Now, personally I strive for "Parisian Prep" myself but, when the following guest post from long time reader Ali Culver landed on my desk with an Aussie theme, I thought the timing was kismit...
Just so happens Emma is down under for a semester and may need a manual to reference in case her PREPdar isn't picking up it's signal from home. So, buckle up mates cuz Ali didn't take her task lightly...It was a
daaaaaark-n-stormy night......
see reference.....I know, I know, I'm slappin' the cheezwhiz on heavy by dabbling in that ubiquitous preamble to all corny novelettes.
Well, it
WAS a dark-n-stormy night, and
NO, just to confirm, you are not flashing back to that time you perused the shelves of the sticky, pulp fiction novels at a dreary, used book store.
Last week, in a "paperless", but rather snappily adorned invite, I sent Alice the following missive...
Realizing it was a long shot (her in Delaware, me in Wisconsin) or more appropriately a WhenAlice'sGamsTurnsAPastyWhite shot, PLUS, with all due respect to Alice's current business at hand - that being Miss L-Rock, Lolly-Rocks, Lo-Ro - I still wanted to extend an invite to one of my favorites, with a postcard-like, "wish you were here-ness" tone.
Now where was I...........leeeeet's seeeee...........oh yes, here we go......... Knowing she was on the road over the weekend, I simply wanted to make sure Alice knew that "If you decide to take the long way home, please come a 'knockin', you know where to find us."
And come a knockin' she did.
In fact, within minutes, there she was.
Dear Ali, she wrote, Hmmmmmmm.....15 hour non-stop driving to pick up Lolly vs donning the white linen last summer hurrah frock and sipping cocktails while watching the sun set on summer....tough decision Ali. Real tough. Throw one back for me please. Or two or three...XXOO Alice
Oh, did the wheels started turning.
I thought to myself, if Alice did come a knockin' what WOULD she wear to our Dark-n-Stormy cocktail party, in southeastern Wisconsin, on the shores of Lake Michigan?
Knowing her affinity for all things Summer, fabulous and kicky I couldn't resist:
To start, yes, indeed, she would come SWISHING in wearin white linen.
Perhaps in a pair of reckless, wide legged linen pants, carrying the
Baily bag by Aussie, Helen Kaminski..........something about the bag, slung over the shoulder against crisp white cotton or rumpled white linen.......swooooon!!
Topped with a stack of a little sumpthin' brightly enameled on her cuff, and a PRETTY pair of her coveted
Canforas.
Oh Baily bag, come to mama........
Later, when the party descended to our beach
(temperatures are a bit cool in Wisconsin this weekend) she'd toss on this pink, white and orange long kaftan:
Suboo of Australia turns out these beauties. Boho Chic at it's finest...
For my hostess present, Alice would definitely bring one of these FAB beach brellies
I am positively over the moon about these little numbers - and that rope/knot detail on the first one....have you EVER?!?
Smashing!!! Suboo
umbrellas - straight from down under.
Not to leave Babe in the dust, he would need a pair of swim trunks.......Alice, I know you do chin ups all over Vilibrequin trunks, understandably so.......but c'mon, Allie, check out the cut on these babies:
Orlebar Brown swim trunks....I'm a bit partial to a trimmer cut trunk.....not those
beyooond terrible "pootarps"
(my husband invented that moniker, awful imagery/visual, I know) littering the boardwalk or Soprano's pool deck.
Men should be smitten with these. Men should want these trunks to like them.
Hopefully O. Brown eventually conjures up some snappy prints, but for now........love them!!
And then I woke UP...........goodness, pardon me, I was daydreaming.........This IS September in Wisconsin, after all.
Alice, I would have had to kit you out from our "guest" cache of Patagonia fleece and tartan wool blankets.
In the eye of a September night's, 50-ish degree, Lake Michigan easterly, we do what we gotta do, and party night was a blustery one.
Fortunately, it did not come close to in diminishing the enthusiasm of party goers, and judging from the empties, the job was well done.
SO, In the meantime, let's soak up vicarious thrills from our Oz friends, who are JUST beginning their summer season.......
siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.
It is no accident the goodies above are of Aussie descent ('cept for the trunks, just because I think they are EXCEEDINGLY well done, AND the SUNDAY TIMES says so too: "Buy them because they are the most flattering swim trunks around".
The Aussies do Boho Chic remarkably well and I have a feeling the little Suboo and Kaminski boho nuances we have here are not wasted on Allie - did you know it was an Australian fashion writer who coined the term "Boho Chic"?
A virtual fountain of information today, aren't we?
And,
psssssst, since it's you-n-me talking, let's be truthful - seems the Aussie's idea of guys swim trunks are once hometown favorite Speedos, consequently, I had NO choice but to take a trip to Olebar. Another bit of cocktail party trivia: The Speedo company was founded in Bondi Beach, Sydney, AU.....so there you have it.
Respectfully submitted.
Thank you for tuning in.
Ali
PS: Dark-n-Stormies have their time and place, fortunately I am not seasonally strict with our G&T makings.Where you listening Emma? Although, ya shouldn't need Ali's guest post to tell you that boa constrictors are most UNprep even down under. Shudder...
Kindness of Ali Culver from Wisconsin for coming to the rescue while I'm on day two of my road to recovery. Now excuse me while I grab my needlepoint and Mediterranean Mint gelato and cheer my boyfriend Rafa on to victory. Think they do prep in Spain??? XXOO
My razor sharp eye caught a glimpse of this beauty when the très fashionable Meg Carter pulled hers out to generously pay for drinks at the Palace last month. Those mice in my head were tripping over themselves in excitement to start the new file...
Of course, once the new "wallet" file was entered I felt obliged to expand my research to ensure I would be lusting after theee best possible option. The final decision will have to be made in person. In gay Pareee...
After two separate sold out disappointments with more modest leather bracelets, the Jumbo and the Pavone, I decided to quit tinkerin around. Sooo Collier de Chien 'tis and big dogs here I come...
What can I say? I can't slip in and out of Hermes this many times in a month and NOT instinctively ferret out another enamel bangle to lust over. I mean, when in 
