Monday, February 6, 2012

Let's Lunch Like the Ladies.....



Happy Monday all! How did you enjoy Madge's performances last night at that little shindig? Now this got me to thinking if we all had off, we could discuss and gossip about it over a long drunken lunch like the ladies of society used to do. Don't you miss the days of yester year when you would see pictures of the ladies all decked out and heading to lunch? In the big cities, I think the gay men have picked up this tradition. Just last week I saw a group of gay guys, all dressed up heading into a dinning establishment, dressed oh so chic and urban, and it made me feel good. Ladies who lunch, a phrase to describe slim, well-off, old-monied, well-dressed women who meet for social luncheons, usually during the working week. Typically, the women involved are married and non-working. Normally the lunch is in a high-class restaurant, but could also take place in a department store during a shopping trip. Sometimes the lunch takes place for the raising of money for charity. Often times, the women simply gossip about trivial and frivolous things. Sounds like our Sunday Brunch's




What was also amazing is the way women dressed for lunch and at such gatherings places for the clans, such as the Colony Club, La Côte Basque, and Le Cirque—impossibly glamorous, hugely entertaining, and utterly without purpose; when Nan Kempner, Estee Lauder, Betsey Bloomingdale, Pat Buckley, C. Z. Guest, and Jacqueline Onassis ruled the banquettes. Most ladies fore go a large plate, in favor of tall glasses of a libation and long cigarettes, and then go gossip inside the powder rooms. While ladies still lunch I feel, alas, all the pomp and circumstance is gone. As is keeping on hats, gloves laid on top of the clutch, and some even wore a corsage.




Here's Alice Mason with Celestine Wallace leaving after lunch with Alice carrying a doggie bag. Alice didn't have a dog, was word on the street.



Tispy exits could often be seen.



Dressing like this for lunch may seem a bit "over the top" nowadays, but I promise you, will have a far more fantastic luncheon if you take a few minutes and put together an elegant outfit. The French do it every day, and who does it better than the French when it comes to Food & Fashion? Maybe the Mistress one of these days will host a luncheon here at the Casa! And I do love a tipsy exit. Tootles.

16 comments:

  1. I could rock a fab hat and some gloves.

    And a martini or three.

    Three.
    That's funny, cuz it's more like six.

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  2. I might not be slim and I quit smoking, but I don't work, I could gossip, have a Cock-a-tail and get tipsy. I wish I lived closer, I would so rock a fab hat & gloves to lunch with you my Lady.

    Huggs
    CoreyJo

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  3. aw they all look so beautiful my problem i don't own a dress just jeans and t-shirts

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  4. I love getting dressed up and going out for lunch - it is not something I do often but when I do it does feel like a treat. How wonderful are the photographs and that woman at top..so beautifully elegant. I am afraid my waist will not cinch in like that anymore, even with a gridle!!!!!

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  5. I'm in love with these photos and I am absolutely convinced that I was born in the wrong era. Even my husband, who is clearly my soul mate, thinks that he would rather be part of Fitzgerald's time than the very modern one we live in now!

    Great blog by the way...this is just one reason I love it, always something visual and something to escape to!

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  6. Anonymous2/06/2012

    I live in southern California and although we don't "dress" here for lunch I do love this post... and oh by the way we have incredible vintage clothing stores here...

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  7. I say next time I'm in town lets all get dressed up in drag like socialites and go do lunch, that should get some looks!!!

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  8. I wish I could wear all the amazing hats I purchased in Paris... to bad the ladies who lunch is not so big here in New Zealand! Love the photos! What has happened to all the eleganace?

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  9. I met soooo many of the women described in this post when I worked as a server in the restaurant in Bergdorf Goodmans year and years ago, and you know what..... miserable bitches!!

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  10. I have visions of the Mistress sitting in a window with huge hat on, covering most of her face with a cockatail on the table and a 10 cigarette stick coming out under the hat!!!

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  11. Hats? Gloves? And fashionable lunches? I'll drink to that!

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  12. What a neat post! By the way, thank you for explaining this post and the term Ladies Who Lunch. I had wondered about that.

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  13. What a great idea for a blog! I personally believe I should've lived through the 50'60'70; the fashion was incredible!

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  14. I just adore vintage and the time's past :) Women sure did dress. Thats why I take the time to always make sure I'm all "dressed" So lets go lunch shall we?

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  15. impossibly glamorous, hugely entertaining, and utterly without purpose

    You have just described my perfect day.

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  16. It all sounds so faaaabulous!

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Go ahead darling, tell me something fabulous!