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‘My unending quest is to write a sentence that says exactly what I intended it …

January 3, 2015 by  
Filed under Choosing Lingerie

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By

Rob Mcgibbon for the Daily Mail


Published:
17:32 EST, 2 January 2015

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Updated:
17:32 EST, 2 January 2015

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We ask a celebrity a set of devilishly probing questions – and only accept THE definitive answer. This week it’s novelist Fay Weldon’s turn

Fay Weldon is in this week's hot seat for the definite article 

Fay Weldon is in this week’s hot seat for the definite article 

The prized possession you value above all others… A book called The Story Of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, about a gentle bull who’d rather smell flowers than fight. My father Frank gave it to me for my fifth birthday and it’s the only possession I have from my childhood. He died from a stroke when I was 16.

The temptation you wish you could resist… Canapés at parties. They spoil your dinner and it’s easy to eat too many.

The book that holds an everlasting resonance… Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. I read it aged 19 and it showed a world dependent on drugs, which is what we’ve become, not least with statins.

Fay's pert hate is magpies who are frequent visitors to her garden in Dorset 

Fay’s pert hate is magpies who are frequent visitors to her garden in Dorset 

The priority activity if you were the Invisible Woman for a day… I’d love to walk alongside a hurricane without getting hurt. Extreme weather fascinates me.

The biggest regret you wish you could amend… Choosing to play hockey at school instead of netball when I was 11. Hockey was full of brutish, angry girls; netball was for smart, skinny ones.

The film you can watch time and time again… Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. It’s magical and brings back such happy memories of watching it with my boys [now aged 30-55] when they were growing up.

The piece of wisdom you would pass on to a child… Think for yourself, and never believe what you’re told.

The unlikely interest that engages your curiosity… Because they’re utterly uncontrollable, volcanoes intrigue me, to the extent that every morning I check online to see the progress of Iceland’s Bardarbunga volcano.

The event that altered the course of your life and character… Meeting my second husband, Ron Weldon, in 1961. Suddenly I was the wife of an artist, mixing with creative types. It was the beginning of a new life.

The poem that touches your soul… London by William Blake. It’s about the tragedy of city life, and it makes me cry.

The misapprehension about yourself you wish you could erase… Serious people think I’m frivolous, frivolous people think I’m a serious, man-hating feminist. I’m neither.

The pet hate that makes your hackles rise… The magpies in our garden in Dorset. They’re thugs that scare off all the sweet songbirds I love.

The treasured item you lost and wish you could have again… A blonde-haired doll called Panama Polly, which my mother Margaret gave me when I was four. It went missing during a house move about five years go.

The person who has influenced you most… My mother. She was an intelligent, brave feminist whose strength of character rubbed off on me. She died ten years ago aged 94. I still miss her.

The figure from history for whom you’d most like to buy a pie and a pint… William Blake. I’d want to talk about the inspiration for his greatest poem.

Fay follows the progress of  Iceland's Bardarbunga volcano online 

Fay follows the progress of  Iceland’s Bardarbunga volcano online 

The unending quest that drives you on… To write a sentence that says exactly what I intended it to say. I’m 83 now but I write every day and it’s a constant challenge to think of the right words.

The crime you would commit knowing you could get away with it… I’d make all the cash machines dish out as much money as possible.

The song that means most to you… Little Wheel Spin And Spin from the 1960s, by Native American singer Buffy Sainte-Marie. It’s simple yet profound.

The way you would spend your fantasy 24 hours, with no travel restrictions… My [third] husband Nick and I would have breakfast at the Hotel Continental in Oslo. I’d have figs, mango juice, scrambled eggs, bread and croissants, with lots of strong coffee. 

After that I’d buy the finest bed linen at Liberty in London, then spend a fortune on the most delicate lingerie at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York. Lunch would be at The Ivy in London, where I’d have a vodka martini then fish and chips. 

Afterwards we’d tour Rome’s ruins with my four sons and six grandchildren, aged from 6-22, then eat ice cream in St Mark’s Square, Venice. At dusk I’d walk by the sea at Renvyle on the west coast of Ireland, where the singing of the seals sounds like mermaids. 

