Saturday, December 31, 2011

Looking ahead to 2012 ...

... and hoping for a year full of memorable moments.






Happy New Year!

Friday, December 30, 2011

Buttercup Bungalow gets a "Liebster Blog" Award!

Kim Grey of the ever-lovely lamb & blonde has just awarded Buttercup Bungalow a Liebster Blog Award!  "Liebster"  means favorite or beloved in German, and the award helps to draw attention to blogs that aren't too well known -- but should be!


My love of lamb & blonde -- and Kim's aesthetic / curator's eye -- are well established.  The world through Kim's gaze is a beautiful place, full of enchantment, elegance and beauty.  To be picked by her for a Liebster Blog Award is a REALLY big deal for me!

With the award comes the opportunity to pass it on to five other deserving blogs.  In no particular order, my selections are:



The sweet delights of home, crafting, cooking and kids.  Warms my heart. 



Unabashed romance from a beautiful dreamer.  A gal after my own dreams.



 Los Angeles through the eyes of a local artist.  She pulls me out of my reveries about the past and shows me that there is a whole lot of interesting stuff going on right here in the present day!



One woman's on-line inspiration folder.  Her decor vibe is "Romantic vintage, floral designs and a relaxed elegance". What's not to like about all of THAT?  Oh, and she lives by the sea in Ireland.  Sold!



A creative, a Corgi and a fascinating diary through divorce to the wide open world beyond. A wonderfully personal blog that reads more like a diary, with lots and lots of wonderful photos and quotes.  


Thank you all for sharing yourselves with the world!



 

A glimpse of stocking was oh so shocking!






What IS it about legs, lovely legs?  

On a man or a woman, a well turned leg is a thing of great beauty.

(Yes, I'm a "leg woman".  A man with nice legs turns my head!)
























The advantage women have in the "leg department" is stockings (which don't necessarily feel like an advantage, though they look good), and heels.  There's no denying the allure of an elegant shoe, one that accentuates the curvature of the instep, the contours of the female ankle and calves. 

All the great Hollywood sirens have known this -- and used it to their advantage.  With the possible exception of Katharine Hepburn, who did things her own way, and got away with it because she was inimitably and always gloriously herself

Whatever happened to showing "just enough" skin?  I'm tired of too much skin on TV, in the movies, on the street.  I think men's imaginations need a bit more mystery to work with.  Then again, I am old fashioned to the point where I'm thoroughly -- probably hopelessly -- out of step. 


Oh well ... nothing new there!






Wednesday, December 28, 2011

The Sweet, Solitary Pleasure of Reading





 Inseparables (Florence Fuller, 1900)







Whilst Reading: A Portrait of Sofia Kramskoya, the Painter’s Wife (Ivan Kramskoi, 1866)






The Reader (Henri Fantin-Latour, 1836-1904)







Leisure (William Worcester Churchill, 1858–1926)







 Young Woman Reading (Hermann Jean Joseph Richir, 1866-1942)






Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Cult of Beauty: Saoirse Ronan in Vogue

Bewitching photos of actress Saoirse Ronan in Vogue (US) December 2011, as photographed by Steven Meisel.


















It's enough to make the Pre-Raphaelites swoon!  (Precisely the point).





Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2012





The ads and the show for this collection were pastille perfection.  A fashion show AND a carousel?  Does it get more flight-of-fancy pretty than that?!  No.














Another Christmas behind us ...





I hope yours was a good one!

I'm afraid I was a bit Grinch-y this year, but there is always next year for a re-do.  My Kitten Girl's health has begun failing more seriously than before, and I can't be completely certain she'll be with me next year.  She's been mine for sixteen years, and contemplating life without her is more painful than I can handle with complete equanimity.

Still, hope springs eternal.  Rainbow Bridge and all of that.

I'm on a week's self-imposed blogging vacation from my primary blog The Daily Corgi, which means I'm blogging ahead of time and scheduling posts when I ought to be leaving the entire thing alone and taking a REAL break. 


Alas, I think I'm a "Type A" blogger!


Laurie




Thursday, December 1, 2011

Vintage Ad Loveliness: 1920s








These 1920's lovelies have been lingering on my hard drive for a few months now.   It's high time I release them from that limbo!

Wish I knew the illustrators' names ... if you do, please leave a note in the comments.

Enjoy.