Pink Fire Pointer January 2011

gorgeous client spot





client picture posts are my absolute favorite kind of posts to do! one of the downfalls of a solely on-line business is that you don't get that face to face time with your clients so when they send me pictures i am always extra pleased - it's extra work for them that i really appreciate and it makes my day!

just recently, my web developer took his girl grace for a jaunt through europe and she decided to bring a little scarf that he had gifted her from the shrimpton couture collection. she has cleverly rolled it to add just a subtle pop of color around her neck. stylish and gorgeous girl and a fabulous client like me? i think till is a lucky guy

xoxoxox



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

gearing up for the globes



Yep, this is the big weekend!

In just two days, we will all sit glued in front of the TV and see who wore the best dress has won the coveted awards and who was too drunk to make a proper speech made us catch our breathe in our throat and choke back a sob, with their thoughtful and heartfelt acceptance speeches.

Even more then celebrity appearances, I wish for a parade of vintage dresses on the red carpet (OK I would settle for even just three great vintage dresses, or honestly, even one - one really, really fab one - to remind the world just how fabulous vintage is).

Other girls watch just to ohhh and aww at the glitz and glam and the entire fashion world is as I type and as you read - in a frenzy of last minute preperations getting the lucky ones who will attend ready to go!

I won't be there this year but the National Post has asked me to participate in their Golden Globes live blog which will run my twitter feed (@shrimptoncoutur on twitter) during the red carpet and during the event itself. I will be tweeting about the fashion part of the event along with Nathalie Atkinson (@NathAt on twitter), journalist extraordinaire and ET Canada's Cheryl Hickey will chip in for the paper edition out Tuesday!

Expect tons of dyslexic spelling mistakes commentary from me, and astute,witty &much more intelligent observations from Nathalie!

Tweet you Sunday as the red carpet begins! !

xoxox
Cherie

PS Watch for the recap in the Post in Tuesday's paper too!

PSS I will also post the live blog link as soon as I have it - there is a whole team of people from the National Post that will be participating

UPDATE

Tweeting will start as soon as the red carpet coverage begins and tonight's Live Blog window will pop up at about 8pm at this link http://arts.nationalpost.com/category/ampersand/ - bookmark it and check in with us later tonight!

me & the boys



last night i went to dinner (again - soon i am going to waddle like an overfed turkey if this keeps up). i have a bit of a double life - i keep one toe dipped in the world of finance and commodities - my guy's business - and so we often have to don suits (fab forties ones for me when i am not quite so "expanded") and entertain a table full of men. yep - these are almost always a table full of men and then me - sole representative of the finer sex. last night was no different - there i was - four men and me. invariably during the night, the conversation veers to this topic and that, and it often comes up that i also run a business dealing in vintage.

most men don't get it

there is always one guy at the table who promptly offers up his high school cast offs that he cannot fit into anymore, and that his wife harps on him to throw away. he offers it up to me with a strange mix of boyish charm........pride that he cleverly kept what he now knows must be valuable - the proof that someone actually wants someone else's old clothes is sitting right before him no? ........and a touch of bashfulness - after all, part of him knows that showing interest in this girlie stuff will surely garner him some serious man-bashing and giggles afterwards by his buddies.

i am then left in the awkward position to gently tell him that there is no way, under any circumstances, that I want his plaid button downs from 1983.

actually, i usually just respond like a bull in a china shop and tell him if his wife doesn't want his cast offs i certainly don't.

once that ice is broken i then get hit by a flurry of questions from the table

oddly they are always the same

1. what does vintage mean? how old is the stuff?
2. people really buy old clothes? serious? no really you are serious?
3. how much??????????
4. people really buy old clothes? serious? no really you are serious?
5. serious how much? your shitting me?
6. how old is this stuff again?

it's like dealing with small children. its the same questions in that same order every single time (every time) so i can easily slide into auto pilot and think about what i am going to order for dessert while i wait for them to catch up that yes people seriously do buy old clothes.

once they have gotten over that shock, they then offer up their wife's, girlfriends and sisters as possible clients and the conversation slowly goes elsewhere. done deal. over and out.

