Letter From London

Frieze Art Fair October 2014

But We'll Be Discussing What They Wore!

Frieze London is one of the world's leading contemporary art fairs, occurring each October and turning the city into a frenzy with 30,000 fervid devotees descending into town.  That doesn't mean you'll see great art, although you also just might--the fact is, if you have enough money for a booth, you can buy your way into the fair, and as we all know, taste is often not indicated by money.  So let's talk about what they wore!  The young man in the first picture is quintessentially British looking whether he is or not.  I think he probably is.  The two girls in the second shot look like they may be visiting.  They look cute and happy.  The man in the third image is very dashing.  He could be from anywhere, perhaps from New York?  I love his style.

Now for these three.  I love the guy with the Afro. It shows he has heart and respect for the Old School. The girl in the next picture looks like she's taken posing lessons from Gwyneth Paltrow.  So not good.  The third guy looks handsome, but shell shocked. A lot of men wore those scarves like that but confidentially it really wasn't that cold. It's more like that was the Frieze look for guys.

Now for this last batch  Who doesn't like couple who look happy together except a misanthrope?  Some of the art truly sucked, and it was uplifting to see beautiful people smiling and happy.  The second guy here is a serious fashionista.  I don't know what he knows about art, but he knows how to put a navy blazer together with pink and gray geometric print trousers and for this he gets my seal of approval.  This third couple next to the bronze Yayoi Kusama pumpkins at Victoria Miro Gallery look familar...why yes, it's Little Missy and Vladimir Adamovic!  Right in there with the right groove for Frieze!  Well that's it!  Frieze frames of fashion!

Eyebrow Trends Again!

Rodarte Spring Summer 2015
It truly is all about the brow!
Created by Kate and Laura Mulleavy and Makeup Artist James Kaliardos

Little Missy Dares You!

Little Missy's Guide To Fall Beauty

It can be summed up in one word:

Eyebrows

Chola Barbie

Chola has gone mainstream.  Most of  Little Missy's readers know that Cholas are Hispanic girls, usually of Mexican descent, who are often associated with a Southwestern style of dress, notably a bandanna wrapped around bouffant hair, a flannel shirt, loose khaki pants or shorts and trademark makeup.  The makeup is what has gone mainstream, and for those non-Chola women who do not want to line their lips outside their natural lip line or wear heavy blue or purple eye shadow, you can still adopt a Chola-influence that is the toast of Paris, Milan, New York and Tokyo.  I am talking about the heavier, well-defined eyebrow.  Think Cara Delevinge, a young British fashion icon in the making, and her heavy bushy eyebrows.  This is what Little Missy is talking about.  But wait!  This has been on the Paris runways for years.  

Little Missy's Test

What is Paris Runway and What is Chola Runway?  

Look One

Look Two

Look Three

Look Four

OK readers, two of these looks are genuine runway looks from 2007.  Pick the runway looks!  And remember to make your brows fuller for fall!  You don't even need to buy new clothes if you thicken the eyebrows.  Hola, Chola!

Makeovers and What Is A Stylist?

Little Missy's First Assignment  A Treasured Memory

My dear friend Cameron Silver, the King of Vintage has a site called Candid Cameron and a spirited Instagram account where he and his friends, colleagues and clients weigh in on style topics of the day. Yesterday we weighed in on the recent  Emmys Red Carpet. I called out a look I did not like, noting that it was the fault of the stylist, not the star.  The star was Robin Wright, a beautiful and talented actor.  The look was beyond bad, an ivory jumpsuit ill-fitted, trousers too long,  slicked back hair and minimal makeup.  No one on the planet could have gotten away with all three of these things worn together.  Robin looked washed out and severe---and as if she would trip any moment in her overly long jumpsuit.  I felt her stylist had done her an injustice.  Many disagreed with me, and applauded Robin for going for the shock value.  I can only shrug my shoulders.  Que sera, sera.

Robin Wright at the Emmys

Emma Stone at the Venice Film Festival

As Cameron wrote of Emma Stone, sometimes just looking pretty on the red carpet is enough!  Anyway, it got Little Missy thinking...what is a stylist, anyway?  This is one of the most important persons on any fashion project. You can have the best model and the best photographer, but without a good stylist, you will not have fashion.  My favourite stylist is Cissy Chong, who has worked with my friend the photographer Frederic Aranda.  She puts the wow factor into the fashion picture with her futuristic-retro vision.  I hope I can work with Cissy one day!

