All The Beautiful Things of Spring
 

Goat hair Alice Jacket by Isabel Marant, Spring 2014

Isabel Marant's leather boy pant, Spring 2014

It doesn't take a genius, but it does take an eye.  Hidden off to a side at Neiman Marcus in San Francisco, Little Missy uncovered two of the best spring pieces she has seen in the stores.  Put these two pieces together and Enter Rome Like A Conquering Hero! 

Little Missy is loving Miss Dior

So right for Spring!

Christian Louboutin Classic Pump

Not the Fifi La Rue supertramp platform!

 

Your invitations must be from The Wren Press

Beyond chic, darlings!

 

 

Go West Young Man! 

 Flower Power Cowboy Vintage

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now it's time for Little Missy's Mail Bag and do I have a good one for you!

Dear Little Missy writes in ithappenedonenight:

You write your blog site like you have an agenda.  What is your point?  Dear ithappenedonenight:  if you don't read tea leaves then read pillows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blue Hawaii  or Trouble in Paradise

 

"But time will not permit: all is uneven, And every thing is left at six and seven." Shakespeare, Richard II

When in doubt, some of us go to Hawaii.  Good old reassuring Hawaii.  Any of the islands will do.  My particular memories have been on Oahu, the Big Island and Kauai. But a lot of Little Missy's friends do time on Maui.  Or as Little Missy's mother used to call it, The Wild Island.  Where all the crazy stuff happened.  Where I never went.

Wild Anthurium

The first time I consciously recognised racism was on Oahu when I was fourteen years old.  We had just come from the Honolulu airport to the parking lot of the condominium in which we were staying for the month. Two beautiful Hawaiian girls had gone to the beach and parked in the lot.  The condominium manager was hassling the girls, demanding five dollars from them or else he was going to have them towed.  The girls were crying because they did not have the money.  I jumped in and pulled five dollars out of my purse--a huge chunk of my pocket money that summer long ago. My mother agreed with me, and stood by me. The mean old manager, a tall skinny guy we later nicknamed "Stretch", refused my money and let the girls go.  He tried to make remarks to my mother, brothers and me about Hawaiian people always trying to get away with stuff, and we dismissed him.  Needless to say, I was not popular with management. A few days later, the girls brought me a bouquet of anthurium, which grew wild in the hills behind us and we became friends.  They taught me how to rock climb and how to swim far out into the ocean.  One day I was walking down the highway with my friends and a Hawaiian woman almost ran me off the road, shrieking "Haole!"  There was a lot of mutual disregard between Hawaiians and Haoles.  One of my friends had a brother we used to swim with for miles a day.  He later served in Vietnam, and wrote us letters. That was a long

time ago...

And This is Now...Snoop Dogg, we love you.  And we love you, Martha!

 

Too much drama for Little Missy!  Don't want to get her going on her childhood stories!  Let's talk about the stuff we want to talk about ...like let's talk about Rodarte's show today in New York



This little ensemble works for Little Missy

 When in doubt, show some skin

Don't whine, be glamorous

You see, the fundamental problem with Hawaii, as any fashion lover will tell you, is that you cannot really dress up.  It's all about bikinis and cover ups, which is was great when Little Missy was a teenager.  But now I want a Rodarte gown!  A better way to show skin! Wear these gowns and the world will be a more beautiful place....like the wild anthurims  growing in the hills of Oahu.

 

 



Looking for the Green Light!

No New Year Resolutions!

Leo Looking for the Green Light in The Great Gatsby

 

Little Missy was watching television news early one morning this past week.  Some new miracle face cream was being advertised.  "Expression lines virtually disappear"!  Expression lines (wrinkles???) virtually disappear (are photo shopped???)  Who are these cruel monsters preying upon women as we awaken and get ready for our days?  Expression lines?  Embrace them! Virtual disappearance?  Photo shopping!  Embrace this art form too, but understand it!  It's branding! 

