Showroom oh my showroom!

OH MY GOODNESS(the full functional pc version of OMG!)

 I’m prancing…no maybe i’m dancing…or maybe even i’m actually just grinning ear to ear sitting on my blue velvet couch(you know the one…you’ve probably sat or watched someone sit on it while trying on clothes) which has been newly placed in the ever so absolutely positively completely over-redundantly(just the adjectives not the actual place) bestest best ever showroom in NW Portland! Maybe even the history of Portland itself. Well probably not but since this is my fantasy lifestyle and my private boutique i think I have right to say…maybe!:)

 Oh ladies…was I ever completely freaked out of my favorite little sling back pumps over this move. I thought maybe I was doing the wrong thing. Maybe this would never work…maybe..maybe..maybe..maybe. After spending what seemed like my youth on moving everything over I figured “right i’ll be ok now” but these last few days i’ve been in a slump. Everything in piles around me waiting for my maestros hand to just instantly wave the batton of fabulous and have the entire place just whip into shape. Like a ”ta -da” disney magic fashion moment. The big stuff was easy…and big. It is obvious that i’ll have to purge myself of certain pieces of no longer useful furniture…but even that is the easy part. It’s how to make this a “showroom” and not a store that has me spinning into nappy nap time in order to just hide from it all. Then something happened…I just started trying on clothes! It’s amazing what transforms a persons state of mind. I mean you would think that of all people “I” would get this…that maybe what I needed was a little bit of my own fabulousity…a bit of what the doctor(usually me) ordered.

 I have had no time to try on the clothes that I brought back on my last trip as I have been over burdened with the decisoin to make this amazingly transformative move. So tonight was finally that night. I stood infront of the mirror(which has really great placement now btw) and started playing with the clothes. They are absolutely amazing!!! AMAZING!!! Very, Very wearable. Sizing is spectacular with out looking too large on a small or too small on a large. As i’ve always said it is just about a good cut and if that cut will fit your body. These new pieces by Primp in particular just flow and gather and are devine with a belt..ala waist cincher type!

I’ll send out pics this week and post them up on our myspace and facebook. Till then here is a little teaser of how the showroom looks currently so that you can fully appreciate how it will look when you stop by. We have our first event next Thursday for “First Thursday”. If I can wonderwoman my way through it we might just have a fashion show. Don’t hold yor breath too long though. Just getting the phone line up and installed has been a task. Tired…poor fabulous stylist is completely and nearly obliteratingly tired. Atleast though i’m always still fabulous!!

 See ya all soon…online or in the showroom for a private appointment or party. You’re never going to want to leave!

 Kisses,

 Melissa

 

Lady in Red

Lovers in the beginning of blossoming love

“tie me up in ribbons” This could have been the theme of my beautiful La Boheme experience.  Gorgeous shoes laced at the ankle that kept ever so inconveniently(depending on whom you ask) coming undone at every few steps, kept my jovial date quite busy all throughout the eve. I am sure that there could be worse things in life to be the keeper of.  I do atleast have lovely legs!

I decided on a dress. Very casually(the choosing not the dress) and last minute. A floor sweeping  grecian number, low cut front, sculpted at the bosom,  set a color of fine rubies. I have never worn red in my life. If ever there was a night to do so, this was certainly it.  The necklace was a sculpted piece of aquamarine chip set stones. It found home round my neck, between my bosoms, and intwined upon my newly shorn locks….all evening long.  Sometimes beauty equates with uncomfortable moments. The shoes were fun, the necklace was not. For the first time in recent memory my hair was completely down, yet hairsprayed up. My line for the night was “I’m not sure I’ve worn hairspray since 1994 and this damn necklace seems to know it” . Gorgeous jewelry that should also wear the disclaimer…”only for the bob’s and pixies. Long hair need look elsewhere for adornment”

Mr. Allen(my seasons opera partner) arrived handsomely attired in his new tuxedo. A proud purchase that was taliored specifically for him(they came to his office to take his measurements no less!) Making this one more first for me.  I had never(gasp) been formally escorted to an event by a man in a tuxedo before. Enchanting…yes I  believe we can call this evening enchanting. We looked like quite the duo. Nearly a page out of one of those old fashioned movies(or a 007 flick) where the hero and heroine simply exude perfect ease of elegance.  He tying my ribbons when needed. We sipping at champagne and mingling round the room full of lovely friends and colleagues at intermission.  Watching the opera, crying at the end. Some days I wonder if the true show is behind the scenes with the story being the swirl that such enchantment can create. It’s a constant state of romantic and beautiful moments. The opera , the elegance, the champagne.  If only we had both not forgotten a camera. It was definitely a red banner night.

