Victoria’s Secret Pink Preppy Blazer, Thom Browne Show. Oh Dear….

Hello-hello and aren’t we dragging into the end of the week almost?!

We start with the much sought after blazer seen on model Chanel Iman (No, she is not supermodel Iman’s daughter, and aren’t we dopey for thinking she was!) several times this week: the Victoria’s Secret Pink® Prep Blazer, seen here in the ‘Preppy Navy’ colorway. It is also available in Heather Gray with navy trim; both are made of a cotton/polyester blend, the jacket is sized XS-L.

Although someone at our advanced age couldn’t possibly wear it, the blazer looks über-cute and we know so many of you would look darling wearing this.

We do have good news for Bloomies fans, with word of several new store openings. Bloomingdales is opening three of its little Mini-Bloomies as we call them, modeled after the SoHo store, but officially referred to in the snooze news release as SoHo-type stores. The lucky locales getting the new stores? Southern California of course, where the old Macy’s at Santa Monica Place will be relaunched as a new Bloomingdale’s, but also TP’s most favorite of places in this country, Georgetown.

Folks at Santa Monica Place are trying overhaul the mall, and we’re just not sure if it will embrace an upscale luxury shopping mecca. Perhaps our intrepid correspondents, like Miss Muffy Martini or the delightful Kate at Nautical by Nature can enlighten us, as we haven’t been there for several years. The existing Bloomingdale’s store there closes next February, and they’ll get to work on creating the new store. The good folks in the PR department are also counting the to-be-remodeled-and-expanded Westfield Valley emporium as a ‘new’ store. (That’s what we call “PR Math.”)

Neiman Marcus Westfield

And there is also the new Neiman’s that just opened in the valley at Westfield Topanga (seen above, this one is actually on the site of an old Nordies!), plus the new Nordstorm that just opened at the Oaks. My, one could shop until they drop! But then there is this….

Thom Browne Spring 2009 Collection

And this…

Thom Browne Spring 2009 Collection

Yes, these are as they appear, photos from the most bizarre showing at Fashion Week thus far into the runway shows. This is something The Princess doesn’t even know how to describe, menswear designer Thom Browne’s showing of his Spring 2009 Collection.

Thom Browne Spring 2009 Collection

Regular readers know of our fondness for fashion writer extraordinaire Suzy Menkes; here we share some of her comments in yesterday’s story critiquing the show:

“The kindest thing to say about Thom Browne‘s menswear collection, which opened with hunky guys in polo shirts traced with blood red and knee-high socks patterned with tennis rackets, is that he let Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray go to his head.”

Thom Browne Spring 2009 Collection

Thom Browne Spring 2009 Collection

Ms. Menkes goes on to say:

“But Browne’s collection, fueled by his role as creative designer for the classic men’s store Brooks Brothers, seems to be more a shriek for a shrink than a coherent vision of a new man with a newly filled closet.”

Ms. Menkes’ column adds this final note:

“Was there anything to covet in this mix of overwrought tailoring, where a check shorts suit is decked out with formal shirt and necktie? Broken into individual pieces, a sharply cut blazer (even decorated with tennis racket emblems) was appealing. But most of this tennis court inspiration was far too literal to seem anything but a cry for a psych from a designer who could contribute so much to dressing the peacock male.”

The look generating the most comments was the tutu, as seen below. We found the expression on the model’s face most revealing; inside he must be saying “It’s a show, this is only a show, it’s not my closet.”

Thom Browne Spring 2009 Collection

We found some insight in the Q&A session with Mr. Browne that Women’s Wear Daily posted:

Will we see guys in bridal tulle walking down the street?
I don’t know! It’s just fantasy.

How much of the show is wearable?
Eighty percent of what you see is what people are sold and what people will buy.

Thom Browne Spring 2009 Collection

So jackets with tutus are the wave of the future?
The shape of the jacket without the tutu under it is most certainly a new shape that works really well.

When you sell it in stores, does it have a tutu?
I sell it both ways. It’s removable.

