Idiosyncratic Fashionistas

As if the Pier Show wasn't enough, we also went to the Manhattan Vintage Show. Remember? Because of a scheduling snafu, both this show AND the Pier Show were held on the SAME weekend. Since Manhattan Vintage is only on Friday and Saturday (key Melina Mercouri and the theme music from that fab 1950's Greek-American collaborative screen gem "Never on Sunday"!), and we're working girls, it was a no-brainer what we'd do on Saturday. Our friend X joined us at the Manhattan Vintage Show last Saturday at the Metropolitan Pavilion. Since she wears lots of vintage jewelry, clothes and handbags, it was a very fun outing for all three of us. (Valerie says she could not have done two days in a row prior to her twin foot surgeries. Well worth the time spent in the dreary post surgical booties.)

No sooner had we arrived than we ran into Lisa Caravalho and Rob Stuart. We loved Lisa's '80s silver raincoat, not to mention her silver hair. If she's not smiling, she bears an uncanny resemblance to Meryl Streep's Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada.

Oops! Valerie thought this woman was wearing a fabulous '60s coat, but it turned out it's a very current Kate Spade. Folks, it takes a lot of coordinating to get that pattern to sit just right when it's on the left and the right, AND over both shoulders. Kudos to the people who planned this design, and to the people who sewed the pieces together!

This camera-shy woman let us photograph her marvelous coat, but not her face.

We had some celebrity sightings. Here's designer Anna Sui. She always shops the vintage shows and was extremely accommodating when Jean asked to take her picture.

Valerie spotted Vogue's Hamish Bowles, but Jean was strategically better situated to take a photo, so Valerie got her attention (ever so discreetly, no doubt) and motioned to her. Mr. Bowles is somewhat less photo-friendly than Anna Sui. As soon as Jean snapped this photo, he was off in a flash, only circling back after we'd left. (For those aghast at Valerie's hatlessness, she had just been trying on a Junya Watanabe shirt the putting on of which challenged not only her, but the booth employees, who were more familiar with its intricacies. So the hat had to come off. Momentarily.

And Jean found Market Warrior and interior designer Bob Richter.

Vendors are definitely among the most fun and enjoyable things about vintage shows in New York. Case in point, in addition to his expert knowledge about vintage design, Theo Banzon of Paradox Designs has great humor, high energy and enthusiasm. He's wearing a skirt of his own design which incorporates roomy pockets on the side seams. Thank goodness there's ONE designer who understands that pockets are essential.

Alana (far left) and Amira (center) were their own best advertisement at the Style Vault.

Elaine Klausman from Vintage with a Twist combines current and vintage and always looks crisp, classic and modern all rolled into one. Check out the patches sewn to her Anne Fontaine shirt. (Anne Fontaine regularly turns the humble and simple white shirt into a work of art.)

During NY Fashion Week last September, we participated in a 6-city fashion shoot and event for Phillip Lim 3.1 for Target. We appeared in a street scene in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY. Ken Weber from Vintage Martini in Carrollton, Texas appeared in the Dallas segment. He traveled to the Big Apple for the party, so we got to meet him there and then had the chance to reconnect at this show. He had the most amazing white straw hat! Sooooo soft!!!

And speaking of hats (as we so often are), Bruce Mihalski of Hollywood & Vine (from Massachusetts), was so excited about the headwear in his booth that he began to try some of it on to prove how fab the hats were.

Valerie tried on another of Bruce's hats. You can just barely see it here, but it's made of two separate materials, with larger raffia in the back. The visor is shaped more like a huge comma than anything else.

And X tried on this black and purple number. We all loved this hat!

X also ran into her be-hatted friend Diane.

We found this wonderful huge Issey Miyake bag with 'bubbles' at Susan Bergin's Pocketbook. Next to it (not shown) was a small black bustier bag that Valerie wound up buying. Not big enough to hold a wallet, a cell phone, a camera, and postcard sized business cards, so not terribly practical, but absolutely hilarious!

Jean did NOT buy Style Vault's leather brassiere (which is lipstick red, although it shows up here as pink), but we HAD to show it to you. Whatever else we outgrow, we never outgrow our need for fun.

X bought this cloak clasp to wear at the lapel of her jacket or coat or sweater.

We were in awe of this dress, which has a very '70s look about it. Those are shreds of porcupine quills sprouting from the bust and the apron.

Noriko Miyamoto was the only dealer able to overcome the scheduling snafu. She had her assistant Taeko Miyamoto (same name but no relation) work at the Manhattan Vintage Show at the Metropolitan Pavilion while she herself worked at the Pier show. Here's a find: a Japanese workman's jacket from Esso (later Exxon) while it was still called Standard Oil (thus the SOCONY - Standard Oil Company of New York logo). This jacket has tigers stenciled onto it, but some SOCONY jackets of the period featured the iconic Pegasus.

Meika Franz was running Another Man's Treasure without her usual sidekicks, husband Warren and daughter Biba because the baby was under the weather.

The women at Tracy Chambers Vintage were having as much fun as we were.

This woman's ombre'd hair and multicolored outfit really hit our radar screens.

We loved this woman's look too. And she's also wearing lace-up boots. Was it the weather, or is it a trend?

A show stopper! A suit that looks like a Roy Lichtenstein painting, and open-heeled Clergerie shoes.

Charlotte and her mom travel to NYC for the vintage shows from Massachusetts. Time sure flies. After reminding us that we first met her when she was 14, she merrily announced that she had just turned the grand old age of 16. She is already working on her Associate's degree at Harvard Extension and is quite well known by the vintage vendors at the local flea markets there. The black net dress is a Comme des Garcons dress that she treated herself to at a Massachusetts second hand shop for her birthday.

Our timing was impeccable! We stopped by Amarcord's booth at the end of the day, just before the chilled Prosecco and cupcakes arrived to celebrate owner Patti Bordoni's 50th birthday! (Patti is the one on the left. We have to tell you because you'd never guess.)

Here's a better look at the goodies in the pink boxes. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PATTI, and many more!

After spending the entire day at the show, we had to sit and chat about whom we'd seen or just met and what we saw. The fact that it rained all day did not deter us in the least.

We had another engagement at The Standard High Line Hotel in the Meatpacking District later that evening, so we stopped by one of our favorite haunts, Cafeteria, for a nosh. Because the main dining room was in full swing and the music was blasting, we were agog when the FABULOUS staff escorted us to a downstairs lounge that we'd had no idea existed. There we could actually hear ourselves talk. We went through our photographs and compared notes. Jean had the truffle fries which she pronounced to be divine while Valerie tried one of the cheese biscuits. The cocktails, needless to say, were scrumptious.

What we're wearing:

Jean is wearing an Amy Downs knit turban; Junya Watanabe Comme des Garcons coat for Puma; Theory shirt under an Alice and Olivia knit dress; Donna Karan opaque tights; Trippen boots; Alexander Wang purse; Danil Khutorianskii faux ostrich neck collar; resin and bakelite cuffs, bangles and rings.

Valerie is wearing a vintage unlabeled so-called funnel hat, wood and leather pin by Tereza Symon's mom, vintage earrings marked "Western Germany", unlabeled cropped jacket, Charivari sweater, vintage Issey Miyake hip wrap, Talbot's skirt, Frye boots.

Last Friday night, we attended the New York Arts Club's FashionSpeak Friday presentation on "The Direction of Fashion" featuring Tomoko Ogura, Senior Fashion Director of Barney's New York. Here we are with artist Timur York, another guest at the event.

We shouldn't say this, because we know all too well that people blow the age thing all out of proportion (right, readers?), but we are all agog that Tomoko is young enough to be our daughter. Tomoko joined Barney's right out of college, in 2005. Moderator David Zyla asked her to recount the story of her meteoric rise, and - just like in the movies - she met the right person at the right time, and that person knew that Barney's Fashion Director needed an assistant. Tomoko interviewed, was hired as Fashion Merchandising Assistant, and the rest is history.

Through a slide show and her own observations, Tomoko (who majored in finance, not fashion) gave the audience a glimpse of her day-to-day activities, from scouting new collections here and abroad to developing special projects to working on the Barney's website. In one slide, she showed pieces from a designer's original collection on the left, and on the right a similar design by the same designer but tweaked to sell exclusively at Barney's.

In light of the fact that Tomoko's job is (directly or indirectly) to shape the wardrobes of thousands of women, David Zyla asked Tomoko to talk about her own wardrobe. Tomoko said modestly that she almost always wears what she wore that evening - a motorcycle jacket, jeans and sneakers. When she said she had quite a few motorcycle jackets, we were a little perplexed. How different can motorcyle jackets be, we foolishly thought. But in this photo of Tomoko from Elle.com, we see how limited our visions of motorcycle jackets were, and why one might want to have quite a few.

And - well, we can't help ourselves. We KNOW it's shallow to focus on a woman's looks or clothes, particularly when she clearly has so much more to offer than what we see on the surface, but we have to show you this picture we found of Tomoko by wonderfully imaginative photographer Ruven Afanador for style.time.com. It's a stunning photograph, made all the more interesting by Tomoko's modest self-description.

After the talk, David (below) invited questions from the audience. We believe in audience participation! Valerie asked whether Tomoko's responsibilities extended to Barney's Japan (they don't, but the two offices trade ideas), and whether there was anything coming out of Berlin (yes, but not for Barney's yet). Jean asked whether Barney's targeted - ahem - women of a certain age, since many stores appear not to (we do, said Tomoko, who pointed out that Barney's focuses on its loyal customers from their mid-thirties to seventies). In an online interview, we're happy to report that Tomoko, who spends many hours on her feet, says "Comfortable shoes are key!" For Elle.com's interview with Tomoko on Fashion Week, click here; for style.time.com's interview with Tomoko on her promotion to fashion director, click here.

Both before and after the program, we spoke with fellow guests, artists Scott and Elizabeth Christopher, and were surprised to hear that Scott recognized us from the Manhattan Vintage Show the previous week. In a city of eight million people, what are the odds?! Elizabeth was wearing vintage Oscar de la Renta. To check out Elizabeth's art, click here. To view Christopher's, click here.