La Boheme was amazing. What a brilliant production of Opera it was. A story of love set amongst a charming tale of artistic struggle during a bohemian period in Parisian history. A time where you might have a better chance to warm yourself by the pages from a story recently penned than earning such a wage to buy the fuel to warm the room in which to write said story. This production had everything. They loved laughed and grieved in truth…all singing their highest notes and kicking their best kicks.The sets were gorgeous, the music melted your heart. There were so many points where I had realized that I had lost track of the tale for my mind and my heart wanted nothing more than to just listen and watch. Setting myself free from the restraints of reading the super titles projected for my convenience.  This to me signifies the depth at which this opera was created. Love flowing from the very lips and finger tips of all involved. Swoon, swoon, swoon!

Another beautiful surprise was the level  of performance.  It was as if there were actors on stage instead of “Opera Actors”. For those of you whom have no idea what that could possibly mean”Opera Actors vs. not Opera , Opera Actors”…one set sings, dances , and acts, and the other set sings, dances, and acts(?). Only the difference for the second set is that their arias seem as if the world is collapsing around them and the only way to save it is to project hand into air grasping at some imaginary heart string hoping that it pulls down their own hot air balloon with which to immediately remove themselves from the angst of the beautiful misery they have been either flung into or chosenly upon! Boheme was the first not the latter. They danced, they sang, they laughed and dittied, and they sobered right up and cried. There was kissing…my oh my was there kissing…and unfortunatly for the poor gal who played the lead there was also death. It is one of the great lines in the tragedy of the human condition and this is “the” heart string that Opera seems to enjoy pulling on over and again. Ahh well…we certainly do not go to the opera to leave feeling like we just shook hands with a convenenient friend. We know that Opera will be strong, mighty and dramatic in such a way that romance could spring between the unlikeliest of lovers and marriages could be proposed by the already much in love. The romance of life’s imaginary yet truthful drama. More intoxicating than any champagne could ever provide!

I should tell you more. I should give you details as to the productions nature and the line of a story much older than we. However I will not. It’s not for me to enchant you by explanation of story line. Opera for me is so much more than the lovers or foes on stage. It is the man on my arm, the friends at intermission, the night air, the sway of the sound, the vindication of that one last scene after which we all stand in ovation for the amazing energy projected quite literally upon our hearts and minds. Beauty in a rare fully realized form. Nearly no more a perfect eve than one shared on behalf of an opera production. It’s time capsuled perfection for me. One day I too hope that Opera will mean the same to you.

Next up…Orphee. One more amazing night of love on stage…one more amazing tuxedo wearing escort….one more amazing gown to adorn.

Mr. Allen(or rather 007)…….hold on to your heart!

 

Melissa

Fashion Gluttons Anonymous

Ever hear the old saying…”too much is just too much”? Yeah me too. However as of today i’m changing that statement to…”as long as it’s fashionable and timelessly unique then it is perfectly ok”. I know I shouldn’t say such things. I know i’m supposed to be stroking the penny pinching good girl, with happy little shopping for the inner soul catch phrases like, “edit, edit, edit!”. But I can’t. This season and this shopping trip as much as I want to be that sophisticated well scaled shopper…. I just can’t do it! I just simply can’t because i’m not sure if in the reality of everything amazing and amazinger(not a real word), if i can actually stop myself from shopping till I literally drop…like pounds of coins into the pretty little fingers of my new and long time favorite designers.

I want everything…well not actually everything as some things are just pee-ew hideous(did they really need that much gunk to trick out that garb?) Yet so much great and greater(actual word) stuff is emerging from these brilliant talents that I hardly know how to contain myself. As soon as my store manager puts money in the bank i’ve nearly already spent it all. Then just as i’m saying to my inner shopping goddess that i’ve bought all that I care to have…something new and amazing seems to pop up. Really, it is enough to make my poor little fashion addled brain go into a spin! Pellegrino…please somebody hand me a pellegrino! Ahhh..better.  

Unfortunatly it  is more than just mere finances that has put me in this troubling place…..it is the luxuriously appointed amount of space in which to house such brilliant goods. My store is a not so huge 550 square feet situated smack in the middle of  a uniquely non shopping district with the “less than fluent in fashion” for my neighbors. Who the hell am I going to unload all of this gorgeous fabrication to anyway?  

Until I can actually find the space to house such things ,or just break my own little hands and learn to “just say no”(Nancy Reagan would be so proud)I am suggesting we start a Fashion Gluttons Anonymous Club. I will immediately be implementing myself as it’s fearless fashionista leader. If only to make sure that I actually attend. We will take tea in vintage porcelian and take notes on hand stamped stationary. Sitting perfectly poised while all the time trying to figure out the inspiration to let go the need to fondle frocks while dreamily seeing how great they will look in our very own closets. Dreamily, dreaming…….… sigh. Yet I wonder? Does this really have to apply to me? Can’t I lead but not have to lead by example(It wouldn’t be the first time in history such a double standard was represented) Besides….I just want to see how dreamily these pieces of art will look in other peoples closets….i’m not looking to necessarily put them in my own over burdened closet of fabulosity(she says with a smirk).  Let’s  just call it something like a fashionista voyuer. 

