{"id":1160,"date":"2010-06-10T18:20:35","date_gmt":"2010-06-10T17:20:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/?p=1160"},"modified":"2010-06-10T18:20:35","modified_gmt":"2010-06-10T17:20:35","slug":"i-watch-valentino-doc-on-tv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/?p=1160","title":{"rendered":"I Watch Valentino Doc on TV"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thursday 10th<\/sup> June 2010<\/p>\n

I\u2019m suffering from pre-boarding tension. Tomorrow I board for Brussels to weekend with my old friend, Conor Cadoux, who\u2019s huge in the EU. At least I\u2019m going Leisure Class on Eurostar.<\/p>\n

And my staff have let me down. This morning I thought to unscrew the window catch in the downstairs bathroom which Miroslav\u2019s \u2018boys\u2019 (Miroslav is my Polish builder on the verge of nervous collapse) put back upside down. Before I knew it I was to and fro from the hardware store, rotten patches uncovered, battling with filler, battling with screws, shower screen purchased at vast cost found to be loose on its hinges.<\/p>\n

Dynamite the home and start again!\u00a0 Why not?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure Valentino doesn\u2019t have to put up with all this. Yesterday I was going to tell you about the stunning doc I watched about him on TV on Monday.<\/p>\n

Actually his suffering was acute. Sequins on the dress \u2013 yes or no? Agony over the desert setting. Not really right for the collection. Why, oh why were the dresses mounted so high on the wall at the retrospective exhibition? So hurt, so crushed. Please leave me alone.<\/p>\n

The filmmakers had a brilliant eye. It was one bizarre episode after another. Too hot in the marquee? Just hack open the sides with scissors. Joan Collins asked for the difference between beauty and trash: \u2018I\u2019ve no idea\u2019. Valentino himself quizzed: \u2018What do women really want: \u2018They want beauty.\u2019 Waiter at a function apropos of nothing: \u2018The Countess of Ribes has brought her own vodka.\u2019 Valentino to Karl Lagerfeld: \u2018Just us. The rest are making rags.\u2019<\/p>\n

Various other high-handed pronouncements: \u2018You\u2019d think you were at Macy\u2019s\u2019 (Not good). \u2018A woman in a long dress showing her ankles: disgusting.\u2019<\/p>\n

But it was all rather probing and unexpectedly deep. At the heart of the film was the relationship between Valentino and his business partner and lover of 50 years (although it was implied they were separate bedrooms) Giancarlo Giammetti. How they bickered: Valentino: \u2018How was I at the party?\u2019 Giancarlo: \u2018Do you want the truth? You are just a little too tan.\u2019 Val: \u2018Too tan?\u00a0 No, no, no, never.\u2019 Another time there was a row about a frock. V: \u2018You\u2019re getting fat. Look at you with your three layers.\u2019<\/p>\n

Perfect Poor Little Rich Gay \u2013 awfully dysfunctional and ghastly yet marvellous and enduring. Really they were right for each other, Val with talent and tyrannical ways yet fragile, Giancarlo with head screwed on, knowing what to do. When Valentino was given the Legion d\u2019honneur he struggled for control when paying tribute to his friend.<\/p>\n

And how he emblazoned his damage!\u00a0 The final collection was a miracle of stunning frockage. There was an astonishing kind of boa in pink made by putting millions and millions of deep pleats into a tube of fabric. \u2018All I can do is create dresses. Everything else is a disaster,\u2019 Valentino said. Not entirely true but you knew what he meant. Such a lot of nonsense but a complete triumph. His life, I mean.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thursday 10th June 2010 I\u2019m suffering from pre-boarding tension. Tomorrow I board for Brussels to weekend with my old friend, Conor Cadoux, who\u2019s huge in the EU. At least I\u2019m going Leisure Class on Eurostar. And my staff have let me down. This morning I thought to unscrew the window catch in the downstairs bathroom […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adrain-edge"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1160"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1161,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1160\/revisions\/1161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}