The program drew all sorts of fashion enthusiasts, who crowded around Tomoko afterward to ask myriad questions. We were bedazzled by this perfectly turned out young woman who is launching her own blog, and who asked us for a few pointers. Among the chestnuts we offered: big pictures, little text (sigh…); be sure you have an income to support your blog. ALWAYS have your business card on you, especially when you meet older people like us. (She didn't have hers on her, and in between our meeting and our posting we mislaid our memory of her name. Gorgeous, if you see this post, write to us, so we can credit you properly!) And the last piece of advice we should have given her, and which we should learn to follow ourselves: never ever forget to take a picture of yourself to head your blog with. Geez. How many times do we have to tell ourselves?! (Oh, and what we learned from her was: post more videos!)

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.

Valerie wore this outfit to work the other day, and got to thinking that every piece had a lesson to teach.

Starting at the top:

The necklace:

This Mexican sterling and onyx necklace was in the display case at a thrift shop. The price discreetly stuck on the front was very reasonable for the merchandise, but still would have bought quite a few lunches. So it was not a transaction to be entered into lightly, and I asked the clerk to take it out of the case. When I turned it over, there was another sticker on the back that priced the necklace at two lunches, transforming the moment out of the realm of hesitant lust and into the realm of done deal. Happily, the clerk had been waiting on me the whole time, and graciously honored the two-lunch price tag.

Moral: Objects that look far away are closer than they appear.

The shirt:

Several weeks ago Jean and I stopped at a favorite resale shop, and after combing through the racks we went to the communal dressing room with our respective finds. There were a few things we each rejected, and gave to the other to try on. This shirt, with the wonderful asymmetrical hem, was one of Jean's rejects. I would never have found this piece on my own, or if I'd found it I would have rejected it because it has eighteen snaps (too much trouble), AND because it has sewn-in ties (I prefer mine removable), AND because it's a size 36, which I would have assumed too small for me. (These are examples of what everyone is now referring to as lizard brain - the primitive part of the brain that makes snap judgments.)

But Jean prodded me to try it on, and we both love the designer, Ivan Grundahl, so convincing me was easy. I loved the look, it fit, and I bought it.

Moral: 1) it pays to listen to your friends, and 2) overcome your prejudices (your lizard brain).

Jean says: I have to confess that the minute after I'd offered the top to Valerie, I immediately regretted it. Seeing the top on Valerie only made my lizard brain want it more. (It's sort of like that boyfriend in high school whom you thought was only OK, until other girls became interested. Suddenly, he became so much more desirable.) Figuring that it was bad form to just rip it off her back, I convinced myself that when she decided not to take it, I'd get my second chance to pounce and make it mine. So, of course, she loved it and I never got that second chance -- and since I never told her until now, she'll find out by reading this.

Speaking of lizards, here's what the well dressed frilled lizard brain is wearing these days (from travel.nationalgeographic.com)

The bracelet:

Shortly after college graduation, I was working in a department store in a job that was about to be phased out. The store didn't let me go, but they had no place to put me. So I did what anyone would do - I volunteered to take a month off without pay, and spent the time in a youth hostel in Italy. (Yes, you could afford to do that back then!) I watched my lire carefully, and spent the time going to museums (in the days before entrance fees were $18 and waiting lines at the entrance were an hour long), window shopping, soaking up the local history, eating amazing Italian chocolate and drinking incomparable cappuccino. Just days before I was to leave, I passed - for the millionth time - a tiny jewelry shop where I had fallen in love with a bracelet of sterling silver bits punctuated by coral bits. In the window, I could never see the price, and was mortified at the thought of asking. But I had bought barely any souvenirs, so treating myself seemed a real possibility. I rehearsed appropriate questions and answers, and went inside. The price, L40,000 (well under $40 then), was so reasonable that it's amazing I didn't faint on the spot. Ecstatically, I reached into my wallet, only to discover (in the years before ATMs, when banking hours were short and lines to cash travelers' checks were long) that I only had L35,000 on me. This was something I had not rehearsed for. Crestfallen, I apologized for wasting the store owner's time. But he waved away my concerns. "L35,000?", he said in Italian. "That will be fine." Pan the camera to my dumbfounded face, which then reverts to ecstasy. I still love this bracelet.

Moral: 1) American thinking is useful in America - when in Rome, do as the Romans do; and 2) Big memories hide in small places.

The gauchos:

Remember gaucho pants? Everyone had to have them in the '70s. These are Issey Miyake, from the 80s. They're incredibly well made, so I was able to wear them for years - actually, for more than a decade till I blew up like a balloon, and the elastic waist began to feel like an external gastric band. I came close to giving the gauchos away a hundred times, and can't say what stopped me. I probably wore these pants fewer than five times in the past five years, and all wardrobe specialists will tell you that should be the point of no return. When I tried them on the other day (what got into me?), they didn't fit as they did in the '80s, but they fit (!), they still looked like new, and even worked well with the shirt.

Moral: 1) classics aren't in style, so they don't go out of style; 2) sometimes it's good to jettison your own rules.

The boots:

I saw these Diane von Furstenbergs - 9 1/2, exactly my size - at a resale shop, priced at $99. I must have schlepped them around the store for an hour weighing the pros and cons of spending what I thought was an exorbitant price at a resale shop. $50 would have been an immediate yes; $99 demanded deep reflection. I tried them on several times, waiting for Buyer's Epiphany. In the end, I convinced myself that paying $99 and getting boots I really liked NOW was better than finding cheaper ones after another year of searching. (Yes, I had been looking for at least one winter, and maybe longer.) When I got to the register, the cashier told me the ticket code indicated these boots were 50% off because they had been there a long time, and I nearly ROTFL at myself and the good joke the universe had played on me and my Shopper's Angst.

Later, when I got home, I looked at the bottom of the boots again and discovered they were actually size 8 1/2. If I'd read the size correctly at the store, I never would have tried them on. Most likely the boots got old at the store because they were tried on by a legion of women who wore 8 1/2 and all found the boots huge. And they weren't tried on by any women who wore 9 1/2, except one half blind one - me.

Moral: 1) It pays to shop outside your size; 2) If the universe gives you the boot, you should try it on.

So remember, every picture tells a story, don't it? Wuuuu!

(Thanks to Rod Stewart, who presciently named this post before it even existed.)

In March, we received one of those wonderful surprises in our email: an invitation from ZIP!, a Japanese morning TV show, to participate in a fashion segment. The idea was to have us name current fashion trends and then interview individuals on the street who embodied the latest styles. Sounds like fun, right? We jumped at the chance to connect with a Japanese audience. Above, we prepare for the shoot. Below, the entire crew. In front, Mr. Nagano, the State-side coordinator, Ms. Takatori, who saw to our every need, Paige, the segment hostess, Mr. Murai, the director, and Mr. Otsuka, the cameraman.

The IFs cited the following street style fashion trends for both men and women: skinny jeans; hoodies and short jackets, especially motorcycle jackets; short boots or sneakers, especially leather and custom sneaks; lots of polka dots and stripes (which we ourselves wore); sharp, angular haircuts or topknots; jewelry, especially earrings and rings; tattoos; knit caps, especially with a high peak; and sunglasses, especially Ray Bans. Stay tuned to see how well we did. Here we are with our intrepid team of producers, video crew and host outside our van. ZIP!'s only caveat? Avoid people wearing fur, which tended to elicit complaints from viewers. We were happy to comply.

We did the shoot on Saturday, March 9th. The piece just ran on ZIP! last week in Japan (at 6:56 AM!) in a segment called "Boomers". You'll have to sit through a brief commercial (sorry), and remember to click on the little square box near the bottom right corner of the video so you can view it full screen.

流行ニュースBoomers ニューヨーク　ZIP! 20140404by dm_5232ea58af3f6

Or, as always, because we're somewhat technologically challenged, see it in higher resolution by clicking here. The voices they chose to dub most of what we say into Japanese add an interesting touch. It is quite a surprising experience to listen to our Japanese personae.

ZIP! engaged model Paige Mobley (below) to host our piece and others they were shooting that week around Manhattan. Our segment was quite straightforward: One of the producers asked each of us on camera to describe what we were wearing and Paige introduced us to each of the street style selectees whom we would then interview. We spoke to quite a number of people, only a few of whom show up in the video. We know ZIP! filmed several segments in New York that they'll be showing over the course of the next few months, but we have no idea if our other interviewees will show up at later times. We rather like the idea of returning in subsequent programs.

Although it was sunny, the temperature was quite chilly, so the crew set up a base of operations in the Little Cupcake Bakeshop on the corner of Prince and Mott Streets. Jean experienced a sense of deja vu there, since for twenty years it was the home of The Kitchen Club restaurant owned and operated by an old friend Marja Samsom, the Dumpling Diva. Valerie tries her hand wielding the colorful ZIP! microphone at our window table in the bakery.

Stationing us on the corner of Prince and Mott in front of the brick wall surrounding Old St. Patrick's Cathedral, producers selected individuals (as did we, later on) and sent them our way. Our first victim - er, interviewee - was Sarah, who was wearing only one of the trends we named: sunglasses.

Being classic Type-A personalities, we immediately took matters in our own hands and started soliciting people we thought were stylish. Our first choice? Chris Stylez from Toronto, who relocated to Manhattan. He fit our style forecast profile to a T: Crap sunglasses (that's the name not a judgment), custom sneakers from Venice, California; semi-skinny jeans; short jean jacket (by a designer whose name we can't remember); YSL vest; G-Star hoodie; jewelry and tattoos. If you watched the video, you know that Chris made the cut and appeared on Japanese TV. Chris was sporting a sharp, angular haircut, a modified Mohawk/Fauxhawk he dubbed the "Falcon". Follow Chris on Instagram (#iamchrisstylez).

