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The Fashionable Colonoscopy

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Valerie says: We already know there are two dreaded C words that we feel uncomfortable pronouncing.  (You know what they are, right?)  Last week, five years after we began this blog, we were reminded there was a third: Colonoscopy.

Every year we're supposed to get a pap smear, for which we lie in an absurdly undignified position with our Lady Parts exposed to passing breezes, while the doctor pokes and prods to make sure everything is okay Down Under (no, not Australia).  And every year we're supposed to get a mammogram, during which someone we've never met before matter of factly handles The Girls, and treats them like waffles in a waffle iron.






















But these indignities pale before the indignities we suffer with the quinquennial colonoscopy, beginning with the dreaded Prep.  I have made my peace with this particular ritual because one of the C words shows up occasionally on my mother's side of the family.

Colonoscopies are distasteful subjects of conversation.  Even if you had a "good" one, no one wants to know what standards you employed to reach that conclusion.  Somewhere, in reading up on the prep drink one has to guzzle (enough to put out a small kitchen fire, I'd say), I came upon the phrase "high velocity diarrhea", which conjures up all sorts of dramatic visions.












I had never seen that adjective in conjunction with that noun, and I was a bit chagrined.  Right there you know it's not something you are likely to discuss with the bridge club, no matter how attentive they seem.














As all our readers probably know, the day before the colonoscopy, you have to fast, drinking only clear liquids.  Nothing red - not even Jello - because it might confuse the test results, which meant I couldn't even rely on my favorite drink: Naked Juice's Berry Veggie, a combination of cherry puree, beet juice, carrot juice, sweet potato puree and other things that are supposed to be good for you.  That day, of course, EVERYTHING reminded me of food. (Painting by Arcimboldo, 1526-1593)






















Bananas at the fruit vending stalls appeared nearly Dayglo yellow, and all the food trucks that I'd never given a second glance to were suddenly terribly intriguing.  (Photo NYU Grads in Residence)














I thought I might want something in addition to Coca Cola, lime seltzer and orange juice, so I stocked up on Campbell's Soup.


































Oh, sorry.  Wrong photo.


































But you're not allowed to have any solids, so I strained all the wonderful noodles and bits of chicken out, and put them in a plastic container.  I figured I'd eat them in the evening after the procedure. I also bought a favorite flourless chocolate cookie the size of a small pancake, a bag of Wise buttered popcorn, and a bottle of Berry Veggie to take with me.  The whole procedure is only supposed to take an hour, from the time you put on the no-slip socks to the time you can get up to leave, and I was assured I could eat as soon as it was over, so I made sure to pack my favorite stuff as a reward.


































I'm not going to say too much about the prep.  You pretty much know the drill, right?  The solution you have to drink - and drink and drink and drink - is kind of revolting.  Your doctor will always try to tempt you by saying it comes in several flavors now, but as far as I'm concerned, if champagne is not one of them, I don't expect to enjoy it.  I had to drink the full container I'm holding in the above photo twice - once at 3pm, and again at 9pm.  That's two liters, or one and a half of the large bottles shown.  I managed the first one pretty well, but the second took forever.  The fact that the prep container has a built in handle didn't make me look on it any more favorably. For additional information, please refer to the picture of Niagara Falls near the opening of today's post.  The above photo is a fanciful recreation of the prep.  I was not wearing a hat.  In fact, I was minimally dressed, in washable clothes, and sat on a large plastic bag, 'cause ya just never know.  (Happy to say I didn't need the plastic bag.  But Murphy's Law says I would have needed it if I hadn't had it, so I covered all bases.  So to speak.)  All in all, as long as it's once every five years, I guess the prep is okay.

The last time I had this done, seven years ago (two years too long, readers!), I was asked if I wanted to watch my own procedure.   I thought it might be edifying, so I tried (there's a screen you can see while lying on the gurney), but I found it dead boring.  I mean, did you see The Great Escape?  What do you think Danny the Tunnel King (Charles Bronson) saw while he was digging that tunnel?  (Hint: why do moles have poor vision?)









It's not exactly like watching The Fantastic Voyage, where an entire space craft is shrunk to the size of a pinhead (with Raquel Welch inside it) to perform microsurgery, and the space craft gets attacked by protective red blood cells, which have mistaken it for an alien invader.








And anyway, I knew there was going to be nothing in there for me to see.  That's what all the prep was for.  I asked the anaesthesiologist why I was offered the opportunity to see this procedure, but not allowed to see the neuromectomy performed on my foot (hidden from me by a napkin-sized curtain).  He pointed out that the neuromectomy had to be performed in a sterile environment - what would happen if I'd sneezed and there had been no curtain?  A colonoscopy, on the other hand was not, by definition, a sterile environment.  Point taken.  The anaesthesiologist attached three electrodes to me: two under my clavicle, and one on my left side to monitor my heart rate (I think) during the procedure.  Then they put me out, and I had a nice nap.  When I woke up, the first thing they did was give me a package of really nice cookies.  (Sorry - I don't remember what they were.)  The second thing they did was give me my test results.






















The rules specify that you have an escort home in case you are still enjoying the effects of the anaesthesia, and very fortunately for me my friend Tim di Fiore, an opera singer, lives just three blocks away from the clinic, and is not bound by the rigors of the 9 - 5 schedule, so at 9am he strolled over and got me into a cab.  Just to be on the safe side, he took the taxi with me (maybe a ten minute ride in midtown traffic).  I felt fine, so I sent him back in the same cab.  I'd love to have a picture of that, but I didn't bring my camera with me to the clinic, so I've borrowed one of Tim's publicity photos.  I want to know who his photographer is.  The halo suits him.  Thanks, Tim!!

On arriving home, I read the report.  For the first time, I had polyps, which the doctor removed and biopsied.  There were three: two "small" and one "diminutive".  (Where do you draw the line between small and diminutive?  Is a diminutive polyp cuter than a small polyp?)  I was advised to make a return trip in three to four years, instead of the previous five, probably because of the polyps, combined with my family history.

Realizing my electrodes were still attached, as was my ID bracelet, I memorialized them in the opening photo. Then I took my huge chocolate cookie, my popcorn, and my Naked Juice out of my bag, and had a feast.  I'd taken the whole day off, but by noon I was ready to enjoy the rest of the day.  I think a guy would have watched taped football.  I did the equivalent for me: I went thrift shopping.

Readers!  Get it done!  Jean says she's due for hers, too, so you're in good company.

Knuckle Duster Conundrum

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Jean asks: "What's a girl to do?" The irresistible knuckleduster clutch purses made infamous by Alexander McQueen feature jeweled rings affixed to the top of small clutches  through which the wearer slips her (or, I guess, his) fingers. The effect? An instantly chic, ring-covered hand! The small-ish handbag is securely grasped by the wearer.  The basic layout of rings and their subjects appears to be the same across multiple brands and designers.That two of the 4 rings involves menacing death head skulls doesn't seem to deter non-Goths from acquiring the bags which incorporate those rings.














Carrying an evening bag that incorporates 4 elaborate rings is just great only if one isn't already wearing 12 rings! For those of us who indulge daily in wearing multiple rings, the Knuckle Duster is just too much of a good thing. (Geez, I never thought I'd ever say that!)  You will notice that two of the 4 rings include a skull (small on the far left and large bejeweled version 2nd from right), a large silver-toned faceted jewel 2nd from left and a floral designed dome ring far right.  The red bag below by a different designer than the knock-off above has an identical lineup of rings.
















One doesn't want to slip off one's own favorite rings while wearing the bag, for fear of losing one or several of them during the evening.
Since one cannot hold a clutch bag and still eat, drink, take Selfies and post Instagram shots (follow IdiosyncraticFashionistas on Instagram!), invariably the bag is relinquished.  Once one removes the bag, the little ring-less digits are bare for all the world to see.  Marlon Brando's reaction in Apocalypse Now summed it up best: "The horror"!



































DeeDee's posing above with the black brocade handbag with the McQueen line up of rings is a study in chiaroscuro. Below is a closeup of the claspe.











Since one simply does not want to put the bag down on a table and slip one's hand free and then wave those naked digits to the world, people like Jean have to just "double up" as she does in the opening photo with a faux python Knuckle Duster clutch which was a gift from thoughtful and overly generous relative.

Ah, now let's get on to the more esoteric, educational aspects of the word: "Knuckle Duster":

According to the Urban Dictionary, Knuckle Duster is another term for the easily concealable weapon, the brass knuckle. A brass knuckle is a metal weapon worn around the knuckle to strengthen the impact of a blow or punch.
















After viewing various weaponry, Jean is thinking about acquiring a set of brass knuckles to incorporate into a small bag handle or neckpiece. What do you think?

Attention, please! Thursday, June 19th is National Cocktail Day! So do your part! We know we will. (Stay tuned!)

Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love

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Road trip! On Saturday, we headed south to the City of Brotherly Love to the Philadelphia Museum of Art to see Runway of Love, a couture exhibition featuring the work of the late Patrick Kelly.

Kelly, an African-American fashion designer whose career followed a comet-like trajectory, was born and raised in Mississippi and moved to Paris in late 1979. Although he said: "I want my clothes to make you smile", his work, which pushed racial and cultural boundaries with golliwog logos, Aunt Jemima bandana dresses and black baby doll brooches, often elicited quite different reactions. Kelly's aesthetic developed out of his African-American and Southern roots, his knowledge of fashion and art history, and from the club and gay cultural scenes in New York and Paris.








Selections from his personal collection of black memorabilia which open the show include various representations of the Golliwog, described by the Museum as an "ugly yet friendly" black character first described in an 1895 English children's book, which became an extremely popular children's doll. Rooted in the American blackface minstrel tradition, by the mid-1990s, it had become a symbol of racial stereotyping. Kelly turned that concept on its head by adopting the image as the logo for his brand Patrick Kelly Paris. U.S. stores did not use it, considering it too controversial. His Spring/Summer 1986 collection included fabrics printed with the Golliwog character. Kelly re-appropriated such images for his designs and brand. Although criticized at the time for using such charged imagery, Kelly was unapologetic, believing it was necessary to know one's history to move forward.


































Kelly's outfits present a complete, coordinated vision. Case in point: the Golliwog dress has matching gloves, shoes and fan.  The longer sweater dresses in the background mirror the face in buttons on their fronts and backs.






















No less a designer than French shoemaker Maud Frizon was responsible for creating matching Golliwog slip-on wedges.


