Thom Browne Spring Collection 2009

You had pants being worn hip-hop style with the boxers showing. How did the pants stay up?
They’re buttoned to the boxer. They’re sold that way … It’s a whole take on how kids wear their trousers down here. I always wondered how they kept it up, so I wanted to figure a way how I could give that to my guy.

Thom Browne Spring 2009 Collection

FRankly, we think the Thom Browne’s Men’s Tutu will become as ubiquitous as the Maria Sharapova Tuxedo dress for Wimbledon. Remember that one? Presumably some of this look will be carried over to Mr. Browne’s Spring & Summer 2009 collections for Brooks Brothers. Some of this aesthetic is evident in the Fall 2008 Black Fleece Collections for Women and Men currently in stores and also on line. Below, a few of this Fall’s looks for Men.

Some of the pieces in both Men and Womenswear are simply stunning and appear to be fabulous invetsments for the walk-in. But there are also many that will most likely be on sale at some point before the end of the year. Below, a few looks from the Black Fleece Women’s group this fall.

Last year’s pieces are on sale now, almost all with major markdowns in price.  Heaven knows what we’ll see from Mr. Browne for women come next Spring, but we will require the presence of another adult as we too terrified to look at it all alone…who knows what we’ll see!

Do tune in tomorrow for an early look at the Ralph Lauren Menwear Collection for Spring 2009. In our most humble of opinions you will like what you see.

EDITOR. NOTE: This version of the post has a corrected version of the first paragraph, rewritten to accurately reflect Chanel Iman’s biographical info.

U.S. Open and Convention Styles, La Wintour and Martha do Queens, People Magazine Covers

Hello-hello and happy late Monday evening, at least here on the east coast it is ‘late’ at 9pm EDT, what we used to refer to as ‘civilized time’ back when we lived on the west coast. BTW, that term makes absolutely no one happy, is meant to offend no one, but manages to upset just about everyone, so we don’t use it very often for precisely those reasons.

Are you ready for some tennis? We most assuredly are, much more eager to partake of this than politics, we must admit. We’ll start with the weekend’s runup to the US Open, the annual Arthur Ashe Kids Day at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and here are a few quick hits of the happenings. What fun to see US Olympic Swimming Gold Medalist Cullen Jones with Ana Ivanovic on the left (photo by Jennifer Pottheiser) and then the one that has us wishing we were a fly on the grandstand… or something like that, Rafa and Roger, just a couple of guys on the job. Chatting. About guy stuff. You know.

Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images

And how about those immense, oversized tennis balls they had for the event? They looked very cool.

Photo: REUTERS/Joshua Lott

REUTERS/Joshua Lott

And parties, oh yes, there have been parties! On the left a photo from Heineken’s Player Party; it wouldn’t be the Open without pictures of Maria, even if she isn’t playing. Or even staying.

La Sharapova has let it be known that she would like (very much so if you please) to attend the Vera Wang and the Peter Som shows at Fashion Week. And the houses would be insane not to invite her, she is stunning and generates great publicity. But no, she had no intention of attending, or watching, or anything really to do with the Open. As she told the NY Observer, “To be honest, the day I got injured was the day that I was like, I’m not even sure who’s playing.” To be honest, if that was how we earned our living, we’re not sure how interested we would be either, although we might make an effort to be a tad more diplomatic in letting people know of our diminished interest.

Then there was the Nike store opening party in Soho, attracting athletes, entertainers, sports stars of the non-athletic nature, Hollywood types, you name it and they might have been there. (And even if they weren’t, they may still say they were.) It had to be fun just to see Spike Lee and Roger Federer almost looking like buddies. BTW, Spike said he would be at the Open almost every day, but at last sighting he was in Denver at The Convention, but then, there is a lot of Open left to be played.

Photo: Patrick McMullan

On the left, Roger & Serena at the Nike store opening party. Originally scheduled to open on 8.8.08 to coincide with the Olympics getting underway, that didn’t happen, nor did it seem to matter.

