THE GIRL WITH THE LIPSTICK TATTOO

It's been some time since I decided to tattoo the closing line from Diamonds and Rust, and here it is! "If you are giving me diamonds and rust, I've already paid". Thanks to Joan Baez -who wrote the brilliant song- and Chris Mallas -who made the brilliant tattoo! The line is straight when I straighten my arm, I tend to turn my elbow and arm when I hold my hand like that. The other tattoo is -what else????- a lipstick design next to my hearts-and-Lady chain!

I love my tattoos very much. I consider ink a fantastic way to express yourself, and a permanent form of self decoration.

Tattoos are protected by Article 10 ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights) which guarantees freedom of expression. They can only be restricted if they contain obscenities, hate or racial speech.

I'm still working out the meaning of Joan Baez's verse. She wrote the song about the pain of her breakup with Bob Dylan. Diamonds and rust are her memories of their relationship. But I think that, like all brilliant verse, it has a personal meaning for everyone.

Now diamonds and rust will be always with me, like my other tattoos - the roses, stars, the name of my cat, the lipstick and, of course, the name of Lady, my beloved collie dog. I guess, like the Joan Baez song, many tattoos are about memories.

Have a good evening, with beauty always with you! 💋❤️💖💝💄😀👠💝
#tattoo #tattoos #ink #diamondsandrust #60s #JoanBaez #BobDylan#ECHR #Article10 #freedom of #expression #lace #blouse#TheLipstickPapers #lipstick #lipsticktattoo #collie #dog #collies#ilovecollies

...AND PROUD OF IT, MAN!

What a beautiful day it was today! I made 2 new tattoos (coming soon in The Lipstick Papers) had lunch at my favorite Italian ristorante, went for coffee with a friend, and also attended the Christmas event at Vision Boutique, owned by my friend Chrysanthi!

I very much enjoyed the event, saw old friends and met new ones 😀Here are some pictures from the Vision Boutique lovely collection - and of the tasty buffet!

For me, my glasses are part of who I am. I have been wearing them since I was six. As a child, I was extremely proud of my glasses. I associated them with reading & books. I'm still proud of my glasses today!

Enjoying a beautiful day, or many beautiful days, does not mean that life is not tough. However, as the famous Greek poet Cavafy (Κωνσταντίνος Καβάφης) put it, if you cannot make your life exactly as you want it to be, at least try not to lower it 💋

Stay tuned for the tattoos and have a great weekend! 💖💄💝💋❤️
#Christmas #glasses #designer #glass #frames #beauty #tattoos#lipstick #TheLipstickPapers #Cyprus #Cavafy #poetry #Greece

SIZE DOES NOT MATTER (MISS MATTIE ENCOUNTERS THE CHAIN BOOKSTORE)

A new bookstore is always good news, and Larnaca has its own Public! We are the last city in Cyprus to get it - last but not least (I hope 😀

Public is a chain bookstore and technology store, which is, all in all, very nice. The more bookshops the better!

You can also see some more stores in Larnaca - a boutique with designer and haute couture fashion, from where I cannot afford to shop, and a lovely knickers shop (I forget the name).

Shopping goes back a long way in women's history. Women have been shopkeepers since time immemorial. In the 19th century, which is my area of expertise, shops and department stores were one of the few public spaces available to respectable women. Also, a small shop could be respectable occupation for an impoverished gentlewoman, as Miss Mattie finds out in Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford! Miss Mattie loses all her money: her servant, who loves her very much, buys the house so that they don't lose it, but they all continue to stay there together. Friends pool money so that Miss Mattie can start her own tea selling business. Social cooperation can do miracles!

So, shop as much as you can afford to - big or small, shopping is always good! (Size does not matter). For women, it's simply part of a long tradition 😍
#shopping #Public #Larnaca #Cyprus #hautecouture #fashion#ElizabethGaskell #Cranford #Victorians

A WOMAN'S PLACE

Happy first birthday to my friend Christina Karekla's boutique, Avanti Come Milano! Christina is a fashion designer with her own studio and atelier here in Larnaca!

Today, it was her first birthday, and she organized a beautiful event, as you can see. The latest designs, plus a Christmas decoration, and an amazing birthday cake and buffet! Let's not forget to mention loads of smart people 😉

Fashion is one of the industries where women had a share - think Lucille (one of the first designers to have their own studio), Chanel and Schiaparelli. Women worked as fashion models from the 19 the century; modeling remains the only area where women make more money than men!!!

Certainly Christina's boutique makes Larnaca a more beautiful place. Many happy returns! 💝💋❤️💖💄
#fashion #AvantiComeMilano #TheLipstickPapers #fashionblogger#Chanel #Schiaparelli #modeling #birthday #boutique

TO HAVE A REPUTATION

Anyone who knows me well knows my love of scissors. I simply love them and I feel happy just looking at pictures of scissors. I think they are one of the most beautiful and most useful things ever invented! I'm not afraid of scissors at all 😀 When I was small, I had a reputation for cutting shapes with unlikely exactness. Unsurprising, given my love for the thing!

You can, of course, imagine my joy when I found these illustrations in the book The Embroiderer's Story. So lovely! It says that, in Elizabethan times, metalwork centers like Toledo and Cordova produced scissors especially for embroidery and shears for cutting fabrics. Wow! How I wish I worked in a center like that 😎

Sometimes scissors can have negative connotations. For the Ancient Greeks, the last of the Fates, Atropos (Άτροπος), is the one that cuts the thread of life. So, at the Fates table (special meal given three days after a birth, to placate the fates) no scissors or knives are allowed. The life of the baby is hoped to be long. The Fates table survived in Christianity as the table for Virgin Mary. Cool! 😎

The book The Embroiderer's Story is by Thomasina Beck. It's a fantastic history of embroidery. I bought it second hand because it is out of print.

Scissors are, for me, elegant and connected with femininity- embroidery, sewing, trimming. They have a bit of magic, too, like all things beautiful! 😀💝💖💋❤️
#scissors #Greece #Fates #embroidery #beauty #femininity #books#Spain #TheLipstickPapers #VirginMary