Last week, in the middle of a howling blizzard, the Frick Museum in New York City held its annual Young Fellows Ball.  The theme: Diamond Deco. 

While the idea of accessorizing a satin gown with a pair of slush-defying rubber wellies had a certain irreverent appeal, Ms. Blume opted instead for a less orthodox solution: she went in drag, donning tails and a tophat.

Today Vogue honored her choice by showcasing her attire.

Ms. Blume’s get-up was an homage to one of her most beloved style icons, Marlene Dietrich - the most sparkling deco diamond of all.  The famous actress largely pioneered Victor-Victoria chic while wearing tuxedos to fancy-dress balls in decadent Weimar Germany.  In 1929, photographer Alfred Eisenstadt captured Ms. Dietrich in the iconic image below; Ms. Blume grew up looking at this picture in one of her parents’ coffee table books, and carefully referenced it again while devising her own ensemble for the Frick gala.

Ms. Dietrich’s particular brand of glamor continues to set a very important example for women of all ages: she invariably dictated her own style, as opposed to having it dictated to her.  “Fashion: don’t follow it blindly into every dark alley,” she once wrote.  “Always remember that you are not a model or a mannequin for which the fashion is created.”

The above quote is from Ms. Dietrich’s now-little-known, out-of-print book, Marlene Dietrich’s ABC.  In it, the star offers all sort of glamorous-yet-menschy advice and musings on alphabetized topics ranging from the meaning of elegance to the best recipe for beef broth.

The spirit, tone, and format of Ms. Dietrich’s book helped to inspire Ms. Blume’s forthcoming book, Let’s Bring Back, a cultural encyclopedia of nostalgia, celebrating all sorts of forgotten objects, rituals, personae, recipes, and landmarks from bygone eras. 

In Let’s Bring Back, you will learn more about Ms. Dietrich herself (and the great Mr. Eisenstadt), as well as many of her stylish contemporaries, including wildly imaginative designers Elsa Schiaparelli and Lilly Dache, delightful decorator Elsie de Wolfe, and Ms. Dietrich’s nemesis, the aloof Greta Garbo. 

In the meantime, you can follow Ms. Blume’s popular Let’s Bring Back column at the Huffington Post.  Ms. Dietrich makes appearances there quite regularly—usually with a tophat in tow, no matter what the weather is doing.

Let’s Bring Back will be released by Chronicle Books on November 1, 2010.
Photo credit for Vogue image: Hannah Thomson

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Ms. Blume is thrilled to announce that she has just inked a deal for her sixth book. 

This marks her fifth project with her long-time publishing house, Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, and her second collaboration with artist and illustrator David Foote. 

The new book—The World Before Us—is a fantastical, humorous, lavishly-illustrated guide to Earth before humans came around.  It will be released in fall 2011.

Ms. Blume and Mr. Foote’s first book together, titled Modern Fairies, Dwarves, Goblins, and Other Nasties, will be released on September 14, 2010.

David Foote and Lesley M. M. Blume
Photo credit: Stephan Wuerth

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In its just-released January issue, Vanity Fair featured a photograph of Ms. Blume, donning a rather opinionated hat.

The picture was snapped at the Whitney Museum Art Party in October, at which “Art Chic” was the dress code. 

Ms. Blume’s lobster hat was an homage to the 1930s collaboration between Surrealist artists Elsa Schiaparelli and Salvador Dalí, who together crafted the iconic lobster dress worn by some of the era’s preeminent tastemakers, including art collector Peggy Guggenheim and the Duchess of Windsor, as shown in the following portrait:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below is Dalí‘s famed “Lobster Telephone” (1936).  According to the Tate Collection, “Lobsters and telephones had strong sexual connotations for [Dalí], and he drew a close analogy between food and sex. He made Lobster Telephone for Edward James, the British collector who was the most active patron of Surrealist artists in the 1930s.”

You can read more about Schiaparelli, Dalí, Guggenheim, and many other fascinating art- and fashion-world figures in Ms. Blume’s soon-to-be-released book, Let’s Bring Back.

