Thursday, January 23, 2014

Learning To Love The Leopard

The brave huntress lines up her spotted prey, she crouches, she waits....Her nose twitches - and she pounces! The brave huntress claims her leopard! 

But this is a story of a different kind of huntress - one who leaves without the leopard. I try it on, I take it off. I retreat, defeated.

So anyway, when did leopard cast off Bette Lynch and Peggy Bundy (or have I missed the point entirely...maybe it didn't and that's the whole fun of it) and became the go-to for everyone? With stripes, with florals, by itself.

Leopard Love Moments...
Good old Kate, out on the turps for her 40th birthday last week

Kim's packing for her weekend in SF. 
The British brand Moloh, first seen on BP

Tabitha's Charlotte Olympia clutch with Roger Vivier shoes

Calivintage

My sister Sharon wearing the shift Mum made her with material found at shop down road


Leopard scarf and palazzo pants


H&M coat, Bambisamoire seen on Marlene's blog

Gorgiss shorts

Jackie Kennedy (This was real leopard...yikes!)
My friend Chrissy O.  re scarf: she wonders if she is getting her leopard and cheetahs mixed up?

(A few more fabulous leopard moments from Dani BP, Heidi and FF...)

It feels like everyone is frolicking down at the watering hole with their leopards and I'm leaning at 2 o'clock, meercat-like, on a nearby hill. Shall I take the leap?

How do you do the leopard? Please feel free to leave a link to way you wear it.



77 comments:

  1. No leopard wearing here, there is a cat that is leopard like with his rhyming rear. He can look like a meerkat too, two for one at our zoo

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    1. Meerkats at 2 o clock
      Or committed to twelve
      that's the delve

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  2. I'm in the mink camp...
    the gals that can rock leopard are brave.

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    1. I totally think its a tricky one...my friend said the same on facebook...

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  3. Really nice assortment here. I'm really warming up to this leopard and will have to add on this watering hole when out making my rounds. When visiting my hometown, I always take my friend's mum out for a special lunch as she's almost 80 and recently widowed. Her daughter helps her pick out the outfit- often weeks in advance. My last trip in I stopped by and she was all dolled up in her new leopard print jacket and new red handbag with a spring in her step she hasn't had in years. We had a delightful 3 hour lunch.

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    1. Oh, I love that picture of your Mum's friend all dolled up in her leopard jacket and red handbag, brilliant!

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  4. I'm in a quandry about it, I have it in shoes and that little bag, and swore off it wearing after living in the print for most of the 80's, men hated it! I had coats , dresses, tops, ankle boots, you name it. I think I would feel too noticeable in it now and it still has that tarty association, that said I love leopard and green together and might try on a cheapie and see what I think.

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    1. Yes I can see that, esp with that emerald green you had on your blog last week. I'm amazed men didn't like the leopard in the 80's, wonder why?

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  5. Jody, I was so excited to read your post and so surprised to see my pic! So nice of you. I'm afraid I had no idea I was so leopardy. Could be getting into scary cougar territory!!?

    I wish I had that dress your sis has! What a terrific piece and your mum made it? Very nice. Never seen the Jackie leopard coat either...So funny you are right about it all of a sudden getting classy and not Peg Bundy. I do remember it used to be a bit tacky..! Now where is the Jody snap? Don't tell me you don't own any? You have great taste and could never look bad even in leopard!
    Thanks again for linking! Happy weekend and by golly get some bloody leopard girl!

    xx Kim

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    1. Kim, you have the most photogenic packing! Yes Mum made the dress, she is a good architect as my father would say. She can look at stuff in a window and go home and architect something exactly the same

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  6. I had a leopard top a few years back that I absolutely adored... and then it disappeared... I've been waiting for the right leopard moment since then to replace it. Because, as you point out--- leopard done wrong can be rather tarty, but worn correctly and it is incredibly cool. I guess any way you look at it, you are the talk of the town!

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    1. Funny how things disappear like that...I cannot find a blue quilt jacket I bought in Berlin. I don't mind odd socks disappearing but very sad blue quilty left home.

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  7. The only item of leopard I would have worn before is a scarf but I recently bought ankle boots in the M&S sale and love them!
    ~Anne

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    1. I miss M&S, the clothes and the food, they always get it right

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  8. I love the leopard look. I had a stretch top that I used to wear but it doesn't suit me any more. I remember seeing a woman who had gone a bit overboard with leopard and did not understand the concept of less is more. Every item of clothing she was wearing was leopard - blouse, jacket, trousers, scarf, shoes. It made me eyes jump trying to focus!

