In the Heights with Cinderella

When you wish upon a Star....
This week it was off to the boroughs. Brooklyn to be precise. I love exploring the neighborhoods of Brooklyn. My grandmother, Sara, owned a building in Flatbush, and we used to go there for Thanksgiving dinner. I remember climbing the stairs to her apartment and smelling the fragrant turkey and the world's best stuffing.

I went to Brooklyn Heights to meet Elke. We were to take in a movie, Cinderella, and have lunch.

Cinderella is a gorgeous fairy-tale production by Disney, directed by Kenneth Branagh. It stars Lily James (Rose in Downton Abbey) as Cinderella, who suits the role perfectly. Yes, she is beautiful, but she also has a soft, delicate quality which meshes with her character who must be brave and kind, no matter what.

The No Matter What is her cruel stepmother, played by Cate Blanchett, and her two stupid stepsisters. Drisella, and Anastasia. Sophie McShera (Daisy, the kitchen maid on Downton Abbey) plays Drisella. There was indeed a vortex from DA to Disney.

It's Joan Crawford's 1940s style for Step Ma-Ma.

The Stepsisters' costumes are a crazy

mash up of vintage, historic and Japanese teenage fashion.

The colors are intense.

Kudos to Sandy Powell, costume designer for the film.

Stepsisters and cruel ma-ma

from original 1950 Disney movie.

 Prince Kit is so princely and handsome.

 Helena Bonham Carter is a perfectly dotty 

Fairy God Mother.

A step sister trying on the glass slipper.

I told you the color was fantastic.

I was six when I saw the original Disney animated version of Cinderella. I still remember the scene when the Fairy Godmother transforms Cinderella's rags into a fabulous ball gown, and blue birds pull ribbons out of an old sewing box to adorn the new gown.

 I shared this day with friend, Elke, 

wearing Cinderella blue in front of

Seaport Flowers.

 We strolled through Brooklyn Heights

looking at the great architecture,

like these Brownstones.

 An elegant colonnaded building.

 The charming jewelry studio of

Marissa Alperin.

 Pistachio, chocolate and raspberry pastry

disguised as a house.

 Pansies ready for planting.

The Little Lost Mittens

of Brooklyn Heights.

I bid you...

À Bientôt!

Helena Rubinstein: Genius Entrepreneur

Beauty is Power
and Power is Beautiful
This week we visited the Jewish Museum, accompanied by friend Elke Kuhn, to see the splendid exhibit, "Helena Rubinstein: Beauty is Power."

Born in Poland in 1872, Helena Rubinstein formed a cosmetics empire with salons in New York, London and Paris. Her story is remarkable, because she really was a genius who was ahead of her time. At the turn of the century, "painting" the face was only for actresses and prostitutes.

But Helena knew that every woman wants to look beautiful and young -- and her products served that purpose and more.

Elke and I pose at the door to the exhibit.

I am wearing a Lola hat, my Monica Byrne vest and

pants by Henrik Vibskov.

Elke is wearing a Marimekko dress and a 

Patricia Underwood straw hat.

 Helena Rubinstein was a consummate marketer

and understood her clients implicitly.

The exhibit consisted of portraits of Rubinstein,

her collection of paintings, sculpture and African objects,

and photographs and memorabilia from her life.

 An advertising booklet.

She elevated beauty to an elegant experience

to be coveted by females everywhere.

 Helena Rubinstein was an art collector and

wore magnificent clothes by the likes of  Poiret and Balenciaga.

Here a model wears a Balenciaga dress while

posing in front of a Miro painting.

 A painting by the surrealist, Leonor Fini, in

the Helena Rubinstein's collection.

She favored female artists who portrayed

exquisite beauty.

She particularly admired Frida Kahlo.

Helena and Frida were so different, and yet so

alike in their fierce determination.

 Helena Rubinstein with one of her African sculptures.

A beautiful portrait of Rubinstein by the French artist,

Marie Laurencin.

The exhibit included a whole wall of portraits of Helena.

 Elke displays a makeup case in the museum shop.

 The museum shop's two enchanting sales associates, 

Barbara and Ariana, 

admire Ari Seth Cohen's Advanced Style book.

They recognized me from my pictures in the book.

Elke and I peruse a giant book:
Helena Rubinstein - Over the Top
by Suzanne Slesin.

 It was a glorious early Spring afternoon on 5th Avenue.

After the museum, we went to Bemelmans Bar
 in The Carlyle Hotel.

Ludwig Bemelmans is best known for his Madeleine books.

“In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines
Lived twelve little girls in two straight lines
In two straight lines they broke their bread
And brushed their teeth and went to bed.
They left the house at half past nine
In two straight lines in rain or shine-
The smallest one was Madeline.”

Portrait of pianist, Bobby Short, at The Carlyle.

 A lounge at The Carlyle.

 Harbinger's of Spring,
Pussy willows with a Daffodil-yellow settee.

 The magnificent entrance to The Carlyle.

 Our cheese plate from Murray's Cheese Shop,
and Malbec from Argentina.

 This is what we hope is over.

The piano in Bemelmans Bar.

Last year I attended an exhibit, 
"Madeleine in New York" at the
New York Historical Society.

Oh how glorious it is to live in New York City!

À Bientôt!

Orient -- the Novel.

From the Causeway to Bug
Light -- Suspense Grips
the North Fork
Christopher Bollen, a writer living in New York City, has written a suspense novel set in the quiet village of Orient, New York. Faithful readers of Femme et Fleur will know the village well, as "Lazy Girl" posts from Orient during the month of August.

Christopher read from his novel last evening during a benefit event for the Oysterponds Historical Society, held at the Martos Gallery in Chelsea.

Orient will be published by Harper in May, 2015.

 Christopher regularly writes about art, literature and culture.

He is the Editor-at-Large for Interview Magazine.

As Christopher explained it, he first came to Orient as a renter, and found the nights scary because it was so dark and quiet. Perhaps that was one impetus that led him to write a tender kind of narrative about Orient, with a "dark" side of multiple murders. The parts of the story that he read at the gallery were quite literary and evocative of time and place.

Christopher said he had to keep reminding himself to go back to the murders and move the plot along past the lyricism of his story. Here is an apt blurb for the book.

"A thoughtful literary thriller—The Great Gatsby meets Donna Tartt. Suspenseful, beautifully written, and wonderfully atmospheric, Orient is that rare treat that is both page-turner and a book you will want to savor." —PHILIPP MEYER

Richard and I at the Red Cat, where

we dined before the event.

 Jeanne Markel and Libby Wadle, President, J. Crew brand, 

and guest.

Jeanne is wearing "Tomato Plant"

by Carol Markel.

 Richard meets the young Martos Gallery assistant.

 Guests with Dick Gillooly,

(in red tie).

 Libby Wadle with her husband,

David Potter.

 The gallery scene before the reading.

 Left to right: artist, T.J. Wilcox, and gallerists

Servane Mary and Jose Martos.

 Art on display in the Martos Gallery.

 You can find out more about Christopher Bollen's

new novel here.

Lazy Girl will return to Orient in August.

À Bientôt!