Hello Again!

Apologies for being MIA for a few weeks, the magazine day job has been keeping me very busy! I haven't just been moping around ignoring my blogging duties...athough this shot makes that seem mighty tempting.  Iin a perfect world there would be a giant plate of baklava and some good wine on the nightstand.

Inspiration

I want to walk through the woods looking like this.

One of the new Chanel 09 ads, photographed on Karl Lagerfeld's Vermont property.

Fallen Princesses

There is a fine line between poignant and depressing and I think these "Fallen Princesses" photos from Dina Goldstein might have crossed it, but I still can't stop studying them.

from dinagoldstein.com

Inspiration

It's raining cats and dogs outside, but it's still my birthday dammit!

from audreyhepburncomplex.tumblr.com

Birthday List

So today is my birthday, the not-so-big two-three, and I let myself have some fun with a fantasy wish-list.  I'm hoping to add these goodies to my repertoire as I get up there in age and salary.

It's not really a celebration without a bottle of Veuve.

I love that this LV cashmere leopard stole can look formal for cocktails or casual coiled around the neck with jeans.

My friend Diana, in her infinite style wisdom, bought the Goyard St. Louis in white.  I wasn't sure I was into Goyard, and especially not in white, but she made me a quick convert.

I've had a love-affair with the Fendi mini spy bag for years (especially in the light tan color), it's not as prevalent as its full-sized cousin but is still amazingly textural and unique.

When the BF and I were prepping for the big move to NYC, I had my heart set on a steamer trunk as a coffee table.  Unfortunately, that didn't materialize and now my taste has upgraded, specifically to a vintage LV steamer trunk.  Bonus points if it happens to have my monogram.

The most affordable item on my list - I have fantasies of taking amazing, moody, beautiful pictures with this Diana camera and displaying them in tiny frames on my wall.

One of my girlfriends wore the most amazing pair of high-heeled oxfords on a trip to, yes, Oxford, with her boyfriend and looked incredibly chic.  I'll wear this D&G pair with wool tights in the winter and rolled-up-to-the-ankle khakis in the summer.

I'm quite tiny and long-waisted, so finding a classic white blouse (or any blouse) that fits me well has thus-far escaped me.  Skinny fit Polo oxfords are about as close as I've gotten, but they still miss the mark.  I can't wait to get a few amazing bespoke shirts that will last forever.

Sleek black pumps - high heels, not-too-pointy toe, leather.  I die when I imagine these with dark skinny jeans and my future bespoke shirt.

Maybe it's the dominatrix in me, but I love boots and particularly crave a slim-cut, knee-high black leather pair - one that's refined enough to keep it out of the sketchy porn-star realm.

Who doesn't want a few strands of Chanel pearls?

Classic. Classic. Classic.  Love it.

Custom riding boots.  I'm really going through an equestrian-esque phase at the moment.  I would love to wear these with black spandex, my white blouse and a great blazer...and to be totally over the top I'd sport a scarf around my neck.  Ideally, it would read as Annie Hall meets National Velvet.

Not very original, but I'm a supporter of a few investment pieces rather than tons of costume jewelry.  My parents gave me Mikimoto pearl studs for graduation and I haven't taken them off since, I don't think I'd schlep this around every day, but it would be the perfect addition for a night out.

Marilyn Monroe

These early, never-before-seen pictures of Marilyn Monroe really struck me.  As a 24-year-old, she seems a bit more innocent, a bit less polished and a bit more real without her doe eye affectation.  LIFE photographer Ed Clark took these photos in August 1950, but they were only recently uncovered as LIFE began to digitize its archives.

Another early picture when Marilyn was still Norma Jeane (center).

from LIFE

Inspired

These pictures really make me want to go straight home, dig through my stash of fabric and sew.

from leemawdsley.co.uk

Gypset Style

I am so intrigued by the cover of Julia Chaplin's new coffee table book Gypset Style (Gypset = Gypsy + Jet Set).  It feels vaguely shabby chic, but easy on the shabby.  The antique quilt, the dramatic curtains and of course, the bohemian darling draped over that gorgeous silk chair - it's all perfectly lived-in, but still decadent.  And those vibrant blue trousers...to die for.

Inspiration

I wore a smart vintage floral sundress to the New York Women's Foundation breakfast this morning (a very worthy cause, please check it out), but I'm really wishing I had this 1951 Balenciaga gem to pull out of my closet.  Those puffed sleeves are just to die for.

An image from my archives - if it's yours, please let me know!

Julia Roitfeld

Julia Roitfeld (daughter of Paris Vogue's EIC Carine Roitfeld) was profiled in a photo series on TheSelby.com.  I am intrigued by how sparse her NYC apartment is, other than that growing stack of Vogues.

Just as Parisian chic as her mother.

A Vogue monolith.

In an apartment that's so bare, why display these trinkets?  I don't know, but I kind of love it.

I'm obsessed with throw blankets and would take that Louis Vuitton number in an instant.

I can only imagine what her clothes closet looks like.

I am forever enamored with skull objets and this rosy glass number is a surprisingly soft take on the look.

Sir Cecil Beaton

These Sir Cecil Beaton photos are on sale via Sotheby's at the Chris Beetles Art Gallery in London.  Beaton was also an Academy Award-winning stage and costume designer - I think his expert sense of scene really comes across in these pictures.

Mrs Charles James, 716 Madison Ave., 1955

Truman Capote, Tangier Morocco, September 1949

Marie-Laure, Viscomtesse de Noailles, Paris, 1938

John Smiley at Ashcombe, 1940

Eileen Dunne in the Hospital for Sick Children, 1940

Cecil Beaton and Greta Garbo, 1965

Marilyn Monroe, February 22 1956

Audrey Hepburn, January 1960

Luxe Lingerie

I came across these fabulous shots from Vanity Fair Italy and fell in love.  Who doesn't want to hang about the house in luxurious, romantic lingerie (and look amazing doing it)?

from Vanity Fair Italy via Frou Frou Fashionista