Cutler and Gross Spring 2014 styled by Cissy Chong and shot by Frederic Aranda

You can bet Cissy hand picked every macaron and tea cup!

Again, what is a stylist?  The stylist is the artist in fashion who brings the clothes and accessories and props to create the dream of the client.  Sometimes a stylist is brought in to change a star's perceived persona...especially important if the star has had bad press, been arrested and so on. Stylists have done wonders with reality stars like Kim Kardashian.  Kim's April Vogue cover was jaw dropping.  But then she was working with the best stylist in the world, the one and only Grace Coddington.

Now for Little Missy's story.  My first assignment as a stylist was truly unexpected and random.  My mother was spending the day with her friend Georgette and Georgette's younger daughter was going to spend the day with me.  Kathy was a bit younger than I, and a bit of a "tomboy".   I could see she was almost always uncomfortable at events, socially awkward and shy.  In fact I had already concluded that Kathy did not feel comfortable as a girl.  So Georgette and Kathy came over, and Kathy was dressed to the nines in a yellow and white floral two piece blouse and skirt ensemble.  I could see that she was miserable.  At least she was wearing comfortable sandals.  She had just been to one of those teenage fat farms rich people used to send their overweight children to, and had come back feeling like a failure.  Little Missy knew she had a job to do! As soon as Georgette and my mother left, I asked Kathy if she would like to change into my brother's jeans and t shirt.  The biggest smile I think I ever saw radiated YES!  This mordantly funny, wickedly intelligent fourteen year old wasted no time changing clothes and we spent the day walking downtown to lunch and to visit a friend in the hospital.   I never thought twice about not suggesting she change her clothes. It was so obvious that she was never meant to dress like a girly girl.  Of course Kathy put her yellow and white ensemble back on before our mothers returned, and we laughed at each other.  I lost touch with Kathy soon after that as her mother shipped her off to a school in Switzerland that was supposed to make her more feminine and refined!  OMG!  I am thinking about Kathy and all human beings who have been in a similar place, and sending love.  If I had helped Kathy in my first stint of being a stylist, I was forever grateful to the impulse that is in us all to want to look comfortable when we see ourselves in the mirror.

High School Fashion Autumn 2014

 Normcore is the New Chanel!

Give me a Justinfication!

We've got to blame someone for how absolutely awful the kids are looking on their first days back in high school, right?  I mean 9 out of 10 boys at Palo Alto High (James Franco's old stomping ground) are wearing CAMOUFLAGE?  Like Justin Beiber, role model nightmare?  First of all, Palo Alto High School is one of the best public high schools in the state, if not the country.  The kids here are smart and driven, by themselves and by their parents.

Little Missy Guesses Kids Like Beiber

But I'm just wondering what this camouflage is really all about.  Because life's a mess, and every where you turn you can see wars, fighting and more fighting.  And here are these kids on this idyllic high school campus situated right across the street from a tony little shopping centre, and four out of five of the boys are walking around in camouflage.  Swap that out for the real thing in a couple of years and it begins to feel really nightmarish.

The Girls Are Persuaded By What?

Here is a modest version of how the girls are dressing on the Paly campus.  As a longtime proponent of If You've Got it, Flaunt It, I can only shake my head.  Well...the weather in Palo Alto is pretty close to perfect in August.  It's what I now call my Justinfication!

Normcore is the new Chanel!

Normcore is looking better and better to me.  As Wikipedia describes Normcore:

Normcore is a unisex fashion trend characterised by unpretentious, average-looking clothing

Little Missy would really rather see this on kids than camouflage and skimpy.  It would be so simple, like a high school uniform.  Very democratic!  And who then, is the Coco Chanel of Normcore?

Steve Jobs, Mr. Normcore  Himself!

And a better role model than Justin Beiber!

Little Missy Goes To The Movies!

Summer 2014

Little Missy has seen three movies so good I must just share them with my readers!  No doubt many of you have also seen them and we can compare notes!

