En este video la firma francesa Hermès rinde homenaje a su escaparatista y visual merchandiser Leila Menchari, quien ya tiene 30 años realizando colaboraciones exclusivas con artistas que han dejado un legado en los bolsos Kelly.

Y es ese legado el que Leila Menchari ha extendido hasta las codiciadas vitrinas de Hermès, haciendo de los bolsos Kelly el sello de sus escaparates.

Flashback:  En principio los bolsos Kelly se llamaban Sac à dépêches. Su popularidad surgió cuando la sofisticada Grace Kelly  salió en una edición de la revista Life en 1966 llevando el codiciado bolso. Fue entonces cuando la firma Hermès, decide renombrarlo como Kelly Bag

Etsy is a great site to find unique handmade items. Whether you’re looking to buy a present for your friend, grandma or just for yourself, Etsy has something for everyone. This site is created for anyone that wants to make a living out of making handmade goods. Buyers and sellers are all connected on this site and we at Blue Blood picked out a few things that we really like.

One maker decided it was time their plum tree needed trimming. The wood was used to create eco green candle holders. We at Blue Blood have always loved wood, this can specially be seen within our stores. Wooden floors are key at Blue Blood.

We also really liked the wooden buttons this maker created.

Another interesting product is created out of a blend of vanilla, cinnamon, orange and the liquor Southern Comfort. This piece of soap is definitely aimed at those tough men out there that enjoy the strong scent of Southern Comfort while using this so called “All Liquored up soap”.

Ellen Lohse graduated from Rhode Island School of Design and then went on to design books. She now sells her fantastic work on Etsy too. We have posted her work on The Darjeeling Limited before if you can remember? This one below is of Grace Kelly and Stewart.

And finally what a hilarious way to start the new year with this great printable calendar from Keep Calm and Carry Spoof 2010.  For only $5,00 you get the pdf sent to your email and you will be able to print this super funny calendar a million times if you like. Why not start January 2010 with a calendar that tell you to make a resolution and then to break it straight away!

BB

There’s something strange and powerful about black-and-white imagery.
Stefan Kanfer

artist: Peter Nidzgorski, source: this isn’t happiness, tumblr via ffffound

photography: Steven Klein, source: Calvin Klein Underwear ad 2009, models:Eva Mendes & Jamie Dornan

photography: Elle Arden, Source: Black and White Zebra with Black Background

source: google, model: James Dean

source: Friends of Type via ffffound

source: k (1 of 11) en Flickr: ¡Intercambio de fotos!

source: google

photography: Ansel Adams, location: Grand Tetons, Wyoming

model: my grandaddy

source: google

source: google, model: Jimi Hendrix

photography: silja Magg, source: Women Management, model: Katarina Ivanovska

photography: Heidi Slimane, source: FormFiftyFive – Design inspiration from around the world

source: Hubble’s Black and White View of the Universe

source: google

photography: Peter Lindbergh, souce: Numero

source: Ampersanderson via ffffound

photography: Ansel Adams

photography: Allan Rostron

Source: High Society (1956), model: Grace Kelly

photography: David Byun, source: W Korea April 2009, stylist: Yahaira Familia

source: Japanese Numero April 2008

photography: Hugh Morton 1982, model: Jim Braddock  UNC vs Villanova

model: Ray Charles

models: Kennedy family

source: google

source: v-mag model: Naomi Campbell

source: NY daily news, model: Jesse Owens at 36′ Berlin olympics

source: google

photography: Mario Testino, source: German Vogue June 08

photography: Mario Testino, model: Naomi Campbell

photography: Otto Rogge, source: Ocean, Ottophoto

photography: Karim Sadli model: Abbey Lee

source: Beatles

photography: Robert Longos source: “Men in the Cities” series – 1980s via Ryan’s Facebook,

source: Boston Ballet

photography: Raffee, source: Kid in the Park via Raffee

source: Bright Idea Brilliantly Delivered on the Behance Network via ffffound

model: Filippa Hamilton

source: shuttle launch

source: Sand Dunes, Izismile

source: Ralph Waldo Emerson via 30+ Pieces of Inspiring, Funny and Interesting Advice – My Modern Metropolis

Late actress Grace Kelly’s some of the most famous outfits will be displayed in new exhibition in London.

