A good speech should be like a woman's skirt: long enough to cover the subject and short enough to create interest - Churchill

Dearest Readers,

I am back from my January hiatus. I am not completely sure where that month went to.

Anyways I am back to worrying about how to wear my vintage collection.

Recently I have been invited to a Valentine's Day date at the Smithsonian in Washington. While I am sure to have a wildly romantic day wandering the halls of art at the National Gallery. I found myself worried about what to wear (this does not surprise anyone who has meet me). The big problem is that February in Washington can be rather cold (partially this year it seems) and the Smithsonian is kept between 66 to 72 degrees. Meaning you will have to lug a heavy coat around.

That was until I went to my favorite sale at my favorite vintage shop today. There I found a full length wool sweater skirt. I feel in love. It is perfect of a day at the Smithsonian. It is long enough to keep me warm going from museum without a long coat and not so heavy that I will turn in to a puddle in front of Monet's Artist's Garden at Vetheuil.

Below are some ways to style a long black skirt with eye of an artist.

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes... Make your mistakes, next year and forever. ― Neil Gaiman

My Dearest Readers, I am one of those rare women who truly love New Year's Eve. I think it started with a secret. I would spend New Year's Eve as a child with my Aunt Elia while my parents went out. I always thought Aunt Elia was horribly glamourous with large diamond on one hand and a diamond cocktail ring on the other and on New Year's Eve she would let me stay up far past my bed time and watch the ball drop. It was our secret. Consequently there has always been something a little naughty about New Year's Eve. You can drink a little more than you should, wear shoes a little higher than you normal would, and skirts just bit shorter than you have any right to. Below is my perfect new years.

The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live. - George Carlin

I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas.

I love shopping for perfect gift (which I start in August) but I hate wrapping those gifts. I love the cocktail parties but I hate having the stand in cold houses in strappy shoes. I love the little twinkle lights but I hate when one light bulb goes out and the stand on the top of the tree blinks like bad night club.

But beyond all I love the traditions to the point I may have become a Victorian.

"Candy is Dandy but Liquor is Quicker" Ogden Nash

Dearest Readers,

The best cocktail I ever had was called a Glass Window. I found it at a bar called the  The Gin Joint  in Charleston, South Carolina. I have dug through old books and the deepest corners of the internet and I can't find a recipe. All I know is that it had absinthe and herbs in it and a lady would only need one (lets leave it at I may not be a lady anymore if I could find it again).

Why am I telling you this? One, because I hope someone knows how to make them and two, because today is National Repeal Day when in 1933 Ohio, Pennsylvania and Utah ratified the 21st Amendment by state ratifying conventions. 

For those who have forgotten those later amendments the 21st repealed 18th amendment and prohibition. 

To celebrate this achievement of the states. I have found some recipes for some more famous cocktails.

"The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest" - William Blake

10 Things I am Thankful for this year:

10) Instagram: Becase everyone needs 100 photos of my back yard and kitten

9) Peter Capaldi: I cant pronounce his name but he is making me excited about Doctor Who again

8) The Return of James Spader: Oh my God James Spader is back except he is fat and bald (here is a pretty picture from the late 1980's).

7) Lois Long: I named my shop after her and she is my hero (her and AS Eddington) 

6) Pottery Bitch on Antiques Roadshow: Besides the education I love her complete snobbery. I am learning.

5) Diane Keaton and Woody Allen: One of the great Hollywood love stories just more awkward and nervous (much like my relationships)

4) Texts from Baker Street: no matter how horrid you day is Sherlock and John will make you laugh.

3) Paris Tea: it feels like elegance in a china cup.

2) LL Bean Boat and Totes: To be honest I run the shop out of a blue Boat and Tote with my monogram.

1) All of you! and I am going to give you a early present everything in the Shop is 25% off. 

CODE: THANKSGIVING

Sincerely, 

Lipstick

"[A good girl] didn't dance the Tango, she didn't smoke and she didn't wear Shalimar"

Dearest Reader, 

"Flapper" was defined by  Joshua Zeitz in Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern "the notorious character type who bobbed her hair, smoked cigarettes, drank gin, sported short skirts, and passed her evenings in steamy jazz clubs, where she danced in a shockingly immodest fashion with a revolving cast of male suitors.” 

I was born for this era but since I born in a world of computers and i use the holidays as an excuse to get out my beaded dresses and play pretend. 

For those who would like to learn here are some pointers:

1) Dress yourself and your room:

Flapper dress from the early 2000's

coming soon

$60

(Poster from the Timeless Images Show years ago that I found in a friends attic)

2) Learn the latest dance steps (twerking is not dancing)

1920's Flapper dancing the Charleston

Flapper Doddle

$15

(on a personal note I just found Flapper Doddle a few weeks ago and I am obsessed with her shop - all my friends are getting Christmas presents from her)

3) Smell like Zelda Fitzgerald not Taylor Swift (Shalimar can make the best good girl seem bad)

Shalimar Parfum 1oz

Nordstrom 

$325

4) Read the classics (both Gatsby and Vile Bodies) and then watch the movies

Book Cluctch with hand done paper cutout art

Coming Soon to Sincerely, Lipstick

5) Add something to your day that makes you feel as my grandmother says "fancy"

Erica Weiner

No longer available 

Sincerely, 

Lipstick

Apologies and Excuses

Dearest Readers,

My sincerest apologies for my lack of anything during the last few weeks.

I was diagnosed with a semi-serious (I consider anything less then cancer semi) illness and have been too exhausted to do anything.

I am being to gain back my strength.

Instead of working on the shop I have been crafting.

So, be prepared to see bunches of new creative things as I get better.

Sincerely,
Lipstick