Chorus Girl- Marie Elena from Vicky Christina Barcelona

"I very well may be knitting a ranch house!"

One floor-length black sleeveless dress and a fistful of Mardi Gras pearl beads later, I was a real phony!

Nothing like some nice blue people to help fight away the Mean Reds.

I had a blast on Halloween, and everything in the costume was recycled.  The dress I whipped together from a very forgiving, very elastic cotton blend that I bought in remnant pieces at the cardboard condo, my favorite place to shop.  Took all of two hours, and although it was hardly a Givenchy, I still felt chic, appropriate, and warm.  I even borrowed a orange stuffed tabby for a few pics!

I'll know I've made it...

...when this young lady agrees to do a shoot for me. 

Omahyra Mota Garcia was the first model I specifically decided I would dress one day, no matter what.  She is gorgeous and so unique, and I love her attitude.

Paradigm Shift- Dita, Style Monte Carlo

During one of my strange-new-magazine binges a few years ago, I came across Style Monte Carlo, and it has become a favorite of mine. 

(the cover that first caught my eye- Brazillian beauty Fernanda Tavares)

The photography is spectacular, and the photo styling is very consistently High Glamour.  But what most struck me about them are their innovative ways of looking at cultural phenomena.

One of my favorite stories ever was of Dita von Teese.  The burlesque queen with the alabaster skin is definitely an emblem of glamour, but it's always dark, ornate, barely-clad, nocturnal glamour.  So of course, why not shoot her in the bright, blinding coastal sunlight on a boat, backlit by blue sky?

The Dior gown alone is spectacular, but add in the color, and the utter modernity of the dress... this is not your average Dita!

And what is this, if not striking?

This shot is close and cropped, so that you can see her, but the original image was about 75% blue sky, 15 % clean cement ship and white rail, and 10 % oh-heavens-look-at-that-dress-I-want-it.  And Dita gleams incandescent in a whole new way, flawless pin-up with a tongue-in-cheek difference from her usual routune.  I'm sure she's coated in SPF 9000, but clearly, the sun loves her.

Photography by Amadeo M. Turello

A woman is...

French New Wave, Jean-Luc Godard, Anna Karina. 

The movie Une Femme est Une Femme was utterly silly, as was everyone in it, but the colors were lovely, and the main character Angela was strangely winning.  Petulant, flighty, untrue, and childish, but enjoyable to watch.  Aqua-blue eyeshadow and one-pin chignons that quickly and artfully unravelled- I might have to look into this style.

I'm hearing she worked for Coco herself.  Must keep on the lookout for those images...

Je ne suis pas sage. 

Je suis tres cruelle,

mais aucun homme n'enrage,

 parce que je suis tres belle!