This is not just your run of the mill Nike store, but a Nike Sportswear store, and evidently there is a big difference. According to the media info from Nike, “The stand-alone shop will be the only location globally to carry the complete NSW collection and seasonal 21 Mercer products.” (The store is on Mercer Street.) That sounds quite impressive.

There were other parties in the city over the weekend. Men’s Vogue did the cool thing and hosted a fundraiser for James Blake to benefit the Thomas Blake Sr. Memorial Research Fund. Below left, Blake and Jay Fielden, the Arts Editor at Men’s Vogue’s, and below right, musician John Mayer, trying on watches at the party. Perhaps he can find one telling him it’s time to take his meds…yes? (Good idea? Or bad, bad Princess?)

Everything did get going today, and yes, there was tennis played. But tonight was the more formal kickoff with Mayor Bloomberg and lots of festivities as it is the 40th Anniversary of the Open.

And yes, Anna and Martha were in the house, Forest Whitaker was at the podium….

And when everything was kicked off by Mayor Bloomberg, one thing TP loved was the beauty shot that shows the Unisphere. You see, we have special memories of that Unisphere… we were very, very little, but we have special memories of that beautiful globe.

Much as there are so many other great players and matches, and yesofcourse we are going to watch as many as we can, it comes down to one thing: Roger and Rafa. The preppy vs. the Pirate. We loved the way Will Leitch (whom we absolutely adore) wrote about the whole thing in a post on the Magazine’s website:

“He beat Federer in the French Open for the third straight year, won that Wimbledon, took over his No. 1 world ranking, and, for good measure, won a gold medal in Beijing. Meanwhile, Federer was looking more mortal than ever. Not only was Nadal beating him on a non-clay court (finally): Federer lost to James-freaking-Blake in the Olympics.

Theoretically speaking, if there were ever a time to remind the world that he’s Roger Federer, dammit, this would be it; Wimbledon has the tradition, but the U.S. Open is where stars are made.”

Okay…enough tennis and now onto the next topic….

Photo: Gary Caskey/UPI/Landov

Our email just ‘pinged’ indicating something new just hit the electronic in-box. It turns out to be an “urgent,” or ‘news alert’ from Women’s Wear Daily on what Michelle Obama will be wearing tonight when she addresses the convention, and word is that it will be Maria Pinto again, the Chicago-based designer Ms. Obama has favored previously.

According to WWD, the word is that The Dress, and yes, we think it deserves to be in caps as a proper title of something, will be:

“Pinto said the dress Obama is planning to wear is a turquoise blue, three-quarter-sleeve sheath-like, fitted, Fifties-inspired style in double-faced wool. But, as like any woman, Obama could change her mind at the last minute.”

You may recognize the first high-profile Pinto dress worn by Ms. Obama from June 3, the night the Senator claimed victory in the race for the Democratic nomination.

Photo: Jason Reed/Reuters

And one of our favorite quotes from Michelle Obama?

“I have some high-end stuff – I work with a great designer in Chicago, Maria Pinto – but I got this dress at this store that it’s all black and white stuff … You put a little pin on it and you’ve got something going on.”

That kind of showed TP something when it came to the potential First Lady and where her head is when it comes to fashion. Not everyone needs to be as relentlessly obsessed even moderately interested, as we are. Here are a couple more Pinto pixs, things we love from the designer’s Fall 08 Accessory line, both pieces far more suited to a winter Bridal event than anything TP would be wearing, but so lovely we had to share them.

Now since we’re all (well, okay, not all) thinking conventions and politics, we thought we would update things for everyone who’s been awake at night wondering how Angelina Jolie is leaning, compliments of a story for Daily Variety:

“In June, when Entertainment Weekly asked her whether she talked politics with Clint Eastwood, a longtime Republican, on the set of the upcoming movie, “The Changeling,” she said, “Actually, we don’t disagree as much as you’d think. I think people assume I’m a Democrat. But I’m registered independent and I’m still undecided. So I’m looking at McCain as well as Obama.”