i use to worry about the reaction i would get in the "business" side of my life by letting people know i have a toe in the fashion world. you would be shocked at how non-fabulous non-fashion people can think it is and how non-serious they can take you. but i let that go a while ago. it's what i do and do well and is as much a business as any other. in fact, because i am solely e-commerce, it is, in some ways, far more cutting edge than then other side of my business life.

that's irony no? the business that sells the past is more cutting edge then the business most people take far more seriously.

so boys don't get it 

at first

but when they do, their automatic jabs and ribbing, smart-ass comments and silly bad jokes go away and are replaced by a look of respect. all business people respect someone who has built a business from scratch and made it successful even if a part of them is still asking themselves if people really buy old clothes. (really? seriously?)

they don't say a word then, but at some point later in the evening, with a predictability that i could probably make a buck or two on if i was a betting kind of girl, one of them will always reintroduce my vintage career to the table and ask with just a touch of wistfulness in his voice

why do you do anything else?

Tout pour moi? Merci Sonia!

Sonia by Sonia Rykiel
Cherie cotton and wool-blend T-shirt

$130 new at Net-A-Porter

This and That

Yesterday I was waiting for My (late) Guy to get his butt back so we could get to our dinner plans and flipped on the TV to see the new Marilyn Dennis Show make is debut. I was super excited to hear the guest list as my friend and super fabulous girl - Lisa Tant (she is the genius EIC behind the newly revamped Flare Magazine - if you have not flipped through an issue in years, go grab one - its really good now) She looked and sounded great!


I am on a mission to watch this show daily - it's homework for me as I have been asked to be on it. Crazy huh? I won't make an appearance till late February or early March but will keep you posted - promise!

TV is a funny thing - part of you wants to be on it and part of you is terrified you might find out you do something odd with your face or have some weird twitch you are not aware of and then there it will be. Not that it wasn't already but the point is that YOU did not know and now you will. Silly but true.

I have not mentioned this before but this is actually not my first encounter with TV land, I shot a "sizzler" for a TV show last year. I was contacted by an agent in NYC and My Guy and I flew down and met with them. They ended up having us film a promo reel here in Toronto but somewhere between the initial meeting and the actual final concept....well it got silly. I have to say my heart was not fully into it. It was not really a representation of me in my entirety so I was not surprised when it did not go anywhere. At the time I did not say a peep to anyone but a small circle of friends. TV is this weird half world where there are people telling you it will be fabulous and its all about you and yet its so NOT. I can't say I am unhappy it did not go anywhere and I can't say I would never explore the idea again either, but I can say I have a much better idea of what to expect and what not to expect. It was damn fun to do though! It makes one feel quite fancy.

I did learn that the "reality" of reality TV is staged to a great degree and one finds themselves in the weirdest position at times where you have just had a real, unscripted conversation with someone, turn around and are asked to "just have that conversation again so we can re-shoot it from this angle".

You try it - not as easy as it sounds.

In my own little non-TV world, Alex and I (Alex is my super right hand girl and does a ton of the behind the scenes work in getting stuff up onto the site for you all to see), posted a ton of gorgeous new items in the last couple of days.

This first grouping is wonderful! All color and brightness - the neck-pieces are original designs from the Simone's Rose designer - her name is Michelle and she is based here in Toronto now. She uses vintage Kimono fabrics as her base and then makes knock -out pieces. More of her items can be found here.

The little bright color blocked unlabeled dress in this set turned out to be a Giorgi Sant'Angleo! LOVE when you can verify a dress to its designer - label or no. It's a steal of a deal at the listed price for what it is!





This next set is delicious - all prints and pretties - the details and texture and colors in these three - I DIE. The first is a twenties silk cut flapper - the colors are sublime. The next is a Galanos and the last a spectacular late 40s gown with an I Magnin label!




I really have been screaming behind the scenes over the recent pieces coming in! Sometimes I am myself astounded at the pieces that come my way. If someone had told me 10 years ago that one day I would have all these fantastic pieces of history in my hands I would have laughed - goes to show you that you never know where your life will go.....


Hope you like them too!

