Do You Want To Be  Bad Girl Or A Good Girl?

Paris Fashion After Christian Dior Died

Silk Shantung and Wool Crepe Bar Suit 1947

It was wonderful and only natural for a French fashion genius to bring a new look to women after the deprivations of World War II.  Christian Dior, the French fashion genius even called it "The New Look".  It featured an extreme nipped in waist and flared out skirts that almost swept to the floor. The skirts were lined in tulle and could virtually stand on their own. No more deprivation!  The war was over and fabrics were again available and men wanted to see women look like women!  That's what Dior designed and the fashion world did a topsy turvy!  Lots of women loved the idea of extreme usage of fabric as a symbol of youth and hope. But not all women.  When Christian Dior's designs arrived in Chicago in 1947, they were greeted by women carrying banners which said, "Mr. Dior, we abhor dresses to the floor".

1954 Dior Floral Day Dress

This did not stop Christian Dior, and for the most part, his popularity was legendary.

Added to his popularity was his unassuming nature. I urge all of you to read his autobiography, Dior by Dior.  His charm is natural and unforced and he comes across as genuine and lovable.

And full disclosure, Christian Dior designed Little Missy's most favourite dress in the world, the Junon.  It is such a special gown that it has its own glass case on a top pedestal in the Dior Retrospective at Les Arts Decoratifs in Paris, on display until January 2018.

Well, well, well...Dior suddenly died in 1957 and the brilliant young Yves Saint Laurent took his place.

Hmmm, what do we have here?  The "Chicago Ensemble"!  A badass take on Brando, James Dean and motorcycles!  Plus an incendiary nod to the badasses in Chicago who did not dig Dior in '47!

Of course, Saint Laurent got fired and went on to dizzying heights, completely in tune with what his generation of women wanted!  Bonjour Jeunesse indeed!

And of course Yves was a hippie!  I mean, HELLO!

So my point is (and I do have one)--a woman does not have to be a "good girl" or a "bad girl".  Just be an aware individual.  Select the clothes which suit you.  I see a lot of women today buying these awful Gucci and Dolce&Gabbana floral dresses and it makes me cringe!  But then fashion is cyclical and already the leading designers have stopped putting everything but the kitchen sink onto their clothes and accessories!  I take a leaf out of Yves' page...when in doubt, be a BADASS!
Love,
Lttle Missy

Packing for an Extended Trip

Little Missy Light
ONE SUITCASE ONLY

The original itinerary was two physics conferences in Florence and Belgrade.  One small suitcase with a couple of day dresses and some white jeans and tops to augment my travel ensemble of jeans and a sweater.  The weather in Florence is topping out at 95 degrees Fahrenheit every day and Belgrade is even hotter.  Then the plans changed.  Kate and Laura Mulleavy invited me to the premiere of their movie Woodshock at the esteemed Venice Film Festival.  So I talked it over with Bruce and we decided I should attend this once in a lifetime experience and cheer on Kate and Laura after our trip to Florence.  Then my daughter said, "Why don't you take a direct flight from Venice to Abu Dubai (Lexi has a research gig at New York University in Abu Dhabi part time). "And we can take Isold (my granddaughter) to see the Cirque de Soleil in Dubai one night".  Then my friends Livi and Yass from on aura tout vu called.  "We're doing a thing at Kensington Palace on the 15th of September and there's a dinner afterwards and we want you to come"!  And of course I want to come, so now it's Florence, Venice, Abu Dubai, Dubai and London, with side trips to Paris and Milan.

So!

I am taking four or five easy to pack lightweight day dresses from Rodarte, McQueen and Alaia, white jeans and tops, swim suits, a cover up, a red carpet gown Rodarte created for me (these two never cease to amaze me...they simply do it all)! Then I am taking a black Dior fall black Duchess satin cocktail dress to wear to Kensington with on aura tout vu accessories. And of course various shoes and sandal and handbags.

This dress from Dior except in Duchess Satin for Kensington Palace--and I sure am not wearing that stupid hat!

on aura tout vu Couture necklace which they created for an anniversary of my 30th birthday.

Oh dear, there seems to be an editing job here!

This McQueen dress is a hot look in Europe at the moment so it makes the cut.

I plan to work this Rodarte Tour de Force on the Red Carpet in Venice,
even if I am working it only for myself!

It doesn't look glamorous now, but just wait.  I've managed to fit a gazillion things into my Tumi two-suiter suitcase!

My friend, de Young's textile curator Jill D'Alessandro claims she marvels at my ability to pack.  Yes, Little Missy will pat herself on the back for that one.  Pack I can.

Florence, the Venice Film Festival, dinner at Kensington Palace and so on may be fun and grand and all, but being with Isold at Cirque de Soleil will be grandest of all!
Hope my packing story helps someone!
Happy Summer to my beloved readers,
Love Little Missy

SOULEIADO Chic with Little Missy!  Come visit the epicentre of a cherished French brand from the south which constantly reinvents itself!

This is the charming and deceptively simple town of Tarascon, the birthplace of one of the western world's most enduring textile houses, SOULEIADO.

Brigitte Bardot and Isabelle Adjani visited the museum in 2013 when the brand was reigniting. 

The dramatic styling of Souleiado.

A Visit to SOULEIADO Museum

This is a souvenir of our trip to the Souleiado Museum in Tarascon, France.  Anyone who knows me well knows of my fondness for the special toiles of Souleiado.  Please take a journey with me and I will show you a little of what I saw during  this visit.  SOULEIADO is a Provencal word meaning the strong sun that breaks through the clouds after rain.

