Marilyn at the Salvatore

When Marilyn sang “Happy Birthday Mr. President” to JFK in 1962,  she was wearing shoes designed by Salvatore Ferragamo. 

The iconic status  had 30 other identically shaped pairs. She wore them in movies, parties and everywhere else she went. 

Now the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum pays homage to Marilyn Monroe with a major exhibition dedicated to her. 

The exhibition connects Marilyn's femininity to fine art. 

Pictures of the her are exposed next to famous art works, as for example, her image with tendrils of hair blowing on a breezy beach beside Botticelli’s famous “The Birth of Venus” from 1484.

You might think it is an audacity to compare the actress to such paintings but after seeing the blond muse with her curvy and half naked-body beside an 18th-century chalk drawing of a sensual nude, I have the feeling, it is not an overstatement.  

It treats Marilyn as an eternal beauty, differently from other exhibitions, where she used to appear merely as a movie star.

“Marilyn” at the Museo Salvatore Ferragamo (until 28.01.2013) Florence, Italy. 

20 seconds pour faire un lit!

Would you survive without a duvet? 

Can you imagine how complicated it was to have a clean and cosy bed a hundred years ago?

(via my ear-trumpet ahsatancox)

Duvets only became popular throughout the world in the late 20th century.

They originated in rural Europe and were made from the down feathers of the eider duck, known for its usefulness as a thermal insulator. 

                

In the mid-eighteenth century, Thomas Nugent, an Englishman on a grand tour then passing through Westphalia (Germany), observed with surprise:

There is one thing very particular to them, that they do not cover themselves with bed-cloaths, but lay one feather-bed over, and another under. This is comfortable enough in winter, but how they can bear their feather-beds over them in summer, as is generally practised, I cannot conceive. (Wikipedia)

Habitat's campaign launching the duvet in the 1970s

"Continental quilt" was the term used when the item was widely introduced into England during the early 1970s. Terence Conran considered the duvet, the best product he has ever sold because it was a symbol of social change: 

We had sold duvets in Habitat stores in Britain and decided to include them in the range when we opened in France. A lot of people were sceptical, because the French were accustomed to sheets and blankets. But I thought we really ought to give it a try. Our promotion ’20 seconds pour faire un lit!’ (20 minutes to make a bed) was a huge success and undoubtedly changed the sex life of Europe.

The bedroom was never the same again. 

            

Duvets reduced the complexity of making a bed: a single covering instead of the combination of bed sheets, blankets and bed cover. You can remove the cover and launder it as often as the bottom sheet and pillow cases. Besides, Duvet covers look beautiful and bring the required warmth we need to rest and feel comfortable.

            

The pictures above are from Christian Fischbacher collection, my favourite duvet covers.  Don't forget that good quality provides wonderful dreams.

If you would like to make a duvet cover yourself, you can find some tips here. 

The Classic Three-Strap Gail

They have conquered Europe this summer. 

The handmade Capri Sandals were created by Amedeo Canfora. 

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis loved them, Maria Callas too. And many other celebrities. 

But what I like about them is that they show that simplicity can be also elegant. 

Flights of Fancy

The Tatton Park is one of my favourite places in Cheshire. The landscaped gardens are stunning and walking through the deer park is breathtaking.

In the third edition of the Tatton Park Biennial (May12-Sep30), the theme chosen is flight. Twenty artists created large-scale outdoor installations. The one in the picture is Olivier Grossetete's magical bridge, which is held aloft by huge helium balloons. 

My imagination takes off when I look at this work. 

New porcelain stoneware

I don't usually like imitations. For example, laminate flooring never achieves the beauty and elegance of wood flooring.

However, this new porcelain stoneware looks natural and is of good quality. It brings warmth and sophistication to the ambience.

Do I have to tell you that it is an Italian product? It is the italians, always the Italians, who have this sense of good taste installed in their genes.

If you like it, have a look here.

The flower of my secret

It is cold and raining outside but, regarding to fashion and design, spring has arrived. Roses, orchids, daffodils and whole gardens appear in dresses, shoes and also in interior design accessories. No doubt that the trend at the moment is a floral explosion.

Blugirl

The Type Case

Type cases were manufactured from around 1890 to the 1960s and used in printing offices to store the various letters of a typeface.

As mechanical typesetting become more common, the need for type cases began to diminish.

Nevertheless, the idea was born: due to the advantages of their arrangement scheme, collectors became interest in them.

And shortly after that, shelves with the same system started to be produced to decorate people’s homes. 

In the 1970’s they appeared in living rooms, kitchens and bedrooms in different sizes and types.

Kids used them to display their small toys, miniature figures or gadgets.

Nowadays they are not very in but we can still find some type cases bringing nostalgia to spaces.



This original type case belongs to Gabi Keller, a powerful 83-year-old lady that travels around Europe in her trailer and collects lots of souvenirs.

Swiss lemon cake

A very easy cake to prepare. My family loves it and guests always ask for the recipe. God save Betty Bossi!

250g butter

250g sugar

5 eggs

2 lemon (zest)

250g flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 pinch of salt

Syrup: 

1 dl lemon juice

100 g icing sugar

Beat the butter and caster sugar in a large bowl. Add the lemon zest and mix well. Whisk the eggs gradually into the butter mixture, beating well between each addition.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Fold it into the cake mixture.

Bake for approximately 60 minutes in a preheated oven (180C).

Let the cake cool and then pierce holes in the cake with a skewer and pour over the syrup.

The syrup is the secret of this cake because it makes the cake moist and sweet.

Bon appetit!

Discovering Terence Conran

I am reading "A Sort Of Autobiography" and discovering the delightful personality of the English designer Terence Conran.

Once asked to describe himself in ten words, Terence answered:

"Ambitious, mean, kind, greedy, frustrated, emotional, tiresome, intolerant, shy, fat." 

And a huge sense of humor, 

I guess...

Navegar é preciso

Navegar é preciso; viver não é preciso.

Foto: Magnolia Brussi

Quero para mim o espírito desta frase, 

transformada a forma para a casar como eu sou:

Viver não é necessário;

o que é necessário é criar.'

Fernando Pessoa