What a Swell Party This Is

It's so funny to read cooking and entertaining books because people seem to have such differing opinions on cocktail parties. There are those who are adamantly opposed to such a form of entertaining. They find the affairs to be dull and boring or too business-like. Then there are others (myself included) who enjoy drinks parties whether as the host or the guest.

The reason I like to give cocktail parties is because they seem to inspire a sense of conviviality. Loosen people up with a few drinks and who knows what might happen! (And inevitably, things do happen...like walking into a room and finding two guests in an amorous embrace. To me, that's far more entertaining than having someone spill red wine at a party!) I don't really think it's a cop out because at least you're entertaining.

To me, drinks of the alcoholic and non-alcoholic variety are of utmost importance, but food is a close second. You want to have a little variety with some light nibbles and something heavier to help sop up the alcohol. And remember, in their treatises on entertaining, Elsie de Wolfe, Dorothy Draper, and Elsa Maxwell all admonished their readers to serve hot hors d'oeuvres HOT, HOT, HOT!

Want to know what London society was serving at their cocktail parties in 1935? Well I came across this gem from Vogue (Dec. 1935), and it proves that entertaining was serious business back then just as it is today.

Nowadays, the high point of any cocktail party is not so much the cocktails as the food that goes with them. Imagination about cocktail party food has become an absolute necessity- and to copy your clever friends the sincerest form of flattery. At this time of the year some hot food is essential- but nothing so unimaginative as hot sausages. They are out of date, back numbers. You must think up something different. The Prince of Wales has hot buttered American soda biscuits, with cod's roe, served in hot silver breakfast dishes, and creamed shrimps in little pastry containers. Mrs. Maugham has hot bacon sandwiches, which disappear as fast as the cook can make them. Lady Portarlington has a cocktail size edition of a hot meat pie, which nobody else has yet thought of (have you ever noticed that it is always the same people who think of the new things first?). Of course, it would be Mrs. Ernest Simpson who first thought of the wonderful combination of seeded white grapes with little cubes of Dutch cheese, stuck through with a wooden toothpick. Mrs. Simpson's food is of such a high standard that the intelligent guest fasts before going to dine or to have cocktails with her. Her hot dishes at cocktail parties are famous and are passed around in small quantities at intervals.

(Isn't it interesting that back in 1935, a grape and cheese pick was considered novel? And that it was none other than Wallis Simpson who introduced it to the London swells?!)

Image at top: The iconic "Kings of Hollywood" photo by Slim Aarons. No, Gable, Heflin, Cooper, and Stewart were not at a cocktail party, but if your guests end up having half as much fun at your cocktail party, then you're a heck of a host! (Photo Slim Aarons/Getty Images)

Fabric Frivolity

Though my favorite kind of prints are geometrics and small patterns, I am taken with novelty prints- but none of those cheesy novelty prints, thank you very much. Some of my favorite novelty prints are from the 1920s and 30s. If they have a Deco vibe to them, then all the better. The problem that I have with many of these prints is that they can be difficult to use. Much better to use them on pillows or seat cushions rather than on large scale projects like curtains or sofas.

I recently became reunited with my copy of a Victoria and Albert book on novelty fabrics, and most of the patterns featured were dress fabrics. Aha! That's the way to use these prints. Carolina Herrera used some novelty prints in her Spring collection a few years ago, and the effect was utterly charming. Of course, you wouldn't want a closet full of these prints. That would be far too whimsical and would make mixing and matching way too difficult. But still, can't you see having a Summer dress made from one of these breezy fabrics?


"Sea Horses", cotton, Calico Printers' Association, England, 1936


"Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" designed by Ralph Barton, crêpe de Chine, American, 1927. (Though I am a brunette, I do find the humor in this print!)


"Surfers", cotton, English, 1937


"Mothballs and Sugar", designed by Edward Steichen, crêpe de Chine, American, 1927


Image at top: "Masks" designed by Jean Cocteau, silk crêpe, French, 1938

Mining the Middle Ages for Inspiration

I've never been one for the medieval look. And I never thought about crenellations until Frances Elkins: Interior Design came out a few years back. I fell head over heels for this bedroom above. Used by David Adler when he visited Elkins' Monterrey, CA home, the room had a crenellated bed canopy and window valance. How chic was that? And in Elkins' deft hands, the room did not look like King Arthur inhabited it!