 

We can all use a fresh spin once in a while! Re-inventing can be a good thing!  Look at Madonna! Impressive!  And she goes to the branding master, Pascal Dangin. Pascal brands everyone!  LVMH, movie stars, rock stars, everybody!  Everybody except Chanel, and he even worked for them until he told Karl that Karl was a lousy photographer!   LOL ouch!  Then Pascal got fired from Chanel, but he is known as "The Photo Whisperer" in the business. That means that if Pascal chooses, and he usually does,  Expression Lines Virtually Disappear!  Wow!  Magic! 

Pascal Dangin is the Virtual Disappearance Guy!


Little Missy took a hiatus over the holidays.  For one thing, I was tired as I had spent most of the past year travelling.  Secondly, I did not want to do one of those New Year Resolution Lists.  Hello!  Little Missy does not believe in New Year Resolutions, or any other promises she cannot keep!  But here is an idea I read about on Facebook:
 Sitting is the new smoking!

What about Anna Wintour having the new wing of the Costume Institute at the Met named for her?  OMG!

Here is the main thing, maybe!  Look for that green light and pass through!  At a legal speed!  No traffic tickets, please!  Happy New Year Everybody!   Best in 2014!

Photographed by the master, Frederic Aranda in Hyde Park








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Little Missy's Guide To The Two Buzz Phrases Of The Day

 

We Can Only Be Talking About Disruptive Innovation And Mindfulness!

Don't Worry, Be Happy!

 

So, who else has seen Disruptiv1 buzzing around in his Tesla up and down 280 between Palo Alto and San Francisco and who knows where else?

Disruptive Innovation at its most elegant!

Catch Disruptiv1 for Little Missy if you can, readers!  He's my dream man!  Merry Christmas, Christine!  What is Disruptive Innovation, anyway?
As I have written in these pages before, a picture tells a thousand stories.  

The Real Boston Tea Party was a force to be reckoned with!
 



Steve's iPad!   Talk about Disruptive Innovation!

 

Alexander McQueen's Highland Rape Collection was not a Highland Fling!

And when you get tired of so much genius being flung all over the place and in your face, try

Mindfulness

This is very simple...Little Missy has been preaching it all year, since she discovered how to blog!  Talk about Disruptive Innovation!
Mindful means
In the Moment
Being in the Moment
not
Of the Moment

You see, Disruptive Innovation requires you to be of the moment, right there at the right time with your creative disruption that will change the world.  Mindfulness asks you to be in the moment, to recognize that you have the choice in how you want to respond!  That the choice is yours and yours alone! In fact you cannot even begin to enjoy all the Disruptive Innovation without Mindfulness!  It's a juggling act!  The Universe it telling us to be Disruptively Innovative and In the Moment!  I mean if the time for Intuition was ever Now, this is NOW! OMG!  Little Missy is no Guru!  Just trying to make sense of things.  In the Moment, as Ever!

Letter from London
What Is An Intellectual and Truth is Beauty!

Daphne Guinness Rips Into Little Missy

It's Hard Work Being A Philosopher's Woman!*

The tiny blue lights are twinkling all over Mayfair!  It's Christmas time in my most favourite of all cities!  Yes, Little Missy is in London on business!  Going to parties and Galas, you betcha!  At the Vanity Fair party Freddie and I saw Boris Johnson's sister.  Did you know that Boris, who is Mayor of London and who went to Eton and Oxford flunked an IQ test in a radio ambush this past week?  Here were the questions that felled him:

Identify the kind of bear that might appear beside a rectangular house in which all walls faced south 

And

How many apples would would he have if he took two apples from three trees?

Boris the jovial womaniser answered to the first, a brown bear and to the second, one apple.

Wrong, Boris!  A white bear (polar, duh)! And two apples, you nitwit!  Even Little Missy answered correctly and Lord knows I'm no intellectual!  Then Boris became a bad sport and refused to answer the third question about a wind-up clock.

Well, Little Missy was walking briskly up James Street in an effort to get away from the throngs on Oxford Street.  A man selling newspapers called out to me, "You, Madam, you look like an intellectual sort of lady who might enjoy my newspaper".  Now that is cheeky.  Little Missy has received many comments over the years but no one ever said I looked like an intellectual.  

