I Gush Over . . .

I am currently enamored with chocolate browns, creams, pale dusty blues, suedes, tweeds, silks, all plush and lush ---- these things make me gush!

Whatever Happened to Handsome Men?

I have been wanting to post my thoughts on this question for a very, very long time. Last night, I had a dream. I was on a bus, got off for my stop, and it was a town, a village, where only handsome, dapper, elegant businessmen lived and worked. I got off at the stop and said to myself, "I'm in Heaven!"

That was a dream. The reality is, I'm living in a world where looking like a convict (shaved head, tattoos, t-shirts and jeans, flab, fat, or overdone muscles) are the norm.

Last summer, my daughter and I went to the county fair. We live in a nice area, and the majority of men in attendance (either with girlfriends, family, you name it) looked like this ex-con/prison inmate type. Yucky!

Now, yes, I am the type who judges a book by it's cover. I've said it, so there. I know these rough-around-the-edges types can/could be/are "nice guys," but that is not the type I prefer to look at or be with, not my style. And yes, the nice guy part does tale precedence over the appearance.

I am just like the fellow who posted on imdb.com message boards and said he does not like women who look like Bratz dolls. He longed for the retrun of Gene Tierney/Ava Gardner types.

So my question is, Whatever Happened to Handsome Men? Men like Robert Mitchum, Victor Mature, Richard Conte? Men who were rugged and sophisticated, could wear a suit and a hat and also casual wear but not look like slobs when doing so. Although, I must say, I don't know any movie where Richard Conte is in casual wear, thank god!

Today, who could compare to these men? In terms of physicality, I can only think of Chris Noth, Jon Hamn, Clive Owen, Rupert Everett, and I'll think of some more later.

If the men today (in films/entertainment or real, not reel life) do not look like ex-cons, then they have a boyish/teenage quality that never seems to go away. Man-boys in reel life that I think of are: Michael J. Fox, Jon Cryer, Leonardo DiCaprio (he still has not matured in my eyes, just put on some weight). I laughed when I thought of and saw him as Howard Hughes. That was a reeeeeeeeeeeeel stretch to me.

When did handsome men fade away? Why? I'm dying for your comments, ladies and gentlemen!