The Hip Report

It’s hard to ask a girl to embrace the neon trend when, if you opened her closet door,  a sea of black, navy, winter white and camel hits you broadside. That’s what happens when you open my closet door and peek inside. About the craziest color I have is an old Lily Pulitzer top, all hot pink and wild lime. I wear it maybe once every few years.

This summer neon is so compelling, I had to figure out a way to add a measured teaspoonful to my classic wardrobe.

I decided that nail color was going to have to be it. I couldn’t see myself with any of these bold colors framing my face or worse yet, swathing my juicy rear in a riot of florescence.  Ooooo. Not good. Not good at all.

Off I went to find the wildest, brightest neon nail polish I could.  I was very successful as you can see. (I took a picture of my new nail polish selections underwater in my pool just to attempt being ‘artsy’ which owes to the murky quality of this photo, above.)

The criteria was, the neon brights still had to look good with all the navy and black I still wear in the hot South Carolina summers down here. I settled on the following, left to right:

Orly ‘Beach Cruiser’, about $8.00

China Glaze ‘Pool Party’, about $5.00

Orly ‘Glowstick’, about $8.00

All are available at beauty stores nationwide. I got mine at my local Ulta store. Go to www.orlybeauty.com or www.chinaglaze.com for comprehensive website of their respective color offings. Now go get your neon on, girls. And by the way…in my humble opinion, only on the toes. No neon on the fingers–you just have to know when enough is enough. A simple nude or barely there pink on the fingertips will keep you from looking like a neon fashion victim.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am sure most of you remember this picture, taken in 1985, of an Afghani girl with those incredible eyes and an expression that looked wary and tentative–as if those luminous eyes had seen far more than a child that age should ever see. I remember my father getting that exact National Geographic magazine and for months I would go back to it and simply stare at this haunting photo.

I ran across Steve Mc Curry’s website recently, the photographer who took this photo almost thirty years ago. He was born in Pennsylvania, graduated from Penn State University and went on to work at a newspaper from there. Eventually, his freelance photography work landed him in far-flung places like India, Afghanistan, Tibet and Pakistan where he would assimilate in to the culture via his appearance and begin photo journaling the faces and places he saw.

His work has been featured in art galleries and are just as much art as any canvas painted; his subjects, compositions, colors and emotional verve in each photo are visual feasts. He captures a feeling, a mood with each photograph and his portraits especially, seem to give his subjects such dignity, despite them generally being the poorest of the poor or enduring miserable civil unrest in their respective countries.

Below are some of Mc Curry’s gripping photographs taken in Tibet, Afghanistan and Pakistan, truly art, all of them. Being the fan of  fashion that I am, I have found myself lingering over their clothing and traditional wear. Perhaps most interesting to me is the young boy with the yellow Chicago Bulls baseball cap, askew on his head, wearing a dirty, beaten up blazer. He is from Tibet and was a shoeshine boy. I just think of Michael Jordan making his millions and millions and this young boy shined shoes–and so how on earth did he get that Chicago Bulls hat in Tibet?

Go to www.stevemccurry.com for a webpage full of compelling photographs, each one evoking an immediate reaction, for me, one of gratitude for obvious reasons.

Enjoy Mc Curry’s photos below.

 

A few years back my daughter and I were meandering through historic Yorktown, Virginia, enjoying the colonial homes, many of which had been converted in to tony antique stores replete with utterly magnificent colonial furniture and accessories.

And there she was: the most divine older woman I do believe I have ever seen in my life. Her gray hair was swept back in to a chic low bun, she wore navy, head to toe, had on the most perfect coordinating shade of red lipstick and nail polish and she had framed her elegant face with a pair of large earrings  that looked like jaw breakers. Her skin though wrinkled showed a lifetime of care and her eyes were so lively; they had a sparkle in them I rarely see in women of her age–or even in women my age for that matter.

