TIME FOR AN UPDATE?!

Hi Everybody - IT HAS BEEN A LONG TIME YEAH??!! I have to say apart from sometimes longing for the pink wallpaper and some girly chats with winter coming I am happy not to be sitting under the stairs in 5 layers of thermal and a scarf 10 years long.

But what is the girly gossip I can update you with in lieu of the fact I can't do it over an eclair with you?

Madame and I wanted to let you know that Maison Bertaux will have their own lovely website soon and when we get the link, we will let you know.

Madame's own blog madamesays.com has turned into an Internet hit and was voted by The Telegraph as on of the top 20 fashion blogs along with The Sartorialist, Susie Bubble and GoFugYourself. See for yourself!

If you need to get a personal fix of Madame herself, don't forget to head East to Hackney Road and visit M Goldstein the shop full of stuff you never realised you HAD TO HAVE run jointly with Nathaniel "I know where I can get one of those" Lee Jones.

Lektrogirl [me] is still addicted to the Internet and CSI, works for Denza, Consults with financial management and record keeping, runs an amateur erotic online gallery which is definitely NSFW [not safe for work!] called lameatnames. I've also started with two of the other Lady Gang, The Cardinal from Picnic-Land and Sarah Lee a blog about one of the Shop At Maison B Lady Gang's passions VINTAGE CHINA and AFTERNOON TEA - swooning just typing it! Take a look at our personal treasures at madameatrois.com

Sarah Lee the professional shutter bug has her own website these days sarahmlee.com with her whole folio of celebrities and fabulous nobodies like us lot drunk and showing off at Lady's Nights.

Mrs Gorman has her own blog now too Mrs Gorman where she reports her latest fashion fixations from her desk. [More likely the sofa in Thai fisherman's trousers.]

Last but not least, Max Karie, who knows a great lady when he sees one can be checked out on the regular at his own site maxkarie.com and he is still Consulting, Brainstorming, Powerhousing, Idea Having!!!

Most of all WE MISS YOU. We get together for Lady's Night - our supper club - about once a month to keep up with each other now rather than over a cake and coffee. Sadly none of us have a living room big enough to accommodate you all [give us a room and a table big enough we would sure as hell try!!] so I think the best thing to do would be roll up to one of Madame's DJ gigs - Pippa Brooks appears at Pony Step, still at The George and Dragon - and you can find details of all of that at madamesays.com

xx Lektrogirl & Madame

Bye bye....

Max and Madame have had the best two years at Shop at Maison Bertaux...mostly because of you lot!!!! So this is a little tribute to the good times. Please stay in touch you can chat to us both on Facebook and http://www.maxkarie.com/ and http://www.madamesays.com/ are our websites so feel free to check them out.

The combination of cakes, frocks, you and us was such a blast.......


Love love love, Max and Madame xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Happy Birthday Max!

We're a couple of swells.....they've tried to kill us with ice........high five.....oh nothing......none of which anyone but Max will understand! But anyway dude, have a rest from pulling ceilings down today and put on something nice and get your butt down to the George and Dragon tonite where we will celebrate with fine music and much alcohol!!!!! Anyone who wants to join us is most welcome! George and Dragon, 2 Hackney Road, E2.

Madame x

Nice Price

Now I've caught up on my blogbacklog or cured my "blogstipation" as Superduck so charmingly put it, I can finally get around to telling you what a wonderful time was had by all on Wednesday night at Tramp - YES Tramp! - at the Topman launch of Antony Price's "Priceless" range which will be hitting the store this Autumn.

Max and Paul's "Look Presents...." second fashion foray is perfectly timed....I predict there'll be skinny boys in bands stepping out in their best purple suits or their tight Artful Dodger waistcoats anytime soon.....it's always great to see sexy menswear, and all to rare a sight, and lest we forget, Antony was responsible for Brian Ferry's male sex-siren image throughout the seventies. Whenever you see the footage of Roxy Music on Top of the Pops from those days it's astounding how outrageously sexy Ferry still looks. Timeless. Eyeshadow, tight tight pants, tiger jacket and gravity-defying quiff.....endless legs......half-shut eyes as though remembering some earlier liason or just turned on by the music....a real man in great make up is not a look carried off by more than a handful of beauties....Marc Bolan, David Bowie, David Johansson......delicious.