The exhibition at V&A museum will feature wardrobe from her films including ‘High Society’ and ‘Rear Window’ along with the dress she wore to accept her Oscar for Country Girl in 1955.

It will also have the outfit she wore to her first meeting with husband Prince Rainier at the Cannes film festival in 1955 along with creations by her favourite designers, including Christian Dior, Balenciaga, Givenchy and Yves St Laurent in 1960s and 1970s, reports the Telegraph.

Costumes created by the MGM designer Helen Rose, including a Grecian-style bathing robe and an embroidered evening dress, a black chiffon dress worn by Kelly in the 1954 film Rear Window and designed by Edith Head, Paramount’’s chief costume designer, will also go on display.

Other highlights of the show will include the belted shirtwaist dress by Branell of New York, which Kelly wore for the official announcement of her engagement to Prince Rainier, the clothes designed for her trousseau and the lace bodice and skirt she wore for her civil marriage ceremony in 1956.

The show, which opens in April 2010, has been divided into three sections: “The Actress”, “The Bride” and “The Princess”.

E andamos por aí com um desespero manso do qual não queremos nos livrar porque nos viciamos em qualquer coisa que nos faça sentir vivos, mesmo que doa e até por isso mesmo. E passamos os dedos entre os cabelos eriçados, e coçamos os pêlos do braço nervosamente, porque não vai embora nunca a aflição de não saber direito o que somos ou do que somos feitos por baixo da pele. E tentamos agir com naturalidade, encobrindo com gestos bobos a falta de jeito e de intimidade das nossas palavras e o abismo que nenhuma reticência pode transpor, não mais. E tentamos rir, ironizar, fingir que não é tão importante assim, porque nada pode ser tão importante assim. E saímos para dançar só para disfarçar o cansaço, porque o corpo precisa do abandono e do ritmo e da vertigem, e na vertigem nós sorrimos ainda uma vez, e esquecemos de pensar em respostas. E vamos embora, cada um para o seu lado, adiando para um outro dia…

Grace Kelly – Mika

*Sábados

Sarà interamente dedicate a Grace Kelly la mostra che si terrà a Roma a Palazzo Ruspoli fino al 28 febbraio 2010.
Indimenticabile principessa monegasca, icona hollywoodiana, amata madre e regina. La mostra dedicata a Grace Kelly percorrerà tutte le tappe fondamentali della sua vita attraverso l’esposizione di immagini, molte delle quali firmate da grandi nomi della fotografia, oggetti personali, corrispondenza privata, tra cui Jacky Kennedy, Alfred Hitchcock e Cary Grant, gioielli, abiti (compreso quello da sposa) e la famosa borsa Kelly di Hermès. C’è sempre un buon motivo per organizzare un weekend a Roma, la capitale offre molte attività culturali e artstiche durante tutto l’inverno, tra cui la mostra di Grace Kelly.

Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly backstage at the 28th Annual Academy Awards on March 21, 1956. Neither Grace Kelly nor Audrey Hepburn were nominees at the event in RKO Pantages Theatre. Grace Kelly presented Best Actor Oscar to Ernest Borgnine for Marty, and Audrey Hepburn presented the Best Picture to the same film. That year, Anna Magnani won the best actress award for The Rose Tattoo, and Jo Van Fleet won the award for best supporting actress for East of Eden.

Grace Kelly had won the best actress Oscar the previous year for her role in The Country Girl, and the year before that Audrey Hepburn had won the Oscar for best actress in Roman Holiday (1954). Although you can feel the tension in the above photograph by Allan Grant, two leading ladies got along perfectly in real life. In a month’s time, Kelly will marry Monaco’s Prince Rainier and become Princess Grace.

