La Lollo with rose…
Not enough Gina Lollobridgida in Tumblr. Actress, photographer and sculptor, La Lollo continues to be timeless…
At her villa in Rome on December 23, 1971, Sophia Loren decorated her tree—wearing head to toe Christian Dior.
And that is how you decorate a Christmas tree. Fierce.
I forgot to post, I re invented a dress by 213 by Michelle Kim I got from Mod Cloth this summer, to look like the dress I posted several months ago of Natalie Wood in that fab gown…
I took the dress to Spain to wear for the launch of my disc, “The songs of Julio Gomez” http://www.verso.es/detallesdisco.php?ref=VRS%202106&lang=es, which was released this summer at the Palacio de Longoria in Madrid (SGAE). The re inventing of the dress was done by a friend, Swiss costume and couture designer Cyril Wicker. To surprise me, he created his own version out of scratch of this same design, which I will pick up this coming March when I return to Madrid.
The book “French Chic” by Susan Sommers
While visiting a friend in upstate NY last month, I picked up a fashion book at a thrift shop (well, picked up some other super cool things too, including a black tee with tiny rhinestone stud design, a skin tight 40’s look silk dress by Mariella Burani and wool black and white vintage looking checkered vest with large zipper hardware) about how to get that famous French look, written by Susan Sommers in the mid 80’s for five bucks, pretty cheap. Couldn’t put it down, I found it to be fabulous; some of the pixs are a little out dated with some Annie Hall type of looks, but the suggestions, general visuals and aesthetics on how to get that French feel were excellent. Sommers also wrote a book about getting the Italian look, which I will also get on Amazon; in the meantime, here is the amazon link to her french style book:
http://www.amazon.com/Susan-Sommers/e/B001KE37Z0/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
It starts on Amazon (used!) at 60 to 100 dollars, which floored me…this book joins my little style book collection, with the classic “Guide to Elegance” by Madame Antoine-Dariaux (a must read) and “Parisians Women’s Guide to Style” (written by mother/daughter team Virginie and Veronique Morana).
I looked up Ms. Sommers and checked out her website http://dresszing.com/ ; she offers a personal service of coming to your house to re invent your style by shopping in your own closet; she states we wear only 20% of our closet 80% of the time…just signed up to her free newsletter to check her out further. I think she caters to an older set, judging from her demonstration video, but she did give interesting “fashion food for thought”.
In the French Chic book, Sommers tells that Parisian women take those little Hermes ribbons you get when you buy the scarfs and tie them around their wrists in a bow, like a little piece of jewlery…wondering if that is still done, does anyone know? I just did a quick search on line and found a lady that makes bracelets from the Hermes ribbon, they are pretty cute:
http://www.ioffer.com/i/bracelet-custom-made-to-your-size-from-hermes-ribbon-118940945
If you want to stick with the French theme, another fun read that deals with the history of French chic and mystique is this book:
“Essence of Style: How the French invented high fashion, fine foods, chic cafes, style, sophistication and glamour”
The reign of Louis the XIV saw the setting of the fashion season as we know it today, couture houses, perfume and virtually any other luxury product that we now take for granted. Fascinating book and a must read for any fashion maven who wants to get to know “their roots”…loved, loved, loved this book.
