My name is Altocat & I am a blingaholic. I have loved jewelry since childhood & I was always begging my mother to let me wear her 50's rhinestone pieces, or, failing that, for money to buy others' old costume sparklers at garage sales. In those days (the mid-late 1970's) no one in the small-town midwest wore such things any more & I could pick up fabulous, dangly earrings & dramatic bracelets that would now fetch good money at an antiques show for a quarter, sometimes less. Sigh.
Once you're hooked on jewelry, it's pretty much impossible to stop loving the stuff, & my inner magpie is still alive & well. To this day, I wear tons of vintage pieces, from costume to fine. Actually, when we were dating, I told Mr. Altocat that I wasn't obsessed with stone size, but if he proposed, he'd better do so with a vintage ring in some form of white metal or the deal was off. He came up with a 1940's platinum & diamond ring (okay, I found it while shopping alone, but he loved the design & agreed to it) so I kept him.
I will freely admit to being a total design snob about new jewelry. Most of the "fine" pieces in my/our price range are utterly boring. I did succumb to the Tiffany key pendant trend this spring, but only after I found a very large sterling one that looks like it could be an actual house key. There is some fun, playful work being done in costume jewelry these days, however, even that tends to be too trend-conscious & imitative for me to plunk down my credit card unless it's by Kenneth Jay Lane or Lulu Guinness. When it comes to accessories, I'm not one to play it safe - I like big, odd-looking pieces, or smaller ones that you look at more closely & exclaim "That's a spider! Eeeew!"
Which brings me to this picture of Delfina Delettrez, heiress, member of the famed Fendi fashion family, & a truly brilliant jewelry designer in her own right. Mr. Altocat & I discovered her jewelry a while ago on a trip to South Beach & now it seems her work is in every fashion magazine I pick up. We wandered into Alchemist, a high-end shop on Lincoln Road, while killing time on our last day in town, & I admired some of the dresses they had for sale, but almost immediately headed over to the jewelry case. Nearly every piece was by Ms. Delettrez & I swooned over her sterling & enamel floral ring. made a bit memento-mori-ish by the inclusion of a tiny skull in the design, her flapper-length strand of cultured pearls spiked with a sterling silver fingertip every so often (the nails are all different colors & can be repainted if the owner is bored with her necklace's manicure) & the piece in this picture, a spectacular sterling silver bracelet in the shape of a spider. Upon opening the spider's back in locket fashion - well, perhaps in poison ring fashion - you discover that she is pregnant; her belly is loaded with cultured pearl "eggs". I tried the bracelet on & wore it around the shop for a while as we chatted with the sales associates, who couldn't have been nicer & admired my antique angel skin coral & diamond ring, an auction find - actually, an amazing score - from a decade ago. Alas, wonderful as they are, most of Delettrez' designs are way out of our price range at this time. The "Black Widow" bracelet pictured retails for $3800. I did manage to find a few of her pieces on Opening Ceremony's website for $190-470, but they don't pack quite the punch that this arachnid delivers.
Ever the bargain-huntress, I recently spotted Martha Rotten's pieces in a local store & they do have a similar creepy-but-very-well-made feel. Skulls, bugs, & eerie baby doll faces abound in Ms. Rotten's work, & prices start at around $38. If you don't live in Baltimore, you can view her work at http://martharotten.com/MarthaRotten/
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Delfina Delettrez
Prince in a scene from "Purple Rain"
Ever watch a movie you haven't seen in over two decades & realize you still remember it almost word for word, shot for shot? That's what happened when my husband & I watched "Purple Rain" on DVD last Saturday night. I found myself singing along, too, until my husband, J, asked me to stop because he'd never seen the film & was hearing many of the songs for the first time.
I can't tell you how many times I saw this film when it first came out in 1984. I'm sure I caught it in the theater at least twice, & on cable... who knows? As for the soundtrack album, of course I had it, plus "Ice Cream Castle" by The Time & Apollonia 6's "Sex Shooter". I am a huge Prince fan, especially of his mid-80's work; J is not. I did convince J to accompany me to one of Prince's live shows a few years ago, which helped him to appreciate the star's music more; it's just not his first-choice sound. When I asked him if we could watch "Purple Rain" last Saturday night, he wasn't terribly enthusiastic at first, but I asked him to please give it a chance, & he agreed. After a while, he found himself getting caught up in the film's story as well as the music. I was in heaven from beginning to end.
