House of Cards

 

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

There's an Italian term that I love: Sprezzatura. In a loosely translated nutshell, it means calculated nonchalance. Isn't that so cool? It was coined by 16th century courtier & author, Baldassare Castiglione, in The Book of the Courtier, published in 1528. Castiglione describes sprezzatura as "a certain nonchalance, so as to conceal all art and make whatever one does or says appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it." In modern day terms, #IWokeUpLikeThis, but craftier and less obnoxious.

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

House of Cards: Season Three became available on February 27, 2015 and Mr. Franzos and I are still working our way through it, savoring it. The story, the production quality, the breath-taking scenes of our nation's capital....the dichotomous and complex main couple, Frank and Claire Underwood...sigh. It's a writer's and cinematographer's dream. The world is positively captivated by the Underwoods. President Obama was even purported to say about Season 1, "The show is 100% accurate (about Washington D.C.), except for the education bill. It never would've passed that quickly." The words often used to describe the Underwoods vacillate between polar extremes. Sociopathic-Charismatic, Funny-Bone-chilling... I could go on and on about this Machiavellian duo, but let's focus on my Style Crush, Claire, played by actress Robin Wright.

Photo credit: Unknown

On season 1 & 2, Claire Underwood's wardrobe is made up of fitted dresses, pencil skirts and crisp oxford shirts; she means business. On season 3, there's been a subtle shift and a softer, slightly more feminine approach to dressing for her new role as First lady. Claire walks the very fine line between masculine and feminine and seems to have found that magical spot on the log where with one stroke, an axe will cleave it perfectly in two. She's got IT. She's got the sprezzatura.

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

Sprezzatura sounds great and looks even better, but Harry Berger, author of Sprezzatura and the Absence of Grace (2002), has another take on our word of the day. Berger says, sprezzatura is a "form of defensive irony: the ability to disguise what one really desires, feels, thinks and means or intends behind a mask of apparent reticence and nonchalance." Whether they knew it or not, I believe Tom Broecker and Kemal Harris, (Robin Wright's costume designers) took some form of this into consideration when dressing Robin Wright's character.

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

Claire's style is simple and elegant, but the web of deceit that she's at the center of is elaborate and sinister. Claire has poise, but in fleeting moments, her mask is lifted and we get a glimpse of the woman being crushed by the weight of her choices. In a classic nod to Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth, Claire said to her husband, "Give him your heart. Cut it out and put it in his fucking hands." History has shown us, that Lady Macbeth had drive, but proved not to be heartless and morally bankrupt after all.

 

photo credit: unknown

Berger warns that the downside of sprezzatura is to deny one's true nature and to lose oneself to the facade. CAN you live if you cut your heart out? Not really...Not for very long anyway. Is Claire Underwood a sociopath? I really don't think so. But I haven't finished season 3, so I could be wrong. But this is of course, fiction and we like to live vicariously through our web-only villains and watch their inevitable demise. With a name like House of Cards, we aren't kidding ourselves by thinking Frank and Claire are going to ride off into the sunset.

If all you want is happiness say no. I'm not going to give you a couple of kids and count the days until retirement. I promise you freedom from that, I promise you'll never be bored. - Frank Underwood

We definitely aren't bored. Oh, Claire Underwood. We may not agree with your choices, but we love your style and the way you crackle with electricity on our screens as a multitude of dichotomous adjectives threatens to rend you apart before our eyes.You're going to be such a beautiful, blazing inferno.

What I wore:

Dress: All Saints

Bag: YSL

Watch: Gucci

Heels: Prada

Bracelets: Pico Design 

Earrings: inherited from the late Mrs. Franzos

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

Speaking of houses, though, I hope in our case, not ones made of cards. Mr. Franzos and I have some exciting new developments of our own. We bought a town house in the heart of Shadyside, which makes a total of three houses that we own. Yikes! Hopefully we will sell two of those three houses this spring and summer, but there is a long campaign of rolling up our shirt sleeves ahead of us and as such, this blog post will be our season finale of Mrs. Franzos Blog. I have some first lady duties to attend to, but I look forward to what we have in store for next season. Wish us luck!