Kelly's early signature collections featured skinny, body-conscious dresses with colorful buttons, featured in Elle Magazine in 1986 and 1988. He became the first American and the first black designer to be voted into the prestigious Chambre Syndicale du Pret-a-Porter des Couturiers et des Creatures de Mode, the French fashion industry and standards association.






















Because his work incorporated such cartoonish images, it was no surprise that his 1989-1990 Fall/Winter collection had a "Lips of Jessica Rabbit" evening gown fashioned after the costume of the cartoon movie character. The exhibition includes large screens showing videos of Kelly's runway shows, so you can see the clothes on the mannequins and as they appeared on models in the flesh.


































It was particularly poignant to see the late L'Wren Scott in the runway video looking amazingly tall and sexy, wearing the Jessica Rabbit dress and long, flowing red wig.















We were bowled over by the Eiffel Tower suits and accessories from the Fall/Winter 1989-1990 collection.


































The Eiffel tower hats by Maison Michel and the mini-Eiffel Towers used as earrings and zipper-pulls attest to his attention to detail. For buttery soft leather, he used the same distributor as Azzedine Alaia, another designer who came to international attention in the 1980s, and was also known for his body-conscious designs. Another similarity between the two men? Singer/model/performer Grace Jones wore both designers' clothes and appeared on their runways and in their ad campaigns.




















Aren't Maud Frizon's Eiffel Tower shoes the cat's meow?


































His larger than life hats were the perfect foil for his body hugging designs. Love this yellow and black flowered number. Wish we could show you everything we saw. Please click the link to PMA's website to check out more of his clothes and accoutrements.


































Although the exhibition focuses on his wilder, more colorful pieces, these two wonderful coats near the entrance show that he was more than capable of getting maximum effects out of minimalist designs.  The Museum's signage says that the coat on the left is made with a single seam, and mentions the influence of both Balenciaga and Issey Miyake.  The grey outfit on the right evokes the style of Norma Kamali.






















There was a period when it seemed like everything was made of knit, and designers had great fun treating it in novel ways.  (We remember - we were there, and we were buying.)  The body of the knit on the left is straight up and down, but the skirt is on the bias, which allows it to drape the way it does, and the assymetrical placement of the tie adds a bit of extra tension.


































Here's another knit dress.  The bright colors and patterns are also characteristic of the period, but the matching gloves seem to have been a Kelly specialty.  Note the ruching on the sides of the dress for extra interest and controlled volume.


































This assortment of dresses has a broad variety of styles.  At the extreme left, a very conservative two piece suit; at the right, a combination of stark black and yellow, with a hood attached to a square cut top; in the back left, a tulle miniskirt flowing into a long train at the back; in front of that, two dresses with Kelly add-ons: pearls on the left and huge buttons on the right, and finally two demure dresses - pink with ruching and tieds and black and white with a crisscross front.
















But wait! There's more here than meets the eye.

If the dresses don't knock 'em dead, then the matching gauntlets will.













The text for the dress below says that the materials are polyester and spandex, and that Kelly made a point of demonstrating that fashion need not be expensive.  Still, the dress looks like the proverbial million bucks.  The gathered shoulders, tulle skirt, rose pattern and lengthy deep pink bow move away from his characteristic active/sporty style and emphasize femininity.  The print, material and peplum reminded both of us of Betsey Johnson. Don't forget to look at the Jetson-style futuristic bubble headdresses in the back, which also appear in one of the runway videos.


































Las Vegas inspired this dress with dice sewn onto the bodice in the shape of a heart.  A matching fascinator adds extra effect.  The white dots on the dice are made with trademark Kelly buttons, sewn down with large black cord.



































Among the several videos throughout the room, there was one that showed a fabulous variation on the theme, with a dice print on the suit.  If someone sent us that fascinator in the mail, the two of us would definitely have to fight over it, or agree to joint custody.






















In another video, the ever-fabulous Grace Jones (far right) sashays down the runway in a saucy scarf dress while the designer himself seems overwhelmed simultaneously with glee and shyness.  Wearing short overalls in this video, the designer often clad male models in long overalls.


















Here are Jones's actual dress and hat, minus the pastel-colored bangs she wore in the video.


































Many Kelly dresses feature hearts, or red lips.  This dress is decorated with brooches of detachable lips, but the piece de resistance is the hat, made by Maison Michel, as were many other hats in the exhibition.  There are echoes here of both Salvador Dali, Elsa Schiaparelli, Man Ray and the surrealist movement.


































And pleeeeeeeeze can we show you another Maison Michel hat made in the shape of a G clef?  It comes with a black dress with a print of white musical notes.






















(And you did check out the little piano earrings, right?  The Museum made them for the show from Patrick Kelly buttons.)

And speaking of hats and buttons, here's another Patrick Kelly dress, with buttons all over, but concentrated at the - ahem - derriere (we're saying derriere because he worked in Paris) in the shape of a heart.



































Showing you the dress is a great excuse for giving you a close up of the hat and the earring.  Did you notice the great big red buttons we're both wearing in the opening photo as our personal homage to the designer?






















Our final image is of his long black wool and spandex dress that opened the 1988-1989 Heart Strings touring fundraiser for Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA).  During the 1980s, AIDS decimated the design and fashion community and Kelly himself was diagnosed with the illness in July 1987, just shortly after signing with Warnaco to produce his ready-to-wear collections.  He died in 1990, but left behind a marvelous legacy that still inspires and dazzles today.



































Gerlans on the Side

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More Fun at the Philadelphia Museum of Art



































When we last left you, we were ooohing and aaahing over Patrick Kelly at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  Although that was our main objective, we took time out to enjoy some of the Museum's non-fashion-centric locations. (Oh, by the way, we know our opening photo is fuzzy, but it's all we have.  And we didn't take it.)  At the staircase in the main building, Valerie does her own version of Diana the Huntress.  We both agreed it was better for everyone NOT to give her a bow and arrow.


































Jean got into the act by imitating the model in the photograph wearing Gerlan Marcel's cigarette butt dress.  Gerlan had a whole room dedicated to her designs off to the side, and that's where we went next.






















The exhibition opens with this knit wool dress, which sets the mood for the rest of the show.  Gerlan extends the cigarette butt joke from the bodice to the sleeves - the filters are at the shoulders, the arms are the cigarettes and the red wrists are the lighted ends.  Don't forget to look at the vibrant red socks in the strappy spiky sandals with the GERLAN name spiraling around them.  This dress, called the Paloma (after Picasso), comes from the "Eccentric Lady" collection.  Gerlan names Picasso, Diana Vreeland, Patricia Field and Anna Piaggi (all smokers) as muses.






















The designer's "Monster Couture" pom-pom jacket and "Monster Chic" Pom-Pom dress from the Fall/Winter 2010 collection was very evocative of Patrick Kelly's work in the fabric (cotton and lycra knit and wool and acrylic pom-poms), color combinations, cartoonish silhouette and coordinated shoes.


































The headdress from Marcel's No Monster Left Behind Collection.




















This "Palm Down" resort gown in "Breaking Bricks" print from the Spring/Summer 2010 collection featured "Worry Doll" necklace and earrings of nylon and pleated brass.
































Jean loved the "Queen Patra" head wrap in the same "breaking brick" pattern.





















This cotton duster jacket has a great print.  Think they're flowers?  Oh, no.  Check out the close up below.  But first have a look at the clear jelly boots with the white laces and the slight tint at the sole.  And at the sunglasses with the GERLAN name across the brow.


































Gerlan called this dynamic, edgy print "soul rebel".  We should mention that Gerlan is yet another graduate of Central Saint Martins University of the Arts, just some of whose alumni include Hussein Chalayan, John Galliano, Mary Katrantzou (best known for her prints), Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, Zac Posen, Gareth Pugh and Riccardo Tisci.  CSM is clearly doing something right.


















What is it about our culture that just adores green slime?  We remember when it was a kid's toy you could buy in a container way back in the '70s.  (It was just called Slime then, but boy, was it green.)  Gerlan was inspired to make this "Slimelight bustier dress" by the 1990s Nickelodeon show You Can't Do That on Television, and we're betting Nickelodeon was inspired the original '70s product (which was probably inspired by The Creature from the Black Lagoon).  Gerlan upholds the "matchy matchy" principle.  Note the sunglasses and shoes.  We wish we could have seen the back of the dress.  Is there a zipper?  Buttons?  Or does one simply slither into it?


































It really is what you think it is.  Here's a close-up.


















Both the Patrick Kelly exhibition and the Gerlan Marcel exhibition can be seen at the Philadelphia Museum of Art's Perelman Building through November 30, 2014.

Adios to the Chelsea Garage Antique Flea Market

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When we read in The New York Times' Style Section on Thursday that the Chelsea Antique Garage Flea Market was closing this weekend, we were devastated. For more than two decades,  vendors on two floors of a parking garage had provided a treasure trove of antique and vintage clothing, jewelry, art and furniture. We had to go to mark the end of an era.


































According to Crain's, a hotel developer purchased the space for $67.5 million and intends to spend an additional $300 million to erect a 270,000 square foot hotel tower.  (Don't get us started on the topic of developers!)

Besides being a prime shopping and great people-watching locale, the garage was at its best when it was unpredictable, affording unique opportunities to view all matter of odd and arcane collectibles. Case in point -- this clown suitcase and pair of polka dot shoes from Tigris Clowns in Syracuse, New York. You just know there is a story behind them.



















We made it a point to go together on Saturday to say goodbye to our favorite vendors.  All is not lost - there are two other venues: one quite nearby, the other in the colorfully named Hell's Kitchen (now also called Clinton, post-gentrification).  But some dealers may not come back, and named options outside the city.  Will there be free buses, the way there are to Atlantic City casinos?

Many other collectors in New York City had the same idea as we did. Among many others, we ran into Zondra Foxx minus her usual Andrews Sisters wig and 1940s dress and gloves but wearing a red cherry necklace of her own design.


































Lulu is a vendor who is always hard to miss. Her outfits are always a treat. She always has a booth at the big antique shows at The Pier and The Metropolitan Pavilion but also had a booth at the garage. Like many of the other vendors, she is moving one block east of Sixth Avenue on W. 25th Street to an outdoor parking lot.  The hat went home with Jean.


































At one point, we stopped for a bite at a local deli and flagged down our friend Mika who happened to be walking by, heading to work at a local vintage clothing store. We couldn't resist taking a shot of her armload of green and yellow bakelite bangles.






















Ziggy is one of the more interesting vendors, mixing his line of "Respect" tee shirts and jackets with vintage 1980s Thierry Mugler suits and everything you can possibly imagine in between. The name of his clothing line, which features his bearded visage, is derived from one of his many red-ink tatoos. One of his longer tats up one arm reads "Like a Rolling Stone".


