Number One

Yves Saint Laurent, the authorised biopic with clothes from the archives, directed by Jalil Lespert was a Little Missy dream film.  Tears unconsciously flowed from my eyes from start to finish. I watched Pierre Niney bring to life the young Yves Saint Laurent, the one I didn't know but would have given anything to have. Guillaume Galliene did an admirable job as the young Pierre Berge, the man who took on the somewhat thankless early task of organising and babysitting  the young and out of control genius designer.  Nikolai Kinski made me laugh as a perverse young Karl Lagerfeld.  The clothes, the women in their lives, the locations.....you can see this movie on line and it should be mandatory viewing for any person who calls him or herself a member of the fashion community.  You must see this movie!

Number Two

Boyhood, directed by Richard Linklater took twelve years to make.  It's fiction, but uses the same actors, and all are admirable in their work, especially Ethan Hawke as the father.  Ethan seems to specialise in long drawn out but ultimately satisfying Linklater movie sequels (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and Before Midnight).  The boy portrayed in the film is gorgeous and engaging, beginning at age six, and yes, he has his share of tough times and triumphs before he goes off to university.  He does seem to get off a little easy, and sometimes it seems like the really hard stuff that happens to even the best and brightest of kids doesn't happen to him.  Yes, he sees terrible things happen to his mom when she makes bad marital choices, but we don't get the sense that he has been all that affected by circumstance.  We never see him sitting in his room and crying for instance.  I would have liked a little more connection with the young boy's emotions, but maybe for this Herculean task, I am asking too much?  Read the LA Times movie reviewer Kenneth Turan for a critical review of this picture.  I am not as hard line as Kenneth, but I wasn't completely satisfied, either.  My movie audience loved the film, and everyone clapped at the end, even Little Missy.  Most of us want the likable people we watch in the movies to succeed.  And then there's Woody Allen...

Number Three

Magic in the Moonlight could be Little Missy's autobiography.  And Little Missy loves that Woody Allen wrote and directed it, because he gets it right!  An internationally famous magician genius (played by Colin Firth) has been asked by a friend to debunk a young American psychic (played by Emma Stone)  in the south of France sometime in the twenties.  Emma is staying with her mother at the fabulous villa of a rich American widow, who is trying to contact her dead husband through Emma.  The widow's nitwit son is in love with Emma and serenades her on his ukulele.  This is the most tedious part of the movie.  Colin is definitely (re) playing the part as Mr. Darcy for all it's worth, and debunking the young psychic is a metaphor for a middle aged man falling for a beautiful and vivacious young woman.  She can't be this beautiful! She can't be this vivacious!  She can't make Colin feel so alive!  She must be debunked!  But Colin falls in love with her anyway and why not?  She is young, beautiful, wears haute couture and they are in the south of France, for goodness sake!  This is like a page out of Little Missy the Authorised Version!  Let Little Missy tell you what's going to go down.  Colin will marry Emma and the honeymoon period will last about three months (maybe three weeks is more like it) until he knows he really has her.  Then Colin will spend the next thirty years trying to debunk everything he can about Emma!  Because he's jealous of her youth and beauty!  There is no more to this movie!  Trust Little Missy on this one!  This is a great great picture, but don't read anything intellectual into it!  It's just an old misanthrope seducing and being seduced by a young girl.  This is the only time in this guy's life that he will be an empathetic, feeling person, and as soon as he's got her, it's back to his mean old ways!  

Well, hope you catch at least one of these great pictures!  Little Missy hopes you are all enjoying your summer!  Send postcards!    xxxxxxx

Scene Stealers and Little Missy's Summer Reading Roundup

Cary Grant and Mae West, I'm No Angel, 1933
Ever see I'm No Angel with Cary Grant and Mae West?  What did you notice?  That Mae stole every scene from Cary?  And what may we deduce from this?  Do like Mae did and write your own lines.  Mae got full writing credits on that picture.  Good one, Mae!  No one else ever stole Cary's scenes again!  And what about these two:

Louis Armstrong and Barbra Streisand, Hello Dolly!, 1969

 These are also two legends, right?  I might have just been a little kid but I could see when a scene was being stolen, and Louis was OWNING the above scene.  Age before beauty, Miss Streisand!

Think about these shining examples if you ever want to steal a scene.  It takes genius, of course (duh, a given), but it also takes SELF KNOWLEDGE!  Knowing who you are so well you will just walk into a room and own that room if that's what you want to do.  Stick to what you do best.  Whether a singer, raconteur, comedian, philosopher, fashion plate or whatever you are, if you want to own that room, just walk in and be yourself.  And if you're good, you will own that room, that scene, just like Mae and Louis.  And if you don't, it's not the end of the day.  I picked four genius performers at the top of their games to show you that ultimately only one can own the scene.

