Fashion for everyone

i am among the world's biggest fans of the 1975 documentary grey gardens. i love the edies beale ~ their batty repartee, their spectacularly zany style, and their waffly warbled show tunes. i love them, madly!

so i was very reluctant to watch this year's hbo version of their story, starring jessica lange & drew barrymore. i assumed it would be just like when sienna miller botched the character of my beloved edie sedgwick in 2006's factory girl ~ an outrage to true fans.

i was wrong.

i finally watched it yesterday and it was marvelous!!! it celebrated their legacy, it perfectly showcased their style, it made me really, really happy! i ended up watching it three times, straight through.

i'm thrilled that the reinterpretation of grey gardens was such a revelation. i'll try to take screen shots next time i ogle it, but for now, in celebration, i'll settle for sharing this photographic fashion tribute, shot in 1997 by terry richardson for harper's bazaar:

the endurance of beales' influence just serves to prove ~ having your own style never goes out of style!

yesterday i went to see julie & julia (which i loved) and ever since i've been in a foodie fever!

as soon as the movie let out, my glamourman and i rushed to dine at the nearest french restaurant. not so odd, except it was 5pm ~ about 4 hours before our usual dinner hour. when we sat, the restaurant was completely empty; we beat even the early-bird retirees!

honestly, i'm your typical small-kitchen new yorker ~ usually my refrigerator contains (if anything): a carton of eggs, a bottle or two of champagne, and an assorted miscellany of takeout containers. this morning, however, i decided i needed a cupboard full of gourmet food products; i've convinced myself i'm going to cook up fancy dishes all week long!

wishful thinking? probably. well anyway, i stuck with what i'm good at, and got dressed up for the grocer:

what i lack in the kitchen, i try to make up for in the jewelry studio. i'm excited about this week's etsy collection, as it is composed like a multi-course meal ~ each piece compliments the others. you can have a necklace with a ring on the side, and a pair of earrings for dessert. taken together, they're a tasteful treat!

yet another necklace borne of my bonbon binge:

as evidenced by my recent fancies, marie antoinette has provided a wealth of inspiration for me. but i'm really blown away by the variety of fantastical, phantasmagoric, and simply quite fashionable films you recommended! very impressive.

i've sorted through the selection, updated my netflix queue, and added a special toolbar to the bottom right hand column: the glamourai's fifty favorite fashion flicks!

i tried to include a broad range of genres, so if one of your favorites didn't make the cut, it's not that it wasn't worthy ~ i simply couldn't include every 'hepburn' movie and hope to have a well-rounded list! even still, 50 isn't such a big number, so many well-deserving films remain unrepresented. let me know if you feel i've committed some egregious oversight!

consider it your 'summer viewing list.' stock up on popcorn and petit fours, curl up somewhere comfy, and allow yourself to be deliciously inspired! i hope you - like me - will discover some new favorites. thanks to everyone who contributed!!!

marie antoinette left me wondering... what other ingenues had exceptionably enviable aplomb?

modern movie mademoiselle holly golightly, that's certain.

who can forget 'breakfast at tiffany's?' it's one of those films i'd like to watch incessantly looped & projected onto a high white wall - sound off - like a moving editorial in a larger-than-life magazine.

you see, if it weren't for audrey hepburn's whimsical yet practical costumes, designed by hubert de givenchy, it might not occur to me to consider tulle tutus and sequin vests to be daywear...

...but i do.

what stylish films do you love? let's make a list. which fancy flicks rival french vogue? who never goes out of style? what else? what else!

the village idiot mentioned that she likes to watch 'pretty in pink' while crafting. which film fuels your imagination? help me brainstorm, and who knows? it could inspire the next costume

- mine or yours!

someone recently asked me how i maintain my layer-loving-look when the weather heats up? the answer is ice.

indeed, when i am unable to immerse myself in myriad textiles, i texturize by adding more bric-a-brac and bling. so let it be given that from now until approximately september i'll be having a mega marie antoinette moment (confession: i have been watching sophia coppola's film on repeat while making jewelry).

i want candy! i want to crystallize this, ribbon tie that! i want tulle and satin and lace! i want to wear my cake and ice it too.

there is a symmetry then, that the sweet lovelies over at ice.com

( ! ) just sent me the most dazzling earrings ~ on which i tied teensy-tiny silver bows. i tell you i just can't help it!

i also couldn't help wearing this necklace just once before shipping it off to shrimpton couture. sometimes it breaks my heart to part with things i've made - my babies! - but unlike some other queens, i'm slowly learning how to share.

update: shrimpton couture just announced on their blog that they're making this item available for pre-sale ~ so feel free to contact them if you're interested!

on my list of must-see, most-stylish movies of all time, billy wilder's 1950 masterpiece sunset boulevard is a serious top-5 contender.

the story of norma desmond, an aging silent film star (played by gloria swanson) desperate to make her comeback, this film is a grandiose but sombre satire, set in a boisterously baroque black + white backdrop, painted in portraits from its star's glories past.

desmond's soft-lit, heavy-curtained hollywood manse, a sumptuous shrine-to-self, is as important a character as any of the movie's actors. in perfect period pitch, her bedroom (which is rumored to have been designed after the one the phantom created for singer christine daae in the phantom of the opera) is decorated with a fairytale sleigh bed, festooned with a bounty of boudoir dolls.

these dolls, produced from the 1920s-1940s, were popular during the height of the art deco movement, and were intended to grace the beds of grown ladies. today they are highly collectible due to their important connection to the fashions of the 20s + 30s, and their continued power to inspire; the impact of these stylish figures is clearly felt in this stunning new editorial from vogue italia, shot by tim walker:

recently, i admired a steven meisel story in vogue italia, and drew a misguided connection from it to grey gardens.

the photos were actually a conspicuous reference to igmar bergman's 1966 film, persona, a very different movie, but one that explores a similar theme ~ the complexity of intimate female relationships.