Valerie found this fabulous newsprint jacket with drawstring collar, and Jean located the matching skirt nearby. The result is sure to make headlines!  It did not work with the hat, thus the naked head. This one went home with Valerie, who has inexplicably had her heart set on a newprint outfit for over a year.  And no, for those of you asking, she will not be wearing the striped dress under it.


































As Saturday afternoon wore on, the temperature in the garage began to rise.  Many of the shoppers were mopping their brows, and many of the vendors had brought their own portable fans. When we ran into Julius at the southern end of the garage, he was looking fresh as a daisy and dressed to the nines!  How many men will dare to wear salmon colored pants?  And how many of those will look just great in them?


































It was also great fun to run into Julie Dale, whose actor/singer/ dancer/comedian/acrobat husband is currently starring in his one-man show "Just Jim Dale" off-Broadway, till August 10. It is on our must-see list! Click here for Variety's review of the show.  And Julie, you will remember, ran our beloved Julie Artisans Gallery for many years.


































Among Jean's big $5 purchases were two pairs of earrings -- one round black and white striped and one white egg-shaped. She also picked up five red and white dominos in the hopes of turning them into jewelry. She found five of the six' double tiles (the double-three was missing in action) in a jumble box.

















Last week, Valerie bought two huge buttons and spray-painted them fire-engine red for us to wear to the Patrick Kelly show in Philadelphia. Jean couldn't resist these two carved Bakelite buttons for the bargain basement price of two for $7. The smaller one, with an almost pearlized tortoise tint, is larger than a quarter and the larger solid black one is bigger than a silver dollar. Who knows where they will end up next?


































This resin upside-down ice cream cone-shaped pendant was another irresistible find. The orb is the size of a ping-pong ball and, luckily, is not as heavy as it looks.  (And so what if it was?  It would be well worth the sacrifice.)


































Valerie went back on Sunday, and ran into Julius again.  As a bonus, she also ran into Sandy Long.  Sandy and Julius did that "don't I know you?" thing that we all do sometimes.  We met both Sandy and Julius several years ago on separate occasions because we were drawn to what they were wearing.


































We were both drawn to a pair of art deco period etageres, one of which is shown here.  We considered buying one each, but logistics were against us.  (Getting a taxi, getting them TO the taxi, getting them FROM the taxi, where to put them in the house…  And they were quite heavy, and you know we have no upper body strength...)


































Valerie fell in love with this little girl's robe with puppies reading and listening to music, and singing.  You can see at the collar and cuffs that the material is reversible.  Hard to believe this dates back to around 1930-1940, making it at least seventy years old!


















Not all of the items were that old, however.  Don't think we didn't consider whether we could make this gigantic Madonna record into a hat.  It must have been close to three feet in diameter.  You can see four separate tracks on it.   Was it a record store prop?  (Only people over 30 know what a record store was.)





















If these had been priced for budget-minded ladies, they would have come home with one of us, but they were priced for collectors.  Would have made great earrings, or a great necklace.  Sigh….







We applaud these men for not feeling they had to wear self-effacing shirts.  Bravo, guys!


































A fabulous color block purse (from the '80s?) next to (unseen) a selection of three dimensionally decorated swim caps.






















And toys!  Love the circa 1960 washing machine (soooo cute, despite being pink, color coded to remind little girls who's supposed to do the laundry), and the mechanical wind-up rotating swing.  (Readers, what is the proper name for this kind of swing, that works on the principle of -- is it centrifugal force???)















Ah, the flea market.  Baby, wasn't it grand?!













What we're wearing:
Jean is wearing an Ignatius hat; H& M tunic; Lilith skirt; vintage Bakelite bracelets, earrings, necklaces and rings; black suede platform Korkease sandals; red leather cross-body bag.

Valerie is wearing a Kokin hat, plastic target earrings, JPG Jeans dress, foam rubber bracelets, H&M cotton pocketbook, faceted horn ring, shoes by Nicole.



National Cocktail Day, er, Week!

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Some months ago, Valerie discovered that June 19th was National Cocktail Day (well, sort of - more in a moment), and we began impatiently awaiting its arrival, the way children await Christmas. (Remember we reminded you about it a few weeks ago?)  National Cocktail Day is the kind of celebration we can get behind. As a matter of fact, to make sure we were ready, we tried a warm-up round on June 18th at Plunge, the rooftop bar on the Gansevoort Hotel. Luckily, it wasn't until a week later that we realized that June 19th is actually National Martini Day. Since neither of us drinks Martinis, it wouldn't have been a holiday we would have celebrated. Three cheers for misunderstandings!  (Although - Valerie says, rationalizing - hey, a Martini is a cocktail, after all.  What's a little poetic license between friends?  For purists, there IS a National Cocktail Day: May 13 [which is also National Apple Pie Day.  Go figure.], so mark your calendar for next year.

In this city, where everything is cheek to jowl, it is often worth it to pay just a little extra.  At Plunge, we got this marvelous cityscape with a sunset view of the Hudson River. (Not twenty feet away from us was a rooftop pool for guests.  Oh, my! or rather, Oh, our!)













While at Plunge, we encountered a very cheerful group of Dutch tourists who were celebrating the Netherlands' early round FIFA World Cup victory.  They wanted to adopt Valerie as their mascot!














Here is the talented bartender at Plunge. He made an Anejo Pacifico for Jean (on the left, consisting of Patron Anejo Tequila, Passion Fruit Puree and Fresh Lime Juice) and he indulged Valerie by substituting ingredients in one of the featured cocktails, using Prosecco instead of Hendrick's Gin.






















Across the street to the right was another rooftop pool, which looked like it was right out of an episode of Sex and the City.  This photo was taken after sunset, when they'd retracted the individualized cloth covers that shaded each guest.   When we looked earlier, it was like looking at Rome's Coliseum in its heyday.  The things that look like a row of neatly folded white towels (lower left corner) are the retracted covers.















But what really attracted our attention was this place immediately in front of us.  Before the sun had gone down, we noticed that this rooftop restaurant was already shaded, and better yet, it wasn't standing room only.  It was civilized and quiet.  Dare we say lady-like? The name on the building read "Catch".  That's where we wanted to go, and made a mental note to follow up.
















The next night - National Martini Day - we went to the Peninsula Hotel's rooftop bar, Salon de Ning. The Peninsula Hotel (longtime readers know it from previous posts) was actually our fourth choice (no slight to the Peninsula - we were trying for a location equidistant to both of us), World Cup mayhem had broken loose at two of our first three rooftop choices, and there was a private party at our other chosen place.  Even at the Peninsula we had to wait forever just for an elevator to take us up, but once we arrived, the view was great and the air was cool.




















No crowding at all, and great city views all around.
















And we haven't even mentioned the luscious drinks yet. Jean had an Anejo Atlantico (Patron Anejo, Passion Fruit, Cointreau, Lime Juice on the right).  Different ocean but a very similar drink to the one at Plunge.  And Valerie had a… ummmmmm… oh, a raspberry margarita.















After cocktails, while waiting for the elevator back to the lobby, we couldn't resist indulging in our usual hijinks.  Yeah, yeah, heads are tilted in the wrong direction, we know.  See?  This is why we need an intern, or a photo assistant.






















When we traveled to Philadelphia on Saturday, June 21 for the Patrick Kelly show at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, we extended our cocktail week celebration to include cocktails at R2L, a lovely space in a high rise with great views of the University of Pennsylvania's stadium.  Jean's drink in the martini glass was a delicious tequila concoction.  Valerie's drink included a basil leaf and a touch of jalapeno (the red dot of liquid jet fuel) on the drink in the champagne glass).



































After getting up early and traveling to the City of Brotherly love and viewing the exhibition and then walking across town ('cause we couldn't figure out where to catch the bus), it felt soooo great to sit down and relax.



































Remember that rooftop restaurant we spied from Plunge?  It really was named Catch and had a terrific patio.  We met two friends from Baltimore (Anne and Beth) on Sunday night.  We were so revved up about the beautiful weather and seeing them and listening to the cheers from all the fans at all of the surrounding outdoor restaurants cheer Team USA at FIFA that we totally forgot to photograph our drinks! By the time we remembered, it was too late and we were already having dessert (which was fab-u-lous!).

Can't wait til next year!

(And since we can't wait till next year, we'll have one next week.)

Stephen Petronio 30th Anniversary Gala!

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Last Wednesday evening, we attended Stephen Petronio Dance Company's 30th anniversary gala. Outside, George and JR pose outside the theater as we gathered everyone together and divvied up tickets.


































Inside, just before the show, we tried to photograph this woman's fabulous coat, but there was just too much going on (Valerie spotted Valerie Steele, and Jean spotted Harold Koda) and it was impossible to get a good shot.


































But not to worry.  We borrowed a better picture off the Moschino website so you'd have a better idea why we (politely) stalked this lady.  Wantwantwant!!!





















Choreographer Stephen Petronio premiered his newest piece, "Locomotor", featuring costumes by fashion designer Narciso Rodriguez.





















This sketch from narciscoblog shows the costumes.  Both the costumes and guest artist Melissa Toogood (of Merce Cunningham fame) received rave reviews in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

































The Dumpling Diva, Marja Samsom, and Nancy Ng were part of our posse that evening. Nancy is on the Board of Directors for H.T. Chen and Dancers, which is having its celebration in Chinatown on April 25th. For more information on that event and the company, click here.


































We reconnected with PR guru Joe Yang (whom we'd met at the recent ENK Coterie show at the Javits Center) and Petronio dancer Nick Sciscione. Loved Nick's ombre'd tee, not to mention the "guns".






















Dancer extraordinaire and Assistant to the Artistic Director Gino Grenek.  Loved his leather harness and cuff.


































Dancer Julian Deleon and his friend.


































Dancer Emily Stone.


































Dancer Joshua Tuason in marvelous spatter tee, Narciso Rodriguez and the designer's lovely companion for the evening.



















Dancer Jaqlin Medlock and her arm candy.


































Dancer Davalois Fearon in a fabulous dress that only a dancer could do justice to and Executive Director Laurie Uprichard, formerly of Danspace and the Dublin Dance Festival.


































Michael Volpe, aka "Clams Casino", composed the music for Locomotor. Turns out he is also Stephen's cousin.


































Artist Kirsten Hawthorne was part of our entourage that evening. Loved her Lafont glasses with metalwork frame.


















The Flack contingent: Stephen's husband, Jean-Marc, with his parents, Ronald and Daniele, and his cousin Lee.
















Stephen times two!



















