The White Panther Jazz Club

Precilla, Regina and Amapola Parker, otherwise known as Cilla, Reggie and Poppy, were born just a few minutes apart, in the seaside town of Fairfield, just fifty miles from the city of New York. They grew up being cared for by their father, in a beautiful four bedroom home close to the beach, where they would spend most of their free time. The girls had lost their mother in a fatal car crash, when they were just five years old. They all had retained strong memories of her and the wonderful career she had in the fashion industry. Their father had seen to that; the hallway in their home was like a photographic gallery, lined with photographs of their mother wearing the most elegant clothes, mostly designed by their father. It was no wonder the girls had decided, before they even left school, they would follow in her footsteps. Though Reggie was to be an exception. From a the tender age of two she had shadowed her father so closely, it was almost a foregone conclusion she would end up

Poppy flew in from Paris today, or to be more specific, from her photoshoot in the Gardens of Versailles, where she has been on modelling assignment for the past few months. She looked so fresh and alive as she entered her hotel room wearing a beautiful floral gown. -oOo- On the 28th November, 1973, The Battle of Versailles Fashion Show , was held at the Palace of Versailles near Paris. Created by Eleanor Lambert and Versailles curator Gerald Van der Kemp to raise funds for the palace restoration. Five French couturiers; Yves Saint-Laurent, Givenchy, Dior, Ungaro and Cardin were pitted against five American fashion designers; Oscar De La Renta, Anne Klein, Bill Blass, Halston and Steven Burrows. Ten of the greats from both sides of the Atlantic, were showing together for the very first time. You can see similarities in the design of Poppy's gown to the originals below, but there was no use of the floral print. In fact, the show featured mostly monotone and colour bl

Miles Morgan arrived early at The White Panther Jazz Club. He knew a live performance can be the most captivating way of portraying music and as the only male performing that evening, it was up to him to ensure everything was in order. First thing he did was check the microphones to make sure they were working. Without the proper microphones to give Kate and his instruments the power they needed, their stage presence would suffer. Miles was a musician of high calibre and he would be devastated if Kate, his beautiful songbird, was not heard clearly by the audience. He also liked to start the evening with a reasonably neat stage, so as usual, Miles coiled up the cables and placed the microphone stand neatly in position on the dance floor according to Kate's wishes. She didn't mind singing on stage, however, she much preferred to be closer to her audience, many of which had become her friends. -oOo- Miles will be re-styled at a later date when I can either find or m

. . . for those from the East 59th precinct, it was The White Panther Jazz Club, the oldest jazz spot in the city situated among the poorly lit, seedy back streets of New York. Residents of this city were renowned for their progressive attitudes and The White Panther Jazz Club always had a cutting edge music scene which they all enjoyed. It hosted some of the biggest names in Jazz and had a comfortable, intimate space, where you could drop by for a quick cocktail, or make a total evening of it. It was the perfect meeting place for the girls and tonight was special . . . Kate was singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by instrumentalists, was often regarded as having purity of tone and wonderful improvisational ability. -oOo- Work in Progress is the making of The White Panther Jazz Club, step by step. The Players are the dolls that play a part in my story. On the Catwalk custom designed clothing made for the players.