Photos by Drew
American Pickers is a favorite show of mine, though sometimes I think I like it mostly because the guys are located in Iowa, and all the scenes of their white van driving on very very flat roads through cornfields reminds me of where I grew up in Illinois. I like the antique hunting aspect of it too though. I imagine that all those sorts of treasure hunting shows are staged to an extent, but American Pickers always seems a bit less so, and it’s always fun to see what crazy old hoarders in the country have stored away in their barns.
The season premiere was on the other night and it was all about the Pickers’ trip to Tennessee and their hunt for a store building in Nashville, and it made me remember that I had a bunch of pictures from a trip we took there a few months ago. When Drew and I were with my mom at the Loveless Cafe we started talking about American Pickers, and my mom told us that one of the guys, Mike (the excitable one), supposedly has a house around Leiper’s Fork now and that Antique Archaeology opened up a store in Nashville. So as soon as we finished our biscuits we went to see it.
The store is inside an old brick car factory from the 1900s, and since we happened to go on a weekend it was pretty packed with tourists buying t-shirts and show souvenirs. But there were lots of antiques for sale too, including things we’d seen on the show (that Hopalong Cassidy sweater made an appearance on the latest episode). Some of it expensive, some of it not; I didn’t buy anything but I imagine that if I lived nearby I’d be going there a lot just to see what made it in from my favorite episodes.
Our models this season at Silent Sundays also happen to be photography stars. I first saw twin sisters Amanda and Kate Pulley’s photos online years ago and was really blown away by them–I love the photos’ muted colors and rural Tennessee backdrops, but mostly I love the fact that most of them are shot using old film cameras. It was a lot of fun to get to work with models who are used to being on both sides of the camera and who have a real passion for photography—during photoshoot breaks they would take out their cameras and take behind-the-scenes pictures that captured the spirit of the old ’20s greenhouse so perfectly.
Their photos are just too good not to show, and when Kate and Amanda agreed to model for us I jumped at the chance to be able to do a little feature on them . . .
1. How would you both describe yourselves and what you do?
Amanda: Oh dear, I am terrible at answering this question! Well… I guess I’m still trying to figure this all out. I can say with certainty that I’ve picked up a love for fashion and photography somewhere along this journey of life! :’)
Kate: This is that question that everyone has to answer, but doesn’t know how to. Or… hopefully it’s not just me. (Job interviews, anyone?) I keep using the word “demure” to describe myself, even though I really don’t want that particular word to define me. I’m not a born-optimist, but I see so much beauty in nature, which is what nearly all of my photographs involve. My clothing style usually involves inspiration from nature, as well. (I love florals, forest colors, anything blatantly resembling plants… Currently loving little foxes or star prints in clothing/accessories.) Taking pictures is almost subconcious, it’s so normal. I don’t even give any recognition to how second-natured it is to me. But It’s rewarding in many senses.
2. How did you both get into photography (and the online photography world)?
Amanda: As long as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by cameras. Mainly how an object could capture a still in time, able to be held and kept. It wasn’t until Kate got her Polaroid camera and joined a site called Flickr that I really became interested in photography. I loved her photos and how much fun it looked to set up each shot just right, as well as the idea that she was able to share them within a community of artists that were interested in the same art form. Flickr is full of such talented artists, endless inspiration and the idea that I can share my art with them was and is very exciting!
Kate: I’ve always been interested in photography, in one way or another. I guess most kids get kind of fascinated with cameras at some point. I was particularly amazed by intsant photography. At age fifteen, I went over to a Target and bought a giant, plastic, unauthentic Polaroid camera, against my parent’s suggestions. (They said film was a waste of money!) Quickly I learned there is nothing like a real, old, Polaroid camera. Or any manual film camera, really. My photos and style have grown with me. I found flickr.com, where my photos are mainly kept, when browsing around friend’s links. Probably on myspace. I don’t really even remember! I just got inspired and joined the site a couple months before I actually began shooting for it.
3. One thing that both of you and I have in common is that we’re all southern transplants who are originally from the midwest. Does living in the south inspire you and your work in any particular ways?
Amanda: Well, Tennessee is a beautiful place! Other than that fact, I wouldn’t say it inspires me in any particular way. I become most inspired when I’m in a new place, full of unexplored territory.