Realtor and traveler Gene Fein in a shocking pink worthy of Schiaparelli.






















We last met Montgomery Frazier and Ben at FIT's Elegance in the Age of Crisis opening night party.






















Board member Jill Brienza.






















Cesar Abreau is also a dancer, just not for Stephen's company.


































The ladies Flack: Clare is on the Board of Directors for the company. Daniele is her mom and her cousin Lee is an author ("Passions and Scandals" published by Xlibris).













Guests Blake and Nicholas.






















On the steps of Spice Market, our Meatpacking District party venue, Stephen thanks three members of his Board of Directors, seen here, and the rest of his team, off camera.






















Let us give you another look at that fabulous plaid suit, seen from behind.


































Spice Market's hors d'oeuvres, cocktails and desserts were superb. Each guest received a signed print of a sketch by Stephen as they left the event.






















BONUS PHOTO: The Wall Street Journal covered the party and posted our photo first among a series. Of course, we loved it.














What we're wearing:

Jean is wearing: vintage Norma Kamali black crepe dress from Thriftwares at the recent Manhattan Vintage show; Ignatius leopard hat; vintage bakelite earrings from recent Pier Show; vintage bakelite spiked necklace, bracelets and rings from Jean's "vault"; Alexander Wang purse from Beacon's Closet; Jean's own customized DIY Dansko clogs.

Valerie is wearing:
Unlabeled vintage hat, plastic check earrings, black index and thumbprint necklace by Peter Lane Clay,  faceted buffalo horn ring, vintage Sonia Rykiel pinstripe suit, Express shirt, J Crew spectator flats.

Girls Gone Wild

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Wild Magazine, that is, wearing a variety of glasses from 

Selima Optique



































It all started last year when we made an impromptu stop into Selima on Bond Street and tried on a selection of their vintage sunglasses.  Remember this opening photo we posted?















And we followed that photo with a number of others, which you can see here.  That got Selima herself and her store manager Elena Polson thinking, and earlier this year they contacted us and asked if we'd like to do a shoot pairing their glasses with our clothes and accessories.  Would we? Hello -- would we ever! So, in April, just before Easter, we got to try on lots of frames from Selima's wide selection.  We chose three pairs of sunglasses and three pairs of eyeglasses each, took them home and built outfits around them.  A week later, Valerie dragged a suitcase and Jean dragged several bags into taxis, and we made our way to Selima's to see what they'd dreamed up for us.

We didn't tell you before because Elena's photos have only just surfaced, in The Wild Magazine in the Arts section online.  Click on the link and check them out!  Since our own shots are no longer (self) embargoed, now we can share the behind-the-scenes look from our perspective.

The first shot was in front of a large colorful mural covering the entire storefront of Ideal Glass gallery on East Second Street.  Here is Jean in one of many poses during this portion of the shoot.  Jean paired a vintage Darcel laquered straw hat with a vintage Norma Kamali leopard print jumpsuit, ivory bakelite earrings and cuffs, and her DIY customized Dankso clogs.

































Elena moves in to capture Valerie at just the right angle.  That's a 1930s vintage doll hat (green ribbon added by the wearer), polymer earrings by Elke Kuhn, Issey Miyake shirt and pants, Perry Ellis jacket, green Big Bird ring from Pylones, unlabeled green suede bag with Hut Up green felt leaf attached by Valerie, and Charlotte Olympia shoes.

















Tate A.K.O. is Elena's talented partner and collaborator. She designed and painted the most extraordinary props for the second half of the photo shoot. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. More about that later.


































There are all sorts of tricks of the trade that you don't get to see in the finished product.  Here, Elena and Tate hold a reflective board to light to Jean's face and counteract the shadow caused by her hat.


































When that part was over, the ladies had to take down the paper - called seamless - that they'd so carefully put up.  Elena's concept was to deliberately show us interacting with the seamless - not to look as if we were in a white box or as if we were on the street, but to appear as though we were moving in and out of the frame, between two worlds, so to speak.















Here, we reflect on the next part of the shoot.  Periodically we asked Elena to take photographs of us together, but she was in charge of the shoot, always thinking several steps ahead, so for the most part we photographed one another to chronicle the progress of the shoot.





















Glasses are obviously small, intimate objects, so to get the full detailing it's best to photograph them up close.  Both of these sunglasses have vertical black and white stripes. Jean's frame is called "Virginia" and Valerie's is called "Heathaboo".

















We styled a pair of black and white outfits around the black and white frames and even wore the same tee-shirt, in opposite color ways, to further tie our looks together.  Jean is in the white on black and Valerie's is the black on white version.


































The terrific black and white mural adorning the wall in the alley behind Selima Optique's Bond Street store provided the perfect backdrop for the black and white glasses and outfits.  Jean's Yohji Yamamoto hat topped off her black and white striped Zara Basic jacket, Kedem Sasson slacks, Jeffrey Campbell platform lace-ups and black and white plastic and bakelite bangles, earrings and necklace.



































During our shoot earlier this year for Beacon's Closet, Valerie tried on these flat white round-toed oxfords and purchased them on the spot. They were the perfect shade of white to match her suit.  Valerie's vintage white straw hat by Henry Margu, anonymous plastic target earrings, white linen suit by Calvin Klein, shirt from Zara, foam bangles from Chaos, hilarious anonymous bustier bag, and shoes by Nathalie.


































The weather had been so unpredictable that we were definitely worried that it might be too cold for an outdoor shoot when we scheduled, but we were blessed with gorgeous weather.  On the other hand, it was also windy, which, on most days would be fine, but on a day centered around seamless turned out to be occasionally problematic.















All better now!  Jean's fan is from the the Brooklyn Museum of Art gift shop.


































Our third and last full-length shoot, before retiring to the studio for indoor head shots, was on the sidewalk on Lafayette Street, just south of  Bond.


































Valerie paired her purple frames with a deep pink swirled felt Chisato Tsumori hat, vintage pink straw earrings, Yoshiki Hishinuma shirt, Ivan Grundahl dress in shades of purple, pink polka dot socks from a flea market and perforated pink shoes by Aerosoles.


































Jean matched her red felt vintage hat to her red frames, bangles, earrings and fan and added a black and white jacket from The Vintage Shop, black resin necklaces, Issey Miyake pants, with Trippen boots with a geta-style platform. (She's standing next to what remains of the seamless after a huge wind gust ripped it right off the frame.)  Luckily, the green wall provided a terrific primary colored contrasting background.


































In other cities, fashion shoots on the street might possibly be disruptive.  New Yorkers are so wonderfully oblivious, many -though not all - of them simply ignored us.  Elena encouraged interaction, so many pedestrians just walked right past us, into and out of the frame, while others stood on the sidelines, cheering us on and snapping pictures of their own, at a polite distance.  (All perfectly in keeping with the spirit of the shoot.)


































Elena asked us to make faces, gesticulate and just generally get physical on this one, so we raised a bit of a rumpus during this part of the shoot, but we weren't the only local color.  We LOVED this woman's purple hair and wonderful haircut.  (That's Jean in the background, after the wind had once again wreaked havoc with the seamless.)


































Tate, Elena's talented partner and collaborator, designed and painted three wonderful boards to showcase our glasses.  There were head-size holes in each of them.  GREAT idea, but boy, were they tricky!  The holes had to be just big enough for heads, but small enough to surround the neck, so everything, including earrings, had to be taken off, the board lowered onto the neck at EXACTLY the right angle (or the nose would get in the way), and then put back on. Of course, the boards were wide enough that once we were in one, our arms weren't long enough to reach around to put the earrings or glasses on ourselves.  We were asked to make fun expressions, which is harder than you think when you literally can't turn your head.  Below, Jean is wearing a black Ignatius straw hat and black and white plastic gumball choker.
































Valerie had to re-think her headgear for this shot, since her wide brimmed hat kept colliding with the back of the board. Luckily, Elena came to her rescue with a black feathered fascinator that looked terrific with the black frames and op art.  The glare of the lights on the lenses is other-worldly.


































Jean's straw turban -- by Ignatius, of course -- was perfect for this tropical background, and the bright red trim on the frames worked really well with the color scheme.


































When we were asked to make comical faces, we obliged, but when we're rich and famous we're going to demand final approval on all our photos, 'cause you have no idea how you look while you're inventing these faces.  It's a risky business.  (Reminds us of our brief stint on reality TV!)


































The brim on this hat, by Vogue in Tokyo, did clear the backboard, but just barely. All that angling of hat and board created a broad swath of pale flesh in the midst of all the green, but we fixed that by taking Valerie's shirt from the purple suit and swaddling her neck with it.






















Tate's last board looks very much like party confetti in mid-air.  Dorothy Parker said 'men never make passes at girls who wear glasses', and Marilyn Monroe famously quoted her in How to Marry a Millionaire, but these days a woman can party in her glasses, and who knows? - a well dressed guy might very well have a pair that matches.  Valerie's veiled green straw party hat from Printemps, Paris, 1996.  Earrings (plastic replicas of a Monies design) from Etsy.






















By total luck, Jean's hat choices (brimless turbans and a tiny black straw hat) and jewelry (choker necklaces) worked beautifully with Tate's painted frames. Who knew? She's wearing a mustard yellow knit turban from Urban Outfitters and her charm necklace.


































There you have it!  A behind the scenes look at the world of glamour!
















* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Oh, and by the way, for you numbers fans out there: Monday is 7/7/14.





NAKED

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THE NAKED JUICE SETTLEMENT, THAT IS























Valerie has become addicted to Naked Juice's Berry Veggie.  So much so that she lines them up and drinks them in succession, much the way William Powell lines them up in The Thin Man. She sees them the way Ray Milland sees alcohol in this still from The Lost Weekend.













Actually, that's not really true: a single 15.2 ounce bottle of Naked is $2.99 at Whole Foods (on sale), $4 and change at her local grocery store, $4.99 at her corner deli and $5.44 at her local sandwich joint. So Berry Veggie is a treat to be savored.  But it's soooo hard to resist when the first ingredient is listed as










and not














(photo from Nourition.com)

Recently, there was a big brouhaha when a class action suit was filed, challenging Naked Juice's claim that it used only natural ingredients.  Readers who have nothing better to do with their time can read all about it here and here, but what most interested Valerie can be seen, in a nutshell, here (double click for a better view):



















A REFUND!  Of up to $75, with proof (or up to $45 for those with enough nerve to submit claims without proof), to come from a $9 million pool set aside for the purpose.  Valerie, who had certainly contributed her fair share to the financial health of Naked Juice, figured she would have no trouble rustling up receipts, since she saves them for everything she charges, just to keep an eye on her credit card company.  (Funny things do show up now and again.)  So Valerie went through her box of receipts, which is full to bursting.  Here's  just the left side of the receipt box.  The right side is no better.


















