A Strange Place for a Woman's Face: Fornasetti Rugs

Piero Fornasetti (November 10, 1913-1988) was an Italian painter, sculptor, interior decorator and engraver. He created more than 11,000 items, many featuring the face of one woman, operatic soprano Lina Cavalieri, as a motif. Fornasetti found her face in a 19th century magazine. “What inspired me to create more than 500 variations on the face of a woman?” asks Italian designer, Piero Fornasetti of himself. “I don’t know,” he admits, “I began to make them and I never stopped” [Wikipedia]. His works have regained popularity with interior designers over the past few years, and the line of rugs featuring Cavalieri's face are the newest addition to the Fornasetti trend. There is definitely something slightly creepy, yet alluring, about the notion of trampling on disembodied faces, lips, eyes, and arms...

[Update]: I almost forgot to mention, I have been given an award (another one?!?! Must be my lucky month!) from the creative and inspiring Christie at Serenity Now. I am uber-honored ;)
Here are the rules:
*Put the logo on your blog or post.
* Nominate at least 5 blogs (can be more) that for you are Uber Amazing!
* Let them know that they have received this Uber Amazing award by commenting on their blog.
*Share the love and link to this post and to the person you received your award from.

Thanks so much Christie!!

Here are my uber-amazing nominees:

1. Wendy Brandes Jewelry

2. The Glamourai

3. Not from Paris

4. Alice Point

5. Phantasmaphile

Have a Provocative Weekend...

These gorgeous photos, based on Ingmar Bergman's film "Persona," are so sexy and mysterious...they seem to be evoking the idea of a private weekend tryst...a secret romance?
Have a provocative weekend my dears!!

[Photos by Steven Meisel. Vogue Italia, 2008]

The Death of the Coiffure

Although I adore vintage and antique goodies, I am very "modern" in the sense that I have no romantic or idealized notions about living/wanting to live in the past. Life [particularly for women] was pretty awful up until the last half of the 20th century, and I have no desire to relive the difficulty and complications of the female world of bygone eras.

That said, I do have an affinity for fashion, jewelry, and hairstyles of the past. I often imagine being the acquaintance of some eccentric, wealthy figure who throws an annual masquerade ball -- I would then have the excuse to hire a master coiffurist to spend half a day turning my hair into a bejeweled hair sculpture, so intricate and voluminous that I would have stoop down to fit through doorways. Here are some delightful possibilities:

Does anyone else have these bizarre imaginings? I suppose I should be grateful it is just a fantasy and not a prerequisite for proper womanhood anymore. Really, thank goodness the coiffure is dead...but the occasional masquerade seems fun [and might remind us how far we've come?].
[All images from the NYPL Digital Archives]

Thank Goodness for Goodwill

I have been trying to reign in my clothes/shoes spending over the past few months, although it seems I still find ways to spend money elsewhere [i.e. cosmetics, Christmas gifts, etc]. I have a Goodwill thrift store the size of a Super-Walmart right down the street from my apartment, and every few weeks it seems to call my name on my drive home from work... I have not been too tempted by anything on the racks for a while, but they put out the winter items last week, and I went a bit crazy. Just thought I would share a few of my new, "guiltless" goodies:

Glamorous/slightly wacky faux fur vest, $12.

Awesome cropped leather jacket with lots of zippers that makes me feel far more bad-ass than I really am, $25.

This is me coyly posing in the mirror in my bad-ass jacket and my lumberjacket flannel (as my boyfriend calls it)...my photographer (i.e. the boyfriend) was on hiatus...

A Margot [from The Royal Tenenbaums]-inspired Vintage faux-fur coat, $15.

And, some things that passed me by...

I really loved this 80's sequin gown [the sequins and geometric shapes felt a bit art deco], but it was so unflattering, unfortunately...

I was also sad to find these two adorable pair of leather oxfords were not even close to my size...wish I knew someone who wore a size 5 to buy these for...

I would like to thank the academy...

Holy-Bloggers Batman!! This week's posts seem to be turning out to be all-about-me...I've been given a Kreativ Blogger award by the talented and witty Grace over at High Fashion Girl. I am truly happy and honored, Grace [particularly since your blog rocks!]. I was told to list 6 things that make me happy, and then to tag 6 others -- here they are folks:

1. My sister coming to visit from NYC [Hi Lindsay, can't wait to see you!!]
2. My pug Gidget and her snorty little noises.
3. Fage Greek yogurt with honey...yum!!!
4. A new bottle of fabulous perfume.
5. Naps [without any guilt].
6. Dancing to 80's music until my feet hurt and my makeup runs.

