Emma aime ... Museum Station

I know its weird to have a favourite station but I just love Museum station in Sydney. The train we caught home on Sunday headed through there and it always makes me smile. I just adore the Art Deco feeling to it. It reminds me of stations back in London. I especially love the old posters. The hubby and I spotted a Jantzen one on the way through that made us both burst into an impromptu song of "Wear a smile and a Jantzen" Museum station opened on 20th December 1926. It was named for its proximity to the Australian Museum. Museum was built to accommodate workers and shoppers. Department store Mark Foys even had their own tunnel entrance on the corner of Liverpool Street and Castlereagh Street. The tunnel leading to the station have great pictures of the station being built and a complete photo history.

Take a train ride back in time with me dear readers ... x

Emma aime ... Tamara de Lempicka

I was browsing all the gorgous items on Past times last night and came across the Tamara de Lempicka, Young Girl in Green Shopper I had never seen de Lempicka's work before and instantly fell in love with this image.
Tamara de Lempicka (May 16, 1898–March 18, 1980) was born Maria Gorska in Warsaw. Born into a wealthy family, her father was a lawyer and her mother a socialite. In 1913 at the age of 15 Tamara met the man she was determined to marry, a well-known ladies' man, gadabout, and lawyer by title - Tadeusz Łempicki. Tamara staged a campaign to win Tadeusz and they were married in 1916.
In 1917 during the Russian Revolution Tadeusz was arrested by the Bolsheviks. Maria searched the prisons, tracked him down and after several weeks secured his release. The couple fled to Paris where Tamaras family had also escaped.

In Paris, the Lempickas lived for a while from the sale of family jewels. Tadeusz proved unwilling or unable to find suitable work, which added to the domestic strain, while Maria gave birth to Kizette de Lempicka.

Tamara's artistic style developed quickly, influenced by a "soft cubism" style and her work epitomised the art deco movement. For her first major show, in Milan, Italy in 1925, under the sponsorship of Count Emmanuele Castelbarco, de Lempicka painted 28 new works in six months. She soon became the most fashionable portrait painter of her time.
In 1925, she painted her iconic work Auto-Portrait (Tamara in the Green Bugatti) for the cover of the German fashion magazine Die Dame. As summed up by the magazine Auto-Journal in 1974, "the self-portrait of Tamara de Lempicka is a real image of the independent woman who asserts herself. Her hands are gloved, she is helmeted, and inaccessible; a cold and disturbing beauty [through which] pierces a formidable being—this woman is free!" De Lempicka won her first major award in 1927, first prize at the Exposition Internationale de Beaux Arts in Bordeaux, France for her portrait of Kizette on the Balcony.

During the Roaring 20s Paris, Tamara de Lempicka was part of the bohemian life: she knew Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau, and André Gide. Famous for her libido, she was bisexual, and her affairs with both men and women were carried out in ways that were scandalous at the time. She often used formal and narrative elements in her portraits and nude studies to produce overpowering effects of desire and seduction. In the 1920s she became closely associated with lesbian and bisexual women in writing and artistic circles, such as Violet Trefusis, Vita Sackville-West, and Colette. She also became involved with Suzy Solidor, a night club singer at Boîte de Nuit, whom she later painted. Her husband eventually tired of their arrangement; he abandoned her in 1927, and they were divorced.Tamara became obbssesed with her work and neglected her daughter. When Kizette was not at boarding school she spent the majority of her time with her grandmother. However Tamara also imortalised Kizette in a number of paintings and in other painting the women show a likeness to Kizette. In 1928, her long time patron the Baron Raoul Kuffner visited her studio and commissioned her to paint his mistress. De Lempicka finished the portrait, then took the mistress' place in the Baron's life.

