The Cat's Out of The Bag!

The summer season is over and work begins for the fashionista feline of the Persian persuasion! Mercedes Benz Fashion Week kicked off on September 8th with a resounding ROAR including my debut at Fashion's Night Out! My first stop was to Bergdorf Goodman - the crown jewel of specialty stores, where I met up with renowned couturier and pussycat lover, Vicky Tiel!

Vicky Tiel and Natasha Finkel

Fashion's Night Out - September 8, 2011

Bergdorf Goodman, 5th Floor

"It's All About The Dress" - Book Signing

Vicky Tiel, is a not just a designer, she's a ground breaking innovator and fashion icon! For pussycats in the know, she actually beat Mary Quant to the punch by prototyping the mini skirt with her partner, Mia Fonssagrives, a full season ahead of her in the Fall of 1963!

Mia Fonssagrives Mini Skirt Sketch

Fall 1964

Vicky has always followed her father's advice he gave her at the age of 17, "Don't have sex for shoes." Vicky knew from that time on that she would never depend on a Master to support herself and that she would have to make her own way in life! So after graduating from Parsons School of Design, she moved to Paris with her best friend Mia Fonssagrives, daughter of iconic and legendary fashion model, Lisa Fonssagrives, and took Paris by storm with their sexy lace bustiers, hot pants and something brand new, mini skirts - which had never been done before!

Vicky Tiel tells it like it is to Coco Chanel in Paris

Vicky meets Coco sketch by Vicky Tiel 1970

She is purrhaps the only American couturier and ready to wear designer to operate her own fashion design business in Paris and has done so much longer than her French contemporaries. Vicky owns a piece of prime real estate in the annals of fashion history. She is the longest surviving female designer in Paris!

Shortly after Vicky moved to Paris, she started designing costumes for Woody Allen's new film, "What's New Pussycat".

Mia and Vicky Pussycat jumpsuits on the set of "What's New Pussycat?"

Woody Allen, Capucine and Paula Prentiss

Did you also know that Ursula Andress rocked Vicky Tiel's cashmere alligator catsuit? It was the first of its kind to ever be worn as ready to wear!

Back to Fashion's Night Out and Fashion Week....Vicky Tiel was at Bergdorf Goodman to sign her newly published and highly acclaimed tell all memoir entitled, "It's All About The Dress" about 40 years in the fashion business and what she's learned in 40 years about men, women, sex and fashion!

.

It's All About the Dress by Vicky Tiel

It was Elizabeth Taylor that backed Vicky and Mia so they could open up their boutique in Paris. Mia left the business when she got married and Vicky opened up her eponymous shop on the Rue Bonaparte not long after.

Her love of Hollywood glamour and fashion clearly shows. She's dressed Hollywood icons including sex kittens Ursula Andress, Elizabeth Taylor, Goldie Hawn, Hallie Berry, Joan Collins, Jane Fonda and even Kim Kardashian!

Goddess Gowns by Vicky Tiel

Photographed by Barbara Bordnick 1986

If you want to look like a Goddess, visit the Vicky Tiel boutique at Bergdorf Goodman at 745 Fifth Avenue or at one of Neiman Marcus' many fabulous locations. If you want her vintage pieces, click here -- they are incredible! And if you want to read about Vicky Tiel's most amazing life, BUY HER BOOK here or don't walk, run to Barnes and Noble for one of the best reads out there!

More about Fashion's Night Out 2011 and Fashion Week later! See you at the shows at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week pussycats!

Romping, Stomping and Trademarking

Ever since I visited my attorney yesterday to look over my latest modeling contract and to trademark my mane, I have been practicing and perfecting a really "ferocious" fashion stomp for the runway shows of New York, Paris and Milan. I've also been studying all of the couture shoe styles that are out there that the Haute Couturiers may have me wear at the shows. As part of my research, I stopped by the really chic boutique and atelier of my Mistress of Beauty and Adventure's friend, Vanessa Noel, haute couture shoe designer to the stars www.vanessanoel.com on East 64th Street in NYC.

On my way there, http://www.villagevoice.com/events/no-pants-subway-ride-1578769/, I have also been reading all about the latest fashions and editorial in the pages of Vogue Italia where photographer Steven Meisel has my fellow supermodel Karlie Kloss spoofing a catwalk spill in its January 2010 issue. http://www.coutorture.com/6945581 It's critical that I am fully prepared for my debut!

The thought of doing something as humiliating as a catwalk spill is something that absolutely terrifies this particular pussycat! A spill not only distracts from a show, but it can ruin a budding Supermodel's career if it happens too frequently! I need this to be a complete anomaly....so I've been practicing my supermodel pussycat strut in the 5" high Stilletos that Vanessa Noel so graciously let me borrow to practice my stomp in. I wanted the one off pair that Vanessa created exclusively for Bailey's Irish Cream , but unfortunately they had already been sold. http://www.clothesoffourback.org/product_info.php?products_id=2776


Here's an illustration that Vanessa wanted me to share which I love being an art lover myself:




Vanessa Noel was so cool! She let me borrow a pair that's not available yet! I wish I could show them to you, but I can't. You see, Vanessa Noel doesn't want a competitor to copy them before they come to market because designer copying is sooooo prevalent in the fashion market these days! That is called a cheap knock off in the fashion world for those of you who do not know! In fact, I read in Women's Wear Daily, my favorite fashion trade paper, that the venerable fashion house of Chanel was sued by one of their suppliers and accused of doing the same! I am relieved that Chanel was cleared of this nasty accusation by the French courts! But now, the case is currently being appealed by their vendor, World Tricot! http://www.wwd.com/business-news/in-brief-appeal-in-chanel-case-2396925

Vanessa Noel's chic atelier and boutique is located at 158 East 64th Street between Lexington Avenue and Third Avenues in Manhattan. The boutique is open 10-6 Monday through Friday and 11-6 on Saturday and can be reached at (212)906-0055. Vanessa is currently having a most fabulous shoe sale with her shoes marked down up to an astonishing 80% off. It's like a private sale for fashion insiders and pussycat fashionistas in the know! So please stop by Vanessa Noel's boutique before the end of January to get the best selection and best fashion your paws can possibly have! Please make sure to tell Vanessa that I told you to go there! I just love the way the tufts of fur on my derriere look when I'm stomping in the pair of Vanessa Noel shoes that Vanessa let me borrow! They are really comfortable too!