Since this seems to be rapidly turning into a mile long post, I will wrap it up and share the picture I posted on Twit pic last night. I don't always wear vintage head to toe (and please don't any of you either!) - I think it should be mixed in with modern pieces and for me that means pieces I think will be "future vintage". I do have to admit that I buy my modern day portion of my wardrobe with the same eye as I buy for the shop - I try to buy clean designs with a little "punch". That is why I could not resist this jacket from Celine - which is perhaps the hottest brand in the market these days.


I wish you could see the fabric (and I wish I had smiled) - its super thick and stiff - sounds horrid but ts not. Its almost like a canvas on a sail. It's genius and when I saw it at Holt Renfrew I had to have it and just told them to ring it through and NOT tell me the total. (works every time - though you absolutely did NOT hear that from me - I will deny deny deny) 

Celine just released their pre-fall 2011 and I am already drooling - The stark simplicity of these will contrast perfectly with my MOST over the top beaded, crazy ass vintage pieces. Yeah I know that is not how they are supposed to be worn but I am going to do it anyway! 

These are some of my faves....enjoy and we will chat again soon....







Vintage?

Yesterday I came across this photo - isn't it deliciously vintage?


Doesn't it just completely sum up everything about that McMansion living that a select few enjoyed in the sixties? The wonderfully high neckline and Twiggy influenced, small boobage (no gigantic knockers back then - why DID that ever change anyway?) The miles of non-MacDonalded skinny legs and the quite proper flat shoes. Lovely, lovely lovely.

Except this is a leaked photo for the new 2011 Spring ad campaign for Valentino.

Don't get me wrong - unlike some of my fellow vintage loving friends, I have NO qualms about designers knocking off vintage. I know a lot of you just took in a sharp breath and already started to prepare, in your head,  your backlash of me in the comments, but please hear me out.

I think this way because companies rarely do it well. They copy copy copy but then use rayon instead of silk, machine stitch the edgings - having someone finish it by hand is just too expensive.....skimp on all the lovely details - like those extra seams that shape the dress, they don't cut the cloth on the bias - nope, that would be an extra unnecessary cost, after all, you can get at least another 50% out of a bolt if you don't cut it on the bias...........They farm it out to foreign lands, skimp on the lining, ignore the tiny things - like those little, tiny straps that sit in well made vintage pieces that are there to hold a girl's bra firmly in place........I could go on and on and on.

Once you realize that - you check out the runways and then RUN to your fave vintage dealer, picture of chosen "new" trend in hand and start the hunt for the real thing.

Copy away baby - you send me clients with every ill-executed stitch.

That being said, some designers do, of course, make copies of exquisite quality. Like the dress that spurned this blip of text. I would bet that the Valentino dress in that picture is so beautifully made, that I would hold it in my hands and feel that deep seated lust only a clothes crazy girl like me can feel ....the lust to own something because...well...just because.

I can feel that lust stirring just by looking at the picture.

If designers use the past to "inspire" them and then from that produce a garment that will in and of itself be worthy of future collectors and museums, I say God Bless you and Thank You. There is just so much shit out there now (see point one above) that I sometimes fear for the future of vintage.

Have you thrifted lately? I won't even do it any more - I rely solely on my carefully curated group of buyers and collectors for the pretties you see presented on the pages of the Shrimpton Couture website. I go into a thrift store and look through the racks of cast off strip mall rejects, dollar store dumps and the miles of racks holding cheap fabric that is held together by cheaper thread and it makes me want to sit down right there in the middle of the store and weep.

Like a little kid - snot running down my face and big gulps of air - it makes me want to weep so I go full on into the dreaded ugly cry.

It utterly depresses me. Even thinking about it as I write make me feel heavier inside.

If a designer creates something beautiful and its properly done and made of fantastic fabrics and yet, it just happens to looks like its fabulous counter part from thirty or 50 or 80 years ago - I say fine. I look at that and see someone who just contributed something for the future vintage fanatic, vintage loving girls like me and my clients. Someone who created something for unborn lovers of beautiful garments to look forward to thirty or 50 or 80 years from now. God Bless you and Thank You.

Don't fear designers that look to the past for the runways of today. Fear the lack of quality designers execute in their final designs. Fear the mass market production of MILLIONS of garments made to throw away with not a care to detail or design. Fear our overwhelming direction as a society to not cherish our beautiful things and care for them and love them. Fear the designer who does NOT look to the past and has no vision of his or her own either.

