How sweet is this?

Last Monday, to my great delight, a package arrived courtesy of the lovely Fairfax of Pigtown*Design. For those who don't know, I was the winner of her very generous raffle of Dorothy Rodgers' The House In My Head. I felt rather sheepish about winning it, as I was sure that there was one far more deserving than I. However, when I saw how beautifully wrapped the books were (to my surprise, there were in fact two), all guilt just flew out the window. It felt like Christmas! Fairfax very kindly included an original copy of Decorating is Fun by Dorothy Draper. I kid you not. Feel free to turn any shade of green you like, now. I am so touched by her generosity that words fail me. But I did want all of you to know how special I think she is.
So to you Fairfax, a big and heartfelt thank you!


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Starrbooty

Rupaul's Starrbooty

I just learned about this, and I can not wait to see it. Like a splash of colour, a little trash is good for the soul.

Mystery solved

Here we have two very similar fabrics.

The top image is of Fauve by Clarence House, which is printed on a smooth upholstery weight cotton with a soft hand.

The bottom two images are of Arbre de Matisse by China Seas. Printed on a linen ground with a slightly stiffer hand, and which is also available in the reverse.
The reverse is the original print that Billy Baldwin used in Woodson Taulbee's living room, not the very similar Fauve which is more flowing in its design.

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Paint by numbers

World of Interiors (December 2007) has spotlighted one of my favourite books, Colour and Interior Decoration by Basil Ionides published in 1926 by Country Life. I think part of my love of this book was due to its obscurity. Say poof to obscurity! I first discovered it about seven years ago because of an odd little book called The New Mauve, by Simon Grennan and Val Williams. Among the highlighted designers of yesteryear, such as Constance Spry and Syrie Maugham, were these bizarre color recipes for rooms. What made them bizarre was not their combinations (which are in fact quite fabulous) but their preciseness. Everything was detailed, even down to the type of art one would need to finish the room. These recipes were credited to Derek Patmore's Colour Schemes for the Modern Home, published by Studio, New York 1933. In my search for the Patmore book I came across the earlier work by Ionides which was delightful from start to finish. Content with my find, needless to say, I ceased my search for what I can only presume was a take on the original.

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Past perfect

This layout from House & Garden (January 1987) is what inspired me to become a decorator. Well, this and the fact that I had been fired from every real job I have ever had; some people just aren't meant to take direction from others.
This is the apartment of the now late Nancy, Lady Kieth; a multifaceted woman who lived life to the full. The embodiment of what a chic American woman should be.
The article begins, "What you see on these pages is the accumulation of a lifetime. Nothing was acquired for the rooms. Rather the rooms were acquired for the things." This has served as one of the principles of what I try to instill in and create and for my clients; rooms that appear to have evolved over time rather than those that have been done.

Perhaps the imminent demise of House & Garden is just the natural progression of things, and not the curse of Gwenyth. After all, are the lives of the new "icons" really worthy of preservation by a publication with such an illustrious past? You really can't make a silk purse of out of a sow's ear.


Slim: Memories of a Rich and Imperfect Life

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Doc Martin says

- you unctuous platitudinous eunuch! Ooh, I can hardly wait for the appropriate moment to spit that one out.
For those who don't know, Doc Martin is a wonderful television show that is a spin off of the movie Saving Grace.

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Confucius say, a picture is worth a thousand words

I ask you, is nothing sacred? First Gwyneth on the cover of House & Garden, now this.
Ugly Betty is one of the few shows I look forward to, and now they have gone and done this. Shame on them! I haven't even seen the episode yet (we are a week behind) and I am already indignant at the thought of it.





Why use a thousand when three will do.



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Sitwellian splendour

The Editor of Wheels by Alvaro Guervara, c.1919
Portrait of Edith Sitwell in what may be her Bayswater flat on Moscow Road (not one of the more salubrious areas of the time)


The Drawing-room of 2 Carlyle Square, Chelsea by Ethel Sands 1920s
The Fauveist colouring really captures the spirit of both the time and the nature of the occupants.