Photos: Moloshok/Landov; Kempin/FilmMagic; Reed/Landov

Jolie’s father, Jon Voight, has endorsed McCain and recently wrote an op-ed for the Washington Times highly critical of Obama.

Courtesy: Wilshire & Washington

Reports tonight from various sources that two mega-acts will be rocking and rolling in Denver come Thursday night for Senator Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at the convention. The Rocky Mountain News reports:

“The Jersey boys are coming, and we ain’t talking about Frankie Valli. The Boss and Bon Jovi are ready to perform.

Multiple sources confirmed to the Rocky that Jon Bon Jovi will fly in to perform two acoustic songs before Sen. Barack Obama gives his acceptance speech at Invesco Field on Thursday. After the speech, Bruce Springsteen (photo at left) will close out the night, presumably solo acoustic (E Street Band member Nils Lofgren told the Rocky last week that the band wouldn’t be with Springsteen in Denver).”

The Princess called Denver home for more than 17 years, and has sources *but everywhere* telling her all about the goings-on, the galas and get-togethers, the parties and premieres, the meetings-made- to-look-like-parties and the security. Oh my. The. Security. Ohmygoodnessitiseverywheresecurity.

And she thought she had dealt with security. You know, the White House type, the military type, the Papal visit type, the run of the mill disaster type. Not. At. All. A few years out of the business and it is really quite a far more serious and in many respects, a somewhat ugly business now, where the worst must be thought of everyone in order to protect the someones and the everyones. We aren’t sorry to be out of that fray and watching it from home for a change, we must admit.

It’s time for a little update on the People cover featuring Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and their twins. The Princess mistakenly thought perhaps people were bored to tears by all the Brad and Angelina baby hoo-hah and media circus, and might elect not to invest in the magazine’s ‘Special Double Issue‘ featuring the twins or the Hello magazine issue, should you be on the other side of the pond. Silly, silly Princess. What was she thinking?!

It turns out this was the biggest seller in seven years, the fourth biggest seller of all time! So there, Miss Princess! Only issues covering Sept. 11th, Princess Diana’s death and John F. Kennedy Jr.’s death sold more at the newsstand. It’s interesting that death seems to push us toward purchasing People magazine. I wonder if it does the same for other newsweeklies, or other ‘celebrity/personality driven’ titles?

Rafael Nadal as Beefcake? Oh My! New Stores for Tory Burch & the Vines, J Crew Sale Gets Better!

NOTE: The Princess must apologize, for she thought this post was published yesterday (Monday) and it was not. She is shamed and chagrined. Silly Princess. Our bad.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Well hello-hello everyone, and isn’t it a delightful Monday? A perfect August day marred only by the fact summer is drawing to a close, however desperately yours truly lives in denial of that reality.

We should have expected this I imagine, the Rafael Nadal and tennis fashion fascination, along with the Rafa is ‘hot’ as I believe it is said in today’s lingo? But you must remember The Princess is from a somewhat different era: members of the opposite sex are gentlemen (or nothing at all) and we most assuredly never referred to them as “Beefcake.” (Gasp!) Having said all that, TP has come to the conclusion that in an effort to be better connected to her customers at The Preppy Princess, not to mention her readers here at the blog, it’s time she learns all about Beefcake. (Double Gasp!)

At the very least we must force ourselves to become acquainted with the topic in terms of how it relates to tennis fashions, as that is something near and dear to our heart and a topic covered with some frequency on this blog. This week’s issue of New York has a fascinating story entitled The Beefcake in the BackCourt, written by the wonderful Ben Williams with a subhead that reads: “Another way in which ripped, raffish Rafael Nadal and his cardigan-wearing Swiss rival aren’t anything alike.”

And there is this:

TP is aghast. Horrified. Her face is aflame with a fuchsia color that would make the best Lilly Pulitzer print look washed out by comparison. She must make plans to go to confession as soon as she finishes this post. She simply cannot believe the photo on the right with Rafa looking so… ah…, looking so…, well, we’ll just say he looks rather intense. (Heh-heh-heh.)

