For me it’s always a kick to wander the aisles and booths of any outdoor market.
One of a Kind Collectible Enamelled metal Pins
Here in Palm Springs you have the weekly farmers market & the village street fest which encompasses pretty much everything. Then there’s an outdoor weekend art market twice a month and on the first Sunday of every month, the Vintage market which takes place on the grounds outside the Camelot Theatres. They call it Vintage with a View. Keep in mind vintage is a broad term and there’s also a lot of garage style items which shouldn’t be there. You must have a good eye(s)!
Two years ago I discovered this market. I was with a friend from Vancouver and right off the bat with my radar in tact, I spotted a pair of vintage Pucci sandals in my size. They were a good deal and would have been a better deal had I not smashed my phone on the pavement in the excitement of my too-good-to-be-true deal while trying to find my wallet to pay for them. Anyway, my friend was excited to find a woman named Maura who has been collecting “one off” enamelled pins (or brooches) for over 30 years. All of them (mostly flowers) in excellent condition. At first I wasn’t so interested in them but watched my friend with her 6-carat diamond ring purchase a whole bunch of them. They reminded me of something my grandmother would wear. So as I continued looking at them they started to grow on me and I bought one. Thinking if she likes them that much, they must be collectible. When I got home I ended up wearing it much more than I ever thought. They are a fashion statement accessory for sweaters & jean jackets. A little old fashioned in a pleasant way.
I encountered Maura again last week because they added an extra Sunday for Modernism and purchased more of these pins.
Boy these flowers, they grow on you!
A few other items of interest:
Joe Tatan told me that he and Paul Frank (the monkey guy) designed this leather sofa (yes, it’s a sofa)a and that a very famous person wants to buy it. From a distance I thought they were cushions. Asking price $4,500
If you are a creative person you can make jewellery, pillow cases, clothing, purses, etc. from many repurposed materials.
An opera begins long before the curtain goes up and ends long after it has come down. It starts in my imagination, it becomes my life, and it stays part of my life long after I’ve left the opera house. – Maria Callas
For the love of Fashion (and for those who love Opera) here is peek from the Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda Spring 2017 Show in Milan
Held at the backstage industrial area of the Teatro alla Scala di Milano, which is one of the Italian fashion capital’s most suggestive and evocative places, the Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda spring 2017 couture show was an all-round fashion event, as it captivated the senses with both fashion and theatrical motifs. “This place is very magical,” Domenico Dolce explained. “We were fascinated when we came here a year ago. We both go to the opera–we’re Italian, drama is in our blood!”
The theatrical vibes were captured and then brought to life by the designers not only through the structured figures and imposing silhouettes of the staples, but also after a well-thought, all-embracing journey into the characters, stories and notes of some of the opera’s most remarkable and trailblazing pieces, the costumes of which served as the main source of inspiration for Dolce & Gabbana’s Alta Moda revolution. Motifs from works such as The Magic Flute, Madama Butterfly, Falstaff, La Traviata, La Bohéme, Lucia di Lammermoor, played in our heads as soon as the first pieces were presented onstage, charming us with timeless aesthetics that exude haute couture vibes indeed.
For these reasons, the Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda spring 2017 show looked equally familiar yet new, with standard Dolce & Gabbana patterns, such as intricate lace embroideries and opulent jewelry designs going hand in hand with more street wear-inspired attire options, like oversized sweatshirts and animal printed coats.
My notes: I’ve visited the Teatro alla Scala di Milano years ago. I think at the best of times Dolce & Gabbana ready-to-wear (and couture pieces) are a bit theatrical mixed with romanticism but not necessarily practicality. And that’s exactly what we need at times like this. Take what you will from this. Sometimes it’s okay to be over the top!
Of all the noises known to man, opera is the most expensive. – Moliere
A stylish way to stave off a winter chill apart from your warm down coat and gloves is wearing a beanie topper.