Kate: Amanda and I grew up in Tennessee from ages 2-13 and 17-now, living most of the year in Indiana, during the in-between gaps. With all the going back and forth, I’ve definitely learned to appreciate where I live in comparison to where I lived in the North. And I am definitely inspired by the beauty of what I know of the South. However, I think I began photographing as an outlet, back when I was away from here. As a way to find beauty anywhere.
4. Any favorite fashion films, books, or magazines?
Amanda: Honestly, I don’t look too much into any of those. I’ll occasionally run into a fashion magazine or book to swoon over (usually the ones depicting gorgeous ladies from years ago wearing the best vintage clothing that I will never be able to obtain– all the more reason to swoon) , but I’m not really good at keeping up with these things.
Kate: I wish I had a better answer, but I don’t actually delve too much into the fashion world. It’s all personal style, really. Every once in a while I enjoy browsing, whatever I come across, fashion-wise.
5. Do you have a favorite fashion era or decade?
Amanda: It changes all the time, usually with each season. Now I’d say I’m a bit more into 90s styles… wool plaid skirts, with tights, and cropped sweaters. As always, I like to mix styles from different decades, like throwing in a pair of 50s style saddle shoes with an outfit that is otherwise pretty 90s in style.
Kate: It changes with seasons, but I love anything between the 1920′s-’70s, depending on the item. I think, in vintage-searching for myself, I tend to gravitate towards ’40s and ’60s styles the most. And a little bit of ’90s. The shapes must fit me better.
6. What is on your fashion wishlist for fall?
Amanda: Lots of wool and velvet! I’m loving floppy felt hats, plaids, chunky wool knit scarves, capes, saddle shoes, cropped sweaters, mid-length skirts, sweaters in the color of pumpkins, silk dresses, polka dots,70s style clog heels, knee socks, blue velvet, olive green, caramel brown, rust red, anything reminding me of what will be consumed on Thanksgiving!
Kate: I would love a good duffle coat (like this one from ASOS), some pull-over sweaters (I’ve kind of been liking the elbow patch trend), cozy cardigans, dresses with sleeves… Uh… anything from Madewell. Oddly enough, I haven’t much wishlist backup. (Now that I have the Secret Squirrel Gertrude Jekyll button down, I’d been coveting!) I’d ilke a few little quirky accessories, perhaps.
Photo credits: 1. Behind the scenes Silent Sundays lookbook shoot photos by Amanda and Kate. . . . . . . . . . . 2. More behind the scenes, shot by Kate . . . . . . . . 3. Photo by Amanda . . . . . . .. . . . . 4. Kate, photographed by Amanda . . . . . . . . . . 5. Secret Squirrel’s Gertrude Jekyll Shirt and ASOS Duffle Coat . . . . . .. . . . 6. Amanda, by Kate.
This last Saturday was my birthday, and as a birthday wish I didn’t take a single blog picture (wonderful), even though maybe I should have since it was a pretty great holiday weekend. We started out Thanksgiving morning, getting up bright and early while the parades were on tv, getting coffee and driving north to Charlotte to see Drew’s family. His grandparents and aunt and uncle live there, and we got together with his parents and had a Thanksgiving feast in a big log cabin by the lake that reminded me of another North Carolina log cabin my family and I used to spend Christmases in long, long ago.
The next day we picked up some birthday cupcakes at Dean & Deluca (carrot for Drew and chocolate for me, of course) and went to meet Drew’s parents at this wonderful little town called Waxhaw. We had lunch and then walked around the downtown, which is full of brick storefronts and antique stores. Supposedly Andrew Jackson was born nearby, so next time we’re in Charlotte I might have to go back.
My birthday weekend was lazy and good—lots of reading and resting. Running on Saturday when it was 70 degrees out (!) and then being crazy enough to brave the mall (it was funny). We had sushi on Friday night and Korean tacos on Saturday, and I watched history programs on tv.
I tried not to dwell on the age thing. Turning 31 wasn’t as hard as turning 30—not nearly as scary, and I’m finding that being in your 30s isn’t all that bad. When you’re in your 30s you can get away with things like spending your Saturday nights watching history lectures about FDR on C-SPAN, and no one really bats an eye if you tell them your favorite hobbies are reading and baking. It’s ok. For me the hardest part about 31 is dressing like it—over the last year I’ve tried to tone down some of the cutesier things I used to wear, tried to go more simple. Sometimes I wish I could empty out most of my closet and just start over. If I did I’d probably get a bunch of things from the French label Gat Rimon, which I found out about while browsing Founders and Followers this weekend. I love how simple the clothes are while still remaining pretty—neutral colors, silks, art deco style collars and ’50s shapes that hint at the past without ever screaming retro. Pretty and grownup at the same time.