To our delight, who should pass by but none-other-than local denizen the Dumpling Diva herself, a vision in polka dots (another of our style trends), walking her bike to get a flat tire fixed. How could we not recruit her to be interviewed and videotaped?

In between interviews, to raise our body temperatures a bit and rest our feet, the ZIP! crew sent us back to Little Cupcake. Despite the cold, Jean didn't wear gloves because her hands were otherwise engaged.

Valerie, who gets the shivers when looking at a refrigerator, came thoroughly prepared. In addition to fully lined gloves, she also adhered glove sized handwarmers to the backs of her hands. Toward the top right corner of the photo if you look really really carefully you can see a mike attached to her scarf. See it in the red circle? We wore those all day, so it's a good thing we didn't say anything we would regret later.

Back out on the street again, this gorgeous young woman from South Africa, who relocated to New York, was sporting many of our trends: Acne leather motorcycle jacket and hoodie; Acne skinny jeans; leather sneakers; sharp, angular haircut. She made the androgynous look appear feminine but not girly.

The crew, entirely professional at all times (checking to see that the lighting was even, asking us to repeat our comments, but facing in a different direction, scouting out locations, etc.) also had all the participants sign release forms, as here.

We flagged down Philip Bambarger who incorporated a zillion of our style trends into a handsome package: sharp angular haircut; skinny jeans; short lace-up boots -- All Saints Spitafields, thank you very much! -- all of our accessory items -- earrings, rings, bracelet and tattoos. He upped the ante by adding SkinGraft leather fingerless gloves!

Nathalie Martinez was sweet enough to stop on her way to services at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Nathalie, who hails from Mexico City is currently living in New York, was wearing a short jacket, skinny jeans, short boots, Ray Ban sunglasses and jewelry (bracelet and ring). Her purse? Prune, a South American brand. Nathalie also appears in our ZIP! Boomer segment.

At the producers' request, we moved up the street and around the corner, where we met Moses, who works at the Helmut Lang store just across the street. He was sporting a Helmut Lang motojacket of the thinnest matte leather; skinny jeans, short boots -- All Saints Spitafields! -- tattoos; necklace, earrings, bracelets, rings AND a topknot of very fine dreads. Moses works as a model, and the camera particularly loved him.

Clancy McCarty from Tribeca was wearing a knit cap with high peak, short jacket (Montcler), skinny jeans, high top sneakers, and sunglasses.

This young entrepreneur was wearing a short leather jacket and hoodie, skinny jeans, sneakers and Ray Bans to which he added his own final touch -- a baseball cap.

The producers invited model Natalie Friedman to join us and be interviewed. She was wearing a short jacket and short boots which she combined with a large brim hat, leopard dress, bright leather belt and black leggings.

This young man was wearing sunglasses, skinny jeans and a short jacket -- an Italian bicycling jacket, to be precise -- which worked quite well with the rest of his rugged, traditional, casual weekend-in-Soho wardrobe. He was definitely bucking some of the other trends, but in a very natural way: no sharp, angular haircut, sneakers, tattoos or jewelry (that we could see), but he looked quite natural in his own skin.

Given ZIP!'s own no-fur caveat, we were surprised when the team invited Poppy King, the Lipstick Queen, to be interviewed in light of her fox-collared Alice & Olivia coat and pony-skin Celine bag. That she made the final cut and appears on TV was another pleasant surprise. She was sporting a number of our identified trends (sunglasses; short, angular haircut; skinny jeans; short boots) and was a lively and interesting subject. We loved her bright red signature lipstick against her white hair and black coat.

The crew had a great sense of humor. Maybe because New York is still known internationally as a place where anyone might have a gun, they surprised us with two pink bubble guns they had purchased for us, and toward the end of our stint they asked us to level the guns at the camera and say "Oshare huntaaa!" (Fashion Hunters!), as you saw in the video. They also had us say it in English, covering all their bases in case that worked out better. How could we not love it?! Hey, do you think we could we have bit parts on Law & Order now?

What we're wearing:

Jean is wearing a black and white striped wool reversible wrap coat by Korean textile artist Chungie Lee (from the Philadelphia Museum Craft Show a few years back); Amy Downs black taffeta origami hat; Costume National jacket; Eileen Fisher harem pants; Alexander Wang handbag; black and white polka dot socks from The Sock Man on St. Mark's Place; customized black Dankso clogs; vintage frames from Fabulous Fanny's; black and white striped ceramic earrings from Festival flea market in Pompano Beach, Florida; bakelite and vintage jewelry.

Valerie is wearing a vintage Chisato Tsumori hat (bought in Tokyo before the ZIP! crew was born!), Kandinsky felt scarf from Margoshka on Etsy, Monies earrings (yellow, dyed purple with magic marker), velveteen polka dot coat by Cattiva, purchased from Sunset Boulevard, unlabeled purple suede gloves, Issey Miyake pants, polka dot socks by TipiToe, Bernie Mev shoes.

It was a dark and stormy night.

No, wait. Let's try that again.

It was a beautifully warm, if windswept day. We were in between costume changes for a fashion shoot on the streets of Soho. (More about that in the near future; nothing about that today, no matter how much money you try to beguile us with.) When what to our wondering eyes should appear but a pink truck that spoke volumes to us.

Time for a selfie!

We were both wearing sunglasses with no prescriptions in them, and in a bit of a hurry to get back to the studio for our next costume change, so we just whipped out the camera, aimed (sort of), and hoped for the best.

Later, when our prescription lenses were back in place, we noticed that the wind had set our hats a bit askew (both should be lower and more forward on the head), but, hey - the truck gives us - um - license.

Some days later, we tracked Quirky down (still with a view toward possibly getting a better photo), and discovered that Quirky is a company dedicated to bringing new inventions to market at the grassroots level. How cool is that?

Wanna know more? We did. Click here for Quirky's website. Then invent something. Or support a starving inventor.

Last Sunday, we indulged in our annual tradition -- promenading in the Easter Parade on Fifth Avenue. Part parade, part old-home-week opportunity to connect with old friends and acquaintances, part street theater, the event draws participants of all ages, styles and gender orientation. Because we had so many photos, we split our coverage into two postings. This is the first. Check Wednesday for the second installment.

Just as we were arriving around 11:30 AM, we met this fabulous couple who were retiring for the day after spending about an hour on Fifth Avenue when the crowds started to move in. They were sweet enough to snap the opening shot of us above and let us take their photo before they headed home. Her basket was filled with colored marshmallow Peeps. We, who consider the parade a contact sport, merrily headed into the fray.

Not too long after our arrival, we were interviewed by Melanie Cao for Sinovision. We couldn't figure out how to embed the video, but you can click here to see our brief interview. We're about one minute in.

These three ladies are part of a much larger group who were all wearing fascinating white origami paper headdresses designed by architects Hiroki Yoshihara and Sandra McKee. Wish we could show you all of them! Wish we could own two of them! Lyrical works of mathematical genius!

The lady next to Jean is 93 years young and is celebrating her hat's 60th anniversary! She is utterly charming. The dumpling diva Marja Samsom, next to Valerie, is wearing an Amy Downs hat and vintage leopard coat. Using our 93-year old as a yardstick, we figure we've both got several decades of frolicking to go.

Love these huge handmade flower hats.

We met these two ladies at the Brooklyn Museum's hat-making class given by Heidi Lee in collaboration with the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibition. They are wearing creations they fashioned that night based on JPG's Virgins collection of gowns with round mirrored headdresses.

Three muses in hats.

We met artist Annika (in the black and white feathered hat) at Advanced Style's National Hat Day Event at Off-Broadway Boutique. The lady on the left is wearing a vintage Christian Dior pastel satin turban.

Love this lady's outfit and red accessories -- and her glasses are by Sunglass Hut.

This lady and her companion and even the chair are decorated in flowers.

Milliner Yuka and her friend are in traditional kimonos.

Giant handmade crepe paper hats.

How fabulous is Ruth D. Hunt and her head-to-toe silver outfit?

Newly-elected NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio took a lot of heat when he used a knife and fork to eat his pizza in a campaign stop. This inventive hat commemorates that political tempest in a teapot. It seems real New Yorkers eat pizza with their hands.

Jesse took the marshmallow Peeps to a new level by fastening them to his shaved head to create a yellow Easter Mohawk!

Our friend X (wearing and carrying fans) and friend with her pals Linda and Helga as colorful bookends.

The woman in stripes made a custom-fitted silver metal fascinator that very much lived up to its name. Wish you could see it better here. Just trust us on this one.

We loved this woman's huge hat and her long hair.

The huge pink feathers on Shien Lee's hat could be seen one hundred feet away. We should have asked if she'd made it herself. Where could you buy something like that?!

These women complemented each other so well in their outrageous suits and saturated colors.

A hat made out of a Tiffany box (with a huge Elsa Peretti heart in it).

Cigmond, second from left, is a wonderful milliner. We didn't ask, but we wouldn't be surprised if she made all four of the hats here. You can't tell, but the bearded gent had two small flowers at the end of his waxed moustache.

Anny Dao (right), a student at Parsons School of Design, made the two hats flanking Jean.

An exuberant 1940s look.

We don't always know what we're looking at, but we know what we like. The gent in yellow with the "sunny-side-up" egg hat could teach us a thing or two about tying turbans.

It was, thankfully, a beautifully sunny and mostly warm day after a much too long spate of cold weather, so everyone took advantage of the opportunity to get some vitamin D.

These dresses were as much fun from behind as they are in front. The black jacket actually has very long swallow tails in the back.

This woman had bedecked her bicycle with flowers, as well as her hat.

Let's end with a mother and daughter team.

Stay tuned for our second installment which contains more couples, guys and dogs! Also, check out more great pictures in 40+ Style (we're in it!), and photographer Helen Oppenheim's coverage of the parade on her blog and on Facebook (ditto).

