Clothes Make the Room

Yesterday I was on the phone for an hour and a half trying to get my AT&T land line disconnected. Of that call, an hour and twenty-five minutes were spent on hold listening to that obsequious music. Needless to say, I thought I was going to blow a gasket and was trying to figure out something- anything- to do to keep calm. (If you're wondering why that Warhol photo of Diana Vreeland is at top, it's because I believe she was saying "Listen, all I want is to have my phone line disconnected. What part of that do you not understand?" At least, it looks that way to me.)

A drink wasn't going to do; after all, it was only 3:00 in the afternoon and that just didn't seem fitting. So, I came up with a game. I was flipping through an old Sotheby's auction catalogue from their 1997 haute couture sale "Paris a la Mode", and I found the dresses so beautiful that I decided to match some of them to specific rooms. But, I didn't think too hard about the rooms. I simply went with the first room to come to mind. Here's what I came up with:




A late 1950s Jacques Fath evening dress reminded me of:


Geoffrey Beene's dining room swathed in "Les Touches".




The blooming flowers of this Yves Saint Laurent gown (c. 1987) made me think of these flowers:


All over the walls and sofas in the London flat of Michael Szell.





That green and blue color combination in this Lanvin couture gown? Awfully close to:


Those green walls and blue sofa in Rose Cumming's drawing room.




The ruffles of this late 1960s Lanvin evening dress made me think not of a room so much, but rather...


...Miles Redd's couture-like curtains.



(Warhol photo and dress images from Paris a la Mode, Haute Couture: Auction October 29, 1997 - Sale 7036; Beene photo from House Beautiful Entertaining. Szell photo from Architectural Digest International Interiors, Derry Moore photographer. Cumming image from The Great Lady Decorators: The Women Who Defined Interior Design, 1870-1955 by Adam Lewis. Redd photo from W, Martyn Thompson.)

Personality...To the Max

I just bought an old copy of the 1979 book Architectural Digest International Interiors and have found reading it a pleasant respite from being outside in this heat. When the heat index is 110 degrees, you might think that the homes that caught my eye were the cool, minimalist ones in places like Costa de Careyes, Mexico or the hills of Greece. But, no. I found myself spending more time looking at the formal, maximalist homes like this apartment in Montreal. It may seem a heavy, even odd, choice during the dog days of summer, but I find it anything but.

Owned by decorator Jack Leiby and his wife Tibby, the ten room apartment at The Chateau showcased the couple's extensive collections. Jack preferred Chinoiserie and African artifacts while Tibby collected contemporary art (including works by Calder and Vasarely) and porcelain. Perhaps it was a challenge to meld these disparate collections, but it looks as though the merger was successful. The rooms are rather formal and grand, but they're not stiff. And what's most important is that they have personality. Remember when homes had personality? When homeowners weren't afraid to buy and display things that had meaning to them? Unfortunately, the trend towards replicating hotels and showroom floors in one's home has stripped homes of any personality. That was certainly not the case here, and I think ultimately this is why this home spoke to me. You look at these pictures and think "Jack and Tibby Leiby must have been one interesting couple." And you know, I really bet that they were.

The image at top shows the Entrance Hall of the Leiby apartment. The walls were covered in bronze mirror (something that you don't see often in today's interiors, although it could be an interesting alternative to plain mirror) with faux marbre trim. The Louis XVI Chinese figures and Ch'ien Lung pagodas attest to Mr. Leiby's love of Chinoiserie.

In the formal living room, a Venetian garden chandelier hangs over a panel skirted octagonal table. A boldly printed fabric was used for curtains, shades, and upholstery. The walls and ceiling were lacquered in what looks like a berry color.

Another view of the living room. Contemporary pictures coexisted peacefully with antiques like the twelve-panel Ch'ien Lung screen.

The dining room was not quite as eclectic as the rest of the apartment. Here, Tibby Leiby's 1820s Spode dinner service holds court amongst 18th c. English stemware and Irish silver.