Photos by Drew
Dress: Secret Squirrel
Shoes: Madewell
Sunglasses: Karen Walker
Bag: Etsy
We ended up going to Hearst Castle again even though we went there last year. It’s honestly one of my favorite places on earth, and we’ve vowed that every time we go to California we’re going to go to Hearst Castle until we go on all the tours you can possibly go on (there are only 2 left, so here’s hoping they add more). Last time we went on the upstairs suites tour so we could see Marion Davies’ room, so this time we got around to seeing the main grand rooms tour, which is kind of a backwards way of seeing things, but I’m glad we did it that way because the suites are probably a better first impression. More modest, less in-your-face grand . . .
Not that I didn’t love it all. It was great to finally get the chance to see the main rooms I’d read about in Anita Loos memoirs and Marion Davies autobiographies . . . the assembly room with its priceless paintings and rugs and wall hangings (for some reason I thought it would be huge and bare like the one in Citizen Kane’s Xanadu, but it was the opposite—so packed with expensive, musty old things that the room felt claustrophobic and much smaller than it was), the dining room with its long table where Hollywood stars would gather round , including Louise Brooks, who would sit at the end with Marion’s wild niece Pepi Lederer, drinking smuggled-in alcohol when W.R. wasn’t looking.
There was a billiard room too, but my favorite room we saw this time was the theater, where William Randolph Hearst and his friends would go after dinner to watch movies (including a lot of Marion Davies ones—I wonder how awkward it was for her to have to sit through them). The guide had us all sit down, and we watched a short montage of old film footage from the ’20s and ’30s, and there were quick glimpses of movie stars like Marion Davies and John Gilbert and Dolores del Rio and Charlie Chaplin, and I could have sat there for hours. Only you can’t, because then the tour is over and they direct you outside to go walk the grounds for as long as you want, which is amazing in itself. The last time we went we took the last tour of the day and didn’t get to walk around much, but this time we walked around for an hour, looking at all the cottages we didn’t see the last time, through all the gardens. Then we went to the tennis court and indoor pool, and the outdoor one, which might be the prettiest thing on the entire site.
Honestly I think the outside of Hearst Castle is prettier than the inside. The Spanish style of the building makes it look like the ’20s Californian building it really is, and the gardens and little buildings around it are bright and cheerful. The inside can be dark and dreary and so much like a museum that you could see why visitors from Hollywood would want to smuggle in alcohol and break rules.
During the tour I couldn’t help but wish that there could be a special one for people like me who care more about what famous people visited in the ’20s and ’30s than about W.R.’s art collection. I want to know where Joan Crawford slept and what minor scandals took place there. I want to see photos of the famous costume parties and hear about Greta Garbo’s camping trips there (or her visit in general, because I’m sure they were awkward). Mostly I want to hear about Marion Davies, who seems to be kind of a taboo subject, because our guide only mentioned her once in passing (probably has something to do with the Hearst family’s involvement with the place, but still . . .). If the guide talked about any stars at all it was Charlie Chaplin, and there are only so many stories you can take about him.
So basically if Hearst Castle started up a Hollywood star themed tour I’d find a way to get back out there as soon as I could. As it is I’ll probably just wait a few years until we’re in California again, and I can get Drew to go on the nighttime tour, because that one sounds pretty great too. . .
1. 1990s Dooney & Bourke Drawstring Bag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. 1990s Grey Wool Angela Sweater.
3. Black Velvet Evelyn Dress . . . . . . . . . . 4. 1990s Floral Vera Dress . . . . . . . . . . 5. Blue Paisley Nora Skirt . . . . . . . . 6. Navy Starina Maxi Dress.
7. Navy Corduroy Mini Skirt . . . . . . . . . 8. Pendleton Navy Mary Blazer . . . . . . . . . 9. Denim Natalie Mini Skirt . . . . . . . . 10. 1960s L’Aiglon Day Dress. Photos: Jamie Hopper. Models: Amanda and Kate Pulley.
