about life.

you need to run with the wind
in order to fly

about gazpacho.

puree in a blender
4    ripe tomatoes (quartered)
1    celery stalk
1/2  red onion (chopped)
1    peeled cucumber (in eighths)
1/2-1 cup of water to proper consistency
1/2 fresh pimiento pepper
6   peeled cloves of garlic

blend
red wine vinegar, lemon, salt to taste

chill overnight
serve in chilled bowl
garnish with cilantro

yum!

faaaaahhhshion + muzik.

The following is what I am thinking about for Fall/Winter and what I was listening to while thinking. All images provided by (unless otherwise noted)  Mom's Patterns and So Vintage Patterns, where you can buy beautiful vintage sewing patterns. I'm hoping to find renditions of these in thrift shops.


music (new old + old new)

inspiration

Right now I am out of my mind for Dior's New Look. I know this is about 55 years late, but gawd I love being a lady.

Bettina Grazzizni in Dior

www.chichiandthegreek.com

coats + jackets

Anyone who knows me knows I buy a new coat every Fall and Winter. Its the thing you wear the most, so I feel like it has to be in line with your overall look. Looks like I need to get rid of some clothes again :/

Gee Whiz! What a lovely dolman sleeved coat this would be...also the perfect length sleeve for long gloves :)

I am in LOVE with swing coats. This one is nice with its Peter Pan collar.

I already have a vintage rain coat by London Fog that looks almost exactly like this. Found another in this beautiful electric blue---kicking myself now for putting it back.

I like how the long box coat tapers towards the bottom.

These jackets are beautiful for fall and would dress up anything---you can show off your gloves too!

Here is a beautiful swing coat by Bergdorf Goodman on sale at Etsy. The mink collar is removable...such craftmanship, eh? Unfortunately its too big for me.

Here is another I found on Etsy BE-A-UTIFUL! The color!! Again too big :( 

skirts + dresses + suits

I just love the straight lines of this style, its so elegant. Can you imagine having matching outerwear for every outfit?

A nice cocktail/business wiggle dress, no?

If I would went corporate, I would wear suits like these everyday.

This is how I would dress on casual Fridays :)

Too live for pencil skirt by Escada found on Etsy. I love the quality and fit of Escada, having nearly worn out my favorite black slacks by them. Droooooling.

Prettiful example of a wiggle dress. Lunch date, stroll in the park, wedding, funeral? Appropriate for all occasions. You can buy this one on Etsy.

slacks

 Nothing looks better than a cigarette pant. They are so flattering and comfortable too.

Probably the only way to get away with crazy prints without looking terrible.

Here's a perfect pair in my opinionation, by Ms. Liz Claiborne (who I'm in love with) found on Etsy.

accessories

I am sure by now you have figured out I really want to get  long gloves. Well fitting gloves are sooooo sexy. I mean look at these; found on Etsy.

I have also been oogling these for a year. 

I tink dis is my Chwismuss wish Daaaaddy **sparkels eyes, bats lashes**. 

Apparently they are called Italian love knot earrings. I don't know the history behind the name, though I would love to go to Italy and find out ;) I think its time for me to start buying real jewelry. 

Gold is something worth having if you need to pawn everything off in the middle of an economic depression.

Okay that's all. Hope you enjoyed my fashion fantasy trip. Here's the reality of how to get the New Look fit, also an interesting history of the change in fashion of the New Look era, starting in 1947.

xoxox

about my Huckleberry friend

Moon River - Louis Armstrong

photos from a riverboat tour down the Schuykill River

fragility, not weak.

somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond
any experience, your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look will easily unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully,mysteriously)her first rose

or if your wish be to close me, i and
my life will shut very beautifully ,suddenly,
as when the hearts of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;
nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility: whose texture
compels me with the color of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes and opens;
only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands

deliberate heart yearnaches, courtesy of ee cummings, one of my favorite poets. I had this glorious book of poems by him, and it disappeared somewhere along my journey, perhaps like one of Linda's purple plates.

about the sublime states of mind

metta
loving kindness or good will

karuna
compassion

mudita
sympathetic joy

upekkha
equanimity or "even mindedness"

dream, dream, dream...

Mercedes 230SL Pagoda