A humble nod to my favourite heroines (and anti-heroines) of the 1960s, with a comprehensive list of their many skills, weapons and gadgets. Please contact me if I’ve missed anything, as this is a work in progress. 10 Agent 99 (Get Smart, 1965-70) Skills Accomplished dancer, singer, violinist and harp player;
Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, Claudia Cardinale – Italy has produced more than its fair share of voluptuous, cat-eyed bombshells. But there is one Italian beauty who often gets overlooked outside of Europe – the elegant and delightfully angular Monica Vitti. The first time I saw Vitti on film was in
The 1960s are often considered a golden age in terms of automobile innovation, performance and design. That a decade so largely defined by its struggle for civil liberties and equality should put so much energy into its cars hardly comes as a surprise. Almost since its very conception, the automobile has
I must admit, I was a bit skeptical the very first time I started watching season four of The Avengers many moons ago. Honor Blackman’s Mrs. Gale had already secured her special place inside my leather-sheathed heart, and I couldn’t imagine anyone else filling those kinky boots. I had seen plenty of photos of
The fashion boot made its first official appearance in the early 1950s. Beth and Herbert Levine began incorporating leather calf-highs into their collections as early as 1953, much to the shock and horror of the fashion world. Boots were thought of as largely utilitarian at the time, but by the
There aren’t many television characters who have rattled our imaginations the way Catherine Gale did when she made her first appearance on The Avengers in 1962. A lethal combination of brains, brawn, attitude and style, Steed’s multi-talented partner – portrayed by the beautiful and impossibly elegant Honor Blackman – is still considered
Ever since Musidora slinked across the silver screen in her black zentai in 1915, the catsuit has become somewhat of a cinema (and later television) fashion standard. Every Apache criminal, jewel thief, secret agent, masked superheroine, motorcycle badass and space cadet worth her salt seems to own a minimum of one, if not in
There have been so many wonderful Catwoman portrayals over the years. Who could forget Michelle Pfeiffer’s diamond cat eyes glinting cooly from behind her vinyl dominatrix mask back in 1992? Or Anne Hathaway’s lethal, leather-covered gams thrashing about Gotham City some twenty years later? They come and go and leave
alaleh banu 