Love Me Velvet : Vintage Inspired Swimsuits

Dillinger has some lovely additions to the swimwear department, including the gorgeous Emerald Green One Piece. We are waiting with little patience for the rest of the gorgeous velvet swimsuits to arrive to us. We are being teased with just a look and so I pass the teasing on to you!

With love and exhaustion,

Mme Gigi

Luv-A-Fair Fashion Show Part II

The new Gigi L'amour Boudir Collection debuted at the Luv-A-Fashion show hosted by Fame Digest of Minneapolis. Custom corsets and other pinup inspired intimates will be rolled out at Dillinger Ink over the next few months (as will The Pinup Collection - a playful, sexy swimwear line) Perhaps this is why my writing has been lacking, as well as my reading. But the days are getting longer and warmer so my energy will hopefully bounce back from all the wintery Vitamin D loss I've endured!


Left turn back to the show. It was a lot of fun and a great inspirational challenge to come up with some new looks for the fashion show and do some different styles that we didn't currently offer. Enjoy a little pinup, a little burlesque, a little feathers and a whole lot of leg!


"Gigi L'Amour adds a touch of glamour to her designs influenced by the feminine looks of the 1940s. She fell into fashion, she says, through her love of photography and slight obsession with the film noir era. Expect to see corsets, 40s style garter belts, and waist pieces with vintage inspiration in the style of the always sexy pinup. Mme L'Amour, who says she could spend hours looking at the work of Gil Elvgren, is drawn to the details, "the back seam stockings, the suspender garters, the way the lines of the clothing and lingerie fall." Her collection is sure to be both sexy and romantic!"

Getting Ready	Andrea M : The fab stylist we work with
	Hey! Hey!	Tighten Up
Adjust the flowers - don't show too much!	Madame L'amour	Feathers and Garters
	Waist Cincher with a touch of burlesque
Polka Dots	Diva Delightful
Cotton Candy		Devlish D
Behave! or else...		QUICK CHANGE!
Fairwell my sweets!	Phew! And Done.

Images courtesy of :
RubyLeePhotography.com
CodedChrome.com
Visual-memory.com

tonight we dine in Hell's Kitchen

She needs friends with whom to share expeditions, friends to whom she can pour out her enthusiams and troubles and show off her new hats...

Marjorie Hillis

I will shamefully admit (especially after working in the industry) that I had not been to Hell's Kitchen downtown Minneapolis until this evening. Shall I try to hone my skills as a restaraunt critic because my writing never quite paints like I see it in my head :) I loved the look, the leather booths in the far room (damn, the name escapes me at the moment!) the blood red walls, victorian chairs, bizarre artwork and still very relaxed atmosphere. I likely took at least a day off of my life or a branch out of my arterial network with the french dip and sweet potato fries but ask me if it was worth it (YES!) Plus I will say that I was keeping good company and a friend who is very dear to my heart was a good shoulder to laugh on and forget about 2009 and the year of...disatisfying men shall we say? (or man)

Luv-A-Fair Fashion Show at Bar Fly by Fame Digest

Pictures and review from the show coming shortly!

XOXO
Mme Gigi L'Amour

Just a Teaser...

Love is Old Love is New

Today I breathe.

Yowsa - after preparing for this show I am taking it easy and watching a little Kubrick via Dr. Strangelove one of the greatest satires on film. If you haven't seen it I command you to go rent it now!

Amidst the resting and relaxing I received a call from my dear old Mr. D as we will so unlovingly call him. It never ceases to amaze me that when holidays spring up so do the feeling of lonliness, so much so that we are willing to run back to a tragic relationship, if only to feel good for that particular day. I do not judge! Trust me I made this mistake on Christmas with Mr. D in my vulnerable state. For the record, Mr. D and I were to live happily ever after until the forces that be had other plans. It has been nearly 1 year since our initial departure and I can safely say that I will not be having dinner with him on Sunday. Break my heart once shame on you. Break my heart twice shame on me. For now I will keep the heart under lock and key, but as Auntie G says, "you never know when the right man will come along and unlock it - just don't forget the key at the automat honey or all sorts of trouble will come tramping in". I laughed, and also cried a little at the thought of not being in complete control of my destiny, but I trust her judgement after all she has seen it all.

Thursday 'Skirt' in my favorite casual dress from Anthropoligie.

Vintage Handbags

So my great search continues for vintage handbags. If the spring is good to us we will start adding a collection to the site... All in good time~!