Soia & Kyo Olivia Cable Knit Hat
Beside the fact that it keeps your ears warm and it’s a good excuse to hide a bad hair day (naturally) I think they look really cute in casually chic sort of way.
Sarah Jessica Parker, New York City. (Photo by Josiah Kamau/BuzzFoto/FilmMagic)
The plus factor is they look as good on adults as they do on children!
Cool..Comfy..Casual..Colorful..California Wear.. with a French Twist
While wandering around the usual familiar shops on Palm Canyon Drive a few weeks ago I came across a store that escapes the ordinary.
Shirts, Shorts, Sweaters, Sunglasses, Pants, Body care, Accessories for men and women
Who’ S Next (that’s the name of the store) specializes in exclusive French fashion brands with an obvious crush on Brigitte Bardot. I mean who else to better embody a chic laid back St. Tropez resort style than Bardot…Riiight??
I’m not such a fan of wearing images of famous people or slogans for that matter, however I ended up leaving the store with a few items, one of which was a faded image of Bardot on a lovely top with three quarter length sleeves and V-neck back. The other was the kind of shirt I want to live in. A long-sleeved light-weight cotton shirt that comes in 25 colors. Lots of variety.…reasonably priced. I only bought one but I want the other 24.
There were linen shirts a plenty. What’s next? The pants! I’m told they are a must something to consider.
The owner, Benjamin Perdereau lived in Aix Provence in Southern France, and visited his parents often in Palm Springs. He owned and operated a store in Southern France and believed it needed to be recreated here. Thank you Benjamin!
Seriously!
Unfortunately I discovered the store after the November opening complete with entertainment, fashion show and French crepes.
This Alberta Ferretti limited edition capsule collection is related to those, only in a high-fashion (with a price to match), we want to show you kind of way.
The pre-fall 2017 launch is available for purchase fresh off the runway (she’s the most recent designer to join the see-now-buy-now movement).
Happily named “Rainbow Week,” the collection comprises seven luxe knits in a variety of punchy, mood-boosting hues, each emblazoned with a different day of the week—a reminder to live every day with optimism. Style them with your favorite high-waist, straight-leg jeans for the perfect off-duty look or dress them up with a sexy sheer lace skirt.
If you don’t want to amuse them, confuse them. Wear the wrong day!
If you are truly into Style you will have at one point picked up a copy of Italian Vogue. Either in Italy or elsewhere.
Then you should know that Franca Sozzani, the Editor in Chief of Italian Vogue, has died at 66. Sadly she now joins musician George Michael, along with witty author/actor/ex-princess Carrie Fisher (what they all have in common is that they pushed the boundaries). Yves Saint Laurent said “fashion fades,style is eternal” so the heavens now are alive with some serious style spirits.
Photo of Franca: Francesco Carrozzini
Franca, an ageless 66, was born in Mantua. Her father, a classic Italian patriarch, was an industrial engineer who did not approve his daughter’s early ambitions to study physics. She studied literature and philosophy at university in Milan instead, and married soon after, although she knew, as she later admitted, that the marriage was doomed before she walked into the church. (Franca would later confess that romantic relationships were the one weak link in her formidable arsenal of triumphs.) The couple divorced three months later, and the free-spirited Franca went to India to find herself—“I thought it was time to do something good with my life.” Time spent in Swinging London further nurtured her creative spirit.
When she returned from her odyssey, she stumbled into a job at Vogue Bambini(as “assistant to the assistant to the assistant,” as she playfully remembered). By 1980, she landed the editorship of Lei, aimed at young women, with Per Lui, its male counterpart, following in 1982. She transformed both these titles into showcases for the most dynamic trends in international fashion and lifestyle image-making. When Oliviero Toscani, her key photographer, moved on from her magazines, she began nurturing a dazzling talent roster of emerging photographers including Mario Testino, Paolo Roversi, Herb Ritts, Peter Lindbergh, Bruce Weber, and Steven Meisel, all of whom were attracted by the unprecedented editorial freedom that she gave them, and her passion for photography.
