Masked, but not terribly dangerous

Another homage to Holly, of course, this image above has been pinned up above my desk for a number of years. It has become a part of the furniture; sometimes it is completely covered by other tearsheets and scraps of interest. However, after posting up yesterday’s What I Actually Wore entry, I thought of this photo torn from British Vogue.

I originally ripped it out because I really liked the window treatment, but I’ve never been able to find the right kind of lace to emulate the look in my home.

You might have noticed I try to hide my face as much as possible in my photographs, so I am always looking for innovative ways to do so. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any animal masks such as Holly and ‘Fred-baby’ pinched from the dime store in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

And now the image is also apt in the superficial resemblance it bears to my own vintage dress.

This image is from an early 90s Ermenegildo Zegna ad, I believe. I certainly didn’t find the woman’s outfit inspiring even back then (but it is an ad for men’s fashion, after all); it was the kookiness of the styling that endeared it to me. I imagine the hostess of the party as an eccentric woman who puts a lampshade on her head on the spur of the moment … because it seems the right thing to do. And her guest, relaxed back in the couch and ready to be entertained, just throws his head back and laughs.

I’m now on the hunt for a vintage lampshade … hopefully you’ll see it on my head in the near future.

What can I say? This one is cute; a little saucy even. Some might call it kinky – but is it more or less so than my own Zorro mask?

Photo credits (from top): Mischa Richter, British Vogue; Ermenegildo Zegna advertisement, photographer unknown; Australian Elle, Feb 1998, photographer unknown.