My daughter and I immediately locked our eyes together. We were thinking the same thing: ‘She is soooo fantastic.’ I began to follow this grand woman around the store, which was completely creepy because if you’re familiar with colonial homes, they are small and tight, surely she knew I was underfoot and ‘stalking’ her. I dodged breakfronts, antique maps of the Chesapeake Bay, bureaus, you-name-it, to just stare at this profoundly gorgeous woman who must have been close to 80.

Finally she walked out of the antique store, with myself and my daughter who was ready to kill me, right behind. I could take it no more and I spoke up. I told her I loved her style and she was such an inspiration to me. We had a convivial, warm and brief conversation, with her smile being her most mesmerizing accessory.

I later told my daughter to never forget that woman, that her visual presentation is what she and I must aspire to as we age: a sense of dignity, appropriateness, grace, elegance and self respect through our appearance and how we present ourselves even in reality of old age. It can be done and by God, I am going to do it.

That said, Ari Seth Cohen, a blogger on older women’s style, has a book soon  to be released about these rare birds who look at clothing and accessories with an exuberance often only seen in women half their age. Ari was inspired by his grandmother whose daily style caught his eye as a young boy and left a potent mark on him. He learned to appreciate her vibrant taste in clothing and has since decided to give credit where credit had been overdue: seniors who had spent years cultivating their own personal style and who weren’t afraid to own it.

Check out Ari’s blog at www.advancedstyle.blogspot.com for an often updated pictorial on the street shots of women of a certain age with personal style that should inspire us all.  His book, ‘Advanced Style’ is available for pre-order at amazon.com. Here follow some of my favorite Ari photos of some very beautiful women in shockingly trendy looks.

 

 

“We hire good looking people in our stores, Because good looking people attract other good looking people and we want to market to cool, good looking people.”

“In every school there are the cool and popular kids and there are the cool and not so cool kids.  We go after the great all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong in our clothes and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.” -Mike Jefferies, CEO, Abercrombie and Fitch

A few weeks ago a barrage of bold quotes were released to our over-sensitive ears by Abercrombie and Fitch’s CEO, Mike Jefferies.

He was slammed in the media for revealing A&F’s marketing strategy which in the end, was no big reveal. Gee. Don’t we all know after going in to  the dark, cologne-soggy A&F den of thumping music, complete with black and white wallpaper of college age guys and girls slopped all over each other wearing mere flecks of clothing, that this retail joint isn’t for fat or old people?

Why on earth is anyone even in a bind over what Jefferies said but we all not-so -secretly knew anyway: this store caters to a crowd who hasn’t had to deal with hip replacements, liver spots or midnight infant feedings, IRS audits, a leaking roof that needs re-shingled or running home after a day at the office that is monotonous, draining and downright boring, only to have to figure out what’s for dinner–for the zillionth time.

I must be one of the few out there who took no offense to his comments and even laughed at them, not out of being appalled but because he is as human as you and me–the difference is he had the balls to say what we all think but out of politeness and social stigma, refuse to ever express–that is, that we all discriminate.

Our daily lives are full of discrimination. I don’t shop at Ann Taylor and Banana Republic because I don’t feel associated to whom they market. I don’t shop at Lane Bryant because I am not a plus size. Nor do I shop at Abercrombie and Fitch because I don’t want my behind hanging out of my shorts and I hate the cut of their shirts. I can fit in to most of their stuff but again, I do not assimilate to whom they market their clothing.

I have gotten to the point in my life that I understand I am no Miranda Kerr. And on the other end of the spectrum, I hope that I am never a candidate for Lane Bryant clothes for plus size women–I work too hard to let myself go like that. I am secure at this point in my life to say that I am ok if a company is exclusionary and I don’t fit in to their image of hip, cool, beautiful, youthful, thin, tall, athletic–you name it. I am absolutely fine with that. I have worked too hard for the past half century to cultivate my character, interests and personality and too hard in the yoga studio, in the salon chair, at the cosmetics counter, in the esthetician’s office, and at my health and wellness doctor, to let some CEO make me feel bad because of some dumb quote he spouts off to try and sell more clothes so he can pay for his second home, boat, fancy cars, toys and plastic surgery.

