EPITOME OF CHIC

While continuing our window tour, we visited another new location since two of our usual spots were closing. I suggested going to Ralph Lauren , because it would be a treat just to see the mansion itself.

 I figured we might as well see some beautiful bygone architecture. The Ralph Lauren mansion also had some pretty chic holiday windows and décor.  So chic in fact that they make me want to crawl into them and start living that life. I especially love the windows because of the bears!.  What will they think of next?! 

If you ever make it to New York, but not necessarily a Lauren shopper, stop in anyhow. The mansion itself should be seen. And I could have went nuts in their cashmere men's shop. I love me some cashmere. Costly yes...but oh so warm.

The Gertrude Rhinelander Waldo House is a French Renaissance revival mansion located at 867 Madison Avenue on the corner of East 72nd Street in the Lenox Hill neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Completed in 1898, it was modeled after a châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. The plan was for this home to outshine the Vanderbilt limestone palace. Gertrude Rhinelander Waldo, the eccentric New York heiress who commissioned the mansion.Gertrude never actually moved in, never opened those crates. Widowed after two short years of marriage, she opted to live across the street in a town home with her unmarried sister, Laura V. Rhinelander.  She was unable to maintain the building and it went into foreclosure in 1909. The crates of valuable furnishings, never opened, were the cause of multiple lootings of the property in 1909. She died in debt in 1914. The building remained vacant until 1921.

Ralph Lauren obtained the lease in 1983 and started a massive overhaul of the building to create his first New York Ralph Lauren flagship store. Published figures put the cost around $14-15 million. And the best part was we got to visit the newly opened Ralph's Coffee Shop, with prices at the same or lower than Starbucks, and I have to say was downright damn good coffee, so much so I came home with a pound of it.

And fear not. If your not at the mansion, he also has several vintage coffee trucks out and about town, with one it seems always in the Rockefeller Center radius. How cute is that truck?

If Bergdorf Goodman won't let me move in, maybe Ralph Lauren will?

OH CHRISTMAS TREE🎄

We here at the Casa have started putting up the Christmas tree....and Buster is already trying to plot out the perfect opportunity to destroy the inside tree and bring it down. He has even ensconced himself in the lights....

Little does he know we are using the all red again. 

CHIRSTMAS IN WHO-VILLE

A queen's work is never done. This year, the company I work for always opts for a interactive window, which I'm not huge on, but they seem to be a huge hit with the crowds. To usher in the holiday season, our luxury retailer was inspired by Dr. Seuss' The Grinch, or at least Illumination's and Universal Pictures’ newest version. In addition to telling a beloved story about a holiday hater turned merry maker (along with some mannequins serving fierce, whimsical holiday looks, and wigs done by yours truly, while the windows offer some high-tech interactive features. 

That's right, they're more than just something pretty to look at!  The first window allows passerby to take a selfie which then appears inside the window next to the Grinch's head. A few windows down, music lovers can press buttons with the Grinch's trusted canine companion Max. These knobs play sounds coming from the Grinch's snazzy organ.

In another window, there's a telescope popping out of the glass which viewers can look through to see what's up in Whoville.

Mistress inspired hair!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would have made a great Heat Miser right?

Another window, had the illusion that the whole tree was coming out of the window.

Meanwhile at my home base store, we continued the crazy "Who" hairstyles in animated like routines, and the beautiful lit crystal orbs we hang in the main aisles.

I'll bet you can't tell a ex- drag queen works in the store huh? And reader Steven had asked in a post if there were awards for the best windows, and I answered not to my knowledge. Well low and behold, there is!!!! Turns out my company won the bronze for windows, while Saks Fifth Avenue won the silver and Tiffany's the gold. They apparently judge on crowd interaction and response, creativity and theme, and execution and technique. Who knew? And on a side not...at a show last week I was hosting in New Hope, here is my famous "Who" look?

 And that's with 5 gins in me.

PORTRAIT OF A QUEEN

Charlie Hides

Jinkx Monsoon & Ben dela Creme

Silky Ganache

Roxxxy Andrews

Sharon Needles & Alyssa Edwards

Lady Bunny

Magnolia Applebottom

Eureka O Hara

Drag King Murry Hill & Miriam Webster

GRINCH-MAS TIME

Well seems this meme has been going from Spo, to Lurker to Debs, to Anne Marie and then RJ. I don't seem to ever do these much, but I find it a good way to learn more about your host, so what the hell! Hard to believe I could be a Grinch, I'm more the Heat Miser... but here it goes.....

What do you hate most about Christmas?

That is an easy one. The crowds. Luckily for me, I don't give many gifts anymore, so I don't have to worry about going to near malls. And if I do I just shout  RATS! and that generally clears the place. And people have absolutely no sense of humor this time of year. The other day a lady came up and asked to see something cheap and in a dress. I says, Well, there's a mirror to your right.

What is your least favorite piece of Christmas music?

If have to hear Mariah Scary sing that fucking Christmas song of her's one more time, which reminds me of a squealing cat,  I may stab her trachea with an ice pick.

What traditional Christmas food OTHER THAN FRUITCAKE  is being sent down the garbage disposal?

 Snickerdoodle cookies. Christ they are so hard they'd break a window if you threw one at them.

Which animated TV Christmas special leaves you wanting to rip the wallpaper off the walls?

Well I love the Peanuts and all those stop animation classics, even the obscure ones....I mean, how do you not love the Snow and Heat Miser's?  And Ethel Mermen in Rudolph's Shinning New Year!!! I know I have seen some newer animated specials. I can't recall the names, but I know I would rather wall paper instead.

What was your least favorite Christmas gift ever?

I can't remember who, but someone gave me the thickest pair of socks once. I have no idea how in the hell one was to wear a shoe with them, and the pattern was hideous. They late severed as over the hand dust rags.

Who on your Christmas list is the hardest to shop for?

Really  no one. When I meet new people I try to really get to know them and there interests. So should I ever need to get a gift, I have a good idea what to get.

How would you spend this time of year if you weren't caught up in all the holiday madness?

Well, I would be a toss up of either out exploring parts of my area, or traveling abroad. Or catching a good daily happy hour works too.

 Over all, I really do enjoy this sparkling season. I am really in it for spending time with family and friends, or entertaining my boys! I love the decorating and the lights, and the quite candlelit evenings at home, relaxing. Luckily I haven't been to Grinchy this season. But who doesn't love wearing green hair.