Ah, high fashion… It’s the perfect avenue for aspiring provocateurs to push the envelope as far as they possibly can, to challenge ideas of what is beautiful and wearable by sending shocking looks down the runway. Take the spring/summer 2011 show put on by German label Patrick Mohr during Berlin Fashion Week, featuring models in bald caps and glued-on facial hair. Do these extreme fashion and styling choices count as art, or are they just plain strange? You decide…
We all love democracy. It’s a good thing that the world’s kings and lords are generally ceremonial now. That having been said, the castles in this gallery are gorgeous enough to sway the most hardened democrat.
Since declaring its independence from Spain in 1810, Mexico has been through some major tectonic shifts. Reinventing itself from a Spanish colony to a federal republic, from a territory reaching deep into the American southwest to its present-day borders, the “Land of the Shaking Earth” is a country marked by revolution and change — a tradition that still haunts modern Mexican life and politics. We take a look back at Mexico in the 20th century … at what has changed and what has stayed the same.
Most of the time it’s often said that “two is better than one”. Eh, okay maybe not in this case— But see some more Two-Headed Animals here anyway…
Maybe it’s the dead glass eyes, staring right through your soul. Maybe it’s the fact that they look so lifelike … yet not. Or maybe it’s just that they’re just plain creepy. Whatever the reason, dolls can be a child’s best friend … while giving adults nightmares. Now pull up the covers and explore the world of the creepiest dolls ever … if you dare.
With summer vacation just around the corner, are you making plans to travel sometime soon? When it come to great cities to visit, there are more than a few amazing spots that routinely get overlooked. Consider these hidden gems of the American West, chosen by Katie Tamony, editor-in-chief of Sunset, the magazine of Western living.
Pictured above: “L.A.’s neighbor, Long Beach used to be thought of as a gritty port city filled with retirees and tourists visiting the Queen Mary. Now it’s vibrant,” Tamony says.
Alec Baldwin, May 12, 2010, New York University
Each May, as graduation season rolls around, college seniors find themselves pushed (or jumping) from the campus nest and into the real world. To mark the occasion, movie stars, musicians, and politicians of all stripes share their worldly wisdom with the graduating class. Here, a collection 2010’s speakers insights. (Please note: Some speakers’ advice is wiser than others.)
Who’s speaking at your graduation this year?
Have you seen our Photo’s of the Week?
Pictured Above: With President Obama scheduled to visit Moneygall, Colorado later this month, a woman removes a flag from her bedroom and readies it for display.
In a world where knowledge is power, a healthy skepticism is a trait worth cultivating. Pictures do lie — a reality that’s never been more true than in the age of Photoshop and the Internet, where anyone with even modest skills can turn fakery into a globally accepted truth in a matter of minutes. Here, pictures that were initially believed to be authentic; shocked the world when they were released; but were ultimately debunked.
Above: In this “night vision” picture, skeptics quickly pointed out several things that screamed “fake.” First, the gunshot wound is over the wrong eye. (**this image is fake)
For about 10 years, she’s been a standout in supporting roles and ensemble casts — playing Johnny Cash’s ex in Walk the Line, date-challenged Gigi in He’s Just Not That Into You, and, most famously, sunny third wife Margene in HBO’s just-wrapped polygamy drama Big Love. But with her new movie, the romantic comedy Something Borrowed (out May 6), Ginnifer Goodwin, 32, finally emerges as the marquee star. “I’ve definitely never worked so much over the course of shooting — I was in almost every single scene!” Goodwin says, calling from her home in Los Angeles on very little sleep. Being the main attraction, of course, means sticking to an unrelenting, cross-country promotional schedule — but in the days leading up to her movie’s big Hollywood premiere, Goodwin carved out some time for photographer and LIFE.com editor-at-large Jeff Vespa, inviting him inside her home and her glamorous work. Here, exclusive photos of the actress — who reveals her obsession with costar Kate Hudson’s belly, the origins of that coveted pixie haircut, and her unfiltered opinions about the questionable heroine she plays in Something Borrowed.
In perhaps the sexiest cover LIFE magazine ever published, Sophia Loren leans against a wall in sheer black lingerie during the filming of Marriage Italian Style. The photo, by her dear friend Alfred Eisenstaedt, was selected for the 1966 issue honoring the photographer’s best work, and, as Loren recalled during a recent interview with LIFE.com, he proudly displayed a giant version of it in his New York office. Of course, it’s not the only head-turning photo Loren has posed for over her career — in this gallery, check out a few others that illustrate exactly why she’s considered one of the elegantly sultry women in cinema history.
Animals Drinking Booze— for Cinco de Mayo, perhaps?
When Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Garagrin became the first man in space in April 1961, a stunned America asked, How did the Russians beat us? And more importantly: Will we ever catch up? Three weeks later, on May 5, the second question was emphatically answered when 37-year-old Alan Shepard blasted off from Cape Canaveral on his own historic flight — a feat that made the New Hampshire native the first American in space, and marked the moment the U.S. caught up to Russia in the Space Race. Here, on the 50th anniversary of Shepard’s flight, LIFE.com presents rare and never-seen photographs, the vast majority of them by LIFE’s Ralph Morse (dubbed “the 8th Mercury astronaut” by John Glenn), along with Morse’s own insights and memories of that amazing era, and those magnificent young men in their flying machines.
Of the many celebrities LIFE magazine featured in the 1950s and ’60s, Sophia Loren was a standout and a photographers’ favorite. She was the subject of seven cover stories and countless more inside spreads, always exuding supreme confidence, beauty, elegance, and a passion for la dolce vita. Those enviable qualities famously caught the eye of LIFE lensman Alfred Eisenstaedt decades ago — and today they captivate LIFE.com editor-at-large Jeff Vespa, who had the honor of photographing the actress, still stunning at 76, during her most recent stay in Los Angeles. In the States to visit her sons and to attend an Academy-hosted tribute to her career — she won the Oscar nearly 50 years ago, for her heart-wrenching turn in Two Women — Loren graciously let LIFE into her world once more…
