A Countess, or some similarly deigned bit of demi-royalty once tipped me 15 bucks for fetching her a pack of Silk-Cut cigarettes from the gift shop downstairs. Smokes with silk covered filters…now that’s class.

Thanks for doing what you do. A while ago I caught your show at the Redcat theater in L.A. and had a blast. Great ambrosia, too!

I just love a pop in to the Beverly Hills Hotel. The coffee shop you mentioned is one of the quaint throwbacks still enjoyed by many of us that aren’t necessarily on the Hills guest list.

I also enjoy the Polo lounge for it’s simple and unchanging elegance. Its patrons seem to remain the decor as opposed to the wall hangings.

Of course my close associate and friend, Tiki Bob, reminds me that the battle for the title of “The Pink Palace” rages between The Royal Hawaiian on Waikiki and the BHH. The moniker for the Royal goes back to 1929.

Of course, who is to say we can’t have TWO Pink Palaces. Is that not what the world of opulence is all about?

Warmest regards,

BB

Fabulous photo though Charles!

The difficulty with traveling and staying in lovely hotels like this one is that a lady must have the proper wardrobe! There are so many details to keep track of, a girl could get lost in the woods of good dressing. Imagine walking into the Beverly Hills Hotel wearing the wrong shoes! You can’t tip a bellman enough dimes to keep that faux pas a secret. So today, with the guidance of _Vogue’s Book of Etiquette_ by Millicent Fenwick (1948), I give the women in your audience a handy guide to proper clothing for travel.

“The ideal clothes for travel are those which would be worn for shopping in the town in the morning [...] A tailored suit, a small neat hat, shoes that are halfway between the sturdiness of country walking shoes and the delicate lightness of town afternoon shoes, a loose overcoat that will slip on and off easily and if it is fur, of a fairly strong, practical fur — all these add up to the perfect clothes for travel. That summer version of this ideal picture is exactly like it in spirit: a practical, lightweight suit or dress which will wash or clean easily, the summer equivalent of winter’s small, neat hat and, perhaps, the very same pair of practical dark brown, dark blue, or black shoes; an overcoat, if necessary, of mixed woolen tweed, brown and beige, black and gray, or dark blue and white.”

Obviously Millicent is a bit of a tough taskmaster when it comes to clothing. I would certainly hate to meander down the street in country walking shoes and a green and white overcoat! Quelle horror! No doubt the good denizens of Beverly Hills would point me out to be a country rube. Oh wise Millicent! What else should we avoid?

“The essential point is that this conservative, practical attitude should be an automatic reflex to the word traveling. No white shoes, no floppy hats, no floating feathers or veils.”

Oh dear. I’m relatively certain I’ve worn a stray feather or two in a foreign clime. And perhaps even a white shoe. You see? Even I have work to do! But how shall I act while I’m on the town, Millicent?

“In it application specifically to traveling, decorum means no loud and jolly parties on trains and planes, where others cannot help but hear and see; no messy box luncheons when one has a near neighbor who is forced to witness the untidiness (a neat sandwich in waxed paper is one thing, a juicy orange quite another); no argument or laughter which others cannot help but hear, especially after bed-time hours.”

Do keep a neat sandwich in waxed paper with you at all times. I cannot tell you`how many times such a treat has come in handy for me!

xoxo!
Miss Sharon