MetaChat - Bump up the Blonde.

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01 August 2006

Bump up the Blonde. Running with Eideteker's comment in the Paris Hilton thread, what do you say we pin down the "Blonde Icons" by decade?

post by: taz at: 01:18 | 27 comments

30s - Jean Harlow. She was gorgeous and died tragically young at the age of 26.

20s - Mae Murray. It is rumoured that the character of Lina Lamont in Singin' in the Rain was modelled on Mae Murray. Her career died when the talkies arrived because her speaking voice was incompatible with her vampy image.

posted by essexjan 01 August | 01:30

I'd put Madonna in for the 90s. Blonde Ambition and all that. And Teri Garr for the 70s ;-)

posted by WolfDaddy 01 August | 01:33

Also, for criteria, I said in that thread:

Icons are globally famous (try to find a spot in the world where people don't know who Madonna is), and their images are so enduring, dramatic, and thrilling that they remain vivid long after their deaths - possibly even for centuries. Icons inspire art, cinema, literature and music. Their impact is so strong that all lesser celebrity mortals with qualities in common will forever be measured by their yardstick. (Bardot, for example, could have been the blond icon of the '50s, but for Marilyn.)

But please refine or correct this interpretation.

I've disagreed with Paris for the zips, and I think that Madonna should replace Pam Anderson for the '90s. For the '70s (hard decade!), I'd maybe go with Catherine Deneuve or Faye Dunaway... ?

Betty Grable was suggested for the '40s and I've offered up Marlene Dietrich for '30s and Greta Garbo for '20s.

Why can't we think of the right person for the '50s?

posted by taz 01 August | 01:33

Oh, wait... we do have someone for the '50s - that would be Marilyn, instead of the '60s... Right?

posted by taz 01 August | 01:35

For the 50s I would say Jayne Mansfield, Lana Turner, Kim Novak or (for the good girls)Grace Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Doris Day. Monroe was also more of a 50s blonde idol, her career was effectively over by 1961.

For the 60s - Julie Christie, Faye Dunaway, Bardot.

I would have Madonna as an 80s idol, and Pamela Anderson as the 90s one.

I am such a movie nerd

posted by essexjan 01 August | 01:35

For the 0000's, I'd have to go for Mary Magdelene.
Although technically, she wasn't a blonde. What with the lack of peroxide and the fact she was Middle Eastern. But I think she encapsulated that Blonde vibe.

posted by seanyboy 01 August | 01:47

1420s: Jeanne d'Arc!

We have a few decades to fill in. :)

posted by taz 01 August | 01:56

Dudes! Debbie Harry - 70's - all the way!

and Scarlet Johansen for the Now's! Yum.

posted by Lipstick Thespian 01 August | 02:05

1250 BC: Helen of Troy

posted by StickyCarpet 01 August | 02:05

I really like Debbie Harry for the '70s... But it's a tough patch. Bo Derek had the huge 15-minutes thing with "10", and, of course, Farrah and her hair... Urrgh. Who are we missing?

posted by taz 01 August | 02:09

guys how on earth are you missing Farrah Fawcett for the 70's???

that is all.

posted by lonefrontranger 01 August | 02:26

oops, sorry Taz, you did mention her. c'mon folks, she was pretty huge and kind of defined the whole disco era thing with Charlie's Angels and all.

posted by lonefrontranger 01 August | 02:30

I'm just not sure about how widespread her fame was/is... She was really an American TV star. That's why I'm wondering about someone like Catherine Deneuve who is an international film star, or Debbie Harry, whose music might have cast a wider net. Also, an absolutely iconic image from the '70s would be this Jody Foster.

But I'm not really sold on anyone for the '70s as much as some of the others from other decades. I do think Farrah, for sure, for the U.S., though.

posted by taz 01 August | 02:42

hey - I know! Andy Warhol was the iconic blond of the '70s!

posted by taz 01 August | 03:15

Wasn't Patti Hearst blond for a while? :)

posted by dabitch 01 August | 03:50

Wasn't everyone?

posted by dg 01 August | 03:55

I know I was!
≡ Click to see image ≡

posted by dabitch 01 August | 04:20

I vote dabitch for bunnyblonde icon!

posted by taz 01 August | 04:23

Actually, I think this question depends on the point of view you take - were they icons in their own time, or are they icons based on a historical viewpoint? In some cases, the answer would be significantly different. Debbie Harry may have been iconic during the '70s, but I don't think so from a retrospective point of view.

posted by dg 01 August | 04:33

We're talking icons, right? Okay.

1920s: Mary Pickford.
1930s: Mae West. The original bombshell.
1940s: Veronica Lake.
1950s: Grace Kelly. Without a doubt. I mean, have you seen Rear Window?
1960s: Anita Ekberg.
1970s: Farrah Fawcett.

posted by grabbingsand 01 August | 07:31

Here's my list:

20s Mary Pickford

30s Marlene Dietrich

40s Lana Turner

50s Marilyn Monroe

60s Doris Day

70s Farrah Fawcett

80s Madonna

90s Princess Diana

00s Too early to say, really... The front runners are Reese Witherspoon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Jessica Parker, Paris Hilton. Arghh. I don't know what I hope for.

And where, might I ask, is the MeCha thread about iconic redheads?

posted by Orange Swan 01 August | 07:37

Arghh. I don't know what I hope for
That someone worthy will come out of the woodwork before the decade is over?

posted by dg 01 August | 08:05

As long as it isn't either Paris Hilton, Jessica Simpson, or Anna Nicole Smith...

posted by iconomy 01 August | 08:56

Andy Warhol was bald under the wig! How about Goldie Hawn or Olivia Newton-John for the 70's? Several years ago one of my twin cousins dressed up as "Bad Sandy" from Grease for Halloween.

posted by brujita 01 August | 10:28

Several years ago one of my twin cousins dressed up as "Bad Sandy" from Grease for Halloween.

What would really be perfect is if the other twin was Good Sandy. And all the better if you have brother/sister twins.

posted by Orange Swan 01 August | 12:54

Madonna's not blonde, though.

posted by Eideteker 01 August | 13:07

The other twin was a headless zombie that year-- they're sororal (if that's not a word, then I've coined it) twins though, not identical.

posted by brujita 01 August | 15:24

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