The story is a splendid read, including the opening paragraph:

“Take your time. It’s okay. That photo of Rafael Nadal on the back cover of this magazine is undeniably … what’s a polite way to put it? Arresting. The mussed locks curled just so above the shoulders. The biceps curved like a particularly ripe aubergine. The shadows playing across the deeply grooved abs. All demand extended scrutiny.”

When you’re done, ask yourself this: Would Roger Federer ever pose for a photo like that?

The pirate look Mr. Nadal wears so well was evident in at the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.

As was Mr. Federer’s more buttoned-up look.

The Princess must say reading about ‘ripped’ Mr. Nadal’s additional attributes made for an enlightening morning, albeit somewhat shocking. We’ll do our best to recover. Just knowing we could share it with you makes it all that more memorable! BTW, if there is anyone who can dish on the tennis fashion topic, Rich over at Down the Line Tennis is always on top of things.

We haven’t mentioned a number of store openings lately and wanted to cover just a few because they are of interest and/or more than timely. For openers, the Tory Burch store in San Francisco opens today on upscale Maiden Lane, a fab location. Here are a couple of the fall looks:

We aren’t wild about either one, but in the spirit of full disclosure TP has never done well with earth tones. They are very attractive to be sure, just not for us. The same can’t be said of the Hope Hooded Cardigan, very much for us, as it looks ever-so-snuggly. We acknowledge it’s not a bright and brilliant color, but when it comes to hoodies and their snuggle factor, color somehow ceases to be an issue for us!

A note on a name to watch: Katherine Fleming with news today she is launching her own line of handbags. At this point you are saying “This is all fine and lovely TP, and we’re quite Ms. Fleming is a wonderful human being and a great American, but why do we care about her handbags?!” Because fellow prep-heads, she is the designer responsible for much of the Tory Burch accessory line, as explained in this morning’s WWD story about her collection:

“…most recently Tory Burch, where she launched the brand’s accessories and was design director of accessories.”

Well, that definitely puts her on TP’s radar! Also opening a new store, but not until mid-November, is Vineyard Vines. They’ll be taking over the old Talbot’s Mens store in the Back Bay, and if there isn’t a lesson from the retailing Gods in that little scenario, wow. And that reminds us, you don’t want to miss out on the V2 Sale which is going full steam ahead.

We can’t pass up treasures like the Overboard Skirt, still available in a good range of sizes, or the Girls Boot Striped Polo, good to go in 3 great colors.

A decent amount of merchandise remains in the Mens and Boys sale areas as well as the Women’s and Girls, should this be of interest to anyone looking to snag a few things before the season is over.

Which brings us to one more preppy sale of note, the J Crew sale. Their merchandise is now an Extra 30% off, customers just need to use the code EXTRA30 at checkout. What could be easier than that?

We’ll chat more later. Happy hunting!

It’s All About Michael, Phelps Phan Tee Shirts, Roger Finally Gets His Gold

Happy Saturday everyone… we hope all are enjoying it wherever you may be, whatever the scenery or time zone!

First, a quick look at what is to come on your newsstand:

And this is before the man has even taken part in the final race, the one determining if he receives a record-shattering, unheard of 8th Gold Medal. The cover above follows this SI cover of July 28, 2008 previewing the upcoming Summer Olympics in Beijing.

The story on Michael Phelps by Susan Casey is outstanding, well worth your time if you haven’t already seen it and want to learn more about Mr. Phelps, Team USA, and Coach Bob Bowman. Additionally there are more than 50 of Simon Bruty’s great photos from his photo shoot that you can view.

