ok, let's get that out of the way. Yes, I watch Project Runway with my wife, and not because she cajoles me or anything. It's a good show, even if your a straight man (p.s., I also like Kathy Griffin). An added bonus for watching this season is that one of the contestants, Kenley Collins, reminds me so much of '50s pin-up sensation Bettie Page. In Collins' audition video for 'Project Runway', she mentions that she's the granddaughter of a '40s calendar girl and we see a picture in the background, but it doesn't look like Page and I don't think Page had any children. The resemblance just knocks me out, aided by Collins' affinity for post-WWII era fashion accoutrements (click the arrow thingy in the upper-right hand corner of the Acrobat box to enlarge).


Readers may recall that I named Bettie Page Rules by Jim Silke one of my top 10 books of 2007. Now I see that Dark Horse has released a Bettie Page art portfolio by Silke. As an added bonus for Milton Caniff fans, Silke draws Page as two of Caniff's most famous characters - Miss Lace and the Dragon Lady (note the Caniff backgrounds!).

4 comments:

lawroark said...

Don't you think your Betty Page look-alike is shaping up to the the season's backstabbing villain?

Matt Tauber said...

Lust has blinded me to any of her shortcomings.

Matt Tauber said...

Actual e-mail response from Kenley herself!!

Thanks for the great article! Im very flattered. My grandmother is not Betty Page, although she did look ALOT like her and I look alot like my grandmother.
Keep watching!
Kenley Collins

Patti said...

Sorry it took me so long to find you. Cyberspace is way too big for me to get everywhere I need to be. ;-) Hope by now you've heard that Bettie Page left a parting gift for fans: her authorized documentary, due out during the second half of 2010. She never had any kids. And she modeled from 1950-1957. Join the fun on the film's website and Forum: http://www.bettiepagemovie.com . Hope to see ya there!