Scandalous Fashion!

With thanks to Ingrid of Fashion Is My Muse, I wanted to share this wonderful article, reprinted from the New York Times November 29, 1908.

So often today we see such outrageous clothing (and/or lack thereof sometimes!), we forget that every generation has its scandals and outrages in fashion. It seems this New York Times writer was quite chagrined at the clinging fabrics of which many fashions were being constructed. And - horror of horrors - hats had gone to tiny little bits from huge theatrical displays of plumes and vegetation!

You'll need to click on the image to make it grooooooow into something able to be read. But it's so much fun. I love the rather stuffy and condescending tone of this critic who is obviously somewhat dismayed by current fashion standards! ... right at the height of corsets and girdles and multi-layered foundation garments, etc.! Critics never change! ... and, it seems, neither does fashion!


I hope you enjoyed that - I got a real kick out of it. Now, I'm off to work on a few altered tags for a Marie swap - I hope you're making something delightful! Don't disappoint me!

♥´¨)
¸.•´¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*´¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´♥ Tristan ♥

Prizes, and Swaps, and Gifts, Oh My!

It's been a couple of days since I posted ... I feel like should be singing 'Back in the Saddle Again" as I write this. Hmmm. Maybe that's just the result of spending time working on finding and acquiring retro/vintage western stuff for K.C.Willis' Lipstick Ranch Collage Camp. I'm feeling very western. Well, I'm feeling really vintage, anyway.

I've been making a few things ... finished up this little theatre that I started a week or so again and never got completed thanks to the nasty ear infection villain. Speaking of westerns ... I was ready for an old fashion showdown at the OK Corral with it! I think it's under control now - it's not gone - but it's 85% better.

Anyway - I think I'll list this piece on Flea Market Friday this week. I wish it were easier to photograph it - but, well, it's not! LOL There is so much interior detail that just won't show up in photos. Ah, well. So be it!
I also finished a lot of swaps up for the Marie Antoinette Mail Art group. These are a few altered envelopes that were fun. Each of the envelopes has another envelope with a tag that has all the artist's information on it. I also did about nine sets of ATC's, but didn't take pictures ... just trying to get them all out in the mail so my commitments are honored.

And...on that subject (the one of swaps with the Marie Antoinette Mail Art group) I received this lovely package in the mail. It had a cellophane envelope with shredded paper padding and cards and ribbons...
and an intriguing little tissue paper wrapped package.
It was my accordian book swap piece from Becky Swartzlander! It is beautifully held together with a lovely piece of plaid and embroidered ribbon (Marie would definitely approve!).
This is one side of the book - very fanciful with fun ideas...
and the second side, also carefully crafted and filled with wonderful images. It's very special and I just love it!

THEN. This wonderful little package arrived, and inside was another pretty tissue wrapped package, tied with ribbons and lace ...
As soon as I opened it and saw the card I knew who it was from! This was a gift from Joy at Cupid's Charm. She had a marvelous Marie Antoinette party on her blog a few weeks ago to celebrate the publication of the new magazine "Marie" in which her work was featured. I knew that I had won a prize ... but didn't know what it was going to be.
Well, I was simply gobsmacked. It's a wonderful wonderful piece of her handcrafted jewelry! A keychain, complete with a soldered frame of 'toinette and fleur de lis danglies and sparkles. It's simply enchanting.
When I told her it was going to go into my "special treasures" display case, because I know that if it spent one day in my jeans pocket it would be totally destroyed!, she suggested a different use...as a rear view mirror embellishment for the car! Isn't that a great idea?! I haven't had anything dangle from my rear view mirror since I was in college and I had a Grateful Dead teddy bear hanging. From the Dead to Marie Antoinette...now, who says life isn't full of surprises?!

If you aren't familiar with Joy's work, be sure to click on either her website link above or her blog link above and stroll through her offerings. Many many special things to see there!