Here are my six choices of blogs to tag. These blogs inspire, entertain, and educate me every time I visit them:

1. Behind the Curtain
2. Oh Joy!
3. Mothersvea
4. Child of the Moon
5. The Girl Who Married a Bear
6. Hollister

For the Love of Mustard

Do you ever get randomly obsessed about a color? I wore a pair of mustard-colored tights a few days ago and got so many stares (and compliments!). I think those tights are the only mustard-colored item of clothing I've ever owned. For some reason after seeing this gorgeous photo a few days ago on Facehunter, I couldn't get the mustard pencil skirt out of my head. There is a very similar version available on J Crew...but, of course I couldn't stop there -- here are a few more tantalizing mustard items to ponder...

Mustard Madness by Nothing Elegant

1. Topshop mustard tights [not sure if they have these anymore, but Uniqlo also makes them...]

2. Urban Outfitters, Tikirani Goldenrod blouse.

3. Twelfth Street by Cynthia Vincent swiss dot mustard chiffon blouse, Bluefly.com.

4. J Crew double serge pencil skirt.

5. Kimchi Blue Dacha Tunic, Urban Outfitters.

6. Ribbed turtleneck, Forever 21.

7. Chi Mihari lace-up oxfords, ASOS.

8. Contrast floral print scarf, Forever 21.

Tag...I'm It.

I have been tagged by the wonderful Michiko at Things of Beauty! I'm not going to lie...I love this tag thing... we Leos are notorious for enjoying the spotlight for a bit (though we are always happy to share).
-You have to link to the person who tagged you
- You have to write 7 things about yourself (both weird and normal stuff)
- You have to tag 7 people and link to them in the end of the post and you have to leave a comment on their blog.

1. I guess I already mentioned one thing -- I'm a Leo! And proud, as Leos usually are.


[Leo painting by Peter Jay]

2. My favorite flower is the Peony.



3. I hate bell peppers, with a passion.


4. I laugh a lot. It is almost uncontrollable.



5. Whether at home or my office, I must have a candle burning at all times. My favorite are Pacifica.



6. I like high heels in theory...but hate them in practice. I would live in flat boots or sandals if I could.



7. I love to drive.



I am tagging 7 local Oklahoma blogs:
Stelabird
Grey eye designs
Serenity Now
Sweetheartville
Stitch'n'Sue
Design Crush
High Fashion Girl

Lee Miller: Iconic Artist, Model, and Muse of the 20's

Since she is the inspiration behind my blog header, I figured it was about time to feature images of/by the beautiful, talented Lee Miller here on Nothing Elegant. Miller is famous for being one of Picasso's muses, as well as being the lover and favorite model of Surrealist photographer Man-Ray. Miller was an iconic flapper, and was featured in a famous illustration by Georges Lepape on the March 1927 issue of Vogue.

[Updated] I almost forgot: She was also the first real woman to appear in a Kotex ad for women's menstrual products!

Images of Lee Miller:

Miller herself was also a talented experimental photographer, and she worked in fashion photography as well as documentary photography during World War I.

According to Laird Borrelli: "Countless models have had their careers promoted in the pages of Condé Nast magazines. Far fewer can claim to have been discovered by the company’s founder and namesake himself.

But the day in 1927 that Mr. Nast pulled the 20-year-old Lee Miller from the path of an oncoming car, her career took off.The blond, blue-eyed Valkyrie from Poughkeepsie, N.Y., was photographed for Vogue by Edward Steichen, who in turn wrote her a letter of introduction to Man Ray, with whom she would study and have a tempestuous affair.

The artist wasn’t her only famous lover; Charlie Chaplin, too, is rumored to be on the list. While Miller was in Paris, Jean Cocteau cast her as an armless statue in his movie Le Sang d’un Poète, Pablo Picasso painted her several times (she, in turn, took several photographs of him), and a glass manufacturer cast a champagne goblet from her breast.

Her allure was captured in the words of the photojournalist John Phillips, who called her “an American free spirit wrapped in the body of a Greek goddess.” And in fact, she was a woman of as much substance as style.

In London at the outbreak of World War II, she ignored evacuation orders to photograph the times for Vogue. As a correspondent for the U.S. Army, she shot the siege of Saint-Malo and the liberations of Buchenwald, Dachau, and Paris. "

[Man Ray on the left]

After the war, she gradually abandoned her camera for a rural life in East Sussex, England, as the wife of artist and biographer Sir Roland Penrose. But her exploits live on in Carolyn Burke’s new biography, Lee Miller: A Life (Knopf).

Some of her own photographs taken in Paris:

[From the Lee Miller Archives]