Category: fashion

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the “Fifi” Award is Coming…

What is your name....

The 2007 “Fifi Awards” will be held May 31st at the Winter Garden of the World Financial Center in New York City.

The awards are a way of recognizing all those who have achieved in the fragrance industry, including those involved in retailing, packaging and advertising and promotion. 35 years have passed since the first awards which were described :

“The first Awards Ceremony, attended by only 250 industry members, was held in the Grand Ballroom of The Plaza in New York. There were only seven awards and Chanel No 19 won for “Most Successful Introduction of a Fragrance.” 

The Fifi award finalists have already been announces and you can discover who they are on Fragrance.Org. Let’s just say, there are no real surprises, except for those who actually win!

By the way, one of my favorite light operas is ” Die lustige Witwe ” or the “Merry Widow”… played best on screen by Jennette MacDonald and Maurice Chevalier . Janette MacDonald played “Fifi” and as seen in the phot above putting on the final touches… Fifi is an award… but it has another meaning to me.

Roger Freberg

 

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the Professor wears “Prada”

Books to inform the mind... fashion to please the soul

Who doesn’t like nice things? Laura’s ‘QuelQues Fleurs’ has always mesmerized me.
For an early mother’s day present we went out and bought Laura some nice sunglasses… not just any sunglasses, but some from Neiman Marcus… Prada’s. They were perfect. The right amount of protection from the wind ( we live in a very windy place where the wind reaches an average of 40 mph every afternoon) and sun.

Jan Moran has done a nice job with making perfumes undestandable… with her Fabulous Fragrances and Fabulous Fragrances II books. Although with all of the recent additions and offerings over the last 7 years, she should really come out with a third book.

I am looking forward to Luca Turin’s new book coming out sometime in 2008… check it out.

Roger Freberg

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Great Site for Perfume! … Got Guerlain?

wonderful Guerlain samples

My daughter Karen found a great site to buy perfume… or at least to buy affordable samples. Now, with three daughters, a wife and a zillion female relatives… I have tried to keep up with all the new products that have flooded mankind in the past dozen years.

Frankly, often there is nothing special about many of the ‘celebrity perfumes’… I mean, Paris Hilton’s actually has ‘pheromones’… but the scent makes a woman smell cheap… but maybe that’s the point.

I have always enjoyed women who wear perfumes from the famous House of Guerlain. Interestingly enough, an internet site offers a ‘sampler’ pack of some of their most well known…includnig: Shalimar, Champs-Elysees, Mahora, Samsara… and my personal favorite… Mitsouko. Check it out … only $40 or so.

Roger Freberg

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Great moments in Fashion

Ask almost anyone and they can tell you what they felt was an important fashion statement over the years. Some of my male relatives say it was the miniskirt or the bikini… hunting buddies say it was the foam beer can holder or velcro… everyone has an opinion…. which makes it fun.

Edna in the INCREDIBLES giving shocking fashion advice!

Edith Head of Hollywood fame must have been the person in mind for the person of “Edna’ in the “Incredibles”… and our family has laughed and quoted this scene far too much:

Bob: Weren’t you in the news? Some show in, Prayge… Prague?
Edna: Milan, darling. Milan. Supermodels. Heh! Nothing super about them… spoiled, stupid little stick figures with poofy lips who think only about themselves. Feh! I used to design for *gods*! 
Edna You need a new suit, that much is certain.
Bob:: A new suit? Well, where the heck am I gonna get a new suit?
Edna: You can’t! It’s impossible! I’m far too busy, so ask me now before I again become sane.
Bob:: Wait? you want to make me a suit?
Edna You push too hard, darling! But I accept!  

Edna: It will be bold! Dramatic!
Bob:: Yeah!
Edna: Heroic!
Bob: Yeah. Something classic – like Dynaguy. Oh, he had a great look! Oh, the cape and the boots…
Edna: [throws a wadded ball of paper at Bob’s head] No capes!
Bob: Isn’t that my decision?
Edna: Do you remember Thunderhead? Tall, storm powers? Nice man, good with kids.
Bob: Listen, E…
Edna: November 15th of ’58! All was well, another day saved, when? his cape snagged on a missile fin!
Bob: Thunderhead was not the brightest bulb…
Edna Stratogale! April 23rd, ’57! Cape caught in a jet turbine!
Bob: E, you can’t generalize about these things…
Edna: Metaman, express elevator! Dynaguy, snag on takeoff! Splashdown, sucked into a vortex!
[shouts]
Edna No capes!

 

Remember: “No Capes!”

Roger Freberg

 

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The Scent you will love…. from ‘which flowers?’

some things from the past... need to be recreated I found a scent that, frankly, that was as unmistakable as it was irresistible… so I bought it for Laura…. But first, here is some background:   I could try to describe a great perfume or a great house, but I would not do it justice… so I will let others:   How the House of Houbigant is described:   “In the days of Marie Antoinette, women of the European noblesse prefered the perfumes of Houbigant to any other kind. To their cultivated taste, the inimitable charm of Houbigant scents made unfailing appeal. It is not strange, then, that when Houbigant perfumes were first imported a half-century ago they should have found instant favor with those discriminating and exacting American women to whom the whole world sends the finest of its luxuries. New Houbigant perfumes and toiletries have been sent from France from time to time and all have the same distinct style of prestige.”    Which Flowers?   One of the most renowned and admired fragrances of all time, Quelques Fleurs L’Original forever changed floral fragrances when it became the first true multi-floral bouquet 90 years ago. A classic that has endured the test of time, the fragrance is wrapped in a theme of sculptured petals in a frosted and clear French glass. In a 3.3 oz., 1.6 oz., or 1 oz. eau de parfum spray.The true Quelques Fleurs formula has never been published. An ancient formula still kept in the family archives, this fragrance will never be duplicated. The blend of soft, sensual florals uses over 250 different raw materials and more than 15,000 flowers to create just one ounce of Quelques Fleurs eau de parfum. To this day it is still produced in Grasse, France, where Jean Francois Houbigant first created his perfumes in 1775.   “Royal Perfume”   In celebration of the essence produced for Princess Adelaide d’Orleans 175 years ago—Royale Eau de Parfum. This latest scent blends key notes from the legendary Quelques Fleurs bouquet, and takes its name from its aristocratic history.• Fresh, sparkling top notes of Sicilian bergamot and grapefruit.
• Heart notes of Egyptian jasmine, Moroccan rose, and Indian tuberose warmed by hints of white acacia honey.
• Intense base notes of precious amber, sandalwood, orris, and white musks.
• 3.3 fluid ounces in a pink classic bottle of sculptured petals in a frosted and clearFrench glass.    


Roger Freberg