Readers who keep receipts know that this is a roll-up-your-sleeves procedure.  Receipts are only microns thick, and a whole boatload of them can fit in a single box.  Ask Valerie if you're not sure about that.  Not content to look through the box, she also looked through her collection of recyclable plastic bags, and found more receipts in those.  This whole process probably took more than an hour, possibly two, over the course of a few days.  All told, Valerie found $56 in receipts, and bemoaned the fact that she had foolishly thrown away receipts for everything bought with cash, since that would easily have put her up to (and beyond) the $75 limit.  It was a time-consuming process, but money gurus consistently chide us for throwing money away, so there was something close to a sense of civic responsibility in reclaiming these funds.  Here's one of the two pages Valerie submitted, first taping all the receipts to a page, circling the amounts so her final figure wouldn't be questioned, and then scanning them to send via email.  Readers probably know how much fun that is, but ask Valerie if you're not sure.



































As specified in the Naked Juice Settlement terms, Valerie sent in her claim in November, way before the December deadline, smugly thinking that people without proof could submit as many claims for $45 as they pleased, but no one could deny her her $56.16, because she had proof.  Then she settled in for the long wait as the wheels of justice turned.

Seven months later, the wheels of justice finally ground to a halt, and after waiting and wondering and occasionally checking to see if she had her copy of the receipts, lest anyone say her claim wasn't received in time, Valerie got this check (again, double click):













The check number has been blotted out, just in case, as has Valerie's address, but the check amount has been circled (several times!).  Yes, you're reading that right.  Seventy-six cents.  And "NO dollars".  The fine print says "Because of the large number of Claims by Class Members, the awards to each Settlement Class Member have been reduced on a pro rata basis".  Boy, they sure have!!!!

If you read the settlement information, you may have seen that Naked offered either a settlement or the right to sue later, but not both.  Valerie thought $56 was a reasonable price for giving up her right to sue, so when she saw how little she'd actually renounced that right for, she was more than a tad miffed.  Charlie Brown and Lucy immediately came to mind.

















Oddly, so did hardware.



















Valerie isn't good at math, so she plugged the figures (.76 / 56.16) into Google just for the amusement of seeing what percentage of her claim she received.  Here's what Google says:










Yes, that's less than 1.4%.

And Valerie says what Queen Victoria would have said -























WE ARE NOT AMUSED.


We Flea to Brooklyn

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Our trip last week to the closing of the Antiques Garage whetted our appetite for flea markets, so we headed to one of the the Brooklyn flea markets earlier today. We took the L train from 1st Avenue to vibrant Bedford Avenue and walked a few blocks, past some of the most colorful grafitti we've seen in a while.

Numerous elaborate paintings adorn brick walls on most of the side streets off of Bedford Avenue.


































Exotic animals and birds appear on the sides of industrial buildings.






















Once we got to the outdoor market, which included clothing and furniture along with lots of food vendors, we were not disappointed.

Everyone who goes to flea markets or yard sales or estate sales knows that the purest joy lies not so much in the buying but in the discovering.  We discovered any number of wonderful things that we never would have found at our local department stores.

It may never occurred to you to want or to make a toy mummy, but thank goodness someone made one, and someone else brought it to the flea market for us to wonder about.


































At the same booth, we found the perfect sentiment in a poster.  Sorry, folks, we didn't want to disturb the very nice owner, so this is an awkward shot, but the expressive poster helps you overlook the shortcomings of the photo.






















Jean found these hilarious protective shoe covers that she may find some future use for.   (Keep your eyes peeled.)
















Ever wonder where architects get the little tiny people who populate their scale model buildings?  After the buildings get commissioned, unemployed scale model people gather at the flea market looking for their next jobs.















Deep End of The Sandbox had all kinds of collectibles, including action figures which appeal to people of ALL ages.














We found a new twist on the high heeled sneaker. The current rage is to insert the heel inside the shoe so it's invisible. This appears to be a flat shoe, but there's quite a lift in it. Very droll, and the white profile on the black sneaker, almost abstract, compliments its profile very nicely.















One of the booths, Kingston Twenty One, had a wonderful selection of ties in beautiful fabrications.  Here are some of their bow ties.


































We were thrilled to run into Epperson, a designer whose work we raved about in our coverage of Pratt Gallery's Black Dress show featuring him among ten contemporary black fashion designers.






















Another vendor, Marilyn Hitchcock, was there with a great collection of French Bakelite.






















Gusts of wind punctuated long minutes of the frying-eggs-on-the-sidewalk variety of heat.  The wind was blowing at length while we tried to photograph this skirt featuring Aubrey Beardsley drawings.  So the picture came out badly, but you get the idea.  What a great print!


































One enterprising young man bought a bunch of LPs (those are vinyl records, and the LP stands for "long playing", to those of you under 35) and made these beautifully designed signs with a laser cutter.  Handsome, colorful, creative and graphic.
















This dealer did to his spattered sneakers exactly what one is supposed to do with sneakers: he flung them over a pole to dangle.





















Another vendor who had an interesting selection of accessories and women's clothing was White Dove (but unfortunately, our photo didn't turn out).

There were LOADS of interesting people, of whom we'll show you just two.  This woman will be a great old lady in some forty years. You can perhaps see she's not only already dyed her hair red, she's also got the hat thing down pat.


































This gent, doing his own version of the French Foreign Legion hat and following in the footsteps of Gary Cooper and Laurel and Hardy, was wearing a fabulous tee shirt with a huge exclamation point. He said his girlfriend makes them. The punctuation mark is made from recycled fabric.





















Once we'd seen everything, it was time to go where Jean is pointing.  We didn't draw that sign.  Beacon's has moved to a new, slightly out of the way location, and they knew people like us would have trouble finding it.  Helpful,  amusing, and good marketing!


































After a brief but rewarding visit, it was time for…  did you guess cocktails?  Good for you!  To put a nice coda to our day, we went looking for a place called Egg, where we used to see lines estimated at forty-five minutes' waiting time.  (We figured we were going at an off hour and would waltz in.)  To our surprise, the mighty, yummy Egg has long since disappeared, but to our delight, Aaron, the waiter at Juliette next door, beckoned us in, intimating that he would take good care of us.  He definitely did.


































We did our usual thing, asking to trade this ingredient for that.  Luckily, the bartender was talented, adventurous and most accommodating! Jean had mezcal with passion fruit, and Valerie had blanc de blancs with passion fruit and raspberry.  The bartender later came over and said he approved of the switches we'd made, which was very gratifying.  Some bartenders refuse to make changes, some will make them, but offer a disclaimer, and others will taste the new product, like Juliette's bartender, and compliment us on our revision.  These little experiments add to the enjoyment of the whole process.  Oh, and lest you think that we were just "tippling a jar" (to quote Honky Tonk Women), we had marvelous buckwheat crepes with spinach and mushrooms in bechamel sauce.


































What we're wearing:

Valerie is wearing an unlabeled vintage black and white straw hat, ceramic earrings from a thrift shop, onyx and silver brooch from the same thrift shop many years earlier, newsprint top and skirt by Ki Meng, purchased at the closing of The Garage flea market (remember that post?), metal cuffs from Matsuya Ginza, faceted water buffalo horn ring, Melissa shoes designed by Gareth Pugh.


































Jean is wearing an Ignatius hat; rubber earrings designed by Kirsten Hawthorne; Illesteva "Frida" sunglasses; wooden and faux agate prayer beads (flea market finds from a few years ago); bakelite bangles and rings; Lysse top; knit harem pants from Thailand; Issey Miyake bag; customized Dansko clogs.

Clog Blog! "Word of Foot" - Dansko's Blog

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Check it out! Dansko clogs featured us on its "Word of Foot" blog in a terrific article posted yesterday: THE "IDIOSYNCRATIC FASHIONISTAS" WEIGH IN: HOW DO YOU FORM A STYLE IDENTITY?  By Nick on Tuesday, July 15, 2014

We were thrilled to be approached by Dansko who had become aware of both of us not just for Jean's customized Dansko's but also for our individuality. After the initial contact, we responded to numerous questions via email and on some 3-way telephone calls with Nick. Judge for yourselves, but we're quite pleased with the final results and the extremely positive message.

Of course, we confess our now not-so-secret desire to design fashionable but comfortable shoes for women of any age since, after all, style is ageless!  Like actors who don't just want to act but want to direct, we don't just want to wear stylishly functional shoes, we also yearn to design some interesting, new, idiosyncratic versions. We would love to collaborate with Dansko's designers on a capsule collection.


































Our regular readers are quite familiar with Jean's long standing affinity for Dansko clogs and her tendency to customize them to better reflect her style and personality. The center photo in Dansko's montage above displays the latest incarnation of her Dansko customization.

As her January 2014 Obsession Control post demonstrates, while Jean's eye may occasionally wander, her heart belongs to Dansko.






















In an earlier blog from April 2013, with that catchy title: "Customize Your Shoes - Or Not",  Jean highlighted her earlier version, an all-black platform clog with her modified ripple sole to encourage rocking through each step to avoid a flat-footed Frankenstein plodding gait.












And of course, stick-on dots (lent by Valerie, who always has a stash of Staples dots on hand - remember her post-foot surgery polka dot cane?) provide an opportunity for embellishment with easy removal.






















For the 2013 Easter Parade, we both rocked the polka dot thing, so the stick-on dots were the perfect counter-point to her black and white polka dot Heydari pants.


































And the even earlier version of Jean's DIY customized black patent Dankso clogs featured a saw-tooth sole that she designed and had constructed by her long-suffering, very patient, masterful neighborhood shoe repairman. We were floored when it was featured in the 3/5/12 post by "Every Clog Has Its Day". (Click & scroll down to see us.)





















We're looking forward to the opportunity someday to share our designs with bold patterns, unique color combinations and higher platform soles, if only someone would ask!

Footsteps of Mandela at Riverside Church

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On Friday evening we went to Riverside Church in upper Manhattan for the Footsteps of Mandela (FOM) program on what would have been Nelson Mandella's 96th birthday. Hotlanta Vocal Posse and FOM Interfaith Chorus performed Stan Satlin's Aurotorio Amercana  and Joel A. Martin's Requiem for Peace as part of an evening-length program.  We ran into Carole Markel and her husband Richard Cramer (far left and far right) and Cydonia Boonshaft, Debra Rapoport's sister. (Cydonia's husband Barry was sweet enough to snap this photo.)  Note that Carol and Jean are both wearing Carol's huge hand-painted wooded gumball necklaces.


