Out of curiosity we asked one of the Footmen lolling about the Palace to do a quick search at eBay, the online auction site, to see what turned up for the search term “Michael Phelps.” We were somewhat surprised to learn there were only 1601 items listed as of this writing at 8pm EDT on Saturday evening. There are lots of photos (many allegedly autographed), ‘Phelps Phans’ tee-shirts, and other things, like this curiosity, described thusly in its title:

2004 ROOTS USA Olympic Michael Phelps BERET USA hat

Of course we recognize the hat, we were quite fond of it when Roots originally created it for the US Team. But from the auction title we initially thought it had personally belonged to the swimmer. Read on for more of the description about the hat being sold on eBay:

NEW WITH TAGS 2004 Roots Beret from the Olympics that Michael Phelps broke out!!!

Oddly enough, The Princess is unclear about what, if anything, this hat has to do with Mr. Phelps….? Other than it was, as the auction says, “…made and officially licensed by Roots… this is the U.S. Olympic cap worn by USA Athletes during the Opening Ceremony in Athens.” Hhhmmm, we are confused. We don’t understand the connection. Of course, we cast no aspersions upon the item being sold on eBay or the individual selling it, we are simply perplexed.

If you are desperately seeking a Phelps Phan shirt, they are available at CafePress for $19.99, which seems quite reasonable. They come in Men’s, Women’s and Junior sizes, as well as different colors, cuts and even a few in organic cotton.

We move on to something else a long time coming…

The happiness on Roger Federer’s face upon finally realizing a dream was almost childlike, as opposed to jaded and cynical as it might have been. It wasn’t all that he hoped for, but it was still Gold and at that moment, in that venue, it was clearly more than enough for him.

Roger Federer (l) and Stanislas Wawrinka (r) of Switzerland compare Gold Medals

To recap in a more respectable fashion, Roger Federer, left, and Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland beat Sweden’s Thomas Johansson and Simon Aspelin 6-3 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 at these Beijing 2008 Olympics. But wait… that’s not all: Team USA’s Bryan Boys also managed a medal, a Bronze after their victory over Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra of France. They were fairly pleased by that outcome.

Olympic Medalist in Men

Tomorrow, it’s Rafael Nadal taking on Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez for the Gold Medal in Men’s Singles. Did you know Mr. Gonzalez carried the flag for his country in the Opening Ceremony? And that in the Athens Games he won a Bronze medal in Singles and a Gold in Men’s Doubles? TP must admit she had not remembered all of that.

How did Rafa spend part of his day? Watching his previously unbeaten countrymen get bested by the USA Men’s Basketball team 119-82.

How are people looking at the match? Peter Bodos at Tennis World writes:

I’m not giving away the store when I say that Fernando Gonzalez is as tough a gold-medal opponent as Rafael Nadal could have drawn.

Whatever anyone else is thinking, the 22-year-old Spaniard is excited to be playing for Gold:

“It’s a dream to be in this final. When I arrived here, I didn’t expect to be in this final”

As for Gonzalez?

“I am at my best. Nadal is currently the best player, but I am playing well too, this is my best time. I am ready to do what I have to do…”

First serve is at 4am EDT. The Princess is not sure she will be watching this one live. BTW, TP must ask if she’s the only person in the galaxy unaware of an Olympic event called Trampoline?

Well, we must run… we’re off to watch a little more swimming!

Phelps Inspires Team USA, Federer Match, Serena & Venus Williams, I “Love” Michael Phelps T-Shirt

Hello and Happy Thursday….! Wow! First of all, a spoiler alert to protect anyone who hasn’t seen the outcomes of today’s tennis matches.

SPOILER ALERT

***The next portion of today’s post features photos and RESULTS from Tennis matches played today, Thursday, 8.14.08 ***

We don’t know where or if anyone can watch tennis from the Beijing Summer Games but just in case, we wanted to do our goofy little alert. We do apologize for the way this rather loud graphic message intrudes upon our serene and placid piece of the web. (Okaaaaay, when did The Princess decide to go all calm and caper-free?)

But you can imagine our amazement when we strolled in after a day of meetings for PreppyPrincess.com and we saw things like this on our desktop!

