Book Club: Poor Little Rich Girl

When I was first reading that Oleg Casinni memoir a spell back, I realized I need to get to know better this Woolworth heiress, Barbara Hutton, he casually mentions throughout

Heiress to the 5 and dime fortune (worth $2 billion in today's money. Paris Hilton she is not!), she was dubbed "poor little rich girl" by the gossip columns because despite all her money (or perhpas because?), she suffered with depression and a series of failed marriages to a whole deck's worth of princes and knaves more interested in her pocketbook than her heart

And like all good mid-century divas, she married frequently making sure to throw a fagela in the mix for flava

And a Hollywood star

(Before there was Ben-nifer, the press sharply labelled these two "Cash and Cary")

And then spent her twilight years with young men folk. (Oh Barbara! What would the lunch counter say!)

Barbara ended up giving away so much of her vast fortune that when she died $3,500 was all that was reportedly left in her account. That bitch knew how to live! 

("What?! Can't take it with you.")

Or at least I think that's how her life petered out according to Wikipedia. I never got to finish this out of print book because on a recent drinking marathon with Miss JB, I have a cloudy, cloudy recollection of a tirade on illiteracy. During said tirade I was slamming this book in my palm because nothing proves your point like a trashy biography. 

I've never seen that book since. 

If found please return to It Can't All Be Dior headquarters. You ll know it cuz it's bright yellow and the San Giuseppe festival is going on right outside my door. 

Thanks!

"It Can't All Be Dior" featured on The Inside Source

Did you see "It Can't All Be Dior" made the cover of style blog, The Inside Source? Yeah, my blog's kinda major like that!


A writer friend of mine, Laura Neilson, did this great piece about me, my writing and my love for all things design, especially when found for a song on Ebay.

(Some of my heart's desires... right now)







There's a great little round up on things I'm trolling the halls of Ebay for right now including that Oleg Cassini memoir I nabbed and half way devoured

Thanks so much to Laura and The Inside Source for the love!

(Click on logo to go directly to The Inside Source or link below)

I guess sometimes it CAN all be Dior!




Article: http://theinsidesource.com/article/fashion/it-cant-all-be-dior-blog-mac-smith

Book Club: Oleg Cassini's Memoirs

Masterfully melding my two loves, history and fashion, Oleg Cassini's autobiography, "In My Own Fashion" also showcases a skillful dose of trash talk, financial ups and downs, whirlwind romances (he's straight and he married Gene Tierney and romanced many, many others), jet setting, adversaries (right now he's met his match in Edith Head) and name dropping.



And wild audacious claims like this one

"Producer Arthur Hornblow... asked me to work on 'I Wanted Wings', an aeronautical big-budget mishap, noteworthy only for the debut of a young starlet named Veronica Lake, whose blonde peekaboo hairstyle created a sensation across the country. With all due modesty, I must admit: I created that look..."

And I'm only on page 103. The book is full of these grandiose claims and I haven't even made it to his 60's heyday of being the on call couturier for Jackie Kennedy

(It's good to be king... of the pill box hat)

In 36 hours I'll be on a plane bound for Spain for a week long celebration. Thank you, Mr. Cassini, for the ultimate in vacation reads.

Earth Day: Vintage

One of the truly best thing you can do for the earth and still be a fashion and furniture fiend? Vintage.

These items already exist, do not require energy or resources to be produced and need good homes.



Inspired, here's some hits from my recent trip home from the vintage store where I used to work.








I love the jawbreaker vibe of these shoes and if they're good enough for Jackie-O...

(Leather Polka Dot Peep Toes, size 6.5, Oleg Cassini, $68 at Venus on the Halfshell, 301-662-6213)

(Glass Topped Wood + Rattan Weave Coffee Table, $450 at Venus on the Halfshell, 301-662-6213)

(Cotton Sundress with Rooster Print, size small, $145 at Venus on the Halfshell, 301-662-6213)

(Plastic Shade Hanging Lamp, $145 at Venus on the Halfshell, 301-662-6213)