Your Bosom Friend in Pittsburgh,

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Front Cover Cocktail Dress

Photo Credits: John Altdorfer/Pittsburgh Tribune Review

I made it a few weeks back, practically larger than life, onto the cover of the Fanfare section of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. It was exciting and embarrassing and frankly, a little surreal to see myself 12" in height, printed on newspaper.

Scandal star, Joshua Malina and myself. photo credit: David Bachman

I attended (and worked) a fundraiser for the incredible non-profit organizaiton that I work for and dressed the part with an amazing dress I bought at the NCJW Designer Days event. Designer Days is a Pittsburgh fall tradition. I go every year and meet up with my girlfriends for wine, gently used designer clothes and philanthropy. I score something awesome every year, like this gorgeous raspberry satin Dolce & Gabbana dress that I bought for $40! I spent less than $20 on getting it tailored to me, re-used my Prada wedding shoes, curled my hair and voila! I make a cover. 

My good friend, Amy Cohen. (She's the yang to my yin). Photo credit: David Bachman

But let's forget about fashion, Dolce & Gabbana and Prada for a second. Really, the most stylish things are larger than ourselves. I am speaking about philanthropy. I support my organization, the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, because I see the good work they do everyday and I know how much they care about the community and their employees. I also support the Carnegie Libraries of Pittsburgh, not only because I go there everyday to write on my lunch break, but also because I believe in the accessibility of literacy and knowledge. What good causes and organizations do you support? Do you go to their fundraisers? What do you wear?

Your Bosom Friend From Pittsburgh,

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Follow The White Rabbit

 

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

I'm always on the hunt for the elusive, white rabbit and it all started with Walt Disney's animated adaptation of Lewis Carroll's novel, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I watched it so much as a child, I wore out the VHS tape. When I was older, my parents introduced me to Jefferson Airplane's song, Go Ask Alice. When I was older still, the literature reference popped up again in The Matrix. The white rabbit is the inciting event for Alice or Neo. In story-telling terms, the inciting event is the thing that sparks their curiosity and sets their stories, officially in motion.

My story officially started years ago, but for the sake of this post, we're going to flash forward, to a point in my life where I had some serious problems with the way it was playing out. I won't bore you with my Dickensian story of woe, but just know that we're talking full-on, existential crisis mode. And then, 

a white rabbit appeared.

and.

I followed him.

I'm talking symbolically, of course. I didn't *actually* see a white rabbit at the darkest point of my life. But I did see a chance and I pursued it. I went head-first, down the rabbit hole (so to speak) and came out the other side, stronger and happier than I've ever known. 

A changed person. A grateful woman.

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

But then, something weird started happening. I actually started seeing the white rabbit. It started when I began writing during my lunch hours everyday. I'd run over to the library, find my window seat in the quiet WWII section, and pour my heart out onto the pages of my moleskine notebook. One day, many weeks later, I looked up from a nearly full notebook and saw the white rabbit right on the library bookshelf (it was a book titled, The White Rabbit). I knew right then and there, that it was a sign that I was on the right path. 

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

 

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

 

My grandfather's initials. photo credit: Joshua Franzos

My mother's watch. photo credit: Joshua Franzos

 

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

 

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

I see the white rabbit everywhere now and I try to document most of it on my Instagram account. I know it sounds positively crazy, but I don't care. He's a personal totem for me--a weird symbol of the unknown. A sign that I'm where I should be, doing exactly what I'm doing. I trust that he'll always send me on a merry journey where I will see cool things, meet interesting people, and have great stories to tell afterward. Do you have any personal totems, symbols, or signs that encourage you? I want to hear about them in the comments below.

Your Bosom Friend From Pittsburgh,

What I wore:

Blouse: Oasap

Pants: My grandfather's Navy bell bottoms.

Watch: Vintage, Omega.

Jewelry: Vintage.