Anyhoo, back to me. I had the HONOUR of wearing an Antony Price Crawford suit to the party. A pinstripe vamp of a suit it is obviously based on the Joan of the same name, has shoulders that could take your eye out and is going to be available on Saville Row later this year. Max is responsible for my Cinderella moment, he put me on the phone to Antony and once he'd been convinced I was going to make "some effort" with the hair and make up and do my best to do him proud he gave in....

Everyone dressed as befits the stomping ground of Joan Collins and Oliver Tobias....

Nahid and Bev scored very high in the babe stakes....

As did Roy and Julien......they went from animated chatter to a sexy smoulder in less than a second!

Lady Bunny caused a photographer's scrum in which Stevie Stewart got trampled, here she is with Antony....

....and Jonjo who was utterly starstruck like I've never seen him before!

Pam was wearing a shiny Hogg Couture number, looking as incredible as always, here with Daryoush - what a couple of stunners!

At the dinner before the party I think we had the best table (obviously the head table with Brian Ferry, Antony, Philip Green and Nicky Haslam came a close second), I spent most of the time cackling with the i-D girls and forking little tastes off their plates...whilst trying to earwig on Andrew Davis's confessional down the other end of the table (I'll never be able to stop calling him Tilly, much to his chagrin I'm sure...)

Paul Gorman was working a new glasses and houndstooth (dogtooth? whattooth?) combo which worked very well and the tailor responsible, Mr Mark Powell was resplendent in pinstripe - mopping my look!

So far so delightful....although when the ladies of the House of Maison B get together it can get a bit rowdy...



Not to mention the boys...Nathaniel quickly forgot his "no smiling in photos" declaration....

Sarah forgot she doesn't smoke....or at least she and Phil started a toothpick smoking game which ran and ran and we all found hi-larious....

I felt very proud of Max for pulling the whole Priceless gig off, he's worked so hard....

Really enjoyed hanging with the girls...

...and the boys....

Ate every scrap of my roast pineapple with coconut ice-cream!

Perhaps overdid it a bit.....

But in the best way.....it's not often I get to see so many of my friends in one place, and for that place to be legendary Tramp, with a slap up meal thrown in, this was one happy Madame......


Wonder if they'll make me an honourary member......think not....

Madame xxx

Tidy up Time!!

The joy of having a tidy is that you come across past gems...and I just had to share these with you!

Sometime in the 90's Max modelled in a fashion-shoot for a shortlived "women's interest" magazine called "For Women". These pictures are noteworthy for so many reasons; the styling was a little lackluster to say the least, you can see them thinking the last-minute knot in the girl's t-shirt might detract from the ill-fitting jeans, that sticking Max in a women's crop top would give the shot edge....

I'm presuming that fake tattoos were a new and exciting thing......but above all, how gorgeous does Max look???!!!! Bless him giving it his ALL, especially in such close proximity to this girl's big pants!!


He's still got the legs you know!

Madame x

Little Wonder.....

Today Max and Paul Gorman's T shirt collaboration with Wonder Workshop goes live!!!!



They've worked with John and Molly Dove to re-create some of their classic originals from the 70"s, worn at the time by Marc Bolan, Paul McCartney, Iggy and Robert Plant. So from today you can nip into Top Man or buy one online for your geezer!

Check me out!

Hey, check out my interview on Ponystep!
http://www.ponystep.com/


Madame x

FRITH VALET SERVICE

So back in the days before The World According To... and before Shopgirl was SHOP round on Frith Street that was a little laundry next to Bar Italia where Max and Pippa first set up business doing service washes and selling clothes from a couple of rails in the window of the laundrette. Weird huh?

And here are the pictures of them from then:
Pippa Brooks in a cross between Madonna [the rosary] / Fiorucci model [the shades]


And here is Max Karie

No comment from me about the nipple ring. The thought of any body piercing except in the ears terrifies me!

