Give Them What They Didn't Know They Wanted!

When I was looking for Jeremiah Goodman illustrations yesterday, I came across one he did of Diana Vreeland's living room. I had been meaning to write a little post about the grand dame of fashion for a while and now seemed like the perfect opportunity. I also think it's another example of the world of fashion, art and design converging again.

Diana Vreeland was certainly a character. A larger than life woman who loved fashion and frivolity but who also needed to work to help support her family and their lavish lifestyle. She was friends with the who's who of the time including C.Z. Guest, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Cecil Beaton, Cole Porter, and even Andy Warhol. She worked for Harper's Bazaar for 26 years, and later was editor in chief of Vogue. After she was unceremoniously fired, she went on to work with the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and turned it's benefit into the fashionable fete that it is today. Ali McGraw was at one point her wide eyed 21 year old assistant! Can you imagine working for Diana Vreeland? Amazing!

She was known almost as well for her blood-red living room at her apartment at 550 Park Avenue as she was for her fashion sense. "I want this place to look like a garden, but a garden in hell" she said and it looks like she accomplished that in the above photo by Horst and illustration by Jeremiah Goodman. She spent all her life pursuing the perfect shade of red, the great clarifier she called it, bright and revealing.

I could go on and on because her life story is fabulous and a bit tragic at times. She was a woman who when the going got tough, she got going and with gusto! I love reading inspiring biographies of interesting woman and I loved reading about Diana Vreeland. I suggest picking up Eleanor Dwight's wonderful book, Diana Vreeland, and reading that one first. I made the mistake of reading D.V. first and later learned that Mrs. Vreeland liked to exaggerate just a wee bit, kind of like my grandmother. Got to love her. I also own the Sotheby's catalog from the auction of her estate that is a wonderful record of her lovely home and life. Included in the catalog, are the two Oberto Gili photos above and below.

Not only did Diana Vreeland give us more than we knew we wanted, she gave us more than we could have ever dreamed up ourselves. She truly was one remarkably chic and elegant woman!

Carolina Herrera + Jeremiah Goodman = Perfection

Carolina Herrera often cites artists as her inspiration. A few years back it was French photographer Jacques-Henri Lartigue. This season, it's the interiors illustrator extraordinaire Jeremiah Goodman and his book Jeremiah: A Romantic Vision. Can you think of anything more chic?! It's also the perfect example of the way fashion, art, and interior design often converge with stunning results. Mrs. Herrera said she wanted an explosion of color and she certainly succeeded and in doing so, she also created a collection that can most certainly be described as a romantic vision. Once again, she proves why she's a style icon!

A Few of My Favorite Things

It's a little dreary in New York this morning so I think I little shopping might be in order today but before I go, I thought I would tell you about a few of my new favorite things. Enjoy!

J. Crew Enamel Bracelets - These bracelets are fabulous and affordable! Plus, they come in a rainbow of colors. I wore two orange and one purple 1/4 in. size bracelets together the other day and everyone loved them. My friend Phillip called them my Faux-mes bracelets after Hermes. Definitely check them out!

KA7 Wool Jacket - It's supposed to be very chilly tomorrow and I can't wait to wear this jacket. It's so luxuriously soft and stylish and looks great with jeans. I bought it the warm beige color but I could only find an example in black online but I think Banana Republic has a very similar jacket.

Citizens of Humanity Hutton Jeans - I am so happy that skinny jeans are out this season because it means I have more jean options and I LOVE these from Citizens. I can wear jeans to work and this pair looks stylish and professional with the higher rise, darker wash and trouser hem.

Nars Chinatown Nail Polish - I started transitioning to fall weeks ago and one of my first steps is to change from neutral polish on my toes to Nars Chinatown polish, a really deep dark red. It's my signature color for fall/winter and looks great peeking out of a pair of peep toe pumps.

Deluxe: How Luxury Lost It's Luster - Everyone is talking about this book and for good reason. It's a behind the curtain look at how the luxury industry operates that will leave you impressed, amazed, and outraged. I can't put it down!

Green Fig Home Ambiance Perfume by Antica Farmacista - I am obsessed with the smell of figs. I have every fig candle ever made and just recently found this green fig room fragrance that is the perfect unisex scent for fall, especially since figs are in season now.

*I'm not sure everyone realized this but if you click on the orange titles, it's a link to the product online. I guess I should have mentioned this earlier. My bad!

Man About Town: Robert Burke

Just one more fashion related post. Oh, who am I kidding, I might have a few more left. But they're all fabulous so you can't be too bored.

The man of the hour this time is the always fashionable Robert Burke, who used to do something terribly important and have a ridiculously long title at Bergdorf Goodman until he decided to go out on his own and start Robert Burke Associates, a luxury consulting firm. If you live in New York, you can often catch Robert's commentary on Full Frontal Fashion. I'm pretty sure I could consult about luxury fashion too. I wonder if Robert is hiring.

Anyway, not only is Robert always well dressed and fashionable, his apartment is pretty handsome also. I wonder what it means that I always like the men's apartments best. I'll have to check into that.

Robert had a little help in the decorating department from his fashionable friend, Todd Romano. Todd actually used to work where I work now but that was before my time. I'm not exactly sure everyone here is genuinely happy for his success but that is a story for another day.

I love the mix of warm and cool colors as well as the fun accessories and personal accents as usual like the vintage glazed terra cotta tree stump side tables above.

The Louis XVI secretaire and the watercolor above it are from the estate of Bill Blass. Someday, I'm going to have to do a post about all who has what from the Bill Blass estate. His antiques have ended up in a lot of fashionable homes.