Maybe it's the new Coco Chanel bob that is throwing people!  But it got me thinking (oh shut the door)!  I spent thirty years in a family where homilies such as "truth is beauty" were considered banal and unworthy of discussion.  But Little Missy used to be considered kind of cute, and I wanted to believe it, so it seemed like the truth!  Well enough of that!  Let's talk about the stuff we want to talk about, like the Isabella Blow exhibition that is on now at Somerset House.  Isabella is a girl I used to see a lot at the shows. She was quirky and nutty and appeared entirely self-absorbed.  I didn't like her, but then I didn't really know her.  What Little Missy admires about Isabella Blow is that Isabella decided early on in Alexander McQueen's career that she was prepared to lay down her life for him.  And she did.  After a decade of collaborations which reached the heights and then the depths, she drank weed poison in her potting shed.  McQueen took his life less than three years later.  Daphne Guinness, another of Little Missy less than favourites, actually did the right thing and bought her friend Isabella's collection so that it could be shown in this exhibition, which left me reeling.  See this if you care about fashion and if you are in London in the next few months.

Well, from the sublime to the ridiculous!  It's time for Little Missy's Mail bag!  Timothy Moss from I don't know where writes in, "You seem like you are always on the road.  Do you have frequent flier miles?" Thanks for writing, Timothy, and yes indeed I do!  I recommend to all my readers with the travel bug to consolidate all credit cards to one, like United.  I am no United Airlines cheerleader, but they do have the routes!  A few years ago I did that time honoured pilgrimage that many before me have undertaken during a spiritual crisis.  That is to say I high tailed it to India, and Frequent Flier Miles helped!  And you can get them not only by flying but by using airline credit cards!   Now this one I really love.  FashionistaSausalita writes:  "Did you eat turkey at Thanksgiving?  I think it's gross."  Well, as you know since you are a proclaimed Fashionista, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.  Of course we fashionable ones always want to do the fashionable thing, and that involves eating turkey at Thanksgiving!  After my family ate our turkey dinner, we plunged into a turkey and pumpkin pie mass coma and my son Michael, who may have eaten less turkey than the rest, led us in several games of Blackjack, at which Little Missy excels!  When not in a turkey coma! So be in the moment, FashionistaSausalita!  That's it for Little Missy for now!  OMG, I am going to Dallas now for a three day celebration of Karl and Chanel!  So I will be back as soon as I can with my Dallas Report!  In the moment!

* If you don't know the story of Daphne Guinness and French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, Google it!  Little Missy thinks Daphne is certifiable!  Takes one to know one!

Little Missy's Holiday Life Style

Martha's Chicken Tortilla Soup*

So many of us are weighing in on Holiday entertaining, that Little Missy has pulled together a few tips for you too!  Straight from Palo Alto, the heart of Silicon Valley, where Little Missy grew up!  Food is the essence of holidays, and sometimes all we want is a good chicken soup.  Here is the recipe for Martha's Chicken Tortilla Soup.  When friends come to visit Little Missy, they always perk up when they hear Martha is cooking (rather than Little Missy, I'm sad to say).  The picture is not actually Martha's soup.  I got it from the Internet!

Martha's Chicken Tortilla Soup

You will need:

5 small whole, skinned and boned chicken breasts

2 onions

2 cloves garlic

6 ripe tomatoes

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

1 bay leaf

1 lemon

salt and pepper

First, boil chicken and 1/2 onion in water with garlic and salt for about 15 minutes.

Second, chop garlic and put into a skillet with oil of your choice.  Add remaining onion and tomatoes that you have chopped and sauté for 2 minutes.  Add a quart of chicken stock.

Third, cut boiled chicken into small pieces and put into skillet with chopped cilantro, 1 bay leaf and salt and cook at high heat for 10-15 minutes. Discard bay leaf and turn off heat. 

Garnish with tortilla strips that you have cut into thin slices and baked in a 400 degree oven until they are crisp, and diced avocado.  Add lemon juice.

And as for complicated guacamole, forget it!  True guacamole is simple.  But first I must relate a story of a very ambitious woman from a town in New Jersey, who was trying very hard to impress Little Missy with her culinary abilities (I'm not the right person for this trick--respectful of great cooks though I may be).  She brought over to my house her idea of the perfect guacamole--she was going to teach me how to make it!  She brought over at least 12 ingredients and some kind of special hand held food blender.  She was so proud of herself I didn't have the heart to tell her so was way off base!  That food blender is a dust catcher in one of my kitchen drawers!