Then ... can you believe it??? MORE! ... this week was like Christmas! This package arrived ... covered with art papers and rubber stamps and vintage images ... and I knew from the return address that this was my prize from Malisa for coming in second at the Moonlight Hollow scavenger hunt! This was going to be fun!
Inside was a treasure trove of goodies!
The hugest blue pom pom fringe I've ever seen (this could be used to embellish a CAR), wonderful long length of yummy gold chainette fringe, a beautiful vintage powder box with Marie on the top (I don't know if she knows that I love Marie Antoinette findings, or if it was a - very good! - coincidence!), and a selection of Moonlight Hollow's new black and white greeting cards line. These cards are delightful! I hope you will check them out on their website when they come up for sale ... they're really going to be a hit, I believe. Not only are the images charming, but the paper and quality of printing is first rate! This was a much appreciated group of goodies!

I thought that was going to be it for the week ... but ... yesterday a box arrived from Canada! Because of the return address, I knew this was from Gabriela at Gabriela Delworth, who has one of the most beautiful websites out there. She also was featured in the new publication of "Marie" and held a week-long Marie festival at her blog ... a full week of wonderful information and images. I also won a prize at this Marie Antoinette soiree! I never win anything - and this week I won twice!

I loved the story behind this prize. The prize (which was pictured on Gabriela's blog) was a lovely black and white glittered confection of a crown. But, she wrote to me after the event and said a friend's young child had come to visit and become smitten with it - so she gave it to her and made me another one (how special is that?!) So, though I knew what it was going to be, I didn't know what it was going to be.
Well, I love it! It's a crown, of course - but this one is red with a big fleur de lis, which is even more appropriate as a memento of the Marie blog event that won it for me!
As you can see, it has lots of glitter and trim and ribbon and just about everything a person could want in a personally made crown! I'm feeling very Louis about the whole thing! If you aren't a regular at Gabriela's site, you should be! She's very generous with her knowledge and skills and tips for making beautiful things...be sure to see her tv appearance about making beautiful gift wrappings!

Okay. That's enough. I'm going to leave you with these gorgeous images from Tim Holtz's visit to South Africa. I am just enraptured with the exuberance and freedom that they've exhibited in painting their homes to represent the joy and excitement inside! I can just imagine what our Homeowner's Association would say if I painted our place like this! Who am I kidding? They wouldn't say a word. They'd have a collective stroke.

Well, if you've stuck with me this long, thanks for holding out to the bitter end! I hope you're having a wonderful week, and that you're enjoying Spring weather where ever you are!

And, welcome to all the new followers! It's nice to have you here with us!

Now - go make something beautiful!

♥´¨)
¸.•´¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*´¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´♥ Tristan ♥

Now you can say that you have seen it all........

I don't know what's happened to me. I keep looking for lovely inspirational images, stories and videos - but lately I keep coming up with the most bizarre and unfortunate items! This is definitely one for the books!

Modern Toilet is a Taipei restaurant. It accommodates 100 seats with
each made from toilet bowls. The specialties at the restaurant accompany
sink faucets and gender-coded 'WC' signs that appear on the three-story
structure. The food is served in mini plastic toilet bowls. The toilet rolls
that serve for wiping hand and mouth are hung above the tables, which
resemble glass-topped jumbo bathtubs.









I'm sorry I/you had to see all that. I just couldn't leave it without sharing forcing it on others. I know that I've come up with some weird ideas in my time...but...never anything like...well...you know

I promise - no! really! - I promise something beautiful for tomorrow!

Okay, So It's Not Pretty

but do you think it warrants being an arrestable offense?



I do.

Not-So-In-the-Pink Saturday

via

Okay. I had the best intentions of finding the most wonderful pink stuff for you this week. And I was going to do it well ahead of time, so I wouldn't be so late with my post as last week. I had planned on finding wonderful shots of classic stars surrounded by - or wearing - pink treasures.

