FLOWERS AFTER FIFTY ARE FABULOUS

Evening Out on One of the First Days that Feels Like Spring!!
Nothing makes your feel more feminine or light-hearted than wearing floral prints.

Diana Vreeland, an Icon in Fashion and Taste Whose Legend Lives On

Diana Vreeland was born in France in 1903 to a prominent family in society. As World War I was brewing, her family emigrated to New York City. They moved to
the Upper East Side and became socially prominent here as well. Diana was raised with the proper upbringing of a debutante and was even featured in Vogue Magazine as one of the most beautiful debutantes of New York City.
actually do what they wanted. For a time Ali McGraw was her assistant. Mrs. Vreeland was known for orchestrating phenomenally expensive photo shoots all
over the world. After days shooting in a foreign spot, she was known to reject all of the photos that took so much time and money to create.

In 1924 Diana married Thomas Reed Vreeland, a banker. They moved to Brewster New York where they began raising their two sons. Diana became estranged from her mother in 1929 after a societal scandal implicated her mother in an affair. That same year, the Vreelands moved to London where they would remain until 1935.
While in London, Diana led a charmed life, often traveling to Paris to shop, or other beautiful cities, as only the rich would do. She shopped at all of the Designer boutiques and was known for her fashion sense. Upon moving back to the United States, she was asked by the editor of Harper’s Bazaar to work for the Magazine. In 1936 Diana started a column entitled “Why Don’t You?”. As perhaps only someone from a privileged life could do, she made it her credo to be anything but normal. The “Why Don’t You” was inspirational writing about how women can and should make themselves into whatever they want”. Perhaps the beginning of “women’s lib.? During this time Diana is also noted for “discovering” the actress Lauren Bacall.
In 1962, Diana moved to Vogue Magazine and became the Editor in Chief until 1971. During her tenure at Vogue, Diana consulted with the rich and famous, including Jaqueline Kennedy while she was First Lady. She introduced Jackie to the designer Oleg Cassini who became the predominant designer while she was in the White House.
While at Vogue, Diana was credited with almost discovering Twiggy. The ’60′s were a wonderful time for Diana as culture was becoming freer for women to

In 1971, when Vogue was sold, Diana was fired. This unlucky event turned out to be a most fortuitous fluke of luck yet. The most successful and influential part of her career was begun as the Director of the Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute. Not surprisingly, Diana shook things up while at the helm of this position as well, and  a new dimension of her brilliance was revealed. Her first show was on Cristobal Balenciago. The show drew more than 150,000 people to the museum which smashed all records previously held. Everyone was amazed, including the Metropolitan Museum.Again another legacy of Diana Vreeland was created at the Exhibition of the Metropolitan Museum.   

Diana modeling in front of a mannequin wearing Balenciaga in 1973

Mother’s Day at the Los Angeles Flower Mart

Experimenting with Polyvore

One of my readers on Facebook at Fashion Over Fifty asked me to  create an outfit for her.  She is going to Las Vegas where it will be hot.  She is a size 6-8 and in her mid 60′s. This is only the second time that I have used Polyvore so I am going to post it here and let me know what I can do to

improve.  I haven’t heard back from her so I don’t know what she will think. I thought she can mix and match the colors if she is there longer than a couple of days. The colors are nice and summery.

Essie Weingarten creates a Mega business with an initial investment of $10,000 and a vision of pretty colors.

Essie says that as a little girl, she was not the most feminine, but she really loved getting her nails done.  As she got older she realized that there  were only a limited amount of nail polish colors. So, in 1981,with $10,000 and big dreams Essie knew that if she could create a polish that went on easily and looked wet even after it dried she would have something, especially if she could create really different colors.  She found a chemist and gave him colors hoping that he could copy them. She had one copied after a velvet pin cushion she loved that was burgundy. That was over 32 years ago, and some of the colors around today have been in existence from the beginning.

Cleverly, she thought that she should market her product to an area that had women with disposable income and who liked to dress up. So, off to Las Vegas she went from New York, taking her nail polishes around door to door to different salons. She got every salon in every hotel by the time she left. Her rise in popularity came rapidly.  By 1982, she was selling Internationally. The nail polish line later expanded into every product you can think of for manicures and pedicures, including; lotions, cuticle creams, and even “facials for hands”  As of recently, the line grew to over 11,000 shades and over 50 shades of top coats! Everyone from Joan Rivers to the Queen Elizabeth II has worn her polish.

In 2010 she sold the company to L’Oreal for who knows how much. New colors and new styles are continually hitting the market. In fact, as of 2014, there are nail gels, nail shellacs, and products for helping the polish dry faster.  Women are also wearing different colors of polish on each finger and manicurists are drawing pretty pictures and other designs on finger nails.. Rhinestones, and other adornments are also applied. Today, the sky is the limit. Nail polish and its variations are hotter than ever, and to think it started with just a small investment with a BIG dream!!

April, 2013  BAZAAR Nicolene Richards says: May 12, 2014 at 8:47 am Really great blog, and this post is quite inspiring as I took some great inspiration for outfit planning for a warm summer holiday destination! Nice to meet you in my circle! FF

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Dedication of the Anna Wintour Costume Hall

Yesterday was an exciting day in the fashion world. To start it out Michelle Obama officiated at the opening of the Anna Wintour Costume Hall at the Museum. This was quite an honor bestowed upon the Editor of Vogue Magazine, notorious for not being the warmest or kindest of women. Upon receiving recognition from Michelle, it looked like she even cracked a smile. Michelle Obama meanwhile, wore an amazing Naeem Khan dress.

Anna Wintour Costume Center Grand Opening

Anna Wintour showing some warmth and appreciation. A rare moment.

You’ve heard of Food Trucks? Well, Now There are Clothing Trucks

Ingenious sellers have taken to the road. In Trucks brightly colored with cool graphics and catchy names, they head off tweeting when and where they will be going.Instead, of selling tacos or grilled cheese sandwiches, however, they are selling fashion. Instead of fast food maybe you could call it fast fashion!! What a creative way to bring fashion to the customer.

There are now a slew of these trucks and they have gotten together to frequently meet on campuses! On two Saturdays in April there was an event at Cal State Long Beach cutely named “Springchella” where  several of the traveling fashion mobiles set up shop. On Saturdays there are various other locations where they can also meet, such as at: The Melrose Trading Post, the Downtown L.A. Art Walk, and the annual Malipalooza in Malibu. Owners of “Le Fashion Truck”, Stacey Steffe and Jeanisn Romo have heard that the trend is growing worldwide. So far, they’ve heard of trucks in Europe and Africa!!
Steffe and Romo, two great entrepreneurs, formed the American Mobile Retail Association offering consulting services and business seminars. Today, there are about 300 fashion truck owners who are members of the association. President of the California Fashion Association, Ilse Mechek, agrees that fashion trucks are the newest trend, thanks to the ability to retrofit the trucks so creatively.
One thing is for sure, these ingenious entrepreneurs are saving a ton of overhead not having to pay for rent. Let’s just hope the price of gasoline doesn’t get too much higher!!