Help With Hidden Lilly & Ladurée’s Feline Friend, Don & Roger

Hello-Hello, welcome to an almost-weekend.

We’re all about some Friday Fun today, beginning with word of a Ladurée – Hello Kitty collaboration.  We first heard about the new collection on Luxuo’s Twitter feed.

Ladurée Facebook Page

Here is more from the company’s Facebook page:

“…this joyful cooperation will yield a variety of creations: a new chocolate, a collection of gift-boxes, and a collection of little accessories.”

Below we have a better look at the artwork via fab French department store Colette (left) and a charm bracelet from the collection featuring macarons and the famous Kitty.

Colette (L)/Ana Pettus Diaries (R)

As some readers know, yours truly finds the cute Kitty inexplicably appealing; combining her with Ladurée only serves to increase our interest level. There are some darling stickers in the line as well.

Via Just Lia

The potential for cute food and related goodies is very high, you can see all of the items in Ladurée’s most recent newsletter (scroll down to see the products and pricing, the monetary unit used is the Euro).

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Our other topic today involves that beautiful Lilly Pulitzer textile line from Lee Jofa.

Lilly Pulitzer for Lee Jofa

The company carried a fun blog post this week about the hidden signatures in Lilly fabrics.

The Lilly look is easily recognizable, but did you know there is a simple way to test the authenticity of a true Lilly Pulitzer fabric? The name “Lilly” is built into the design of each pattern. This is true both for the clothing patterns and the fabric available to interior designers exclusively through Lee Jofa.

We’ve made it easy to spot the Lilly in each print, take a look!

Up top we show a swatch of the Bimini print, below, Heritage Floral.

"Heritage Floral" by Lilly Pulitzer for Lee Jofa

You can see the signatures much better with their help, below Color Me Coral.

"Color Me Coral" by Lilly Pulitzer for Lee Jofa

Here’s one I *never* would have been able to find, In a Twist.

"In a Twist" by Lilly Pulitzer for Lee Jofa

Our last example, Racey Lacey, a print I really like.

"Racey Lacey" by Lilly Pulitzer for Lee Jofa

We’ll make that our Pretty in Pink for the day.

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Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC

Finally, a reminder (as if it’s needed) about the return of Mad Men Sunday night.  Because I have been stalking occasionally taken a glance at the Mad Men website, we can share that there are new photos from the new season. Betty is too stern for today’s Pretty in Pink.

Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC

Roger is looking rather intense.

Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC

Peggy’s green frock is TDF.

Frank

I think every hour is the cocktail hour at Sterling, Cooper, Draper, Pryce.

Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC

Much as I hate cluttering up posts with meaningless photos (cough cough), here’s one last image to hold you until Sunday.

Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC

(I’m a little concerned about Don’s cufflinks. They look, well… loud.)

Party Frocks, or When Bad Dresses Happen to Good People

Hello-Hello and welcome to a Monday. Most. Assuredly. A. Monday.

However, it could be worse, so we moved ourself to the NWZ (No Whine Zone).  How about we chat about party frocks instead of weather, shall we? (Of course you know right where this is going, no surprises here.)

Of course – last night’s Golden Globes!  But first and foremost, we do have something for our Help Us Understand category: can someone, anyone, help us understand how event planners responsible for the Red Carpet portion of last night’s festivities did not order a tarp? No one at the Hilton thought it a good idea to have a Plan B? Perhaps a tent? Anything? Below, Jessica Lange arrives amid a sea of umbrellas.

Danny Moloshok

We understand the sun was out most of the day, but as Women’s Wear Daily put it:

“…stars running for cover and publicists unfurling umbrellas as they tried to salvage the red carpet photo opportunities. (Although rain was predicted for over a week, producers decided not to tent the hundred foot long red carpet at the Beverly Hilton hotel.)

Danny Moloshok/Reuters

Look what it did to Gabourey Sidibe’s lush green gown by Kevan Hall:

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

As George Clooney said:

“We’re idiots standing in the rain out here.”

Of course we were delighted to see our beloved Mad Men take home an award for best Drama.

Mark J. Terrill/AP

Some were surprised to see Don Draper Jon Hamm sporting a look considered ‘bohemian’ and probably not allowed at any ad agency in the early sixities.

Danny Moloshok/Reuters

Mr. Hamm is seen with his wife, Jennifer Westfeldt.

Regular readers know how highly we think of Mad Men’s Joan Holloway Christina Hendricks, but we were not fond of the garment created for her by Christian Siriano.

But Ms. Hendricks’ hair and makeup were nothing short of spectacular.

Danny Moloshok /Reuters

As The Consort said, “She looks like porcelain, doesn’t she?”

We are on the fence about the Lanvin dress Betty Draper January Jones chose for the evening:

Tyler Boye for WWD

There’s no waffling on where we are with that headband — it did not work with the dress (too much going on) and detracted from Ms. Jones’ stunning looks.  We thought it was sweet her father was her escort for the evening, he looked just happy as a clam.