Allan Grant (1919-2008) was a Life magazine photographer–the last photographer to photographer Marilyn Monroe before she died on August 5, 1962, and the first to photograph Marina Oswald after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963.

]]> http://twigginia.wordpress.com/2009/11/16/don%e2%80%99t-be-afraid-to-make-a-statement-%e2%80%93-just-know-which-pieces-you-need-to-make-it-2/ Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:56:48 +0000 twigginia http://twigginia.wordpress.com/2009/11/16/don%e2%80%99t-be-afraid-to-make-a-statement-%e2%80%93-just-know-which-pieces-you-need-to-make-it-2/

As we enter in AW09 we are overwhelmed with magazines, blogs, fashion shows all projecting the trends of the season. ‘Velvet is the new black, over the knee boots or ankle length but nothing in between please!… sharp 80’s shoulders and fur…what happens to people who don’t like or even know how to wear these trends do they get caught by the fashion UKPD and arrested for attempted individuality and not conforming to the latest ‘fashion’? Or are they credited for being different and having their own style?

Working in the fashion industry myself I often find that you drown in the amount of exquisite clothes and accessories that surround you day by day and for someone who loves it as equally as me it can also be daunting if you don’t know which way to turn. However, there are a few tricks of the trade that I will let you in on, because after all it is the survival of the glamorous!

If you’re going to follow one rule only, then make sure it is the rule of statement! Never be afraid to make a statement, whether it’s with a bag or a crazy pair of shoes – wear it and wear it with confidence! I often find myself second guessing in the morning whilst the kettle is whistling for the fourth time should I? Shouldn’t I? Yes! You should! Because once you walk out that door and smile you know you made the right choice! You know you’re making a statement.

I indulge in the page flicking of Vogue and have done from very early age and the thing that has often struck me the most till this day is the beauty of it all! Pages of flawless models wearing passionately constructed clothes or what we in the industry describe as art. The fabrics, the colours, beadwork, attention to detail…this is what makes a designer a genius. However, before you close the magazine and tell yourselves you will never look like that… stop! You can and you will by following these 10 simple rules…

Statement! I cannot stress this word anymore…season through season you will see the statement pieces creeping through the woodwork and you realise there is no need to buy them every 6months, as you should already own them… 

So for all those confused fashionista’s, I have compiled a little list of the top 10 items a woman should own: 

The idea is to wear a key pieces and the rest is up to you.

1.  A good pair of jeans; these can be bootcut to skinny, straight leg to boyfriend.
2. Leather!!! Invest in a leather jacket; it’ll give your whole outfit a new edge.
3. The oversized bag – because we women know we need our kitchen sinks with us
4. The clutch – my personal favourite; long, cute, beaded or even leather as long as it’s a clutch.
5. The flats! Invest in a pair of comfortable pretty flats; there is huge range in stores now from brogues to pumps.
6. The statement shoe – choose a platform shoe for comfortability and you will achieve slender legs and a quick shift from a day chic to an evening glam.
7. The boot! Whether it is a shoe boot, knee-length, high heels or flat. It is amazing what a pair of boots can do…personal advice would be to invest in a black sued flat boot – you’ll never go wrong.
8. Jewellery! Now it’s simple, a chunky ring, a pretty bracelet a showstopper necklace and you’re good to go.
9. Blazers – and they’re here to stay; we are spoilt for choice as the seasons evolve so find one that is the perfect fit for you, boyfriend, tailored, cropped or sharp shouldered – either way it is a must have piece!
10. Finally the LBD – from Grace Kelly to Coco Chanel the little black dress has been re created season after season year after year. You can wear a tailored version for a work look, a jersey for an easy day look or a little beaded shift dress for that midnight hour – your wardrobe is incomplete without it! 