Showing off a little leg in my Cuban Foot Backseam Stockings.

Having A Luv-A-Fair at Bar Fly

I confess I am exhausted! And I can never have four burners going, I tend towards 7 or 8. Not to be cheesy - well okay to be cheesy, come see what I've been cooking up on February 12 at Luv-A-Fair presented by Fame Digest downtown Minneapolis at Bar Fly. I have been designing some new lingerie pieces for our coming collection and am so very thrilled to showcase them! I will definitely bring you along in an after thought photo montage.





Auntie G has been good on her word to check in on me and to put it plainly spy. Ha! Of course she wants to be sure I am holding up my end of the bargain and through the thick of the winter I AM! I had to put down my reading (and writing for that matter) to focus on this little project but I will be back on track after the day of hearts.

Speaking of!! I have to put my two cents in and tell you to get your sweet little booties over to Dillinger before we are completely sold out of our goodies for this Hallmark Holiday that if for no other reason is a great excuse to celebrate and look like a vixen. Take your turn breaking a few hearts. My personal favorite are the sequins :)

xoxo

Miss Gigi L'Amour

Yummy Best Ever Banana Cake Recipe Courtesy of

Recipezarr.com and yumyumum

Like a sweet little Betty Crocker I baked a double-layered, cream-cheese frosting, chocolate chip extroidinare banana cake. I wasn't sure who I was going to feed it to so I insisted the girls come over and help me and add a little love to our hippy hippy shake. Not sure how you feel about bananas - oddly enough I gag on the actual fruit itself and most anything flavored that way (don't get me started on banana candy!) however! I have love banana bread (likely due to the copious amounts of butter) and more recently banana cake. MMMMMMMMM! Enjoy my sweets!!

*The only thing I would possibly change is to actually use 1 cup of bananas instead of 1 1/2 cups

Best Ever Banana Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed, ripe
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 1/8 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups icing sugar

Garnish
chopped walnuts


Directions
1 Preheat oven to 275°.
2 Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan.
3 In a small bowl, mix mashed banana with the lemon juice; set aside.
4 In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
5 In a large bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and 2 1/8 cups sugar until light and fluffy.
6 Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in 2 tsp vanilla.
7 Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk.
8 Stir in banana mixture.
9 Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for one hour or until toothpick
inserted in center comes out clean.
10 Remove from oven and place directly into the freezer for 45 minutes. This will make the cake
very moist.
11 For the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth.
12 Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla.
13 Add icing sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high speed until frosting is
smooth.
14 Spread on cooled cake.
15 Sprinkle chopped walnuts over top of the frosting, if desired. OR Like I did, use
chocolate chips instead!


I had an image to include, but my uncooperative brain deleted all of the photos on my camera before I uploaded it. Now the only thing left is a trail of crumbs.

With Love!

Miss Gigi L'Amour

Gigi's Week In Fashion

Here is a little review of what I have been strutting around in. I will admit two things. My closet has never been more inspiring! But, confession number 2, some days I am just not feeling that fashion forward. Being in a cold climate limits my motivation to wear certain articles, though we did have a nice little "winter warm up" as they so lovingly put it.








I am trying to work in and wear all of my lovely hats. Hopefully I can add more to the collection and by spring Dillinger hopes to host it's own little Vintage Accessory section (YEA!)






Check out my Crinoline and fishnet stockings!

The peach-handled beaded bag is one of a kind :)





XOXO

Gigi L'Amour

In love with hats...

Did a little shopping today at some of my favorite retro vintage clothing shops despite the unpleasantries of my head cold which kept me home in bed on a perfectly opportune Saturday evening. I even had to miss the Johnny Cash tribute at the Cabooze - ah the memories I could stir up between there and Whiskey Junction - but that will come later. I nursed my little ol' self with a cuppa hot tea, yummy organic honey (the only thing missing was a drop of bourbon), warm heating packs and a Sex And the City marathon. The weekend in has afforded me the time to upload and crop some photos for some visual candy - I'm not promising M&M's but maybe penny candy from the discount isle??

After scavenging Lula's, I splurged on a latte even thought rightfully I should still be drinking tea. Say what you will but I am a slave to Starbucks






XOXO

Miss Gigi L'Amour

In between sniffles....

As promised here are some photos from New Year's Eve before the madness.







Carrying my gorgeous beaded 1950's handbag in near perfect condition!

Always have my cuban foot backseams on from Dillinger - Love them!

Yummy Yummy!

XOXO

Miss Gigi L'Amour