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BEGUILING HOLLYWOOD

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“To show the knee is ordinaire…vulgaire…!” Madeleine Vionnet (1876-1975)

August 26, 2017 by Vickie Lester

Madeleine Vionnet is an alert and mischievous old lady of ninety-six with eighty-six years of practical experience in the art of dressmaking. Her couture house on the Avenue Montaigne shut its doors in 1939, but at the mention of her name her former clients will sigh as if recalling the Golden Age… A Vionnet dress looks nothing in the hand. It contains no pads, no artificial stiffening, and flops limply on its hanger. There are two hundred of them at […]

Categories: Architecture, Art, Books, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Film, History, Paris, Photography, Theater, Travel, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: Baron George Hoyningen-Huene fashion photographer, Bruce Chatwin, Couture, couturier, dressmaking, Madeleine Vionnet, Paris, what am i doing here

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Portrait of Charles James by Cecil Beaton in the Met Collection

August 11, 2014 by Vickie Lester

Categories: Art, Books, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Film, History, Life, New York, Photography, Uncategorized • Tags: Cecil Beaton, Charles James, Charles James: Beyond Fashion Metropolitan Museum of Art, couturier, curves, design, dressmaker, fashion as art, female form, form, glamour, Gypsy Rose Lee, Harold Koda, Jan Reeder, made the first strapless gown, Metropolitan Museum of Art, mid-century, original, portrait of Charles James by Cecil Beaton, sculptural gowns, sculpture

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Gypsy Rose Lee wearing a gown designed by Charles James, and a book to read if you’re into fashion

August 11, 2014 by Vickie Lester

. Charles James, often considered to be America’s first couturier, was renowned in the 1940s and 1950s as a master at sculpting fabric for the female form and creating fashions that defined mid-century glamour. Although James had no formal training as a dressmaker, he created strikingly original and complex designs, including intricate ball gowns worn by members of high society in New York and Europe. This lavishly illustrated book offers a comprehensive study of James’ life and work, highlighting his […]

Categories: Art, Blogging, Books, Choreography, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Film, History, Hollywood, Life, Los Angeles, Movies, New York, Photography, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized • Tags: Charles James, Charles James: Beyond Fashion Metropolitan Museum of Art, couturier, design, dressmaker, fashion as art, female form, glamour, Gypsy Rose Lee, Harold Koda, Jan Reeder, made the first strapless gown, Metropolitan Museum of Art, mid-century, original, sculptural gowns, sex and comedy

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Night falls on the red roofs of California. Sweet dreams. . . . . . #historic #historichome, #historichouse #historicpreservation #oldhomelove #architecture #architecturelovers #exteriordesign #architecturaldetail #style #design #nightphotography #lightandshadow #nightsky #uplighting #nightscape #garden #curbappeal #losangeles #houseportrait #captivatinghouses #romantichome #californiadreaming #goodnight

What am I hiding? A spider bite! Do I hide much in the pages of my new Hollywood novel? Nothing you won’t have fun trying to figure out... “Late in the summer following my sophomore year, I was living in the Beverly Hills home of a blonde former figure skater. She had met Mr. Major Movie Star on a commercial promoting California cheese...arguably a metaphor for something.” There are more pages up on the blog today, link in the profile. . . . . . #portrait #author #authorlife #blackandwhitephotography #bookaddiction #bookstagram #bibliophile #booklover #behindthescenes #hollywood #moviemagic #lovereading #bookworm #bookish #lovereading #excerpt #amwriting #readers #lovetowrite #californiadreaming

See what’s unfurling on the blog, it might be a new #Hollywood novel... “Life never is a simple linear narrative; it’s too messy and senseless. On the other hand a memoir, no, make that a novel (a much less contentious prospect) is an attempt to resolve the random acts of a life and give them meaning — put them into some sort of context. Whether this reads as simply an insider chronicle of a life lived in Hollywood or another of those cautionary tales about the same, I’ll leave to you, gentle reader, my unknown confidant.” . . . . . #bookaddiction #bookstagram #bibliophile #author #booklover #mustread #petals #rose #behindthescenes #moviemagic #lovereading #bookworm #bookish #ilovereading #amwriting #readers

It’s a good night when @kfullermendez calls me from the east to herald a moonrise over the west. #goodnight #supermoon #sweetdreams @heybillkuhn @antiquegoddess

“These stories seem at times to be stories of a long-lost world when the city of New York was still filled with river light, when you heard the Benny Goodman quartets from a radio in the corner stationary store, and when almost everybody wore a hat. Here is the last of that generation of chain smokers who woke the world in the morning with their coughing, who used to get stoned at cocktail parties and perform obsolete dance steps like “the Cleveland Chicken,” sail for Europe on ships, who were truly nostalgic for love and happiness, and whose gods were as ancient as yours and mine, whoever you are.” . I picked up a sweet #volume of short stories in the new year, continuing my #love affair with fictional Manhattan. . . . . . #stories #manhattan #nyc #johncheever #bookbliss #bibliophile #exploretocreate #empirestatebuilding #architecture #streetscape #citylife #literature #author #writer #bookstagram #bookstoread #cityscape #skyscraper #bluesky #writerslife #thestoriesofjohncheever

Traveling SW I promised @heybillkuhn I’d take pictures... Over breakfast in the dining car I learned how to bet the horses. Sharing a meal with people I’ve never met is now one of my favorite things to do. . So relaxing watching the country roll by, thinking about what to make for Christmas dinner back home. #Pavlova? #ChocolateMousse? For recipes check out the link in the profile. . . . . . #trainstation #exploretocreate #artofvisuals #waiting #portrait #citylife #architecture #homewardbound #urban #dawn #interior #graphicdesign #art #lifeisbeautiful #journey #style #friends #everyonehasastory #itsinhiskissbyvickielester #amwriting another #hollywood #novel

Sometimes places look #enchanted — because they are. This town sends me. There’s a little free library in front of the police department, #design students everywhere you turn, early risers who stroll around the park, and #bookstores like @thebookladybookstore where you can browse and talk for hours — discovering #treasures. All that and I had a eureka moment working on my manuscript. Where am I @williee64 ? In #Savannah! Thank you @heybillkuhn for giving us a proper introduction 😘. . . . . . #bibliophile #books #amwriting #library #exploretocreate #historichome #federalarchitecture #architecture #december #hollywood #novel #author #southerncharm #style

It’s the #morning before #Thanksgiving in #Savannah and I found lady bountiful on my #walk to the market. It’s #bright and beautiful and last night on the #movie set they made it snow — glorious fluffy frosty stuff — which I can’t share pictures of, but I can share stories and a #recipe for a #delicious #dessert, link in the profile. . #goodmorning! . Am #onlocation with my #beloved #writing another #Hollywood #novel.

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She read too much…
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