Technicolor Dreamin': The 1960's Rainbow and Beyond

by Karen Moller

Memoir of a fashion rebel born in the backwoods of Canada, who partied with avant-garde artists and the oddballs who shaped Swinging London of the sixties.

Genres: Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2006

Reviews

[L.E.Olteano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally posted at Butterfly-o-Meter Books on Sept 27 2011:

I will admit I came into reading this book rather guarded. It’s a really bad habit of mine, but I’m easily influenced by covers in my reading-mood. Don’t get me wrong, I can like the book and dislike the cover, and if I dislike the cover, sadly the book will have do very well on its own, it won’t have the benefit of some starting points to build on, it’ll have to build from scratch.
I didn’t like the cover of this book; it’s a cool cover, but it isn’t to my taste. Looking at it makes my eyes feel color-assaulted, there, I’ve said it. Don’t hate me, ok? It’s all about freedom, so I’m free to say it. I feel it, therefore I say it. Hurrah to the many pleasures of freedom of thought, and opinion, and speech. Ok, moving on.

I was expecting this to be a memoir deal, with a little bit more…memoir in it. I’m not sure why, but me and Karen Moller didn’t connect. And what drove us even further apart was the spice of the book, the human sides of artists and writers, from the point of view of someone who actually got to know them. In this I will confess to have a strange aversion toward the biographical details of creators; it’s my very own opinion, of course, people are generally fascinated with getting to know the person behind the myth, so to speak. I think it’s a bad idea, and I hated it ever since I was in 5th grade, and we made these biographical notes of every writer we ever studied in Literature. I’m not going to elaborate on that, but I will tell you that I almost physically cringe whenever a book or movie starts telling me about the person X when I know and remotely like the creator X. I don’t care what the person creates, whatever they do, I’m really not interested in their private lives. I’m not interested in singers/actors/painters/writers lives, just in their art. It’s perhaps cruel of me to think so, but their private lives are for them to know, for their friends to know, for their families to know. As long as I’m not part of their lives, I don’t really care about finding out details or aspects of them.

So what happened here was that a lot of time while I was reading this, I was cringing. There weren’t details about creative people’s lives, well except the main character’s of course, but I have a very low tolerance for any amount of such info. I actually think that I would have enjoyed the book a lot more if it would have focused a lot more on the main character, and less on the rest of the world, no matter how bohemian or intriguing it may seem.

I enjoyed a lot more the beginning of the book then the rest of it, and the latter part of it, really. It was entertaining, because the writing is really nice, and people and events depicted are of the interesting variety, and there were some really intellectually enjoyable ideas all over the place, but they gave me this sort of sterile pleasure; I didn’t really feel it that much.
I will add that during the read I didn’t at any point feel tempted to drop it. It has this je ne sais quoi, a charm all of its own, somehow regardless of much of the content, which seems sort of odd I guess. But it’s how I feel, so…

It’s a good book, but a bad match for me. So I’d say try it out for yourself, I’m the rare sort of person really, so you might love it to bits.

[Mayra · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're interested in the private lives of people who make the fashion world, how they started and how they got to the top, you might want to pick up a copy of Karen Moller's memoir, Technicolor Dreamin': The 1960's Rainbow and Beyond.

In her fresh and engaging voice, award-winning fashion designer and consultant Moller takes us on a trip through time, from the moment she was a rebel, restless, idealistic teen in rural Canada and decided to leave home and hitchhike to pursue her dreams, to witnessing and experiencing the counter-culture revolution of the 60s and 70s, to San Francisco, New York, London and Paris and working with such celebrities as Allen Ginsberg, Andy Warhol, and The Beatles, to the creation of her successful fashion consulting firm, Trend Union, in 1985.

The memoir starts in present time with Moller having a conversation with her young niece Adele, who wants to postpone her university education in order to travel and see the world. Moller advises her to read a copy of Kerouac's On the Road, a book that she read back in the 50s and that had an immense influence on her outlook on life. The book offered young Moller courage in her pursue of creative freedom and encouraged her to hitchhiked her way to San Francisco.

“Kerouac had seemed like some kind of God, a sort of prophet sent to liberate us from the conformist middle class lives we were being programmed to live,” writes Moller.

Moller talks about her childhood, dealing with a mother who had no time for a girl and a father who was irrational, self centered and insensitive. Moller’s dreams and creativity made her different in the eyes of her family. “I became a family joke,” she writes.

It wasn’t easy. She had to work herself through school and at times had little food to eat. But she persevered, and her talent and persistence eventually took her from San Francisco to New York to London, during which time she met and worked with many famous people. At the time, London was in the midst of a cultural revolution. The anti-war movement was at full swing and the city was alive with avant-garde art galleries and art centers. It was here that Moller started designing and printing her colorful textiles. She later moved to Paris, where she opened Trend Union.

Full of interesting anecdotes, the memoir is well written and offers an exciting and colorful glimpse into the world of fashion during the hippie revolution. Moller has a light and lively writing style that makes the reading experience engaging. The book is inspirational and proves that dreams can come true if we focus on what we love, work hard, don’t give up, and reach for the stars.

[The Pen & Muse]

Moller speaks with a voice from the past into the future and has given us as readers a personal and critical history of the counter culture from the 1960′s and beyond. Moller speaks about San Franscisco, New York, to Paris and London. From there she goes onto describe in great detail about the feminist revolution and the fashion of the time. Some of which has made its way back to us. Reading this book for me was like going back in time into someone’s head and reliving it all. I really enjoyed the book. The book is charming, witty with some personal humor, but nonetheless refreshing. Moller is a delightful artist and designer who dazzles us with her recollection and her life. Those who love reading about the past and memoirs will enjoy this book!

[Edie Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although the writing isn’t particularly eloquent (it’s adequate enough to say what needs to said), Karen Moller’s life is a work of art.

Her story begins at the end of the fifties, as the author flees rural Canada to join the Beats in San Francisco. As time goes on she passes from one interesting scene to another, meeting a slew of famous creative artists along the way. She struggles to find acceptance as a rebellious woman, something her so-called free thinking male companions take for granted.

But whether she’s in bars with beatnik artists in New York, taking part in hippie happenings in London, on the barricades in Paris during the student riots, or partying at Studio 54, Karen keeps her talent and sincerity intact. She goes from selling innovative street fashions in the sixties to providing her original textiles to upmarket designers around the world.

Eventually Karen becomes a professional trend predictor. This made total sense as she instinctively gravitates towards everything new and exciting.

Reading this book enables you to live through and understand decades of crazy times guided by an amiable eye witness.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won an authored autographed copy through a Goodreads Giveaway. An intimate perspective of the 1960s and beyond. Fashion, music, art, female power, determination, relationships, it's all in this book. The book is a glimpse into what it truly was like for a woman to make it without a male figure financially backing her.