If the rules above are followed you will never find it daunting to walk into a shop and feel pressurised into wearing a trend top to toe, because if you stroll over to the mirror you will see you’re a trend setter all on your own.

This weekend I watched the John Ford classic, Mogambo, starring Clark Gale, Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly. The film was great – Africa, exotic animals, love triangle and of course the clothes. wait…the pearls! how can I forget that. Ava Gardner is simply stunning.

Mein Glanzstück der vergangen Woche ist die Stil-Ikone Grace Kelly

Grace Kelly wäre am 12. November 2009 80 Jahre alte geworden. Die Leinwand-Diva galt für die Frauen ihrer Generation aufgrund ihrer zeitlosen und anmutigen Eleganz als Stil-Ikone und modisches Vorbild. Am 19. April 1965 schafft Grace Patricia Kelly das wovon viele Mädchen träumen – sie heiratet in einer Traumhochzeit Fürst Rainer III und wurde Fürstin von Monaco. Bis zu ihrem tragischen Tod im Alter von 52 Jahren begeisterte sie nicht nur die Modewelt, sondern widmete sich der Mutterrolle und eigenen Charity-Projekten.

COCO CHANEL

Coco fue una mujer independiente con un sentido genial de estilo y elegancia, y más allá de eso, alguien muy original. Entre sus clientes habituales estaban celebridades de los 50 como Brigitte Bardot, Katherine Hepburn, Jackie Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly o Marilyn Monroe.

Creía firmemente en que la elegancia de la ropa significa “libertad al moverse”; por ello introdujo el pantalón en la moda femenina de la época hasta la actualidad. También son más que famosas sus aportaciones como el Chanel Suit, el suéter con cuello de tortuga, las gabardinas y las french coat (antes solo para hombres).

MANOLO BLAHNICK

Este diseñador de zapatos canario dejó los estudios para mudarse a París con la intención de estudiar arte, aunque finalmente fue en Londres donde conoció a la editora de Vogue que le animó a lanzarse como diseñador de zapatos.

En 1971 se va a New York donde presenta a la editora de Vogue un portfolio donde había dibujos y diseños de sus zapatos. Asombrada por su talento, esta mujer fue quien le convence para dedicarse al diseño de calzado.

Comienza a diseñar y hacer zapatos para Zapata y más tarde para los diseñadores Ossie Clark, Perry Ellis, Carolina Herrera, Oscar de la Renta y Galliano. Pero su gran salto se produce cuando en la serie “Sexo en Nueva York” la actriz principal se declara adicta a sus zapatos.

Hoy en día, sus zapatos tienen nombre propio, los Manolos, y son codiciados por todo tipo de mujer.

LOUIS VUITTON

Actualmente es una empresa francesa que diseña ropa y complementos de lujo, fundamentalmente de cuero ; y principal patrocinador de la Copa América. Fue fundada, como su nombre indica, por Louis Vuitton.

Dice la leyenda, que Vuitton fue aceptando todo tipo de trabajos a lo largo de su larga travesía hacia París, donde comenzó a escribir su propia historia y la de la moda, especialmente a partir de ser descubierto por Napoleón III, quien lo contrató al servicio de su esposa, Eugenia de Montijo.

Su primer diseño, fueron sus ya famosos baúles con las inciales de su nombre, LV, aún de moda en la actualidad. De ahí siguió con sus más que conocidos diseños de bolsos y por último de ropa y complementos.

1. Rear Window
2. Vertigo
3. North By Northwest
4. Psycho
5. Notorious
6. The Birds
7. Strangers On A Train
8. Rebecca
9. Shadow Of A Doubt
10. Rope

NP: Oxbow – Songs For The French

Gör som Jean Paul Gaultier och hitta inspirationen hos Hollywoods dåtida filmstjärnor. På Jean Paul Gaultiers höstvisning 2009, kunde man se tydliga influenser av klassisk Hollywood glamour! Modellernas styling var inspirerade av gamla stilikoner som Marlene Dietrich och Brigitte Bardot. Stilen var följande; Sotade ögon, röda läppar, klassiska frisyrer, det dominerade catwalken! Glamour när den är som allra bäst, med andra ord!