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    1. YYYikes, yes actually I saw the exact kind of eye jump look in the windows of Neiman Marcus (very posh American store nicknamed Needless Markup) in Walnut Creek a couple of months ago. I took a picture but somehow its slipped out of my computer. Went back to the watering hole I'd imagine....

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  9. I have an old AT dress and a JCF skirt, but they are in grey leopard. Looks a bit better than the brown on me.

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    1. Rose, I've realised I'm leaning towards the variety with the camel-y-pinky background that is softer...

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  10. Long time lurker here - very much enjoy reading your blog!
    Take the plunge, I say. For almost of of my adult life (bar a foray in my late teens) I've had no animal print at all in my wardrobe. In fact, I used to say I would never wear it! Anyway, late last year, at the ripe age of 45, I finally succumbed to some leopard shoes, known as my mid-life crisis shoes. I love them, and since then I've added a belt and a cardigan. I would love a coat, but fear that might be a bit too much on my small frame.
    My family think I'm a bit tragic, but I love my flash of leopard.
    I'll try to link to pics on my blog, but on an iPad, so not sure if it'll work.
    Clothing Fixations: Mid-life crisis?

    ReplyDelete
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    1. HI Ruth! yay! So great to hear from you! Just clickyed through and love your outfit with JCrew chinos (Those fit like a dream) and cobalt sweater, great go-to. And wait...you are 45? Beggars belief!

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  11. I went from no leopard to going completely mad about the print. A friend tried to give me her leopard print faux fur coat but I think it'd be more than the conservative locals can bear.

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    1. Go for it Marlene, stir it up! and post some piccies

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  12. Lovely!! I adore leopard print, it's so fun and I think it's something any ages can wear...gorgeous x

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    1. My sister has got a dress made up for her daughter in same fabric...

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  13. I have a growing fetish for it so much so that I started a whole new Pinterest board to it. ( you know it is serious then ) I have a leopard pair of shoes only worn once in a box somewhere and am itching to get them out if I can find it. PS I didn't know that was real leopard on Jackie! oy vey.

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    1. I'm going to look for your pinterest board now, is it under your name? Yes pretty sure Jackie got it as gift from someone Russian?

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  14. I dipped my toes in the water and tried shoes...sent them back immediately. A bit of leopard can look great on everyone but me. The whole leopard coat? I find it tacky even on...GASP...Jackie O.

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  15. You can SO do it, leopard on a blonde is particularly great! Thanks for the link love, I do love that ridiculous silk taffeta leopard jacket of mine.

    Maybe start with leopard shoes?

    Was Jackie wearing REAL leopard? Love that coat on her with the long gloves.

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  16. I love leopard one accent piece at a time. Growing up with Bette Lynch and Edith Prickly on tv, I'm wary to dive too deeply into the pool.

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  17. I bought a pair of shoes…….FLATS.But have yet to wear them!

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    1. I can see those on you...with pink leather cooking apron?

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  18. Yikes I just can't wear leopard...Peg Bundy is too fresh in my memory...and it's bloody freezing here in Canada in January so I'm more likely to be sporting flannel and a wool hat...probably just as well.

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    1. I think I just saw some flannel and leopard the other day in the street, should have taken a snap

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  19. Years ago there was a leopard coat I *had-to-have* and dragged the boys with me to Nordstrom in SF, stroller and all. It was a retro styled coat like Jackie O. would wear and finally it was on sale. I asked my then 6 year old (eldest as his brother was 4 and probably eating something) what he thought-wisely he said, "where are you going to wear that mom"? Smart kid. Now nearing 16 he asks me the same question if I happen to ask his opinion about something I'm admiring in a store window.
    I don't own a single leopard item - though I'd love a belt to wear with black or brown solids. I so admire it on others, but it just isn't me. I hope you find what you're looking for.

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  20. Hi there, yes Tallulah is my stylist, brutally honest and say the first thing that comes into her min. She never can quite identify stuff but says: too teenager, too lazy, too bloppy and usually I get the picture.

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  21. Oh.... Unfortunately I don't have a leopard coat anymore and I never did pick up the fab one at your neighbor's garage sale (convinced my friend to buy it instead). I do, however, have a pair of cute eopard mule pumps (old old but a keeper) and a Le Mystere leopard bra (If you know Le Mystere bras, they stand up on their own and are for those with big boobs and for those who WANT big boobs). No way I'm sending you a picture of me in that! I can however snap one of me in my leopard pumps (feet down of course).

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    1. Chrissy O. Re Le Mystere..Do not know those bras. Are they are in the vicinity of Victoria Secrets? Or better? I do appreciate the magical pulleys and levers of VS, but I do not want to be doing the hand washing you're supposed to do with them, so they fall apart very easily...

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  22. you should definitely take the leap...start small with flats, scarves, and clutches, and then move on to that amazing H&M coat!!

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  23. I love a bit of leop - mainly shoes/boots - and I have a beautifully soft and strokeable scarf/wrap from Ruby & Ed which always draws compliments.

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  24. I used to have a leopard belt but it disappeared. I think I need another one. . .

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    1. Mine did too but truthfully i gave it away after I never wore it

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  25. Um, I'm a Bear, not a Leopard.

    Blessings and Bear hugs! (Not Leopard hugs.)

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  26. I luff leopard. I see it as a neutral x

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    1. Just occurred to me that the leopard does it, camo after all!

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    2. The spots have got to my eyes..Just ocurred to me the leopard sees the spots as a neutral too!

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  27. I bought this vintage YSL skirt suit last year which is faux leopard but in a turquoise and brown pattern. It's absolutely fabulous but I can't bring myself to wear it. Pathetic really. I can do teeny bits of leopard but anything else really makes me feel too Bette Lynch-ish.

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    1. I did love old Bette and of course the grand Poobah of bartenders Elsie Tanner. I hear Bette tried to make a Corrie comeback but couldn't turn up on time or remember her lines. Wrong side of the bar?

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  28. Love all the leopard- especially that shift dress your mother made. Leopard print has become a staple for me, but am starting to become obsessed with zebra print too.

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    1. I actually have a zebra pillow (just the one for some reason) in a corner of my living room and it makes that corner sing

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  29. J.Crew slippers (loafers) they look on trend with anything I've put them with - though I have not consulted Tallulah....

    Crissy O's comment reminded me that I have a leopard bra that I used to save for wearing under a sheer leopard slip (meant to be worn for just a moment). Now the bra is called to duty when I get behind with the laundry.

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    1. I'm sure the slippers would get the T. seal of approval!

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  30. I have a pair of leopard print DMs!
    I think it's fine... so long as you don't wear it head to foot.
    Sx

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  31. I am a leopard slut. I have a co at bag purse scarf etc. I think leopard suits blonds but only one piece at a time.a Vera duckworth look does not suit me ( I know from before you know who she is).

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    1. Hilarious! I remember Vera Duckworth very very well. With Ivy Tilsley, wow those were the heydays of Corrie, the best of times. Even in the wiki page she is wear a leoard collar under her work http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vera_Duckworth

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  32. I haven't got anything leopard print but I wouldn't be averse to trying it. I bought my hubby some leopard print undies for a giggle once and whenever he puts them on he thinks he's going to get lucky.

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    1. Trish, think this calls out for some linkage visuals?

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  33. Just wanted to share Joyce Wadler 's most recent NYT column, in which she discusses leopard print as a signal that one is getting on in years and looking for, uh, sex.

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    1. WFF: Love your blog post about this, funny and thoughtable for everyone,
      http://thewhiningdiner.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-delightful-jody-of-about-last.html

      Also the NY Times article is hard out!..."I have discovered something I call Age Related Gut-reactions (ARG) in which you are suddenly compelled to start doing things you thought only old people did. Buying leopard print clothing if you are a woman, for instance. Is there anything that screams sexual desperation and an inability to afford the deep plane face-lift you really want more than leopard print? No. But hit 55 and you will find yourself drawn to it. I wish I could say science is working on a cure."

      Whooa! That will divide the masses, as FF says

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  34. Bette Lynch? Stop it! I'm still not quite over the Ena Sharples visual.

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    1. Now I"m thinking of those two in the same room. They weren't the same era where they? En'as nemisis was Elsie Tanner as I remember

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  35. I ceaselessly mocked my best friend who, when approaching 50, thought leopard print and gold glitter hair spray would be a classy addition to any outfit, now I'm 48 it's starting to attract me too! Embrace the leopard Jody!

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  36. I am ALL about the leopard, Ladies. Love it. I've been wearing a leopard scarf every day now for the past 2 months, I own a leopard laptop & iPad case (http://www.stelladot.com/shop/en_us/accessories/designer-tech-cases)
    and put my makeup in this leopard "pouf" (http://www.stelladot.com/shop/en_us/p/accessories/travel-makeup-bags/pouf-leopard). I also have a faux-leopard coat. to NOTE: i do not utilize/wear all of these items i unison, lest that looks just CRAZY CAT,

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    1. I can see why you have got such good wear out of Leopard - it goes with stripes and florals and whatnot. Forgot to post latest photo of Sasha Fierce and her scarf which seems to incorporate all those patterns.

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  37. I'm obsessed with leopard heels and own at least 3 pair right now. I think they give me just a touch of 'fierce' when I put them on and who can't use a dose of that sometimes right?
    xx

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  38. Animal prints and I do not go together well. Those palazzo pants, on the other hand... GIMME!

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