I find it interesting (and very sad) how Karen's look and demeanor changed from her early career to her anorexic years. In the early days, she was somewhat tomboyish. She was kind of hunched over when playing the drums at times. Her hairstyle was lacking, flat. Her clothing a little old-fashioned. There were no manicures.
Then she started curling up her hair and getting the manicures in 1972 or so and appearing a little more feminine. I thought she looked very cute when performing at the Nixon White House. Somewhere in early '74, she started to hone in on her style. She dropped the high collar 'granny' dresses. She started to wear low cut and backless outfits.
Somewhere in mid-74 was when the anorexia started. She still looked healthy but the obsessiveness started to take hold. By the end of 1974 when the Perry Cuomo special aired, she looked very slim. This was probably her perfect weight if she could have held that. Of course she kept on going. Then went to super thin in '75 and '76.
In their Osaka concert on YouTube in 1976, she was wearing strapless gowns with her arms and back exposed. She looked completely different than in the 1974 tour. She was all bones. She seemed to lose weight the fastest from the top than bottom which I'm sure was frustrating (I can relate). When you contrast that concert to their 1974 Budakon concert, the transformation is night and day. It's like there is a different Karen. I just don't sense that carefree Karen anymore. To me, it is a different person.
She always had the cheery disposition, but it's hard to look past the obsessiveness that overtook her. From there, you see her bounce around in appearance. She looked fine in the 1976 Carpenters TV special. Even the 1977 Space Encounters and Christmas shows were good. 1978/79 she was back to being too thin. On the Bruce Forsythe special at the end 1978, she looked very gaunt.
She got way too thin towards the end of the solo album (presumably after she returned home for a break and didn't get a warm reception from her family over the album). When she got married in 1980 she looked wonderful. Then of course the tragedy of the failed marriage really did her in and then it was bascially over.
It makes me very sad to see that 9 year progression. There were years or months of her looking healthy but for the most part anorexia was truly a virus that got into Karen's head and took her over. I revel in her beauty from early in 1974. For me, that was her peak. She looked gorgeous in the Japan and Holland concerts of that year. She appears confident and happy. But bubbling underneath as the seed of the obsession that cost Karen her life.
Thank you for these wonderful posts, it sounds like you have read many sides to Karen's story (as I have). You kind of figure out what is more true, and what is less accurate when you start to piece it together.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comment
DeleteI'm so glad to have found your blog. Believe me, you aren't the only one out there who is dissecting Karen's life story, she is simply one of the most intriguing and complex people I have ever come across, and her charm and persona just transcends time and continues to enrapture people 30 years after her passing. I find your thoughts very well-constructed, and thoroughly enjoy reading your opinions about her.
ReplyDeleteIt hurts sometimes, thinking about Karen. It hurts because I want her back so badly. Watching all her Youtube videos and viewing her pictures, you just can't believe why someone as special as this can't be around anymore. You could say I'm Karen-obsessed, but she truly was a unique person.
xoxo, an 18-year-old Asian girl <3
I can relate. It really is hard to believe that she is gone. She seemed like a lovely person.
DeleteI liked Karen in her '74 to '76 appearance. Yes she was on the thin side from '75, but it looked like a healthy thin. I love her look in the Only Yesterday video (film?). And the '76 TV special she looks a tad thinner but still pretty and her hair was still long and thick. In '78 on the Johnny Carson Show appearance, you can really see the disease kicking in, she's very thin and unhealthy looking here. One things for sure, as thin and unhealthy as Karen became, it never affected her voice. It was always beautiful ---- probably right up to the day she left us.
ReplyDelete