What we're wearing:

Jean is wearing an Ignatius hat (from the Philadelphia Museum Craft Show); Thai crinkly linen jacket and Tibetan black and white print pants from Mandala; Angela Caputi red resin cuff; red resin and bakelite rings and bangles; black resin choker; customized black and white Dansko clogs; vintage frames from Fabulous Fanny's; Tignanello red leather cross-body bag.

Valerie is wearing a vintage pink felt Chisato Tsumori hat, vintage pink straw earrings, Yoshiki Hishinuma shirt, Ivan Grundahl dress, live orchid from Solim Florist, vintage pink cotton gloves, pink perforated suede shoes by Aerosoles, three shoulder bags (unseen) - one green Pleats Please (for necessaries), one gray vintage stamped suede Bruno Magli (for camera), one unlabeled pink cotton trapunto (for business cards).

The fact is - Easter is just easier for women. So many things are not, but Easter IS. So we wanted to give the gents their due for more than holding their own in making Easter a visual feast. Last week we showed you a small sampling, but this week the spotlight is on Easter MEN. And a few Easter pups.

Gregory wins for sheer dashing vintage style, and the way he slyly incorporates the Easter theme in his cane is just genius!

This gent took a different tack. Like Gregory, he's a natty dresser, but has added the Easter theme in a completely different way.

And in yet another variation on the Easter theme, men in their Sunday best, in traditional Easter colors and carrying traditional Easter baskets (filled with golden eggs, which they gave out to children).

This gent is doing a Bogart-like trench coat and fedora, has added an insouciant scarf and finished it with a pocket handkerchief standing at attention.

Another dapper gent in period dress.

If the Blues Brothers wore plaid…

And on the other end of the spectrum, Ariel Krupnick demonstrates the plaid suit on acid (the suit, not Ariel). Not convinced? Check out the shoes. They're trippin'!

They are the eggmen … (so are we the walrus?)

And surely the prize for most mind boggling costume goes to this man. We never managed to get a good picture of him because there couldn't have been a larger throng around him if he'd been Angelina Jolie. We know the logistics in wearing costumes, and we want to know things like how long did it take to make, what is it made of, how much did it weigh, did he need a separate apartment to have enough space to work on it, who helped him put it on, how long did that take, which piece did he put on last, and the biggest mystery of all: HOW IN HEAVEN'S NAME DID HE FIT IN A TAXI?

We often see this gorgeous couple around town and invariably, they look incredibly chic in vintage clothing that looks terrific and really fits them well. We ran into her after the Easter Parade at The Modern.

Designer and milliner Gretchen Fenston and musician and man-about-town Roddy Caravella wore beautifully tailored color-coordinated vintage outfits. Gretchen wears a hat of her own design.

On an entirely different note, this gent opted for a pink goatee and Mona Lisa tie, something you don't see every day. He carried it off with aplomb.

Valerie photo-bombed Jean's shot of the inimitable Ben, decked out in a Union-Jack themed outfit and white boots.

These two dandies' outfits riffed on the color green. The green top hat with the Wedgewood-tyle white detailing really caught our eye.

This foursome did a great job designing and executing outfits in a coordinated pastel palette.

One of our favorite photographers elected to wear a floral-encrusted top hat. He always sports unusual top hats designed and created by his wife.

Anthony Maxwell vogued with Jean in a hat of his own design before rejoining his equally elaborately turned out friends. You might remember him from our last Fashion Week posting. He accessorized Katya Leonovich's runway show.

This fabulous Easter trio accompanied Anthony down the avenue.

Not only did this intrepid owner design matching white brocade top hats, but also added entirely matching ties and white suits.

Nothing says Easter like matching Micky Mouse ears, we always say.

Hope you enjoyed our coverage of the parade. Can't wait until next year!

(just a few of them)

When we heard that Patrick McDonald, the ultimate dandy, had put a selection of his amazing hats up for sale at Screaming Mimi's, well! of course we had to go and see them for ourselves. (Not in New York? You can check them out online at 1stDibs.) Faithful followers will recognize Screaming Mimi's as the site of several of our previous escapades (including our photo shoot last year for the Swedish newspaper Sydsvenskan.) The sign outside on Lafayette Street was like a siren's song.

Here's the man himself, shown in one of the hats he's deaccessioning. (We feel comfortable using that word, even though it's used most often in connection with museum pieces.) You'll notice it on Valerie in our opening photo, and again on Jean in the closing photo.

Hats are very delicate, so for their safety, the collection is displayed on a perch at the back of the store and out of reach of just about anyone undetermined and under six feet tall.

These two photos don't show you everything, but give you a good idea of the variety of hats on offer.

We would have loved to try all of them on, but we limited ourselves so we'd be as little trouble as possible to the very helpful store managers Melissa and Legs (yes, Legs, who could reach the hats without the assistance of a ladder).

Since we'd seen Patrick in person wearing many of the hats, it was an incredible treat to be able to examine them up close to appreciate the design and workmanship. The iconic lobster hat is a perfect blend of dandyism and surrealism a la Salvidor Dali, who famously (infamously?) added a lobster to one of the best known dresses of all time. (You remember the Duchess of Windsor's lobster dress, right?)

Valerie got to thinking it was a Leonard Cohen kind of hat...

We started out with a bit of trepidation as the hats looked very large. But those with sizes are marked as medium, and as you can see they fit us quite well. This visually arresting and beautifully made Anthony Peto fur felt pony print top hat is priced at $600.00

The label in this hat read Jacques Le Corre Diffusion Paris. On the shelf, it looked like it would overwhelm the wearer. On the head, it looked just fabulous!

Jean's tilting her head here so you can see that the black felt toque by Phillipe Model has a fabulous assymetrical peak molded into it. This hat is priced at $550.00.

This fur felt Picasso-esque hat was intriguing. The profile and eye were embroidered on.

The moment she put it on her head, Jean became obsessed with NY milliner Rod Keenan's pink felt high peaked hat that she characterized as "Pharrell Williams meets Dudley Do-Right on Planet Pepto Bismol!". The only thing standing between her and "hat heaven"? The $1,100.00 price tag! Since we both loved it, we we both wore it, which gave us our opening and closing shots.

Dudley Do-Right, the Canadian Mountie who originally appeared on the Rocky and Bullwinkle show and then got his own show, appeared regularly on TV from 1961 to 1970. (Image from rockyandbullwinkle.wikia.com.)

Pharrell rocked his brown Vivienne Westwood hat at this year's Grammys, prompting lots of imitators. For the Oscar nominee luncheon (he was nominated for his song "Happy", but lost to "Let It Go" from Frozen), he wore one in grey. The brown one he supposedly wore to the Grammys recently sold on e-bay for $44,100.00! (Image from justjared.com.) And what's up with the fact that both Dudley and Pharrell are making the same gesture -- pointing to the sky?

Here's the red derby, paired with red sunglasses from Screaming Mimi's extensive collection (thus the tag on the lens). If you look carefully, you'll see there are upper and lower lenses separated by a frame through the center. The lenses are two different colors. Designed by Paul Smith for Christy's, the gorgeous derby's price is only $350.00.

But wait!

Don't you want to see what these hats looked like on their original owner?

Here's the pink fur felt hat, worn with a shocking pink suit, white shirt, red tie and daffodil colored pocket hankie. How many people could pull off this color combination? How many people could even dream up this color combination?

Here's the pony print hat...

Check out the multicolored striped shirt, counterbalanced with the vegetable green tie and the (same?) yellow pocket square.

Another unique color combination that works! You'll also note that Patrick favors large statement rings.

Here's the white hat with berries from our fifth photo. If you look, you can see red berries in his olive suit. That's Cindy Crawford next to him, and Stephen Knoll next to her.

And here's the red derby, with the red picked up by the portfolio and the shoes, and echoed in the shirt and tie. The white pocket handkerchief plays off the shirt. It's all in the details, as they say.

His purple hat is also among the selection at Screaming Mimi's. We didn't try it on, but we had to show it to you. And look at the innovative cut on Patrick's jacket!

And to close, here we are in the red Paul Smith bowler and pink Rod Keenan Mountie hat.

What we're wearing:

Valerie is wearing: a blue straw Eric Javits hat that you'll see another time, unlabeled blue fabric earrings, jacket by Rockmount Ranch Wear, pants by Issey Miyake, Gustav Klimt print shoes by Icon.

Jean is wearing: her new square tortoiseshell sunglasses by Celine from Selima Optique on Madison Avenue; black Kyodan jacket; black Eileen Fisher harem pants; black TUK leather creepers; earrings and gold stacking rings by Kirsten Hawthorne; vintage bakelite rings and gold rings; Alexander Wang bag.

On Sunday afternoon, we had the pleasure of visiting assemblage artist Sue Kreitzman and got an amazing tour of the many treasures in her studio and her apartment.

Here is our "hostess with the mostest" -- with her gorgeous smile and signature candy apple red glasses and wardrobe. You may recognize her from a previous post we did last November. Sue is one of the stars of Fabulous Fashionistas, Sue Bourne's documentary about six women all over the age of 70 who continue to lead spirited and inspirational lives. Senior Planet will be showing Fabulous Fashionistas this Friday, May 9th, and Sue will be there with co-star Daphne Selfe, but before you grab your coat to get on line, we should tell you it's sold out!

Sue's love of color, and what one might call her obsession with the color red, is immediately evident the minute you enter her studio or her apartment. Although practically every horizontal and every vertical plane in the studio is occupied, she and her space are incredibly organized, with not a spot of dust. (We want to borrow her housekeeper. For the next several months. Full time.)

To learn more about Sue and her art, go to http://www.suekreitzman.com/wow/artist.php?ID=8 and to http://www.suekreitzman.com/

Here is a shot of her color-saturated red and yellow kitchen. The element of surprise is everywhere. Even if there is a recurrent theme, there are so many elements that the eye travels effortlessly, yet frenetically, trying to take everything in.

Did we mention that her studio and her apartment have breathtaking views of the Hudson River and the George Washington Bridge?

