Modern Flare

Gabriele Hackworthy, fashion director of Porter magazine, gives a lesson in how to wear flared jeans, retro but modern.  She is wearing a Talitha fringed suede poncho, a Wendy Nichol bag and vintage Balmain flares.  Looks super cool don't you think?!

Photo by Sandra Semburg

xo, Juliana

Feeling Flare-y

I discovered whilst closet cleaning/reorganizing that I own quite a few flared jeans and corduroys which I barely remember wearing or buying.  But there they were patiently waiting, knowing their moment was about to come again.  I do not think I will give up skinny jeans entirely for flares - flares are more work, they need a specific shoe and a cropped skinny jean is just too easy - and flattering.

My retro flared jean inspiration: Jane Birkin...

xo, Juliana

I HEART Lady Gaga's Engagement Ring

Lady Gaga's Lorraine Schwartz engagement ring from her handsome beau, Taylor Kinney, is unabashedly romantic and I kind of love it - and the unexpected interior of the hand surprise of the initials, T HEART (how do you do a 'heart' on Macbook Air keyboard??) S (S is for Lady Gaga's real name, Stefani.)  So romantic, it is really kind of cool!

Photo's from Lady Gaga's Instagram

xo, Juliana

Dakota Johnson Rising Style Star!

So how amazing has Dakota Johnson looked for her 50 Shades of Grey press junket?!  I LOVE all of the Julie de Libran for Sonia Rykiel too that she has been wearing like this jumpsuit and vest - and the Rykiel shoes are great too.  

at Saturday Night Live in Sonia Rykiel

in Dior and Jenna Fischer jewelry

on the Today show in fuzzy and leather Balenciaga

and in a beautiful and bohemian Chanel couture from 2014 sparkly gown - have to say, it was a great decision to lose the jacket and flats and add a simple strappy heel...

from the Chanel runway

and in an ethereal Hedi Slimane for Saint Laurent gown

and in Julie de Libran for Sonia Rykiel pre-fall cape and I think a Proenza Schouler striped top

xo, Juliana

Friday Night Fashion Flick #1: Three Days of the Condor

I have always loved fashion, playing dress up, reading about fashion, buying fashion... My early interest in fashion came from two sources: Vogue and films.  In fact, one of my favorite shows at the Costume Institute was Hollywood Costume: Glamour!  Glitter!  Romance!  (You can tell from all of the explanation points Diana Vreeland was in the house when this show was produced in 1977.)

So every Friday (more or less : ) I am going to suggest a fashion flick for your weekend enjoyment.  I just watched Three Days of the Condor and the fashion look is so 70s super cool. Almost nothing special -in fact, Robert Redford basically has one outfit the entire film.  But sometimes one perfect outfit is all you need.  Robert Redford's jeans are tight, a perfect shade of faded blue, he wears them with a faded blue western style shirt, a sweater over, a sort of chunky tie and a fitted tweed jacket with 70s typical wide lapels.  Later into the film he adds a peacoat, some mirrored aviator sunglasses.  It is the kind of outfit men probably dream about... 

and then there is Faye Dunaway.  We were first see her in a black beanie, a Missoni style coat, burgundy shoulder bag getting into a beat up jeep.  Super cool too.  Later she wears my favorite look;  her outfit is all shades of oatmeal: a coat with wide lapels, another beanie - nude colored this time, a full below the knee skirt and tall leather boots.  Like Redford she wears her coat collar up.  Other characters in the film don't fare so well fashion wise but Redford and Dunaway are definitely still inspiring our weekend wardrobe...

Enjoy!

Three Days of the Condor

1975.

Starring Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway.

Costumes by Joseph G. Aulisi

xo, Juliana

Happy Birthday Kate Moss!

I think this quote from the artist Marc Quinn really sums up what it is about Kate Moss that has made her such a successful model and a style icon...

"Her image is elusive, and you can never fix it.  Even if you make it in solid gold, another image will appear.  If you think you've taken the definitive photograph, you never have.  It's a special quality, which means she continues to carry on and gets more and more mythical.  It's the mystery of the Sphinx.

Marc Quinn

Marc Quinn.  Sphinx.

