ELSA...

The other day Liselotte Watkins posted this scan of a profile on Elsa Peretti and the photograph, no - she, stopped me in my tracks. Then I read on. The first sentence is;

"She is a woman of almost awesome chic, looking as dazzling in a beat-up men's fedora as she does in a Halston ballgown."

The first thing I thought was I wanna look dazzling in a beat-up men's fedora, why can't I look dazzling in a beat-up men's fedora?!

The second thing I thought was how is it possible that Elsa Peretti somehow slipped quietly out of my mental archive of inspirational style icons, languishing as a vague memory of Tiffany bean pendants. And talking of those pendants, you have to admit that the simple organic shapes of her designs for Tiffany haven't dated at all. They are indeed timeless, as they say.

And the third thing is that thanks to Liselotte (thanks Liselotte!) I now know the scan is from a book called The Fashion Makers, published in 1978 and written by Barbara Walz and Bernadine Morris. And it's available second hand for not very many dollars amazingly. Very inspiring.

A few more pics of Elsa I turned up...

I'm off to stamp on my fedora a few times and perfect that steady gaze before I segue into the Paloma Picasso 1970s era phase I can feel coming on after this.

{photos: from top: Helmut Newton, Corbis, Jack Robinson, Hilda Moray}