Dear Glamour Girls,
I am cooking up a fabulous new blog update for you! That is the reason the posts have been a wee bit irregular lately.
You can expect all your favorites, plus tips and advice for styling your glamourous life and following your bliss in a polka dot dress!
Thank you to all my darling readers and loyal friends. I can't wait to share the new blog with you!
With love and gratitiude,
xoxo
Christine
A little sweet treat eye candy for you. If I am going to indulge in some sugary nibbles, might as well be pretty and pink!
Thank you Spinkle Bakes for the images and inspiration.
Links, credit and pins are here.
Well done Halle Berry! She always gets the hotties in extreme and being one of the most beautiful women in the world, it would take a very special guy to snag her. Voila! Olivier Martinez is about as gorgeous as they come. From the outside he looks just about perfect. They make a gorgeous couple! Plus Martinez looks like one of those dudes who looks even better as he ages! Yowzz!
Olivia Newton John and her sister muses.
Ahhh. Xanadu. Honestly, it exhausts me to watch the video. It actually does seem like a more sweet and innocent time. An era when confusing and complex choreography was meticulously carried out by squeaky-clean dancers wearing white spandex on some weird Hollywood set. It is flush with promise and wrapped up in ruffle dresses and legwarmers.
Xanadu how I love you.
Before texting and twittering, there was skating on the Venice boardwalk and the hectic pace of an LA career painting giant record album covers. When problems were solved with dance.
And yet, despite how wholesome this era seemed, I am so glad of the way things are now. I don’t actually pine for the past as some do. It doesn’t feel romantic to me. (Besides the Flashdance inspired fashion…I will never grow weary of flowy skirts and cut out sweatshirts. I grew up in the 80’s. What can I tell you?).
As a chick I feel like there are so many more opportunities for us now. The Internet has made finding our kindred spirits possible. We unite in our interests. We follow our hearts desire. We are dreaming bigger. Women-owned cottage industries are popping up like whack-a-mole. We find each other based on our interests, not our proximity. This is my version of Xanadu. Because before the internet, I had no idea there were others like me out there. Now we find our tiny little Xanadus on Etsy, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.
I can never go back to the solo skating of days of yore. Not when there is so much to discover about each other in the present.
And I do this not actually wearing the fuzzy pink leg warmers of yesteryear, but with the hope that there are handfuls of other ladies out there in the twitterverse that secretly like them as much as I do.
...And nowhere to go. And let's be honest, no money to spend on delicious frocks. I assume you all are tapped out like me after the holidays. But that doesn't keep me from coveting flirty dresses.
Red and white polka dot by Valentino. Perfection as far as I am concerned. And with those nude bow peep toes? Sigh.
This Jason Wu pink peplum dress actually made my heart skip a beat! Alas, the price however, kept my head firmly in covet land.
Mixed textures and prints always get me! Love this Dolce and Gabbana.
Oscar de la Renta has been designing ladylike fashion since before Jaqueline Kennedy gave us the Lincoln bedroom tour. It is easy to see why. I love this black and white eyelet. What a silhouette!
Another Jason Wu brushed floral. I will never get enough!
The perfect little a-line shift in hot pink by Valentino. Of course.
Another slice of Valentino perfection.
All dresses are available at Nordstrom.
To see more flirty dresses click here.
I recently read an amazing article about the art of conversation. Specifically how not to be so dang narcissistic during conversation.
After I read the article, I was ashamed to admit that I am not the awesome listener I always fancy myself to be. Far from it. In fact I realized I often do the conversational bait and switch. Which is the feeling of needing to share how I relate/fit into what my conversational partner is talking about, and taking the ball and running with it.
Here's how that one goes…
Susie: “I really feel like I need a change. I think I am going to embrace my inner Ann Margaret and go redhead.”
Me: “Oh, red hair is so gorgeous, I had it once and I loved it! In fact, I have a terrific story about when I..blah..blah..blah..”
Here is the supportive listener example.
Susie: “I love Ann Margaret and want to shake it with my new red hair.”
Me: “Wow, I can totally picture it! Tell me about the sudden inspiration!” And so on.
I know that sometimes when people are expressing themselves, I get so excited that I compulsively feel the need to share how much I can empathize with what they are saying by telling my story too! Wheee.
While sharing a related anecdote and/or offering unsolicited advice may seem like you are engaged, the truth is that maybe, possibly, it could be….you aren’t really listening supportively.
Being a good listener is actually a goal of mine. It is important to me because I want people to feel valued, cherished and above all, heard. I want them to know I am fully present.
I know what you are thinking.