The event was a celebration of the life (not the passing) of Nelson Mandela, and the setting was the magnificent Riverside Church.

Man of the hour, composer Stan Satlin, and Jean.


































Cydonia, Debra and Valerie.


































After celebratory remarks by Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr., UN Consul General George Monyemangene and Congressman Charles Rangle,  the beautiful and colorfully dressed Thuli Dumakude and Thokoza performed "Sawubona Mandela" and got the joint rocking from the get-go.  Drums of the World also performed.
















Although not professional, the video gives you an idea of the space and the sounds:
http://youtu.be/giOWmWpNlJM











Broadway star Liz Callaway's rendition of Bob Dylan's  "Blowing in the Wind" left Jean teary-eyed.  Another highlight of the evening was Simon Estes'"Old Man River" from Showboat.  The tall and handsome seventy-six year old Estes used to perform at the Metropolitan Opera. He has become an advocate for the program which provides insecticide treated mosquito nets to help prevent the spread of malaria which we were told kills a child every 60 seconds in Sub-Saharan Africa.  Needless to say, we each donated a net.






















Amy Little from Atlanta sang "Keeper of the Song" from Stan's Auratorio Americana. She is wearing woven beaded earrings from footstepsofmandela.org.


































Everyone was invited onstage as part of the event.  To the left of tall and handsome Simon Estes is the evening's host, Jeremy Hassell (from MTV & VH1) and Stan is to the left of Jeremy.

















People onstage and in the aisles clapped, danced and sang along.  The video gives you just a taste of the joyful noise: 1FOMThuliDumakude&thokozaIdiosyncraticFashionistas071814x.











The gathering of the clan:  We all got together after the event. Left to right: Julia Sotas (Winnipeg), Jean, Debra, Amy Little (Atlanta), Mary Lou Alsentzer (Lancaster, PA), Janet Holloway (Lexington, KY) and Stan. Mary Lou and Janet, who have known Stan for over forty years, came to New York to see his work performed.















People:
Jean met singer, actress and vocal arranger Ntomb'Khona Dlamini who performed with Thuli Dumakude & Thokoza. (She is the one in pink on the far right.) She is appearing with Jimmy Mngwandi and Danny Lerman at the Iridium Jazz Club on Sunday August 10th at 3 PM for an afternoon of African vocals and Jazz.


































While many of the attendees were either from or had visited South Africa, all of the attendees dressed for the occasion.  We were seated right behind these two gorgeous divas who were singing and dancing along to the music in their colorful outfits and head wraps.


































These two ladies, who were wearing black, white and grey, looked great.  If you look closely, the shawl on the lady on the right is covered in black skulls.  The colors in her friend's walking stick echoed those in her long neckpiece.


































Crystal Kilgore, Storyteller Extraordinaire, was seated right behind us.  Her business card says: "Stories Galore: The Wonderful World of Storytelling".*


































Mary is a friend of and was seated next to Crystal.


































This lovely lady -- Mae -- was waiting for her niece, Ann, who had performed in the show.


































After changing clothes, tall and talented Ann emerged from backstage.


































Another beautiful lady in yellow was wearing a beaded necklace that she'd gotten in South Africa.


































Members of this trio were rocking the black and white look!





















After a week of extremely depressing world news about the Malaysian airliner blown out of the sky and the growing conflict in the Gaza Strip, the Mandela event was a wonderfully positive, restorative experience!

*Crystal's 24-hour voicemail number is 212-592-3391.

Senior Planet Asks Us About Shoes!

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OR: EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SHOES FOR OLDER FEET, BUT DIDN'T KNOW WHO TO ASK






















We were delighted to get an email from Linda Magid recently.  Would we like to talk about stylish shoes, she asked, for an article on footwear for older feet to run in Senior Planet.  Boy, would we ever! We gave Linda an earful (okay, an eyeful, since it was all on e-paper) about feet, shoes, price, comfort, style, surgery, and our conviction that we would both make great shoe designers ('cause we've been there and worn that).

That's not us in the picture above, by the way.  But you already knew that, right?

We were not the only women asked to weigh in on the shoe issue. For a full complement of views, Linda also spoke to Jean Woods, Debra Rapoport, Sue Kreitzman and Lynn Dell Cohen. We run the gamut (pardon the pun).

Click here for the whole article, and lots more photographs. Readers, if you know a shoe designer, show this to him or her, PLEASE!

You Ought to Be in Pictures

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About a month ago, passing by the Museum of Modern Art, Valerie noticed Mark Nilsson standing outside the MOMA Design Store offering portraits for a very reasonable sum.  Sample portraits hung at his table looked very interesting, so we decided to take Mark up on his offer.  At the risk of getting ahead of ourselves, here are the finished products.  (Above are the models.)  Join us as we walk you through our latest adventure.










We didn't realize it, but Mark is something of a fixture in that spot.  Click here to read the New York Times article on him, and here to see a video made by the School of Visual Arts.

We booked a double-header appointment on July 24th.  Valerie went first.  Here she is, ready for her close-up.


































We both wore black and tan straw Ignatius hats which we'd purchased last November at the Philadelphia Museum Craft Show. Valerie wore hers cocked over her left eye.






















When he starts to paint, Mark instructs you to assume a consistent pose. Little did Valerie know that she'd have to maintain the position for nearly two hours.  Mark has contrived a fairly lightweight and collapsible business, all of which can be easily deconstructed and wheeled away on a hand truck, barely visible behind him.






















Mark's intensity and focus are palpable. He blocks out distractions and focuses entirely on his work.  During Valerie's sitting, in the background, we could hear the American Museum of Folk Art (completed in only 2001) being jackhammered to death in preparation for MOMA's expansion.  At one point a firetruck came by, sirens wailing.  We almost never spoke, but when we did, we nearly always had to shout above the street din. Mark was able to work right through all of it.


































Mark's focus is even more challenging since some passersby feel compelled not just to observe at a distance but to come right up next to the artist, stare down at the work-in-progress and proceed to pose questions to him and/or the model.  (The latter was unusual, he said)  Luckily, most were content to snap photos from the sidelines.


































Voila the finished product!  Do we see some Lucien Freud influence?





















The artist and his muse, post-opus.


































Valerie's portrait took twice the estimated hour.  Mark felt there wouldn't be enough light to finish Jean's portrait, so we returned the next day, and Jean reprised her outfit, since we thought it would be fun to be painted in our nearly identical hats.  Here's the artist and Jean, seated in the folding chair, looking up.


































It turned out to be very challenging for both of us to sit stock still for over ninety minutes with our chins up, but we managed.


































Mark starts with a yellow 'canvas', and makes his first marks in red.  Here, the first stabs at Jean's hat.




















The first outlines of Jean's face.  When Mark began doing this several years ago, his table was flat, and he had to hold the paper down while painting.  But paint has accumulated since then, and formed a natural frame that now holds the paper in place for him.


































You can see he's painted the yellow background gray, and begins to adjust the color of the hat.






















He adds a few shadows to outline Jean's cheek bones, and starts to adjust her skin color.  At this point, it looks like there's a bit of Francis Bacon in this portrait.






















At one point, a large crowd had gathered around.
















Jean's hair begins to take shape, and color, and shifted from Francis Baconesque to German Expressionist.  The dark spot on her eye was unintentional, and soon rectified.  Although he was usually poker-faced in concentration, every now and then we both noticed a look of surprise on his face.  Maybe this was one of those moments.






















Glasses were the next to last detail to be added.  The sharp lines of the hat came last.  We're not sure, but we think it was our hats that prolonged our sitting.  We asked Mark in advance if he would agree to paint us with our hats, since the samples we saw were all hatless.  It turned out he enjoyed doing the hats.  Love the juxtaposition of the real and painted hats in this shot.






















Voila! The second finished product.






















The artist signs his work.  His shirt and pants are both covered with paint, since he uses them to wipe excess paint off his brushes.






















Mark rescues cardboard boxes from the neighborhood for the finished portrait to be transported in while still wet.  When he finished Valerie's, he disappeared for a few minutes to find a box; when we arrived for Jean's sitting, he had a box all ready.  This box, it turned out, was a bit small, so the portrait didn't quite have room to lie flat.  Before we'd gone several blocks, the thickly applied acrylic had begun to shift with gravity.  So we made a stop at Valerie's place, nearby, put her portrait on a flat surface, and transferred Jean's portrait to Valerie's bigger box for the trip home.  Mark estimated it might take a week for the portraits to dry completely.

















Mark also makes his own business cards.  On three separate visits, Valerie picked up three distinctly different cards, all of which look distinctly German expressionist.  The top one looks most like Mark (30 years from now).  All three are signed and numbered, and more than worthy of framing.


































Regular readers will not be surprised that, at the end of the sittings, we walked across the street to The Modern, and had two fine cocktails (oh, and a bowl of gazpacho each).










































Twinset

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Just for the fun of it, we decided to dress up as twins, sort of. Readers from waaaaaay back will remember when we got our matching natural colored vintage grass hats and spray painted them red. We returned to the scene of the crime, Vintage Thrift Shop, to memorialize the occasion. Most of the time, our tastes diverge, or coordinate serendipitously, but every now and then we fall in love with the same thing.

As luck would have it, we both have nearly identical black round glasses frames (sunglass for Valerie; prescription for Jean).  You can't really tell, but we're both wearing billowy black pants.  Long ago Valerie admired Jean's Trippen shoes, and sought out a similar pair; we popped into Chaos one day and came away with matching black and white foam rubber cuffs.  In nosing around hither and thither, Valerie picked up the matching tee shirts exactly for an occasion like this, and picked up the bags another time because they were on sale and, well -- because a girl never has enough bags.  (Here we would like to take the opportunity to quote the amazing humorist Adrienne Gusoff, who said "The worst part about getting bags under your eyes is finding the shoes to match.")

We had a little fun, and highly recommend it.


































Many thanks to Kyle, who indulgently photographed us, even though it was closing time.

And then, after they locked the doors behind us at Vintage Thrift Shop, we strolled over to the Gansevoort Hotel on Park Avenue at 29th Street to check out Roof, their rooftop bar and test drive a couple cocktails. But that's another story for another time.

WISH YOU WERE HERE

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WE VISIT THE AMAZING FASHION ARCHIVES OF NEW YORK VINTAGE

















A few weeks ago, we made an impromptu visit to New York Vintage, a huge store filled to the rafters with uniformly the best vintage clothing we have ever seen under one roof. We gasped and gaped at every wonderful thing we saw, and there were many wonderful things to see. Maybe we had a certain look about us, or maybe the staff recognized us from our business card, because we were invited to come back and take a look at their archive, which is usually reserved for stylists, costume designers, and movie and television professionals. The invitation alone was our version of Christmas in July.