Interior of 2 Carlyle Square
By E.F. Mason for Homes and Gardens, January 1936



The Drawing-room, 2 Carlyle Square
Copy print from the Illustrated London News
16 October, 1926


These images are from the National Portrait Gallery's catalogue that accompanied the exhibition The Sitwells and the Arts of the 1920s and 1930s held in October 1994 through to January 1995.
Well appointed rooms that reflected the creative and eclectic personalities that filled them.
Even when I first came here in the late 80s, one could still come across rooms such as these. Rooms of the well bred, as I liked to call them, essentially filled with other people's cast offs; admittedly some of those cast offs came from some of England's grander houses. There was always a prevailing sense of decay and faded grandeur; as well bred did not always go hand-in-hand with fiscally sound. With necessity being the mother of invention, house proud in England had always meant warm and comfortable rather than pristine and immaculate. Sadly, rooms of the well bred in London have all but disappeared; having given way to the rooms of the merely rich.




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It is probably just me

but I think, that Gwyneth, she just might be a bit of a Jonah.
RIP House & Garden.


I was just reminded by the lovely PM that Kathy Griffin does a hilarious bit about Gwyneth and Stella McCartney in her Allegedly show.

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All The Fine Young Cannibals

This movie is a must see. Loosely based on the life of Chet Baker. From dirt poor to idle rich. It has just absolutely everything. Great sets and costumes. An hysterical performance by Susan Kohner of Sarah Jane fame from Imitation of Life. And if that wasn't enough, Miss Pearl Bailey as the terminally ill Ruby Jones sings her heart out.

Salome - "Why are you laughing?"

Chad - "It is less painful that way"

Just fabulous.

Look for All The Fine Young Cannibals on TCM.

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Dame Edith Sitwell: so perfectly English

With Edith - Morrissey on stage.



Portrait by Horst
Backstage Pass for Morrissey's Kill Uncle Tour.


Just recently, I was thinking of having some jewels made up out of some 15Th Century bits of carved bone, some scarabs, and some antique Chinese coral and ivory clasps. Nothing fussy or precious, just big and bold. How can one person be so completely and continually out of step? Why would I knowingly choose to create something so rarefied and impossible to sell? I can just picture those soccer moms pouring over them at Portobello on a Saturday morning. What a joy that would be! Another opportunity for the unworthy to dip into my bucket? I think not. I think we can all agree the last thing I need is one more reason to despise people - especially in such close proximity. That is just asking for trouble.

As I know who would not buy my baubles, I wondered what type of woman would? Dame Edith Sitwell, of course. Perfect in all her Plantagenet glory. I could just picture my creations on those amazingly graceful hands and on those kooky little turbans of hers. Still to this day an iconic figure; I think due in part to the fragility of, and there being something almost religious and martyr like about, her image. She was without a doubt a triumph over form and function and proof that beauty can be nothing more than a force of sheer will.

“Why not be oneself? That is the whole secret of a successful appearance. If one is a greyhound, why try to look like a Pekingese?”



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This is not the best version - it is so much better on the album

While I haven't been here

I have been here,

Spilling the Beans was a wonderful read; I knew it would be. I was devoted to the Two Fat Ladies and I simply adore women like Clarissa Dickson Wright; they are bright, forthright, and thoroughly disarming. Always of a certain age and background - women like her are the antithesis to the useless modern size zero clacker.

and here,

As Amy Tan is not as nearly as prolific as I would like her to be, I am in constant search for books that tell the tale of Chinese immigrant life. I approached Sweet Mandarin with some trepidation because I was not sure how the British aspect would colour the story. The trepidation was unwarranted; the story of the three generations of family is beautifully told and proof that the story is indeed universal.
My friend Patty, who also happens to be Eurasian but from Hawaii, always said how different our lives would have been had our respective families been in the restaurant business. Sweet Mandarin is proof, for me at least, that the differences would have only been superficial.



