October | 2015 | CHÂTEAU DES RÊVES

Talking strictly Fashion and Glamour here!

Suddenly I feel nostalgic of a bygone era of elegance and romance, perhaps it is because lately lmy friends and I have been talking about our parents … .Well, we are always talking about our parents actually, reminiscing moments forever engraved inside of us, just a little dusty and hidden in the deep folds of the mind … missing and longing, even for the ones that are still with us, the memories of them, young and strong, stars of their own lives, not yet relegated to the corners by debilitating illnesses or by the darkness of games played by their minds that make them forget everything they once loved, created and dreamed of…

A time when it was ok to be feminine and delicate at the same time of being strong and smart… Vintage Dior, 1963

A time of hats... Vogue 1960 — A time of hats… Vogue 1960

Cary Grant — A Time of gentlemen opening doors and bringing flowers… at least in the movies !

A Time when it was beautiful to have curves and charm…

A time of dancing…. The magic of Fred and Rita!

Glamour! — A time of glamour and more glamour!

A time of seduction and mistery ! Christian Dior 1950

Cary Grant and Grace Kelly in “To catch a Thief”

A time of beauty and femininity! Christian Dior 1950s by Philippe Poitier

Christian Dior, Harper's Bazaar 1951 — Christian Dior, Harper’s Bazaar 1951

Exquisite times! Photography by Gordon Parks

A time of gloves! Christian Dior, 1956 Anybody could wear this right now, without alterations, it is perfection, from color to design. The only thing we wouldn’t see is that horrible linoleum floor!!

Sean Connery, Mr. James Bond — A time when men didn’t shave their chest hair! Thank you.

I know all past times were not necessarily better, but children have a way sometimes to rescue the best of their past in order to continue dreaming… Or in order to survive.

I had to add a few days after sharing that I hope everybody understood that I am talking strictly about Fashion, Style and Glamour! The illusion, the perception, the memories through the eyes of a child. And every time we catch a glimpse of an old movie on reruns, it brings us back to that moment, glancing through our mother’s magazine pages and being in awe of the beautiful ladies in hats and gloves, cladded in fabulous designers’ dresses, dreaming of the time we could wear something as feminine and as glamorous as that! (and only for that reason I’ll add a couple of pictures more… like I need an excuse to use more pictures!)

When my kids were little I use to drive my bicycle everywhere and sometimes I took them with me sitting behind directly on the grill… Oh, my … only the thought of it sends chills down my spine and through my whole body!… It was a time of no helmets and no bicycle paths… we didn’t overthink things as much back then, but some, we definitely should have!

The one who shared those rides with me the most was my little piggy, the youngest of them all, who at the time was going to a Preschool called “Louis Pasteur”.

One day I arrived to pick him up and found him standing at the door with his little lunchbox waiting for me, very entertained in conversation with the watchman, the school’s security guard who stood there every day and at all times.

As I approached them he started telling me everything about their conversation and introduced me to his friend – Mommy, this is my friend Louis Pasteur! – he said very proudly and excitedly, I smiled and said hi, but tried to correct him about the confusion. He wouldn’t have it. The watchman WAS Louis Pasteur to him. He had seen him every single day, at all hours standing there, guarding the School, so he “knew” that was “his” school, Louis Pasteur’s School! I had to live it alone. Not worth destroying such cuteness!

The best moments for me turned out to be not so good for him... — best moments in life

Many years later, he told me that he was actually terrified with traffic and the way I rode, sitting there on my bike, in the middle of that traffic and noise, completely exposed… while I thought he was enjoying it …. suddenly one of my sweetest memories was now a horrible one of child endangerment and child abuse! … I wish I could go back in time, hold him so tight against my heart and change many, oh, so many things, so he would never have to be scared again… at least not because of me…

and now she's coming to pick me up! — …and on top of everything, now she’s coming to pick me up again in that bloody bicycle!

If I could go back in time... — If I could turn back time…

Memories that fall out of nowhere, like leaves in Autumn, surprising and delighting us, just not in this case anymore… and I thought, that maybe if I wrote about it, I could possibly…. I don’t know what I thought… but we don’t get do-overs in life, do we?…