Dolls are a recurring theme in Sue's art collection. This particular pair of dolls with antlers is intriguing and were created by Thai artist Anothai. Sue is often away, and said, upon showing us this pair, that she is sure they and the others get up to all sorts of mischief while she is gone. We talked about the worldwide belief that figural objects are imbued with their own spirit and personality.

Sue has a world-class collection of Wonder Woman figurines and dolls, from decades ago to the present day, and remarked on how Wonder Woman's look has changed over the years. Among other things, she is -- ahem -- rather more well endowed than she originally was. She is also more muscular, and, importantly, these days she is depicted frowning. On the other side of this Wonder Woman totem is (unseen) a small She Hulk doll. With her collector's eye, Sue grabbed it right away, having never seen one before -- or since.

Everything is a source of inspiration for something else. At the top left, you can see Betty Boop; top right, myriad small plastic dolls in bright colors; near the dolls, a diamond skull. The thunderbolts on the mannequin's necklace are actually repurposed earrings. Mexican art or Mexican-like art abounds, as evidenced by the sacred heart and the small hands on the same necklace. Sue buys in multiples when she can -- one never knows if a particular treasure will resurface anywhere else.

These four dolls are in the waiting room to the after-life and is a goddess in the making

Sue's studio reminds us of Pee Wee's Playhouse featured in Pee Wee Herman's iconic 1980s TV show. An interesting objet seems to inhabit every nook and cranny and flat surface. Her friend and fellow artist Angela joined us for coffee, lemonade and flavored ginger ale along with delicious tidbits on a table covered in yellow, red and green Mexican oilcloth.

Angela's pink hair is the perfect counterpoint to her hand-painted jacket.

Mermaids are another of Sue's favorite items. The lovely bouffant hairdo on each of this lovely, colorful pair (mother & daughter?) contains an interesting narrative.

This little mermaid with her eyepatch and demented grin is typical of the outsider art covering her apartment walls.

This shot displays the back of Sue's wonderful jacket with a Panamanian Mola.

Artist Malka Zeldis, whom we first met through Sue at the Senior Planet event, is painting on paper bags. Sue is holding one of her latest, inspired by the Matisse show.

Another outsider artist whom Sue helped discover is Joe Gagliano from Queens, NY, who didn't start to draw until after he retired as a NYC MTA token clerk. He works on paper with sharpies. Sue has an extensive collection of his work and cites his Pink Mona Lisa as one of her favorites.

There were so many interesting pieces to tell you about that we could produce a post like this for 365 days and never finish covering all of the items in her NYC apartment, let alone her studio or her London apartment. We loved every minute of our visit and the fact that her incredible positive energy and good humor are infectious. This is our valentine to a prolific and inspiring artist and truly free spirit!

Consider yourself warned: This weekend is the Outsider Fair and Sunday is Mother's Day! Cheers.

Earlier this week, we attended the press opening for "Charles James Beyond Fashion" at The Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and were dazzled. As soon as we entered The Met, we ran into milliner Stephen Jones dressed all in blue and his friend Craig. Stephen admired our hats and was utterly charming. We told him how much we loved the hat show he curated for the V&A Museum and then recreated at Bard two years ago. The event got off to a terrific start and did not disappoint. Earlier that morning, First Lady Michelle Obama cut the ribbon dedicating the Anna Wintour Costume Institute at The Met. Later that evening would be the black tie gala and its legendary red carpet photo op extraordinaire. To check out images and videos from the exhibition and the red carpet, click here.

Charles James (1906-1978) was an American designer who is perhaps best known for his ball gowns. They are pretty fabulous but his day wear, suits, dresses and coats are pretty swell too! This 1948 Cecil Beaton photograph of James with a model (courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art) gives you an idea of his flair for the dramatic and his ability to drape and cut fabric to look as light as air.

This black wool ribbed knit "Taxi Dress" circa 1932 is a classic example of his flair for daywear. (Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.)

James' 1946 Lyre Coat in red wool cavalry twill looks quite feminine and was a 1949 gift of Millicent Huttleston Rogers and is part of The Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

James' 1937 white celanese satin and eiderdown one-of-a-kind evening jacket (loaned by the Victoria & Albert Museum in London) was his response to Else Schiaparelli's boxy fur jackets. He likened the technical challenge of stitching fabric and eiderdown filling into a complex sculptural form to that of a juggler who keeps several balls in the air at one time. Its biomorphic lines which James referred to as "large floating arabesques" speak to his singular affinity for designing clothing in relation to human anatomy.

Openly gay, James married late in life and had two children. On the birth of Charles, Jr., James produced a line of children's wear, including the blue cape coat at left. The arms of the adult version, at right, proved a bit trickier, and James wound up using the elbow of a sewage pipe (in the exhibition, but not shown here) to model the adult sleeves on.

James started out as a milliner in Chicago. According to Judith Thurman, in her article Dressing Up in the New Yorker magazine, he chose this career as it seemed most likely to be distasteful to his English father. His father forbade the family to patronize the shop. His American mother, however, sent her wealthy friends there, and he was immediately successful. We thought (we hoped!) the green confection below would be a daring James hat. As it turns out, it's a daring James fan.

His sketches, like this one, are emblematic of his incorporation of biomorphic lines into his designs.

Vogue Magazine is a huge sponsor of the event. Hamish Bowles stopped to take his own smart phone photos of the exhibit. In the left of the photo, you can see the back of the 1956 two-piece floor length white ivory rayon-cotton matelasse Dinner Suit which had a mirror-image version in black.

All the heavy-hitters from fashion, academia and curating made the scene, like triple-threat Dr. Valerie Steele (left), Director and Chief Curator at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, who attended with a friend.

We especially enjoyed seeing friends like photographer Rose Hartman...

and David Noh, who writes for the Gay City News, whom we first met at an opening at FIT...

and editor and writer, Shirine Saad whom we met at The Brooklyn Museum's Jean Paul Gaultier show. Loved her Fornasetti tie.

Jewelry designer Emiko wore one of her geometric metal necklaces to the exhibit.

In order to view the two sections of the exhibition, we had to pass through The Met's main lobby, which was being readied for the gala opening festivities later that evening, so we got to view this enormous assemblage. The white evening gown and peach-colored skirt were entirely covered in roses. This photo gives you an idea of the scale of the installation.

Waaaaay over on the other side of the building were the ball gowns, which James is best known for.

At the entrance, Harold Koda, head of the Costume Institute, held forth on these muslin drafts of gowns owned by Millicent Rogers, and later donated by her to The Brooklyn Museum. The Metropolitan acquired them from the Brooklyn. That's Millicent in the painting on the left wall, wearing a Charles James creation. James also set his hand to designing interiors. That's one of his sofas in the background.

This is one of Rogers' gowns. According to the labels, James was inspired to make it shortly after Georgia O'Keeffe had a show of her sexually charged flower paintings. The front of the gown is a nearly explicit interpretation of female genitalia.

Here's Millicent Rogers, photographed in the gown for Town & Country in 1948. Despite the deep conservatism of the period, no one seems to have been scandalized by the gown's references. All around the room at eye level are James quotations. One that seems appropriate here is "What, after all, is the true function of fashion but to be a rehearsal for propagation?"

James was known to approach his work almost like an engineer. For the red Tree ball gown (named for its wearer, Mrs. Tree), it says in the scrolling label, James noted "Mrs. Tree is a large woman; my problem was to reduce a very substantial bust and create a hollow rib-cage."

In this x-ray photograph, we can see a few of the hidden solutions to his problem. There are two zippers, one for the skirt and one for the foundation, and weights "for front drapery". Each gown in the room is accompanied by scrolling commentary and a robotic arm which moves around the dress pinpointing with a laser beam exactly what the viewer is reading about. The small cross at the top of the x-ray photo indicates where the robotic arm is pointing.

This amazingly structured ball gown, with a look almost like a down comforter, was worn by Cynthia Cunningham at her coming-out party in 1951. There are equally billowy puffs in the back. At one point, we found ourselves with Stephen Jones again, and asked him if, on looking at the gowns, he couldn't help but imagine making hats for them. No, he said, to our surprise. Maybe "a small hair jewel or a tiara". "The dresses really have enough going on all by themselves", he said. "They don't need a hat."

Another highly structured gown is the so-called lampshade evening dress, dating to around 1955, with the deep hem supported by "concentric and transverse boning".

It's easy to see why this ball gown, dating to 1955, is called The Butterfly. Even the torso of the dress has the striped segmentation of a butterfly's thorax.

Perhaps the piece de resistance is the so-called clover dress, so named for its four spread out 'leaves'. This one was worn by Hope Bryce, who later married Otto Preminger.

Below is the Costume Institute's video explaining the construction of the gown. (You might want to turn off the sound, which is only ambient noise.)

What we're wearing:
Jean is wearing an Amy Downs hat; Prada jacket; Kedem Sasson skirt; Fabulous Fanny's sunglass frames; Alexander Wang purse; black and white jewelry, a mix of vintage bakelite and mid-century modern plastic; and her customized Dansko clogs.

Valerie is wearing a vintage black straw hat, unlabeled, Hiroko Koshino dress, plastic target earrings, foam rubber bangles, and invisible black and white spectator shoes.

Doesn't it make you want to get married, or renew your vows, just so you can be the one to stand next to the man wearing this wedding tux? You can see the tails of the tux trailing behind him like an artist's carefully drawn line of ink, but look closely and you can also see the rippling tails of the shirt mixed in there. The tailoring is spectacular. It looks bespoke and fits him to a T, nipped and tucked in all the right places. In the humdrum world of men's tuxedos, you look at this and see what a tuxedo could be. What a tuxedo was meant to be. Think what a bride would have to wear to hold her own against this! But if she did, think how jaw droppingly wonderful they would look together. (What if she had a near-matching outfit, but in opposite colors and much wider legged pants?)

This photograph is, amazingly, taken from a 2002 album for singer Miguel Bosé entitled Por Vos Muero (which Google translates as I Die for You). The singer has a really interesting history, with names like Hemingway, Picasso and Luchino Visconti liberally scattered about. Don't take our word for it, though. Read about Mr. Bosé (a man of a certain age) here.

