Nothing much has happened rest of week in terms of style.  I am slowly turning into an icicle while battling another nasty cold which was my new year's day gift as I discovered first thing in the morning.  I did however upped my accessory game and started wearing headbands not only because it's in trend again but also oddly, the soft fuzzy thing is keeping my head warm like a soft hat.  I also matched my nail color to my sweater in case nobody cares to know but it makes me happy!  I decided that this was as good a time as any to be a lazy lump and drop my adult responsibilities for a few days and watch copious amount of youtube videos and take long naps in the middle of day.  I also took this time to read some interesting books on my reading list.

Recently I became mildly obsessed with Joan Collins after discovering that she was actually one of the lead actresses in a few movies that I loved such as this sad little vintage film called Turned the Key Softly.

I'm always looking for inspirations from women who have lived full and interesting lives to see what I can learn from them and sure enough I was not disappointed.  Turned out, Collins is a prolific writer and full of humor.  I read two of her books the past few days and could not peel my eyes off the pages.  

Past Imperfect was her autobiography dating from her childhood til the early 1980s when she enjoyed a second surge in her acting career by joining the cast of Dynasty at nearly 50 years old.  She talked about her career as an actress, her numerous love affairs, marriages, children, and also coming back to work after having three children and a long break in her acting career.  The most hilarious and shocking part was becoming nearly financially destitute at one point and having to file for unemployment benefits and ended up signing autographs for other applicants at the unemployment office, which made me laugh so much I almost fell from the chair.  

It's also shocking that in the nearly 40 years since she wrote her book, women still pretty much struggle with the same difficulties in their lives, not to say we all have movie star problems, but dealing with society's expectations and breaking the preconceived notion of what a woman should be or could be is never easy.

It's my impression that back in the 80s a lot of people wanted to know what her secret was to being successful and staying young.  Heck I wanted to know her secret too just from recently discovering who she is.  I absolutely admire Joan's fashion sense, hers is a more glamorous style that seem so timeless and elegant, and her love of life shine through her photographs.  The godmother of Cara Delevingne, at 86 and still working and loving life, this lady certainly knows how to live the good life with stellar style.  She gave so many good advice on living well from the inside out, from having a strong mind, loving yourself, to the power of positive thinking, along with consistent exercise and good diet.  It's the kind of book that deserve a place on the night stand so I can flip through a couple pages before bedtime for some good inspiration nightly. 

In any case I won't spill too many details, since I throughly enjoyed reading these two books, I highly recommend you grab yourself a copy off ebay or amazon and add them to your reading list!