Bag: Vivienne Westwood

Shoes: Louis Vuitton

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Winter Whites

 

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

I was born and largely raised in California. I didn't see my first snow until I was five years old and vacationing in Lake Tahoe. It was magical and beautiful, until it wasn't. A boy threw an icy snow ball at my face and it hurt. I cried. Snow wasn't anything like the cartoons, especially when I tried to make my own return-fire snowball. It numbed my little fingers and my aim sucked. I whiffed it. Big time. The stupid boy laughed at my pathetic snowball, so I shuffled over to him in my two-tone nylon speed suit, took off my vinyl mittens, and punched him in the nose. This time, my aim was true. His nose bled and I was put in a time out. How was I supposed to know that icy snowballs were permissible, but fisticuffs were not? As far as I was concerned, Lake Tahoe could keep their stupid snow. 
 

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

Flash forward 29 years and I don't live in California anymore. I live in Pittsburgh and get four seasons, one of which is winter. Snow is still magical and beautiful, until it isn't. The first snow fall of every year,  I get all squishy and obnoxious about looking at the individual snow flakes. "Aren't they so beautiful?" "Each one is unique!" I have about a 24 hour, honeymoon period with snow every year. Then, the next morning, when I'm up at 4:45am, shoveling the driveway and scraping the beautiful and unique devils off my car so I can get to the gym, I'm soooooooooo over it.

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

 Snow, you wretched pain in my neck. GO AWAY. Or at least have the decency to fall hard enough so that I can get an adult snow day. DEAR GOD. I hold out hope every year for the possibility of an ADULT SNOW DAY. It might be what actually gets me through to spring. Help me adult snow day, you're my only hope! 

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

In the meantime, I'm trying to make winter time dressing a little more fun. A little less rutty. A lot more epic. Are delusions of grandeur a symptom of cabin fever? I went to the planet of Hoth for inspiration and I am of course, talking about the fictional planet from the epic space opera known as Star Wars. Hoth is a desolate world, covered with ice and snow and located in the Anoat Sector, a rarely traveled portion of the Outer Rim. The indigenous creatures are the tauntaun and the wampa and it's really, really cold there. The rebel alliance (you know, Luke, Han, Leia, etc) was re-established there in Echo Base in The Empire Strikes Back and I gotta say, I love the rebel alliance in their winter whites.

 

photo credit: Unknown

Mr. Franzos, Lando and I, (meet my dog! named after Lando Calrissian) got out for a little, winter walk at a neighborhood sculpture park. Instead of going complete white monochromatic like the rebel alliance, I mixed it up with black, because, that's what I have in my closet. I wore my favorite rabbit fur hat, a cream OASAP shearling jacket, an Ann Taylor Loft vest, a black Los Angeles t-shirt, cream Free People stretch pants, a Kelsi Dagger shoulder bag, Hunter wellington boots and my favorite vintage French sunglasses. 
 

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

I think I'm ready to punch snow in the nose.  How do you keep warm and stay stylish? Tell me in the comments below! I'd love to hear it.

Your Bosom Friend From Pittsburgh,

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Our Eccentric Wedding

Tin-type plate by Jason Snyder

Mr. Franzos and I are a tad eccentric. We're a little out there. But if it were a who's weirder contest between the two of us, I'd win. But we're married now and my eccentricities are his, and his are mine, and so on and so forth. We are so fortunate to have found the kindred spirits in each other in this big, old world. We were married on Friday, May 23, 2014 and had a pretty fantastic party. Here are some of the fun details.

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

photo credit: Mitch Franzos

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

 

