Miuccia Prada in 1998 and Else Schiaparelli in 1934, via FashionEtc.com

Can New York’s Metropolitan Museum Costume Exhibit possibly top the success of their recently-closed Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibit in 2012? The McQueen show was seen by 661,509 visitors.

It will be ladies night at next year’s Met gala, with the Costume Exhibit’s Harold Koda and Andrew Bolton turning their attention to two highly-influential women in the fashion world: Miuccia Prada and Elsa Schiaparelli.

Elsa Schiaparelli

Elsa Schiaparelli’s house closed in 1954 over her inability to adapt to post WWII fashion, unlike her great rival Coco Chanel. Schiaparelli’s surrealism-influenced designs included collaborations with Salvador Dali and other surrealist artists, including Jean Cocteau.

The idiosyncratic Schiaparelli was born into an Italian family of wealth and nobility. Believing that privilege stifled her creativity, Schiaparelli moved first to New York City and then Paris to pursue her love of art and career as a surrealist couturier.

As a young woman Elsa Schiaparelli studied philosophy at the University of Rome, where she published a book of sensual poems that shocked her family. The unconventional young woman then went on a hunger strike to protest being sent to a nunnery.

Miuccia Prada

People

Marilyn Monroe

She had to be smiling in heaven — Marilyn Monroe that is. Marilyn’s ‘The Seven Year Itch’ dress sold at a Profiles in History auction for $4.6 million plus another $.9 in fees. It was estimated to bring between $1 and $2. Marilyn’s red ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ dress also rendered the estimates meaningless, bringing in $1.2 million instead of $200,000-300,000. Audrey Hepburn’s Ascot dress from “My Fair Lady,” carrying the same estimate, sold for $3.7 million.

The dresses were all owned by actress Debbie Reynolds, who began collecting them at a young age, when she was under contract with MGM. Marilyn Monroe is a superb example of a Smart Sensuality woman. You might be surprised to know that being taken seriously as an intellectual was a life-long dream of the Hollywood star.

Marilyn Monroe | A Smart, Sensual Blonde (includes old video of Marilyn being interviewed on ideas and her world view.)

Reflections on Female Sexual Desire: Anais Nin, Marilyn Monroe & Isabelle Allende Join Forces with Anne

Design

Brooklyn Launch LEIF

We have a nice Internet ‘progression’ story this am. Notcot delivered me to this set of mixed greens teaspoons, made in France and sold online and in person at a new shop in Brooklyn called LEIF.

Wandering over to their blog, we have a great example of a mix between content not sellling product and content that does. All the entries support the’ LEIF lifestyle’.

Now for the Big Love — no offence lovely French teaspoons.

If you look at as much fashion editorial as I do, you see Stella McCartney’s spring 2011 fruit print in your sleep. Much as I love it, there is a part of me that says ‘enough all ready’.

Unless it’s really creative, I’m over looking at the same oranges and lemons on fabric.

As for a cake — now that’s creative! Stella McCartney was so impressed that even she Tweeted about it, writes LEIF blog. Called the Stella cake, it’s a citrus cake with lemon curd filling and orange lemon icing.

Another visually arresting, great content mix blog Apollinas has many photos of her Stella cake and the recipe. The author is an attorney in Washington and began her blog as a form of ‘relief’ from her stodgy career. Smashing!