A C. Wonder Giveaway

Rarely do I host contests on my blog, but this opportunity seemed too good to pass up. As those of you who live in my hometown are probably aware, C. Wonder will be opening their newest store at Lenox Square, Atlanta. The store's grand opening will take place this Saturday and Sunday, August 25 and 26.

In honor of the Atlanta grand opening, one lucky reader will have the opportunity to win five of my favorite C. Wonder items, all of which can be seen below. All you have to do is to click here, and you'll be taken to the C. Wonder site where you can enter the contest. The winner will be announced this Thursday. Please note that the winner will need to visit their closest C. Wonder store to pick up the prizes.

As part of the opening weekend festivities, I will be at the Lenox Square C. Wonder on Sunday, August 26 from 2 to 4 pm where I will be on hand to give personal design consultations, decor advice, and shopping recommendations. Please come see me!


Wicker Picnic basket


Black and white zebra tray




Leopard print calf hair stuf cuff




Tortoise glass bowl (the one on the left)



Small resin cane tray

After Versailles

Have you noticed that Versailles is often credited as being the inspiration for many a McMansion? Case in point, the 90,000 square foot monster home, meant to emulate the French royal palace, which had a starring role in the recent documentary "The Queen of Versailles". Words escape me.

I did manage to find photos of one home that was actually a tasteful rendition of Versailles, although it wasn't meant to mimic the palace itself. Rather, it evoked the style and spirit of the smaller courtier-owned homes that were located in the shadow of Versailles. This American version, seen here in photos from House Beautiful July 1935, was located in Rumson, New Jersey and was decorated by the venerable firm McMillen. Considering who decorated it, it's no real surprise that the home's interiors were restrained yet elegant and Neoclassical in feel. My favorite room of the house, though, is that snappy entryway. Thank goodness the homeowners had the good sense not to recreate the Hall of Mirrors in their house. But even if they wanted to, I'm sure that McMillen would not have allowed it!




The home's entrance hall

The drawing room whose color scheme was based on the gray-green and deep violet-red Aubusson rug.




Another view of the drawing room.





The Library with another Aubusson rug, this one in brown, yellow, and red.




The dining room.

Estee Lauder and the Youth Dew Room

Whenever I come across the photo above, I always stop to stare. It's such a stylish room, one in which the individual pieces are supremely chic. But, taken as a whole, these pieces become chic-ly supreme. The vignette shows the now-classic mix of refined antiques placed alongside contemporary pieces. My only complaint is that the photo is in black and white. I would love to see the color of the fabrics used, although perhaps the fabrics were no-color colors.

What's interesting is that this photo appeared in an Estée Lauder Youth-Dew Home Fragrance ad from 1966. Do you think this vignette was shot in Lauder's own Manhattan home or simply created on set? Estée Lauder had great taste, so I would like to think that this was her living room. Even if it's not, though, the fact that Lauder and her associates selected this photo for a home fragrance ad just goes to show their style and savvy. And I truly think that if this photo appeared in, say, an ad for Aerin Lauder's new line, it would look just as chic today as it did 46 years ago!

Breaking Down the Room:



The most striking piece of furniture in the photo is the eight panel Coromandel screen. The one above is 19th c. Chinese and is available through Antique & Art Exchange.


There were two Louis XV style cane chairs used in the ad. (One of them got cropped out of my scanned photo.) For a similar style chair, Parc Monceau has this 19th c. version available for sale.



Also made of cane was the room's settee. I suspect the cushions were made of silk, with the leopard throw pillows perhaps being made of velvet? I found a similar settee, above, that is Regency style. It's not quite as delicate as the version in the Lauder ad, but you get the drift.




The zebra rug in the photo appears to be real. The version above, now sold but once available through Dragonette, could be used in lieu of the real thing.



A crystal chandelier hung to one side of the vignette, something which makes me wonder if this vignette was staged. This French Empire chandelier, above, is positively dripping in crystal.




I realize that the cocktail table in the photo is much larger than this small Bagues folding table, but I'm including the Bagues version simply because I think it's so attractive.



It's hard to see in the scan, but a porcelain shell dish, presumably an ashtray, was placed at each corner of the cocktail table. Wedgwood's classic Nautilus pattern, above, looks similar to those in the photo.

Colefax & Fowler and Geoffrey Bennison

Part of my book collection is devoted to old home and garden magazine anthologies like those published by House & Garden and Architectural Digest. If you're interested in old interiors, these books really give you a good sense of what was happening in interior design in, say, the 1960s or the early 1980s. My only complaint about some of these books is that quite often there will be a photo of an interior that really piques your interest, but you're denied seeing the rest of the room or home because only one paltry photo was included in the book. You're left wanting more, and yet there is no more to get, at least not in that particular book anyway.