You never know what you'll find on the internet, completely by happy accident, that will absolutely make your day.

Following our meeting with Sue Kreitzman two weeks ago, we were reminded that the Outsider Art Fair would have its annual exhibition here, so we made a trip on Sunday. The Fair used to be held in February, and it was delightful not to have to brave snow and black ice, but rather to have sun and warm temperatures on the day of our visit. Although we kept our eyes peeled for Kreitzman sightings, we were unsuccessful. We figured she must have gone on Saturday and only after the fact did we learn that we were two ships passing in the night, just missing each other at a variety of booths.

Since we often focus on clothes, it seemed appropriate to look at other people's views of clothes, too. Here's a multimedia piece by the late James Castle at Fleisher/Ollman Gallery. Castle was born deaf and mute, but expressed himself eloquently with pencil and paper. Read more about Castle's interesting story here.

At Galerie Bonheur we saw the work of Craig Norton, who did large cutouts in various media of people in his town. Below, the folds in The Preacher's gown are achieved by actually cutting slivers of material out of the uppermost layer. Norton's figures, and their faces, are very expressive.

Also at Galerie Bonheur was this beautiful watercolor by Justin McCarthy.

Some of the works we saw were characterized by the endless patience of the artist. Carl Hammer Gallery had several works by Jesse Howard, who held forth on numerous topics on large canvases. You can read more about Jesse here.

At Pure Vision Arts we found the tiny artworks of Oscar Azmitia. His profiles of such well known figures as Ronald McDonald and Batman (seen here) and Fred Flintstone, Cookie Monster, and Darth Vader (not shown) are all painted on pennies, and framed in cardboard penny files.

The work below was done on a canceled postage stamp. We found this amazingly detailed work at Yukiko Koide Presents. The gallerist explained to us that the artist, Tomoatsu Takase, was intrigued by magnified pictures of microbes, and sought to reproduce that effect in his work. So small and detailed is Takase's work that Koide's booth has maganifying glasses on hand. Most of his work is done in black and white. This piece, Patterned Background, is unusual for being in color.

But surely the most detailed work we saw was by Kongo Laroze of Haiti. This untitled work, one of several by the artist, had to be about four feet square, and was made entirely of buttons.

We stopped briefly for a nibble, and had the opportunity to meet Susann Craig of Raw Vision magazine, devoted to outsider art. Don't you love her hair? And her earrings? She obligingly took one off to show us. They're aluminum, and hinged at the ear.

We were also greeted by Justin Jorgenson. the creative force behind Dapper Day at Disneyland. We had to ask him where he got his shirt, and were disappointed to discover that we missed our opportunity to get one ourselves - they were sold last year at Topman, the men's side of Topshop. Topman did a line of Memphis Group designs. Justin figures this was the best of the lot.

It was Mother's Day. We ran into Jennifer, dressed mostly in white, and her mom, dressed mostly in black (but both in hats!), for a great study in contrasting pairs.

The last time we wrote about the Outsider Art Fair, we mentioned Gerard Cambon, showing at the Judy Saslow Gallery, and have to mention him and his charming otherworldly constructions again. We left this at a fairly high resolution so you can get a better look at his people. The little yellow umbrellas are made of dried and shellacked lemon rinds.

This vibrant piece, by Beverly Baker, at a gallery called Institute, seems to have some Kandinsky-like elements.

And this work by Marcos Bontempo, also at the Carl Hammer Gallery, has marvelous fluid lines.

Having just met artist Angela Rogers and viewed several pieces of her work just the week before at Sue Kreitzman's studio, we were excited to see her work at the show. Loved this piece simply called "Medicine Chest". Her juxtaposition of skulls and mummies (the original Walking Dead!) with her main characters gives an edge to her colorful paintings. In 2014, The Gallery at HAI (Healing Arts Initiative) hosted "Medicine Show" an entire site specific installation of her work.

Angela's "Carnival of the Trinity" echoes many of her themes and recurrent images.

Lindsay Gallery featured several of the robots by Donald Henry (1966 - 2009), an artist who suffered significant impairment due to a head injury and fever and spent time in a mental asylum. After his release to a group home, he began attending Visionaries and Voices, a Cincinnati art program for individuals with developmental disabilities.

We discovered arresting oil on board portraits by painter Clementine Hunter (1886-1988) at Dean Jensen Gallery. This piece, "Grandma" is circa 1960.

In the same gallery is "Kelly" by Eileen Dorfman (American, born 1945), a 2003 acrylic on canvas board.

Hirschl & Adler Modern had numerous double-sided drawings from the remarkable album by James Edward Deeds, Jr. (1908-1987), who spent nearly his entire life in Missouri's Nevada State Hospital No 3. Diagnosed a schizophrenic, Deeds was committed to the hospital in 1936, where he began to create two-sided drawings in pencil and crayon on official ledge paper. He hand-sewed 148 pages in a crude album of leather and cigar box parts that he clutched as a type of talisman until into the 1960s. In naming this drawing "Ectlectrc", Deeds encoded "ECT: into the title, with references to the electroconvulsive therapy. This drawing was the source of his pseudonyme "The Electric Pencil" until his true identity was discovered in 2011. His album was rescued from a street-side junk heap by a 14-year old boy who safeguarded it for 36 years.

We met Nancy Josephson, who created the wonderful 2013 "Honey Badger" using taxidermy form, glass beads and rhinestones for the badger and a glass vessel filled with real honey.

Josephson's 2013 "FRI-DOE" takes the genre further by creating a whimsical sconce reminiscent of a wall-mounted mouse head.

Several different galleries carried work by William Hawkins; his 1983 "Yellow Buildings, Black Arch" in Lindsay Gallery was one of our favorites and had sold at the show.

On the outside wall of Tokyo gallery Yukiko Koide Presents was a huge boro (rag) yogi (sleeper) large enough for two people to sleep in. Dated from the late 19th to early 20th century, it was made of cotton and hemp, crudely mended and patched, but with a modernist sensibility much prized by collectors.

In the same gallery is Masahiko Ohe's 2011 wonderfully cartoon-like "Ultraman Ace" of pen and pencil on paper.

Fred Giampietro Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut featured a large number of colorful works by Larry Lewis (1919-2004), several of which looked like they came out of a Monty Python animation.

Among the artists featured by Pan American Art Projects is Kongo Laroze. His glitzy untitled mixed media piece looked like a black 1950's Tiny Tears Doll in sequined headdress and costume, mired in red glitter quicksand.

The Gallery at HAI also featured Lady Shalimar Montague's "Folies Bergere"

How could we not end with this vibrant 1997 oil on linen poster by Jean Tourlonias (French, 1937-2000) titled "Speciale Jacques Titaud" featuring a canary yellow Ferrari? The notice says "La- Nouvelle-Jacques-Titaud-Coupe'-Ultra-Rapid-et-Robuste-Moteur-12-Cylindres-Ferrari".

What we're wearing:

Valerie is wearing a vintage black straw hat, black and yellow wooden earrings, mid-century metal necklace (from a thrift shop), suit with shibori highlights by Ocelot (Angelina DeAntonis) and DVF boots.

Jean is wearing an Amy Downs' gazar origami turban; black & grey striped jacket and black skirt by LUNN; Pataugus Mary Janes from A-UNO; flea market necklace with silver orbs and aluminum mid-century earrings; black and white resin disc bracelet.

An amazingly talented friend and colleague of Jean's created this cartoon, titled it "Jean The Cat Whisperer" and posted it on www.zipbits.com. Because the cartoon is so beautifully rendered, we just had to share it with you, and the story behind it. (Just click on an image to enlarge and to view slide show.)

Jean had been feeding a colony of feral cats while an East Village neighborhood cat lady was in the hospital. When she found out that the lady also kept two feral cats in her apartment, Jean started feeding them too.

Unfortunately, after nearly three weeks, neither cat would come out of hiding. This (below) is as close as Jean ever got to the shy black cat that hid under the bed whom she dubbed "John". She never even saw the other even more reclusive cat, a grey and black striped tabby she named "George", until she opened the apartment door one evening and surprised him in the kitchen. She got a glimpse before he was airborne and ran to hide in another part of the apartment.

Sadly, the cat lady died, so Jean had to trap and remove the two cats from the apartment. Luckily, she was successful and got them out just in time -- the night before a demolition crew was scheduled to arrive to clean out all of the contents and renovate the apartment!

Ah, but where does one take two feral cats who have never been socialized? These two felines have the worst of both worlds: they have no socialization skills to get along with people and, having been indoor cats for nearly five years, they have none of outdoor feral cats' essential survival skills.

Cue the trumpets! Enter a knight in shining armor! Martin, an East Village resident with a heart the size of the state of Texas, built an enclosure for the cats. He placed it in a protected location where the cats could acclimate for three to four weeks to living on the outside, get used to the noises, sights and sounds of the great urban outdoors before they are released in the protected courtyard area where he has established feeding stations and sleeping enclosures.

Martin set up the largest water containers (designed for large rabbits) to train the cats to use them, obviating the need for outdoor water bowls since standing water creates a fertile breeding ground for mosquitoes. The fiberboard floor and sides had been painted with a sealant to waterproof them to withstand the elements.

Here's a bird's eye view of the enclosure. The rectangular brown wooden feeding station on the far left can be accessed through an outside door so it can conveniently be refilled without disturbing the residents. The burgundy and dark grey dog house is in the middle and the silver covered litter box is against the right side of the enclosure, next to a second door. This two-dimensional shot makes things look closer together than they really are. The widely spaced chicken wire keeps them in but allows maximum air circulation. The blue tarp was just placed on top to prepare for an impending rainstorm.

To protect against windy, torrential rainstorms, the enclosure can be securely covered with tarps fastened with carabiners.

