Fashion Designer - Geoffrey Beene was born in 1924 in Louisiana.

 Beene is known in the fashion industry to have an out-of-the-box approach to designing women’s clothes. Dubbed as the ‘godfather of minimalism’, for his non-stereotypical approach on designing couture, he studied at New York’s Traphagen School of Fashion. He then relocated to Paris to study at the Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne.

 1969

Vintage and Retro Brides

 

“Cats have it all: admiration, an endless sleep, and company only when they want it.”

 

Nigella’s Mother-in-Law’s Madeira Cake

 

(slightly adapted from Nigella Lawson’s How To Be A Domestic Goddess)

• 240 grams softened unsalted butter
• 200 grams caster sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for sprinkling
• Grated zest and juice of one lemon
• 3 large eggs
• 300 grams all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

– Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, and then mix in the lemon zest.

– Add the eggs to the butter/sugar mixture, one at a time, with a tablespoon of flour for each.

– Gently mix in the rest of the flour, to which you have whisked in the baking powder.  Add the lemon juice and mix until just combined.

– Scrape the batter into a buttered and parchment-lined loaf pan and sprinkle the 2 tablespoons sugar on top.  Bake in a pre-heated 170C oven for 55 minutes – 1 hour or until a skewer comes out clean.

– Remove from the oven to a wire rack and cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  Remove from the pan and cool completely on the wire rack.

 80breakfasts.com

Wise Words

Beautiful 50's Evening Gowns

Elsa Schiaparelli. 1939

Animal print

Animal print became popular for women in the United States in the late 1960s during the Bohemian movement. Christian Dior is credited as the first designer to put leopard print  rather than fur on the runway in 1947. “If a woman was wearing leopard, it means that she has a savage or wild sexuality. It became one of the most used prints in haute couture, and from haute couture it became democratized to streetwear, and it went back to the African continent free of its initial symbolism.” Leopard print does not involve the slaughter of rare animals and is valued for its eye-catching quality. When used in female clothing it can signify independence, confidence, sexuality and nonconformity, depending on the nature of the clothing or accessory.