I'm not ignoring you...really I'm not. It's just that I've been busy, really busy.
For some reason it's been a celebrity filled week and...I'm still waiting for Lady Gaga's people to get back to my people... you know how those things go.
I had wanted to post about the new Chanel collection a Byzantine beauty if I ever saw one
but Tabitha beat me to it...and added poetry! So go read her post.
Here at the HQ, we love to see jewelry worn on the head so the diadems in these ads are especially appealing. Also, have you noticed the recent Harry Winston and Van Cleef ads for diamond barrettes? That is the trend in jewelry along with vintage brooches You heard it here first.
Summer may have officially started but it is still gray, foggy and cold every morning and while I'd love to whip out the summer whites and pastels, I'm still wearing winter colors like this charcoal gray
I finally got around to seeing Tilda Swinton's 'I am Love' last weekend and I enjoyed it, perhaps more for the wardrobe, sets and music, than for the story line. 'Madame Bovary' it was not. Still, in spite of the fact that the film ran for 2 hours, and was desperately in need of editing, it was definitely worth seeing.
In fact any movie with Tilda Swinton aka 'The Swinton' is worth seeing, don't you agree?
The story is of a bourgeois wife of an Italian industrialist, who emerges from her repressed inner life by falling in love with a young chef, Antonio. Food is the catalyst for her stepping out of her uber elegant yet cold life in her Milan palazzo and into the country life and raw nature, an Eve finding her Garden of Eden with her primal Adam, if you will.
Anyone who has watched this film will see her character's transformation physically represented in the changes in her overall look. With a wardrobe created by Raf Simons of Jill Sander, the story begins with her character Emma (yeah, we get the nod to Madame Bovary), wearing sleek monochromatic outfits in cooler colors of blue, grey, plum, etc.
In the key scene where Emma has lunch at the chef's restaurant in Milan, and falls in love with the Antonio with each bite that she takes of her food, she wear red.
Later, when she follows the chef to his country property, high up in the Ligurian hills, the color palate of her wardrobe changes to warm colors. I could go on and on about Romanticism and the reversion to nature and the correlation of nature and sex that are all big themes in this film, but I won't. I'd rather say something about the jewelry. The long strand of multicolored Tahitian pearls, the single statement gold bracelet, the ball pendant (just like this one by Chopard at Beladora), and the all important double strand of white South Sea pearls, added the extra luxe detail to the polished look of her character. Also, the score was by the brilliant composer, John Adams. The music was so beautiful that it added emotional depth to the lushly filmed scenes. I definitely recommend this film. It is worth seeing for the wardrobe, the music and the architecture and interior design of the Milan palazzo alone.
Yesterday, a sunny Saturday afternoon was the perfect day to attend a small but very pretty wedding at an old line Protestant church in Pasadena. As the guest of a guest, not personally acquainted with the families involved, I was able to concentrate more on the details than on the people...the afternoon sunlight streaming in through the stained glass windows, the flowers, the music. But I couldn't help but being wowed by the bride, a true California blond, she was absolutely beautiful....but really, aren't all brides gorgeous?
I loved the flower arrangements of roses, peonies and orchids in shades of soft pastel pink and green.
The wedding party was made up entirely of the nieces and nephews of the bride and groom, all young children except the 16 year old niece who was the maid of honor. The young boys wore black tuxedos and the young girls wore pretty pastel pink dresses with light celery green sashes. So adorable. It has been so long since I have been to a wedding that wasn't a second marriage that I haven't really kept up with what is de rigueur. Apparently the tossing of rice is out and bubbles are in....who knew. The ceremony was traditional and lovely, as was the cocktail reception and dinner at a nearby country club.
As usual I wore something monochromatic and simple, a linen suit in a metallic wheat color, if that description makes any sense at all, with simple kitten heeled shoes and a Ferragamo lizard skin clutch, from way in the day.
The jewelry...South Sea pearls, of course, and a vintage Piaget diamond watch.
So now that I've been reminded of how wonderful traditional weddings are, I can get start to get serious about plotting my own children's marriages....because isn't that what meddling mothers do? Have a great 4th of July!