When you think about it, every single company out there, every single designer has their dream client in mind. My favorite designer, Marc Jacobs, seems to have said it the best about beauty—where Mark Jefferies wants perfection, hot and sexy and often revealing and within a strict standard of beauty, Marc Jacobs says this:

“I always find beauty in things odd and imperfect–they are much more interesting.”

I guess that’s why I find Marc Jacobs and his clothing much more interesting than the silly things Jefferies (left) says– and sells at his stores.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual Gala was held this past week with the most interesting part of it always being the red carpet procession in to the event. Hollywood royalty, designers, models, members of the fashion media and who knows who else with a pedigree, convened to enjoy a night, that Gwyneth Paltrow described as ‘…boiling, unfun, and crowded’ and one she firmly stated that– ‘she is never going to again.’

Wow. Guess you and I didn’t miss much, what with our invitations apparently being lost in the mail…

All that aside, the theme if you haven’t heard already, was “Punk: Chaos to Couture.” If you ask me, this year’s theme had great potential to be a serious fashion disaster for the attendees. And it was.

I do think this gala had the ugliest red carpet looks of any to date. Problem is, punk isn’t necessary attractive and trying to make oneself look beautiful, photogenic, stylish, sexy and high fashion with that as the theme–well, it’s pretty tough without turning to Alexander Mc Queen for some help. It’s ironic Anna Wintour  as the grand dame of the evening, completely wimped out. She wore a flowered pink Chanel couture gown, saying that she represented the punk theme via the hot pink flowers in the dress ‘because hot pink was a big color in the punk world.’ Is she serious? Omg. That woman. She is a nutter.

Of course you’ve heard how dreadful Kim Kardashian looked in her Givenchy. She looked like the flowered bolts of fabric I used to see (and rejected)  in the ’70′s at JoAnn Fabric with my mom when we’d go to select material for the school dresses she made me. I’m not even going to waste my time nominating her.

There were so, so many hideous dresses that night, I just don’t even know where to start. And I won’t. And wouldn’t you know,  Gwyneth, our one sure bet, the one girl on the red carpet we can usually always count on for a pleasurable sigh when we see what she’s wearing, looked dowdy in that boring, boxy gown by Valentino. (Go to her blog www.goop.com to see her saga of ‘the dress.’) Anyway, even she let us down.

So because I have no idea where to start, I will just present simply, the best and worst dressed for the night:

Worst dressed for the night goes to the Beyonce, Honorary Chairperson of the event. Her Givenchy gown looked like draperies for a mob wife’s gaudy house. The gold, yellow and orange (???)  baroque pattern smattered on her dress, boots and gloves were so far from Sid Vicious it was non sensical. I can end this right now by saying it was a non-punk, ugly dress on a beautiful woman.

The Best Dressed award enthusiastically goes to Sarah Jessica Parker whose ensemble was as close to the intent of the evening as you could get without looking like a complete nit wit. A gorgeous Mohawk headpiece by Phillip Treacy, perfectly punk-inspired Giles Deacon gown, Louboutin plaid boots (a nod Parker said, to the plaid and flannel look of that era) jewels by Fred Leighton and ‘old junk she had around the house’ made her a feast for the eyes. Sarah gets a lot of heat about not being a classic beauty but your Hip Reporter thinks otherwise–she uses all she has to sublime effect.  She is made for couture–it’s often attitude, not just delicate, symmetrical looks–that make a woman a stunner in a couture gown. Her appropriate risk-taking in this instance made her memorable and the fashion star of the night.

Other hit and miss looks from the Gala, follow. Be careful some of these get-ups might burn your corneas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve been deciding lately that I love reading blogs that tell me something about the blogger and not just reporting on style trends they find compelling. So I decided to post my own questionnaire about yeah, me. I won’t subject you to barf overload but I thought it’d be fun for you to see what (useless?)  thoughts lurk deep in my mind other than reporting to about the best lipstick.  I’ll keep it short. (I know you want to go shine your shoes or clean the lint trap in your dryer.)