De Lempicka continued both her heavy workload and her frenetic social life through the next decade. The Great Depression had little effect on her. In the winter of 1939, Tamara and the Baron started an "extended vacation" in the United States. She immediately arranged for a show of her work in New York, though the Baron and Baroness chose to settle in Beverly Hills, California, living in the former residence of Hollywood director King Vidor. She became 'the baroness with a brush' and a favorite artist of Hollywood stars. In 1943, the couple relocated to New York City. Even though she continued to live in style, socializing continuously, her popularity as a society painter had diminished greatly.
After Baron Kuffner's death from a heart attack in 1962, she sold most of her possessions and made three around-the-world trips by ship. Finally De Lempicka moved to Houston, Texas to be with Kizette and her family. There she began her difficult and disagreeable later years. Kizette served as Tamara's business manager, social secretary, and factotum, and suffered under her mother's controlling domination and petulant behavior.

In 1978 Tamara moved to Cuernavaca, Mexico, to live among an aging international set and some of the younger aristocrats. After Kizette's husband died of cancer, she attended her mother for three months until Tamara died in her sleep on March 18, 1980. Her ashes were scattered over the volcano Popocatepetl by Count Giovanni Agusta.

De Lempicka lived long enough, however, for the wheel of fashion to turn a full circle: before she died a new generation discovered her art and greeted it with enthusiasm.

Tamaras work can be seen at tamara de lempicka.org

Biographical information from wikipedia

Emma aime ... Chicstar.com

I adore the 1940's and 50's pin up style clothing but often find that repro pieces can be on the expensive side and having no sewing skills whatsoever unfortunately I can't make my own. Imagine my delight when I stumbled upon Chicstar.com. Chicstar have some wonderful pieces for sale and the prices are amazingly low. I especially adore this Vintage Sailor Pencil Cotton Dress which bear remarkable resemblance to the Betty Page Clothing Captain Pencil Dress but for a fraction of the price

Chicstar also offer budding designers the chance to submit their designs. If the designs are accepted you receive a free prototype of the item of clothing and if the design is put into production you get $500 credit!

Chicstar have many gorgeous items that I covet and once I have some spare pennies I will place an order with them. Here are the items I want!

Chicstar.com by emmerv on Polyvore.com

Check out Chicstar.com for fashion at fabulous prices dear readers ... x

Emma aime ... Sultry Sally

I may have mentioned in previous posts that since being diagnosed with polycycstic ovaries I have to be very careful about what I eat. I make sure that everything that passes my lips contains less than 5% sugar and fat. Unfortunately this means I miss out on some yummy treats and every girl needs a treat now and then.

I was browsing in my local fruit shop and deli and found the solution - Sultry Sally chips. Not only are they 95% fat free but they are also low in sugar which makes them an ideal treat for me! They come in four delicious flavours Salt and Vinegar, Thai Sweet Chili and Lime, Sea Salt and Cheese and Onion.

As if this wasn't enough the packets have these fab pinup girls on them. Packets retail at $3.99 for a 125gm packet. Check out the Sultry Sally website for stockists.

Happy snacking dear readers ... x

Emma aime ... Mad Men

I've been a little under the weather recently dear readers. So I have been tucked up on the sofa with series 1 and 2 of Mad Men and a huge mug of tea to cheer me up. I missed Mad Men when it was on TV but with all the hype about it in the blogging community I had to check it out for myself. Having got through most of the first series now I have to say I am a fan. It took me a while to get into the programme itself but being a bit of a fansionista, I instantly fell in love with gorgeous outfits especially Joan's sexy outfits and Betty's Grace Kelly-esque style.

I would blog more about the clothes but there's a whole plethora of sites that have pipped my to the post (by a few years!) I especially like Super Kawaii Mama's Mad Men Style Salon, a section of the site dedicated to achieving the Mad Men look.

Whilst researching for this blog I stumbled across a fab site where you can "Mad Men Youself" so here's me having a cocktail with the dashing Don Draper. Series 1 and 2 of Mad Men are available on DVD now!