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In the October issue of Elle magazine, creative director Joe Zee profiled Ms. Blume’s personal style.

Ms. Blume espoused her appreciation of unusual hats.

 

 

 

 

 

Photo credit: Dan King

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Lesley M. M. Blume’s third novel for children, Tennyson, became available today as a paperback.

Released by Knopf in January 2008, Tennyson is a haunting, Depression-era tale of a young girl who discovers her family’s ignoble history in Louisiana’s plantation country.  The book received instant critical acclaim from reviewers across the country:

“Brilliant, unusual writing.”  - The Chicago Tribune

“Blume’s lush novel ... offers its own hypnotic montage of poetic images, turning stereotypes into archetypes.” - Publisher’s Weekly, *starred review*

“This book is so haunting, so carefully detailed, and so wonderfully written, we dare you not to recommend it to everyone you know.” - Powell’s Books

“Beautiful, poetic writing about how the past resonates through the generations.” - Booklist

Tennyson was also a coveted Book Sense Pick, a Winning Selection for Kirkus Reviews’ Top Picks for Reading Groups 2008, a CBS’s Early Show “Best Young Adult Fiction” pick, and the subject of an unprecedented fifteen minute interview with Good Morning America‘s Robin Roberts.

Many teachers and parents have found that Tennyson’s settings and themes make the book an unusually timely educational tool.  The novel’s meticulously-researched flashbacks to the antebellum South provide an excellent platform for discussing American’s ever-evolving racial relations, a topic that has surged in the national discourse since the historic 2008 presidential election. 

In addition, Tennyson’s Depression-era setting can help young students understand and contextualize the recession distressing the country today. 

This affordable new edition of the book makes it accessible to a wider audience interested in these topics.  Scholastic Bookfairs - a longtime champion of Ms. Blume’s books - will be vending great quantities of Tennyson in paperback as well.

For a full list of reviews and insider secrets about the writing of the book, please visit the Tennyson section of this website!

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Lesley M. M. Blume talked today with National Public Radio’s Linda Werthheimer about her favorite classic children’s books, including Freaky Friday, The Boxcar Children, The Devil’s Storybook, and many other delightful titles. 

You can listen to the interview and see her full list of recommendations here, where the feature has been NPR’s most-viewed story of the day.

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Lesley Blume’s second novel for children, The Rising Star of Rusty Nail, has just been released by Knopf as a paperback.

Inspired by Ms. Blume’s mother’s childhood as a piano prodigy growing up in a tiny 1950s Midwestern farm town, Rusty Nail is “a story that is as rich as it is delicious,” according to a starred review in Booklist. 

The Historical Novels Review added:

“The Rising Star of Rusty Nail is simply fun and laugh-out-loud funny ... readers of all ages will be cheering for Franny; [even] adult readers will find themselves laughing ... Find a copy (or two) and start reading with your kids today!”

Please make sure to visit the The Rising Star of Rusty Nail section of this website.

 

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Today’s Women Wear Daily profiles The Huffington’s Post‘s Style section, and announces Lesley Blume’s new book deal based on her Huffington Post column, Let’s Bring Back.  An excerpt:

Last week, one of its regular style contributors, Lesley M.M. Blume, got a deal with Chronicle Books based on a series of columns she penned for the site. Let’s Bring Back is about the items, trends, fashions, icons and other nostalgic paraphernalia that were once celebrated — her recommendations have included clean air, duels, supermodels of the Sixties and Seventies and Claudette Colbert films.

Please make sure to visit the Let’s Bring Back section of this website.

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In Fall 2010, Chronicle Books will release a book by Lesley Blume based on her popular Let’s Bring Back column for The Huffington Post.

Let’s Bring Back will be a sophisticated, stylish novelty book, detailing objects, pastimes, and personas from bygone eras that should not have been left behind.  From sealing wax and quill pens to the Orient Express and the Stork Club, from fainting couches to limericks to quizzing glasses, there is a great deal of ground to cover. 