What is it about "Purple Rain"? Why does this film still resonate so with me (& with many others, judging from the comments on my Facebook page when I mentioned we'd watched it?) As one who wanted to move to the big city & make it as a performer, the story is the stuff of my youthful dreams, & the costumes are pure mid-80's ruffles-&-hair-gel-for-both-genders fabulous. The acting is fine, especially for a rock-&-roll picture, & the music... well, it's simply the best soundtrack ever. Ever! (Okay, the music in "Pulp Fiction" is great, too, but for me, nothing can top "Purple Rain".)
If it sounds like I'm on a rosy nostalgia trip here, maybe I am, but for many of us growing up in the upper midwest at that time, "Purple Rain" was more than a movie. It was a shout-out to the world that the part of America we lived in wasn't all bland, all the time. Same goes for the "Minneapolis Sound" - the music of Prince, The Time, Apollonia 6, Sheila E, Jimmy Jam, & others. Finally, people could see that Minnesota was capable of producing performers with a lot more edge than Garrison Keillor & that not everyone in that area speaks with a "Fargo" accent.
26 years after "Purple Rain" was released, I am living in an urban area, making a living in the arts, though alas, not as a rock star. I did manage to go dancing at First Avenue once in the early 90's (to a DJ playing the hot techno hits of the day) & had a blast. Two years ago, J & I drove past the club when we were in town for a family reunion, & my heart fluttered a little, just as it would have back in 1984. I still listen to Prince's music on a regular basis, hope to catch his live show again someday, & managed to see The Time perform at Artscape a couple of years ago. They sounded great, Morris Day was handsome as ever, & there was Jerome, holding his mirror. For that evening, all that had changed was that we were in Baltimore, many miles from First Avenue & Lake Minnetonka.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Life can change in an instant
I usually write about fashion & lifestyle topics here, but April 15th is a significant day in our house, & not just because taxes are due. Seven years ago today, I nearly lost my husband. Actually, he was my fiancee at the time; our wedding was set for October 31, 2003.
What happened? J is an architect & was standing on a 16-foot ladder, trying to get onto the roof of a building that his firm was renovating. It was unusually hot that day & the roof hatch was stuck; as he gave the hatch an especially hard push, the ladder came out from under him. Fortunately, someone was with him & called 911 immediately. The stairs were narrow & rickety, so the fire department had to remove him from the building via a fourth-floor window - downtown, at rush hour, no less. The ambulance immediately took him to Shock Trauma, not far from the site of the accident.
I knew nothing of this for several hours. When I got home from work, there were phone messages from his office & mine; people had been frantically trying to get a hold of me. I finally spoke with his firm's secretary & was told he'd been in an accident on the job site. The fact that he'd been taken to Shock Trauma made me (literally) sick to my stomach. As the name implies, you don't end up there unless you're in pretty bad shape. Because we weren't married yet, it took me a couple of hours to get the hospital's authorization to drive downtown & see J. All that time, I had no idea what had happened, only that it was very serious.
When I arrived at the hospital, J was on a gurney, naked except for a sheet. His clothes had been cut off at the accident scene. (Ever the smart alec, he informed me of his clothesless state with a smirk.) I stayed with him into the wee hours of the morning, only leaving the room when the hospital staff needed to x-ray him or (ugh) put his right leg in traction. The results of the x-rays were frightening: he'd fractured his right shoulder & broken the right side of his pelvis in five places, including the hip socket. J is a marathon runner who has qualified for Boston twice. When I asked one of the doctors when he'd be able to run again, she replied, "Run? Let's work on walking first." Hardly what I wanted to hear, and I was glad J was on so much morphine that he missed that comment. Eventually, we decided it was best for me to go home and get some sleep (something which was not going to come that night without the aid of a cocktail!)
J spent a week in the hospital. He could have been operated on within a day or two, but the hospital wanted the best orthopaedic surgeon on their staff to do the surgery, so we had to wait untill the weekend. It was a very long week. I paid no attention to visiting hours, staying far beyond those times, & am sure I made a few enemies on the hospital staff, but I was too worried about J to care. I brought him balloons, food, a plant, an Easter basket, magazines - anything I thought might cheer him up. At first, he was on too much morphine to read; he'd even nod off in the middle of a sentence, sleep for a few minutes, & pick up the conversation where he'd left off, providing both of us with some much-needed comic relief.