A fabulous piece of press from Max's club DJ times

With 'Things That Make You Go Hmmmm...' in at number 4.

And speaking of Max's music taste, we are OBSESSED with this song at the moment.

Love Synchronicity by Sandy Marton. It is too incredible.
I think Sandy Marton is too skinny to be wearing such a baggy outfit but the mullet is a killer!

There are more photos to come but I just don't want to give them all to you at once! Besides, I have to see how much Max and Pippa are going to kill me for this first.

xx Lektrogirl

MAX COOKS TOO!

This morning I woke up without a hangover but felt I deserved one. After hanging out with Max all day, talking about Pantie Wetters, Nannies, Turncoats and Dead or Alive, we went into Soho to see Pippa and Nathaniel and drink some wine. A more wine later at The Three Greyhounds [my first blush since 'The DJ Assualt Night' that I could finish] and then some Geisha Rocks at Abeno Too I was sending random texts about spiritual vibes to God only knows who.


Lovely! So pretty - like sour cherries.

Max had cooked me an Apple and Rhubarb crumble. Until then, all I had heard about Max's cooking capabilities was from his old flatmate Neil who had seen Max take the top off a yoghurt pot and that was it.

But check this out:




I am Max's fantasy girlfriend. But he is always asking me if I had sex with a woman. I always get out of answering by asking him if he ever had sex with a woman. He never answers either. Man of mystery.


Look at the AWESOME temperature guage on the oven! It reminds me of Gary Numan or The Buggles or something. So jealous. And such a neat crumble.


YUM. And by now, Alex T had come over to Max's too so we all sat and ate crumble together like naughty school children telling naughty jokes.


Here is Max's knicker drawer. No he isn't at all anal.

And check this garden out that Max made. It used to be just rocks and weeds and nothing. It was just nothing and it is so beautiful now.



I'm totally jealous that Max and Pippa are off to Paris this weekend and I couldn't afford to go to. They will be eating Omlettes washed down with Rose without me. :(

xx Lektrogirl

MAXKLEOPATRA

Today I went down to Shop At Maison B to see Max who I hadn't seen in a long time due to the dedication to my DIY capers at home. When I sat down for a coffee and a catch up look what Max had to show me on YouTube - Dead or Alive live on stage WITH MAX AS KEYBOARD PLAYER in the band!! YES THAT IS MAX AS THE VIDEO STILL!!



I swear I haven't laughed so much in ages! And yes! That Rolex is for life baby!
So the one in the Nukleopatra hair is Pete Burns back in the day he still brushed his wigs. The one in the red wig I can't remember who Max said that was - but I was laughing telling Max to tell David Morris it looks like him. The other keyboard player with the asymetric vest, moustach and goatee is Jeyjon a friend of the Shop. Max is the one wearing a vest with two straps really working the keys at about 3:40 mins into the video.

xx Emma

Gone Tomorrow...

So, I'm so furious! Max dyed his hair a beautiful, glamorous blonde a couple of days ago...inspired by David Bowie's Serious Moonlight tour hairdo if you must know. Very bold.

Sarah took this picture of his bombshell moment....and all it took was a stupid pisstake from a so-called friend and he only shaved the lot off the next day!!!! Just jealous I reckon......I think you'll all agree it was pretty damn fierce!

Anyway he's left with a sort of blonde velvet grade 1 which is also great, I'll show you next week, promise....

Grrrrrr........madame xxx

Bigger and Better

I'm writing this lying on my bed eating a slice of my mum's christmas cake, a hulking great wodge of which I brought back to London....As I fold back the tin foil and the characteristic christmas smell comes wafting out I feel sad the whole festive hoo ha is over but also optimistic about the year ahead.

Here's Max sweeping up the last of the needles after taking down the christmas tree at the shop...he actually managed, with Superduck's help, to force it into a garment bag, quite impressive when you saw the size of the tree, and then take it to be recycled.....

