Crowning Glory

As suggested by our beloved Toby Worthington, wouldn't this charming chapeau have been the perfect finishing touch to our Easter ensemble?

Pink on Parade

Robbie Ross of the Jewel Box Revue, ca. early 1960's (via Queer Music Heritage)

British fashion designer Enid Boulting, 1961

Balenciaga, 1965

TJB, Easter Sunday, 2011

Basic Black

Balenciaga, of course.

A Glamorous Life

In a grand, glamorous tradition...

Cristobal Balenciaga

Baron Nicholas "Niki" de Gunzberg

Gore Vidal

Hubert de Givenchy

Van Day Truex

Michael Greer

Roy Halston

We present, back by popular demand, Merle Bassett: The New York Years.

Who Wore it Best?

Have a Smokin' Sunday!

Come into Our World...

...just dress accordingly.

Life According to Gloria

"Chic? It is absolutely innate. I was born with it. Chic cannot be taught."

"I've never worn costume jewelry in my life. It's really very self-defeating. Why should a man buy a woman real jewelry when she wears false pieces?"

"I do not follow fashion. I believe in consistency."

"Elegance is in the brain just as well as in the body and in the soul. Jesus Christ is the only example of any one human having possessed all three at the same time."

"I didn't make up all this legend stuff, somebody else did. I think everyone envisions me sitting at Alexandre's all day, picking out beautiful clothes from passing courtiers. My God, can you imagine the boredom."

- Gloria Guinness, as quoted in The Power of Style by Annette Tapert and Diana Edkins

The Best Dressed Women in America

Legendary socialites Babe Paley and Gloria Guinness. If they ever saw the likes of Paris Hilton today, they'd likely shudder in demure disgust.


BABE PALEY PHOTOGRAPHED FOR VOGUE IN THE 1940'S


GLORIA GUINNESS & DAUGHTER DOLORES, BOTH IN BALENCIAGA, 1957


BABE PALEY, 1959

TWO FACES OF GLORIA: IN HAUTE COUTURE (L) AND IN HER BELOVED PUCCI PANTS (R)

Look Into Your Cristobal

We've been thinking of Balenciaga a lot lately. Dreaming of sack dresses and ball gowns, ruminating on standaway collars and perfectly boned suits.

Cristobal Balenciaga was a serious, dedicated master of his art who appreciated elegance and beauty; and certainly reflected these ideals himself. When he closed his house in 1968, his clientele truly felt that their rarified, precious world had ended -- and, indeed, it had.