The photograph, Horse Neck (3 in a series of 4), above is by the famous fashion photographer Steven Klein. You have probably seen his photos of Madonna and Tom Ford in W Magazine.

The stuffed calleo bird and framed stick insect are from Deyrolle who not only have a shop in Paris but now sell items at Bergdorf Goodman. There is a really funny story about how Robert Burke got stopped at customs coming back from Paris once and in his bag were couture dress samples and stuffed birds from Deyrolle and the customs agent shook her head, said she had never seen anything like that and waved him through. Gotta love it!

I love one really dark room in a home. It's something we've been seeing a lot of lately, in addition zebra rugs, but hey, if ain't broke, why fix it? Right?

Robert, who travels much of the year, had one request for the bedroom, for it to feel as luxurious as a 5-star hotel room with all the conveniences to match. I'd say a Ralph Lauren bed and nicely ironed Leontine linens looks pretty luxurious to me! And if you look really close in the bedroom, there is a collage of black and white photos of Diana Vreeland on the bedside table from Sentimento. The chic worship the chic obviously!

Photos by William Waldron

The Art and Homes of Hunt Slonem

I'd never heard of Hunt Slonem until I read the most fascinating article about him, Southern Gothic, in the New York Times. Mr. Slonem is a New York artist whose passion for art and mansions is also chronicled in the new book “Pleasure Palace: The Art and Homes of Hunt Slonem.”

The word eccentric was created for artists like Hunt Slonem who "rents 30,000 square feet — about 80 rooms — of former office space in the West Village neighborhood in New York City, which houses 35 birds, tropical plants and wildly colored areas. The yearly rent is about $300,000, a spectacular deal in New York." You have to check out the video tour of his home on Men.Style.com!

His style is not even close to mine but his story and his love of old homes is admirable and interesting. If it weren't for people like Hunt Slonem, the world would be a very boring and probably beige place. I look forward to buying his book and learning even more about this colorful character.

Photos by Fred R. Conrad

I Heart Gilles Mendel

A little while back, I saw two small photos of bachelor Gilles Mendel's apartment and was dying to see more. Luckily for me, the October 2007 issue of Elle Decor has a whole spread dedicated to the designer and CEO of J. Mendel, his family's company that was founded in 1870. Talk about chic!

J. Mendel began as a furrier and a very exclusive and fabulous one at that. Gilles great-great-grandfather swathed Russian aristocrats in sable and now he gets to dress celebrities and socialites not only in fur, but in the most beautiful and feminine evening dresses and daywear.

It's so surprising that the ready to wear collection has only been in existence for three years and came about as a need to clothe the Madison Avenue mannequins at night to protect the expensive furs from the wrath of PETA. The women of the neighborhood would walk by the store after hours and see the little dresses in the window and come in the next day to buy them. It's really no surprise that Gilles' home reflects his day job and his love of travel, a theme that seems to run strong among all fashion designers who often travel for design inspiration.

Gilles' friend and interior designer Alan Tanksley had a hand in creating the "tailored and pared down environment" for the man who is not quite a minimalist but who also doesn't want be bombarded with excessive visual clutter after he leaves the office.

The most amazing pieces in the home are the nods to Gilles life as a furrier as seen above in the white mink covered Swan chair and sheared mink pillows on the sofa. I love the contrast between the feminine beiges of the living room and the dark masculine look of the black pony hair covered vintage Vladimir Kagan armchair, the black dining room and the black Saarinen Tulip table. You see white Tulip table everywhere so it's even more chic and special in black.

Gilles acknowledges his love of the Far East, Africa and the 1970's which is evident throughout the apartment. The mirrored walls in the living room could be cheesy but it in this home it looks like Halston meets the year 2007 instead of a feeling too Studio 54-ish.

The bedroom is a deliberate departure in the color department with the blood-orange walls and is meant to evoke more of the Asian influence, as well as Africa with the zebra skin rug. I'm still trying to find a reasonably priced zebra skin rug now that they've become all the rage. Perhaps, my South African friend will pick me up one on his next visit home...hint hint. I'd actually prefer a trip to Africa but since that's not happening any time soon, I'll settle for the zebra skin rug.

Another nod to the fur trade is the decadent chinchilla blanket and pillow made by J. Mendel. If you've never felt chinchilla, don't even bother because once you've felt it, everything else will feel like sandpaper in comparison it's that fabulous. Whenever the fur samples arrive in the office, everyone practically pets them bald they are that soft.

So here I sit sighing over another uber-chic home of another uber-chic and stylish fashion designer wishing I could not only afford his clothes, but his apartment! I guess I will have to make due by walking past his shop and drooling over the clothes like I've been doing since I moved to New York. Sigh.

Letter from the Editor

Today marks the official end of Fashion Week in New York. I think the fashion editors who have to attend all the shows are probably pretty happy for the break, although, the next step in the process is the market appointments, where they go to the showrooms to see the clothes in person, so technically their work really isn't done. And then London fashion week begins on Saturday, followed by Milan and Paris.

It's an exciting time for fashionistas and some of the best sites to check out the wrap up are Style.com, The Sartorialist, and Fashion Week Daily, where you have to check out The Daily in Print section where you can check out the PDF versions of the magazine that is handed out daily to the editors in the tents!

Even though fashion week is over, I hope you'll bear with me while I post a few more fashionable abodes this week. Then I promise to come up with new and exciting posts not fashion related but equally chic!