We returned two weeks ago, and would like to share with you some of the wonders we saw.

We hadn't taken two steps in when we started ooohing and aaaaahing because there were dozens of wondrous hats at the door. We both fell in love with these marvelous feather crests. These are not antique, but were specially made to order for New York Vintage.


















Now let's show you Nicki Minaj, who wore it first.  And let's not even ask the magazine question Who wore it better?  We already know that, but we're absolutely delighted to say we wore it too.  We chose to wear ours widthwise, which shows you just how versatile and well made this headpiece is.























Just a little further in was this dazzling jacket dated "circa 1924".  It has the very popular silver and gold thread of the time, and a theme of ancient Egyptian imagery rendered in seed beads and embroidery.  Remember, King Tut's tomb made big news when it was discovered in 1922.  Egyptian design fit right in with the art deco period.  New York Vintage's owner and founder, Shannon Hoey, has a very strong collection from this period, and helped costume Boardwalk Empire and The Great Gatsby.  (For Magnet Agency's great interview with Shannon, click here.)





















Here's Paz de la Huerta wearing a New York Vintage costume in a still from Boardwalk Empire which we found on the New York Vintage website.

















And you need to see some swoonworthy shoes from the period, too, don't you?


















And staying right around that period, how romantic are these printed trousers from the archives? They are like something out of Scheherazade.  One gets the feeling Leon Bakst could have designed them, and Nijinsky could have worn them.






















Various period items scattered around the room, as if in a comfortable apartment, keep visitors in a historical frame of mind. Jean couldn't resist trying on this hand painted mask. Now we know what to rent if we're ever invited to a masked ball in Venice.






















We were offered the opportunity to try things on.  We don't have to tell readers how tempting that was, but we kept our try-ons to a minimum.  We couldn't resist the hats, but we photographed most other items in situ.

Jean fell in love with this persimmon colored raw silk suit dated "circa 1905".  It has very detailed seam work, not all of which is visible here, to flatter the body, and wonderful black and white target buttons in bone or horn.



































We should also show you a selection of shoes from the 1940s.  The colors and decorations nearly dance, even without feet in them.

















Just as there were cases and cases of shoes (only a few of which we can show you here), so there were cases and cases of jewelry.  Here's a smattering of that.  We've chosen a selection of bold sculptural jewelry, but if anyone comes in needing a tiara, New York Vintage has a selection of those, too.


















At the rear of the archives, we discovered a mannequin with an amazing display of large statement necklaces, each one more fabulous than the next.






















We were ably assisted by the very knowledgeable and helpful Megan. We asked her to model a huge statement necklace for us (in carved ebony?) from the mannequin, and she kindly obliged.  She did hesitate for a moment, saying she had not done her hair, but we suspect it is not possible to take a bad picture of Megan.






















New York Vintage doesn't restrict its archive to things beyond our memory. This Mondrian swimsuit and futuristic beach hat with built-in sun visor look like something out of a James Bond flick circa early Sean Connery.  Yeah, we wore stuff like this.






















We also found current designers like Mary McFadden and Comme des Garcons. Here's a terrific Maison Margiela top we found, made out of kid gloves.


































This graphic black and white striped faux monkey fur coat by Dolce and Gabanna is also available for rental.






















But inevitably we gravitated back toward hats. (There's a surprise!) There were three that we both had to try on.






















We loved this asymmetrical orange straw Pierre Cardin hat. It looks like Phillip Treacy meets Dr.Seusse.  (Notice we each wore it differently.)






















Needless to say, this purple velvet Yves Sant Laurent hat from the archives stole Jean's heart. It is guaranteed to bring out your inner Marlene Dietrich.






















While specializing in clothes, the owners can't resist the occasional iconic furniture pieces.   For contrast, we wore these hats sitting in a '60s egg chair, with typical '60s lighting in the background.



















But we both fell in luuuuvvvvvvv with another of New York Vintage's special creations, a black leather cone hat that must have been a foot tall, but was so well made it easily stayed on our heads.






















This tall conical hat is the cat's meow! It has a very Grace Jones vibe. When either one of us wins the lottery, we'll buy one and commission another!






















When our visit to the archive was over, we wandered back downstairs, where more wonderful clothes and props awaited us.

Next to this deco mannequin in a feathered headdress is a yummy sleek pair of modern black platform sandals from Celine.






















The art deco mannequin and vintage luggage create an atmosphere that screams glamour.






















Nearby was this Alexander McQueen dress, whose expertly designed stitching gives it body and drama.






















In the next room, we came across a marvelous screen in the strong colors and black outlines favored by Gauguin.  You can see yet more astonishing vintage hats in the case at the left, and an eye-popping yellow lacquered chair peeking out at bottom right.






















To close, we had to show you another photo from New York Vintage's press collection.  Dating back to 2004, it's Beyonce for InStyle magazine.






















We want to thank Shannon, Jon, Nicole, Jack and Megan for allowing us the privilege of looking behind the scenes.  Everyone at New York Vintage clearly loves what they do.  They were warm, welcoming, knowledgeable and enthusiastic.

Jon kindly took the opening photo, in which we wear a pair of matching Dior Resort sombreros, sitting in vintage matching chairs, and flanked by platform shoes which we remember with fondest nostalgia.

ART EVERYWHERE

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"Is it art?" (to quote everyone, everywhere, at some time or another.)

Yes, particularly if it's a piece of the Berlin Wall, sandwiched in one of New York's many nooks and crannies.  (The realtor owner generously placed it in the public eye when it turned out the floors of his apartment would not stand up to the weight of the concrete.)






















Actually, we just showed you the Berlin Wall segment to insert pictures of ourselves.  Now that we've taken care of that, let's talk about Art Everywhere US.org., a "public celebration of great American art exhibited on thousands of … advertising displays across America … includ[ing] billboards, bus shelters, [and] subway posters…  This August, cherished American artworks will be seen by millions of people every day when they are commuting to work, taking the kids to school, hailing a taxi, shopping in a mall, catching a bus or pursuing other routine activities." (Click on the link to learn more, including what cities are participating.)

What a great idea!

So we set out to find some art hiding in plain sight.

Here's John Singer Sargent's Dorothy, painted in 1900.  We could have photographed it without the garbage can, but this is how most pedestrians will discover it - a breath of fresh air, an invigorating change from the braying advertisements usually plastered on the sides of phone kiosks.






















On the side of a newsstand in Times Square there was this wonderful 1932 painting, Pueblo Woman, by Emil Bisttram.  Every thirty seconds it changed - mostly to advertising, but every fifth change or so was another painting.  There was no way to photograph her without some reflections of the pervasive neon lights of Times Square, but perhaps one could call that interactive art.  (And anyway, although the camera catches everything, the focused eye automatically filters out what it doesn't want to see.)























The exhibitors chose the broad side of another newsstand to exhibit Charles Sheeler's Classic Landscape (1931).  All the paintings shown are from major American museums.  Classic Landscape is from the collection of the National Gallery of Washington D.C.
















We could show you several others, but let's insert a bit of variety here.  Is the Naked Cowboy art?  If he were painted or sculpted, everyone would say yes.  Can he be art if he's not painted or sculpted?  We know some of our readers are saying right now "But he IS sculpted!"






















Nestled between a garbage can and lighted ads as big as the Eiffel Tower is the SnackBox.  Isn't it art?






















IDB Bank plays with the concept of repousse doors, so popular in the Machine Age, and updates them for the modern eye.

















Last year the Lexington Hotel put art in its windows that clearly references Fritz Lang's movie Metropolis.


































Even the sidewalk is decorated in New York.  (But is it art?)

















(Many thanks to Brendan, who kindly took the Berlin Wall photos one recent evening!)

New Hampshire Craftsmen's Fair

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Stalkers, pay attention! Every November, like clockwork, we travel to the City of Brotherly Love to attend the Philadelphia Museum Craft Show. We also like to seek out other craft venues to check out  their interesting designs and creations. When Jean was in New Hampshire earlier this week, she was thrilled to find out about the 81st Annual Craftsmen's Fair sponsored by the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen at Mount Sunapee Resort in Newbury, a hop, skip and a jump from New London where she was staying. It didn't take much persuading for her to coax her sister-in-law Maureen and niece Teresa to join her. She took lots of photos in order to report back to Valerie and to you, dear readers.  Please do click on the names of the exhibitors to link to their websites to see more of their handiwork.


































Just inside the entrance, visitors were treated to a show by puppeteer Dan Butterworth. His intricately hand-carved puppets dance and whirl from the stage into the air. He masterfully manipulated this little clown to ride a unicycle around the stage.

































Since it would be impossible to cover the glorious work of the hundreds of craftspeople, with the exception of a couple glass works, Jean focused on those exhibitors showing clothing and jewelry. Sally Bags by Janet Durkee-Prescott and Siiri Grubb are colorful and functional and come in a variety of styles and prints.






















Julia Brandis'Glassworks from Westminster, Vermont featured desk and table lamps as well as illuminated stained glass panels.


































Jean was delighted to run into one of our favorite exhibitors from Philly, Joy Raskin Metal Ornaments from Concord, New Hampshire, was participating in the show.  Joy does metal work and tablewear, but her jewelry rings our bell.  This amazing woven metal collar caught Jean's eye.






















Another jeweler who shows at Philly, Kathleen Dustin from Contoocook, New Hampshire, was in the same tent.  Although we love her necklaces, like the one pictured below, she also does amazing purses in alternative materials.




















Nathan Macomber of Macomber Glass in Conway, New Hampshire, displayed beautiful glassworks in his booth. On the outside, he had hung this demonstration of the process of the making of a striped glass marble.













The booth of Marcia Hammond of Brookfield, Vermont, was filled with scarves, handmade wearables and beautiful pastel knit tops that were lightweight and had a wonderful feel.


































Hand weaver Nancy O'Conner from Ashuelot, New Hampshire makes rayon chenille scarves, tops and jackets that look stylish and feel amazingly lush.


































Patricia Palson, also of Contoocook, New Hampshire, makes women's clothing that feels as good as it looks. Jean, of course, was initially distracted by her terrific eyeglass frames by MiuMiu.


































Patricia focuses on jackets and coats and will be participating in the Philadelphia Museum Craft Show this year, so our paths will definitely cross again soon.


