Now obviously no one would want to go crazy with crenellations or your home might end up looking like a medieval castle. But, one crenellated object never hurt anyone. After all, Elkins and Adler gave it their seal of approval!


In case you're wondering what a crenellation is, Merriam Webster has this diagram on its site. The number "1" indicates a crenellation.


Crenellated mirror by The Squires Company, available through Decorati


Castellated Bracket Lantern by Charles Edwards. Seeing this fabulous lantern yesterday set me off on this whole crenellation tangent.


Crenellated nailshead design on these custom chairs by Ceylon et Cie


A modern twist on crenellations on this 1960s table at Ellen Ward Scarborough


Of course the classic Monteith bowl has crenellated edges. This one by Tiffany & Co.

A Little Something Sweet for You

I know that I don't post often about jewelry, but seeing that Valentine's Day is coming up, I wanted to let you know about a jewelry line based here in Atlanta that is creating a lot of buzz. Honeybee Collection has some great pieces of fine jewelry for not a lot of $$$. Meaning... you can treat yourself to a bauble and you won't feel guilty! Ashley, the mastermind behind Honeybee, is offering Peak of Chic readers 20% off of all items on the website from now until Valentine's Day. All you need to do is enter discount code "1001" on the order page.


Gold Clover Necklace


Flower Hinged Hoop Earring


BonBon Earrings in Coral


Safari Cuff Bangle

Tacky Southern Taste?

You don't know how painful it was for me to type that title. Yes, there are Southerners who may be deemed tacky, but on the whole I think we have pretty good taste. And despite the fact that I love "Designing Women", the show did seem to feature a lot of bad interiors courtesy of a group of Southern decorators, only helping to perpetuate this vicious stereotype. One Southerner who had great style and taste, at least to me, was Wallis, Duchess of Windsor. I won't deny that the woman had a really cracked moral compass, and I certainly can't hold her up as a beacon of virtue. But the woman did have style in droves.

Billy Baldwin didn't quite agree and in fact labeled Wallis' decorating as "tacky Southern taste". Now I wonder- do you think Baldwin truly believed this? Or was this sour grapes? I don't know, but I don't really agree with him. Except...for the bedroom at top. This pastel confection was Wallis' bedroom at The Mill, the country home of the Windsors. It's colorful and circus-like with those stripes and harlequin prints. I wouldn't call it Southern, but I'm afraid that I do find it a bit tacky.

So what do you think? Was Wallis' taste flawless and was the bedroom at The Mill simply an aberration? (I've included a few other images of the Windsor's home in Bois de Boulogne for comparison's sake.) Did she warrant the accolades that we have heaped on her? Or, horror of horrors, did she really exhibit tacky Southern taste? Let's discuss.


Wallis bedecked in Schiaparelli. She was no beauty, but that dress was divine.



The library at the Windsors' Paris home in Bois de Boulogne


The boudoir that separated the Windsors' bedrooms, Paris

What's Yellow and Black and Striped All Over?

Yellow and black is not really my favorite color combination- reminds me of a bruised banana! But, when it's yellow and black stripes, well, that's a different story. There's something very militaristic and rigid about the look that appeals to me (wonder what that says about me!). These are the kind of crisp rooms where you feel as though you should stand a little straighter and perhaps look over your shoulder for the commanding officer. You're not going to kick your shoes off and wallow all over the furniture in rooms like these. But that's not the point. Yellow and black striped rooms are supposed to make you stand up and take notice. And you can leave the wallowing to a different room.


Barbara d'Arcy designed this room back in the 1970s. I love the contrast of the black trim against the yellow and black striped walls.


Designer Joseph Braswell tented this powder room with yellow and black striped fabric. I think that when you have a small space, you should just go for it and decorate it with abandon.


Kelly Wearstler's take on yellow and black stripes definitely has that California, Hollywood Regency feel to it.

Image at top: This tented room is very Directoire.

