November 26, 2014

Order of The Leopard





Leopard Leopard gorgeous sight
On the Serengeti for the night
A Faux Fuchsian neutral to behold
Oh so fab on MaiTai as she foretold

(apologies to William Blake)


New Additions to the The Lion's Den Lexicon


Faux Fuchsian (rhymes with 'solution') - that which is of singular, striking, meticulous, colourful,                                                  and whimsical aspect


MaiTaition (rhymes with 'sensation') - of *mysterious background, perfect proportion, and regal                                                     bearing

*Den Intel Apparatus has uncovered new revelations (see below).


The Lion's Den wishes to bestow what shall soon be known as Fashion's most exalted honorific. the Order of The Leopard, on two most worthy ladies.

The Fabulous Faux Fuchsia


It was Faux Fuchsia who famously declared leopard her 'neutral' years ago and who was first to see the obvious and suggest MaiTai don the jungle beast...and the rest is history.

The Magnificent MaiTai
demonstrating a perfectly executed 'MaiTai Shim'



The Den bas been hard at work unraveling the fascinating mystery of MaiTai and it was in studying her legendary selfie pose aka 'The MaiTai Shim' ('Shim' being a frozen Shimmy) that gave us a clue that broke the mystery wide open. It isn't just any woman who has the, long, lean bodytype, and artistic grace to execute such a fabulous pose all while holding that alluringly  enigmatic smile of gently pinched ecstasy. In fact were she to be born a few centuries earlier, it would be the Mona MaiTai holding top honors at The Louvre. GSL's keen instincts told him to dispatch our Den Intel Apparatus to Moscow where our suspicions were confirmed. You see, our Darling MaiTai was formerly Maishka Taidova who defected from the Bolshoi back in the late '80s driving Yeltsin to drink.


Prima Ballerina Maishka Taidova performing for the Bolshoi Ballet circa 1987


With rightful honors now bestowed let us follow in Faux Fuchsia and MaiTai's elegant footsteps and see what leopard offers the rest of us



Posh purring in Pencil....my spies reveal our adored co-conspirator, Bebe,
was heating up the sidewalks of  Paris a couple days ago
in one of these

Posh in full throated roar with this fab coat
another hat tip to Darling Jane Hattatt
yet another smashing addition compliments of Darling Trudye
The statement this coat makes is: "I own the joint"

talk about sexy...!!!!

let's keep talking about sexy!!!

Leopard need not be "go big or go home" look how even a kitten's purr can add
pizazz to this otherwise ordinary skirt and top

let's get back to sexy!!!
Liz Taylor 1954
Matchy-Matchy with Mommy

Gene Tierney in publicity shot for The Egyptian


Carmen Miranda and now Miranda Rights have an 'entrapment' appeal


Revlon Ad from mid 1960s by John Rawlings
hat tip to Darling Jane Hattatt for previous 5 pics

...however some think leopard can be "a bit much"


Addendum: Heidi took me to the woodshed for originally omitting Jackie Collins...looking quite demure above.
Heidi, Jackie may be the High Priestess but little sis Joan here is no slouch
thanks again to Darling Jane Hattatt for her keen eye 

I would even wear this little outfit to the beach if I looked half as cool as Sal.
...yet another jewel discovered by Darling Jane Hattatt...

Leopard starts and ends with Faux Fuchsia and this is the highest form of compliance with her
commandment of  "Thou Shall not undercushion!!!"



ALL PICS FROM PINTEREST

I'd like to thank our Darling Trudye for her assistance in assembling these fabulous pics.

GSL & Little Sis (nearly 20 years my junior) who invited me out to Thanksgiving Dinner tomorrow. Technically,
she's a 1/2 sis and we've only recently reconnected after almost 20 years due to her recent
marraige and moving to a distant suburb. I love having a little sis!!!
Greyfriars Bobby's  vigil continues for Bebe's
safe return.

November 22, 2014

Mea Culpa



Marquess of Queensberry whose rules govern blog etiquette

Have you ever felt like the skunk at a garden party? Me neither.  But GSL has been known to put a hostess on edge from time to time. My dear dear friend, the 'Queen B' aka Chicago's most charming hostess, can always sense when I'm about to get a little naughty and let my hair down but sometimes my timing isn't as Cartier Tank Watch perfect as you might suspect so she occasionally shoots me an arched eyebrow plea for clemency with a subtext of: "Oh no,... not yet...wait til I clear my good China..."

Here is the Marquess of Queensberry in the flesh. He doesn't look pleased does he?
real name is John Douglas and he's the one who brought down Oscar Wilde due to
his anger over Wilde's relationship with his son

Apparently GSL ran afoul of Queensberry rules at his most fav blog and has been shown the door! I have assembled a crack defense team and will mount an appeal and don't bet against me either.
My infraction??? Well GSL rather callously brought in a little seasonal bonhomie into a post of sober reflection.  The post's subject:

What was I thinking getting all in a giggle in a post about this killjoy?!?!
source
I guess I'd better fess up and tell you the awful thing I said and it was a momentary lapse of judgement I deeply regret even though the blog's theme is "humorous or witty conversation".  My memory is rather foggy but in getting a little carried away in the yuletide spirit of the moment I rather incomprehensibly mentioned I'd like a "Christmas smooch under the mistletoe" with our long adored hostess. How could I say such a thing?!?! We all make mistakes and I'll do what I can to make amends. After all, I don't want one of these in my stocking:

Loretta Lynn's father used to procure these for Santa's misbegotten.