I'm off for a Vodka Gimlet dear readers ... x

Emma aime ... Audrey Hepburn

I was at a loss of things to do today. The hubby had worked one job straight after the other last night and subsequently spent the day in the land of nod and today's temp was soring around 41 degrees so I decided not to go out and risk being burnt to a crisp (cursed 'English rose' complexion!)

Having nothing to do I flicked on the TV to find a wonderful documentary on the divine Audrey Hepburn whom I simply adore. The documentary was entitled "The Magic of Audrey" and chronicled her life from her hard childhood in WWII through her dazzling acting career, her work as a UNICEF ambassador, right up to her death of cancer at her home in Switzerland in 1993.

Audrey is a real inspiration to me. In the time of he blond bombshell she was a breathe of fresh air in Hollywood with her elfin figure. She never acted like a diva like other Hollywood lading ladies and always conducted herself with grace and humility.

Audrey was a great style icon. She was aware of her body shape and knew exactly how to dress to flat her figure. She never tried to change to fit the Hollywood blond bombshell image and instead paved the way with her individual look. Whilst filming Sabrina she was sent to the young, up and coming designer Givenchy. Audrey picked out the clothes from the film and become a lifelong friend and muse for Givenchy. The outfits Audrey picked are iconic today. We only have to look at shows like Gossip Girl to see that Audrey's influence is still prevalent today.

Audrey was a fantastic actor. Not only did she play the fun, kooky characters like Holly Golightly but she showed people she was a diverse actress with serious role in films like War and Peace and The Nun's Story. She subsequently received many awards and honors for her roles.

Audrey lived through many hardships in her childhood but never complained although her first dreams of becoming a dancing were dashed due to her height and the affects of malnourishment during the war years. Audrey was always thankful to those who showed her charity in those hard war years and took time to give back to those who helped her by becoming a goodwill ambassador to the United Nations Children's Fund. After her death, Audrey's sons Sean and Luca set up the Audrey Hepburn's Children Fund to continue her work.
Audrey saw a good few personal tragedies in her adult life as well. She suffered two miscarriages, the first in 1955 and the second in 1959 whilst filming The Unforgiven, when she fell and broke four vertebrae which subsequently led to the miscarriage. Despite this Audrey kept a cheerful outlook and when she had her two children Sean and Luca she took many years out from acting and devoted herself fully to being a mother.
Audrey was truly a remarkable lady. I would love to have had the opportunity to meet her but alas like most of my idol this will never be. Instead I draw inspiration from her on how to conduct myself and live my life. Audrey is associated with the poem "Time Tested Beauty Tips" by Sam Levenson so I will leave you with that today:

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day.

For poise, walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone.

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; Never throw out anybody.

Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm.

As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.

The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

Emma aime ... Amelie

Amelie is one of my favourite movies ever! I just adore Audrey Tautou!

Chic and Charming has a brilliant blog on everything you will need to live like Amelie but here are some extra items that they did not mention that you may need in order to live the Fabulous life of Amelie Poulin:

Amelie's accessories:
Some lovely french perfume. I love the scent of L'Occitanes Eau des 4 Relnes. It comes in this gorgeous vintage style bottle and at $49.99 its very reasonable.

This gorgeous vintage travel case is similar to the one Amelie carries when she is leaving home and heading for Montmartre. This travel case is being sold by Back Thenish Vintage on Etsy. Get it here.

For rainy days in Paris try this cute red and white dot umbrella similar to the one Amelie has You can get yours at dotcomgiftshop.com for only £14.95

I hope you like my selection and as I just cant get enough of this movie I will most likely bring you more blogs about it in the near future. In the meantime why not watch Amelie for yourself?

She'll Change Your Life dear readers ... x

Emma aime ... Ladybug shoes

Ive been inspired by these adorable shoes for sale by em and sprout on Etsy recently and decided to have a go a making my own. All I did was get some pumps and colour them with permanent markers then add the googly eyes!