It's not the doing, its the doing it well.

And if you still want to disagree with me that is OK too - I know there are valid arguments and a whole little loophole in my argument that leaves space for "exact" copies - line for line. I will already tell you I don;t think that is cool at all. And I don't agree under any circumstances with trying to pass off a copy as the original. Burning at the stake can be brought back for those folks.

But when you look at runways FULL of inspiration form the past. At least say a quite prayer of thanks that they are using a fabulous start point. That at some level, an awareness that whats out there now is not necessarily the best anymore.

And then when you follow that argument through - you will of course realize that the best is of course the original and you will pop straight over to my site for a good shop.

and if you just said Sneaky Bitch out loud........then you heard my giggle seconds after that thought didn't you?

Travels

As mentioned in my next-to-last post, I had to do a mini road trip this week. I had my new favorite toy with me - my, quickly becoming indispensable,  IPad. So it was with delight that while on our long drive, I saw an email pop onto my IPad with the details of one of my client/friend/buyer's recent trip to India. I have been pretty lucky and have traveled to many many far off places in the world but India is a country that I have yet to explore.

L went with her friend A, and when she returned she did a little recap and sent it off to her circle of friends and I was happy to be on the mailing list! I actually ended up reading it out loud to My Guy as he drove.

I think one of the best possible thing you can do in order to become a truly fabulous girl, is to travel and explore the rest of the world.  It gives you a sense of life outside of our self-imposed "comfort zones", teaches you all the wonderful diversity that people can have and most important, teaches you that at some level or another we are all alike, even when we seem worlds apart.

I love that this narrative is both honest and frank. It's also interesting as the writer is a life long New Yorker, so in a way her narrative gave me an insight to two countries - both India and her US perspective. I have just copied it pretty much verbatim and added the pictures that where sent (all with permission of course) with just some slight edits to take out the travel guide names and the privacy of the person who sent this intact.

I had to giggle at the part where they order Grilled Cheese and it came made with Cottage Cheese - I once ordered a Greek Salad in a tiny village in nowhere Finland and it was this odd concoction of Cheddar cheese, pickles and lettuce - the lesson being is to not assume that food with western title's is going to be what you get at your local deli.

I hope you enjoy it!

-------------------------------------

Hi All,

While its still fresh in my mind I thought I would share our trip with you. We both agreed that India was not as we had thought it was. We had expected, I think, women in brilliant saris all over, lots of color in the streets. It was unique, interesting, but we had not thought  of the overpowering 3rd world aspect to all we saw. Some of the most brilliant minds in Silicon Valley are Indian, and yet the country is as it was centuries ago. That is not bad, we had a really solid experience, we laughed non stop and took it all in and digested it daily.

The arrangements with the travel guide agency were superb! Cannot say enough about their guides and our driver was incredible. The hotels were lavish and the Indians are super nice.

There is no Infra Structure that can be seen--for example no street lights, signs, driving rules or speed limits in any city except for downtown Delhi near the govt offices. Traffic is in chaos with everyone just 'go for it' as the driver navigates the streets and highways. For example one morning's drive somewhere it was totally fogged in and on the road the trucks coming towards us, which we couldn't see, only blink their lights a few seconds before impact! and everyone is swerving all over the place. Why don't they keep their lights on...something about their battery! There is only the structure of a society from centuries ago..no job placement, no old age benefits, no nothing which would seem to us to be a foundation for society. 65% of Indians DO NOT have toilets and so..yes...men are peeing all over the streets all the time. They find a tree or just face a wall and that's that. You don't really get used to seeing this only you try to not focus on this. On a road which was 2 lanes coming and 2 lanes going with a think meridian in between I looked up to see a truck coming at us. But his is on the wrong side of the highway I said.."well that's what he wanted to do" said the driver as we swerved.