The sculptures of Larry McLaughlin greeted us as we entered the museum.  His exhibition will be shown until mid-September.

Original dyes in the dye room, still vibrant.

Test cloth for colour.

A stack of 200 year old boutis.

Samples of boutis, the special hand worked quilts.  The fact that these red hues from years ago stand up to the red walls speaks volumes about the vibrancy of the dyes.

Perhaps the biggest surprise for me was the marvellous porcelain made at the beginning of the 20th century.

The divine intricacy of this tureen is a sight to behold.  The craftsmanship of this town was in full flower at the beginning of the last century.

How chic are these dancers on a tureen in a takeoff of Greco style?

                                               A table setting from the last century still looks fresh.

                            Above and below are ensembles Little Missy might have worn in the Eighties.

What is a Couture Moment?

Important Summer Solstice Thoughts!

This is a bona fide Couture Moment of Freddie Aranda and me in the Hong Kong food market!

One of my dearest friends, the great, late Andre de sa Pessoa of on aura tout vu once comforted me when I spilled a glass of champagne at a summer haute couture gala several years ago in Paris (where else, actually)????  "Don't worry, darling, you're just having a Couture Moment'".  Couture Moments came to mean laughing and crying within five minutes, klutzy behaviour, rips in clothes and the occasional wardrobe malfunction.  In other words, if you slip up, no problem!  It's couture!  Atelier style!  Still in the stages of experimentation!  We just make it look good!  We really don't know if it's going to work!  But we're almost 100% sure it will!  Still it might not!  So just laugh and call it a Couture Moment if something goes wrong!  And it might!  Maybe!

Here are some Couture Moment images, some very personal:

This Couture Moment went well for Yves Saint Laurent in Morocco!

This Couture Moment went well for the Queen of the Summer of Love, Jeanne Rose, in the hip huggers, and made me want to get into fashion!

Christian Lacroix Haute Couture Moment.  What no one knows is how much my feet hurt! (Photographed by Frederic Aranda).

I'm bringing my hardcore particle physicist boyfriend Bruce to the Paris shows in a couple of weeks.  He DOES NOT KNOW WHAT A COUTURE MOMENT IS!!!!  LOL!!!!  HE'LL LEARN FAST!!!  BECAUSE HE IS  FAST LEARNER!!!

Couture Moment Passport.  Don't try this with one of those passport photo machines!  Frederic Aranda took it!  And Mario Testino took Anna Wintour's!  And Cecil Beaton took Greta Garbo's!

Couture Moment Portrait with junk jewels from Harajuku shops in Tokyo.  Again, by Frederic Aranda (who else)?

Couture Moment portrait by Gladys Perint Palmer

Couture Moment with Livi and Yass of on aura tout vu and James Krohn of Neiman Marcus

When all else fails, put on some great clothes and lie down.  That's a Couture Moment, and Frederic Aranda caught this one.

Hope this has helped you to understand Couture Moments!  Because Enquiring Minds really do want to know!  Have a great summer!

Love, 

Little Missy

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If  You're Going To San Francisco

Be Sure To Wear Some David Austin Roses Your Hair

And if you're lucky Gladys Perint Palmer will put flowers in your hair in one of her beautiful portraits.

Do you think it looks like Little Missy?

Bruce and me at the Summer of Love themed Spring Gala at the de Young Museum.  I am wearing runway Alexander McQueen.

As it was shown in Paris-- I'm trying to up the ante during the 50th Summer of Love anniversary in our sweet city.

Here is Little Missy at a beautiful Neiman Marcus lunch honouring Johnson Hartig.  Last month Ken Downing told me that if I bought these sunglasses they would change my life!

Here is the person who changed my life---this is a now famous photograph taken in 1967 of Jeanne Rose (in the hip huggers) and her friends (including Janis Joplin in the poncho).  I looked at the picture as a young girl in the San Francisco Chronicle and had that epiphany moment when I realised I wanted to be in fashion and surround myself with arty, fun and fashionable people.  Now I am lucky to count Jeanne Rose as a friend!  Check out her beautiful clothes in the de Young's Summer of Love exhibition curated by my dear friend Jill D'Alessandro.

Little Missy Rediscovers the Joy of Easter!

It's Easter Monday!

After a few years of  coming to terms with the fact that Little Missy's own children are long flown from the nest and that the carefully curated baskets of yesteryear are but a distant, hazy memory...

the pink lacquer basket filled with Peter Rabbit buttons from Satin Moon on Clement Street in San Francisco and Hello Kitty paraphernalia and See's chocolate gild foil floral wrapped eggs...the navy blue basket filled with small model antique soldiers, a boy's bow tie from Brooks Brothers and a See's chocolate rabbit...all beautiful memories.  This is where grandchildren and boyfriends come in!

You can still send carefully curated Easter boxes to adult children

Little Little Missy (Lexi) is in Abu Dhabi and here is her Easter portrait with a falcon and the desert behind her!

Here is my granddaughter with one of her Easter presents from Granny, a comb and brush.

Here is Isold as a bunny from stencils Granny sent her.

This is the Italian vintage Easter card I sent to special friends and of course to my granddaughter.

What would Easter be without tulips, irises and daffodils?

After years of looking, I finally found a Santa Cruz artisan who could make my Palo Alto arbor dreams come true in time for Easter.

And last but not least, Missy's bae Brucie barbecued after a spirited game of lawn croquet in Santa Cruz. 

Missy loves Easter once again.  Easter is about life, death and renewal; in essence, hope.  Let's all embrace hope!

Love,

 Little Missy