Glorious anthropomorphic chess print blouse. Sized large. Brilliant late 50s (possibly early 60s) chess themed novelty. I just love how the checkerboard is there grounding the pieces and optically rendered in space, transforming the board into harlequin moments. I love the king's waxed mustache and the queen's primly pursed lips. The smug bishop, and Gaudi inspired rooks capped with tents flying flags and the knight's gritty horses seemingly missing a layer of skin: all are irresistible. The use of color is truly expert. Though the whole rainbow is marshaled here, colors that aggravate each other are kept far enough apart.

I want this bad. I want this with a greedy and irrational desire. But the truth of the matter is that I have about 4 times more clothing than I need and I've already got a chess piece blouse. Not quite as trippy as this one, perhaps, but close enough, certainly. And here's the proof.

















The tendrils and the leaves are truly distracting from the chess pieces on my blouse. This is true and I must face it. Until you see the horse-faced knight and the flag flying on the rook, it's not entirely clear this is a chess print. The blue and lavender used throughout also turns the volume way down (while the multi-colored chess print above definitely turns the volume way up). No one seems to notice the chess pieces except me. And alas, this blouse doesn't really fit me well, and it is made of some tough unbreathable rayon so it is in low rotation. And I paid far too much for it. But from the instant I saw it on a mannequin in the window of a somewhat spendy vintage shop, well, it was love.

I love the pouting bishop who can't look anyone in the eyes. I love the feminine and almost indistinguishable King and Queen. The slightly open-mouthed knight and the rotund rook. I love the cross hatching and scribbling on the leaves.

I hope these photos are viewable. I must apologize. Photographing fabric in a cluttered apartment that gets zero natural light is a challenge. But I am hoping to take some decent photos of my entire Polyester Museum of Art collection and post them here little by little. I'd like to document some of the more interesting prints that I have, and cut down on this depraved concupiscence of mine for more (and more!) novelty prints. Sometimes looking at gorgeous, unusual prints is just too tempting.