Charm School for Dogs?

 

B-dog was clearly not impressed with my choice of reading material.

Sunday Blah Day

Today reminds me a little of Breakfast at Tiffany’s  I’m Audrey Hepburn and there is no George Peppard.  Holly can’t quite figure out what she wants and neither can I.  I should be at church.  I should be blogging about what would really interest you. I should be cleaning or preparing for my work week, but instead I am still in bed. B-dog feels much like I do today too. I have all kinds of great ideas to share with you about food, fashion, places to go, unfortunately, I can’t get out of bed except to feed the dog and eat a bowl of Special K.  Therefore, in the interest of putting something in here today, I’ll share my very blah Sunday with you.  Just a few photos, here and there of absolutely nothing but my very blah Sunday.  Sigh.

 

My laptop. I’m staring at this today. Did I mention my huge crush on Benicio Del Toro?

 

B-dog is thinking what a lazy @8!&@!* owner he has.

 

It’s cold and raining today.

 

My socks don’t match. Bite me.

 

He doesn’t want me to be on the computer.  He wants to go for a w-a-l-k. This is called a dog tantrum.  I just told him I have the pound on speed dial.

 

My son needs a ride somewhere.

 

I lied. I don’t really have the pound on speed dial.

Selvedge - Don't Miss The Show, May 1, 2010

Besides the fact the name is extremely brilliant, this is a show you do not want to miss if you live anywhere in the Midwest.

From the Selvedge website:

Selvedge encompasses both a runway show and gallery.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Textile and Apparel Student Association (TASA) Student Fashion Show will showcase this year’s student designs in two back-to-back runway shows.

The gallery, open an hour before each show, features various works produced by both Interior Design and Textile and Apparel Design students.

The show is made possible by a generous donation from Kohl’s department store, as well as the hard work of students and faculty throughout the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The ticket prices are very reasonable (if there are any left) and the models are mostly students and they are stunning.

Dovima - 1950’s Model and Avedon Muse

Dovima was born Dorothy Virginia Margaret Juba in 1927 in New York City. The half-Polish, half-Irish daughter of Stanley Juba, she was raised in Jackson Heights, Queens. She contracted rheumatic fever at age ten and was confined to bed. The standard treatment was a year in bed, but her overprotective mother kept her home for the next seven years.

It was a lonely time for her. She took up painting and had an imaginary friend, whom she called Dovima- using the first two letters of each of her given names. Doe, as her family called her, only socialized by telephone with other invalid children that her tutor educated. It's not too surprising then that her first husband, Jack Golden, was an upstairs neighbor. He simply moved into Doe's bedroom in her family's home. 

Dovima was discovered on a street in Manhattan while waiting for a friend. A woman approached Doe to ask if she had ever modeled. The woman worked for Vogue and took her to the offices on the spot for some test shots. The next day she did a shoot with Irving Penn. She was an overnight success and soon was the highest paid model in the business. Jerry Ford of Ford Models said, "She was the super-sophisticated model in a sophisticated time, definitely not the girl next door."

She appeared on the covers of all the fashion magazines and worked with every major photographer of the day. She formed a particular bond with Richard Avedon who would take the most famous photos of Dovima. The two managed to transform Doe into the epitome of fifties haute couture, what Christian Dior coined "The New Look". After her death, Richard Avedon said, "She was the last of the great elegant, aristocratic beauties...the most remarkable and unconventional beauty of her time." On another occasion, Avedon said, "The ideal of beauty then was the opposite of what it is now. It stood for an extension of the aristocratic view of women as ideals, of women as dreams, of women as almost surreal objects. Dovima fit that in her proportions."

Dovima and Avedon created arguably the most famous fashion photograph of all time, "Dovima with Elephants", in Paris in 1955. The photo shows Dovima in haute couture with circus elephants surrounding her. There are prints in The Metropolitan Museum, and The Museum of Modern Art.

A supermodel before the term became widely known, Dovima was reputed to be the highest-paid model of her time.

Dovima gave birth to a daughter named Alison on July 14, 1958, in Manhattan. Alison's father is Dovima's second husband, Alan Murray. Sadly, Dovima was in a series of abusive relationships and lost custody of her one and only child after being accused of kidnapping her, and spent the rest of her years after retiring from modeling selling cosmetics and working as a hostess at various restaurants in Florida. Dovima appeared in a few films (most noted in "Funny Face" with Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire).

 

Of her relationship with Avedon, Dovima was quoted as saying, "We became like mental Siamese twins, with me knowing what he wanted before he explained it. He asked me to do extraordinary things, but I always knew I was going to be part of a great picture." Dorian Leigh, fashions model turned agent, said, "He used Dovima like a painter uses a medium. She was his medium." Model Carmen Dell'Orefice a friend of Dovima said, "They had the greatest fantasy affair on paper that the public ever witnessed. Avedon had the skill to metamorphose a fledgling model. He could finish the pieces of her persona."

She died of liver cancer on May 3, 1990 at the age of 62. After her death, Richard Avedon said, "She was the last of the great elegant, aristocratic beauties... the most remarkable and unconventional beauty of her time."

Shoo Be Shoo Be Do...

It's Shoo, Inc., a fabulous new store located at 109 State Street, Madison, WI. Shoo, Inc. is also located in Milwaukee at 241 N. Broadway. I am so thrilled to see this store open in such a great location, and only about a 30 second walk from my office. I poked around today and found about 3 pairs of shoes and two must have pairs of boots. I plan on stalking them on a daily basis until they are mine. I also found some adorable tops in the back of the store and the accessories are to die for.  Here is a little history about Shoo,Inc. from their website:

I will keep close tabs on this hip new addition to State Street and bring you the latest updates on styles and new merchandise AND sale items. Stop in and say hello to the owners, Kate Blake and her brother Pat Blake, and the super cool staff.

I do have one small, tiny, infinitesimal complaint, if one could even call it that.  The website and blog for Shoo, Inc. has not been updated for a while but one would easily attribute that to all the fabulous buying trips and setting up a second location in another city, no easy task. I predict Shoo, Inc. will bring Madison the latest styles from around the world and even from Wisconsin, how cool is that? I also found the staff to be first-class and friendly, so I can't wait to go back. I also noticed some great sale items in the lower level so I suggest you hurry if you want to find a pair of boots or shoes at 50% off. It won’t be long before the rest of Madison finds Shoo, Inc..  Maybe iheart could update their blog and website and those boots could be mine! Mwahhhhh (evil laugh)

For No Reason

I think this is cool and think you will too.  Her name is Katie Strong and it’s an interesting remake of  Good Bye Sorrow with some haunting harmony.

Goodbye Sorrow from Katie Armstrong on Vimeo.

Absolutely beautiful things: A Verandah Vignette

Off for a weekend of water fun with the kiddos. I wanted to leave you with this extremely beautiful design idea I found on absolutely beautiful things: A Verandah Vignette. Can't you just envision some old photographs, a candle, or a charming,spring flower bouquet on the farm table?  See you on Monday!