I know my cat does.

We are all deeply saddened to lose Patrick Swayze who died from pancreatic cancer –a particularly evil sort– this week at 57. Rest assured, the Monday Hotness WILL be Johnny Castle, who catapulted my entire female generation into puberty, but I truly believe his best role was Miss Vida Boheme, in what may actually be the single greatest film of all time, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Love, Julie Newmar.

“Well pumpkins, it comes down to that age-old decision: style… or… substance?”
“Internal combustion, the ultimate accessory.”
“A car? Mary Alice Louise, no. This is a land yacht.”

“I think tomorrow is a “Say Something” hat day.”
[referring to Diana Vreeland's memoir DV] “Read it? My dear child you should commit entire passages to memory!”

“Oh! No one say anything frivolous for the next few moments. I am having a significant experience.”

(I love how this outfit is a wink to Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in the cross-dressing buddy film that started it all, Some Like It Hot)

“I want you to believe in yourself, imagine good things and moisturize, I cannot stress this enough.”

and most importantly, the last line has been my personal credo for years:

Larger than life is just the right size.

On behalf of Francesca, Twistie and the whole Manolo gang, we wish our Jewish friends a safe and meaningful Rosh Hashanah!

Some lovely shofars and a pair of Donna Karan heels, on big sale at YOOX.

I’ll be honest, I’ve been disappointed by New York’s fashion week this go ’round. I haven’t made my way through all the shows but I’m just not moved. Partially because I like dressing like a grown up, which apparently is Just Not Done especially with the hot young designers whose goal is to throw the thinnest cotton voile imaginable on the thinnest model imaginable, spin her around like she’s getting ready to whack the mother of all pinatas and send her down the runway with whatever stuck.

So it fills my flask-shaped heart with glee to see Oscar de la Renta back in delightful form. Great colors, LOVE the hats and much of it is extremely wearable in larger sizes.

Revolutionary? No. But it’s genius in its own way.

We saw a lot of these great almost-Breton hats in this collection. It doesn’t look like an affectation at all, but does completely make the outfit in scale, and –as we see below– color.

Love this entire look. I think people wear blue and red together a lot for very casual wear, but you don’t see it often in sportswear, which is a shame because it looks amazing.

Am dying for this jacket. First I thought it was a print, but it appears to be passamenterie cord applique over a textured silk. I like a statement jacket over a shift, especially for our apple big girls.

I’m not sure this dress fits the model as well as I’d like, but I like that it’s not painted on. This would be one of those 20 year dresses. I could see myself wearing this when I’m 50, no problem.

If you MUST wear crochet, this is how to do it. Looks like the top is silk noil open work and the jacket is bouclé. Skirt looks to be voile with several types of lace treatment.

continuing with a crochet theme. Which one of you crafty broads could do one up for me, please?

Love love lovity love. I’ve seen things not dissimilar for the past few seasons from Lacroix and Gaultier, and there was another designer who did something similar this season which I like.

(I don’t even like this dress, but I promise you it’ll be on a red carpet near you, soon)

For those of you following the shows, let me know what you think. What’s wowed you? What’s bored you to tears? Most importantly, how much do I love Victoria Beckham (answer: a lot)?

Lately Francesca has been thinking about The One Who Got Away, the man who dated Francesca long, long ago and then stopped dating her, in part because he was stupid and did not know what was good for him, and in part because she was stupid and did not know what was good for her. She was thinking about what she might have done differently, whether it would have been worth it, whether she’d be happy now with him if they’d both been smarter (probably not). It is all academic — he is married with the two little children– but sometimes one is wistful, and wonders.

Today Francesca wants to know:

Have you forgiven yourself yet for not knowing Then what you know Now?

…it’s like lookin’ in a mirror.

Dior “Cartegena” Sandals and a collection of 17th and 18th century Mughal daggers, because a girl’s GOT to have accessories.

Igigi is having a sale. This ends TODAY so hurry. Instructions: Use code SEPTEMBER20 for 20% off purchases of $100 or more; code SEPTEMBER25 for 25% off purchases of $175 or more; or code SEPTEMBER30 for 30% off purchases of $250 or more. NOTE: If the home page looks messed up, just keep scrolling down until you find what you want.

Silhouettes will take 20% off your purchase if you buy 4 or more items, with code S9XE8. This ends September 21 and excludes Clearance and Outlet items.

Lane Bryant is offering a new “gift cheque.” Print it out here to use in physical stores, or shop online and enter code 050005826. You’ll get $25 off purchases of $75, or $50 off purchases of $150, or$75 off purchases of $225. This offer is good through September 20. For the tall girl, Francesca is in love with this top.

Jessica London will take $20 off your order of $60 or more with code JLE8976, through 9/19. Clothes for the office here. Francesca’s pick.

Evans has taken 20% off the price of their jeans, through tomorrow (note to American readers: you are several hours behind England, so shop early in the day on Thursday).

La Grande Dame will take 20% off all jackets and blazers (except those by Steve Fabrikant) with code BLAZER, through September 21.

Chico’s has done something very smart. They took the grey color which is so “in” this fall, and spun it into “aviator blue,” a blue-grey that is MUCH more flattering on most people, Francesca thinks. It is certainly more flattering on the Francesca, whose blue eyes are brought out by this color, but who, in regular grey, looks like a dead mouse who has gone through the washing machine a few times. (Oog.)

Soma Intimates will take 50% off your highest-priced item with code 7358 (in physical stores, too), through November 8.