But, did the good pink faery bring me all the wonderful photos of movie stars in pink settings and pink couture and pink gel lighting that I had spent a week searching for?


No, indeed she did not. Instead, she put on her pink Doc Martens (which are exactly like the deep purple ones I wore during my hippie punk communist worker phase) and kicked me right in the ... shins.
I had planned on wearing this wonderful Tommy Bahama tie today, just to get myself in the Beverly's Pink Saturday mood.

But, instead, I feel as if all the pink things that I found have crowded into one small room of my body and congested it like 5:00pm traffic in midtown Manhattan! Can a person actually overdose on pink and become ill as the proverbial dog?

Actually, the ear infection I had two weeks ago has returned - with a vengeance. And has spread to my sinuses. I'm just a miserable pink lovin' son of a gun these days, without the energy to be clever or witty or even upload that many pictures.

So instead of showing you fabulous pink interiors...


or inviting you for a leisurely cup of tea and mountains of pastries in a pink wonderland...

or even asking you to sit for awhile and watch the latest antics of Lucy and Ethel...
I'm going to crawl into bed with a box of chocolates and some books and some Kleenex and an armload of dvd's that I want to watch...so far, I know it will be "French Lieutenant's Woman," "The Departed" (a guilty pleasure of mine), "La Vie en Rose," and "Eastern Promises." I've seen them all before, so it will be a comfortable day of spending time with old friends.

There seens to be two beds in this room, so if you'd like to catch the flicks and share in some pink chocolates and just kill the afternoon, climb in your bed - and stay away from my poor sore nose and throat! I always feel better with company in my misery!
Now, I hope you will go make something beautiful, because you have to do it for me. The only thing I'm making today is a dent in the TempurPedic!

♥´¨)
¸.•´¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*´¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´♥ Tristan ♥

I don't like to get political on this blog...

but this is too good to pass up ...

A Gaythering Storm from Jane Lynch

Just a quick note...

to anybody who has emailed me and not received a response.

My server is down and my email has been inaccessible since this morning.

Sorry!

I thought life had been moving along a little too smoothly lately!

Pink Saturday - April 18 - Okay, I'm a Little Late...

Before we get into pink delights, I have to recommend to everybody who loves Belle Epoch style - 19th century French interior and fashions - and all things lush and over-the-top, the 1950 film So Long at the Fair starring Jean Simmons and Dirk Bogarde, with Cathleen Nesbitt, Honor Blackman and David Tomlinson (the father in Mary Poppins when he was young!) It's a fairly decent mystery with very good performances (it took me awhile to figure out it was Cathleen Nesbitt - her French is so impeccable, I just presumed it was a French actress!). It was a mystery more in the style of Agatha Christie than Alfred Hitchcock...lots of red herrings and close calls. We were very aware in a couple of scenes how the absence of underscoring really added to the suspense, and just knowing if it were remade, it would be filled with lots of orchestral stings and chords which supposedly would make it more thrilling - but wouldn't.

But - wow! The settings and costuming are just exquisite! It's more like a Hollywood version of French Belle Epoch style than actual recreations - but that makes it even more ... well, more MORE! It takes place at the Paris Exhibition when the Eiffel Tower was first presented to the public. The recreation of the Exhibition is really lovely - and a scene with a balloon ride exhibition is wonderful.
We saw it on Turner Classic Movies (TCM), but I understand it's available on DVD. I'm definitely going to get a copy so I can watch this gem at least once a year! This photo gives only a glimpse of the interior of a lobby of small French hotel ... but the bedrooms in this hotel - oh, my! They are just magical.
You can see a small clip of the film here - though, disappointingly, none of the really outrageously beautiful design work is on display there.



