sunshine came softly through my a-window today

Even though my wardrobe is more befitting the fall and winter months, I can't help but adore summer. The lovely warmth of the summer sun gets me every time. Summer makes me think of picnics in the park, flowers in your hair, road trips, amusement parks, shopping sprees, and lazy days at the beach. I am stuck indoors today due to a freak thunderstorm, but these pictures help me keep my summer state of mind.

i'm the fox you've been waiting for

I have a problem - I've developed an all-consuming addiction to the dreamy, earthy beauty of the seventies. Not to say that I haven't always had a large spot in my heart reserved for this ethereal era - Picnic at Hanging Rock, Sofia Coppola's ode to The Virgin Suicides, memoirs of Buell and des Barres, and the photography of Sarah Moon and David Hamilton all come to mind when I think about the sweet seventies. I now have another film to add to my mental collection of inspirations: Foxes.

The film follows the lives of four Los Angeles teenage girls during the late 1970s. With no discernible adult influence in their lives, the girls teeter on the line between youth and their own naivete during this age of decadence. In the world of the Foxes, there is no such thing as a functional family.

The films stars the fantastically talented Jodie Foster (at her most beautiful, right before enrolling at Yale and taking a hiatus from acting) as Jeanie, the mother-hen of the group who takes cares of her best friends during their many troubles. There is Madge (Marilyn Kagan), the nerdy, repressed virgin of the group, whose wild brown hair and thick, oversized glasses make her look like a cross between Carol Seaver and Stella from the Polanski flick The Tenant. With opposite troubles is Dierdre (Kandice Stroh, in one of her few acting roles), who is continually plagued by boyfriend troubles and repercussions from her own sexual curiosity. Cherie Currie plays the role of Annie, the last and most destructive of the 'foxes'. She a teenage runaway (a not-so-subtle nod to Currie's previous gig, perhaps?) who drinks, parties, and takes drugs to escape the pain that her abusive policeman father has caused her.

That is not to say that Jeanie is without her own problems. She struggles to have some semblance of a normal relationship with her own parents: a mother who is more interested in her married lover than her daughter, and a father who is barely in her life because of his job as a tour manager for the glam band Angel. To forget about their troubles, the girls all like to cut loose and have fun in whatever way they can. While all the girls love to go out and party, Annie always takes it one step further than the rest and puts her safety and health in danger. She has a magnetic quality about her, one that causes everyone in her life to be drawn to her despite how many times she upsets them or hurts herself. The rough-yet-vulnerable portrayal by Cherie Currie is fascinating to watch, and makes me wish that she was given more opportunities to act in mainstream motion pictures.

A great big credit to Le Souffle au Coeur for so many wonderful screencaps from the film

five foot something cherry bomb, she had everything going on

As one of the children spawned by the women's movement generation, as well as the female empowerment sentiment of Spice Girls, I am a sucker for all things girl power. Yes, I do own the first and second Charlie's Angels, as well as Legally Blonde 1 and 2. And yes, I did go to see Whip It! the first chance I could. Which is why I can barely hold my horses for the March 19th release of The Runaways. With equal parts girl power AND seventies rock and roll, this movie was pretty much made for me.

The film tells the rise and fall of one of the first all-chick rock band the Runaways, from being rebel kids in Los Angeles to rock goddesses performing their jailbait anthem "Cherry Bomb" on stages across the world. The film focuses on the friendship between the lead singer Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning, all grown up) and the lead guitarist Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart, with a mullet and without her vampire), as they deal with insane tours, controlling managers, and making the music they love. The girls become as iconic as their band's music - Jett becomes the badass black leather-and-mullet-wearing rock'n roll pure heart, and Currie becomes the resident jailbait sex kitten - a Bowie-Bardot hybrid in a corset and fishnets.

The Runaways' story is interesting because of the decadent time period - a post-hippie, pre-heavy world that thought itself wild (and was!) but was innocent to the future (AIDS, etc.). The fact that they were still teenage girls when they were thrust into the world of sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll is remarkable, and it is easy to see how the band fell under the resident Svengali of Kim Fowley, legendary music impresario who crafts the Runaways' image to make them into a smash hit, no matter how bruised or battered the girls get along the way.

If The Runaways turns out to be anything like Satisfaction! or Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains, I will be a very happy girl. I feel like this film could initiate a revival in late-seventies, post-glam pre-grunge awesomeness in the way that girls dress. Joan's uniform of leather pants and faded rock tees with slept-in eyeliner is still working on her over 30 years later, and Cherie's femme fatale looks could easily be channeled to today's wardrobe. It doesn't matter if you just wear a little something that is Runaways-approved, like beat-up black Chuck Taylors or studded dog collar jewelry, as long as you keep that rock'n roll spirit alive. I know that I'm already breaking out my black leather jacket, platform boots and black makeup in preparation.