Coco Rocha at Home

I couldn't find the new November issue of Vogue on the newsstands today but I was able to console myself with their new online feature, APT with LSD.  The magazine's chicest contributing editor, Lauren Santo Domingo, will take readers into the homes of "some of Vogue's favorite people" including fashion designers, models, stylists, artists, celebrities, and more.  Up first is the Gramercy Park apartment of model Coco Rocha and her artist husband, James Conran.  She says she had help from an interior designer but doesn't mention their name.  It looks more collected rather than decorated anyway due to all the treasures that Coco has picked up during her world travels for work.  This was a fun debut and I can't wait to see who's up next.  I already asked if Lauren's own apartment will be featured but was told that it hasn't been decided yet.  I heard she had help from Jacques Grange and I can only image that it is as chic and stylish as her wardrobe! 

Photos by Claiborne Swanson Frank for Vogue.com

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The World of Gloria Vanderbilt

Wendy Goodman is a very busy author.  She writes for the Home Design section of New York magazine and also found time to write the new book The World of Gloria Vanderbilt.  It seems like a perfect pairing since design plays a big part in Gloria's life.  As she says in the magazine, "decorating is autobiography" and it's fun to see her progression from patchwork quilts to dramatic glamour in her apartment.  I can only imagine that the stories in the book are just as interesting!

Gloria Vanderbilt in front of a portrait of her mother and with a cardboard cut out of her son Anderson Cooper.

The painting above the fireplace was painted by Gloria in 1953 but she paints the fireplace when the mood strikes her.  

Gloria in front of anther fireplace during her quilt phase.

The entrance hall.

"A portrait by Miguel Covarrubias of Gloria’s half-sister, Cathleen, hangs in the entrance hall."

I love the mix of patterns and textures in this room vignette.

Gloria's studio.

Gloria's current living room.

Gloria's home was also featured in Elle Decor magazine in October 2000.

Gloria with her sons Carter and Anderson Cooper.  Carter committed suicide in 1988 at the age of 23.

Gloria's bedroom in her quilt decorating period.

Gloria and her children.

Photos from W magazine, New York magazine, and Style Court

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Billy Baldwin at Home

I'm counting down the days until Billy Baldwin: The Great American Decorator is published later this month but until then, I'm making due with my old copy of Billy Baldwin Decorates.  His own studio apartment on East 61st Street where he lived after his retirement in the early 1970's is one of my all time favorite interiors.  Except for a few elements and the old photography, it still looks good today.   

Billy Baldwin says in the book, "the best decoration in the world is a room full of books" and this space is described as "the look of a library for one-room living."

Even in the 1970's decorators had to deal with "all the usual juts and protuberances of modern apartment buildings."  Billy chose to deal with all the "beams and bumps" by coating them in shiny dark brown paint. 

"It occurred to me that this was strictly a city room, full of shine: the floor, the walls, the windows.  So I added more shine: a varnishy eighteenth-century painting of dogs, a wonderful Korean lacquer screen, and a few strategically places mirrors.  I put all my books on tall brass bookshelves-the warm glint of the brass become terribly important in the dark room."  The Porter Etageres are available through Ventry Ltd. as are the slipper chairs and other pieces. 

The Louis XV chair was one of Billy's prized possessions and he loved the texture that it and the crackled black Portuguese table, and the Korean screen added to the room.

The room was luckily not a big box and the bump outs allowed for furniture groupings including one for sleeping above.  The sofa is really a twin bed in disguise.

Billy added rugs for softness and had three sets of slipcovers made for all the upholstered furniture including ivory cotton, blue denim, and dark paisley.  I've only ever seen photos of the pieces in ivory slipcovers so this was interesting to find out. 

Like all decorators, it looks like Billy moved things around.  In some photos, the desk is placed in front of the windows and in others, a sofa has been placed in that area. 

In the beginning of Billy Baldwin Decorates is the following quote, "only your eye can tell you what you will be happy with.  Today, thank goodness, we are more concerned with the personal than with perfection."  But it's clear to see that Billy apartment was pretty darn perfect!

"A person with a real flair is a gambler at heart." - Billy Baldwin

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Chic in Paris: Dries Van Noten Men's Store

I would like to think that if Diana Vreeland was alive today, she would greatly approve of the new Dries Van Noten men's store in Paris.  The shop, located at 9 quai Malaquais, is two doors away from his gorgeous women's boutique and was until recently an art gallery.  What I love the most is that Dries and his architect Gert Voorjans kept the original red/rust colored lacquer from the 1970's and replicated it the back of the store which was once an office.  Even though the space is now devoted to men's clothing, the designer has also filled it back up with carefully chosen art, antiques and furnishings from every time period and style.  A metal Italian coffee table by Gabriells Crespi coexists with a Jean Cocteau drawing and an Anthony van Dyck painting that hangs on a wood panel from the 1960's that was bought in Brussels.  Oh, and the clothes aren't too shabby either. 

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Chic at Work: Diana Vreeland

I couldn't just post Diana Vreeland's home when her office was just as chic.  She began her magazine career at Harper's Bazaar when Carmel Snow hired her because she was impressed with her style.  She became known for her "Why don't you..." columns and even hired Ali MacGraw.  After she was fired, she was went on to be the editor in chief of Vogue in 1963.  She stayed with the magazine until 1971 after which she joined the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. These photos are from her Vogue office about 1968 and the inspiration board and leopard carpet attest to her innate sense of style.  She famously said once that "too much good taste can be boring" but it's clear that she had amazing taste and was never boring!

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Chic at Work: Diana Vreeland

I couldn't just post Diana Vreeland's home when her office was just as chic.  She began her magazine career at Harper's Bazaar when Carmel Snow hired her because she was impressed with her style.  She became known for her "Why don't you..." columns and even hired Ali MacGraw.  After she was fired, she was went on to be the editor in chief of Vogue in 1963.  She stayed with the magazine until 1971 after which she joined the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. These photos are from her Vogue office about 1968 and the inspiration board and leopard carpet attest to her innate sense of style.  She famously said once that "too much good taste can be boring" but it's clear that she had amazing taste and was never boring!

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