Now it's time for Little Missy's Summer Reading Roundup!

Audio Version but I recommend the book
Carole Radziwill's The Widow's Guide to Sex and Dating is one of the funniest books I have read in a long time.  Claire is a plucky writer in her early 30's recently widowed from her older husband, a sexologist who overshadowed her.  Of course she has friends out of Central Casting who want to to set her up with every stereotype out there.  I would love to give a spoiler alert and blurt out the end because I think Claire makes a big mistake, but hey, I'm jaded, and winding up in Petaluma with my ex's (or in this case late husband's) "stiffest"critic is not my cup of tea!  A lot of New York style chit chat and Hollywood scenes will keep you turning the pages of this chic little book.

If you're thinking what I was thinking you're thinking Not Another One!  Why do we need so many books by these French women telling us like it is?  We don't, but for the new generation who has not been hit with the onslaught Little Missy and others of her age group may have suffered, How to be Parisian Wherever You Are is different.  First, it was written by four French women who are SELF DEPRECATING---an almost unheard of temperament in the City of Light.  All those important things like a few good recipes (floating island, crepes, mayonnaise and vinaigrette) are given freely.  How to kiss and how to spend as little time as possible with your kids are all offered up.  And what you do for yourself!  A bouquet of white lilies, "just because".  A first edition of a classic.  A dish of sea urchins.  Over sized sunglasses.  Massages.  Sweet almond oil as the best and cheapest moisturiser.  These French girls know they are crazy.  They admit they going ballistic once in a while at work (just like in French movies!) but all is forgiven because they are French!  How to cheat on your boyfriend, mais oui!  What would a book on Parisian tips be without that?  And best of all!  To keep the romance going, keep Separate Apartments!  Well, Little Missy might not be a Parisian (I guess they are keeping this gender neutral) but let me offer up  this one tip.  Take these French girls' advice on advice but listen to Missy:  if you want to keep any relationship going, separate living spaces period....whether you are married, dating or whatever!  You don't need to be French to know that!
Well, have a great summer and do steal some scenes and buy some white lilies "just because"---because you are my dear readers and you are worth it!

The Story of  Goldilocks and The Three Shoes
Love to all on Pride Weekend!

 Papa Bear likes Louboutin's sky high Palais Royal heels!

Mama Bear doesn't like Birkenstock, but ugly is chic right now thank goodness!

Baby Bear likes Louboutin's medium height Gladiator heels and this little gladiator is obviously going places!  

This bear liked cupcakes and fell through a sky light to eat them last week, losing his life.

The Story of the Three Shoes goes like this:

Once there was a fashion loving little girl called Goldilocks who got lost in the big forest of Paris and ended up in the Palais Royal.  She was even wearing Christian Louboutin's sky high Palais Royal heels!  It was no easy feat negotiating the cobblestones, and one could say Goldilocks was risking her life for fashion!  Also probably trying to impress some guy, like Papa Bear! She was already a tall girl and a fall in those skyscraper shoes would have been a long way down to the ground!  Like that bear up in Alaska, who fell through a sky light of some body's house and ate all the toddler's birthday cupcakes before he was shot by authorities!  I mean Goldilocks probably wouldn't have gotten shot in Paris, but it's what we do for the stuff we can't keep away from!  It's horrifying!  My friend the esteemed writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, Carolyne Zinko, even wrote a story about the new trend for safer, albeit ugly shoes.  So Mama Bear doesn't exactly like Birkenstock sandals but guess what?  Little Missy has bought her first pair and you won't kick me out of them!  And I have searched my soul (lol) and I won't be wearing Birkenstocks with Chanel until Karl gives us the green light!  Who knows?  Maybe he has!  Little Missy had a busy spring with all kinds of major stuff happening and maybe an announcement was made that Birkenstock sandals were OK ed by Karl and I missed it!  After all it's for sure he used to appear on the runway in something that looked like black Uggs!  As in Uugly!  OK, so now we're talking about what Baby Bear liked, the Gladiator medium heel.  Duh, Child is the Father of the Man.  The Baby Bear intuitively knew that you don't have to be ugly or uncomfortable and unsafe to be sexy!  She picked the Gladiator medium heel and told Goldilocks the news!  Gladiators galore!  Right on, Baby Bear!  Well that's the story of the Three Shoes, and does this story have a point?  Don't ask so much out of Little Missy!  

