Sinuous

It's World Art Nouveau Day, you say..?

Well, if you insist!

Hugely influenced by both the Arts and Crafts movement and the style known as Aestheticism in the late 19th century, and definitely a la mode in the heady years of la Belle Epoque, a taste for massively over-stylised curlicues, swags and carving, sinuous, sculptural, organic shapes, arches, curving lines, gilding, hammered metal, enamelwork, and sensual depictions of nature emerged at the turn of the 20th century - and the world went mad for it.

Ooh la la!

Time to put the finishing touches to the Pride outfits

This weekend, I am mostly dressing casual...

...just like today's birthday girl, New Zealand-born Australian operatic soprano Frances Alda (born Fanny Jane Davis, 31st May 1879 – 18th September 1952)!

Amen, sister

Looks, Looks, Looks

[click any pic to enlarge]

Looks, looks, looks
No, it's not very hard to make history
Looks, looks, looks
Just some cavalry and a good uniform that fits in places
Where everyone tends to look and marvel
At the way you lead them on and
Look and marvel at the way you win because of
Looks, looks, looks
As long as you're long on looks
- Sparks (1975)

Yes, the Met Gala 2024: The Garden in Time has given the rich and the famous and the not-so-famous another chance to show off to the world again...

Above are some of the "looks" that stood out to me - from top left: Zendaya, Wisdom Kaye, Demi Moore, Ugbad Abdi, Gwendoline Christie, Gigi Hadid. I don't even know who the fuck some of these people are (and hardly recognised most of the parade of so-called "celebrities" on show)!

Adriaantje

Photo by Sir Cecil Beaton ([click to enlarge]

The divine Miss Audrey Hepburn would have been 95 years old today.

All hail!

Adriaantje (Audrey) Kathleen Ruston-Hepburn (4th May 1929 – 20th January 1993)

Professional cad and bounder

Heavens. It would have been the centenary of the remarkable "professional cad and bounder" Leslie Phillips, suavest-of-the-suave lotharios in the "Carry On" and "Doctor" film series, and on telly in Casanova '73, who carved out a later career portraying gentlemen and authority figures, always with his inimitable clipped accent and slightly "wink-wink-nudge-nudge" demeanor - and of course, the customary, breathy catchphrases "Ding, Dong...", and "Hell...oh!"

A true "national treasure".

Read my tribute on the occasion of his death in 2022.

Read the British Comedy Guide tribute on his centenary.