Finally, the surgery was done; Humpty Dumpty had been put back together again. The breaks had been very clean & J was in great health before the fall, so his prognosis was as good as it could be. A physical therapist began teaching him to bounce up & down a flight of stairs on his backside - an important skill, since he wouldn't be able to walk for 10 weeks - & he was sent home. Despite the stair-bouncing lessons, he spent his first few weeks at home in a rented hospital bed that took up a substantial portion of our living room. He received in-home physical therapy, spent a lot of time watching movies, & even did some work from home (talk about an odd reason to be telecommuting!) Luckily, he had excellent Worker's Compensation coverage through his firm; otherwise, this medical adventure would have cost us a quarter of a million dollars.
J was a model patient & made an amazing recovery. Our wedding went on as scheduled - we even performed in a play together the month before the Big Day - & he wasn't up to much running on our honeymoon, but snorkeling was fine. He was able to resume running marathons in 2004 & has since been in a few "ultra-running" events as well, including a 50-miler to celebrate his 50th birthday in 2008. The doctors warned him that he may eventually develop arthritis in his right hip, but so far, he's had no sign of that.
Awful as this whole ordeal was for us, we were very lucky. J could have been paralyzed or even killed in such a serious fall. As I mentioned before, we were well-insured, so we were spared the financial ruin that can accompany a medical catastrophe. We also had amazing support from our families, friends, & co-workers, for which we're grateful every day, not just on April 15th.
Oh, & I caught J on a stepladder in the kitchen this morning, which gave us both a good laugh. He has to climb a larger ladder in the show he's currently rehearsing. As long as there's no roof hatch involved, I guess I can deal with that... but I'll try not to think about it.
Monday, March 22, 2010
J. Peterman skirt, Lulu Guinness bag, BR outlet twin set, Ferragamo shoes
Last Friday evening, my husband & I were able to have our first outdoor meal of the year. After the insane amount of snow we had this past winter, dining al fresco was an extra-special treat! We went to b, a cute neighborhood bistro with amazing food. I celebrated by wearing the Ferragamo shoes we both fell in love with on our trip to Florence last December & carrying my new Lulu Guinness bag. The Ferragamos are reproductions of a vintage style originally created for Peggy Guggenheim. They're amazingly comfy & I plan to seek out more shoes by this brand, although my subsequent pairs - like the ones I purchased before splurging on these - will probably have to be clearance sale or secondhand finds!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Gershwin Hotel lobby, NYC
My husband & I are notorious NYC hotel-hoppers. We like to have a safe place to stash our stuff during the day, & lack of bedbugs is always a plus, but we're not in Manhattan to hang out in the hotel room, so we've been known to overlook many things (unbelievably tacky decor, hard beds, & lack of washcloths included) to snag a great rate. This past weekend, we scored big-time, because we managed to land a great deal at a place with style, great service, & a killer location on 27th street (just steps from some of the best vintage/antiques shopping I've ever found!) Unlike most hotels in this price range, the Gershwin isn't decorated in watery pastel shades & generic furniture. Paint colors here are vibrant & many of the furnishings appear to have been hand-selected at flea markets or really, really good yard sales. If we'd had some kitties to pet, we'd truly have been right at home.
Lulu Guinness large icon Jenny bag
Let's see, it has a black cat, a cameo, red roses, & all kinds of other girly stuff on it - yes, it was meant to be mine. I had actually been stalking this bag since last fall & was lucky enough to snag it for 70% off last weekend, both due to persistence & the great sales associates at Lulu's Bleecker Street shop. Now I have my eye on another Lulu bag, but isn't that always how these things go?
NYC umbrellas... well, former umbrellas... 3-14-10
How can you tell you love a place? For us, one way to know that is to visit in absolutely hideous weather & still manage to have a good time. After the nastiest winter we've had in years, & with other stresses consuming way too much of our time & energy, Mr. Altocat & I decided to spend last weekend in one of our favorite cities - New York! The weather was rainy & icky on Friday & even worse on Saturday (add even more rain & high winds, & you get the picture.) Things were clearer on Sunday, but it still rained a bit. Neither one of us is the type to stay in the hotel room & watch TV - we've walked around Manhattan in snow halfway up our calves before - so we put up our umbrellas (we "killed" two over the weekend; they ended up looking much like the ones in this picture) & ventured out. Our weekend was filled with performances (burlesque at the Slipper Room & "The Nose" at the Metropolitan Opera), great food (Zucca, I Coppi, & Bagel Boss), shopping (a Lulu Guinness bag for me, a vintage Armani coat for Mr. Altocat, & a big surprise - a Tiffany key pendant *from* him!), & friends, one old, one new. New York, we love you, and you are a magical place, even in awful weather.