Martha's Guacamole

2 avocados

juice of 1 lemon

some cilantro to taste

salt

Mash these up in a bowl and you will have the perfect guacamole.  If you are in California, only buy Casa Sanchez Thin and Light Delgados corn tortilla chips, nothing else.  The wrong chip can ruin the best guacamole!  I've seen this happen dozens of times!  Only Casa Sanchez!

That's it for Little Missy's food tips!  I'm not Julia Child, and if someone wants to come over and roast a chicken I am always very happy to set a beautiful table.  Which brings us to Little Missy's Holiday Table Tops!

When I first was married a million years ago back in the 70's, I found myself in the unique position of being hostess to my parents for the first Christmas ever!  Prior to that fateful Christmas, my mother had always been the hostess (with the mostess, I might add).  I sought to stand out, to be different from my mother.  And though I had beautiful linens and access to lovely flowers, I set a bare table with terra clay potted narcissus as centerpieces.  My holiday table looked like a page out of Simple Living.  It was really quite dismal.  My mother showed me once again her grace.  "Your table is beautiful," she said.  I wonder what she really thought. Now I bring out the antique Portuguese lace table clothes and the silver.  More is more!

Themes and Variations

I like a gold, ivory and evergreen holiday.  That means spraying magnolia leaves gold and arranging them together with white French tulips and evergreen bows.  It means ivory pleated French wired ribbon.  It means pine cones.  It means cut crystal and silver vases and containers.  It means Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole and music boxes.  I like the smell of pine, as long as it is not overbearing.  Little Missy always makes Christmas sugar cookies in the shapes of stars, trees, doves, and ginger men and women.  There is always Champagne in the fridge.

Little Missy's Anise Christmas Cookies

Cream 1 cup butter and 3/4 cup sugar until fluffy.  Beat in 1 already lightly beaten egg, and 1 1/2 teaspoons anise seed.  In a bowl, sift 1 1/2 cup white flour and 1 1/2 whole wheat flour, 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt and stir into butter mixture.  Add 1/4 cup brandy (a good one).  Roll out dough and cut with cookie cutters.  Sprinkle with cinnamon or coloured sugars.  Bake 10-12 minutes in a pre-heated 350 oven.

And remember to tell the people who mean the most to you how much you love them!

*Not Martha Stewart!



Little Missy's Best Tip

 

 

Hillary Clinton for 2016

Hands Down



Little Missy's  Rules of Etiquette 

and More Holiday Gift Ideas

 

 

Far be it from Little Missy to be discouraging, but if you don't get out there and shop soon, all the good stuff will be gone, especially the stuff I am writing about now!

 

 

Maison Michel Veil

Like this Maison Michel veil!  You will wow the true  fashionista on your list and if someone doesn't like it or thinks it's silly, you can weed them out as not genuinely fashionable.

 

 

Hafner Chardonnay

Hafner Chardonnay is Missy's favorite chardonnay, and also the favourite of the top San Francisco museums when they have their events.  Friends are always wowed by the gift packs from this family owned Healdsburg vineyard.    Call them at +707 4334606 and tell them you want what Christine Suppes gets and they will take good care of you!  A really good tip!

 

Kermit Lynch's new book

However, if  your friends, like the charming Berkeley, California wine importer and taste maker Kermit Lynch,  prefer the French and Italian varieties, Kermit's new book may be just  the ideal gift.  He was the California pioneer of the European wine market and he writes really well (he majored in creative writing at San Francisco State in the day when that meant something).

 

Alfred Dunhill Toiletries for Men

Little Missy has always preached that men need to pamper themselves with facials, massages and fabulous products.  Make sure you visit Dunhill when you go to London, gentlemen, and get yourselves pampered.  An afternoon of pampering for gentlemen at a top spot is always one of my favourite gift ideas.

 

Metro Drop Earrings by Tiffany

These earrings are very Little Missy.  Just the right amount of bling for the holidays from the best American company.  My personal jeweller says that Tiffany diamonds are the best in the business and that Tiffany is the best company around.  He knows, as he is fixing every other jeweller's emergencies every day!