Creating A Little Drama Down at the Party Barn

I wonder if I was an actress in another life because I sure like dramatic interiors. I don't have the guts to go completely overboard in my own home- you know, it's that burden of Southern propriety or something. So I always thought that if I had some type of party barn, I would go the theatrical route and give it the old Oliver Messel touch. (For those of you who aren't familiar with Messel, he was a socially prominent British artist who was one of the leading set designers of the twentieth century. And if you're interested, his nephew is Lord Snowdon.)

To furnish my little fantasy barn, I would choose pieces that have presence. Now, each of the pieces below would look great on its own. I wouldn't necessarily mix them all together. After all, you only need one diva in the room! That said, this is for fun so let's throw caution to the wind.

I also think I would keep my color palette limited to black and white with just a few accents of color. Why? Perhaps it's because I have a fondness for old black and white movies. And when you pit deep, dark black against pure, creamy white, well, it's like good vs. evil, and is there anything more dramatic than that?


(Image at top: George Carter's party barn is perfection- at least to me.)

Possible Furnishings for the Party Barn:


White Webb's Intaglio Console Table


White Webb's Intaglio Chandelier


Wall Sconce Shell by Nymphenburg


Maitland Smith Black and White Obelisks. I would use them for table decorations.


Handpainted Screen by Gracie


Chrome fireplace mantle


Polychrome painted over-mantle mirror. Not really part of my party barn design scheme. I'm only showing this because it caught my eye and it's fabulous!

Design Legend Melanie Kahane

The late decorator Melanie Kahane understood color. And the other thing she "got" was the importance of publicity. Because Kahane did not have the social connections that designers like Mrs. Parish and Dorothy Draper had, Kahane had to prove herself by concocting eye-catching rooms- rooms that were sure to garner attention. The image at top was from a showroom that Kahane designed in 1949, and based on what I've read this room was one of the most photographed and published rooms of the year. Back at that time, black, white, and pumpkin orange was a rather daring color scheme. Don't you think it still looks pretty fresh today?

Kahane (b.1910-d.1988) was not one to shy away from color, and pink was one of her favorites. She could create interiors that were subtle and sophisticated, but I prefer her colorful confections more. I like the bold bursts of color that she injected in her interiors as well as the daring color combinations with which Kahane experimented. Pink and orange anyone?

Design Legend Anthony Hail

The late Anthony Hail is a designer about whom I know little. But I will say that I have been struck on more than one occasion by old photos of his interiors. I feel that only an elegant person could have created beautiful interiors such as these.

What I have been able to find out is that Hail was either a Texan or a Tennessean (conflicting reports on the internet) who was raised in Denmark and France. He studied under Walter Gropius at Harvard's Graduate School of Design, served as a correspondent for various magazines, and set up his own interior design business in San Francisco in the late 1950s. For years, Hail was the éminence grise of the San Francisco design community. In his obituary from 2006, Hail was described as one who understood living on a grand-scale. It also seems that Hail was a bon vivant who counted Alexis, Baron de Rédé, Arturo Lopez-Willshaw, and Truman Capote as friends. This worldliness of Hail's certainly seemed to shine through in his work.

If any of you have additional information on Hail, I'd love for you to post it in the comment section.

Design Legend Joseph Braswell

Today, I'm featuring the work of the late Joseph Braswell, a designer who seemed to have quite a range. As you can see here, he could design masculine, neoclassically inspired interiors. Or, he could do kicky and colorful or elegant and serene. No matter the style in which he was working, his interiors seemed to be elegant, appropriate, and quietly confident.

An Alabama boy who later graduated from Parsons School of Design, Braswell worked for leaders of the field including Melanie Kahane and Raymond Loewy. It was when he set up his own business back in the mid-1950s that his career really took off. I found a quote of Mr. Braswell's on the internet that I think is just terrific, and I'd like to share it with you.

Blessed are the beautifiers, for they see God in everything they do. This work may deal in things, but it is really, truly, at heart, about the people who occupy the space, use the things. If design is good, it makes the people whom it serves better people. It is very difficult to be mean spirited in an uplifting environment. That, ultimately, is what I try, at my best, to deliver.

I'd say he delivered, and with such style and grace.







Braswell quote from Interior Design Magazine