Weekend Conversation Starters

[Messy Nessy Chic]   Knowledge is power. To honour Black History Month in the best way I know how, I’ve dug up 10 memorable articles from the MessyNessy archives that tell stories that history forgot, because that’s what this month all about: learning and remembering. Sharing this list with your friends and loved ones is highly encouraged. In the words of Eartha Kitt: “I am learning all the time. The tombstone will be my diploma.” - [America's Black Wall Street]( - [You’re Invited to a Harlem Rent Party, Circa 1944]( - [Once Upon a Time in Black Eden]( - [Tracing the Real Betty Boop Back to a Notorious Bootlegger’s Club in 1920s Harlem]( - [The All-Black Utopian Ghost City that Lost its Soul]( - [​]([Girl Friends, Inc: The African American Social Clubs of Yesteryear]( - [Freedom Riding on a Harley: The 1950s All-Black Biker Gang]( - [Discovering Black Outsider Art in a Whitewashed World]( - ​[Who is the Dandy Man? The Congo Subculture Uncovered]( - [Yearbook Memories of a Historically Black University]( As always, your regularly scheduled Weekend Conversation Starters await. With love from Paris, [Nessy]   [Saving a Slice of America’s Mansions](   [15043653_2182017482023344_5188658705062690816_n]( Your eyes do not deceive you. These homes have indeed been cut down the middle like a knife through a buttercream cake, but in lieu of confetti sprinkles, the insides spill out water damage, rot, and everything that’s wrong with our throw-away society. It’s the greatest triumph, and tragedy of America’s 100-yr-old homes: when they…  [Continue Reading](   [A Feast with the Gypsies of 1960s Paris](   [3d96ec219ba1]( One of the most common misconceptions about Roma Gypsies today is that they come from the Eastern European country Romania, but historically, they originate from the Punjab region of Northern India. When they were displaced from their homeland thousands of years ago, they were called “Gypsies” because Europeans mistakenly believed they came from Egypt. Today…  [Continue Reading](   [Oh, Just a New York Hippie Castle with Elephants](   [elephants1]( We thought we’d seen it all when it comes to unusual and unique hotels. Then, we found Wing’s Castle of New York. This storybook cottage had us rubbing our eyes– are those elephants? The castle began, as so many magical things did, as a 1969 reverie… We did a bit of digging on Wing’s history and current state,…  [Continue Reading](   [Tokyo Is Having Way More Fun Than Us at Fashion](   [NK-2017-06-25-004-002-Harajuku-DSC-6176]( In Tokyo, there are no rules when it comes to street fashion. Current trends have little or no influence and you certainly don’t have to work in the fashion industry to throw down some serious looks. I stumbled upon the Tokyo Fashion Tumblr today, which has been faithfully documenting Japanese street style since 2010. From Lolita…  [Continue Reading](   [Here are the 1960s Fashion Trends we’d like to Nominate for a Comeback](   [phaidon-the-fashion-book-tech-future-designer-picks-900x450-c]( At MessyNessyChic, we spend a lot of time in the 1960s, revisiting rock & roll communes, getting to know forgotten muses and venturing out on hippie trail, but we thought it was about time we did a retrospective of style from our favourite decade. The good, the bad and the interesting… The Paper Dress The sixties played around…  [Continue Reading](   [Hiding Homosexuality on the Cover of America’s Magazines a Century Ago](   [pic-32-930x1393]( One of the first things you’ll start to notice about Joe Christian Leyendecker’s work is that his women were never quite as good-looking as his men, who were devastatingly handsome. He gave us the elegance of Gatsby 20 years before F. Scott Fitzgerald had even invented him. Take a moment to observe the dashing man on the stairs,…  [Continue Reading](   [13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. CCCXXXIX)](   [49933813_2002736126694154_4774151207698368226_n]( 1. The ridiculously dangerous sport of “Auto Polo” Automobile polo or Auto polo was a motorsport invented in the United States with rules and equipment similar to equestrian polo but using automobiles instead of horses. The “sport” which was popularised by an automobile dealer as a publicity stunt for Ford cars. …A tally of the damages…  [Continue Reading](  Interested in Becoming a MessyNessyAmbassador? [Get Your Ambassador Link And Start Sharing!](    [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn]( [Blog]( [To ready more from MessyNessyChic visit the Blog]( and make sure you keep getting these email by adding contact@messynessychic.com to your address book or whitelist us. Our postal address: In a Café, Paris 75001 Want out of the loop? [Unsubscribe](.