“Why would anyone buy Italian Vogue?” she once queried, “They wouldn’t—only Italians read Italian.” She knew that she needed to communicate instead through powerful imagery, and by showcasing her photographers’ work in this way, she earned their unswerving loyalty and their willingness to work with her magazines’ negligible budgets. “When I sent all these photos to you, I would write on the package ‘personal,’ ” Weber wrote to her, “I now realize that I took them for you because you would be the only one who would understand.”
At the same time, Franca became an indispensable part of the Italian fashion scene, a shrewd power broker with an unequaled reach to its designers and the manufacturers and industrialists who keep the industry’s wheels turning.
In 1988, she was appointed Editor in Chief of Italian Vogue—the same month that Anna Wintour was made the Editor in Chief at American Vogue. (By 1994, she was made Editor in Chief of Italian Condé Nast, enjoying great support from an at times long-suffering Jonathan Newhouse, the chairman of Condé Nast International.) Franca immediately shook up the formulaic title with dynamic covers and content, creating a magazine that, in her words, would be “extravagant, experimental, innovative.”
Franca’s ethereal, otherworldly beauty, with her limpid blue eyes and tumble of pale blonde Pre-Raphaelite waves, belied her indomitable personality. “I listen,” she said, “but I must go my own way.”
A maverick spirit, she turned her Vogue into a magazine that not only celebrated the power of the image, but also used fashion stories as a platform to discuss broader issues, and the obsessions of the fashionable world. Franca had a passion for, and a deep knowledge of, fashion and its history, but an ability to keep an amused distance from its modern day excesses.
She was fearless in her willingness to tackle provocative and controversial social and cultural issues through the medium of fashion shoots. (“Fashion isn’t really about clothes,” she said, “it’s about life.”)
A remarkable woman whose talent was matched by her fierce loyalty and her passion for life.
franca sozzani Photo: Peter Lindbergh
Story (condensed): Hamish Bowles for Vogue Magazine
Just received my Winter Box of Style. Just in time because this curated product assortment will take me (and others who purchased it) from day to night this holiday season and well into the new year.
The full winter Box of Style on display, featuring a Soia & Kyo cable-knit hat (I chose mine in winter white out of 3 selections), exclusive Dylanlex Zoey necklace, Clinique Lip Color and Primer in Berry Pop, D.L. & Co. custom The Zoe Report Birch candle, Dagne Dover exclusive leather card case and Sunday Riley Tidal Enzyme Brightening Water Cream.
I started sharing contents/info about the Spring box set and so this season completes my final round of box sets for the whole year. Every 3 months I could not believe what was inside each of the boxes. The variety was always useful, stylish, current and thought given to the season. After all it is curated by stylist & editor-in-chief Rachel Zoe and her team.
This year, In a private bungalow at the storied Chateau Marmont, Rachel decided to host a glamorous dinner party specifically to celebrate her pride and joy of the season – the winter Box of Style.
Here are some of the highlights:
The tablescape at dinner.
Flanked by ever-fashionable friends like Jessica Alba and Nicole Richie, Rachel toasted to her latest launch—which features the exclusive, Swarovski-crystal-studded Dylanlex “Zoey” necklace that several attendees donned throughout the night—and enjoyed an evening among great company.
Jessica Alba, Nicole Richie (in middle) and Rachel Zoe (in gorgeous jumpsuit).Because it’s not a party without bubbly.Jessica Alba showing off her exclusive silver-plated Dylanlex Zoey necklace, which features gorgeous Swarovski crystals.
My personal favourites are:
The knit factor – Soia & Kyo Olivia Cable-Knit Beanie, Retail Value: $50the first winter layer – Sunday Riley Tidal Brightening Enzyme Water Cream, Retail Value $65Clinique Berry Pop Lip Color + Primer, Retail Value: $24
Added Bonus: purse-size Viva La Juicy fragrance in this season’s assortment.
American women wear underwear. French women wear lingerie.