Dinner would be moussaka and chips in a taverna on Crete, where we’d all drink the local rosé and do some Greek dancing. My day would end back at home, reading a book in a deep hot bath. Bliss!

The happiest moment you will cherish forever… Getting my CBE from the Queen in 2001. She said, ‘You’re the one who writes television plays’ and I replied, ‘I write anything they pay me to, Ma’am!’ It made her smile.

The saddest time that shook your world… My elder sister Jane’s death in 1969 from cancer when she was 39. It felt as though half of me died with her.

The unfulfilled ambition that continues to haunt you… I’d love to be a ruthless businessman like Alan Sugar.

The philosophy that underpins your life… What goes around, comes around.

The order of service at your funeral… I’d be taken out in a cardboard coffin to the Radio 4 theme tune Sailing By [played before the Shipping Forecast], and buried in the graveyard of a church I go to.

The way you want to be remembered… Oh, didn’t she die?!

The Plug… Fay’s new book Mischief, an anthology of her short stories with a new sci-fi novella The Ted Dreams, is published by Head Of Zeus in February.

 


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RIVERSIDE: Residents’ fashion forever frozen in the ’50s – Press

January 3, 2015 by  
Filed under Lingerie Events

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RIVERSIDE: Residents’ fashion forever frozen in the ’50s

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Erica Rayshel, 42, models at her Riverside one of her many ‘50s outfits she loves to wear. A collector since age 18, she has more than 1,000 pieces, ranging from jewelry to hats. A teacher, puts together authentic period outfits to wear every day.



TOUCHSTONES OF ’50S STYLE

Looking to pick up some ’50s items for your wardrobe? Here are some things to look for:

Dresses and skirts: Worn best over a stiff petticoat, hemlines stopped at the knee. Swing dresses and circle skirts (which made a perfect circle when women sat down) were fun to twirl in. Waistline was a major issue. Some women loved the slinky-fitting Dior dresses, while others preferred the sack frocks with no waistlines. Pleats, large waistline bows, plaid, floral prints, polka dots, stripes, Asian-themed prints, wide collars, puffy shoulders and long, flowing evening dresses prevailed throughout the decade.

Pants: Capri and cigarette pants were common. The latter had high waists, side or back zippers, flat fronts, wide waistbands (3 inches) and full hips and were slim fitting through the legs. They ended just above the ankle.

Fabrics: Satin, silk, rayon blends and cotton made up the pieces. Bouffant petticoats appeared from the mid-’50s on. Red was popular.

Coats: Most were long, typically made of camelhair, wool, velour, fleece, tweed, and fur or cashmere, often decorated with large buttons, belts or fur collars. 1950s coats and jackets usually were color coordinated with the rest of a woman’s ensemble.

Accessories: Gloves; stiletto heels, moccasins, wedges, penny loafers, saddle shoes, ballet shoes, sandals and slippers; handbags made of gold lame, wicker, leather, crocodile, alligator, turtle or snakeskin. As the decade progressed, designers created Lucite boxes that doubled as purses.

Sources: retrowaste.com; vintagedancers.com

WHERE THEY SHOP FOR AUTHENTIC ’50S CLOTHES AND FURNISHINGS

Mission Galleria: 3700 Main St., Riverside, 951-276-8000

Forget Me Not Antiques: 3774 Elizabeth St., 951- 779-1441

Treasures N Junk: 215 S. San Antonio Ave., Ontario, 909- 983-3300

Rose Bowl Flea Market: every second Sunday, 1001 Rose Bowl Drive, Pasadena, 323-560-7469

Online: eBay.com, Etsy.com

Expos: Vintage clothing and textile shows in Burbank, Brea and San Francisco

As they settle into the new year, two Riverside women with distinctive styles won’t be poring over predictions for hot trends in fashion or furnishings.

Instead, their gaze is fixed firmly on the past, well before the comfort of sweats and flip-flops made dressing down the norm.

Erica Rayshel and Amy Howard, who are both 42, live in 1920s homes and chase 1950s clothing and accessories online and at antiques stores, estate sales and textiles shows. It’s really their quest for nostalgia, to recapture some of the glamour and elegance of fitted, full, twirling skirts and beaded cardigans.