(Pictured: Me and hubby. Only he doesn’t want to be a blog star.)

Who has got the worst taste going today?

Kim Kardashian because there’s so much potential, so much money for so many beautiful clothes, so many red carpet chances, yet she consistently insists on being over the top with too tight clothes, dresses cut too low, too much leg, too much sequins and studs, too high shoes, too many cutouts–I could keep going but the picture below, speaks for itself.  She  just can’t leave anything to our imaginations and reel her impulses in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where am I most inspired?

Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia and at my friend Kelly’s home in Ohio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who do I think is the most stylish woman in the world?

I have to plead two. Can I? It’s my questionnaire so yes I can.

My choices are on two ends of the spectrum–a safe one and a risk taker and surprisingly both are from England. The ‘safe’ choice is Kate Middleton. I love her restraint. In a world of Kei$has, Miley Cyrus’, and Rhiannas, Kate shines like a lighthouse beacon in the stormy, miserable, deep, deep sea of bad taste. Her proper (sometimes nerdy dare I say), dresses with those goofy LK Bennett nude pumps are just demure, ladylike heaven. Her make up is never garish even when she wears black eyeliner and her hair is always to die for except when she got those ‘fail’ bangs. I think what I love most about Kate is she’s true to herself as much as she can be in her restrictive position. The one thing I most wish to see her in: a sexy pair of high heeled sandals.

My risk taker is Poppy Delevigne, an English girl too. She’s just about the best mix-master out there with her skinnier than skinny pants, high heels, statement furs and jackets and the BEST shoe collection ever–evah! She can do what my girl Kate can’t: be daring because the Queen isn’t breathing down her back to represent the monarchy in a slightly musty, dowdy way. Poppy has all the best labels at her disposal but she’s no fashion victim. The way she can style an outfit puts even Rachel Zoe to some shame. And always to her credit, she keeps the girls and tush nicely covered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who would I like to play me in a film about my life?

Kristen Wiig. She plays ‘hot messes’ with such hilarity and endearing charm. If she’d channel that playing me, she’d get me spot on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s my biggest fashion regret?

I am realllllly embarrassed to put this out there. But remember when Laura Ashley was big in the 80′s? I had Laura Ashley fever. I walked around from 1987 to 1989 looking like a chintz bedspread. And and a real nob.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What one thing would I like to wear but don’t have the courage?

An Alexander Mc Queen gown. I just don’t have the ‘big’ personality needed to pull off one of his couture pieces. And I’m thinking they’re really itchy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who do I think is the most stylish man?

Oh please. That requires no pause for thought. Tom Ford. Could there ever be any competition for this man while he’s alive?

I read where he walked in to a taco eatery in London and actually asked them to turn down the lights, then said, “Great. Now we all look more beautiful.”

He’s just it. That’s all. He’s just it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whose closet would you like to raid?

I actually have to go way, way back almost thirty years to a fellow dorm mate in college. Her name was Dana and she had fabulous taste. Hers was a cultivated, old money East Coast kind of taste, the kind that’s pretty hard to pull off without looking like a poser unless you’ve grown up in it all. I don’t know…it’s hard to explain. She just wore it all ‘different’ than anyone else. She moved ‘different’ in it.

Her ‘uniform’ most days included a Ralph Lauren throw away wool sweater (I loved her lime green or hot pink ones), a white button down underneath (Ralph Lauren)–untucked and hanging out, khakis, Maud Frizon flats from Paris (www.maudfrizon.com), some Barry Kieselstein-Cord jewelry and Opium perfume. In the spring months, the sweater was replaced by a Ralph Lauren polo in the brightest colors, never tucked in.

Back in 1981, she was impossible to beat. Thirty years later, no one I’ve ever met, has.

(By the way, in the picture up there of me, I have on a Kieselstein-Cord alligator ring, completely inspired by Dana back in the day.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who is my favorite designer?

You know, I asked my husband this question recently…who he’d say is my favorite designer. I thought hands down his answer would be Marc Jacobs. But it wasn’t.