What do you think dear readers? ... x

Emma aime ... Julie and Julia

The hubby and I had a delightful day today. After a spot of lunch (it was meant to be breakfast but we woke up ridiculously late! oh well!), we headed to the cinema to see Julie and Julia. The movie stars the fabulous Meryll Streep as cookbook author Julia Childs and Amy Adams as a Julie Powell who cooks her way through Julia recipe book and write a blog about it. The story intermingles Julie's mission of challenge her way through the book and Julia's challenge of become a cook and having her book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, published.

We both loved the movie especially the performance by Meryll Streep who was charming and outrageous.

So for all you people who loved the movie as i here is a brief biography of the two main "characters".

Julia Childs:

(August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American cook, author and television personality. She introduced French cuisine and cooking techniques to the Americans through her, most notably Mastering the Art of French cooking (published 1961) and her television programme the French Chef which premiered in 1963. Mastering the Art of French Cooking is still available today in its 49th edition!

Julie Powell:

Julie Powell (born 1973) is an American author of Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen. While working for the Lower Manhattan Development Corp in August 2002, Powell began the Julie/Julia Project, a blog chronicling her attempt to cook all the recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The blog quickly gained a large following, and Powell signed a book deal resulting in Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen.

In the words of Julia herself Bon Appetite dear readers ... x

Emma aime ... my favourite things!

- squishing wet sand between my toes
- the feel of the sun on my skin
- watching the sun rise on a summer morning
- craking open a boiled egg and pushing in a toast soldier so the yoke runs over the top
- swinging high on a swing and watching the sky zoom past overhead
- riding a carousel
- star gazing on a clear warm night
- the smell of a blown out candle
- standing on the porch and watching the lightning on a stormy night
- climbing into a freshly made bed and smelling the clean sheets
- feelng a soft kiss on the back of my neck
- my hubbie stroking my forehead as I fall asleep
- cuddling up by the fire on a cold winters night
- picking the first flower of spring and wearing it in my hair
- sitting in my nans garden, shelling freshly picked peas from their pod

What are your favourite things dear readers? ... x

Emma aime ... Dita von Teese' Wonderbra Party Edition

I adore Dita von Teese, she is one of my all time idols. I loved her underwear range for Wonderbra and was so excited to hear she was launching a new range this year. I was hoping to be one of the first to view the new range 'the party edition' but unfortunately due to my lack of internet I am one of the last!

So here it is readers only a month after the launch! Dita's first collection for Wonderbra came out last year but she still had many ideas left over for the new line.

'I wanted to re-invent the existing collection for a few reasons,' she said.

'One being that I love it so much myself and I was so happy with the new bra shapes Wonderbra made for me, that I kept fantasizing about having it in other colours and fabrics.'

The collection includes three different lines: the completely new, Sparkle Teese by Dita Von Teese (elegant, sequin-studded tulle with detachable red pom-poms); the sumptuous Satin Teese by Dita Von Teese (in flame-red or metallic mauve); and the irresistible Multi-Teese by Dita Von Teese.

To be completely honnest readers I am slighlty diaspointed that this range is almost all the same as the old range but just different colours. I did expect a completely new line of vintage style designs. Having said that I love the satine teese set and will definitely be buying myself the red version.

The new collection is avaliable exclussively in Europe. Check it out here! For those of you who are not in Europe the collection is avaliable at ASOS who will deliver worldwide!

So snap up your chance to get into Dita's undies dear readers ... x

Emma aime ... Wicked

The hubby and I went to see Wicked this week at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney. The musical is inspired by the book by Gregory Maguire which in turn is based on the book the Wondeful Wizard of Oz by L Frank Baum. It is the story of Elphaba (The Wicked Witch of the West) and Glinda (The Good) and how they met and became friends. The musical tells the “true story” of what really happened in Oz.
We both thought the musical was funny and highly entertaining. Burt Newton was warm and charismtic aand made you have compassion for the dasterdly wizard. Amanda Harrison who played Elphaba and Lucy Durack who played Glinda both had fantastic singing voices. The show is running until 29/11/09 at Sydney's Capitol Theatre and tickets are available here.

