So much attention is being focused on men’s fashions lately, that the fashions among girls in the pop world is often forgotten. This seems somehow wrong when many of the men’s styles are influenced by women’s clothes and vice versa.
Many of the female pop personalities present some real competition to the men in the stage costumes. At the Monterey Pop Festival, MAMA’s MICHELE and CASS lost none of the spotlight with their new style of clothes.
MICHELLE wore a white floor-length robe with gold trim along the borders. The costume was reminiscent of the saris worn by the women of India. Her costume was a surprising contrast from the pants and cowboy boots she usually wears.
On stage, CASS’s usual costume is a tent-type dress and knee high boots. But for the Festival, CASS wore a campy floor-length baby-doll styled dress. CASS has always worn dresses on stage, but her off-stage dress is ninety-five percent pants and blouses and cowboy boots.
Another trend-setting female vocalist is GRACE SLICK of JEFFERSON AIRPLANE. GRACE acts on the theory that an audience likes to see something different on a performer. Therefore, to keep her stage costumes completely original, she makes them herself. She also keeps away from “typical” material and often makes her costumes out of carpet and drapery material and even upholstering fabric.
GRACE used to be a photographer’s model and modeled for an exclusive department store in San Francisco. She admits she often gets ideas from movies, but still her designs are very unique and always well-suited to her great figure.
MERILEE of the TURNABOUTS has a large and very groovy wardrobe, and like GRACE, she makes all her own costumes. You’ll seldom find MERILEE in a dress, because she adores pants suits. Still, she’s the most feminine looking girl you’ve ever seen in pants. Her fans are so crazy about her clothes that they have begun to copy the styles. As if it weren’t enough to make her own wardrobe, she makes all the stage suits for the TURNABOUTS!
Another lovely vocalist is JEANNE DAIGLE of FOURTH AND MAIN. Like GRACIE SLICK she says, “One of our biggest problems is dressing so we don’t look like part of the audience.” She, too, designs her own pants suits and her favorite fabrics are velvet and brocade. She alternates between long dresses and pants suits for her public appearances. Whatever she wears, she likes it to be unique.
No matter what the group or the style of clothes, the girls that sing with the guys are having fun keeping one step ahead of the fashion world and everyone else is having fun keeping their eyes on the beautiful ladies.
Visiting PAUL REVERE’s home in the Valley is always an adventure. The last trip found his neighbor and good friend KEITH ALLISON dropping by for the afternoon to play with PAUL’s two-and-a-half-year-old son, DARREN JAMES. KEITH grew a moustache during the summer, but plans to shave it off when he begins promotion on his new records on the Atco label.
The first time a group hears their first single record on the radio, it’s a pretty exciting moment. LEWIS AND CLARKE had planned for such an occasion. The first moment they heard “I Feel Good, I Feel Bad” over the air, BOOMER rushed to the kitchen to get out the peach cobbler he had made to celebrate the momentous event and he and TRAVIS finished it off at one sitting.
Colgems is putting a lot of backing behind the super-fantastic group. For their nation-wide tours, they’re building a special car to look exactly like a covered wagon from the olden days. It should be a fantastic thing to see, and LEWIS AND CLARKE will look very authentic in their native gear.
The SCHULTZ twins made their first public appearance in THE MONROE DOCTRINE at Pacific Ocean Park amusement park in Santa Monica. Their brother RIC is in the group and the young audience thought they sounded great.
At PHIL VOLK’s groovy home in North Hollywood, THE BROTHERHOOD sang me their new version of “Slow Down.” They think it will be their new single and if they do decide to release it, it will be a hit for sure. They also sang a song the three of them wrote together. Their original material is outasite. I can hardly wait until it’s down on record.
SUPER SCOOPS: JERRY YESTER, brother of JIM YESTER of the ASSOCIATION, replaced ZALLY in the SPOONFUL line-up . . . SONNY BONO is producing KEITH ALLISON’S new releases . . . DAVY and PETER love eating sweetened banana chips from the Philippine Islands during their breaks on the set . . . JEFFERSON AIRPLANE burns incense while playing on stage . . . MARK LINDSAY and DINO MARTIN both have new push-button phones . . . PHYLLIS NESMITH only bought one mini-dress while she was in London . . . CRAIG SMITH of the PENNY ARKADE loves driving down Mulholland Drive . . . GEORGE HARRISON spent five days in Los Angeles in August . . . MARK LINDSAY has monogrammed towels . . . GENIE THE TAILOR designed and made the ASSOCIATION’s costumes for their opening at the Coconut Grove . . . JIMI HENDRIX left the MONKEES tour after one week . . . MIKE NESMITH flew home for PHYLLIS’ birthday in July . . . PHIL VOLK just bought a light olive green XKE . . . DRAKE LEVIN bought a white Jaguar sedan . . . PETER lost two pairs of bead necklaces in a mob scene in Dallas . . . Can you dig it?—the groovy sounds of that very popular Southern California group THE RUMORS . . . PHYLLIS NESMITH’s younger sister, JOAN, who’s 13 years old is as beautiful as her older sister . . .
WHAT’S HAPPENING??? Why were MICKY DOLENZ and SAMMY JUSTE both wearing gold bands on their third finger left hand when they left New York for the rest of the tour?
