Weekend Conversation Starters

[Messy Nessy Chic]   I wasted a lot of years waiting for an invitation. And if I’ve learned anything from this gig, it’s that it can’t hurt just to knock at the door and ask if you can take a look around. What’s the worst that could happen? This week in Paris, I was tipped off about a curious little boutique near the Eiffel Tower with the promise of some unusual archives. So I poked my head in and discovered that it was [the last of the great French fanmakers](, a dormant fashion house, revived after uncovering its 19th century archives in an attic. Meanwhile in New York City, our US editor Francky knocked at the door of the incredible [House of Collections](, a liveable cabinet of curiosities that I’ve dreamed about visiting for years, but never before drummed up the courage to enquire. Well that stops now. In fact, we’re going to be knocking at a lot more doors in future, so here’s hoping they’re ready for us … (then again, we sure do appreciate the occasional invite!) But this weekend, if you can think of one door you’ve longed to see the other side of, which one would it be? Think about it. Then ask yourself: what are you waiting for? Stay curious. With love from Paris, [Nessy]   [Inside New York’s Greatest, Liveable Cabinet of Curiosities](  [Processed with VSCO with e3 preset]( Paige Stevenson doesn’t quite live in the same world as the rest of us. “People talk a lot about what it means to make art,” she says on the foggy Sunday morning when we visit her home, while biscuits warm in the oven, “I just think, why not live it? People get so caught up…  [Continue Reading](   [The Last House of Fans, Paris](  [7516790816_IMG_0685]( There was once a secret language used by women for centuries to communicate unspoken sentiments across the room. It was the code of duchesses and ladies-in-waiting; women who made bi-weekly trips to the opera armed with an exquisite accessory that with a simple flick of her wrist, could declare her true feelings for a gentleman sat across…  [Continue Reading](   [Victorian People-Watching at the Beach](  [ladies]( Today, our time machine is going for a pit-stop on a sunny, Victorian Era beach in Atlantic City, where the ponies are aplenty, and the bathing costumes make the women look like layer cakes. Sure, contemporary eyes may see a bunch of prudes, but for folks in the 1800s, showing off your bloomers at the… [Continue Reading](   [The Groundbreaking Kitsch Cowboy Art of George Quaintance](  [horse]( You just can’t outshine George Quaintance. Literally. Take one look at the glistening bodybuilders from his kitsch, homoerotic oeuvre, and you’d think you were looking some 1986 romance novels, but nope. These babies date back to the 1940s-50s, to an era before the queer advocacy following the AIDS crisis, and before the sexual revolution.  [Continue Reading](   [Now That, Is How You Fall in Love with LA](  [Screen Shot 2018-06-07 at 11.52.19]( There’s nothing more LA than trying to be a million things at once. In one afternoon, Angelinos can go from a kitsch “Casablanca” to Canter’s Deli; grab a Cuban cocktail at “Versailles” and end up at a dentist’s office that would be much better as a discotheque. It’s a wonderful, borderline perverse eclecticism that has…  [Continue Reading](   [Meet Hemingway’s Last Secret Love](  [adriana-ernest-600-dpi]( Honestly, I just can’t keep up with you old Hem! In a new book, written by the great nephew of a close friend to the writer in his later years,  Autumn in Venice: Ernest Hemingway and His Last Muse, explores the little-known love affair between a 50 year-old Hemingway and an 18 year-old Italian countess, Adriana Ivancich.…  [Continue Reading](   [America’s Underground Sin City](  [cowboy]( There’s the Wild West, and then there’s it’s even wilder underbelly. For locals of Hill County, Montana, that underbelly hides in the subterranean village of Havre, whose passages once bustled with saloons and opium dens, bordellos and mercantile shops galore. For decades, it was on the brink of crumbling away in silence. Now, it’s finally…  [Continue Reading](   [13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. CCXC)](  [FRANCE-HISTORY-WWI]( 1. An essential resource A few favourites from the glossary… AAin’t that a bite: that’s too badAngel: One who pays the billAnkle biter:  [Continue Reading](  Interested in Becoming a MessyNessyAmbassador? [Get Your Ambassador Link And Start Sharing!](    [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn]( [Blog]( [To ready more from MessyNessyChic visit the Blog]( and make sure you keep getting these email by adding contact@messynessychic.com to your address book or whitelist us. Our postal address: In a Café, Paris 75001 Want out of the loop? [Unsubscribe](.