Category: Style & Fashion

February 8, 2015

“Fabuloso” Fortuny

A Pleated Silk Gown & the Making of the Modern Women

Delphos dress, Mariano Fortuny, 1909. Purple silk satin.Detail of a Fortuny “Delphos” Gown, probably around 1920

At the beginning of the 20th century, when most women’s fashion was still dictated by the corset, Mariano Fortuny created the “Delphos” gown – described by Marcel Proust as “faithfully antique and markedly original.”  Inspired by, and named after, a classical Greek statue, the Charioteer of Delphi,  the unstructured dress clung sensuously to the body, daringly revealing the wearer’s shape…These dresses became all the rage! Below on this post you will find “create the look for less”.

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February 6, 2015

Feline Elegance

The Lady & her Cat…

“The term “Cat Lady” can evoke the image of an unfashionable, unkempt, and slightly unhinged spinster hoarding multiple cats. The book “Cat Lady Chic” by Diane Lovejoy serves as the antidote to this unflattering point of view, celebrating the Cat Lady with a compilation of artful, playful, and sophisticated images of some of the most renowned, beautiful, and accomplished women in modern history with the cats they love”.

BlackCatModel Mary Jane Russel with black cat – photograph by Louise Dahl-Wolf

This is the amusing description of the book “Cat Lady Chic“. Much is written about the attraction between women and cats, a subject often looked upon with great suspicion by those who do not understand it.

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February 4, 2015

“Ibelepeebees” & Other Animals

A passion for all things “Steiff”

One of the first words I ever uttered at 2 years old was “Ibelepeebee” (ee-buh-la-pee-bee) while pointing to a baby giraffe in the African bush… What it meant, I can only surmise… I probably referred to its endless, seemingly fragile, skinny legs and beautiful gentle eyes with enormous lashes.

babyGiraffePhotograph by BoredPanda

My mother immediately ordered an addition to my stuffed animal collection: a giraffe…only a German made “Steiff” animal would do and she was right, they still sleep on my bed and are loyal companions in my dream life. My original word “Ibelepeebee” is now also code amongst my lady friends if we spot an interesting man, so beware!

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February 2, 2015

Swinging Safari…

Black & White : The Glamour of Zebra Print

My mother had a “fundi” (handy fellow) in Narobi who would make handbags to her own design, in leather and exotic hides, not PC, I know, but those were the days. She designed two “groovy” mini bags in zebra hide with long straps for my sister and I. We wore them “to death”; they had literally shed all their hairs…In fashion, coats seem somehow the best option for zebra print. Below this post some zebra accessories in “create the look for less”.

ZebraNowModel Claudia Shiffer in a recent version of a zebra print coat

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January 30, 2015

Arts & Crafts

Appliqué, Patchwork, Embroidery & other Embellishments in Fashion

I have an eclectic collection of fashion photography that I stick on my mood board and enjoy watching all the time, sometimes for the beauty of the garment or the atmosphere the photograph conjures up. I also collect “fashion stories” about women that inspire me. One woman who embodies eclectic taste in fashion is Gloria Vanderbilt, a New York socialite, who had a very successful jeans brand in the 1970’s and is an accomplished painter too.

gvb3Patchwork Queen! Photograph by Horst P. Horst 1975

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