If you didn't know better, you might think this room was decorated by David Hicks, although I don't think Hicks would have used a floral chintz for the bedspread and curtain trim. I bet that this room felt awfully cozy at night.

(All images from Architectural Digest International Interiors, Robert Fisher photographer)

Literary Leopards

It seems that camel and leopard prints are going to be hot this Fall, at least according to the fashion magazines. Well thank goodness because I have a closet full of both. But really, both are classic, so were they ever really out? I don't think so; I just guess they're a little more "in" than usual.

I've never met a leopard print that I didn't like. (Although, I'm not quite sure about that Givenchy ensemble at top.) I have leopard print coats, purses, sweaters, and shoes. My apartment isn't neglected either. There are leopard print Wilton weave rugs and leopard pillows. Something else I have? Books with leopard print covers. Now I really love those. If I see one in a bookstore, I make a beeline for it and usually end up buying it.

To be perfectly honest, I tend to buy leopard print books as accessories rather than for the text that lies between the covers. I know, shame on me. It's really the only time I buy a book for its cover. But you know what? They really do look pretty nifty on display in my home. I'm always looking for books to add to my collection. Are there any leopard print books that I've left out from the list below?







Now, first let me say that I don't display my books on the floor; I was just experimenting with the layered leopard look. (Not so successful, eh?) I bought this book (Dictator Style: Lifestyles of the World's Most Colorful Despots) for that cover alone. What I found inside, though, was pretty darn amusing...in a sick kind of way.




We all love Jan Showers' glamorous work as well as her book Glamorous Rooms. Have you peeked underneath the dust jacket? That print on the book's boards is Hinson's "Snow Leopard". I've been displaying this book without the jacket- for obvious reasons.




When I was trying to come up with leopard print books, I remembered the Assouline title Les Must De Cartier. I ordered my copy a few days ago so I'm anxiously awaiting it. In the meantime, here is an image that I found on the web.






It may be hard to see, but this leopard print book in Chris Spitzmiller's apartment is Diana Vreeland: Immoderate Style- a book that I really wish that I owned.




Another title I'd give my right arm to own? The 1999 Christie's auction catalogue "Innovators of Twentieth Century Style Including Property Sold to Benefit the Elsie de Wolfe Foundation". The copy shown here is available at Nick Harvill Libraries.


(Givenchy photo from Style.com; Spitzmiller photo from Elle Decor, William Waldron photographer; auction catalogue photo courtesy of Nick Harvill Libraries. Glamorous Rooms and Dictator Style photos by Jennifer Boles.)

Joan's Way of Life

Have you ever watched a Joan Crawford movie and noticed that inevitably, one of the film's characters- with a straight face, mind you- will describe Joan's character as being "a fine looking woman", "beautiful", even "gorgeous". Well, it always leaves me thinking "Really?...Really?". Because let's face it, Joan really wasn't very attractive. Oh, I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I think that describing Joan as beautiful is pushing it. Really pushing it. But, Joan was a real piece of work, so if Joan asked (or even demanded) that her character be beautiful, well, who dared argue with her? I sure as heck wouldn't. I'd say whatever she wanted me to.

This observation of mine- made at 5:30 yesterday morning while trying to sleep- led me to my bookshelf where I pulled down one of my all-time favorite works of high camp: Joan's 1971 how-to guide My Way of Life. Don't let the price dissuade you from buying it. It is totally worth it to read Joan's advice on raising children (yes, child rearing advice from the woman who beat her daughter with a wire hanger), beauty (I think I covered that in the first paragraph of this post), housekeeping and decorating, and taking care of one's husband. I say husband rather than man or male companion because in Joan's world, a woman had to have a husband. You had to close the deal and make it to the finish line of marriage or otherwise you were, God forbid, not a "complete woman". And speaking of husbands, did you know that you should "never let your husband see you exercising. No woman rolling around on the floor looks really adorable after she's passed her third birthday." I didn't realize that either.