Little Missy's Spring Grooming for Men

 

Does this guy ever not look good?

So men, if George Clooney is one of Little Missy's standard bearers, what is she saying?  Avoid marriage at all costs!  Get an amazing place on Lake Como!  Have constant massages and facials!  Control your projects as much as you can!  So you won't ever be able to walk in Central Park again because you are so fabulous?  You can walk around Lake Como, where the Italians aren't so obsessive about movie stars!

If Little Missy was going to truly pamper her man today, this is what she would do:

She would fly us First Class United to London on her frequent flyer miles (duh!) for five days.  We would stay at Little Missy's favourite spot, Claridges.  After Swan Lake at the Royal Opera House (you love ballet),  a light dinner at Joel Robuchon.  The next day would be devoted to Savile Row appointments, beginning with Gieves and Hawkes, ending at H. Huntsman & Sons.  From there we would walk to Jermyn Street to Turnbull and Asser, where Little Missy would help you pick out a dozen fabrics for custom made shirts.  Then on we would walk up Bond Street to Hermes for ties.  Oh yes, you sometimes wear ties.  Then to John Lobb for your bespoke shoes.  After so much excitement, you would pick the place out for dinner!  I like The Greenhouse!

Gieves and Hawkes

Turnbull and Asser

John Lobb

The next day (Day Three, but who's counting?) would be spent on treatments for you at my favourite spot, Gielly Green on George Street.  If it's good enough for me, it's good enough for you.  From ten in the morning until two in the afternoon you would be coddled over and made to feel like a king.  Shai would style your hair after your facial, massage, manicure and pedicure.  You would leave walking on air, in time for tea at Claridges.  By George, it's now coming on to the dinner hour!  We've been invited to the Electric by friends who are members.  We run into Sienna, Jude, Kate and some others we kind of recognise!  Well, now it's Day Four---what you say?  We are going to Lake Como???  Oh Sweetie!   I love you!!!!!

By George I think he's got it!

 

Happy Easter

 

Here are Christine and Patrick Suppes

Easter 2006

 

 

 

 How Little Missy Loves Her Easter Flowers

 

 Little Missy Sends Love To Her Mother And Father

Little Missy's Beauty and Fashion Myth Busters for Women

 

Essie Davis as Miss Fisher from Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries Proves Missy's Point

Myth Number One

A woman should always go with a lighter hair colour as she gets older.  A darker shade will age her.

Fact:  A woman can look quite washed out with pale blonde hair as she gets older.  If she wants to go darker, use Miss Fisher as an example and rock that dark bob.

 

Myth Number Two

As a woman ages, she needs a little more meat on her bones to make her face look more full and youthful.

Carmen Dell'Orefice

Fact: A hefty gal doesn't get around as quickly as a more slender gal.  Dispute this fact.

 

Myth Number Three

A party lifestyle destroys natural beauty

Fact: Kate Moss is but one example that this is not always true.

Little Missy Further Remarks:  Make hay while the sun shines

 

Myth Number Four

Rock and Roll Women Always End Up Looking Like Old Hags

Fact: Tina Turner says "Excuse me?"

Are you starting to follow me?

Myth Number Five:

Hit the gym at least three times a week
Fact:  Jane Fonda had a very complicated relation with her body and hitting the gym did little to help her self esteem.  Jane's story is enough for me.  Little Missy has never hit the gym and never intends to.

Myth Number Six:
French women know more about beauty and fashion than American women

Fact: Mireille Guliano's high handed book "French Women Don't Get Fat" gave the secret---subsist on watered down cabbage soup.  She stopped looking good to me once I got her secret.

Myth Number Seven:
Red lipstick is tricky to apply and wear

Fact: Who could ever forget Scarlett Johansson putting on her lipstick without a mirror in the brilliant movie "Lost in Translation"?

Little Missy realises that myth busting is not always easy to interpret, let alone assimilate into ones regime.  But for heaven's sake, make it a little more easy on yourselves!  Happy Spring!  And watch out for Men's Grooming and Lifestyle Myth Busters, coming soon!