Lying on the couch...

I've been channeling Snow White's missing three dwarfs, Barfy, Poopy, and Dizzy (uh-oh...feel I may have crossed a line), these last few days.  Today I feel somewhat on the mend, so I settled myself on the couch to find a good movie.  I found it--Arabesque, from 1966, starring Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren.  I really have no idea what was going on.  I came in 10 minutes after it started and apparently lost most of the particulars of the plot.  Gregory Peck is a professor, Sophia Loren lives (in a room lined with the best red toile I have

[caption id="attachment_915" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="See the toile in the background?"][/caption]

ever seen--more white than red--so pretty.  Even the tiles in the bathroom are in the same toile.) as the mistress of a menacing Arab (--what? politician? gangster? I just don't know) who seems to have a touch of a foot fetish (he buys her lots of shoes and likes to massage her feet), and everyone is trying to kill each other while they seek the cypher. What the cypher tells them I--surprise!--don't know.

But what I do know about this movie is that the clothes were sensational!  When I first came in, Sophia made her entrance in an evening gown that would be so perfect for women of, say, my age.  I'm not sure if it was black or navy blue, but that is immaterial.  It had a very wide neckline, very low-cut (but without putting her girls out there in a sleazy way), a close-fitting bodice and full, sheer sleeves with feathers around the wrists.  So maybe not suitable for a dinner, but definitely for cocktails. Later on, she and Gregory Peck get chased around London and when she gets back home to her Arab lover, she takes off her great little white coat and reveals a very plain black sheath dress, 3/4 sleeves, below the knee, with a bateau neck.  But when she turns around, the back is U-shaped, down to almost her waist!  So sexy, so subtle.  I loved it.  Later they get chased around London some more (while in their pretty little red Mercedes) and she is wearing a very groovy shiny red raincoat, with knee-high black boots. Truly, the clothes were amazing--sorry I couldn't find a photo of the sheath dress.  I wish I had a dressmaker who could replicate these outfits, especially that little black sheath dress.  So many dresses are just too short!

Come to find out after I poked around online that it was a Dior wardrobe, valued at over $150,000 (at the time!).  So that's nice.  But if you're channeling your own dwarfs, due to illness or hangover (hey, these things happen), or just need some pretty clothes and some mindless entertainment, Arabesque is a great bet.

Three Good Things

Today I was...what?  involved with? user of? three very good things.

First of all, I finished the book What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty.  Imagine getting a do-over of all the snarky, testy things you've said to your spouse (and spouse has said to you), and getting to see with fresh eyes the situations that led up to those comments.  Alice falls down at the gym, hits her head, and gets amnesia.  She awakes, thinking it is 10 years previous.  Imagine her shock, finding out that she's thin and in terrific shape, finding out that she has three children, and finding out that she and her beloved husband are divorcing.  It's an interesting take on an old idea, and I really enjoyed it.  What Alice Forgot is a wistful look at the way lives unexpectedly turn out,  and it's even a bit funny in spots.  I recommend it.

Secondly, I wore my new shoes when I went out for coffee this morning.  For some reason, I had a yen to get some moccasins to wear this fall.  Beaded moccasins.  What's that saying, "The heart has reasons of which the mind knows nothing"?  Well, beaded moccasins may not be what whoever said that had in mind, but, well,  there you go.  So anyway, I went to Zappos way back in July and got my mocs.  They are by Minnetonka, called Thunderbird Suede Boat Sole, and they are sooo comfy!  Now, no, they are not the most glamorous footwear I own, but they are comfortable, cozy, and fall-y, which is just what I wanted.  And they have a Top-Sider-type sole, so you could actually wear them in adverse conditions.  Or when you go boating (what, in your birchbark canoe?).

Finally, furthering my sartorial autumnal agenda, I put on my corduroy pants from L.L. Bean for the first time today (can you tell the weather was much cooler than it has been in ages?).  Once again, back in July I decided I wanted corduroy (hey, did you know that comes from the French corde du roi, meaning cord for the king, which is to say that this corded fabric used to be only worn by royalty?  I'm telling you, the things you learn, hanging out with me--I'm like Cliff Clavin) pants for fall.  Sooo, since LL is my new favorite store, I got a pair there.  I love them!  They are called Saturday Pants, they are boot cut, and I got them in the curvy fit.  Comfy and well-fitting right out of the gate, and very little skwiff-skwiff noise (you know, the noise corduroy sometimes makes when you walk?).

So now you have a good book to read and some comfy (apparently the word of the day) clothes to wear.  Yay Fall!