 

 

Now for Little Missy's Rules of Etiquette for the Holidays

1. Don't come to a party empty handed.  Bring a candle, wine, a bunch of holly, but bring something. Don't believe your hostess when he or she says that "your presence is their presents".  It's not true.

2.  Do NOT drag out your cell phone at a party.  For heaven's sakes!  Just Don't!

3. Don't take off your shoes.  Even if your feet are killing you.  Make preparations ahead of time, but don't go barefoot.

4. Don't chew gum or offer it to anyone.

5. Don't talk about your problems at the party.

6. If you know a good joke and can tell it, then do.  But not an off colour one.

Well, the season is starting to get under way!  There will be more Little Missy thoughts and tips, and I hope this has inspired you!  In the moment! 

 

 

 

 

Little Missy's Holiday List

or The Early Bird Catches The Worm!

Part One

 

Rodarte Jewelry

 

It's never too early to start your holiday shopping!  You can choose to forget the holidays which is curmudgeonly but completely understandable, given the frantic nature of the season.  Once or twice there has been the holiday season when even Little Missy thought and failed to take the spiritual path (make that pass), and pretend that the commercial aspect was beneath the challenge.  To JackSprat1, who writes in "Sorry Missy, Tesla is in Palo Alto, not Paris, and is not a clothes designer" I say to you Jack, you're right!  Tesla IS a car company and I think it would make a darned good Christmas gift.

Tesla

 

Now Tesla is a really nice Christmas present!  So is Rodarte's barbed wire jewelry, or their tie dye shirts , all of which will be supreme fashion collector's items.

 

Rodarte Tie Dye Shirt

 

 

Hermes Yak Shawl

 

Little Missy loves her Hermes Yak shawl and this would make a wonderful Christmas present.  The image isn't too good, but you know those French, their je ne sais quois never involved the Internet, and this is Hermes' official representation!

 

Anna Karenina A Fashion Primer

Little Missy Says All Children Must Read This Book!

This genius book (for children and their parents and everyone)! breaks down the most important part of Anna Karenina, the STYLE of Anna's CLOTHES!

 

Turnbull and Asser Pyjamas

There is something very manly about a man in his pyjamas when they are the right pyjamas that Little Missy can not resist! Yes, gentlemen, these are the right pyjamas!  They are always on my list for the men on my list!

 

Well, that's it for this time, but don't you dare think we have finished with Little Missy's Holiday List, we have only scratched the surface!  So be in the moment, even if that means being kind of early!  Laughing Out Loud, Little Missy Contradicts herself as usual!

 

 

News of the World and Little Missy's Reading Round Up

 

The Royal Christening and Two Groovy Uncles!

That little Prince George sure has two groovy looking uncles.  Prince Harry we know all about, but this other one, Uncle James with the beard looks to be a groovy contender as well.  And isn't he in the party planning business with social butterfly little sister Pippa and his parents?  These guys will be jamming out the best parties on the planet!  This little Prince George does not have a chance to be an old bore.  Hopefully Kensington Palace will be Party Central and London will live up to its old name Swinging London!  And Sarah Burton can keep on banging out fabulous creations for Mamaquin Kate to model!  Well done, Windsors and Middletons!  Little Missy approves!

 

Kanye Rents Out AT&T Park to Propose to Kim Kardashian!

You hit this one out of the ballpark, Kanye!  The San Francisco Giants rock and so do you!

 

George Lucas Gets Honoured by San Francisco Museum of Modern Art!

George Lucas with Alyssa Fung and Little Missy, photographed by Frederic Aranda

 

 

Yes, the Star Wars Wizard himself picked up a Bay Area Treasure award, bestowed annually by SFMOMA to a living legend in the arts who was born or who has worked in the Bay Area.  Joni Binder, President Emeritus of Modern Art Council of which Little Missy is a proud member, worked tirelessly for two and a half years to make this stellar night happen.  Good work Joni!  Congratulations, George!  You changed everything in motion pictures and no one deserves this award more than you. And yes, the dress I am wearing is Rodarte!

