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Tuesday 1 June 2010

Polishing up on my English literature


So far this blog seems to be all small boy pants and tants, so in an attempt to establish my glamour credentials, I have decided to start 2, yes, TWO!, exciting new occasional features. In a couple of days, I hope to premier "Tights of Death" but today I'm starting with "Books and Polish".

In my humble opinion (ahem), matching your nail polish to your clothes is very last season and more importantly I can't do it, it is enough of a challenge for me to remember not to do the school run in my slippers.. No, we need, in the words of the lovely Faux Fuchsia, to be Visionary and Challenge the Paradigm.

It seems to me, therefore, that the way forward is to match your nail colour to the book you are reading (or to be more precise, its cover; you wouldn't want to match the colour to the contents, e.g. American Pyscho, blood red, Animal Farm, brown, that would be in bad taste..)
Doing so will bring together the world of glamour and literature (like when Salman Rushdie married the beautiful Padma Lakshmi).

And I am convinced that those Bronte girls would have had much happier lives if they had embraced nail varnish, though I suppose in those days the bus service to the local Boots was not that reliable; I do know that Jane Austen was always hanging around the Chanel counter on a Saturday morning...

So today we have "Excellent Women" by Barbara Pym paired with No 7 Limited Edition orange polish.

The book: I admit I bought this partly for the cover, it's designed by Orla Kiely as part of a series of special editions of Virago Modern Classics, brought out to celebrate 30 years of this imprint. But the novel itself is also lovely, a very gentle look at the life of an unmarried girl likely to end up a spinster, living in post-war London, engaged in good works for her local Church. Not a racy read, not laugh out loud, but very charming and engaging.

The polish: I never knew I wanted orange polish till Faux Fuchsia posted on the "Make Mine Mango" from Revlon which looked lovely on her slim white fingers. She had bought this as a more austerity-friendly alternative to Chanel's Orange Fizz. Tragically "Make Mine Mango" is not sold in the UK but the resourceful EleganceMaison found Rimmel's Orange Bliss. (Hope you are all following this, there will be a test at the end!) I ended up with the No7 as it worked out even cheaper (are you reading this Mr B, see how good I am at thrift these days?!) Et voila, as they say.

This orange business is infectious, I noticed that my nails matched a bowling ball today.
And look at this DKNY handbag, yum!



Must go, a style icon needs her sleep!!

7 comments:

  1. Oo-er - can I be your first mate( hello sailor!)Thanks for the mention re orange nails. I've had such fun with the orange - never had so many (and complimentary)comments on my nails before. Love the concept of matching to book covers - def a first and very Visionary as FF might say. BTW I love Barbara Pym - she's so astute in her observations about not so ordinary lives. Off to find a nail varnish to match the cover of my current reading!

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  2. I love it! I must run home to paint my nails in a dark colour to match The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (both the cover and subject matter).

    I will make note to add this to the agenda for my next bookclub meeting! Truly revoluntionary!

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  3. Hello there Blighty
    Congrats on starting a blog. You have a wicked sense of humour.
    I shall be an avid reader cause FF told me to~!
    Anne-Marie x

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  4. Blighty How LOVELY this orange polish look on your paws!!!!!! Divine. I loved Books and Polish and look forward to many many many more!!!!!!!!!! Nice to see your mitts after all this time. xx

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  5. Hi Blighty- while you are doing orange polish you should read the bio of Barb-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin "The Widow Cliquot" by Tillar J.Mazzeo. It has a lovely orange cover.
    I am so impressed at the level of neatness of your nails.....any tips on Nail Polish Management with 2 small children???( I have 2 girls and the minute I've finished the second coat of OPI Dulce con leche...I have to adjust fairy wings/ put Barbie's shoes on etc.....)

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  6. Dear ladies, thank you for your lovely comments,it is so reassuring to know that there are people out there who care about these important issues!!
    Elegance, what other Barbara Pym novels should I read?
    Polly, Mr B raves about the "Girl with" books so of course I steadfastly refuse to read them, just to be contrary, but they are by my bed so I will get onto them some day;
    Anne-Marie, isn't FF brilliant? I love being told what to do by her!
    FF, sadly my paws look a bit sausage like, my toes are even worse, Boy 1 describes them as pobbie;
    Kylie, my Nail Management leaves a lot to be desired, i made sure to take the pic just after painting, and see how short my nails are, they are very crumbly and held together by polish - mmmm, nice!!

    I am always getting asked to adjust fairy outfits too - I do wish Mr B could do dress up without my help.

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  7. I too like a bit of Barbara Pym and your orange nails would look marvellous with that DKNY bag. Faux Fuschia always has amazing nails and great colour tips xx

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