Whatever you do please don't breathe a word to this lady.


If she knew that boy she's holding grew up to be such a
scoundrel it would break her heart.

Wish me luck on getting back in my adored hostess's good graces and put in a good word if you can.




Of course Greyfriers Bobby is still here! He's not going anywhere until Bebe safely returns home  from abroad.


November 21, 2014

Leopard Deferment & Booknotes

Dolores Del Rio in Journey Into Fear (1938)
source

Very busy week and now busy prepping for Dani's book club featuring Middlemarch on the morrow so I'll be doing my leopard post next week. Take a look at my Middlemarch preview in the right margin and hope to see you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the morning.
.
George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) author of Middlemarch.
Wikipedia pic


In other news a very well received biography of novelist Penelope Fitzgerald by Hermione Lee is out that caught my attention as Ms. Fitzgerald lived a very unusual life. Here is the recent New York Times book review. I've never read anything by Fitzgerald but have acquired a taste for these older 20th Century British Commonwealth female authors such as Hilary Mantel, Beryl Bainbridge, and Shirley Hazzard and the historian Margaret MacMillan (great-granddaughter of David Lloyd George). My favorite living author, Julian Barnes, is a big fan of Ms. Fitzgerald so I'll eventually get around to reading her and hopefully this biography too.

*Interesting tidbit about Ms. Fitzgerald: she didn't write her first book until nearly age 60 and Julian Barnes thinks the 4 books she wrote after winning the Booker are even better.  As you may recall, Julian Barnes (among many others) also calls Middlemarch the greatest novel in the English language.



The Den will be keeping a Greyfriars Bobby vigil while our dear co-conspirator, the charming Bebe,
is on holiday in gay Paris. Do drop us a line when time permits and safe travels!

November 17, 2014

Leopard Week & Middlemarch


The Den looooves Faux Fuchsia's favorite neutral and how MaiTai shifts it into high gear.
source
The Lion's Den Institute of Big Cat Studies will be honoring Faux Fuchsia and MaiTai later in the week for their contributions to The Den's second favorite breed of cat....seemed wrong not to.

Our Darling Trudye (the Houston Fashionista who Becca Cason Thrash tries desperately to emulate) is The Den's Curator of Animal Prints and has assembled quite an impressive array for the upcoming ceremony.

Heavy hors d'oeuvres with Champagne and antelope will be served.


'George Eliot' pen name of Mary Anne Evans
Aged 30 by the Swiss artist Alexandre Louis François d'Albert Durade (1804–86)
from wikipedia

This Saturday November 22nd is our very own DaniBP's fabulous MopPhil Book Club (see my preview in right margin) which is always a stimulating free-for-all that begins mid-morning DaniBP (Toronto) time. The selection this go round is Middlemarch by George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) considered to be the greatest novel in the English language by none other than Julian Barnes, Martin Amis, and the The Telegraph. If you have not yet read it please do and one option is to listen to the audiobook (which I'm doing) on audible.com.  If you aren't a member and want to try it out, the first book is free. Even if you haven't read it, please stop by and jump in whenever the urge strikes. Since Dani has her home under major renovation, I am assisting with the Book Club hosting duties and will have a little preview up on Friday.

Did you hear I had the good fortune of having my first 'blog date' with the very beautiful and charming Blue Booby ("girlie not Butch") and her charming mountain of a man 'Hunter'?  I had a fabulous time (so I'm told) and owe them a night on the town their next trip up which I anxiously await.

In other fabulous news our very own Wendy just signed with a literary agency and is one step closer to getting published. We had the champagne flowing in The Den last night to celebrate but we were too slow to score any of Barry's birthday cake.


November 13, 2014

Winter White

Many thanks to Trudye for finding this sublime image!




With Arctic air plunging Chicago temperatures into the low 20s Fahrenheit, everyone is pulling out their woolies and bundling up for what looks to be another brutal Winter that has arrived unfashionably early.


Politics aside, what do you think of Mrs. Bush's outfit?


Is Winter White in your wardrobe? I absolutely love it as it's so eye-catching and elegant.  I would imagine it is horrendously difficult to keep clean even for an evening.  Winter White only first came to my attention as a formal option at our 2004 Presidential Inauguration when Laura Bush looked so fabulous and elegant walking down Pennsylvania Avenue and on the podium


Winter White is so 'Posh'


...and even more Posh when punched up with a full-bodied Red




It's going to be a long Winter in Chicago.


Love an opportunity to include a real grown-up !!!







Camilla Belle-never heard of her but she's gorgeous






Another very classy First Lady
any woman would look good in this...that's 5' 10" and size 2
actually nice from waist up but heels a bit much

GSL would like to open the floor to discussion. What are your thoughts on Winter White???