I've missed you

The view from my sitting room at 7.30pm this evening.  You can't see it here but it's absolutely pouring with rain.  It's been raining relentlessly all day long.
Firstly, I must apologise for being such a rubbish blogger.  There was a time when I was posting once, sometimes twice a day but at the moment I've managed one a week at most.  I've had too much on to be able to give it the time I'd

A belated thank you

Husam el Odeh
I recently went to my friend Husam's studio warming.  I blogged about it at midnight so Husam wouldn't have seen what I'd posted.  Later the same morning I was woken by my postman with a surprise 'sign for' parcel.

I love surprises and this was totally unexpected

I am over the moon with my present - a silver spoon encrusted in raw crystals from Husam's new collection.  Mary -

Friday quotes - Brigitte Bardot

"I've been very happy, very rich,very beautiful, much adulated,very famous and very unhappy"
Brigitte Bardot(b. 1934)

French actress, model, singer and international sex symbol Brigitte Bardot was one of the most beautiful and iconic women in the world.

At eighteen she married film director Roger Vadim and four years later caused a scandal when he cast her in And God Created Woman.  

Mad about red and orange

My favourite colour has always been red.  I also love orange.  Both work well with my pasty English complexion.  Amazingly I only have a handful of pieces in red left and I own one bright orange sarong that I bought in Sri Lanka.
The Actor and I are off on holiday in June and I can't justify buying anything new, although I have lots I haven't really worn as our summer's have been so crap here.

Friday quotes - Elizabeth Taylor

Photography by Richard Avedon

"It's not the having, it's the getting"
Elizabeth Taylor(b. 1932)
Legendary Hollywood star Elizabeth Taylor was once voted The Most Beautiful Woman in the World.  Married eight times to seven husbands, most famously Richard Burton who she married twice.  She needs no introduction.  Here are some of my favourite quotes.

"Everything was handed to me - looks, fame,

Friday quotes - Salvador Dali

"At the age of six I wanted to be a cook.At seven I wanted to be Napoleon.My ambition has been growing steadily ever since"
Salvador Dali(1904-1989)
I was as thinking of doing a fashion designer for this Friday's quotes but I always go with whatever pops into my head first.  The Actor are going back to Catalonia in the summer and I've been looking at pictures of when we were last in Cadaques

Friday quotes - Vivienne Westwood

"You have a much better life if you wear impressive clothes"
Vivienne Westwood(b. 1941)
Vivienne Westwood is one our greatest fashion designers.  She is famous for bringing punk and new wave to the mainstream.
With her ex-husband Malcolm McLaren she owned the influential Kings Road clothing shop, variously named SEX, Seditionaires, Let It Rock, Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die and World's

Friday quotes - Mick Jagger

Photography by David Bailey
"God gave me everything"
Mick Jagger
(b. 1943)

Mick Jagger needs no introduction, one of the most influential frontmen in the history of rock 'n' roll.  The lead singer of the Rolling Stones is a music legend.  And wasn't he gorgeous?!  Here are some of his quotes.

"I came into music just because I wanted the bread.It's true. I looked around and this seemed like

Friday quotes - Marlene Dietrich

"I dress for the image.Not for myself, not for the public,not for fashion, not for men"
Marlene Dietrich(1901-1992)
Hollywood legend Marlene Dietrich was born in Germany in 1901.  During the 1920's she acted in silent films in Berlin before her role in The Blue Angel brought her international fame and a Hollywood contract with Paramount.  Marketed as Germany's answer to Greta Garbo she became

Show you my wardrobe - Part eleven

Vivienne Westwood's Portrait Collection, AW90-91
I've found lots I haven't seen for years in my wardrobe.  Some things have been hidden on hangers for ages.  This was under two other things.  I love my Vivienne Westwood corset although I can barely squeeze into it at the moment.  It was a present from a friend after the show.  I was mad on Westwood.  I also had the shorts and the boots but