As I have mentioned before, the 1967 edition of House & Garden Guide to Interior Decoration (the British edition), is one of these old books that has inspired me lately. Edited by Robert Harling, the book's compilation of photos includes wild-looking London flats, elegant French chateaux, and swank American apartments. It also includes a smattering of photos of prominent showrooms and shops. I managed to find two photos of showroom vignettes done by Colefax & Fowler as well as two black and white photos of the late Geoffrey Bennison's Pimlico Road shop. I know that many of you are fans of both, so I figured I would show you what I could find. I wish it were more than four photos, but you know how uncooperative those old books can be sometimes.

Image at top: What was referred to as a "show setting" by Michael Raymond of Colefax & Fowler. The term makes me think this was not installed in the Brook Street showroom. Very swinging, don't you think? I do like the faux tortoise walls. It looks to me like Raymond used carpet to upholster the backs of the sofas. It might have even been used on the right-hand wall, too.



The caption that accompanied this photo clearly states this vignette was located in Colefax & Fowler's Brook Street showroom. Call me crazy, but I like that patchwork table cloth.




Geoffrey Bennison's Pimlico Road showroom. An 18th century English portrait hung above a Louis XV walnut desk.



Another view of Bennison's shop, which really must have been quite exciting to visit.

All photos from House & Garden Guide to Interior Decoration, 1967, edited by Robert Harling. The book can be hard to find, so searching around the internet is advised.

Loulou de la Falaise's Work Chic

I've always admired the style of the late Loulou de la Falaise, muse and friend to Yves Saint Laurent. Certainly she was not a beauty, but that's beside the point. She had a bohemian flair that was tempered by classic French chic. Like so many fashionable women, she wore a lot of black. Accessories like bold jewelry were an important component to her outfits, something that gave her simple yet tailored clothes added panache.

The photos of de la Falaise seen here were taken from David Teboul's Yves Saint Laurent 5, avenue Marceau, 75116 Paris , France, about which I wrote on Wednesday. Taken over a few months, they show Saint Laurent, de la Falaise, and the rest of the team hard at work on the designer's final Spring 2002 collection. De la Falaise's clothes look like those we might wear for work and could even be described as "dressy casual", a term that I'm not crazy about though it is an apt description. She seemed to favor black pants, silk blouses, and black sweaters, suggesting that her closet was full of separates rather than suits and dresses. But you know, I think it was ultimately her je ne sais quoi that helped to elevate her work wardrobe into something far chicer than mine!

Books at Yves Saint Laurent

One of my favorite documentaries is David Teboul's Yves Saint Laurent - 5 Avenue Marceau 75116 Paris which chronicles Saint Laurent's final Spring 2002 collection. It's so interesting to see how everyone at Saint Laurent's atelier, from the designer to his muse to his seamstresses, worked together to bring the designer's vision to fruition. What also struck me was how reverential the employees were towards their beloved couturier. Everybody behaved in a calm, focused, and serious manner. There were no histrionics like you see so often today.

After catching the documentary on Sundance Channel a few years back, I bought the accompanying book, Yves Saint Laurent 5, avenue Marceau, 75116 Paris , France, which is filled with photos of Saint Laurent and his team hard at work in his atelier. Not having looked at the book in a few years, I flipped through it this weekend, and two things jumped out at me: the stacks of "inspirational" books on Saint Laurent's desk as well as Loulou de la Falaise's amazingly chic wardrobe. I'll cover de la Falaise on Friday, but today I've compiled a list of titles that were photographed on the designer's desk.

As would be expected, many of the photographed books were fashion oriented, including volumes on Vionnet, Lesage, and Chanel. Art was represented too with books on Bonnard and Marilyn Monroe photographer Bert Stern. And in one photo, I even noticed a copy of Nan Kempner's "R.S.V.P". Not surprising, really, as Kempner was a great client and friend of Saint Laurent.

Take a look below to see where the designer found his inspiration. And keep in mind that some of the editions listed below may have different dust jackets than those in the Saint Laurent photos.








Lesage (Universe of Fashion) by Lydia Kamistis




Le Temps Chanel by Edmonde Charles-Roux




Height Of Fashion, Roman Alonso, editor









Madeleine Vionnet by Betty Kirke. A revised edition of this out-of-print book will be released in September.





Marilyn Monroe: The Last Sitting by Bert Stern





Bonnard (Masters of Art) by Andre Fermigier. (It's hard to see which Bonnard book is in the YSL photo, so I'm simply guessing it's the book by Fermigier.)







Maharajas' Jewels by Katherine Prior.





Louise Dahl-Wolfe: A Retrospective by Vicki Goldberg.





Le Roman de La Rose by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun. For an English language version of this medieval classic, try The Romance of the Rose (Oxford World's Classics).





R.S.V.P.: Menus for Entertaining from People Who Really Know How by Nan Kempner.


Yves Saint Laurent atelier photos from Yves Saint Laurent 5, avenue Marceau, 75116 Paris , France by David Teboul.