{"id":115,"date":"2007-09-04T21:20:00","date_gmt":"2007-09-05T04:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/?p=115"},"modified":"2019-06-13T10:40:32","modified_gmt":"2019-06-13T14:40:32","slug":"life-is-not-cabaret-stop-calling-me-old-chum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2007\/09\/life-is-not-cabaret-stop-calling-me-old-chum\/","title":{"rendered":"Life Is Not a Cabaret. Stop Calling Me &#8220;Old Chum&#8221;!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Pictures lie.&#8221; That&#8217;s what my hairstylist once told me when I was complaining that I had just discovered I looked craptastic thanks to a photo. I hope this one is lying its ass off.  I&#8217;m just sharing it to show a different look (though not a different pose) from the Ossie Clark printed dress look.<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/\" onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\"><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5106570832903346610\" style=\"margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_gTmdbGeiE-E\/Rt4vHeOTGbI\/AAAAAAAAAZs\/nEAyR0tgTmE\/s320\/alek+wek+party.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Photo by my husband, whose photos generally produce a lot of angst and complaints.<\/span><\/div>\n<p>I wore this four-year-old white Versace suit to a party last night.  Some guy told me I look like Liza Minnelli, which was not exactly the #1 compliment of my life.<\/p>\n<p><center><a id='A-ax6FThT_NL-tH5K6SHdg' class='gie-single' href='http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1124858311' target='_blank' style='color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;'>Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'A-ax6FThT_NL-tH5K6SHdg',sig:'7Z21VAl_OqCstPgejZO-tiqtKitr__HM4lLRSvz-xxk=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1124858311',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/center><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">The  party (co-hosted by my dear friends at the Wall Street Journal&#8230;thanks, Andrea!) was in honor of Alek Wek&#8217;s memoir about life as a Sudanese-refugee-turned-model. The excerpt I read in Vogue was quite fascinating, so check out the book<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Alek-Sudanese-Refugee-International-Supermodel\/dp\/0061243310\/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1\/103-9667944-8636621?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1188966745&amp;sr=8-1\"> here<\/a>. Surprisingly, there&#8217;s a mini-genre of refugee-turned-model autobiographies. Previous works include Waris Dirie&#8217;s book, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Desert-Flower-Extraordinary-Journey-Nomad\/dp\/0688172377\">Desert Flower<\/a>, and Irina Panteava&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Siberian-Dream-Irina-Pantaeva\/dp\/0380975548\/ref=sr_1_1\/103-9667944-8636621?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1188966955&amp;sr=1-1\">Siberian Dream<\/a>. I would say Naomi Campbell&#8217;s fictional <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Swan-Naomi-Campbell\/dp\/074932208X\">Swan<\/a> doesn&#8217;t count towards this reading list. But if you are looking for a rags-to-model riches-to-rags biography, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Thing-Beauty-Stephen-Fried\/dp\/0671701053\/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1\/103-9667944-8636621?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;qid=1188967160&amp;sr=1-1\">Thing of Beauty<\/a> about Gia Carangi is a tragic classic.<\/p>\n<p><center><a id='t3RTSha3QK5XdOgd1J_NIQ' class='gie-single' href='http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/76511099' target='_blank' style='color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;'>Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'t3RTSha3QK5XdOgd1J_NIQ',sig:'885YXuIlXyRaE6b9NO2NuKG0UiEFPUjGdAjXmlKz6NE=',w:'388px',h:'594px',items:'76511099',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/center><\/p>\n<p>UPDATED TO ADD: There&#8217;s a picture of me by fabulous photographer <a href=\"http:\/\/www.patrickmcmullan.com\/HomePage.aspx\">Patrick McMullan<\/a> on his site. I can&#8217;t link to it directly but you can see it if you search for &#8220;alek wek wendy brandes.&#8221;\u00a0 Also, you&#8217;re a survivor of the &#8217;80s, or merely a fan, you MUST get Patrick&#8217;s book <a href=\"http:\/\/www.patrickmcmullan.com\/WebSite\/PMc_Screens\/productsection\/pmc_products_details_so8os.aspx?prodDetId=1\">so &#8217;80s<\/a>.  One of my stepdaughters got it for me (it was on my wishlist) and she was so fascinated by it that she bought it for herself &#8230; even though she grew up in L.A. and was unfamiliar with the many New York scenesters pictured!<\/p>\n<p>Patrick also thrilled me by asking my husband, in my presence, &#8220;Is your wife coming tonight?&#8221; BWAH! I was so excited that I looked like a girlfriend rather than a wife. It went a long way towards easing the heartbreak of the Liza comment.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Cabaret-Liza-Minnelli\/dp\/B00009Y3L4\" onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\"><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5106820495057295826\" style=\"margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;\" src=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_gTmdbGeiE-E\/Rt8SLuOTGdI\/AAAAAAAAAZ8\/SkrF4ivD8HI\/s320\/cabaret.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>Don&#8217;t get me wrong. I love Liza! <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Cabaret-Liza-Minnelli\/dp\/B00009Y3L4\">Cabaret<\/a> is one of my favorite movies and she looked damn sexy in it. I used to get the Liza comparison all the time when I had her Cabaret hairstyle. But it sure took me by surprise last night. And &#8230; let&#8217;s face facts. Wouldn&#8217;t we all rather get a Sophia Loren comparison than a Liza?<\/p>\n<p><center><a id='0QT3y3-ORf98wfOfNFP80A' class='gie-single' href='http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/3238783' target='_blank' style='color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;'>Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'0QT3y3-ORf98wfOfNFP80A',sig:'xNWPe2D7N5uOowdVoLyncFsjgvrbqcjilYCgbyHz1kg=',w:'446px',h:'594px',items:'3238783',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/center><\/p>\n<p>I will never look like Sophia Loren. It&#8217;s a burden I must bear. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Pictures lie.&#8221; That&#8217;s what my hairstylist once told me when I was complaining that I had just discovered I looked craptastic thanks to a photo. I hope this one is lying its ass off. I&#8217;m just sharing it to show a different look (though not a different pose) from the Ossie Clark printed dress look&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2007\/09\/life-is-not-cabaret-stop-calling-me-old-chum\/\">Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[58,10,56,64],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-115","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-books","7":"category-celebrities","8":"category-models","9":"category-parties","10":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42948,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115\/revisions\/42948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}