You Are Where You Eat

There are two different types of restaurants in New York, there is the one kind where you don't care where it is or what it looks like because the food is unbelievably good and the other is where you go to see and be seen. The Waverly Inn is of the latter type. I usually don't care about all that stuff but this winter I made an exception and it was worth it.There is no listed phone number for The Waverly Inn (they dropped the Ye when Graydon Carter bought it) but lucky for me, I have friends in the know, so it was no problem finding the number and securing a reservation. Of course, once there...

Read more »

The Domino Book of Decorating

Just in case there is anyone out there who didn't get the lovely announcement email from Domino today regarding their upcoming book release, I'm posting the press release here. I'd say it's pretty exciting news and I know I look forward to it's publication! I just wonder who will make the cover!"Domino, the hip magazine about stylish living that has become one of Condé Nast’s most successful launches of all time, has signed a deal with Simon & Schuster to publish its first book, it was announced today. Entitled The Domino Book of Decorating, the book is being edited by Domino Editor in Chief...

Read more »

Sue Hostetler's Hip New York Home

I have to admit that I don't usually read Metropolitan Home. I flip through it but then decide that it's boring and put it back on the rack but I might just have to start after the feature I just found on Sue Hostetler. Although, to be honest I stumbled upon it on that weird Point Click Home site while looking for a photo from ELLE Decor. For those of you who don't know, Sue Hostetler is the author behind the fabulous book Hip Hollywood Homes. If you haven't seen it, you have to pick it up. It's really great. I didn't realize she lived in New York though, so it was exciting to see inside...

Read more »

I Heart Bryan Ferry

I mentioned previously that I love to read men's magazines. They always seem to have very intelligent and interesting articles, especially about art and architecture. So of course I had to pick up the fabulous 50th Anniversary issue of GQ this week. They have a few different covers featuring stylish men so I chose the Paul Newman cover, that was only because they didn't have a Steve McQueen cover. I'd like to know what's up with that!Anyway, in the feature on the 50 Most Stylish Men of the Past 50 Years, I found the most handsome photo of rocker Bryan Ferry standing in front of the prettiest handpainted...

Read more »

Domino Bazaar to Benefit ACRIA

I wasn't going to mention the Domino Bazaar since Style Court already did a great job posting about it but then this past Tuesday night after a reception at Phillips du Pury, I met a wonderful gentleman who happens to be a fundraiser for ACRIA, the AIDS Community Research Initiative of America. The opening night of the Domino Bazaar benefits ACRIA. It is a very worthwhile cause so I promised him I would also write about it in order to persuade you all to buy a ticket to the event and tell you about all the original artwork donated by major artist for sale at special prices! It will definitely...

Read more »

Stalking Albert Hadley

I thought you might all get a kick out of this photo I took the other day to send to Patricia Gray, the fabulous Canadian interior designer who has a major crush on Albert Hadley. I've joked with her in the past about how I see him standing outside his office every morning smoking his signature Camel cigarettes and that I was going to take a photo of him for her and this week, I finally did it. My only advice to other would-be stalkers out there is that you should never wear your most wildly patterned and colorful dress while you are trying to covertly take someone's photo. If you look really...

Read more »

Habitually Chic Interview

Franki over at Life in a Venti Cup was sweet enough to interview me recently for her lovely blog and today she has posted it! Very exciting if I do say so myself! She asked some very thoughtful and interesting questions that were really fun to answer. Unfortunately, I'm not tech savvy enough to figure out how to post a photo of it so I hope you'll head on over to her wonderful site, Life in a Venti Cup, where "life is too short to think small!" I hope you all enjoy it and thanks again to Franki for thinking I was interesting enough to interview in the first place! ***UPDATE***I now have a wonderful...

Read more »

Chic at Sotheby's

We buy a lot of things from auctions for our clients so I'm often perusing the catalogs. Even if you don't buy anything, I think they are a great resource for design ideas and a reference for custom pieces. There's a great photo of Kelly Wearstler from her book Domicilium Decoratus of her lying around reading auction catalogs. I get the feeling she's a serious buyer. Anyway, the point of my post is that while flipping through the 20th Century Decorative Arts Selected by Gordon Watson sale catalog for the Sotheby's auction tomorrow in London, I came across the screen above designed by Robert...