There are animals wandering in the streets everywhere and they are all starving! They are sitting in the highways, all over the side streets, and just wandering looking for food. This is this situation: There are more than 3000 sacred things like cows, dogs, and they cannot be messed with. And when they fall over dead from eating plastic our guide tells us, well then what to do with them cause there is no ASPCA. People get cows for the milk, but do not seem to understand that cows can only produce it when they have a diet of grass and grains, and they do not have that in most places. The land is barren and the cows then stop producing milk and they are then homeless and left to roam the streets looking for garbage of any kind. They are there with the what I call 'the universal starving dog with no breed' which all look the same. and all starving and along with the goats and then the horned steers all over which they say give better milk. So on any given street we are all wandering together and respecting each others rights to pass. Not a few cows...or a few dogs...I mean thousands of them! And the dogs most especially broke my heart.


Cow in the Street


Delhi was interesting, all the cities are interesting and all the palaces divine, Crumbling yes, in need of work, sure, but still one can clearly see how the Maharajahs lived. It is like what was is and if it is standing then it remains. When you do see women on the streets it is more the peasant class who are off to do an errand and all wearing traditional clothing. The men wear these white pasha pants made from a cloth or western clothing. And they are everywhere. It is a male society of course, and you see small boys and grown men arm in arm, hand in hand, arms around each other as you would men and women but because they dont have the opportunity to have those kinds of relationships with women and only have arranged marriages, they form these close bonds with other men and their need for deep friendship and affection is shared  together. The older men seem to be wearing turbans the younger ones not, but those people we see all over the streets are not office workers, or factory workers, these are people eeking out some kind of living as migrants, construction, having street stalls selling candy, or friend food. It differs not at all from city to city.


Varanese


The first stop was Varanese which is the holy city of the Ganges. Well, that city is Hell on Earth in our minds. It was incredibly interesting but socks you in the stomach - there is no frame of referenced here for what you will see, and perhaps it was too much for my friend A. The Ganges is sacred water and the pilgrimages there to bathe in the waters--so men are in 1 place, women in another, cows, dogs, steers. The area is teeming with people. Many people choose to have their head shaven while there and give the hair as a sacrifice. So we went out on an evening boat ride and can see it all. There was a large spiritual chanting with lots of smoke, fire, drums and the burning of incense and camphor. Our guide got us super seats on a little open ledge so we could see it all. Then A said look behind you L, and a man and his huge black steer were right behind us tucked in for the night in their sleeping space. So people come from all over to die at the Ganges! and there is even a home there for those who are waiting to die. But this is the part which really threw us. On the boat ride up and down at the end of this little inlet there is incredible smoke and fire. And then you are told that this is where they are burning bodies! 3, 4 at a time and its right there in front of you and the air is filled with the smoke from the bodies and boy did A freak out. Well this elicited many talks about their paradise, how there is no place to physically bury all the people who die there, and etc. A conversation one would never have if not in India. The guide was from Varanese and thought it was the best city in India...he even said it was just like Venice-but he had not been to Venice! Because of his passion for the city it made it easier to deal with the onslaught of people, strays, and the smell. I think some should definitely miss this city, on the other hand it was as authentic as one could get and it was like being there when Gandhi bathed in the river.

And this is interesting. The water looks very icky. But our guide in Jaipur said she took a bottle of it back home. And thought it would get algae and grow things in it and have to be discarded yet week by week the water grew clearer and now it is pure looking. We heard this story from others. It's a GD miracle!

Then the next morning we were going back to watch all the bathing and the guide pointed out that on the car next to us was a dead body on the top of the car going for cremation. Ski's or a body! All very surreal to say the least. And then, because they are only allowed to use dead wood, as living wood is sacred also, people come to the cremation sites to carry away stray pieces of wood to use for cooking in the streets.

Tented Safari


Most people go for the elephant ride up the hills to the Red Fort. Awful for the elephants who do this 12 hours a day non stop. India Beat arranged for us to go out to the Elephant Polo fields in the desert and we had a 30 minute ride, got to feed the elephants bananas and then have lunch outside there and watch a bit of elephant polo-the slowest game in  the world and fun. Interaction with wild animals for me is super fun and this was great. I see the Maharajah elephant seats were padded and soft, ours were not so it isn't comfortable, but it is an elephant! And you see them all over the countryside along with camels being used to haul.

We love Jaipur and Udaipur for the shopping of course! The tented resort was gorgeous overlooking a huge lake but I think that is more of a romantic place for a 1 nite stay between the cities to catch your breath. The weather was perfect and mild, never hot, but 2 nites were very cold. Each resort had its own palaces, its own gorgeous hotel and its special perspective. All very interesting.

