A new friend?

In addition to contributing to this blog, which is easy, I write and send images, I have been persuaded, nay nagged, to start my own blog. (www.gladysperintpalmer.tumblr.com).

For someone like me who prefers a yellow pad or a drawing pad and pencil this is revolutionary.
It reminds me of reading books at school in a foreign language that I only half understood. I never got the point. Nor do I get it now, though it took a village to explain the concept.

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Summer is here. Well, in San Francisco, it is pouring with rain and pity the poor tourists shivering in shorts and tank tops.

Enough of fashion — for a while. Let’s get real. And consider princes who turn into frogs (I happen to prefer frogs) and fairytale brides who live happily never after.

Once Upon a Time stories have endings hardly envisaged by Hans Christian Andersen – though the brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm – and Lewis Carroll: (M)alice in Wonderland might be smirking.

Last week I wrote about the Little Mermaid who not only did not get the prince, she lost her fish tail and became a cripple.

Then there’s Fergie.

The last-but-one Royal bride to walk up Westminster Abbey was not invited to William and Catherine’s wedding on April 19th. Poor old Fergie fled to Thailand in shame. Whether or not she could have influenced her girls’ taste in hats is doubtful but however misguided, Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, was royally shafted.

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Yuan Yuan Tan in "The Little Mermaid"

A few days ago, finally, I opened a stack of mail that had been piling up during the last hectic weeks and found this letter:

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Palmer,

My name is Lera Auerbach, I am the composer of the ballet “The Little Mermaid” which begins its SF run on April 30th………..

(a sentence about a mutual friend who gave her a fellowship in 1998)

………. My “Little Mermaid” is being filmed by PBS Great Performances and DVD release. Choreography is by John Neumeier – one of the most important choreographers alive. I hope you may be able to attend one of the performances. The dates are April 30, May 1-8.

Best wishes, Lera

I was somewhat occupied in the early part of May but on Mother’s Day, May 8th, my son took me to the last performance.

It was gorgeous. Please look for the PBS programme. Or wait for the DVD. The most beautiful dancing (the little mermaid was Yuan Yuan Tan and exquisite). The sets, the costumes, the lighting breathtaking. And the music, dear Lera, wonderful.

For the moment, you may watch a short video:

P.S. This “Little Mermaid” is definitely not for children.

Written by: Gladys Perint Palmer

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Westminster Abbey was awash with beautiful hats last Friday, mostly by the two important London milliners Philip Treacy and Stephen Jones. They rose to prominence because of their close collaborations with Alexander McQueen (Treacy) and John Galliano (Jones).

Both produce two separate millinery collections, one for clients and for runway.

English women really know how to wear a hat to a grand occasion such as this wedding, the Royal Enclosure at Ascot (horse racing) and Henley Regatta.

However, no woman in her right mind would wear a boar’s head (Stephen Jones for Dior) or a ship in full sail (Philip Treacy).

No one except two, now one – truly brilliant fashion eccentrics.

The late Isabella Blow, brilliant in Philip Treacy.

The late Isabella Blow — and who can forget her with an oversized lobster or a golden eagle on her head? And Anna Piaggi of Italian Vogue who gets away with a Statue of Liberty headdress or a tiny clown’s hat perched above her eyebrow.

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Some people have asked about the poster for our fashion show next week, also used for the invitations. The drawing dates back to 1997.

The woman is Benedetta Barzini on designer Anna Molinari’s S/S 1998 runway. Benedetta was in her fifties and still ravishing. The venue was the Fiera in Milan.

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The daughter of the famous Italian writer Luigi Barzini, Benedetta Barzini was a top New York model in the Sixties. Editor-in-chief of American Vogue, Diana Vreeland, loved her and put her on the cover.

In the early seventies, Benedetta became a journalist, a radical feminist organizer and joined the Italian Communist Party.

Maybe the fact that her film director husband Roberto Faenza left her on the very day she gave birth to twins, had something to do with the choices she made in her life.

In true Italian style she went on to have two more children, became a teacher and still enjoyed modeling…

P.S. Part on an email from Benedetta Barzini to Gladys Perint Palmer, dated April 25 2011:

“Thank you for giving me an ulterior proof of my thoughts about fashion sketches: they capture the shape and spirit of a designer’s intentions and are never vulgar. Never. Usually photography simply imposes the point of view of the photographer/editor above any other consideration. What a great talent it is to be able to draw in few seconds forms, movements, even details…Brava!”

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Happy Easter! Happy Passover! Happy Easter Bonnets! And other fauna.

We start with Milliner Stephen Jones:

Then a chair with a hat (why not):

Then Jean-Charles de Castelbajac and his floral bears:

Twigs at Dior:

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Ever thought you’d see a strip tease in a car park elevator?

Last week the MOMA Car Park posted this notice in the elevator. Aside from being unclear about the concept of the apostrophe, management is asking the public to BARE WITH ME.

No. It’s too cold.

It seems every time I write about Spring or Summer or blossom or bikinis, the weather reverts to winter. At the time of writing this, there was a mini tornado and a blizzard in Marin.

So I will write about winter, and who knows, maybe it will bring on a heat wave?

Brrrr…swimming anyone? The only part of the anatomy to bare, may be the soul?

It was so cold that the seagulls’ wings turned blue

NO COAL is not a plea but a protest against a coalmine

Written by: Gladys Perint Palmer

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I am writing this on April Fool’s Day about April Fools. And you are reading it later which is fairly foolish…

WHERE do I begin?

Won’t comment on American politics. They might invite me to tea.

Dare not mention religion or a God. She might send the devil to tempt me.

Money? So many fools. The biggest must be Patricia Kluge, who got a billion dollar divorce settlement ($1.6 million a week) from John Kluge in 1990. It’s all gone and today she is $23 million in debt (give or take a few zeros). I’ll be quiet – in case she wants to borrow a few bucks.

Travel? Prize Fool is that frequent flyer seen at airports wearing shorts, T shirt and flip-flops in December. I won’t go on, he may ask to borrow Issey Miyake jacket.

Foolproof Media? Trying to boost circulation by mixing culture/celebrities/gossip and getting it all wrong. Editors: read The National Enquirer or The Globe, found at supermarket checkouts. Full of good stuff, all lies. Why confuse a good story with facts?

Best Dressed? (see above)

Worst Dressed? (see above)

The royal family? (see above)

Dysfunctional folk? (see above, notably the royals)

Re-hab-its? (see above)

Talking Heads? Talking through the wrong end.

Fashion? Fools? Art? Not enough space. I’m writing a book on these topics. Publisher ordered me to stop at 400 pages.

Hope you had a splendid April Fool’s Day.

P.S. My favourite April Fool’s hoax was a television documentary about the celebration of the spaghetti tree and the ceremonial harvesting of pasta. On the B.B.C.! Read about it here.

On April 1, Google nearly matched the B.B.C. Read about that here.

Written by: Gladys Perint Palmer

Click here to read more of “Picture This” by GPP

Welcome back from Spring Break! It snowed in San Francisco last week.

Here are a few random thoughts to keep you smiling and focused for the next few weeks before summer arrives (if it arrives).

Maybe soon you can put your umbrellas away?

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It’s Spring Break. Never mind the temperature outside.

It’s time to think of heat, dust, sun, beach and bikinis. Or less.

Believe it or not, all these were displayed on catwalks…

Written by: Gladys Perint Palmer

Click here to read more of “Picture This” by GPP