A Man With Two Swans On His Head

Here's a little something different - still retro, and definitely kitsch (though a really fancy kind of kitsch) - but, well, not an ad. Almost a male version of a Maidenform ad: "I Dreamed I Had Two Swans On My Head in My Savile Row Tuxedo."

We don't always have to look at ads here, do we? I was going to do a coffee ad, as it happens, because I'm sitting here with my elegant instant coffee. And it inspired me to find one of those Elsie the Borden Cow ads from 1949 where Elsie and her whole family are barging in on some hapless household, mooing about Borden instant coffee.

But then a few pages on, I found this. A good fifty years before Bjork! Why "sculptor Sforzino Sforza" - say that five times fast if you can! - looks so glum, I cannot say. How can you possibly be glum with a double-swan hat on your head (please don't tell me if they are/were real swans, because that would be awful, and definitely reason to be glum).

Anyway, you'll be glad to know that this is not how he dresses to go sculpt in his studio. No, the swan-bedecked Sforzino was at a costume party in Paris. His dad, Count Sforza (sans swans) was the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Oh, and the article says he was signing the Atlantic Pact (also known as the  North Atlantic Treaty, which created NATO).

I can't quite picture the Count with two swans on his head, can you? Although it would have livened things up in Washington. Great photo op. Over here you can see him signing the Atlantic Pact. Little generation gap there, I guess.

The House of Sforza, in Milan, was one of the great ruling families of Renaissance Italy. Lots of pictures of them over at Wikipedia (lazy linking strikes again!) - not a one with anything as interesting as a swan on their heads, though.

Late Breaking Newsflash: Over at D-Listed you can see a photo of birthday girl Helena Bonham Carter with - yes! a swan on her head! Coincidence? I think NOT. But sorry, Helena, this does not mean you are being ornithologically edgy - because Sforzino has definitely got this fashion trend in the bag. Or rather, on his head.