LittleJudy.com

Now Smell This

The next best thing to sampling, buying or collecting perfume is reading about it. What's new, what's being revived, what little gem that you didn't know about is hidden away down at Aedes de Venustas for your next let's-spend-the-mortgage-money-on-fragrance splurge. I'm so loving a blog that I discovered recently called -- and I really do love the name -- Now Smell This.  It's updated daily with (what else?) the author's choice of Perfume of the Day, shopping tips (what's being offered where), and posts about the history of fragrance and the best "noses" in the business.

When they finally figure out how to make a portable fragrance output device (iFOD, 'natch), I will be the first to buy one -- even if Apple makes it.

Revenge of the Stripes

Hilarious article in today's New York Daily News about button-downed striped shirts favored by clubbing 20 and 30-something New York City males:

When most guys in New York want to get lucky, they wear the "Stripey." You know Stripey. It's the goofy-looking shirt that has become as basic as a pair of socks.

Key characteristics: somewhat fitted, vertical lines, the top two buttons undone. Worn with jeans that are just the right level of tightness, not loose enough to scream "Gap!," not tight enough to scream "Gay!"

Columnist Jeff Wiltser makes his riff on the subject a very, very fun read!

Okay, now I'm going back to work...

Celebrity Teddy Bear Auction Features Kenneth Cole Designer Bear

One of my readers wrote in to tell me about a celebrity Teddy Bear auction over at 1-800-FLOWERS.COM. Kenneth Cole, Linda Blair (of "Exorcist" fame) and David Copperfield have designed the bears. 100% of the proceeds goes to Save The Children. But wait, there's more....

Kenneth Cole personally designed his fashionably tailored bear in a black suit with black oxford shoes.  In addition to the bear, the winning bidder will also win a Kenneth Cole watch and the original sketch signed by Kenneth Cole.

The LInda Blair bear spits pea soup and its head turns a full 360 degrees....psych! Just kidding. Actually Linda Blair--who received an Academy Award nomination for her role in the film The Exorcist--is now an advocate for the prevention of cruelty to animals and Linda's Teddy Bear reflects her peaceful philosophy. This cute cub wears a blue cap signed "Love, Linda Blair," sunny yellow shorts and a bright purple shirt with green buttons and the message "Save the Animals" inscribed on the neckline The winning bidder will also receive the original sketch signed by Linda Blair.

Is Modesty Making a Fashion Comeback?

Rats, just when I started doing my Pilates again and getting those washboard abs going I read that it's time to say goodbye to crop tops and booty cleavage and hello to tweed blazers and (I have to bold this) '70s crocheted ponchos!

Fashion reporter Rod Stafford Hagwood of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, writes that "Modesty is all the mode this back-to-school season." This is good news for an old broad with a petite frame like me because that now means I can go back to buying stuff in the juniors department and not look like an idiot. Great way to save some $$s which is something I'm going to be doing more of these days.

Guess I'll also crochet another coupla ponchos from a vintage 70s pattern like the one I made for Leonor.

Read Hagwood's article here.

Here kitty, kitty

My very, very favorite shoes this summer are my red flip-flops with the little kitten heel that I got at Urban Outfitters. You can get them on sale ($19.99 marked down from $28, bubeleh) at UrbanOutfitters.com. You can dress them up, dress them down and shlep around the sidewalks of NY in comfort.

When I was a kid we called them "thongs" but thanks to the popularity of the "barely there" underwear born on the beaches of Brazil, most people stick to calling them "flip-flops."

Of course, if you're a hardcore techie you'll know that in electronics and computing the flip-flop is actually a type of electric circuit known as a "bistable multivibrator" which sounds way kinkier to me than "thong".

In its strictest definition, the thong is actually the two straps on the upper part of the shoe that (barely) hold your foot in place. I'm sure the kind people at Johnson & Johnson look forward to those first few weeks of summer when Band-aids are flying off the shelves as people try to protect the blisters the treacherous thong generates. You don't have to suffer to be beautiful, though. They now make these fabulous clear plastic Band-aids and I've sworn by the liquid bandage "Nu-Skin" since my days as a dancer.

Thong sandals date back to ancient times beginning with leaves, bark, woven grass or animal skin bottoms held to the foot with thongs. The flip-flop as we know it today was inspired by the Japanese Zori sandal that Allied forces brought back to the U.S. after World War II. It gained popularity among California surfer kids in the 50s. There's also a fierce debate between Autralia and New Zealand about the invention of the flip-flop. New Zealanders claim the first flip-flop was the "jandal" invented by Maurice Yock in the 50s.

When I was a kid you could mark the change of seasons by your footwear. Buying the dreaded oxfords or "school shoes" in September, pulling out the winter boots in November, spring was on its way with rain boots in April and it wasn't summer until Mom took you down to Kresge's to buy your flip-flops.

My red sandals with the kitten heel may be the grown-up version of the flip-flop, but they still signal it's summer to me.