So seeing that this is a design blog, I'm going to extract some of Joan's decorating tidbits from the book. Taking decorating advice from a woman who covered her furniture in plastic slipcovers is a bit risky. (Carleton Varney, Joan's decorator in the 1960s and 70s, once wrote "Joan had more plastic on her furniture than was used at the meat counter in an A&P supermarket.) Still, I have to admit that much of what she said makes sense to me. I think that she was more down to earth when it came to her home than she was with her beauty tips: "Organize a beauty club. The best thing about the club is getting down on the floor with half a dozen other women...and seeing if you can improve faster than anyone else." Now that sounds like Joan to me.

Joan's Take on Decorating:


A good marriage deserves a lovely background.

I think the first gay, happy things I ever bought for myself were chintz curtains. But the place got so damned busy that it made me dizzy- too many patterns have the same effect on me as those very tiny mosaic tiles you sometimes see in public places, especially in airports. Judy Garland used to get so seasick looking at them that she had to be carried out of the area with her eyes shut tight.





I feel that [bedrooms] should be very feminine... I think men feel much more masculine walking from a brown or green dressing room into a lovely feminine bedroom.




I think one of the most important things in decorating is that you should like every room in the house or apartment. If you find yourself always avoiding one of the rooms, something's wrong.




People who have good taste are bound to make a mistake now and then, because they're human, and when they do it's a horrendous one. It's so ugly you can't believe it. On the other hand people who have terrible taste are bound to make a mistake and buy something exquisite- and you can't possibly understand how that could happen!



(Image #1 from My Way of Life by Joan Crawford. Images #2 and #5 from Celebrity Homes: Architectural Digest Presents the Private Worlds of Thirty International Personalities. #3, #4, and #6 from Houses in My Heart: Carleton Varney: An International Decorator's Colorful Journey by Carleton Varney.)

Avedon, Stars, and Style

I think that I'm predisposed towards interiors, fashion, food, celebrities, and the cognoscenti of yesteryear. Perhaps it's genetics, or maybe I was born in the wrong era. I don't know, but it really does seem that style- an individual sense of style, that is- was more prevalent "back then". Seeing an actress today, for example, schlepping her Starbucks cup while wearing Uggs just kind of ruins it for me. You know what I mean?

A book that seems to drive this point home is one that a photographer friend gave me recently- Performance: Richard Avedon, a compilation of his photos of performers. Noel Coward is in it as well as Diana Vreeland (if blog posts are any indication, we still revere this woman today.) Hepburn (both of them), Porter, Nureyev, and Capote also make appearances.

So, without further ado, here are a few images that caught my eye. And as I couldn't resist adding a design twist to this post, I'm also including a few images of their respective homes- just to help prove my point that these luminaries did have quite a sense of style.

Was there anyone with as much flair as Cole Porter?


Well, yes, but it wasn't a "who" but rather a "what": his Billy Baldwin designed apartment in Waldorf Towers.

If there was anyone who could give Porter a run for his money in terms of wit and a way with words, it was Noel Coward.


One might have expected his London home (shown here in 1937) to be frothy, but instead it's a bit rustic around the edges.

We all remember Edward G. Robinson as the cinema's ultimate mobster.


But did you know that he also had a renowned collection of Impressionist paintings, shown off to great effect in his Beverly Hills home? His home, by the way, was the handiwork of Samuel Marx and Frances Elkins. I bet that Little Caesar would never had had such elegant digs.

Rex Harrison. Leave it to "Sexy Rexy"...


...to have such a sexy dining room courtesy of Keith Irvine.

They say that Marlene Dietrich was the ultimate hausfrau. You certainly would not have known that by looking at this photograph.



You wouldn't have known it by her palatial Beverly Hills home, either.


(All portraits from Performance: Richard Avedon. Porter home photo from Billy Baldwin Decorates; Coward home photo from a 1937 issue of Arts & Decoration. Robinson home from UltraModern: Samuel Marx Architect, Designer, Art Collector; Harrison dining room shot from Keith Irvine: A Life in Decoration. Dietrich photo from House Beautiful, 9/2001.)