I was hoping to create a Wicked inspired outfit to wear to the musical but as we were moving house this week unfortunately I was way to busy so I opted for my blue 50's style dress with white spots and a red cardigan.

Had a created an outfit it would be something like this:

Wicked by נıʟʟ ♥'ѕ σωʟ cıтч ♫ featuring Fendi shoes

I adore these mini hats by joeireedhats's on Etsy and would definitely have topped the outfit off with one

Have a Wicked weekend dear readers ... x

Emma aime ... Coco avant Chanel

My hubby and I had the pleasure of seeing Coco avant Chanel recentely. It is the story of rise from obscure beginnings to the heights of the fashion world. The movie stars the delightful Audrey Tautou whom I adore. A great biography of Chanel can be found over at Queens of Vintage.
Chanel made her name by creating outfits that were unristricting and unfussy. This was completely different from the Belle Epoque look of the time. This can be seen by the outfits that Coco (Audrey) wears in the film and I was very much inspired by Coco's sailor shirt look sported above.

To get the look bag yourself one of these Russian army naval/marine sailor stripe thsirt top. Sold by lukkybid on ebay for the bargain price of £12.99 (£5.50 postage). I'll be pairing mine up with black skinny jeans, black booties and toping the look of with a straw boater.
Happy shopping dear readers ... x

Emma aime ... Faster Pussycat

I adore these Pussycat Cardigans by Faster Pussycat however being on a budget I dont have $89usd to spend on knitwear so I had a go at creating my own customised knitwear. I got these cardigans on sale at SES for $6.99 each and found the cute patches being sold by Ozzie Gold Digger on ebay for $7.50 each. So for just $14.49 per cardigan I have these cute winter woolies. I think thats a bargain!
How do you like them dear readers?... x

Emma aime...bowling

The hubby and I went bowling with a few friends this weekend which gave me the dilemma of what to wear. I needed something both practical and stylish so decided to draw my inspiration from the divine Jayne Mansfield.

To me bowling always conjures images of the 1950's and rock and roll. So I adore this set on polyvore. I especially like the poodle skirt by Rock n Roll Dancewear. They also have a great range of bowling shirts. Check them out here.

The 50s by a l i c i a♥ gotta.find.you. featuring Balenciaga bags

Needless to say in the end I went for my denim pedal pushers and self customised black cardigan with 50s swallows. I topped the outfit off with red cats eye sunglasses and a red chiffon scarf for my ponytail. I will bring pics of this look in future posts.

Prepare to be bowled over dear readers ... x

Emma aime ... Alice in Wonderland

I got my first peek today at the trailer for the new Alice in Wonderland directed by Tim Burton. I have to say I wait in eager anticipation for the release of this enchantingly gothic tale. Based on the book by Lewis Carol, the film picks up the story some ten years later and finds Alice a young woman of 19 who is uncertain of what her future holds. Thus she travels back down the rabbit hole and winds up back where it all began. The film is released on 5th May 2010 so we have a while to wait but sneak a peak at the trailer which can be viewed here.


The films stars Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Mia Wasikowska as Alice, Anne Hathaway as The White Queen, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, Michael Sheen as the White Rabbit, Matt Lucas as Tweeddledee and Tweeddledum , Crispin Glover as the Knave of Hearts, Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat and Alan Rickman as the Caterpillar.

The films ethereal fairytale-like scenery and the larger than life characters have inspired me today so in honor of the film I will be putting together an Alice in Wonderland outfit. I adore the ALICE IN WONDERLAND drink ME necklace created by Pesthouse for sale on etsy.


There are some great Alice inspired sets on polyvore. I particularly like these:

Alice by Crinoline featuring Miss Selfridge shoes

ALICE BY TIM BURTON by Julieta featuring Monsoon

I will post the results of my Alice inspired outfit soon but in the meantime..
...once more into the rabbit hole dear readers ... x