Betsey Johnson

The older and uglier I get the more I'm looking for a way out. How to retain my inner Hello Kitty. My Christmas Shopping expedition today brought me the answer. It's Betsey Johnson. I never really "got" her until today when I was looking for a drab white scarf and ended up with a pair of multi color mittens with strings and charms sewn on.

Betsey Johnson is a fashion designer most often described as "whimsical" and "fun." As I'm plowing through the Mall it was eating me up wondering what such a woman's Saturn would look like because from the clothes she designs it looks like she's never heard of that Planet. If Dr. Suess had been a fashion designer he would have been Betsey Johnson. Geez, I had to know....

Betsey Johnson
b. Aug. 10, 1942 Wethersfield, Connecticut

Sun 18 Leo; Moon Cancer or Leo; NN 5 Virgo

Sun in Leo, perhaps she's even got Moon in Leo. Leo is the sign of Fun and outlandish showmanship. As a young girl Johnson studied dance and she does a cartwheel at the end of every show.

There are two stand-outs right off the bat to her chart. First is the Bundle shape. All her planets are squeezed between a trine of Uranus in Gemini and Neptune at 29 Virgo. Both of these planets disposit to Mercury in Leo. Uranus and Neptune and Mercury together is a pretty whimsical combination. The other stand-out is the fact that she has so many unaspected planets. Venus and Jupiter are both unaspected in Cancer and there's a conjunction of Sun-Mercury and Chiron that's unaspected in Leo (Ptolomaic aspects).

Saturn's placement in this chart really is very clever. I knew it had to be strongly placed as she couldn't do business without it but couldn't figure out how it completely masks its dour nature behind her other planets. Turns out it's conjunct Uranus in Gemini just within the boundary of the bundle shape. And it's squaring her Mars-North Node conjunction and disciplines the nature of these two with work ethics and organizational skills.

Johnson ventured into fashion in 1964 and became immediately successful. Just about that time, her progressed Mercury was the first progressed planet to venture out of the Trine in her Bundle shape just about that time. It also had moved into Libra, sign of fashion. She was part of the Youthquake Movement of the 60s along with Andy Warhol. In the 70s she ran Alley Cat which was known for its Rock and Roll styles. She rose just as Uranus and Pluto were in conjunction in Virgo which were also transiting along with her Progressed Sun which was in Virgo.

Johnson was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in 1999. Her Solar Return chart for that year really stands out at her birthday is the same date as the big August 11, 1999 Eclipse/Grand Square that occurred that year between Sun-Nodes-Moon-Uranus-Mars and Saturn. She didn't tell anyone except her daughter about her condition for fear of damaging her business, sought treatment and has been an advocate ever since. Without a birth time I can't really tell, but there is a chance that she had this Eclipse"New Moon" on a natal New Moon along with a Grand Square aspect. Transits which may have helped with recovery were the trines she was having that year. Jupiter was trining her natal NN-Mars conjunction in Virgo. And this was the year that she had t.Pluto trine natal Pluto. Pluto and Moon together are often indicators of breast cancer as Moon rules the Breasts and both Moon and Pluto rule Cancer. Instead of being defeated this seems to have only helped her to become even stronger. Her shop just took over the old Ann Taylor store at the mall. That's how I found it.