A few of my favorite Kate Moss looks:

This is probably a vintage dress but worn with a short slip - looks so amazing and Manolo Blahnik white Mary Janes...  Kate Moss loves vintage and it is just another reason to love her : )

A vintage leopard coat, a vintage creme brûlée colored chiffon dress, a Chanel bag and nails painted a dark red with moons left bare...

in Chanel for her birthday party:

on holiday:

and Kate Moss in John Galliano from yours truly, RARE vintage : ) with John Galliano...

and painted by Lucien Freud...

xo, Juliana

Audrey Hepburn, The Basket Bag and Saint Laurent

I was just looking through the small book on Audrey Hepburn, Audrey in Rome, which is full of casual photos of well, Audrey in Rome.  There is a small section devoted to Audrey Hepburn's basket bag - which she even carried in the winter and paired with a fur coat.  It would never occur to me wear a basket bag in the winter let alone with a fur coat but AH manages to pull it off.  

Photos from Audrey in Rome.

And then on harpersbazaar.com I saw a studded version of the basket bag by Hedi Slimane for Saint Laurent.  Brilliant!  Cool! Must have!  Thank you Audrey!

Now the question is: to wear or not to wear with a winter coat...

Saint Laurent studded bag available for purchase here.

xo, Juliana

Happy Birthday Faye Dunaway!

After I saw Chinatown for the first time, I ran out and bought myself a bright red lipstick.  I  loved the way Faye Dunaway looked in Chinatown: soigné and sexy, riding horses bareback in her thin white blouse, tan leather belt and jodhpurs.  

And it just got better.  Later she showed up for dinner with Jack Nicholson's character, Mr Gittes, in a black dress with a plunging neckline, a long strand of big milky white pearls and a snug black hat with a veil.  And red lips.  

The costumes were by Anthea Sylbert, who also did the costumes for Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby and Jessica Lange in King Kong.  Not quite sure what happened to her because she stopped doing costume design in the late 1970s...

In 1967, there was Bonnie and Clyde and Faye Dunaway with her blonde bob and just looking incredibly beautiful.  

Later there was The Three Musketeers and Network.  She always looked amazing.  Truthfully, other then getting to kiss Steve McQueen, the best accessory a girl could ask for, I did not love the wardrobe from The Thomas Crown Affair.  I much preferred Rene Russo's Michael Kors costumes from the 1999 version.  

And then of course there was Mommie Dearest with Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford percolating coffee in her bathroom, scrubbing her nails clean, washing her face, rinsing it with water from a bowl filled with ice cubes - and then her glass doored walk in closet... it was too too fabulous - and as I live in a wire hanger free home too, I was all about Mommie Dearest : )

Happy Birthday Faye Dunaway!  

xo, Juliana

Fashion Will You Still Love Me, Will You Still Need Me When I'm 80? The Joan Didion Edition

The face of the Céline's Spring 2015 ad campaign?  80 year old Joan Didion!  Photographed by Jurgen Teller and looking super chic in oversize black sunglasses, a black knitted top and what looks like a flattened Swiss cowbell.  

Joan Didion for Céline Spring 2015 ad campaign photographed by Jurgen Teller

It is lovely and inspiring to see a woman of 80 years being celebrated by one of the most talented fashion designers working today.

And Céline resort 2015 also seems like it was inspired by Joan Didion circa 1968 in LA with her Corvette Stingray in a long knit dress...

Joan Didion photographed by Julian Wasser

Céline resort 2015

and on Instagram the fabulously fashionable Giovanna Battaglia wore her Céline resort dress not in front of a Corvette but on a boat...

Giovanna Battaglia from her Instagram

and now since I am in California, I think I will go cozy up in a long Céline dress and read Slouching Towards Bethlehem...

xo, Juliana

Back When It Was All Terribly, Terribly Glamorous

"When Yves and Betty and Loulou got dressed up and went out on the town, it was all terribly, terribly glamorous.  Back then, there was liberté, beauté and lots of glamour.  Now there are stock options."

Overheard at the premiere of the film, Saint Laurent, at the Centre Pompidou in Paris

xo, Juliana