 

Joni Binder with husband Robert Shwarts. Joni's wearing Rodarte, too!

 

 

 

Well that's it for News of the world!  Let's go to Reading Round Up!  I'm calling this one Little Missy's Must Reads for the Educated Fashionista.  There are a ton of books out there so  let's not be boring.  I will just cut to the chase and tell you three ones that are not necessarily fashion reads but will put you that much more in the know about fashion.

 

Dior by Dior

Some people think it started with Chanel.  Some people think it started with Balenciaga.  Some people think it started with Yves Saint Laurent.  Personally, I believe it started with a caveman killing a leopard and presenting it to his cave woman, who fashioned the skin into a sarong.  Little Missy loves animals, but almost surely what I have just described is  the start of haute couture.  And then there is Christian Dior.  This little book, Dior by Dior, is the most profound book I have ever read on the subject of fashion.   This man's genius and humanity shines through every page, and his modesty is a virtue a few of today's designers could incorporate into their megalomaniac personas.

 

All We Know by Lisa Cohen is a book of genius, a biography at the highest level of the discipline.  The lives of three woman, all as nutty as fruitcakes and utterly compelling spring forth and the reader compulsively turns the page.  One woman is a tour de force of eighteenth and nineteenth century intellectual history (Little Missy's great love, BTW) who cannot commit a single brilliant thought to paper.  One is a stalker of Greta Garbo and one was the first editor of British Vogue.  Trust me and read this book!  You will be more fashionable when you have finished it.

A great read

 

Finally, it's one of the sadder books I have read, but I must recommend Alone Together by Teddy Getty Gaston.  This is also a compulsive page turner.  Teddy was John Paul Getty's last wife, and this is Teddy's compelling story of life with the difficult and complicated Getty. Teddy is a generation or two removed from Little Missy, and is more forgiving in her tone, and when you read what John Paul Getty was like as a husband and father, you will not be as forgiving!  You must remember that this was a different time and era, the Stork Club!  World War II!  Cigarettes and cocktails and debutantes and love affairs.  The whole nine yards.  It is a bird's eye view of what it was like to live with a man like John Paul Getty.  Obviously, nearly impossible!  Little Missy says get this book!  You will not be disappointed.  Maybe a little sad, but what a read!

Little Missy's idea of a good read

 

Well, that's it for Little Missy for this week!  Happy Halloween!  Be in the moment since the possibilities are just so endless!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

Gericault or Jericho?

You Be The Judge!

 

Frederic Aranda, Edelweiss October 2013

The Raft of the Medusa by Gericault

Fashion was getting so boring even Little Missy was about to give up!  Then along came Frederic Aranda and now fashion is fun again! Here are some pictures from an epic shoot this past August in Tokyo that Freddie did for Edelweiss Magazine!  Brodie Reynolds is an innocent and intelligent man caught up in several situations where he is about to be taken advantage of!  Of course in real life this never happens, does it!  And Little Missy is the good Fairy, there to help point the way from all things Evil!

Frederic Aranda for Edelweiss, October 2013

This is the way fashion will be from now on.  Epic.  And not one minute too soon!

Frederic Aranda for Edelweiss, October 2013

 

And Prophetic! Now for Little Missy's Mail Bag

Dear Little Missy, I always look forward to your blog posts.  Your posts are a surplus value to our blogger community of fashion and culture.  Hmmmm, this one sounds a bit fishy!  I think it was from a reader trying to pull my leg!  Because as we all know, Little Missy likes to go out on a limb, and reel in the wrath.  Like this email, for instance, from Robopuck.  Dear Christine, writes Robopuck, You are an authority on nothing, and nothing is your authority. Hmmm, Robopuck, you are sounding a bit like Gertrude Stein!  Did you know that Gertrude Stein's brother Michael and his wife Sarah lived right around the corner from Little Missy after they gave up life in Paris for the delights of Palo Alto?  Robopuck, I know who you are and how much you love French culture, so I know you'll enjoy that tidbit!

It's wonderful to be sharing these photographs with you.  The shoot was so much fun!  I wish you all could have been there with us!   

Epic and alive and in the moment!