Sometimes people aren’t really saying much. And while this is true, my feeling is that it doesn’t really matter. They could be talking about Aunt Granny’s toenails for all I care. Because it is all about connection, sharing, and being present with your besties, girl friends, co-workers, sister.. what have you.
Some conversations are a one-way street. And oh Lord. You know when getting a word in edgewise with an energy vampire is an exercise in extreme futility. Kind of like being a toad jumping to the other side of a busy six lane highway. You may get steamroller squished. Back away slowly with a supportive smile.
But not everyone was put on the Earth to suck your energy.
We all know what non-reciprocal conversations feel like. Drainer. But sharing with a receptive person with the right balance of give and take can be sublime. So my plan is to get curious, ask more questions, be a more supportive listener, and stay engaged.
But enough about me, what about you?
Something about a girly-fied Gypsy Wagon satisfies lady wanderlust like nothing else possible could. I am of course assuming this to be so based on these glorious photos. A place of your own in your own back yard, ready for your dreaming with a cup of tea and a great book.
Pink paradise Gypsy Wagon.
How amazing is this?
Candle light votives illuminate a tiny utopia.
Fit for a queen.
Gorgeous Magnolia Pearl Gypsy Wagon.
All credits and links here.
Happy Monday! Just a little eye candy for you to kick off this week! David Gandy aka Dolce and Gabbana calendar and fragrance model is todays hottie!
I like him cuz he looks a little rough around the edges! Plus he looks like he has a sense of humor. Which we love right ladies! He is British. How cute is that!
Single gals trying to make it in the world is one of my all time favorite TV show themes. Ever since Helen Gurley Brown’s provocative book Sex and the Single Girl made its debut in 1962, single girls everywhere were inspired to maximize all of our available options. In the kitchen, office and the bedroom.
A year later the Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan hit the market with a more psychological tone giving a name to the previously unnamed female phenomena, thought of as simply housewive's malaise.
Bottom line. Women wanted, nay demanded more options than housewife and mother. They demanded the choice to persue lives that had meaning and purpose. For our mothers and grandmothers that meant being able to pursue motherhood if that was what you wanted, but also meaningful work outside the home. Something just for us.
I think television has both helped and hurt the archetype of the single gal. However as far as role models went, when I was little my heroes were definitely Marlo Thomas and Mary Tyler Moore. I thought Mary was so glamorous living in her nicely decorated studio apartment, working at the TV station. She was funny and vulnerable and spunky.
Even Carrie Bradshaw and the gals from Sex and the City helped shape the archetype with the frank and fun pursuit of a vibrant sex life. Carrie and the girls missed the mark a bit, (despite the fabulous eye candy fashion) because they were just so dang shallow. Ugh. I still love them, but by the time the films rolled out, didn’t just want to choke all of them for being so vapid?
Enter the New Girl. Zooey Daschanel does a perfect spunky kid meets geek chic. This archetype can admit that she is confused. She wants love with the right guy, but wants to live her life fully instead of waiting around for “the one.” And guys have feelings too in the New Girl paradigm. No longer are they just heartless playboys that just want to get into your pants. They are just as insecure as us. But they still want to get into your pants. Some things are timeless after all.
We have come a long way baby since single gals were considered slutty for having sex before marriage. Thank God for that. Now we can have a dialogue about having the kind of sex lives that we want without the ridiculous “slut” stereotype. There is a new girl in town and she's gonna make it after all! At least in prime time.
No one summons the spirits of silent era cinema quite like the Boudoir Queen. Her doll babies are bedecked in handmade gowns that Theda Bera, Jean Harlow and Pola Negri would have spit diamonds for. Her latest collection for 2012 entitled Poiret Pretend, does not disappoint.
Lush vintage velvets and silk chiffon are mixed with tattered lace, silk ribbons and just the right amount of sultry dishabille.
The diva behind the divine is Ms Dawn Younger-Smith. Her couturier is based in Austen TX. Her gorgeous gowns can be seen on LA starlettes and musicians alike.
Boudoir Queen weaves the stuff vintage Hollywood dreams are made of, so it makes perfect sense that soon there will be a Boudoir Queen film by JJ Castillo. Sigh. I can’t wait!
I can picture gala parties at Hearst Castle or gatherings at the Marchesa Casatti palazzo in Venice.
In addition to envisioning a very fresh wave of upcycled couture ala Lisbeth Salander meets Gloria Swanson, Boudoir Queen is giving Ellen Von Unwerth a run for her money! So much so that her collection was featured in a spread in the coveted fashion issue of September Italian Vogue 2011.
Visit her ETSY shop here.
The Boudoir Queen website is here.
Enjoy the glamour or Boudoir Queen!
*photos by Mark Younger-Smith