Peek-a-boo! After spending their first day in seclusion in their insulated dog house -- with carpet cut to fit the floor to provide a cushioned sleeping area) -- George, the shyest cat, made an appearance. (Apologies for the blurry cell phone photo, but we didn't want to scare him off, so we didn't move in for a closer shot.) Please keep your fingers crossed that George and John successfully make the transition and will stay in their protected area with food and shelter once they are released from their temporary enclosure!

Meanwhile, Jean continues to feed the five feral cats (ear-tipped and neutered) who live in the backyard of the apartment building and roam the adjoining backyard areas, inhabited by another colony. ('Ear tipping', for the uninitiated, is a way to signal to rescuers that an animal has already been captured, neutered and released.) Who wants to lay bets on how long it takes for her to become one of those "cat ladies" she swore she'd never be?

For those of you who would like to assist animals in need, but don't know how, here is a website you can start with. It's called The Animal Rescue Site. You can click daily to provide food for shelter animals, and there are petitions you can sign if you are so inclined. And Jean's favorite charity is Social Tees Animal Rescue on East 5th Street in the East Village. Repeat after me: Adopt. Foster. Donate.

Last Sunday, we attended a tea party hosted by Debra Rapoport and Stan Satlin at Stan's art-filled apartment in Westbeth, the artists' community in the West Village. On the street after the festivities, we encountered a lovely couple and their young daughter trying to take pictures of each other. In exchange for our taking a family photo of them, they took a picture of us and lent us two of their daughter's pink pom-poms for props.

Debra Rapoport is an artist and milliner and stars in the Advanced Style documentary. Stan Satlin is a composer, songwriter and singer. His "Auratoria Americana: Songs of Peace, Love and Spirituality" will be performed at a 7/18/14 event at Riverside Church honoring Nelson Mandela. (For information about the Footsteps of Mandela event, just click on "Auratoria ...) Stan and Debra threw the tea party in honor of three friends visiting from Sydney, Australia.

Debra is wearing a white vest of her own design made of Viva paper towels, one of her favorite materials of late. It really is a strong, sturdy fiber, and lives up to all the claims made in the advertisements. And if you take a look at her necklace, you'll see its deceptive centerpiece is a household tool found in any standard toolbox. Her friend is artist and Westbeth resident Claire Rosenfeld. We had a wonderful time chatting with Claire about numerous topics, including New Mexico's Santa Fe and another artist enclave, Mexico's San Miguel de Allende.

Here's Stan with Sydney visitors Tessa and Robert. EVERYone loved his shirt, which he said was a gift. A little tiny label on the pocket says Supreme, which it turns out caters to skateboarders, and has a long list of very high profile collaborators. (Gents, notice how well he's matched it to his pants and shoes.)

Vivienne Cable, the third Sydney visitor, owns a women's boutique in Sydney called Image by Design. Debra's friend Francesco brought a fellow Aussie (in polka dots) to the party.

Marsha Carlin, Peri St. Denis and Susan Dean posed for a photo. Marsha is a jeweler and Peri is a water colorist.

Nita Angeletti is a doll maker and costume designer. Lily Pink is wearing another of Debra Rapoport's Viva paper towel hats. She'd gotten it at Debra's sale the day before at Lynn Dell's Off Broadway Boutique. We'd last seen both ladies at the National Hat Day Party hosted by Lynn Dell.

Debra's sister, Cydonia Boonshaft (left), and Dr. Nonnie Balcer. Wish we had a full length picture of Cydonia's suit. It had amazing seams in unexpected places. Cydonia said she'd gotten it at Kaliyana in Montreal (one of Jean's favorite haunts in that city). We'd met Nonnie at an Asia Society event last year. We - and everyone else - loved her hat, by Kate Bishop, which she was kind enough to share (momentarily) with several admirers. What was really interesting about this hat was how versatile it was - it could be worn backward as well as forward, with the wonderful fan flourish either high or low. Stan's chairs, by Donghia, were a thrift shop coup. Oh, envy, envy!

We met filmaker Lilly Rivlin, also a Westbeth denizen. Her latest movie is "Esther Bronner - A Weave of Women". Love those stripes!

Lina Plioplyte, director of the Advanced Style documentary is a Lithuanian-born New York-based cinematographer and editor who makes short films, fashion documentaries and music videos. She and Lilly's friend Ilse enjoyed the party.

Tziporah Salamon who also appears in Lina's film with Debra, is wearing one of Debra's Viva hats. Harriet Levine (left) whom Debra describes as a dear friend actually introduced her to Stan!

Stan with triple-threat (artist, milliner & blogger) Carol Markel, always in marvelous living color, and wearing one of the wonderful gumball necklaces she makes.

Carol's husband, artist Richard Cramer, next to one of the pieces from Stan's extensive collection of Americana. Click on Carol's name above to view her blog posting on the party.

We both loved how jeweler Diana Gabriel's black and white jacket of pressed and felted yarns played off her wonderful black and white jewelry designs.

Sydney visitor Tessa with Debra's friends Mark Brennan and Michael Ing.

Elke Kuhn, wearing an outfit from Swedish designer Gudrun Sjoden, sits with Tessa's husband Robert.

Debra, looking Pharaonic in her Viva paper towel vest.

Here we are with our wonderful host in his amazing apartment. The Statue of Liberty mask is by Debra. And did we mention the food? Absolutely delish! If they were serving tea at this tea party, we never noticed, since Prosecco was the beverage of choice for most of the guests, including yours truly. What a excellent way to spend an afternoon. Many thanks to our host and hostess for a wonderful event!

Fumbling Toward Adulthood

Valerie asks: what defines adulthood? Different people will have different milestones: your first job, your first car (not the one your parents gave you - the one you bought with your own money), first apartment, marriage, first child. But what defines adulthood from a child's perspective?

I was raised in a house full of books. My father had the lion's share, having majored in English on the GI bill after World War II, but my mother saw to it that I had my own collection early on, and taught me how to read before I started school. There may have been an element of self-preservation in that. Now that my parents have both passed on, it can be told: my mother did all my father's graduate research while he was going to school during the day and teaching English at night to support our family. I passed many an hour in the children's section of the palatial Brooklyn Public Library while my mother was researching and writing my father's term papers, so it was in her interest to give me the tools to keep me happily occupied while she was in the musty fusty gravely serious and cerebral adult's section (to which I hardly ever dared venture).

At home, I noticed early on that adult books had no pictures in them. My initial impression of this was that books without pictures were a bit sad, and didn't pique the imagination at all. I thought children's books were so much more stimulating, with pictures on every page.

The Winnie-the-Pooh series was far and away my favorite during my childhood, and my mother periodically gave me animals to match the Pooh characters, some of which I still have. They didn't look the same as the ones in the book (this was before the Great Era of Targeted Marketing), but I had a bear and a kangaroo with a joey, and a tiger and a donkey and an owl (or Wol, as he is often referred to in the books).

One Christmas I received a copy of The World of Pooh - a compilation of all the Pooh that was fit to print, with countless charming illustrations on almost every page. Some two hundred pages into this three hundred some odd page book, I had an epiphany, and completely changed my views on illustrations in children's books. Aha, I realized, adult books had no pictures because adults could conjure up their own images. Well, I thought, I can conjure up my own images, and don't need illustrations. The text is the thing. The only thing. The everything. So I got the huge eraser out of the stationery drawer, and set to work erasing one of the suddenly tiresome images. The eraser did not work, so I used the next best thing - a bit of spit, and my index finger.

Looking back at what I did, I am horrified, but at the time I saw this as a small but determined step I could take out of babyhood and into adulthood. As it happened, removing the illustrations turned out to be a far larger undertaking than I had bargained for, so, in a move that should probably be recorded in the annals of child psychology, I economized by strategically rubbing out only the star figures in the illustrations. I did this to several pages until I saw the unintended consequences of my actions: in my fervor to make The World of Pooh conform to adult publishing standards, I had gone right through the paper, and destroyed the all-important text on the other side.

Here is some of my handiwork below. See the big white space in the center of the illustrated page? (It's the same one I'm pointing to in the first photo.) And maybe you can see the hole in the first paragraph on the left page, too.

I don't actually remember my mother's reaction to all this, which is great, because it probably means she didn't freak out in front of me, or yell at me or punish me for what must have appeared, on the face of it, to be an inexplicable, wanton act of destruction from an otherwise well behaved child. But I do know how she responded: she went out and bought me a pristine copy.

I still have both, and cherish them for different reasons.

(Below is the undamaged copy, and the same page the way it's supposed to look.)

When we are out and about and run into other women of a certain age who have let their hair go grey or silver, we often ask to take their picture and save them for special posts like this one. Periodically, we reach a critical mass of photographs and gather them together into a post we like to call "Silver Foxes"! The recent Easter Parade was a wellspring of opportunity producing shots of many of the ladies in today's post, but by no means our only source. Our current edition includes shades ranging from dark gunmetal grey to snowy white and lengths ranging below the shoulder to close-cropped. We've arranged them from longest to shortest. Hope you enjoy.

Our first great looking lady, whom we met at the Easter Parade, had long, straight hair with the longest lengths in the deepest shade of grey verging on gunmetal, and the newest growth around her face coming in considerably lighter (more salt than pepper) which highlighted her face and smile. Her grey top, with contrasting scarf, accentuates her coloring.

Our second entry also sported long salt and pepper hair that she accented with black framed sunglasses and all-black-and-grey wardrobe.

Love this perfectly trimmed pony tail with insouciant hat.

This woman in front of Jadite Gallery has her long hair pulled back in a bun.

This woman's bangs and mid-length cut show off her showy white hair. Her green patterned scarf adds just the right jot of color.

The secret handshake! Valerie got on the train and locked eyes with this woman, in from Santa Fe to visit her daughter. Without a moment's hesitation we both started complimenting each other. The train was rocking, so the photo is not quite in focus, but she looks great anyway. Compliment a stranger! Make somebody's day!

Another lady's parted mid-length light grey hair looked almost platinum in the bright Easter afternoon sun. Her black framed dark sunglasses and black dress provide a great backdrop to her silvery locks.