One of my favourite christmas memories is the boys' faces when they opened the costumes Stevie and I made for them( I say I, what my role was was making tea and snacks and sewing the odd oversized wool stitch). There's always the danger with children that you can think you've got the perfect present then their face falls and they look at you as if you're insane for thinking they'd want THAT! There's no sugaring the pill when you're five, no siree, "don't like it!" and on to the next present....but we however, got it spot on with Duke's Jedi and Joe's cat"person" (he's actually obsessed with Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns but we drew the line at a snap-fastening pvc leotard and instead made an androgynous-ish tunic, which looks quite Edward Scissorhands and cat-mask!).

Duke the Jedi took up his perfect position under the tree so as to get access to his presents with minimum legwork:

They're now obsessed with Stevie's studio, we were in there on Saturday and they were sticking glitter on denim with the promise they can come back and make them into jeans next time....they were trembling at the thought of course and now harbour aspirations in fashion design....

The best thing about starting work is when your mates pop by to say hello again. We had one of those brilliant coffe-morning type gatherings the first day back which was so lovely with Sarah, Superduck and Lucy and I all vying for attention with Sarah snapping away with her brand new camera...


So pleased she gave me the soft-focus treatment...I should always insist on it!!

One of my low points over christmas was eating a promotional item as I was SO hungry! Beth very kindly sent me a YMC biscuit of a coat and I hadn't brought my packed lunch that day so....


Well I was tired and hungry and very cold by the look of me in the picture! That reminds me, Michael Murphy sent me a funny thing the other day, a timesaving device that I'm sure we could all do with slipping in our handbags!

Ha ha ha ha ha!!!! I don't know how I haven't lived without one frankly!

So, this is the year I get things done, and to prove it, I'm being very regular with my blog as you can see and also exploring other creative outlets....witness if you will the little movie I made during a shoot with Constantine last week....Only last Thursday and already edited and blogged! That's the new me!!!

Three of my most beautiful,statuesque blonde girlfriends agreed to me exploiting them in a shoot Constantine asked me to style....we had so much fun loping about in the basement, dressing up and allowing bonnetising without so much as a murmer! Can't wait to see the pictures but here's an idea......

So big thanks to Alex, Gwen and Johanna, I'm so lucky to have such beautiful friends! And enormous thanks to Stevie who let me pillage the Bodymap archive AND rifle her costume store! Steve and Claire at Rellik for pulling out all the stops and letting me run off with their Laura Ashley stock at Christmas! Nathaniel thanks for being my silent assistant in a hood, and you will notice a smattering of Spring/Summer Eley Kishimoto in there too!!!!

Oh yes, this is the year to get things DONE!!!

If you haven't visited the sale yet, it's all 50% off!!!! See you soon.

Madame xxxx

Laugh?

Ok, if you don't come to the Lost Society next month you're MAD!!! I don't think I've laughed so much in AGES...just one of those nights where the fun starts and you can't stop until you realise you've laughed yourself onto the floor of the cab on the way home...eh, Sarah?

so if this is how the evening ended, what on earth went on in the lead up to this?

Mr Mark Eley and I nearly got into a scrap behind the decks...can you see the tension brewing? But I love a good battle and really it was only the pina colada talking....

...and there were better things to do like DANCE!!

..even in your Westwood prostitute shoes, the music was too fantastic to sit still!

Especially when I was on the decks!!!!

There reallly is nothing so wonderful as dancing around your handbag in good company to fantastic music, and though it doesn't look like it here, this was a drug-free high-on-life (plus some fine wine...) kind of a night...

In fact, the only thing to do was make like a monkey (sarah's idea...thanks for that..) swing from the beams and get friggin FUGLY!!!! Even with the special effect light effects which Sarah taught me there's no getting away from the fact that this is one of the scariest picture of me that has ever been taken.......mother of two, how proud the boys will be of me one day....

Forgot to mention House of Boing who did a delightful performance using the whole room, twirling in beautiful frocks and generally bring a bit of class to the proceedings......then it was back to this...


Do come down next time...you know you want to! madame xxx