The Luxe Chronicles

Happy Weekend!!

Yes indeed Ms. Hepburn, I too am bursting with enthusiasm at the thought of the weekend! A happy weekend to all! May you enjoy it fully.

Sincerely,

The Luxe Chronicles

Meditations On Language

This is shaping up to be the Summer of my discontent. Thanks to a snafu relating to a passport application submitted many, many, many weeks ago, I've had to postpone a much needed annual holiday. I'm summoning up all my mental faculties to remain calm, focused and restrain myself from unleashing a torrent of insults at the embassy bureaucrats I'm dealing with in an attempt to resolve the matter. As I sit here listening to the mind-numbing Musak recordings my embassy graciously provides for its citizens' listening pleasure, I've been meditating on the term "snafu". I was surprised to learn that the word is thought to have originated during WWII and is in fact an acronym meaning situation normal: all f***** up. Imagine that. I personally cannot think of a more appropriate term to describe my current situation.

Sincerely,

The Luxe Chronicles

What Would Mata Hari Think?

Another week, another Russian spy unmasked. After the arrests of the Russian spy ring operating in New York City a few weeks ago, a young Russian women, a beautician living in the suburbs of Dallas, has just been arrested and charged with trying to smuggle state-of-the-art military equipment out of the United States. Perhaps I've watched too many James Bond flicks over the years but looking at the images of the suspects in question, I'm rather disappointed in just how utterly unglamorous the average Russian spy seems to be.

Fashion: This Just Can't Be Right ...

Here we are in the last days of July. It is the middle of an usually warm, clement summer in London. I haven't even taken my annual summer holiday yet and what do you suppose I'm longing for? The sensation of warm sand between my toes? Nope. The cool ocean breeze on my skin? Nope. The pleasure of waking up to room service? Not even close! All I can think about is wearing this sexy Carven dress with these gorgeous suede Fendi pumps both of which are sitting in my closet and are calling out to me as I type this post. I blame the fashion industry and the ridiculous retail cycle that requires us to constantly think ahead to the next season rather than living in the moment. Think how much easier our lives would be if we could shop for seasonal trends in the very season for which they were intended? I know. Pure heresy.

Sincerely,

The Luxe Chronicles

Gastronomy: Bistrot Bruno Loubet Deserves Its Buzz!

After hearing all the buzz, I finally got around to trying Bistrot Bruno Loubet this past weekend. Opened roughly five months ago, the restaurant is located in The Zetter, a Clerkenwell-based boutique hotel on St John's Square, a very pretty classical square in an otherwise gritty part of London. It serves what I would describe as updated classic French bistrot food and it does so rather well.

Happy, Happy Weekend!!

Go on ... kick up your heels! It's the weekend!!

Sincerely,

The Luxe Chronicles

Books & Film: Death Becomes Her.

"Death becomes her." I never really grasped the meaning of this expression until now. Three years after her death, the late Isabella Blow, stylist and muse to Alexander McQueen and Phillip Treacy, is the subject of no fewer than three books, one play and a feature film. I also seem to recall that a documentary film about her life was in development at some point but sadly, I haven't heard much about that since.

Art & Culture: It Doesn't Have To Be This Way.

"Buy this book on the moon landing and get a free, genuine lunar rock!" Sound a tad gimmicky? It is. But take heart. It isn't nearly as gimmicky as using a pint of a famous Indian cricketer's blood to produce the paper upon which a book about his life is printed. Besides giving new meaning to pouring one's blood, sweat and tears into a project, it smacks of desperation. Such is the state of the print industry that even reputable publishers such as Kraken Opus and Taschen Books would resort to these freak-show tactics to sell their wares. But it doesn't have to be this way.

Culture: Dallas Transposed to Neuilly

If you replace the Texan ten gallon hats and oil empire by classic French chic and a cosmetic conglomerate, the drama currently unfolding in the posh Parisian suburb of Neuilly-Sur-Seine has all the hallmarks of the classic 80's television series Dallas. How many of us who grew up watching the machinations of J.R. Ewing and company were left scoffing at the twists and turns of plots seemingly too contrived to be realistic. And yet ...

Tell Me Why ...

"Tell me why I don't like Mondays, tell me why I don't like Mondays (...)."(Boomtown Rats).

Enough Said.

Sincerely

The Luxe Chronicles