The Taj Mahal is as you would imagine. There were thousands upon thousands of others enjoying it also but that was fine. One gets this awesome sense of how much money the rulers had and how they spent it. There was no budget, no need to curtail any expense. How I wish their jewels were in a museum but they aren't we were told. They're all privately owned still.

The 1 guide we were not crazy about is pictured in the jodhpurs and looks like Johnnie Depp. In fact we had the Vanity Fair mag with us with Depp on the cover and gave it to the guide who didn't know who Depp was. We didn't feel ever that the American culture was known, was part of their lives as it is in Japan, for example. Because he was descendant from royalty maybe, or had '100 acres of farmland' he was too pushy and didn't want to miss taking A shopping. He looked like he and his cousin were from costume at MGM.

Guide in Jodpur in his Jodhpurs

One tries to eat the food. It looks so good, smells wonderful but.....all the hotels were so nice when it came to trying to create non spicy dishes but they were still too spicy for us.
The Imperial in Delhi has a great Italian rest and the chef either studied in Italy or is part Italian. Best meals we had. We just tried, but couldn't eat the Indian food. We ended up with lots of plain rice and creamed cauliflower or whatever else had no spices. Indians do not do edible desserts. Many places had a continental menu and we did what we could with chicken etc but A wouldn't eat the chickens because of what they looked like as we saw them in the cages. I don't blame her but I did eat them. 1 nite I got horribly sick and it was so bad I went right to the Cipro and then slept in the car the next day on the road. 24 hours later I was fine but we didn't even try to eat the Indian fare after that as A's constitution was very iffy also. One day we ordered grilled cheese sandwich, but alas it was made with cottage cheese so that was that with the coffee shop fare.

Opium Ceremony


Then we visited villages which is always interesting. Those who have lived the same way for centuries. In the pix is a Opium Drink ceremony. 3 people from the hotel actually drank it and A said for 1 million dollars she would not. And I cannot blame her. The camel hair 'filter' surely needed replacing to say the least and then drinking out of the shamans hands! Pass on that one! But the interesting part is the anthropological part. These particular villagers only eat lentils...and seeds from some fruit and cows milk. They marry the girls off at about 12 to another village boy. In the pix of the Opium ceremony you can see what most men wear. Pretty much they all look like this unless young.

The Jain temple was the coolest of them all. But each Palace has something wonderful to see. The interior mirror work, art work, mosaic and the hotels do their best to recreate this. 500 rooms in a palace..well that seems like an interesting way to live! and the old photos of the Raj's with the Brits is so interesting.  You can just hear them talk.



All in all India is really interesting, uniquely from another time in history and I am so glad this trip was taken. I wish there had been less garbage and starving of the animals and masses of unwashed humanity, but that's okay. Not everyone can live like the French! And if Versailles is one's standard then one is in trouble!

Toilets should be on someones list there. And it took A 2 days to get out of Delhi, as it is said, for no particular reasons the Indians cancel flights. Will the flight take off---well who knows! Maybe or Maybe not.
It was not an easy trip but one I am so glad I took and we did shop til we dropped including some divine antique furniture and jewelry! So onward to the next Bucket stop.

Happy New Year to us all

L

Wendy is My Kind of girl

One of my favorite girls in the world - the talented Jewel & baubles designer - Wendy Brandes posted this pic on her blog today of her wearing her Vintage Moschino Text dress from Shrimpton Couture! While not a dress for a wall flower I decidedly disagree with the message on the dress - having spent a New York night out with Wendy & Mr. B - I can assure you that you CAN dress her up and take her out. You look fabulishous Wendy!

Adolfo, Kamali, Ungaro - Oh My

I have to do a dreadful drive later today - our accountant lives a zillion miles away so a small road trip is called for. Before that happens I thought to post a couple of fabulous pieces for you - these are all easy to wear, slip on and go and are also pieces that will easily work into a modern day girl's wardrobe!

For day you might like this little late 1970s knit number from Adolfo. It has those fantastic high shoulders that really elongate the body and give the dress a surprisingly modern feel (even if it is a detail that was stolen from the 30s - who, at that time, probably stole it from far earlier times!) It's also a good weight - I cannot stand those overly heavy pieces from the 70s - and if I won't wear it I am certainly not allowing you to!