Okay - It's time for Pink Saturday!
And speaking of time (okay - go ahead and groan. I couldn't come up with anything more clever - sue me), isn't this French beauty a keeper! It's a little hard to see - but the face is on the left side of the piece. There is so much enamel work and ormolu on it that it's hard to find the clock face!
This pale pink French porcelain clock is pretty - but a little too grandmotherly for my taste...not that I don't love my grandmother, you understand! I just don't need this particular style. I can just hear my grandmother saying that it's "precious"...and I've never really considered either of the words "cute" nor "precious" particularly complimentary. But that's me.
Now this treasure I could live with very easily ... I can just hear the designer now, "well, eet's a lovely clock, but vhat szhould we do to feeneesh eet?! But, ov course! A complete funeral urn vit lid und finial! Voilà "
This French beauty is all pink marble - I always admire a clock that will double as an elevator counterweight. Seriously - how heavy must this clock be?! It would have to go into a place with a marble mantle, because it would crash through any normal piece of furniture!
I believe this is the 19th century French version of an illuminated digital clock. You have light to see what time it is even in the dark. I've always wondered what to do to decorate the wide screen tv...I can just see this as the classic tv console set...
I must say, I'm very impressed with the French designers who choose to incorporate funeral urns with their clocks...that's really a very space-saving and efficient function, when you think about it. Though I think the painting and ormolu and porcelain of this set is fabulous, it's just a tad of a shade off for me. It's just too pale of a pink. It seems to me like a baby pink or a pink that would be on a six-year-old's ballet tutu - and I don't believe that a child should have to face funeral ash urns that young. I envision nightmares that would turn the poor child off pink forever...and that would never do! Beverly would be unhappy!
Okay - this clock has everything I've made fun of - top urns with finials, a very pink colour, side bar ash urns - however, this one works for me. I want it. I deserve it. I demand it. sigh. I'll never have it.
Okay. Let's leave the French museum pieces. If I can't have 'em, to heck with 'em!

Now this pink charmer I can see owning. It would be great in a bathroom - though I don't think that there's anything going on in a bathroom that takes so long you have to check the time...but you never know.
I think this next pink sparkler is a Juicy Couture - but don't hold me to it. I don't know for sure. But it looks like it to me. My sister would probably trade in her husband to have this clock.
I used to have a telephone that looked like it belonged in a set with this neon stunner! My phone had green and pink neon running around the base. I loved it. But I think I like this clock even better! I don't have a retro 50's kitchen - but if I did, I would certainly bloodhound out this one!
I can't possible say anything as witty or clever as this charmer is all by itself!
Pink cupcakes ... having just come from Lisa's Mermaid party over at Faeries Enchanted (if you haven't been there yet, be sure to go read the last six-count-em-six posts! The lady can throw a blog event!) where there were lots of luscious cupcakes to see, this clock would fit right in.
I love this next beauty ... such classic deco styling. It really belongs in a Fred-and-Ginger flick. Did they ever dance to the Pink Saturday Beguine?
This pink number is so charming and accessible. I can see it in anybody bedroom - but especially in Lucy and Ricky's.
I know that a lot of people have posted photos of their pink Mix Masters (which I'm totally coveting, by the way), but I don't think anybody yet has posted one of a pink Mix Master with a clock! Now that's a convenient way to know how long you've been mixing or whipping!
Short of yodeling, what can I say?
And, to show you how pathetically bourgeois I truly am: out of all the fabulous, exotic, exquisite and splendid clocks on this page, this is the clock that I would most want to own. And I would always be able to tell just how hot my clock really was! I can see this sitting next to my bed and making me smile every night before I turned out the light!
Well, that's my Beverly's Pink Saturday post. I hope you've enjoyed your time (*snort*) here today. Try to make your way through all the wonderful Pink Saturday collections being shown today. If you don't know about Beverly's Pink Saturday, where have you been??? No, seriously, if you don't know about Beverly's Pink Saturday, just go here for the list of participants.

And then, after you're all inspired - go make something fabulous!

♥´¨)
¸.•´¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*´¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´♥ Tristan ♥