Den looken och stilen tilltalar mej! Funderar på att göra en “extreme makeover” en dag och sedan plåta rejält! Har ju jobbat som modell och mannekäng innan, så why not? Ibland är det kul att förgylla vardagen lite och förnya sig!

Vad säger ni?? Visst var de dåtida Hollywoodstjärnorna grymt snygga????

Bilden från Jean Paul Gaultiers Höstvisning!

Marlene Dietrich.

Marlene Dietrich.

Brigitte Bardot.

Brigitte Bardot.

Rita Hayworth.

Marilyn Monroe.

Elisabeth Taylor.

Sophia Loren.

Grace Kelly.

Grace Kelly var en av världens vackraste kvinnor, anser jag.

Her parents gave her the right name. She was the epitomy of class, grace, and beauty. I’m surprised that I didn’t already chose her as a style icon! Even though I wasn’t born at the time of her death, it still saddens me. And now, you can look just as graceful on a budget.

Your Look for Less from The Fashion Guru:

Notte by Marchesa Chiffon Column Dress, $$990.00 at www.net-a-porter.com

Thurley Out of the Shadow Silk Dress, $570.00 at www.net-a-porter.com

White Lace Low Back Dress, $50.00 at www.desireclothing.co.uk

Images: Google Image Search and Polyvore

Grace and Bing in The Country Girl

Still admired today for her beauty and dignity, Grace Kelly was born on this day, November 12, in 1929 in Philadelphia.

Grace wanted to act from a young age. She studied drama at New York’s America Academy of Dramatic Art. Before moving to Hollywood to pursue a film career, she worked as a stage actress and also a model.

After appearing in High Noon with Gary Cooper, she appeared in Mogambo alongside Clark Gable and Ava Gardner and earned Best Supporting Actress nomination. (This is one film that is now on my “must watch when able” list!)

Her work in High Noon garnered her the attention of director Alfred Hitchcock. He sought after her to be one of his leading ladies. Working with famed costume designer Edith Head, Hitchcock made Grace into his ideal blonde bombshell leading actress.

Grace worked with Hitchcock on three films, first Rear Window with Jimmy Stewart, then Dial M for Murder with Ray Milland, and then To Catch a Thief with Cary Grant. These three are some my favorite Hitch films and definitely deserve a viewing if you have never seen them.

Grace went a completely different avenue in The Country Girl. Starring with William Holden and Bing Crosby, she plays the wife of an alcoholic actor (Crosby) who starts to fall in love with the director (Holden) who is working with him. This movie is surprisingly good and viewers see both Grace and Bing Crosby in a very unusual type of movie for them. They both give great performances and after I did watch this film it became one of my favorites.

Grace and William Holden attending the Oscars

Grace won the Best Actress Oscar in 1954 for The Country Girl beating out Judy Garland who was nominated for her comeback role in A Star is Born. Crosby was nominated for Best Actor but lost to Marlon Brando for On the Waterfront.

Later the two reunited in High Society which also starred Frank Sinatra. This film is the musical adaptation of The Philadelphia Story.

In 1956, Grace married Prince Rainier Grimaldi III of Monaco and effectively became “Princess Grace” of Monaco. She left her acting career behind for her family. She and her husband had 3 children, Carolina, Albert, and Stephanie. She passed away in 1982 after her car ran off the road in cliffs of Monaco.

Grace Kelly will always be remember for her timeless roles, beauty and fashion sense. Many books have been written about her lavish wedding and wedding gown.

Grace on her wedding day

The extraordinarily beautiful Grace Kelly would have been 80 years of age today. Dying at 53 of a stroke seems so odd, so arbitrary, now that 65 is not old but “middle-aged”.