photo credit: Mitch Franzos

We wanted our wedding to be beautiful and memorable. So I started the wedding planning off with the question, Who's going to photograph it? I didn't want Mr. Franzos to miss his wedding day by being the photographer of his own wedding. So what to do? Mr. Franzos has been a photographer for 15+ years. He's done it all. We both knew he would turn his  critical eye on pretty much any other photographer but himself. So what does a photographer do when it's their turn to get married? We commissioned a photographer that did something he couldn't do (and therefore couldn't be critical of): a tin-type photographer. In my former life as an auction house manager, I sold a lot of tin-type photographs and daguerreotypes. I was very familiar with this stuff and of course, loved the historical aspect as much as Mr. Franzos. Our wedding tin-typer and mad chemist, Jason Snyder, works with this photographic process that was most widely used in the 1860's and 1870's, but was largely abandoned for more modern photographic technology. The exposure can be 1 second (or longer). It is important to stay still and not blink. There was some blinking and moving in our photos, and that was fine with us. It adds character. I simply I cannot do it justice, so please read more in depth about this fascinating process here. Our 39 guests, sat for portraits and were given the actual tin plate photographs as wedding favors. So, while we did have a wedding photographer, Mr. Franzos, still couldn't resist bringing his camera to our wedding. I gave him my blessing, it was all so photogenic. He took some pictures, then his canon 5D mark iii, became a pass around patty. His father, his brothers, his friends, some kids, they all took turns using the camera with great success (we are working on completing or wedding album). Mr. Franzos also brought a Nikon F100 camera with slide film in it. I think by the time we were done, we had about 4-5 different photo formats included in our wedding album. I love it. It's a walk through photographic history.

invitations by minted. I-phone photo by Meryl Franzos

Mansions on Fifth. photo credit: Joshua Franzos

Slide film. photo credit: Joshua Franzos

Accordionist Henry Doktorski, tin-type by Jason Snyder

Ok. I'll get to the dirty, wedding details and you can have a pinterest/etsygasm. I told my florist, the talented Rachel Check of Hepatica, "I want my bouquet to look like a decaying, British estate." She loved that and took my warped wedding design sense and made the most beautiful bouquets for myself and my sister. She also made some adorable fiddle head boutonnieres for the gents. The venue, Mansions on Fifth, which we chose not only for its gorgeous setting, but also because the food won us over during the tasting. (Food and Drink is a big part of our lives, and was a big part our day). There were lamb lollies and raw oysters, champagne and bourbon, Scottish salmon and Grass-fed Beef. Our cake was a local treasure: Prantl's burnt almond torte with edible butterflies. I wanted the decorations to look like a Vanitas painting, because I'm broody and cerebral like that. I stalked etsy and ebay for quirky antique beakers, apothecary jars and old medicine bottles to put flowers in (Mr. Franzos and I bought flowers from Whole Foods, the morning of our wedding and had a great time decorating the tables). We rented our Piece de Resistance table centerpieces, terrariums, from Green Sinner and I added random stuff to them: a deer skull, a large skeleton key, an old watch, a 1/2 inch tall white rabbit, a severed mannequin ear... This was seriously the most fun I've ever had decorating for a party. Accordionist, Henry Doktorski, played some old-fashioned french tunes before, during and after the ceremony. Talk about and unforgettable evening!  

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

 

 Guest Tin-type Portait. tin-type credit: Jason Snyder

Guest Tin-type portrait. tin-type credit: Jason Snyder

Photo credit: Joshua Franzos

photo credit: Joshua Franzos

What we wore: My silk dress was designed by Caroline Devillo, but I had it altered into a tight little pencil dress. It took three women to zip me up! My fascinator veil, I found on etsy. My make-up was done by the talented, Jae Lee Paredes. My 30's movie star hair by Briana Rasicci. I splurged and got lash extensions by Allison Roth Studio, which I LOVED--I wish I could have lashes like that all the time. I had my nails done by my favorite manicurist at Pearl Nail Salon. My shoes were nude leather Prada platforms to make my legs look their longest. Mr. Franzos wore a 3-piece pinstripe suit, inspired by the 1930's menswear in the HBO show, Boardwalk Empire, complete with pocket squares. I just love a man in a 3-piece, especially my man.

tin-type credit: Jason Snyder

photo credit: unknown

 

We had so much fun, we want to get married all over again!

(As I was about to post this, I just realized, today, January 23, 2015 

is our 8 month anniversary...do I have good timing or what?)

These past 8 months have been the happiest of my life, here's to so many happy more, sweetheart.

Your bosom friend in Pittsburgh,

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