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Why? Because she said so...

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What does one do when they have an embarrassment of riches from Grand-mère’s estate and an insatiable desire to spend it on others? Well, not especially all sorts of others. Almost like a trope-filled story that her late Grand-père might read, Estelle was fascinated with how satin appears draped on a female form… More specifically, how that female form wasn’t necessarily female.

But like all girls growing up in the 60s, Estelle had an attraction to everyone’s favorite Mattel Beauty Queen, Barbie. Her idiosyncratic approach, however, went a tad further than Barbie's designer Ruth Handler had intended. No one would begrudge her if she dressed Ken in Barbie’s clothes; some little girls and even a few boys had thought of that long before she did.

That Grand-mère and Grand-père had a similar arrangement in their boudoir throughout their long, love-filled marriage – he wore her clothes – made her decision almost conclusion oubliée… a foregone conclusion. And of course, money indeed was no object. Pardon if you will the English pun, because none of her models…objected

Her first doll, so to speak, was her brother Simon. He was the sole male heir, and as such, was the only boy to carry on Grandpapa’s tradition, which he embraced wholeheartedly. With Estelle’s connections, Simon…Simone married a nice girl from Annecy, and they opened up a Queer Studies Bookshop in Nice.

Soon after, Estelle managed to convince her ex-boyfriend to dress up by promising a cruise. In no time at all he took to satin-like a female impersonator takes to...satin. He married Lois, the activity director, and now he does two shows a night on a Danube River Cruise under the name of Miss MeMuch.

Philippe, her ex-boyfriend's brother, approached Estelle. He had sadly grown out of a childhood pastime when his girlfriend tired of his dressing and ran off with a Renault salesgirl from St.Lo. Estelle not only took it under advisement, but she also took Philippa under her roof, where she acted as Estelle's s Social Planner/Chef/Cat sitter.

Marcel, an out-of-work bass player right there in Paris, got to talking with Estelle while they both had their hair done at Madame Le Fleur's Salon de Coiffure. He downsized, so to speak, and Marceline plays Cello in an all-girl Jazz Quintet in Amiens.

By now, Estelle's reputation had preceded her... literally, as she found herself talking to clients in the line at the bank. Calvert's sister Marie had managed to get herself a long-term lingerie modeling gig in Brussels, but only if she could manage somehow to recruit another model who could be her 'twin.' Estelle was happy to help, and Marie and Corinne model and are dating two sisters from Ghent.

Louis pleaded with Estelle, although truth be told, Estelle would have begged him, La Cinquième was casting a multi-part series based on the "What If" concept of England losing to France in some mythical
conflict. They needed someone sensitive and caring to play the Queen of France during WWII, and
Louis...Louise...avoir le profil. Louise fit the bill for six seasons before becoming the spokesmodel for Perrier.

Cary was an accountant from across the Channel in Brighton, and just happened to hear of Estelle's 'son passe-temps' and just wanted to know what it felt like to wear satin. He and his girlfriend own an accounting firm where Nancy and Cari appreciate the advantages of power lingerie.

Andreas was only a little bit of a disappointment to Estelle in that as a newly-enhanced topless model, she frequently did not wear a gorgeous blouse.

Martin had sought help in dressing for his new position as secretary to the Vice President of Marketing Of Peugeot, only to find out the dress code had been changed to office casual. But after Martine's makeover, she retired to a life of silks and satins as Miss Pincheon's new bride.

With her service successful, and with little need to work, she left the business to Phillipa and prepared to retire to Marseilles, but she met a nice young man a few years younger than her at a café in Paris. After a whirlwind romance and a carefully thought-out, and planned discussion, she learned that her lover would have asked much sooner for her help, but for the fear that to be her bride, he had to... you know. She assured Jean that there were ways of 'smoothing' things out.

Satin Doll is a jazz standard written by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn with lyrics by Johnny Mercer.

All Artwork by Catherine Abel