A Man Dies, and Takes a World With Him

My father-in-law, 90 years old, died last night. He managed to live to such old age with grace and dignity, with humility and modesty, despite the ailments he suffered from in his last years. I've never heard him complain, or say a bad word about anyone. Gentle to the end, he found his peace at last.
He was a holocaust survivor, like many of his generation. The war destroyed his community, family, and home. His disastrous years as a slave labourer in the Hungarian army did not turn him into a bitter man, but into a hard working, quiet and reflective individual.
In his death I find the sadness not only of the beloved father of my husband, but that of a world gone by. One that is slowly and continuously being forgotten, as one by one the people in whose memory the old world still lives are dying, and soon there will be no one left to remember it.
This was the world he knew:

Women's Corner

In honor of all the fine ladies who frequent RM, I've dedicated one small rack for women's items. Men, please forgive me.
Now the ladies can browse for themselves while their men enjoy their own selection.
So far all the items are in small size. In the window there is a fabulous short and naughty AX (Armani Exchange) skirt with golden zippers size 28. It's waiting for that special woman who dares to be sexy. Come and try it on. It's worth $50 to have this wrap around your thighs.

While you're at it, look at this blue iridescent duo, hand made glass oysters. Who could resist the vibrant colour and delicate lines? They can be yours forever. Priced at $15 for the pair or $10 each.

The Lion Whisperer

Unrelated to fashion or clothes, but compelling in every other way, to those among us who adore the feline species in all their aesthetic glory. Watch this man play with his beloved friends, and marvel. I can't get that kind of love from my own miniature versions at home unless I force them into submission, and where is the joy in that? Watch and be envious of the enormous privilege this man has in entering nature's best.

Dame Maggie The Great

I've been gorging lately on youtube period movies. It is difficult to find one without Maggie Smith, but don't get me wrong, I'm definitely not complaining, quite the opposite. It's always a delightful surprise to find her in the cast in one more part where she gets the best lines, costumes, monologues and hairdos. What a magnificent woman!
Watch this atypical performance:

The Hour

This brilliant show is the British equivalent of Mad Men.
The Hour tells stories of the intrigues and betrayals within the musty, shabby corridors of the BBC in the middle of the 20th century, much like the period of Mad Men, but in London rather than New York, with all the subtleties you could imagine of the differences between the two, and the similarities.
The clothes and decor, accents and manners, the politics, the smoking and drinking, the sexism and racism and the beginning of the emancipation of women in the workforce and in bed.
Fabulous writing, immaculate acting, music to die for. Even though it's in colour, it could very well be in black and white, so Noir in style and manner: smoke in each frame as the alcohol swishing in glasses with every new discovery of the dirty things that go on behind closed doors.
It's sophisticated, rich, juicy and oh so very retro. What's not to love?

New Quote

Measuring Success:

A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.
A successful woman is one who can find such a man

Lana Turner

Spring Around the Corner?

So they say. I'll believe it when I see it. In the meantime, we're sloshing around the snow puddles, trying not to slide into them.
However, here at RM, I'm clearing space for those fab spring items screaming at you to let them go. Clear your closets and let them be renewed - bring your excellent spring clothes to me.

Wintery Quotes

“Winter is not a season, it's an occupation.”
― Sinclair Lewis
Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright.

People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy.
Anton Chekhov

Clearance Sale

Clearing winter selections, come get the good deals at RM on coats and sweaters, pants and jeans, suits and shoes.

Nina The Great

Who among us can feel as hard as she did, about everything and everybody?
Watch her here, look at that face, that graceful queenly body, the fingers on the piano sinking softly into your heart, and feel it all:

January's Wintery Bite

Winter is back, after a few years break. We have been spoiled with mild ones for a while. The renewed immersion into this biting dry freezing air, slushy slippery roads, salty sidewalks and endless layers of clothing obscuring shapes and faces - a rude awakening.
Still, there is beauty to be found in the snow peppered air on a quiet street at night time, the clean whiteness of fresh snow, and the brightness of the sun when it decides to emerge and give us a brief respite from grey.

Men in Skirts - What???

This ridiculous thing is from the recent London Fashion Week.
What are they thinking? are there not enough beautiful things you can create for men to wear and just have to copy women?
It's not enough that they have been putting women in boyish clothes, and bodies, to obscure their femininity, now they have to confuse the guys and make everyone look like hermaphrodites?
It's not funny, witty or playful as the reviewers try to proclaim, it's just plain stupid. The game of the sexes, mixing up the genders and kinky sexuality has been done to death and is all great, but fashion is business, supposedly.
I love fashion, but this doesn't make ay sense whatsoever, artistic, pragmatic, or beautiful.
The designer is one J.W. Anderson. Here is another:

A New Quote

"One cat leads to another"
Ernst Hemingway.

I had no idea, I thought he was a dog person. There's even an illustrated biography about him and his cats. Go figure.

Photo for the Soul

Have you heard of Margaret Courtney - Clarke? She is a superb photographer.
Check her gallery here and let it touch you too.

Boot Fashion, Boot Passion

I LOVE boots.
There's nothing that says "I'm alive" more than a good pair of boots. To say nothing about how they can make or break your look.
There are boots, and there are boots.

Today the right kind, two new different pairs, are in my window:
This is a special edition JPG (Jean Paul Gaultier, if I must spell it out), laces in front, zipper in the back for comfort:

And this one, by Good Year, half laces in front, half on the side: