Marilyn and Ella #MusicMonday

Ella Fitzgerald wanted to play at Mocambo, a very popular club in the 50’s but they wouldn’t book her because she was black. Marilyn Monroe called the owner and said she would sit at the front table every night Ella sang. And she did.

Brava, Marilyn!  Ella, as you know, is part of the Holy Trinity of female jazz vocalists that also includes Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington.

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Can you imagine a female jazz vocalist CD compilation that features both Ella and Marilyn?

Divas of Jazz

Divas of Jazz features performances by Ella and Marilyn (although not together :-).  It also features Lena Horne and her signature song "Stormy Weather" and Peggy Lee in a live version of "Fever."  Add Billie and Dinah to the mix, and it's a complete collection!   I found Divas of Jazz at my local Hallmark store - seriously!

That Old Black Magic #MusicMonday

It seems that you just can't avoid Marilyn Monroe.  Actress Michelle Williams channeled her on the cover of the October 2011 issue of Vogue.  At Sephora, we spotted a woman wearing a cardigan with panels of MM's pictures that she said that she bought at Betsey Johnson.  If things are crazy now, just imagine how they will be next year (2012), the 50th anniversary of MM's death.

As I said to my husband, let her rest in peace.  Or rather than ogling frozen images, let's watch her movies and remember her as a living, breathing person:





This is from Bus Stop, which was her favorite movie.  Sorry about the dubbing into French, but that's what I could find.

French lover

No, I didn't watch the Oscars ceremony last weekend. Receiving up-to-the-moment results by refreshing the Yahoo! home page or by waking up to the news the following morning was sufficient for me.

Still, I was struck that French actress Marion Cotillard won the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose. The last time a French actress won the Best Actress Oscar was in 1959, when Simone Signoret won the award.


Marion Cotillard

BTW Cotillard is also a "troofer."

What else links Simone Signoret and Piaf, the singer portrayed by Cotillard? It is the late singer/actor/lover Yves Montand, who was Signoret's husband and Piaf's lover. In addition, Yves Montand had an affair with this unidentified actress:


Yves Montand and unnamed actress

Guess Who ...

Categories: Fashion

Forty-four years after her death, Marilyn Monroe continues to inspire. Her sex kitten appeal (expressed by blonde hair, black eyeliner, and accentuated lashes) has shaped the look of entertainers from Nancy Sinatra to Deborah Harry (whose band Blondie was just inducted into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame) to most famously, Madonna. However, this is an amazing transformation of one of the most famous models in the world. Who is portraying Marilyn?

Hint: She recently came out of a drug rehabilitation program after a picture of her allegedly snorting cocaine was emblazened on a cover of a British tabloid. Allegations of drug abuse led to the loss of several modeling contracts, but she's never been absent from either advertising or editorial content.

To see more, visit the W Feature Story on Style.com.