He said, ‘Ralph Lauren’ and I asked him why he thought that since I am bonkers for Marc. His answer: ‘You’ve been in love with the Ralph Lauren lifestyle since you were in college. Thirty some years later, go look at your closet. Tell me who’s hanging in there.’

I did. He’s right. My answer: Ralph Lauren. He’s taken my wonderful America and all her lifestyles–the East Coast prep, the country dandy, the American West cowboy/Indian, the desert sojourner, nautical sailor, the leathered-up biker chick, the 1920′s flapper–you name it and he’s done a collection inspired by it all.

And I wanted to be Clotilde (below), Ralph’s 1980′s model. Up until that point in my life, she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Other than my mom. x

I have taken great delight in reading lately, about Bergdorf Goodman’s preeminent personal shopper, Betty Halbreich who runs ‘Betty Halbreich Solutions’ on Bergdorf’s Third Floor.

A failing marriage proved to be a fortuitous catalyst for a budding career in fashion  in her 40′s. (She’s now 85.) Betty started working in the Geoffrey Bean boutique at Bergdorfs and eventually became a personal shopper to the stars and not so famous alike.

Her style is modern, appropriately tasteful and very enviably chic with a capital C-H-I-C. Think about it…how many 85 year olds’ taste do you actually envy? She gives inspiration to aging women– which come on ladies, really, isn’t that ALL of us? At a time when many women her age are acquiescing to orthopedic shoes, ill-fitting bras, elastic waistband pants and wearing prints bigger and quite frankly uglier than any human should be allowed to wear, Betty mixes high and low–a designer jacket with a $2 bracelet.

Just released in NYC and LA markets is the documentary,”Scatter My Ashes At Bergdorfs” featuring Halbreich and her inimitable career dressing women who arrive at her office with hang ups, body loathing, personal baggage, egos, and sometimes very questionable taste–even though Hollywood has crowned them a ‘star.’

As well, Lena Durham of “Girls” fame is currently developing a show for HBO about Betty and Bergdorfs. Here follow some “Betty-isms”– delivered with the wisdom and endearing honesty only an 85 year old style icon could get away with.

Lastly, I beg of you to take about two minutes to watch this interview of her by American designer Issac Mizrahi. You just can’t get enough of Betty. What woman at her age when asked by designer Issac Mizrahi what to pack on a trip to Paris, says, “Mc Queen.”

Go to:

http://www.frequency.com/video/get-scattered-isaac-mizrahi-betty/93296762/-/5-2014

Betty: “I don’t see the beauty [in the way people dress] I saw ten years ago but then again, all I see in my Park Avenue apartment is people in running clothes.”

Betty: “I walk to work part of the way and walk behind women in heels (the sky high ones) and I often wish I could go up and tap them on the backside and ask them, ‘Do you really know what you look like in those heels?’ I like kitten heels and a longer skirt.”

Betty: “You can’t find clothes today [made like they used to be made when I was younger]. All the beautiful fabrics don’t exist anymore, the artisans don’t exist any more. I can’t say that something was more beautiful today than before, when there are also beautiful, innovative things today. Otherwise I wouldn’t be in business.”

Betty: “I never name designers [I love] because otherwise I am a prostitute that way. Everybody does something good or we wouldn’t be carrying it. If they don’t they would fade away. You don’t know until you try them on [the designer clothes]. What’s on a hanger is not what you get on the body.”

Betty; “I get my hair cut at the cheapest place uptown.”

Betty: Favorite perfumes–Coty’s Lily of the Valley (available online at www.amazon.com)  and Eau La La by Edward Bess. (Available at www.edwardbess.com) Edward by the way, is a beautiful young man Betty took under her wing. He subsequently developed his own makeup, beauty and fragrance collection. It’s offered online and Neiman Marcus and Bergdorfs, of course. When Betty saw Edward for the first time in the aisles of Bergdorfs, she said to him, “Can I say something to you? You are the best looking human being I have ever seen.”

Betty: She’d tell a younger version of herself, “You have to get through the tough parts to get to the good place you are today.”