Jim Lambert is an artist from Hillsborough, New Hampshire, with an incredibly wicked sense of humor and a well-developed sense of whimsy. Jean was struck by his installation of a dress made out of tree bark, most especially by its halo of butterflies.  She chatted with Jim about the piece which had sold to a young couple and advised him to tell them to look up Philip Treacy's famous butterfly hat to add a dimension to their enjoyment of the piece. Although he doesn't have a website, his email address is: jimlabertfolkart@gmail.com.


































Here is Philip Treacy's butterfly hat for Alexander McQueen's Spring 2008 collection. (Image from blog.liberio.it.)






















Carrie Cahill Mulligan makes heirloom handknit hats. Her booth featured an example of what her buttery soft felted hats start out looking like before they are washed and shrunk.


































Although it is a slightly different color combination than the one above, this hat gives you an idea of how soft and fitted her hats can be.





















Feltmaker Miriam Carter's booth was chock full of beautiful designs. This shot only gives you a glimpse, so check out her website to view more goodies, including her gorgeous hats!














Hope you enjoyed Jean's whirlwind tour of the NH exhibition. If you are on the East Coast, we recommend the Philadelphia Museum Craft Show in November. And someday, we hope to make it to the Smithsonian's Craft Show in Washington, DC, which is held in the spring.

X's BDay Blast!

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Xtine ("X" for short) celebrated a milestone birthday in style last weekend. On Sunday, we had a leisurely brunch at B Bar.  On her actual birthday on Saturday, she held court in the historic Marble Cemetery on East 2nd Street.  Here, dear readers, is the illustrated version of the X Diaries, birthday edition!

The unparalleled Xtine (whom you have seen here on several previous occasions) recently sent us pictures commemorating her sixty-fifth birthday.  Ever tongue-in-cheek, she held a little gathering in a picturesque local cemetery, and sent photographs later on.  Much to our chagrin, we could not be there, but enjoyed the photographs so much that we asked if we could 'reblog' them.  Here, in the order we received them, and with the original photo captions, are pictures capturing a very happy day.
Thank you all for a great birthday!
Start with beautiful flowers...
and end with crazy accordion lady.

What a day in the cemetery!
Sean's beautiful flowers



















65, still alive
























The behatted birthday girl herself!
the birthday gang















da hand




















(The be-bakelited hand of the birthday girl)
Helga's fruit














Richard, X, JB, Riitta, Katie
















Richard, X















Helga, Richard, X
















X, Riitta















Sean

















Woman with accordion




















X wrote later to say that the lady with the accordion often plays in the cemetery, so it was serendipity that she simply happened to be there to provide entertainment for the party.  Don't you just love her kindergarten photo -- with added cat-eye glasses?




















Since Jean was driving back from New Hampshire and Valerie was at a TV taping, neither of us could make it to her garden, er, cemetery, party. So, taking matters into our own hands, we invited her to a BDay Brunch at BBar on Sunday.

We snagged a large booth in the main room, opting for air conditioning rather than outdoor dining in August.  Xstine is wearing her Veuve Cliquot champagne cork cage as her own millinery tribute to turning the big Six Five!


































Bakelite and bangs! This profile shot gives you a better idea of X's haircut, and her multiple pierced earrings, fingers full of rings and wristsful of bakelite bangles. (Remind you of anyone?)  Not many women could carry off this look as wonderfully as she. What we love most about her is her fearlessness. The way in which she celebrates rather than fears getting older inspires us.


































Had to show you her amazing hat. Don't you love how she peeks out from under the brim?






















After a long and luxurious meal (pancakes for Valerie, waffles for X and fruit salad for Jean) and some wonderful bubbly champagne, we stopped for a parting shot before heading off into the afternoon sun.






















What we're wearing:  
X is wearing a wonderful Jill Anderson black and white buffalo check dress;  Jill Anderson skirt and matching black and white check crinoline;  John Fluevog boots; lots of bakelite bangles and black hat.

Jean is wearing an Issey Miyake dress (for which she traded the skirt Valerie is wearing); Rick Owens tee shirt; DIY customized Dansko clogs; ivory colored vintage bakelite necklaces, earrings and bracelets and Tibetan straw hat from the Ruben Museum.

Valerie is wearing a green straw hat from Paris's Printemps (bought on her last trip to Paris in 1996),  green plastic earrings (Monies imitations), Issey Miyake dress and skirt (see Jean's note, above), yellow wood bangles from Zara (on sale at 2/3 off!), and Charlotte Olympia leaf shoes from a resale shop ("Charlotte Olympia" is French for too expensive to buy at manufacturer's suggested retail price.)

A Celebration of Hats - by Iva Ksenevich

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Fate conspires in the strangest ways to bring hats to us.  And wonderful adventures to accompany the hats.
















You might remember that way back in March we went to a "do" at the Classic Car Club of Manhattan (see our posting here).  We didn't tell you then, but we were stopped by a gorgeous woman named Zlata, who complimented us on our hats, and, with the magic of her smart phone, showed us photo upon photo of hats made by her sister Iva in Moscow.  Good thing we wear glasses, which kept our eyes from popping too far out of their sockets.  Zlata said her sister would be coming to the U.S. in July, and asked if we would like to meet Iva and maybe do something with her hats.  Of course we said Da.

Four months later, Iva came to town with nearly her entire collection and we found ourselves in Zlata's apartment, in a frenzy of hat wearing (scroll down to see that).  It all went so well that Iva invited us to model three hats each for her website, and booked tres sympa (very cool) photographer Francois Charlier to memorialize the event.  Did we mention that Iva and Zlata were two-thirds of a set of triplets?  And we had the wonderful fortune to meet Alisa, the third member of the triumvirate.

Iva's millinery philosophy includes the concept and illusion of "motion" -- through textured, layered, sweeping fabrics, textiles and designs. Mix in a healthy color sense and a sense of wonder and et voila! That's Iva in the center.  We're each wearing one of her hand made creations.
















To give you a taste of what you'll see on the website, we've included just a few shots from the shoot.  These were all taken at the periphery of Little Italy, and the tourists had as much fun watching, and taking their own photos, as we did voguing around in Iva's chapeaux.  (Iva and Francois were very patient with the interruptions.)  The opening photo is also from the shoot.  (In case you didn't guess.)

































Can you tell how much fun we were having?


































That's some of the finished product.  Let us show you some of the many hats Iva brought from Moscow, that we got to try on at Zlata's apartment.

Here's Valerie in the hat Jean is wearing in the opening photo.  The colorful, layered geometric lines and suede-like texture in this sophisticated grey hat create a much more interesting landscape than a simple toque.






















At the end of the evening of frenzied try-ons, Iva kindly offered us each one of a selection of her confections.  This is the one Jean took home.


































The hat Valerie is wearing in the opening photo is the one she took home.  In the opening photo, it reads grey and black with brown and black feathers. But as Jean illustrates below, from the other side and back, the hat most definitely reads bright red. Iva's ability to create this sense of surprise is one of the most endearing qualities of her designs.


































The white plastic splash looks like one of those old National Geographic mid-air stop-frame photographic images of of spilled milk splashing, a true embodiment of Philip Treacy's devotion to motion.   It's actually a piece of plastic that she shredded and melted.  (Valerie wears this in the third shoot photo above.)  The simple design on a black velvet headband is at once amusing and arresting.






















Iva called this her fish net hat.  The net, paired here with a small red disk, is actually made of metal and very sturdy.   Iva delights in using surprising and mundane materials and transforming them into things of beauty.  She wore it beautifully and the color complimented her grey dress.


































Here are the three of us, this time with Jean wearing the fishnet hat.
















One of the most interesting results of this entire exercise was our realization that hats we never thought would look good on us surprised us by being imminently wearable and attractive. It was a lesson that we have to continue to go outside our comfort zone. Case in point, the hat Iva is wearing in the big photo of the three of us in front of the purple pink painted wall looked terrific on Valerie too.


































That the same hat would look so great on all three of us was a great revelation.


































Another of Eva's hats used a striped, pleated double disk design.


































And here it is, seen from the other side.

































Iva designed this feathered crown so that women with long hair could secure it to the nape of the neck for a royal look.


































Jean tried it two different ways.



































Valerie's style, tilted more to the front, looked very 1950s Norell/Norman Parkinson.  Iva told us that she sterilized the feathers, which she'd found, before creating the hat.  We hadn't thought to ask, but once you think of it, it's comforting to know.


































This purple cone shaped hat with colorful accents was a killer look.


































Valerie wears the purple hat in the opposite direction, for a completely different effect.  Iva blew us away when she told us she had only taken two millinery classes, neither one more than two weeks long!


































This tall feathered hat could be worn forwards or backwards, displaying more -- or less -- red. It is incredibly dramatic. And lord knows, we love drama!


































Of course, we'd have to remove such a tall hat if we were to have gotten into a taxi (speaking from past experience).  But as we've often said, one must suffer for one's art...


































This red and pink floral velveteen hat has a short brim. Jean was extremely hesitant to try it but once she did, she loved it.



































Valerie tried wearing it back to front, for a sort of flower-power/Nehru effect.


































This brown hat, which resembled either a bird in flight or an exotic flower, could also be worn forward or backward, tilted to one side or the other. Each angle showed different colors and textures.  Here's one way:






















And here's another:


































We both fell in love with this creation. and wound up calling it the manta ray hat, but we could just as easily have called it the bat hat or the stealth bomber hat.   Jean is wearing it in our second photo.  Here it is on Valerie.

































Below is a closeup of this amazingly constructed hat, about which Jean has actually had dreams!




















And here it is upside down.  Each of Iva's hats has her label in it. Notice how the golden oval is hand stitched?  Iva described spending quite a lot of time on each of her works, making sure she gets the details exactly the way she wants them.






















We wanted to end this post with the most dramatic, evocative piece in Iva's collection. We called this "The Miss Haversham" hat.  Not sure the Dickens anti-hero was an appropriate choice for the name, but we were thinking along the lines of a very proper English woman of a certain age, a certain social class and a certain time period.  Jean is wearing this in the fourth photo above (paired with her antique silk folding children's parasol).  Valerie takes it out for a spin below.


































But you really must see it from behind as well.






















The serendipity involved in this connection makes our heads spin.  That our trip to the Classic Car Club of Manhattan event in honor of Luca Forgeois (a local boy from Long Island who aspires to be a Formula1 driver) was the genesis is icing on the cake.

Needless to say, we are both thrilled with our Iva Ksenevich hats but also more thrilled to have connected with such a talented, artistic milliner.

(For your future reference, the Russian word for hat is shapkah.)
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