Comprised primarily of selections and commentaries by Ms. Blume, Let’s Bring Back will also feature contributions from prominent tastemakers, historians, journalists, fashion experts, and other interesting figures.

Make sure to visit the Let’s Bring Back section of this website.

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The latest figures are in: Ms. Blume’s first novel, Cornelia, has sold a quarter of a million copies in bookstores and bookfairs across the country!

Scholastic Bookfairs has been especially vigorous in promoting the book, even producing a short film about it.

Please make sure to visit the Cornelia section of this website.

Cornelia is available as a hardcover, paperback, or electronic book.

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Ms. Blume has been hand-picked by Vogue magazine as a founding member of the Vogue 100, an organization of “influential decision makers and opinion leaders known for their distinctive taste in fashion and culture, [and who] personify the rising influence of women over the past several decades.”

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Ms. Blume’s first book, Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters, has been nominated for the 2010 Grand Canyon Reader Award in Arizona.

It is a children’s choice award, and 45,000 students will vote to select the winner.  Ms. Blume is thrilled and honored to be among the contenders.

Cornelia has also been nominated for the Illinois Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award and Missouri’s Mark Twain Reading Award. 

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Ms. Blume has published a memoir.

Granted, it’s only six words long.  But everyone knows that brevity is the soul of wit.

‘Six-Word Memoirs on Love and Heartbreak’ arrives in stores today.

Ms. Blume’s tart contribution (on page 31):

“If it’s limping, shoot it dead.”

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Ms. Blume’s second book, The Rising Star of Rusty Nail, has just been named a 2008 Notable Book by the International Reading Association.

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Ms. Blume’s novel Tennyson has been chosen as a “Best Young Adult Fiction” holiday book selection on CBS’s Early Show.

The anchors noted that the historical settings of the book—the Depression and the pre-Civil War South—are particularly relevant to events today.

Ms. Blume extends a big thank you to CBS, and wishes happy holidays to all of you.

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Ms. Blume will be appearing at the Louisiana Book Festival in Baton Rouge on Saturday, October 4. 

Here is a schedule of her events, and their locations.

She will be talking about her latest book, Tennyson, which takes place in the famous plantation country along the river road between New Orleans and Baton Rouge—and will also be doing a talk on local ghosts and signing books.

In addition, Ms. Blume will read from Tennyson and sign her books at the beautiful Octavia Books in New Orleans on Tuesday, October 7 at 4.30 PM.

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I’m thrilled to announce that my longtime publishing house, Knopf, will be releasing my fourth book in fall 2010.

While I don’t want to reveal too much about the book before it comes out, it will be premised on a series of whimsical, absurd short stories about fairies turning up in unlikely places.

Knopf has also published my first three books, Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters (2006), The Rising Star of Rusty Nail (2007), and Tennyson (2008).  I’m delighted to continue my relationship with this venerable house, and can’t wait to share my latest work with you.

Adorations,
lmmb

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On June 12, Ms. Blume will be reading from her popular titles, Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters and Tennyson.  Here are the details:

1:00 PM
Barnes and Noble, Upper West Side
2289 Broadway (at 82nd Street)

A book signing will follow, and cake has been promised.

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My recently-released book, Tennyson has just been given a detailed, wonderful review in The Times-Picayune:

“Blume’s writing has a dreamy, poetic quality ... altogether charming ... drenched in the Southern Gothic tradition.”

As a New York City-based author writing about Louisiana and Mississippi, having a stamp of approval for Tennyson from a New Orleans-based reviewer is particularly meaningful to me, and I wanted to share it with you.  You can read the entire review here.

- lmmb

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Enjoy Ms. Blume’s just-released, featured interview with Powell’s Books, the largest independent used and new bookstore in the world.

This is what Powell’s has to say about Ms. Blume’s latest book, Tennyson: 

“This book is so haunting, so carefully detailed, and so wonderfully written, we dare you not to recommend it to everyone you know.”

 

Photo credit: David X. Prutting

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