Roger Federer vs. James Blake

Which also translated in to seeing things like this:

James Blake, USA

The upset of the current #1 player in the world by #8 ranked James Blake of the USA shocked the tennis world. It also has some wondering if the toll of being #1 for the last 4-1/2 years has finally caught up with Roger Federer. This is not to detract from Mr. Blake’s achievement today in the Olympic Tennis Quarterfinals. After all, this is someone who has only won one set in the 8 matches he has previously played against the champion.

Roger Federer, Switzerland vs. James Blake, USA

It only took Mr. Blake two sets to dispense with Mr. Federer, but this does not include nearly 3-1/2 hours rain delay. Mr. Blake described his thoughts on scoring a major win against Mr. Federer:

“In a lot of the other matches, it has been a point here or there,” Blake said. “That’s why he was No. 1 in the world—he played those points better than everyone. Today I played them well.”

Indeed he did. The loss does underscore Mr. Federer’s lack of a win at any major this year, with only the US Open left to redeem himself. For more on this entire saga, you may want to read the excellent story about Mr. Federer’s current malaise by Selena Roberts on the CNN/SI site.

Her description of post-match responses from both players is poignant:

It was a life-affirming win for Blake, who kissed the American flag sewn into his shirt after the last point. It was devastating for Federer, who hurried off the court, slipping by tennis officials with red eyes.

Ms. Roberts goes on to ask a question many have pondered, especially since the epic battle at Wimbledon between Mr. Federer and Rafael Nadal.

…leaving Federer visibly discombobulated. He talked to himself, challenged calls he was obviously wrong about and seemed mad at his suddenly slow feet.

Who was this cranky man?”

Roger Federer

“It’s a lack of practice; I haven’t had time to practice whatsoever since February,” Federer conceded after losing to Blake for the first time in their nine matches. “I blame myself the most.”

Perhaps the more rousing story is hearing what contributed to Mr. Blake’s drive:

“Just sitting there watching this morning, watching Michael Phelps set a world record, it was something that was special to me because it made me realise how many people are inspired by him, and that I’m now in the position to have that opportunity, to go out there and get a medal for my country.

“Today was hopefully the first step towards that.”

Roger Federer, Switzerland Congratulates James Blake, USA

James Blake, USA and Roger Federer, Switzerland

Congratulations to our James Blake, a remarkable talent with a remarkable story. Woo-hoo! The Women’s quarterfinals were not kind to Team USA’s players. Serena Williams lost her match to Elena Dementieva of Russia, and China’s Li Na beat Venus Williams in a very late-running match.

Serena Williams, USA vs. Elena Dementieva of Russia

Venus Williams, USA vs. Li Na, China

If you like the way Michael Phelps inspired James Blake and are feeling lots of love for him, you can always go through his website to get videos on swimming, like Michael Phelps-Beneath the Surface:

or cute tee-shirts like this one:

There are even posters to adorn the walls of one of the children’s rooms, if you allow that sort of thing.

BTW, tennis fashionistas can now shop a goodly collection of clothing, hats and all sorts of other things at the official US Open online site, including tees and hoodies like these.

Now that site does not include the Polo Ralph Lauren US Open Collection, now available at the Polo site. That site has been fairly well filled out with items like the US Open Court Hat, US Open Metallic Tote, or the US Open Metallic Big Pony Tee

Big Pony Tank Dress

Polo Ralph Lauren US Open Court Hat

US Open Medium Logo Tote

A rather patriotic red, white and blue look up above, isn’t it? We’ll show more of the Ralph Lauren US Open fashions in the next week.

Here is something fun for those who like the quirky side of life, compliments of WowOWow. If you want a glance at the contents of Miss Manners’ icebox, or want to see what is next to the Snickers bar in Liz Smith’s fridge…

then you simply must pop over to wOw Scenes: Our Refrigerators. Here’s a little tease from TV Anchor/Reporter Cynthia McFadden:

(The lady at the checkout counter the other day did ask me if I ran a day care center. Excessive? I like to think merely prepared …)

We don’t know about you, but we’re simply dying to go peek at Judith Martin’s (Miss Manners), aren’t you? Besides, they have a fabulous story about Madonna turning 50!