Howard, a newbie collector whose husband built a storage unit to contain her 100 dresses, skirts, sweaters and handbags, considers Rayshel her mentor. But unlike her, Howard mixes up ’50s pieces with her jeans and Converse sneakers. As a homemaker and mother of a 12-year-old son with special needs, “running around in vintage clothes and shoes all the time like Erica isn’t practical for me,” Howard said.

Intrigued by each garment’s history, Howard said: “I’m wearing something that’s been around for 60 or 70 years. Somebody loved it. I wonder how they wore it and where they wore it.”

When she’s out with Rayshel, both in full ‘50s regalia, Howard loves the lingering glances, appraisals and questions. “I always like to be the center of attention,” she said.

Rayshel is unfazed by looky-loos. She doesn’t dwell in Eisenhower-era clothes to court curiosity, but is accustomed to stares. “It isn’t a costume; it’s who I am,” she said.

She has stepped back in time since age 18 when she bought her first ‘50s beaded sweater for $5 at an estate sale. Today she owns that post-World War II decade, paying as much as $200 for a genuine, high-quality ‘50s dress. “Even knockoff dresses can cost $100,” she said.

But reproductions just aren’t Rayshel. She has meticulously arranged her closets with more than 1,000 authentic items on hangars, shoe racks or in labeled boxes. Her tightly packed-in treasures include cosmetics, lingerie, maternity clothes, sleepwear, hats, gloves, belts, jewelry, shoes and children’s clothing for her 5-year-old daughter, Ava Rayshel Szabo.

“Mommy looks so pretty,” said Ava, who happily dresses in retro clothing to complement her mom. “It makes me want to wear skirts and dresses.”

Rayshel fingers the heavy cotton or rayon blend circle skirts she so admires, each imprinted with colorful, unusual patterns, including tiny Egyptians on one, graphic pops on another. “It’s about the aesthetics,” she said. “They are works of wearable art. They don’t make clothing like that today with interesting, novelty prints.”

She ascribes her love of art and art history to her “extremely progressive” parents, Riversiders Barry and JoAnn Rayshel, who introduced her and brother Sean to museums all over the country.

“Erica’s love of vintage reflects her exposure to different cultural periods,” said JoAnn Rayshel.

As an English and anthropology major at UC Riverside, Erica Rayshel saw her ‘50s fixation deepen. The fabrics, cuts and designs suited her: wearing the clothes felt like a homecoming. “I’m too curvy to do the ‘20s and ‘40s looks that are tight at the hips,” she said. “I have an hourglass figure.”

At college, she scrapped plans to be a museum curator or art historian when she fell in love with teaching. “And I could wear what I wanted,” she said, laughing.

After working at Rubidoux High School and then at her alma mater, Ramona High, she’s now teaching at Summit View Independent Study School in Riverside. During those two decades, Rayshel has awed and delighted students with her unique style – what she calls “classic,” not the “cliched” clothes associated with greasers, beatniks or the ‘50s car culture.

Rayshel embraces Audrey Hepburn-esque chic, clean, geometric lines, rhinestone and beaded embellishments and platform shoes. She snubs tight capri pants, poodle skirts, saddle shoes, bandanas and pin-curled locks. She wears little eye makeup and red lipstick. She scrapes her long red hair back in a ‘50ish ponytail with a scarf, and and her curled bangs sit high on her forehead.

“This is who I am,” she declared. “You have to feel it, own it, or it’s not you.”

Her long learning curve into buying and wearing vintage garb has yielded some hard lessons. Rayshel doesn’t go dancing in dressy ‘50s duds: too fragile. She’s an expert seamstress: every item comes in need of repairs. And yes, she prefers 21st century lingerie, cosmetics, children’s shoes and sunglasses. “Some things are made better now,” she said.

Which is perhaps why Rayshel prefers living in 2015, despite her reverence for ‘50s couture, not its culture. The cars and music don’t really resonate with her. “I couldn’t have gotten a loan for a home then, which I own, and I couldn’t have owned a credit card,” she said. “The irony is, I would have hated the ‘50s.”

Contact the writer: llucas@pe.com or 951-368-9559

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