Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
HOTEL CALIFORNIA
Hotels are one of my absolute loves-- parties, pools, and silver are all better when they are the hotel version. (Like the way that parties, rings, and hours are all better when they are the cocktail version.) I fully intend to live in a hotel at some point in my life-- with the comfy beds, lovely staff, and room service, nothing bad could ever happen to you within the secure and beautiful walls of a great hotel. When I got homesick away at college, I would go to the hotel my parents stayed at while in town, plop in front of the grand hearth, and order the dinner I usually ate with them. Now my parents are looking into temporary housing in Los Angeles, and I am trying (unsuccessfully) to convince them to follow in the footsteps of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall and take bungalows at the Chateau. Although they will probably opt for something more "practical", I am continuing my dream of being a permanent hotel resident... at least for a while.
Hotels are the stuff of stories, of mini dramas, a world unto themselves - we leave our lives behind and become who we want to be. Arriving at Chateau Marmont you surrender yourself to a grandi-loquent environment, an infamous hideaway and the perfect getaway in the center of one of the world's most exciting cities. And when the dusk of evening settles, put on some smoky jazz and get lost - sink into the aphrodisiac of the deep couches, take your paramour on an elevator ride - at night everyone comes to Chateau Marmont - this is the pageant and parade that evening brings, they come for the martini, for the sex appeal, to make the deal--naughty or nice, everyone is your darling. You feel the heat, the sweat, the late night lust that is LA. This is the place you can most be yourself and it is the only grand hotel you can call home.
- A. M. Holmes
Jean Harlow was a regular at the Chateau Marmont in 1933, when she had an affair with Clark Gable at the same time as she was honeymooning with her third husband, the cinematographer Harold Rosson. Legend has it that she would leave "gone fishing" messages at the front desk, which meant she had gone to pick up men.Greta Garbo would stay at the Marmont for weeks at a time during her notorious periods of seclusion, going for days without leaving her room, which added further intrigue to the life of the elusive and private film star. (Independent UK)
Raquel Welch in her bungalow garden of the Chateau.
Led Zepplin after riding their Harleys through the lobby.
Photo by Terry Richardson at the pool
"If you're going to get into trouble, do it at the Chateau Marmont."
- Harry Cohn, 1939
IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS!
The old refrain is on everyone's lips and in everyone's photo captions now!
The glass baubles and glittering lights are taken down from the attic and restored to their Yuletide glory
about the house, the shops, and the streets!
The glass baubles and glittering lights are taken down from the attic and restored to their Yuletide glory
about the house, the shops, and the streets!
Here's to embarking upon a joyous, warm, and sparkly holiday season!
Does anyone recognize these? I don't remember where I found them! :(
COLD KISS
"Does she not look sweetly?" said Violet, with a very satisfied tone; "and now we must have some little shining bits of ice, to make the brightness of her eyes. But her lips must be made very red,—redder than her cheeks. Perhaps, Peony, it will make them red if we both kiss them! There! she has kissed you, and now her lips are very red. And she blushed a little, too!"
"Oh, what a cold kiss!"
Sad, sad and drooping, looked the little white maiden, as she stood on the hearth-rug, with the hot blast of the stove striking through her like a pestilence. Once, she threw a glance wistfully toward the windows, and caught a glimpse, through its red curtains, of the snow-covered roofs, and the stars glimmering frostily, and all the delicious intensity of the cold night. The bleak wind rattled the window-panes, as if it were summoning her to come forth.
- The Snow-Image by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Natalia Vodianova by Ellen von Uwerth for Vogue Italia
AND PARTY AND TREATS
Party and treats without ever leaving bed?
I like your moves.
Just don't get hung over.
(But if you do, what better excuse for mimosa brunch at the Polo Lounge ...
okay fine or at Blu Jam if you are on liver and wallet detox.)
From the gorg Studded Hearts
Saturday, November 27, 2010
SKIRT SIREN
In the late nineties, long skirts still reigned supreme for formalwear. Trains trailed down every red carpet in taffeta and silk, with matching wraps dripping off starlets' arms. For the Winter Ball my freshman year of high school (a very serious fashion affair indeed), we would have never dreamed of going cocktail, as is done now for even the most black tie of events. Instead, we were all obsessed with Gwyneth Paltrow's youthfully irreverent and devastatingly chic Golden Globes look- the formal skirt topped with a casual knit. I had just turned thirteen years old, and the Winter Ball was my first grown-up formal event. I picked out a deep wine color taffeta skirt with a cashmere camisole in the same color, and dreamed of emulating Gwyneth's elegant cool.
Gwyneth Paltrow at the 1999 Golden Globe Awards
As someone who prefers to be overly celebratory and always overdressed, I am thrilled that the long skirt is making a comeback. I get stir-crazy in "done" looks that I can't style myself or make changes to throughout the night (variety in your photos, darling), so I particularly love that the nineties trend of mixing a formal skirt with a casual top is also resurfacing.
Models in US Vogue for Fashion Night Out 2010
Paired with my penchant for the cashmere in my men's closets, I have pretty much gone to town with the maxi-and-sweater idea. I plan to carry this into the winter season, wearing as many paradoxically casual cool gown looks as possible. Yes, this will fight with my other obsession, thigh high stockings, but as the girl in the office whom no one recognizes if wearing a pant, there can really never be too many skirt options.
The 2010 red carpet way: Olivia Wilde at the BAFTA Britannia Awards
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