This woman, whom we met in front of Barney's, has very thick hair, and came up with the perfect haircut for it.

Ulli Hamer, by contrast, has straight hair. Her hair style has some longish hair and some really short hair, just perfect for her bone structure and hair texture. Ulli speaks very little English (she's from the former East Germany), but was very amenable to having her photograph taken on Madison Avenue recently. She and her husband Ralph Penz are both artists, and had an opening several weeks ago at Jadite Gallery. Ulli paints a lot of her own clothes.

We went to see Yoko Zaikawa's collection of avant garde hats last week (that's Yoko on the right, wearing one of her creations), and while there we met Seiko, who has the most marvelous spiky salt and pepper 'do.

This woman's side-parted short hair cut with understated earrings and white neck wrap is chic and sporty. She also opted for a black and white look. It wasn't until Jean was sizing it for this post that she realized this photo is a trifecta, with shots of two additional ladies over the main subject's shoulder in the right of the shot. The nearest lady, with short nearly pure white hair added bigger earrings and big dark sunglasses to complete her look. The lady behind her with longer, straighter hair with bangs wore her sunglasses atop her head.

We loved this woman's bangs. They're cut in a completely choppy manner, but they look great on her. And the lower level bangs are darker than the upper level bangs, and longer, so they're visible. Remember that commercial? "Does she or doesn't she? Only her hairdresser knows for sure."? (Hint: if you're under 50, you probably don't, so don't sweat it.) Anyway, we didn't ask if she does or doesn't (dye one or the other level), but we love the look. Her man friend has pretty cool hair, too.

When we met Jean at the Outsider Art Fair earlier this month, we both complimented her on her very short, closely-cropped classic haircut. It can be a difficult look to pull off, but she did it beautifully. Her crystal earrings, light grey top and great short hair all draw your attention to her eyes terrific smile. Love those dimples!

And to close, a gent doing a no holds barred version of the wearing of the gray. You go, guy!

If you've been reading us for a while, you'll remember this photo from one of our February Fashion Week posts. We loved Jillian Mercado's look, but her look barely scratches the surface. We just found out (we're kinda slow) that Jillian is the Executive Editorial Director of We the Urban, "a one stop daily news source for many internet savvy fashion enthusiasts". But that's not all. Fashion giant Diesel featured Jillian in an ad campaign which had already come out by the time we met her. (Didn't we tell you we're slow?) Modest Jillian didn't tell us that then. If we're kinda slow, maybe (we hope) our readers are too. Below is one of Diesel's ad campaign pictures. That's James Astronaut at her side. They both look fabulous.

The series of Diesel ads, called REBOOT, embraces and celebrates our differences. To read more about Jillian, click here and here. To see more of the Diesel ad campaign, click here.

Bravo, Diesel!

So far, we haven't had the opportunity to meet Jacky O'Shaughnessy, who made a splash modeling for American Apparel in 2012 (discovered at a restaurant, we're told). Big deal, you might say, until we tell you Jacky is now 62, and American Apparel recently featured her in a lingerie ad. Isn't she marvelous?

Here's the picture that shows up most often on the internet in the current campaign. Maybe because it's more demure and less controversial? (Oh, and we'd like to point out Jacky's lush lipstick.)

To see a selection of the work Jacky's done for American Apparel, click here.

Kudos to American Apparel!

On Easter day, we made our traditional pilgrimage to The Modern, that bastion of edible and potable delights where, after a hard day of being photographed, we had the great pleasure of receiving chocolate rabbits from The Modern's Manager, Dan Jones, above.

Not too long afterward, we had the additional pleasure of meeting The Modern's Executive Pastry Chef, Marc Aumont, who made the rabbits. Taking center stage is one of his wonderful creations, below.

Need a closer look? Yes, we thought so. Here you go.

What Chef Aumont was too discreet to tell us is that the two bunnies are exact scale model replicas of Mrs. Ethel Bunny (nee O'Hare) and her adorable daughter, Barbara. For the American history buffs among our readers, yes, that's the philanthropic Bunny family, the one that put down roots in America long before the revolution. The same Bunny family without whose early largesse the Museum of Modern Art would not have been able to acquire many of the masterworks for which it is world renowned today.

We know this because we did a bit of research. (That's why it's taken us so long to finish our Easter story.) With the recent focus on couturier Charles James, a number of hitherto unknown Charles James letters have come to light in the Cecil Beaton archives, and one letter describes a pair of gowns that James made for Ethel and Barbara, most likely when Barbara turned 18. Amazingly, the letter is accompanied by several photos. These are of James' first drafts, not of the final gowns. This letter to Beaton offers some invaluable insights into James' creative process. Here are a few snippets from the letter:

Ethel and Barbara present some interesting challenges, as you know, because of their unique proportions, but these have been worked out to everyone's satisfaction. Young Barbara has little say in the matter, but Mrs. Bunny has good instincts and knows how best to flatter her daughter's figure. (Did I tell you they look almost alike, despite the age difference?) Mrs. Bunny is frightfully proud of the family ears, so I've done a huge portrait collar to showcase Barbara's. The rest of the dress is fairly simple so the collar can stand out. Spring green is good for a young woman, and polka dots are coming back in a big way. I have been calling it the squid dress, as it has so many legs, and the big point at the top of the collar. (The legs in the final version will have wires to hold their shape.) Horst P. Horst was passing through on his way to Paris, and took this picture. Very unlike his usual style, isn't it? I do wish you had been here to take a few photos, Cecil. Mrs. Bunny would have loved to tell all her friends.

Mrs. Bunny is going with something much more subdued, but that is not to say she intends to fade into the woodwork. She bought yards and yards of a gorgeous antique silver lame on her last trip to Italy, and had it sent over. A local manufacturer made me a copy to work with. (Not nearly as lustrous or as marvelous to touch, but it gets the job done.) Mrs. Bunny is inordinately fond of her tail ("And so is Mr. Bunny", she told me, eyebrow arched, when Barbara was in the next room), so I've given her a giant fish tail she can wave about instead of one of her exquisite hand carved cigarette holders, now that she's quit. She initially had her heart set on one of my lampshade gowns, but I think this works quite well on her, don't you?

The Bunny family has a collection of huge baroque pearls which, according to the family lore, got snipped from one of Queen Elizabeth's dresses in the 17th century. They are first recorded in the accounts of Mr. Bunny's great great great great great grandfather, James Gardencarrot Bunny, a wealthy Boston shipping magnate, who passed them to his son and daughter in law in 1652, and all the women in the family wear them at least once. Mrs. Bunny wanted to criss-cross her bosom with them, but there are so many that I've added them to the hem and the fish tail too. After Horst photographed Barbara, Mrs. Bunny rushed into her dress to be photographed as well. I had to pin it up in the back where the zipper is supposed to be, but you get the idea.

The letter then goes on to other topics. There are no gowns like these in any known collections, so we assume they remain in the Bunny family, or possibly the Rabbit family. (In additional research, we found that Barbara married John "Jock" Rabbit of the illustrious Rabbits of Providence. She carried on her mother's philanthropic activities, had many children, and steadfastly eschewed the spotlight. The only other thing we found in public records was that in the 1960s, the Bunnys lodged a suit against Playboy magazine for unauthorized use of the family name. The suit was settled out of court, and details of the settlement remain confidential.)

Because the Bunnys are notoriously private, it is not known what the actual James gowns looked like, or where or if they were worn. Indeed, the family has not acknowledged that they own any James gowns. With the exception of the photograph below (part of the same letter to Beaton), no pictures of Ethel and Barbara together have ever surfaced publicly. It is clear, however, that James had an unerring eye - mother and daughter do look very much alike, and it's no wonder they're proud of the family ears.

Does this McLaren Mercedes make my butt look big???

Earlier this week, Jean was in Montreal for the Formula-1 Grand Prix and while there, could not resist playing her favorite game. There is something about fast, expensive automobiles that brings out this irresistible urge to compare bumpers.

Home away from home for the long weekend was the grande dame of hotels -- the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth, a huge ocean liner of an establishment right next to the beautiful Basilica of Mary Queen of the World. (That's "Marie Reine du Monde" for you Francophiles!) Official race programs and the Queen Elizabeth's commemorative hats were the complimentary gifts for guests. What was it about the big decorated head gear that screamed "hip hop"? (She is also wearing her new black and white Carol Markel wooden bead necklace.)

First stop on Friday morning was the Museum of Contemporary Art's One-Plus-One show. In the atrium, David, Jean and Ken played "Speak no evil, hear no evil, see no evil".

The 3 musketeers from California are Jean's partners in crime for the car-centric weekend's festivities. Here are Greg, David and Ken at the track just before qualifying on Saturday afternoon.

Sitting in the grandstands in the bright sun can be a challenge. Sunglasses are a necessity and Jean's golf visor was the perfect solution for the glare.

The quartet always gets seats in the grandstand at the hairpin turn to maximize viewing time. You can see the cars coming toward you, slowing down to make the turn in front of you and then speeding away on the straight-away.

Although Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton from the Mercedes team were the two pole sitters and ran first and second for most of the race, Lewis had brake problems and did not finish. Nico also had brake problems but managed to finish second after Felipe Massa and his team mate crashed on the last lap, allowing Daniel Ricciardo to win his first Formula-1 Grand Prix. After the race, the crew stopped at the rooftop lounge at the Hilton Bonaventure Hotel.

Montreal is home to some amazing restaurants. This Red Bull F-1 race car was parked in front of the Ritz Carlton Hotel, right outside the entrance to Maison Boulud.

Once inside, the gang joined Joao, our Brazilian banker buddy, for champagne and an amazing dinner.

After dinner, the group headed to the Sofitel and encountered this adorable toy racetrack in the lobby, complete with a red Ferrari race car.

Dinner at Toque' on Saturday night was a gastronomic treat of the first order. The tasting menu was off the hook. Three friends from New York joined us, including Chris Wilford.