Jason Merritt/Getty

In our “was this really necessary?” category, Jennifer Anniston:

Much as we adore Valentino, it seems the actress could do with a “less is more” refresher class.

We were also happy to see another favorite win, Julianna Margulies took home the Best Actress in a Television Drama award for her starring role in The Good Wife. More good news for the show, CBS has ordered a second season of episodes for the hit Tuesday night series.

Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

This is going to sound awful, but as soon as we saw darling Jayma Mays in this gown we thought about spider webs.

Jason Merritt/Getty Images

The folks at PopWrap make the point well that in this case, it wasn’t Pretty in Pink:

WireImage via PopWrap

From their post on Globes fashion:

“The night’s least flattering shade turned a duo of dresses, and the divine women wearing them, into prom night casualties. We’ve come to expect much better from both Diane Kruger and Lauren Graham!”

And is there any point in us commenting on this young heartthrob’s spiky do?

Katy Winn/AP

For those keeping score, Mr. Lautner was in Calvin Klein Collection. Also in attendance and presenting an award, Gossip Girl’s Chace Crawford.

Frazer Harrison/Getty

Ummm… he looks rather dashing, no?

Victoria Beckham’s growing emphasis on elegant lines is evident in the dress selected by Courteney Cox-Arquette:

We believe it is dress #48 in the current collection.

This is a very busy time for folks in the entertainment industry with the Critics’ Choice awards on Friday. Below we see Marion Cotillard wearing Christian Dior at last night (L), the French actress also wore Dior at Friday’s gala (R).

A few questionable designs made their way to last night’s after-party, beginning with Ashley Olsen, in a dress from Erdem.

Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

Regular readers can guess what The Consort said as soon as he saw Malin Akerman: “oh, she got it at the drive-through car wash!”

Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

Generally Vanessa Hudgens looks lovely, but not last night in this Alberta Ferretti. 

Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

Another not-quite-right look from Valentino on Amanda Seyfried:

Phil McCarten/Reuters

There you have it.

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We leave you with a little something to brighten a rather dull and dreary day:

Leather Prince at etsy

This is the Umi Whale key fob from the Leather Prince on etsy.  Wouldn’t it be fun to have him swimming around your palace?

Until next time dollfaces, g’bye!

It’s a Happy-Happy Monday!

Hello-Hello, and Happy Monday!

It is exceptionally happy today because…

… the always fun and gracious Pink Cupcakes and Tab tagged us with the Happy 101 Award! Thank you Miss Tammy, yours is one of the very first blogs we ever read. We still love reading it, although we don’t comment nearly enough, shame on us.

Here are the Rules for the Award:

1. List 10 things that make you happy.
2. Tag 10 bloggers that brighten your day.

We’ll start with the first item, ten things that put a smile on TP’s face:

• The Consort: our always-and-forever love
• Silly Tilly, our rescued bulldog

• Tilly’s sibling, Scooter-the-Wonder-Cat

• The Queen Mother, absolutely the best parent anyone could hope for, and then some
• Mad Men, especially Don & Betty Draper
• Our blogosphere friends, all so kind and witty and generous
• Almost anything in pink, let alone pink & green!

Courtesy Lilly Pulitzer

• Time spent at the Large Lake, where the family has summered since the late 1800’s

• Life here in the Corner Condo at Preppy Princess InterGalactic HQ, allowing us to do something we *really* love, with absolute the best customers in the galaxy
• Being able to read all of the fashion trades as part of said job.

Courtesy Women's Wear Daily

We are ever-so-blessed, the list could be endless, but as we’re not terribly comfortable nattering on about ourselves (too much TP is too dreary), we’ll stop here.

Next, our list of 10 bloggers that brighten our day:

1) All Things Southern & Preppy (aka Preppy 101)

2) When Pigs Fly

3) Queen Bee Swain

4) Princess Freckles

5) Preppy Pink Crocodile

6) Nautical by Nature

7) Muffy Martini

8) Lipstick at the Mailbox

9) The Pursuit of Techyness

10) Whale Flip-Flops aka Prep in the Big Apple

There are many (MANY) more than these ten, but we would be posting all night if we actually listed all those that we enjoy.

Thank you again Miss Pink Cupcakes & Tab, you put a smile on our face too! For those not familiar with Tammy, pop over and say hello, she is recuperating from serious foot surgery and has somehow maintained her same great attitude throughout the entire ordeal – she is amazing.

Was Mad Men Enough? Also, is NYC Prep Better Than Gossip Girl?

Hello-Hello on this Tuesday morning!

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We are still catching up from our little weekend getaway to a family wedding.  We had the most fun, seeing relatives and visiting the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum for the first time. The wedding and reception were just delightful, the latter held in the The Terrace Club at Progressive Field, home to the Cleveland Indians. The best moment had to be the newlyweds going to home plate for photos, it was all wonderful fun, a lovely party and celebration.

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We begin by thanking the fabulous Park Avenue Princess for her generosity in bestowing upon us the Sparkles Award! To quote from her post:

“The Splash Award is given to alluring, amusing, bewitching, impressive, and inspiring blogs.”