Read more »

Chic Inspiration

This is a multi-faceted post. One that yet again illustrates the close connection between fashion, art and design, and in this particular instance, perfume.I'd been hearing a lot about the new scent that Aerin Lauder created for the Estee Lauder company called Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia. It's based on a private collection perfume that her grandmother, Estee Lauder, created in 1973 for herself. The part of the story that is so interesting is that the bottle for the new perfume is based on a Joseph Hoffmann brooch found in the Neue Galerie, a museum founded by Aerin's father Ronald Lauder...

Read more »

The Golden Age of Couture

Fall is the best time of year for many reasons, one of them being all the new museum exhibitions that are opening. I hope to write about many of them in the coming weeks but I thought I would begin with one spectacular exhibition first, The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London 1947 - 1957, which just opening this past weekend at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and runs through January 6, 2008."The launch of Christian Dior's New Look in 1947 marked the beginning of a momentous decade in fashion history, one that Dior himself called the 'golden age'. Celebrating the end of war and the...

Read more »

I Heart Assouline

I love books! As does everyone in the blog world it seems, which is why I thought I'd take a moment to profile one of the chicest luxury publishers ever, Assouline. It's surprising that the company was only created by Proper Assouline about ten years ago. For some reason, it seems like they have been around forever! As one person said it best, "As Cartier is to watches, Assouline is to books."Not only are their books chic, but so is their Paris boutique on the rue Bonaparte seen below. I could spend hours there checking out their finely illustrated books, including some of their newest titles...

Read more »

Autumn

Why did summer go so quicklyWas it something that I saidLovers walking along the shoreLeave their footprints in the sandWas the sound of distant drummingJust the fingers of your handPictures hanging in a hallwayAnd a fragment of this songHalf remembered names and facesBut to whom do they belongWhen you knew that it was overWere you suddenly awareThat the autumn leaves were turningTo the color of her hair- Windmills of Your M...

Read more »

It's Domino Day!

This morning, I was checking out Domino online when I stumbled upon a House Tour with designer Barrie Benson. I didn't really realize who she was until I started recognizing the amazing design job she did for the home of Charlotte boutique owner Laura Vinroot Poole that was published in the February 2007 issue. Then when I went to the newsstand to pick up the October issue of Domino, guess who was on the cover, the designer herself, Barrie Benson! I have to say, it's probably one of my favorite all time Domino covers. I leafed through it a little but I can't wait to really sit down and read it...

Read more »

Chic and the City

It's pretty much an unwritten rule that New Yorkers do not stare at celebrites or ask them for autographs. We don't even blink when we see a movie being shot as we walk by. That's just how it is. But yesterday, I almost had a total freak out when I saw Sarah Jessica Parker walk by me after filming a scene for the new Sex and the City movie! She is so unbelievably beautiful in person that these photos do not even do her justice. I know this post has nothing to do with design other than the fact that her outfit was beyond chic! Check out the Eiffel Tower handbag. A little souvenir from their...

Read more »

Habitually Chic Artist: James Nares

I think I mentioned once before that my study of art history has left me with a pretty good photographic memory. I think it was all that memorizing for compare and contrast exams. So this is probably the reason that I kept noticing very similar artwork in the homes profiled in quite a few magazine spreads. Turns out the man behind these beautiful paintings is James Nares, a New York based London-born artist who uses calligraphy brushes that he makes himself to create very unique and original art using only one continuous brushstroke. You can see him in action in the photo below.Each stroke has...

Read more »

Chic Chinoiserie

I'm sure you've all read over at Style Court that it's Asia Week. All the serious collector's are in town this week for the auctions, gallery shows and other events. Christie's was hopping on Sunday when I stopped by to check out what was up for auction, as was Sotheby's. Another great place for fans of Asian art to visit in the city that is often overlooked, is the Japan Society Gallery.So that got me thinking about writing an Asia Week related post when I ran across the beautiful apartment of fashion designer Josie Natori in the October 2007 issue of ELLE Decor. I think it a wonderful example...

Read more »