Weekend Conversation Starters

[Image]   Margaritas at the ready? For Cinqo de Mayo, I thought I’d send you off for the weekend with a few stories celebrating Mexican culture … Discover [the Lost Art and Delight of Mexican Calendar Art.]( Meet [the tribe that inspired Frida Kahlo](.  Be inspired by the [kaleidoscopic and ornamental mastery of a Mexican village’s candle empire](. And there’s arguably no better time to plan [your next trip to Mexico]( over a few Margaritas right?  Salud! Your weekend conversation starters await…  Stay curious, [Nessy]   [Wig Holes and Other Mysteries of Powdered Hair History Explained](  [la-toilette-dun-clerc-de-procureur-titelbild]( There was a time when a visit to the powder room involved more than a quick tinkle and a dab of powder on the nose. Taking its name from the noble courts of Europe, the powder room was a designated space, in aristocratic houses, for the powdering of wigs that were a little worse for…  [Continue Reading](   [A Brief Cultural History of Sun Tanning](  [b2_0]( When a lithe ‘It-Girl’ Coco Chanel stepped off a yacht in Cannes with an accidental suntan in 1923, many would argue it was the moment that sunbathing became a cultural phenomenon. Porcelain-skinned flappers everywhere were intrigued by this rebellious new suntanned look sported by the Parisian designer; one that for centuries had been associated with…  [Continue Reading](   [The Long Forgotten Love Story of the Titanic’s Interracial Couple](  [Joseph_Laroche_et_sa_famille]( We Know Jack and Rose but what about Joseph and Juliette? The Titanic was the greatest shipwreck of the 20th century and most of us grew up with the love story of the James Cameron film. He built one of the world’s most iconic affairs with fragments of real stories from the passengers on board,…  [Continue Reading](   [New York’s Incredible Lost Rooftop Theatres](  [MNY21071]( There are some things we’ve lost that I’ll never understand. Midcentury automobile design comes to mind, as well as piano bars & cocktail lounges on our airplanes, hand-painted typography and artisanal signs lining our high streets, and now, I’ll add rooftop theatres to my list. From previous research on the ladies of the Ziegfeld Follies, I’d come across the…  [Continue Reading](   [13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. DCXLVII)](  [news-main.1629380399]( 1. The “Titanic of the Mountains”, an old train station abandoned for 50 years  [Continue Reading](   [Travelling Modern Europe with a Victorian Railway Guidebook](  [85/14000.r.8, plate. 4]( Are you looking for a way to travel back in time? Well, we haven’t cracked the laws of physics yet, but we have the next best thing – a guidebook from another time. Move over Lonely Planet, Bradshaw’s was one of the original guides that inspired the British to travel the Continent for leisure. Bradshaw’s…  [Continue Reading](   [Drawing Boards for the Ballets Russes](  [9575705323_3ee053ca75_k-930x1332]( Nineteenth century Russia was restless, and so was Léon Bakst. The young man belonged to a new generation of creatives, one ready to turn Realism on its head with one flick of a bejewelled, utterly fabulous wrist. Today, his name is “a byword for excitement, for colour and glamour” and a radical new approach to…  [Continue Reading](  Interested in Becoming a MessyNessy Keyholder? [Apply now to unlock the Vault!](    [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn]( [Blog]( [To read 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](.