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A green and pleasant land

Perfect English by Ros Byam Shaw with photographs by Chris Tubbs.
Described aptly as the "English style of decoration is practical and informal, designed around the people who occupy the rooms rather than to impress. These houses are lived in and loved, with interiors that are relaxed and not afraid to be pretty."
An obvious, but oft neglected, tenet of decorating.
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A green and pleasant land

Perfect English by Ros Byam Shaw with photographs by Chris Tubbs.
Described aptly as the "English style of decoration is practical and informal, designed around the people who occupy the rooms rather than to impress. These houses are lived in and loved, with interiors that are relaxed and not afraid to be pretty."
An obvious, but oft neglected, tenet of decorating.
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Now playing: Marianne Faithfull - Broken English
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To be or not to be?

I am not sure if Vivienne Westwood's manifesto of Active Resistance to Propaganda is the definitive answer, but it does seem like an interesting possibility and a good place to start. It has been over two years since her manifesto was first launched; surely, enough time has lapsed for the rest of us to have caught up?
The manifesto begins:

"We shall begin with a search for art, show that art gives culture and that culture is the antidote to propaganda.

– Dear Friends, We all love art and some of you claim to be artists. Without judges there is no art. She only exists when we know her. Does she exist? The answer to this question is of vital importance because if Art is alive the world will change. No Art, no progress."


Click to read the Guardian interview and listen to an audio clip of the Lady herself.

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Caught In Time

Images © National Museum & Gallery, Cardiff

The father and son collaboration of Leopold (1822-1895) and Rudolph Blaschka (1857-1929) produced some of the most beautiful examples of natural history specimens ever created. The Blaschkas not only supplied the Harvard Botanical Museum with some 4,400 replica flowers, but over a period of 50 years they created thousands more of their remarkably realistic glass flowers and sea creatures for both private collections and natural history museums as far afield as India.

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Polly and I went to the circus

Last week London was one great big fairground attraction. Here a fair, there a fair. Everywhere a fair...Under the Big Top in Regent's Park The Frieze Art Fair was being held. For those who are unaware Frieze is held every October. "It features over 150 of the most exciting contemporary art galleries in the world. As well as these exhibitors, the Fair includes specially commissioned artists’ projects and an ambitious talks programme."
Well, I suppose, that's one way of looking at it. Another view could, quite possibly, be that of a freak show (normally a fabulous thing) of pretension and arrogance (neither of which is ever fabulous) that takes its self all too seriously? Hmm, possibly.
My humble opinion? In many cases, but not in all by any means, it is just a little too reminiscent of The Emperor's New Clothes. Which amazes me because of its cynicism, and surprises me at my lack of it.

One piece, however, that I did particularly like was
Medusa (below) by Tue Greenfort, represented by Johann Konig. It reminded me of the wonderful pieces done by Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka in the late 19Th Century; only this time with a message.


Medusa, Murano glass 2007

"The pink jellyfish Pelagia noctiluca is currently forming rapidly growing overpopulations. For lack of natural enemies such as turtles and tuna fish, whose populations have seriously decreased due to over-fishing and water pollution, as well as rising water temperatures which are ascribed to the climate change, it finds optimal reproduction conditions in European waters. Its function for the marine biology has been explored by natural history museums for a fairly long time by means of preparing exemplars in alcohol. Thanks to its aesthetic properties, glass reproductions of this species can be found in souvenir shops in many popular seaside resorts." Gallery description.
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Blog Action Day: The Environment

Imagine how many trees it takes to produce your favourite five monthly magazines. I am willing to reduce my number of magazines from ten to eight; maybe seven. What are you willing to do? As there is no such thing as a free lunch, and it is highly unlikely we will all stop purchasing our beloved periodicals, let's at least try to eliminate all the junk mail and those insidious magazine inserts from our lives. It is the small things that make a difference. Americans get 42 billion pieces of junk mail a year, the equivalent of 100 million trees. Say No To Junk Mail.

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Dimitri From Paris - Une Very Stylish Fille

Mirror, mirror, on the wall...

To arms girls, to arms!