Here are the stipulations accompanying the Award:

• Put the logo on your blog/post.
• Nominate & link up to 9 blogs which allure, amuse, bewitch, impress or inspire you.
• Let them know that they have been splashed by commenting on their blog.
• Remember to link to the person from whom you received your Splash Award.

And this award goes to the following…

Five Tomatoes

Lipstick at the Mailbox

Little Bow Prep

Mindless Musings

Puppy Love by Erin

Queen Bee Swain

Sweet Tea in Seattle

The Pink Tutu

Three for Tippy

(Ladies, we understand if you are crazy busy with the summer wrapping up, school and other obligations getting underway, we merely want to let you know how highly we think of you! If there’s no time to post about or pass on the award, not to worry!)

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Again, we send our gratitude to Miss Park Avenue Princess for including us!

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We have a few tidbits related to the comings and goings of certain television programs, starting with this look at the season finale of NYC Prep. The piece ran on the LA Times Show Tracker blog and in addition to asking readers if they want to see a NYC Prep Season 2, writer Enid Portuguez offers the following:

“It’s yet to be seen whether “NYC Prep” will get another season to prove itself. If it does, we’ll get treated to more of Sebastian’s hair flips, Kelli’s eye rolls and, hopefully, a set of new and improved prepsters. If not, we’ll just have to observe the Upper East Side through the eyes of “Gossip Girl,” which is completely fine with me.”

The story is essentially a synopsis of the show’s final episode in case anyone missed (that’s a liberal use of the word) it.

Also talking about the show, Newsweek’s Pop Vox blog with a post entitled “7 Reasons NYC Prep Tops Gossip Girl“.  Speaking from the perspective of one who has seen not a frame of NYC Prep, and less than 20 minutes of G2, it is an interesting post:

“… NYC Prep actually trumps its scripted predecessor, Gossip Girl, in terms of quality guilty-viewing pleasure. Despite its flagging ratings, the series is actually more entertaining than the show from which it was born.”

One reason we love the piece? Because the writing peaks well into the red zone on TP’s Snark-O-Meter. Here is a sample:

“Reason #5: That entitled cadence. You can give an actor all the speech lessons you want, but there’s just no aping the actual singsong, privileged speech patterns of the Upper East Side native.”

There you have it.

As far as Gossip Girl goes, People (and a host of others) is posting some details about the upcoming season’s plot lines.

SPOILER ALERT CAUTION SPOILER ALERT

Giovanni Rufino/THE CW via People

(Before proceeding, we must say the photo above makes us think of a giant ice cream cone piled high with different flavors of sherbet, it is simply yumalicious.)

Back to People’s story, the magazine interviewed the show’s producer about what fans can anticipate this season:

“”Chuck (Ed Westwick) and Blair (Leighton Meester) are definitely going to be a couple and stay a couple this season…”

“We have our big Polo match in the first episode, we go to Sotheby’s for an auction in the third episode and in the fourth episode, we have a big movie premiere at Ziegfeld (Theater),”

For TP the most intriguing G2 item on the People site had nothing to do with the approaching season, for more of that information click here.  Rather, it is this photo of Mr. Westwick from the mid-1990s, part of the magazine’s bio on the actor. (Note the argyle.)

Courtesy People.com

Additionally, Ms. Meester has taped a version of the Broadway classic “Tonight” from “West Side Story,” it is part of a promotional campaign for the upcoming MTV VMAs

Courtesy MTV

We think the young star looks stunning.

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And then there was Mad Men on Sunday night. We enjoyed it immensely here at the Prepatorium, and it appears we were were not alone: the show drew record ratings with 2.8 million viewers. Those are more-than-significant numbers for a ‘cable show’ as some still refer to original programs on the “smaller networks”.

Courtesy Vanity Fair

All day Sunday (which started in Cleveland and ended back here at Princess InterGalactic HQ) the two of us were uncharacteristically neurotic concerned about somehow forgetting to watch the program, going so far as to set an alarm. What a relief yesterday to learn a friend experienced the same anxiety!

As for the show itself, it was one of the more cerebral episodes, delving into some psychological areas not frequently visited on other popular television shows.  It seemed a little racier than we remember Seasons 1 and 2 being, but that could simply be our tendency to ‘enhance’ history for those things we look upon with affection. Or it might have been more liberal use of vulgarities, we really cannot say.

Once again we cite the Newsweek Vox Populi blog for their review of the show in Mad Men: Was it Worth the Wait?

“But in terms of forward momentum, this was only a slight improvement from last season’s opener. Some viewers are bound to become exasperated and move on. I, however, won’t be among them. I’ll be the first to admit that the glacial pace wears on me at times, but there’s also something charming in the way Mad Men demands that you let its story unfurl at its own pace. It’s television as an old-fashioned courtship: true love waits.”

We do have one question for readers who watched: were we the only person on the Preppy Planet hopeful, despite fully knowing better, that Don’s philandering ways might end, if only temporarily while Betty is in her last trimester?

Sigh. Silly Princess.

We are back again tomorrow, hoping your today is fabulous!