Ladies and Gentlemen:

With great pleasure, I present the sixth installment of my Let's Bring Back series.

A quiet homage to Vogue legend Diana Vreeland's famous Why Don't You? columns, the Let's Bring Back series celebrates rituals, curiosities, and objects from times past.

Without further ado, let's bring back...

For many women, the cost of beautification has grown staggering. Every year ushers in a series of must-do rituals; every month the beauty industry seems to find an elusive patch of face that requires yet another specific product.

For years, we've been open-minded to the most implausible crèmes, gels,...

Presenting: the latest installment of my Let's Bring Back series, which celebrates rituals, curiosities, and objects from times past.

It is also a quiet homage to Vogue legend Diana Vreeland's famous Why Don't You? columns.

Without further ado, Let's Bring Back ...

* * *

1. Charm...

Produced, directed, and reported by Lesley M. M. Blume
Photography by Stephan Wuerth
Photo assistant: William Taylor

You can probably sense it: this spring is different from last spring.

Change is in the air, stronger than it's been in years.

Freshness and new direction have...

Another day, another Obama-as-JFK article.

I almost choked on my cereal the other morning, as I flipped through the Wall Street Journal and came across an article titled "Michelle O Meets Jackie O." My lord, Michelle seems to have been studying Jackie's wardrobe, right down to the flip hair-do and...

It's been a while, but Let's Bring Back is back.

The fourth of my LBB series, what follows is a celebration of rituals and objects from times past.

(And it's also an homage to Vogue legend Diana Vreeland's Why Don't You? Columns ... but that's neither here nor there).

Let's...

It's been a long time since I wanted to jab my eyes out after reading an article, but Lori Gottlieb's creepy offering, "Marry Him! The Case for Settling for Mr. Good Enough" in March's Atlantic had me reaching for the closest pair of scissors.

"Every woman I know -...

Produced, edited, and styled by Lesley M. M. Blume
Photographed by Stephan Wurth
Photo assistant: William Taylor

True style is derived not from access to unlimited funds and a slavish devotion to the latest trends.

It is premised on courage, resourcefulness, and high individuality....

In this month's Vogue, Editor in Chief Anna Wintour expressed astonishment and chagrin that presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton declined to appear the fashion magazine's pages, for "fear of looking too feminine."

"The notion that a contemporary woman must look mannish in order to be taken seriously as a seeker of...

Produced, photographed, and edited by Lesley M. M. Blume

Sittings editor: Michele Wissot

It's easy for Cate Blanchett or Kiera Knightley to look glorious on the red carpet: they have gaggles of stylists, make-up artists, and the world's most prominent designers adorning them.

Many other...

Finally: it's over.

You've given your last gift to the wretched ungrateful masses (and perhaps have already regifted, thrown away, or exchanged presents given to you, because you too are part of the wretched ungrateful masses).

You've braved the squalling populi at malls, endured the indignity of gift wrap paper...

Back by popular demand, my third 'Let's Bring Back ... " column.

* * *

Let's Bring Back ...

1. Double-features. Perfect for long, rainy November afternoons, and for prolonging first-date make-out sessions. Let's also bring back pre-feature cartoon shorts!

2. Dressing nicely for travel and dinner. Because these days,...

"As an author, you have to join MySpace and Facebook," my agent told me. "It's like free advertising and you'd be stupid not to."

Well, since I have no desire to be stupid, I created profiles on both sites.

The MySpace profile was strictly business: a chirpy, slightly dorky...

As the writer of children's novels, I often get asked my opinion on the new CW series Gossip Girl.

Based on the popular young-adult book series, Gossip Girl supposedly exposes the seamy underbelly of Manhattan's Upper East Side overclass, which is addled by drugs, sex, and teeming trust funds....

Another day, another battle.

An annoying, seemingly inevitable battle, with one or more of the following foes: technology, delays, bad hair, wretched colleagues, etc.

We're told not to sweat the small stuff, but who really follows this advice?

Let's face it: daily life is comprised of the small stuff...

Some of you may remember my first Let's Bring Back... column, which was posted two months ago.

In part an homage to Diana Vreeland's adored Why Don't You ...? features, and in part a celebration of the pleasures of eras past, here is the second installment.

* * *

At first, the beads looked like regular beads to me. Pretty, but nothing wildly out of the ordinary.

"Look closer," advised jewelry designer Lisa Salzer.

So I did. I noticed that the beads were delicately ridged, like a shell. There was something unusual and beautiful about the color of them.

That beast Marc Jacobs: he's gone and turned the fashion world upside-down.

In his spring 2008 collection, which showed a few nights ago here in New York City, he managed to gall and thrill his audience with an onslaught of half-finished dresses covered in silly string and shoes with...

It's fashion week in New York, and I'm not supposed to care.

I'm supposed to read the front page of The New York Times and save Women's Wear Daily for later.

After all, I'm an educated woman, and I shouldn't be concerned with fashion.

There's a war going...

Take this advice to heart:

"Don't ever follow the latest trend, because in a short time you will look ridiculous."

The woman who uttered these sage words -- Marlene Dietrich -- was an expert at setting herself apart from the throngs, and setting trends, not following them. When I first...