I’m also struck that her feature films only number eleven. Her presence was such as a movie star and in the popular consciousness that I would have sworn she had at least two dozen parts to her name.

Cast as the ice-cool blonde, described by Alfred Hitchcock as “serene”, there always seemed to be the banked fires waiting to be stoked- no doubt that is the iconic projection of me and a million other men and women.

Which is why I like this picture- the perfect blonde, the perfect skin, the pink of her closed mouth giving nothing away, the cooling waters framing it all-  and the knowing look from eyes old and deep and older yet, that seem to say “I know what I see, what do you see?”

Life in Cartoon motion

Il 26 aprile 2010, il giovane prodigio della musica pop, Mika, si esibirà al Palais Omnisport de Bercy.
Il cantante americano-libanese presenterà, in occasione della sua tournée europea, il suo secondo album « The Boy Who Knew Too Much », da cui è tratto il primo single « We Are Golden ».
Oltre questa data parigina, Mika farà tappa in alter città della Francia (Marsiglia, Tolosa, Lione, Anvers e Nantes).

Il nome d’arte, Mika, deriva dal suo vero nome, Mica Penniman.
A 19 anni il giovane artista ottiene un posto al Royal College of Music, una grande scuola di musica, che lascerà per lanciarsi nella sua carriera da solista.
Dopo aver lavorato come compositore per alcune campagne pubblicitarie, si fa notare nel 2006 durante un passaggio alla radio inglese BBC1.

Il single Relax, Take It Easy (2006) lo rende famoso a livello mondiale e nel 2007 realizza il suo primo album, Life in Cartoon Motion. Spesso paragonato ad artisti del calibro di George Michael, Scissor Sisters, o Elton John, Mika propone al pubblico un universo musicale delirante dai suoni disco-pop.
Il single Grace Kelly è rimasto a lungo in vetta delle principali classifiche musicali europee.

Palais Omnisport de Bercy
8 boulevard de Bercy
Paris 75012

26 aprile 2010

Allan Grant
Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly, Hollywood, 1956
Gelatin silver print
Estimate: $7,000–$8,000

ARTNET AUCTIONS LAUNCHES FACES & FIGURES PHOTOGRAPHS SALE NOVEMBER 10-19

New York / Berlin, November 10, 2009 – From November 10-19 artnet Auctions is featuring Faces & Figures, a special sale of 375 photographs by 185 renowned modern & contemporary artists. The works offered in the sale celebrate the human form as seen through the lens of some of the greatest photographers of our time.

Unforgettable Faces
The auction includes portraits of some of the most unforgettable faces of the 20th-21st century by legendary photographers including Howell Conant, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Ron Gallella, Yousuf Karsh and Bert Stern. Stern is perhaps best known for his luminous portraits of Marilyn Monroe. The auction features ten photographs of a flirtatious Monroe taken just weeks before the actress’ death in what is now known as the ‘Last Sitting’ (estimates: $4,500-$5,500 each). Also featured in this group are ten magnificent portraits by fashion photographer Sante D’Orazio, including The Rolling Stones, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista and Naomi Campbell (estimates: $1,000-$1,500 each). D’Orazio’s stunning celebrity photos have appeared in publications from Vogue to Vanity Fair.

Figures in Motion
The sale also celebrates the body in motion from actors to athletes, including a classic 1955 photograph of James Dean walking in Times Square by Dennis Stock (estimate: $2,000-$3,000) and a fearsome 1970 photograph of Muhammad Ali by photojournalist Bill Ray (estimate: $2,500-$3,500). More recent works include David LaChapelle’s Pamela Anderson in Terrarium, Los Angeles, a wry commentary on society’s voyeuristic tendencies (estimate: $18,000-$24,000) and a jubilant Gisele Bündchen posing as a cowgirl in a 2009 photograph by Mark Seliger (estimate: $7,000-$9,000).