French women seem inherently more confident in their bodies, able to embrace the sensuality of life and love. What’s their secret?
Lingerie
I may not be of French descent and I don’t know if growing up in Montreal had anything to do with it, but I have embraced beautiful lingerie for as long as I can remember. And that’s why I was so excited to discover a feminine unique brand native to South America which I brought back to sell in Canada for several years.
Yet, even though I tend to wear t-shirt bras, running bras and even yoga bras when need be, nothing shouts “I’m a sexy woman” more than when I put on a lacy, silky undergarment. We don’t even know if men really appreciate it but just the fact that we have something sensuous underneath our outerwear that makes us feel special is good enough.
Did you see the parade of young, sexy women with perfect bodies strutting the Runway for the annual Victoria’s Secret fashion show the other night? It was the first time I’ve watched it and it was amazing! It was filmed in Paris with Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars as guests and the backdrop was pure fantasy and the girls were seamless in their not necessarily seamless undergarments. These chosen few are really top-notch in their category and the ones who exhibit more personality will surely go on to excel in the magic model kingdom. But it is not reality as we know it, and on a more somber note it’s probably why many young women become anorexic or bulimic in comparison. These girls work out non-stop just so you know. But moving right along….
A Toronto native by the name of Kathryn Kemp-Griffin is the author of a new book entitled “Paris Undressed.” She moved to Paris with her husband in the 90’s and now also runs lingerie-themed tours of Paris. She found that in North America comfort was an excuse for a lack of aesthetics.
She realized that after moving to Paris, that lingerie could be something more. The idea is lingerie should be about activating the senses, not fixing perceived flaws.
Paris Undressed goes behind the seams, combining cultural references, expertise, and practical advice to inspire every woman to reconsider her underwear drawer.
It’s good to know that North American women are already embracing this!
The Best Fashion and Beauty Coffee-Table Books to Gift This Year
What do you get the artsy fashionistas and beauty buffs in your life? Consider one of these beautiful coffee-table books. There’s truly nothing like spending a rainy afternoon looking through a nice stack of hardcover tomes for your next style inspiration. Plus, not only does it spruce up your living room decor, it can also double as a great Instagram prop (add a vase of flowers and you’re in business). I narrowed it down to three personal choices below.
Peter Lindbergh: A Different Vision on Fashion Photography
Coinciding with photographer Peter Lindbergh’s exhibition at the Kunsthal in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, this book features more than 400 images including striking portraits of iconic figures like Kate Moss and Tina Turner. Best known as the man who “invented” supermodels, you’ll also find shots of ’90s “It” girls like Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, and Tatjana Patitz frolicking in the beach or strutting down the streets of New York.
Fashion photographer Alexi Lubomirski has shot multiple beautiful women in the world, including Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Natalie Portman. But it was after shooting actress Lupita Nyong’o that Lubomirski was struck by the homogeneity of the “looks” he’d been assigned to shoot professionally. “I realized how rare it was that I got to take pictures of beautiful African, Asian, Indian, or Latin women,” he writes in the introduction. In response, the photographer conceived Diverse Beauty (Damiani), which celebrates women including TSS survivor Lauren Wasser and transgender model Hari Nef. Even better, all proceeds from the book will be donated to Concern Worldwide, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing poverty in disaster-affected areas around the world.
In January, the fashion world gasped in shock when Grace Coddington stepped down from her role as Vogue‘s creative director. The model-turned-editor has created some of the most memorable fashion shoots in collaboration with iconic photographers including Steven Meisel, Annie Leibovitz, Bruce Weber, and David Sims. Following the success of Grace: Thirty Years of Fashion at Vogue, this new release features nearly 300 photos from past 15 years, along with Coddington’s personal stories behind the shoots.
If you are a creative person you can make jewellery, pillow cases, clothing, purses, etc. from many repurposed materials.
What’s next? The pants! I’m told they are 
But moving right along….
Girl Who Would be KING on Life, Style and INSPIRATION. 
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