coincidence?  i think not.  today’s dictionary.com word of the day: dishabille.

noted in this morning’s nyt style/design magazine, regarding this spread on todd selby & apartamento: “tousled: studied interior design dishabille; the antidote to perfectly styled rooms that have long been the aspirational norm in design magazines…”

dishabille was one of my grandmother’s very favorite words…though she (charmingly) pronounced it “desh-a-bell”, and it took until mme. lavrakas’s 8th grade french class for me to learn the correct pronunciation.  gigi loved to say that she was currently in her dishabille, or suggest that we lie around in our collective dishabille.  this often involved eating ice cream sodas in her bed, she in her slip, us in our jammies.  hair rollers were occasionally worn as well.

gigi’s very own vernacular also included some other very random, hilarious things.  when she’d knock on the door, if you were to ask “who’s there?” she’d reply, “the devil with a pitchfork!” breaking up in giggles.  if frustrated, she’d exclaim “oh for the love of pete! (or, alternately, mike!)  concluding a thought, she would say, “well there you go, tony.”  we’ve never been quite sure who tony was.  but this is for sure: mrs. jones is all for bringing dishabille back.