Channeling Louise de Vilmorin with the best mask of all—Verrières bleu fabric (goes with everything!) , beautifully crafted and graciously given by the brilliant @pgayetapp author of #howtheydecorated. Merci! ☘️ ........#Louisedevilmorin #documentfabric #verrieres #lemanach @lamaisonpierrefrey #pierrefrey #rizzoli @rizzolibooks #maskstyle #pandemicstyle #covidchic #hippocampus #redleather #madamede #faloticostudios
How can we resist the art of @evekaplan who transforms that 18th century object of desire, Chinese mounted porcelain, into cosmopolitan cool as no other? For years I have coveted her work, which deftly marries East and West, craft and chic into a vision all her own. Commissioned before coronavirus, my vase happily arrived in the middle of lockdown! While I wait for the world to reopen, musing on this vase with its textures, gradations of color, inspirations and references transports me to distant and wonderful worlds. Thank you Eve, @geraldblandinc @georgianabl ......(photo 2 shows a 17th c Chinese porcelain mounted with 18th c French gilt bronzes at the @gettymuseum) ....#mountedporcelain #giltbronze #bronzedoré #turquoise #bleucéleste #evekaplan #shelteringinplace #gettymuseum
Was the world really my oyster? One thing I learned in digging through old files for you @medora2014 (and @pgayetapp @quintessence) is that the pre-iPhone era did not lend itself to much photo documentation! In my twenties I was definitely searching; I had just finished several years at Vogue and a brief stint in book publishing. I hadn’t yet found my stride and had no idea the world was my oyster. But I was inquisitive and curious where life might take me and went off to graduate school. Thong had just entered the picture. But where did that YSL blouse go? . ............#voguemagazine #ysl #perryellis #soniarykiel #mrwonderful #twentysomething
Divine blue skies this morning but the chill of winter. Will the Central Park tennis courts open this season?........#centralpark #newyorkcovid19 #eldorado #emeryroth #tennisanyone
May 1 arrivals: lily of the valley and weekend reading. Covent Garden Book Number Two 1947-1948 season...every page is bliss. Oh yes—And at 8 tonight Ballo della Regina on NYCBallet.com .........................#sadlerswells #newyorkcityballet #nycballet. #meganfairchild #wendywhelan #royaloperahousecoventgarden #coventgarden #frederickashton #léonidemassine #cecilbeaton #margotfonteyn #abebooks
Cecil Beaton said of an early paramour (Adele Astaire to be precise): “We have nothing in common. She frankly doesn’t like flowers.” (Can we fathom such a being? ) Thank you dear @hugovickers so many times over for elucidating Beaton so insightfully in your biography. This photo was taken in the garden of Bowood, Wiltshire before we met for dinner . ....#cecilbeaton #hugovickers #bowood #englishrose #roses #englishsummer
Who isn’t feeling life has become both more intimate and more vast in these past weeks ? The world as I see it from my window this evening, as I sit virtual vigil over someone who was very dear to me as a child, thinking of the particular and the universal..... #meditation #connection #humanconnections #vigil
What will we do without flowers? Kenya has to destroy roses, South American flowers wilt in warehouses—flowers are becoming rare indeed. I follow EVERY relevant instruction in Charles Masson’s The Flowers of La Grenouille, my bible for cut flowers.(Swipe to see this beautiful, inspiring, useful little tome.) , trim stems and clean vases daily in hopes of prolonging these lilies from the neighborhood bodega. Missing very much @alexanderflorals where I stop at least twice a week for flowers. Be well and appreciate what we have. Xx. .....PS the sculpture is by Julia Kunin......#lilies #flowers #charlesmasson #flowersoflagrenouille #lifeincolor #flowersareessential #flowertherapy #tapestry #juliakunin
Is a tiny waist the ultimate luxury? Or a stranglehold by fashion? Here, a waist cinched by a leather belt—the accessory described by fashion soothsayer Genevieve Antoine Darriaux as the gendarme of a women’s waistline. Photo by Richard Rutledge, master of the fashion photograph as graphic design, for Vogue October 1951.
Do bows make the heart soar? I , for one, consider them essential. After all, according to Christian Dior ( who else?) they are the most fundamental of ornaments because tying material is the most natural way of closing a garment . Photographed here by Clifford Coffin —the photographer who never saw a bow he didn’t like—for Glamour July 1951.
