June 2015 / Shell Sherree

Fashionable Friday : Shall We Dance

26.6.15

{Fashion and Fluffballs illustration : Shall We Dance, Humbugs © Shell-Sherree}

Hello, vague nod to Italian backdrop of uncertain precise location. For some reason, I'm thinking Milan, but we can be anywhere you like. Really. As long as we have one pigeon, we're cooking with gas. {No-one tell the pigeon, please. Some things are too hard to explain.}

A single pigeon makes a fetching dance partner. A flock ? Not so much. Kitty is here for crowd control purposes, lest I have a pigeonesque repeat of the Chook Feeding Incident of the summer of 1976 from which my sister and I are unlikely to ever fully recover.

If the idea of dancing brings out the 'bah humbug' in you, at least our black and white attire is colour coded to that particular boiled lolly. Come to think of it, Eliza/Audrey might want to join us. Her hat can find a boyfriend. And on that note ...

Happy Fashionable Friday to you !

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Fairy Tails : Story Dogs Helping Children Read

23.6.15

{Fashion and Fluffballs illustration : Fairy Tales with Fluffy Tails © Shell-Sherree}

Puppy dogs helping children tell tales ? Now, there's a tall story ! Except that it's not. Cross my heart and hope to eat a carob TimTam.

Story Dogs is an Australian organisation based on the American literacy programme Reading Education Assistance Dogs. According to Story Dogs, "when children read to a dog, the outcomes are amazing! ... The non-judgmental, loving nature of dogs gives this program its magic and helps children relax, open up, try harder and have fun reading to a friendly and calm dog."

As kitties are non-judgmental too and I'm one dog short of having a dog Chez Shell, perhaps Ella would like me to read War and Peace to her. She might be a bit tougher an audience than a puppy, but if we stop for walkies breaks, we'll never get through it.

If your pooch would like to help a young child find their reading paws or sponsor a Dog Team, you can get in touch with Story Dogs here.

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Fashionable Friday : Paris Poise and Vintage Vogue

19.6.15

{Fashion and Fluffballs illustration : Paris Poise and Vintage Vogue © Shell-Sherree}

Come on up. The view is lovely from here. While Workplace Health and Safety might whip out their notebooks and bypass brow furrowing in favour of writing me up for a hefty fine, Chez Shell there's no such red tape.

But for the sake of prudence and an excuse to use the word alacrity, I'll err on their side of caution and position a round, plump, cherry-red mattress thingo on the footpath below. Not that I plan on us needing it. How inelegant.

Today's Paris fashion illustration is inspired by this vintage Vogue number from 1956. It's kind of School Marm meets Victoria Holt Equestrian ~ a temporary departure from our usual ruffles as the degree of difficulty perching here was advanced enough without adding them into the mix. Petit fours will be delivered by carrier pigeons momentarily. A recipe for disaster but I'm hoping they will rise to the occasion. And on that note ...

Happy Fashionable Friday to you !

ABSEIL OVER TO MY PETITE BOUTIQUE HERE

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Fashionable Friday : My Fair Ladies

12.6.15

Fashion illustration : Eliza and Dover - My Fair Ladies © Shell-Sherree

With Royal Ascot preparing to enter the mounting yard next week, today's fashion illustration honours a well-loved and long-retired but never-to-be-forgotten favourite. The expression,"Rooster one day, feather duster the next," was certainly not made for Audrey Hepburn or Eliza Doolittle ~ even though some bemused men folk might wonder if the hat is a combination of both. {They know not what they do.}

Not so long ago, I illustrated Audrey Hepburn in a different costume from the Royal Ascot scene in My Fair Lady. It's lovely and all ~ but nothing can rival this breathtaking magnificence Cecil Beaton concocted especially for her ... somehow primly elegant and wildly extravagant all at once. There's a rare gift in successfully combining both.

We feel we must apologise for inflicting hat hair on you yet again, and indeed, it is a requirement of Royal Ascot's official style guide that we do. But we have arranged for distractional brandy in sterling silver hip flasks should one's hat come adrift at any point in proceedings. And on that note ...

Happy Fashionable Friday to you !

CANTER OVER TO MY PETITE BOUTIQUE HERE

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Fashionable Friday : Carry-On Your Valuables

6.6.15

Fashion and fluffballs illustration : Have Carry-On, Fluffballs Will Travel © Shell-Sherree

Travelling with everything you need in your carry-on luggage is light. Carefree. And oft much envied !

Wearing a classic black maillot during the day with jeans and a dash of Hermès jauntily knotted at one's neck sounds peachy. For an elegant dinner, team it with a black pencil skirt, trade the scarf for a statement necklace and you're guaranteed to use every piece of cutlery correctly before a modestly-partial disrobe and champagne-fuelled moonlight dip. Master the art of tying your Hermès as a bandeau, a belt and a halter-neck. Add in a white shirt and several strings of faux pearls long enough to wrap around your waist, and you can see out a week without wearing the same thing twice !

Of course, if you take your most valuable thing with you ~ something along the lines of today's illustration ~ this elegant theory is completely blown out of the water and relegated to a suitcase ~ in which case, you might as well opt for excess baggage, boots and all. So let us find a fleet of gold-plated trolleys and be on our way. And on that note ...

Happy Fashionable Friday to you !

ROLL OVER TO MY PETITE BOUTIQUE HERE

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