This OMO Norma Kamali jumpsuit is delicious. Its Moss Crepe and has a stylized utilitarian feel to it. To be honest I can't help but think that Norma took her car in to be fixed one day and saw the one piece coverall the mechanics wore and walked out with this design in her head. I can almost hear the wheels turning - ".....if I used a moss crepe...made it black...cut off those dreadful sleeves.....widened the legs and then twisted the front to give it some sexy...hmmmmmm....."

Thank you Norma - you did good.


And then there is this. Its so insane I think I love it despite itself. It's by Ungaro and from the early eighties and it is the weirdest combination of fabrics -  of a thick ribbed knit (it reminds me of the type of ribbing used for hockey socks actually) and then to contrast that he used ....(gasp) gingham

What the hell? 

And when I say "used gingham" I mean he added great poufs of it to make the sleeves and tons more of that same fabric to make that ridiculous skating costume skirt. And then the bastard made it all work? ARRGGHHHH

OK I am a little in love with it and am just spouting trash talk to keep myself from pulling it and hiding it for myself. I will admit it to the world. The only thing keeping me from it at the moment is my post-holiday tummy. Trust me - you need to be brave, have a really, really good Spanx or a flat stomach - the knit clings!

New Year yada yada yada

The beginning of a new year seems to be the time to reflect and decide what changes, small or large, you might like to make in your life in the upcoming months ahead. Even if you don't believe in making New Year's Resolutions (yep I mean me - guilty as charged, I am) it's super hard NOT to have this train of thought despite my reluctance to do so.

It's sort of like the equivalent of finding a fabulous new pair of shoes.

Bare with me here.....

Logical me KNOWS that shoes won't change my life - they won't make me magically loose 10 pounds, suddenly become one of the "cool" girls, or make men fall at my feet in awe of my great beauty as I strut by.

Or at least those things don't happen to me. If shoes make that happen to you - please leave details in the comments - like where, brand and how much.

However, I have to admit, as silly as it sounds, that for just a teeny moment, a minuscule blip in time, a fraction less then it takes to start thinking of what dress will look best with those shoes.....in that tiny moment, I can look down at my new-shoe clad toes and I just KNOW something grand is about to happen. Do you know of the moment I speak?

While I certainly won't make a resolution of any kind and I refuse even more adamantly to say that non-resolution resolution out loud to you, I will take a stand and declare in writing that this year, I am going to try to keep my focus within that tiny little bit of space between the ground and the stark face of reality. And just for those amongst you that require definitions and boundaries of such non-declaration declarations - by reality I mean that place where all the magic falls away and you are left with you - for the good or the bad. But most likely with the ten extra pounds still firmly in place.

I also think I am going to do a bit of a turn around here on this blog - I have never really felt like I have hit my stride with this whole blogging business. I feel great pressure to post fantastic bits of costume or be the first to post ground breaking fashion news, to have endless spectacular photographs or try to pretend that everything in my life is just a bit "more" (know what I mean?)

Ain't gonna do it no more.

It's no fun to feel pressured and frankly, I am just too grown up now (that's a polite way to say I am not in my 20s anymore), to let a silly inconsequential thing like a blog make me feel unhappy and obligated to it. Its like some dysfunctional non-sexual relationship where I am the woe is me side of the coin, So I have decided to rid myself of that pressure, just to slip it off and let it go, like a too heavy winter coat and trade it in for something lovely and airy and light.

Hopefully not so light as to dissuade the more intellectual of you out there, but it will be as it is and will become.

I am just going to tell you what's going on in my corner of the world and things I think you might find interesting about what I do - you know, the whole crazy vintage thing. And sometimes there might be pictures. Sometimes there won't.

I imagine most of it will be dribble and drabble, and the blabbering on of a girl who lives with one foot in the past and is trying to make it in a world that seems to hurtle forward at a faster and faster speed every day as it struggles to find its place into its own future.

But don't let me fool you, this is NOT a resolution - its just a maybe glimpse of something that maybe, just maybe might be grand once in a blue moon.

Happy New Year all

xox
Cherie