Nudes

Rounding out the sale is an extraordinary collection of nudes by artists including Edward Weston, Ruth Bernhard, Daido Moriyama and Thomas Ruff. Charis Wilson Nude, 1934 is one of a series of studies Weston photographed in the 1930s of the model who later became his wife (estimate: $7,000-$9,000). Ruth Bernhard met Weston in 1935 and was inspired by his work. Bernhard’s Nude in the Box – Horizontal, 1962 combines Weston’s rigorous composition with a heightened sense of mood and contrast (estimate: $16,000-$25,000). Also offered in the sale are contemporary nudes such as the provocative Nude, Setagay-ku, Tokyo, 1986, by Daido Moriyama and two C-prints from Thomas Ruff’s 2002 series Nudes (estimates: $6,500-$8,500 each).

Faces & Figures Photographs Sale artnet Auctions

61 Broadway, 23rd Floor
New York, New York 10006
Phone: +1 212-497-9700 ext. 197
Fax:  +1 212-497-9707
Contact: Sarah Bradley
sbradley@artnet.com

We invite you to browse the sale. Visit www.artnet.com/FacesandFigures

About artnet:
artnet has been online since 1995 and is host to approximately 2,000,000 visitors each month. Through its Price Database of over four million auction sales results and its Gallery Network of over 2,200 galleries worldwide, artnet is the leading online resource for the international art market. With the new Online Auctions, artnet has added a transaction platform to its successful information services.

Here are 6 parts of the last interview with Grace Patricia Kelly (1929-1982) who later became the Princess Grace of Monaco.

Kelly became an actress in the 1950s, starring in such films as Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, High Society, and The Country Girl, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She retired from acting in 1956, at age 26, when she became “Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco” upon marrying Rainier III, Prince of Monaco. The couple later had three children: Caroline, Albert, and Stephanie. Kelly maintained dual American and Monegasque citizenship after her marriage.

Kelly died after being critically injured in a car accident with her daughter Stephanie in September 1982. The American Film Institute ranked her #13 amongst the Greatest Female Stars of All Time.

The interview was conducted for ABC’s program 20/20 less than 2 months before the former American film star’s death on the 14th September 1982.

I hope all of you who are interested in the life story of Grace Kelly, her life as a Princess in the Principality of Monaco, the differences between her life in America and Europe, as well as the legacy she leaves behind, will enjoy this interview video. Each of the 6 parts take around 10 minutes. Total viewing time is less than an hour.

I’m not an avid devotee of Grace Kelly, but I do appreciate the existence influential figures in the world, and this one is particularly interesting as she presents a hybrid between old Hollywood glamor and elegance and the historical European’s royal household ,The House Grimaldi.

Enjoy !

p.s. There are numerous other videos covering the biography of this unique and graceful personality. But mostly are in French. But watch this space aight ?!

I’ve come to the conclusion that everyone in Los Angeles NEVER dresses weather appropriate. Grace Kelly always dressed weather appropriate. Whether she was on the boat heading to Monaco for her wedding, or in Jamaica after winning her Oscar, or in Switzerland on vacation after she was married. How could she not? She was Grace Kelly. Even if it wasn’t weather appropriate, she made it weather appropriate because she was Grace Kelly.

I will be the first to admit though, that I am one of these people that doesn’t dress weather appropriate. I ALWAYS overdress for the weather. Maybe this is because I am always cold, but I’m pretty positive I look like an idiot sometimes because of this.

Today, I woke up this morning and had no idea what i was going to wear to work. Jeans, okay, those are a given. Ballet flats, another given. But what else to wear? Hmm, such a dilemma. I ended up picking a long white sleeve shirt, a black down hooded jacket, an a lavender jersey scarf. I walked into work this morning and the first thing one of my co-workers said to me was “Damn, bundled up much?” If I was still living in Chicago, or even home in Santa Rosa, this outfit may have been acceptable, but it’s 65 degrees outside today. I looked like I was about to go skiing, not sitting a mile from the beach.