Everyone in our household has taken every precaution to stem coronavirus. ..................#socialdistancing #mask #socialdistancingwithstyle #corneliusvancleve #caffieri #fightcoronavirus💪 #vintagehermes
A great example of social distancing with style. Clifford Coffin shows the way, Vogue June 1949. But how adapt when we shelter in place? ....#cliffordcoffin #beachstyle #fashionphotography #vogue #socialdistancing ##swimcap #blueskies
Shall we continue to believe in the gift at the end of the rainbow? Let’s look to the Irish today and the wearing of the green. Frances McLaughlin-Gill, the first woman photographer to have a contract with Vogue, had this set custom built (those were the days!)!for a shoot for Glamour. Who can identify Jean Patchett in this lineup? .....#luckoftheirish #green #vogue #francesmclaughlingill #jeanpatchett #glamour #fashionphotography #wearingofthegreen #saintpatricksday. #waistgoals
Vissi d’arte in Times Square? At midnight last night, and in conjunction with the Armory Fair, visual artist Jeffrey Gibson staged and flashed on electronic billboards, his tribute to Indigenous matriarchy “She Never Walks Alone.” Sarah Oretgon —aka Jingle Girl—was a once-only live performance but for those of you night owls the electronic billboard performance will repeat every night from 11:57 to midnight to the end of March. Now off to see Gibson’s current show at the Brooklyn Museum ....#jeffreygibson #jinglegirl #sarahortegon #indigenousart #indigenouswomen #indigenousdance #midnightintimesquare #sheneverwalksalone #nightowl #creaturesofthenight #brooklynmuseum
The Russians are coming? (Or, rather, they came and left their imprint on our stages. ) After the revolution Madame Karinska arrived in Paris, where she first collaborated with Cecil Beaton and Christian Berard on costumes. Magic struck when she designed costumes for a young ex- Ballets Russes choreographer , George Balanchine and his new company, Les Ballets 1933. Both artists eventually came to New York. While Balanchine explored the boundaries of dance, Karinska created appropriately sophisticated costumes for him. She cut on a biais for freedom of movement. She layered subtle tones for ethereal effect. ( swipe for examples in pic #2 and 3–La Valse costumes.) She simplified old tropes and invented the frothy powderpuff tutu to replace the unwieldy wired “pancake” tutu theretofore the norm. Her designs, modern classics, are still worn to this day. (The NYCB costume department periodically and meticulously remakes them.) The costumes for “Jewels “ (in film clip) display the breadth of her talent and sensitivity to music from the ethereal romantic tutu for Emeralds with otherworldly music by Faure, the jazzy tunic for Rubies to accompany Stravinsky’s cheeky score, and the regal white powderpuff tutu to Tchaikovsky. All can be seen up close and personal, intermingling with ballet-inspired dresses by Dior and Schiaparelli at The FIT costume museum’s terrific new show Ballerina: Fashion’s Modern Muse. .....#fit #balletstyle #karinska #jewels #NYCB #newyorkcityballet #balanchine #tutu #ballerinafashion
Birds of a feather? Certainly with its buoyant skirts (often tulle)and narrow bodices the New Look channeled the ballet tutu. Not surprisingly, two of its early proponents, Christian Dior and Pierre Balmain, had been close collaborators at Lucien Lelong and were both fascinated by the architecture of clothes. Whereas Dior is deceptively elegant, Balmain often exhibits a studied attention to embellishment. Here, at the current exhibit at FIT, Ballerina: Fashion’s Modern Muse, an extraordinary Balmain debutante gown , poised for flight, with feathers outrageously painted to resemble , hmm, exaggeratedly long pheasant feathers (to my eye, monochromatic peacocks.) What do you see, keen shots?............. #ballerinafashion’smodernmuse. #FIT #museumatfit #pierrebalmain #birdsofafeather #christiandior #thenewlook #ballerina #lucienlelong #theglamouryears @hamishbowlescollection #feathers #feathersandfashion
What extraterrestrial power does it take to soar? Anna Pavlova’s swan costume at FIT’s new exhibit , Ballerina: Fashion’s Modern Muse, brought to mind the Ballets Russes dancer Lydia Sokolova’s insights on Pavlova’s affinity with birds: when she walked into her aviary, the birds behaved as if she was one of them. When she called her pet swan from the pond in her garden, the bird came to her immediately and she folded her arms around its neck and whispered to her. And her apocryphal last words were “Where is my swan costume?” The very costume—here!—naturally, pulses with bird-like energy. One of dozens of extraordinary discoveries at FIT. And perfect timing—Swan Lake opens this Friday—Valentine’s Day—at New York City Ballet..............#ballerinafashion’smodernmuse #annapavlova #lydiasokolova #swan #swanlake #FIT #nycb #ballet
Lost in Friday afternoon and Chips Channon. Call me when the abdication crisis is over. After the King, no one seemed to love Wallis Windsor more than Channon. She refused cocktails for whiskey and water. And Princess Marina’s black stockings were so sheer they appeared flesh-colored....#chipschannon #happyfriday #lostinabook #drian
Two male Maasai giraffes vie for dominance. Those graceful necks are also powerful. One good swing can knock one down. .They also are adept at kicking off to the side—so the trick is to always stand in FRONT of a giraffe. Just in case........Meanwhile the birds are blithely singing in the background......#giraffes #boyswillbeboys #masaimara #safari style
Bored with the usual marble bath? Mobile safari baths of waxed canvas stretched on a teak frame, with Champagne, are just the thing! Overlooking the Maasai Mara, they are fabulous for contemplating life..... #bestbathroom #bathtub #bathtubgoals #maasaimara #safaristyle #masaimara #safaribath #outdoorbath #kenya