Friday quotes - Frida Kahlo

"I don't paint dreams or nightmares.I paint my own reality"
Frida Kahlo(1907-1954)
I am a great admirer of Frida Kahlo and her work and have always wanted to do a post on her.  There has been so much written about Frida there is no point me writing something from scratch so I have incorporated sections of text found on www.fridakahlo.com and www.fridakahlofans.com to accompany the quotes and

A quote for New Year's Eve

"The only way to spend New Year's Eve is either quietly with friends.or in a brothel.  Otherwise when the evening ends and people pair offsomeone is bound to be left in tears"
W. H. Auden(1907-1973)

Friday quotes will resume next week
I shall be taking Auden's advice and having some drinks at home with The Actor, Mrs Jones and Giles.  We might pop to a friend's party two doors down.  Gone are

Christmas quotes

"I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six.My mother took me to a department store and he asked for MY autograph!"
Shirley Temple(b. 1928)

"The supreme court has ruled that there cannot be a nativity scene in Washington DC.  This wasn't for religious reasons- they couldn't find three wise men and a virgin"
Jay Leno(b. 1950)

"The one thing women don't want to find in their stockings

Friday quotes - Tallulah Bankhead

"Nobody can be exactly like me.Sometimes even I have trouble doing it"
Tallulah Bankhead(1902-1968)
I read Tallulah Bankhead's autobiography when I was ten.  I loved her dry sense of humour and strong character.  She was a very talented actress, personality, bon vivant and later talk show host.
Tallulah famously lived at the Algonquin Hotel in New York, in Hollywood and London.  Her parties

Friday quotes - Diana Vreeland

"You gotta have style.  It helps you get up in the morning.  It's a way of life.  Without it you're nobody.  And I'm not talking about a lot of clothes"
Diana Vreeland(1903 -1989)
Diana Vreeland was the most influential magazine editor of the last century. Working as fashion editor at Harper's Bazaar and Editor-in-Chief of American Vogue, she was described as "The century's most formidable

Friday quotes - Cher

"A girl can wait for the right man to come along, but in the meantime it doesn't mean she can't have a wonderful time with all the wrong ones"
Cher(b. 1946)
I love these vintage pictures of Cher.  I think she's an amazing, strong woman.  Cher's been around for so long, she's like an institution.  I also think she's a very good actress and I've really enjoyed her films particularly Moonstruck,

Friday quotes - Hedy Lamarr

"I have not been that wise.  Health I took for granted.  Love I have demanded, perhaps too much and too often.  As for money, I have only realised it's true worth when I didn't have it"
Hedy Lamarr(1913-2000)
Hedy Lamarr was one of Hollywood's most beautiful women.  A star that possessed great beauty and brains,  she invented frequency hopping which has gone to to allow wireless communication

Friday quotes - Katharine Hepburn

"If you obey all the rules you
miss all the fun"
Katharine Hepburn(1907-2003)
I've always adored Katharine Hepburn, she's strong, intelligent, witty and beautiful.  What more could you want in a woman?  Oh, and I love her wardrobe.  Here are some of my favourite quotes from the wonderful Ms Hepburn.

"When I started out I didn't have any desire to be an actress or to learn how to act.  I just

Friday quotes - Zsa Zsa Gabor

"How many husbands have I had?  You mean apart from my own?"
Zsa Zsa Gabor(b. 1917)
Zsa Zsa Gabor has some great one-liners.  Married ten times Zsa Zsa obviously has an appreciation for men.  She also loves diamonds, furs and it seems poodles, Yorkshire terriers and Persian cats.  She has that cartoon-like style of Hollywood glamour and a life of excess that never fails to amuse me. They don't

Friday quotes - Joan Collins

"The problem with beauty is that
it's like being born rich and getting poorer"
Joan Collins(b. 1933)
I've always been a huge fan of Joan Collins, she's a British institution.  Joan looks amazing, she's funny and she has balls.  I think she's fabulous.  When her first book came out I bought it immediately - who wouldn't want to know Joan's tips for looking good?

One of my dream nights out