Other wonderful weather inappropriate fashion on my part: wearing flip flops in Chicago in December, wearing a hooded sweatshirt outside in Chicago during the middle of a blizzard, wearing my winter coat in Los Angeles in September, wearing short sleeves after it gets dark in LA. Hey, this is technically a desert. It gets cold!

I’m not the only one who does this though. Living in Los Angeles, I’m privy to people who wear the most weather inappropriate stuff, both during winter and the summer. Below are some of my favorite weather inappropriate Los Angeles fashions.

UGG boots in the summer

GREAT idea. Clearly it was warm enough to wear shorts, but apparently your body doesn’t regular temperature well and your feet were freezing. Nothing says summer fun more than a pair of furry boots.

Scarves in the summer

This is probably the one I’m most okay with as I think it’s fine to rock a scarf whenever, but some people think it’s crazy. I think it’s just fashionable.

Flip Flops in the rain

Really? Really? I hate getting water in my shoes when they are closed toed. I can’t imagine people who think wearing flip flops while it rains is a genius and also comfortable idea.

As much as I hate on these three, I’ll be the first to admit, I’ve done every single of one of them. Sometimes you just can’t argue with fashion. Sometimes it’s what keep you warm or cool; sometimes it’s just about looking cool. Grace Kelly wouldn’t argue with looking cool.

I was watching the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) channel a few days ago.  This month TCM is featuring Grace Kelly as the “Star of the Month.”  One of the vignettes between movies was narrated by her son, Prince Albert of Monaco.  He spoke of her elegance as an actress, princess, and mother.  As I was watching photos of Princess Grace flash on the screen, I remembered a bracelet I made last month with Grandma Kathy’s freshwater pearls, royal blue round faceted crystal AB beads from a pair of vintage costume jewelry earrings that belonged to Grandma Flo, and antique silver Rococo spacer beads that I purchased from Beads & Beyond.

This bracelet requires one to wear long white gloves.  Now, pinkies up…

New in at Cinema Books: High Society The Life of Grace Kelly by Donald Spoto, $25.95 cloth.  Filled with unpublished interviews with Grace Kelly and many of friends and colleagues: Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, Alfred Hitchcock. Spoto promised the princess that he would not write this book until twenty-five years after her death.  This is a  sympathetic biography written in the voice of a friend and  concentrates on her film career with forays into into her love life.

In her short run of only five years in Hollywood during the ‘50s, Grace Kelly managed to become one of the most admired American film icons of her time. I found an interesting Time Magazine Cover simply with her picture, name, and subtitle “Gentlemen prefer ladies.” These portrayals in the media made her a very influential role model for many young women during this time, because she had all the “right” qualities.

This overall image of Kelly simply intrigues me.

In my paper, I would like to focus on her rise to fame, her brief but important time in Hollywood, and her departure from Hollywood to becoming Princess of Monaco. Constantly throughout her fame, she was at the center of the tabloids, particularly for her love life.  I am extremely interested in the press coverage of these relationships, especially her leave from Hollywood upon marrying Rainer III, Prince of Monaco. I have begun to dig into this particular subject in an article published in Time Magazine on April 30, 1956 entitled “Moon Over Monte Carlo”. I also stumbled upon another article entitled “The Philadelphia Princess” also published in Time on January 16, 1956, in which her father scratches the surface and discusses her past relationships but then really discusses her relationship with Rainer III. I plan to consult both these articles for my paper.

I plan to have seen six out of her eleven films by the time I begin writing. I would like to have seen all three of her films with director Alfred Hitchcock: Dial M for Murder (1954), Rear Window (1954), and To Catch a Thief (1955).  In addition, I would like to see her Oscar Award winning performance in The Country Girl (1954), and her first film and final film: High Noon (1952) and High Society (1956).