How did this all start? How did I go from literally taking pieces of merchandise out of my clients hands, redopositing it back into the catalog of the shop, and explaing that a well edited closet was more than merely a friend to their pocket book. I’ll tell you how. It’s the art darlings, and the lovely artists who make it. It’s the amazing collections of amazing concepts that have me all a flutter. Certainly I do my best to keep my closet glutton clear. However….. it is hard not to pack those boxes ,with the address of Eclexion on them,  full of the kind of things that make Santa Claus look like he spent the holiday season with the Grinch!

I’ll try…but on your own behalf you should also try to kick me off the wagon as much as humanly possible. It is after all to your benefit that I have this addiction…uhhmm…I mean affliction. How else could you walk around town so fabulously adorned with the best friend whom casually inquires about your lovely new frock… replying to her obviously desiring question by simply saying… ”There’s only one!”  All the while wearing a pursed lip and satisfied look on your fashionable little glutton face!

Tea anyone?

Melissa

A Fashion Dilema…in Operatic Style

It’s weeks away, but in my land of fashionable happenings, Portland Opera’s opening night of La Boheme on September 25^th, could not be any closer. It starts after the last show ends, but really picks up pace within the weeks before opening night…what am I going to wear?

Oh fashion…the fashion of fabulousness that combines itself with the art of art. Seems perfectly, perfect to me. (yes I know I’ve started a redundant chain) Being that the overall aesthetic of life is my actual job…I too take this quite seriously when it comes to my own appearance. How to be just the right amount of fantastic with out falling into the category of far too made up? It is the Opera after all…we could get wild here. Unfortunatly though(for my fanciful taste) we do live in casually done up Portland.

Case in point. Today as I roamed the rambles of Bangkok’s weekend market looking for new frocks for the shop, my mind was also in quick pursuit of the “perfect” dress for this upcoming event.  A new friend…one whom I’m showing the town….Jack Allen of the radio station “All Classical”, will be my escort for the evening . I don’t want to overshadow him by being too done up, but also want to keep to my season by season track record of showing myself off in fantastic gowns. Considering that I am the boutique owner in the crowd, it seems appropriate for me to show a little of my fashionable sophistication.  Which now leads me back to the story of Bangkok and the Weekend Market.

I was in my new favorite designers boutique, and spied “the” perfect dress. Tempted by the shop owner and designer I tried it on…big, huge, giant, mistake. It was a dream…a dream so amazingly elegant it could nearly double as a wedding dress…if the bride was so chicly inclined. It seemed nearly overkill…or is it? It is after all the opening night, of the opening opera, of Portland Opera’s season, “Love and Marriage”. La Boheme is a romantic love story and this dress definitely has romance written all over it. It certainly puts to shame the sexy, but much more casual dress, I had been considering wearing when last season had ended. However, maybe it is the kind of dress that should be saved for that one night when everyone will be watching….when I can walk around like a cake topper …awaiting the ooh’s and aww’s of my adoring public(hey who ever said we woman dressed to to blend into the walls)whenever in the future that night might be.

Oh what to do…….what to do?

At this point the only thing I can do is buy the dress, put it in my closet, and find the perfect night to wear it. Maybe that is September 25th 2009 on the arm of Jack Allen. Or maybe it is a later date in a later part of my life. Which brings me to another fashionista point….buying with future investment in mind. When is it more like stuffing your closet just to have the comfort of pretty things to look at?

I’ll be getting back to you on that topic next. Till then. Consider the arts gals. It is one of the most amazing ways to find yourself stepping into those big girl pumps of your dreams…and the dresses that obligate themselves for such events aren’t too shabby either.

I’ll update you on the dress….and the night at the opera. Nothing like anticipation of the fabulous to get a girl all gushy and excited!

kisses…

Melissa Joliene

want to have a great reason to wear that fancy frock you’ve been hiding…

A Fashionable Life!

It is strange to sit here contemplating how to entertain you all best by choosing a “paint by numbers” template. As I am a perfectionist in all things visual(hence the title of globe trotting fashionista) I have taken exactly 2 hours to do this. I have plopped in the image…taken out the image…plopped in the image…taken out the image…and on! So here we are today. I can not promise you that tomorrow this will be the “one” but really in life when do we ever find “the one”?

Oh don’t let me get you down with my “where is my sweet lover when I need one” issues. This is supposed to be fun. Catty silly fashion chat fun. I’ll be slinging the poo and dishing the bits that make you go…hmmm…yumm…and the proverbial…ahhh!

Photo’s..interviews…mind ramblings of little old me. It’s more than just about the store, it’s about how you live your life in those clothes that you take from the store. Maybe it’s not even about “those” clothes but more how the experience of uniqueness defines your significant character. We are after all as individual as we care to be. 

Ohhhh noooo…don’t let me loose in that line or else were all going to be wearing prayer beads and chanting to whom ever the fashion god’s see fit.

Before I start to chant…be fabulous in everything you do. It’s the only way to truly be you!

kisses,

Melissa