While perusing Life in a Venti Cup, this screamed out to me. And needless to say, it anoyed me.
Target has a decorating division, Target Commercial Interiors, that aims its services at the medium and smaller commercial client. Ann Zimmerman's article for the Wall Street Journal stated that, "The unit's more than 100 employees, many of them certified interior designers, don't shop at Target stores for their decorating supplies. But they do leverage the company's scale and sourcing ability to get good prices and find cutting-edge products -- an advantage in an industry dominated by regional and local design and architecture firms."
Mark my words, this could in fact be the beginning of the end for a great many of you (not that you are likely to see or read this). It's one thing for the design community to endorse retailers that champion affordability, it's quite a different thing when that retailer chooses to become the competition.
This is a battle worth fighting. It is time to close ranks and reclaim the mystique that decorating once held. Ruthlessly banish the mass produced and its producers from our oeuvre. This is war.


Jasper Johns Target with Four Faces, 1955

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Miss Daisy, I presume

For my sixteenth birthday I received a fully restored black 1964 T-Bird (identical to the one below); a huge style statement for one so young, to be sure. Thankfully, I appreciated it as much then as I do now. I have owned five cars in my life and have managed to total four of them; not always my fault, I hasten to add. Car number three is not included on the wreckage list because I lost it in LA. For the life of me I could not remember where I had parked it. I'm sure that car was stolen; some might say rescued.


Despite my dismal record and the fact I am a terrible driver, I do love an old car. I love the 1964 T-Bird because it was the car from the old Perry Mason television drama; so unashamedly American. If we lived in the states I would have another one in a heartbeat.


The Citroen DS is one of the chicest cars ever made. Both of my Grandparents had one when we lived in Paris. My Grandfather's was black with a black interior and my Grandmother's was black with a red interior. So recherche. I do think, though, they are best suited to the Continent. Even with a driver, conducting one of those down the rat runs that pass for streets here in London would be just too harrowing.


The Morris Traveler, so English and so perfectly suited to life here. I love them.



And finally the Nissan Pao, just perfect in its retro styling. Though, I would only have a cream one. Not terribly butch, but far better than any new car out there. New cars are now just too vulgar, period.
Cars are like dogs they should be chosen because they match your nature and character. Some will be harder work than others, but ultimately your life will be far richer for having had them.
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Why, House & Garden? Why?

Of all the recent posts on Gwyneth Paltrow, which to my eyes is tantamount to a drive by shooting with bullets of smugness, this has to be my favourite; succinct and to the point. Though Decorno's post ran a very close second; but ultimately too forgiving.

An excerpt from the article written by Jay McInerney with my comments interspersed.

You don't expect someone like Gwyneth Paltrow to posses the normal domestic virtues, Ah, why not? but the Oscar-winning actress was intimately involved in the creation of her serene new Hamptons home. Oscar or no Oscar, isn't everyone intimately involved with the creation of their interiors? "I've become an encyclopedia of design for my friends," she says. And I suppose if she said the moon was made of cheese, we are meant to believe that as well? I am not sure which is harder to swallow the 'friends' part or the 'encyclopedia of design' part.


Paltrow, in a Marc Jacobs dress, sits on Thomas O'Brien's Farra cocktail ottoman for Hickory Chair, in front of her Odessa sofa by Les Migrateurs. The art is by Andy Warhol.
With all those names on the floor who needs flooring?

Clearly a member of the neo-trendsetter tribe; if not its queen.

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The Anniversary

Well, at least you can't say it has been boring!

Mary, Mary quite contrary...

Today on the Peak of Chic the talk was all about fashionable flowers.
Everyone loves them, everyone has them, but no one really needs them. A true luxury, but at what cost?
Do we know where and how they were grown? Do we care? If not, we should; this is a hundred billion dollar industry that impacts not only the environment but also impacts entire communities. That inexpensive bunch purchased from the supermarket? Will undoubtedly have a higher price to pay somewhere down the line. When possible, be a part of the process by supporting the smaller specialist local growers, and the florists who support them. You will notice the difference and be rewarded with more natural scented blooms.

Country Roses
Local, and my absolute favourite.


The Organic Flower Company


California Organic Flowers

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Leigh Bowery at the Athony d'Offay Gallery

The most extraordinary living work of art that was, Leigh Bowery. A creative genius beyond compare that never ceased to amaze or to inspire.