EmersonMade | Caftan Delight

I was delighted today when this hand-made cloth bag arrived in the mail. When opened, the entire room at once smelled of lavender and inside with my new divine Butterfly Caftan, there was also a thank you note. Yes, a thank you note! There was nothing this beautiful package from EmersonMade was lacking and the caftan inside [from the EM India Collection] is absolutely everything I expected it to be. Emerson and Ryan Fry—the darling husband and wife team behind EmersonMade—are everywhere lately, including this recent interview in The New York Times T Style Magazine. The company was founded in 2009 and aspires to this simple principle:

EmersonMade is a company that believes in celebrating the uniqueness of the individual, the joy of being alive and all the smallness that makes up the Big Beautiful.

And, everything about this charming Portsmouth, New Hampshire-based company is Big Beautiful. My pick for fall is the Emerson London Coat [modeled here by Emerson] and the Emerson Dude Loafers. Perfection.

Make sure to check-out EM Travel Blog and EM Journal. More Big Beautiful!

Royal Heritage Hotel in Jaipur, India | Ryan and Emerson in India

A MAN WHO LOVED PUCCI III

When my friend André was in his early 20's and living in Paris, he fell in love. Madly in love. With his death in 2000, I inherited his writings. In the mix, there are many poems about heartbreak and love. This is poem III of a series of André's early poems I've titled, A Man Who Loved Pucci:

Sonnet

I awoke, and you slept still
Breathing quietly as you will
The morning after a night of love.
And in that pale grey morning light
I felt your skin, so soft, so white
And touched and kissed it as a dove
Would brush its wing against its mate.
Then you'd stir and then you'd wake
And with a sleep-drunk movement turn
And hold me close as in the night
And doze again, a happy sight;
Then would I, as you, to sleep return.

And thus, my love, I remember you
In those days which were too few.

by André de Riano

Read Poem I, here.
Read Poem II, here.
Our friendship.
Images: André and girl, private collection • Pucci scarf, 1969 from Taschen's PUCCI book

An Island Sanctuary | Greece

Terrace with fragrant Nerium Oleander

Greece holds a certain spot in my heart. So it's no wonder that An Island Sanctuary - A House in Greece by John Stefanidis is one of the most treasured books in my library. It's the story of a house that John and the late Teddy Millington-Drake discovered on the island of Patmos in 1963. It's in the town of Chora which John describes... "has the possessed beauty of a de Chirico painting... sweeps of olive groves, titan rocks plunging into the sea, bays of pristine beauty with gently lapping waves... and everywhere the sea: aquamarine, turquoise, emerald green, deep purple." The house had been abandoned for twenty-five years. By 1964, they spent their first summer in the house. Perhaps, I am enchanted by Stefanidis' textiles because I too, am drawn to the Mediterranean. "What might be called the Mediterranean style," says Stefanidis, is "romanticism, sensuality, and practicality. Mediterranean style is a triumph of common sense. Whitewashed walls reflect light and heat; thick walls render rooms cool; cotton furnishings are fresher to the touch; Lattice allows air to circulate; shutters exclude glare; tile and marble are soothing to the bare foot."

Gardens stone and succulents


Whitewashed terraces, blue and white striped canvas and bougainvillea


Millington-Drake watercolor view of outdoor terrace


A relaxed English fish basket filled with Japanese parasols


Upper-floor terrace


Perfect, simple kitchen


A shaded terrace for breakfast or lunch


Bougainvillea pruned in displays of flame red and Udaipur pink


The Parlor with sky-blue cottons and Anatolian pattern kilim


A dreamy white bedroom and small library at the heart of the first floor


A traditional island sofa with mattress-style cushions covered in JS fabric "Flowers"


My favorite JS "Flowers" fabric


Millington-Drake painting from outdoor dining terrace


An early summer montage of the arid hills


Cool, blue cotton on terrace


Needlework cushions from Patmos, Rhodes, and Anatolia


Cozy room was Millington-Drake's former studio room


Indian miniatures on the wall of this bedroom are perhaps, Company Paintings


Rampant plumbago tumbles over the terrace wall


Taro plant with fragrant gardenia under the dappled shade of a pergola

Truly a must for your design library.
An Island Sanctuary feeds the soul and arouses the senses.


Images: Principal photography by Fritz von der Schulenberg.
An Island Sanctuary, published by Rizzoli
Visit John Stefanidis here

Horst | Summer Style

Franco Zeffirelli veranda ~ Positano, 1970

Summer is here at last and so is lingering in summer spaces. The photography that Horst shot for Vogue and House & Garden in the 1960s, 70s and 80s has such enduring appeal. Right now, I'm drawn to spaces with summer-style. I hope you are finding time to linger in summer spaces, too.

Gloria Guinness "palapa" room ~ Acapulco, 1970


Antenor Patino summer house pool ~ Portugal, 1960


Oscar de la Renta house ~ Dominican Republic, 1970


Nonie & Thomas Schippers' conservatory ~ Cincinnati, 1970


Doris Duke swimming pool pavillion at Shangri-La ~ Hawaii, 1960


Images courtesy, Horst Interiors

A MAN WHO LOVED PUCCI II

When my friend André was in his early 20's and living in Paris, he fell in love. Madly in love. With his death in 2000, I inherited his writings. In the mix, there are many poems about heartbreak and love. This is poem II of a series of André's early poems I've titled, A Man Who Loved Pucci:

Neptune's great-great granddaughter
As new as a moment of time
As bare as the beach that she runs on;

And stops on as she looks out to sea
Where she stops to look at the fronds
And the fruit of the glistening palms.

She is pink and she's blond and
She shines: the tight skin of youth
On her new, barely burgeoning form;

And, she's wise and she knows all her senses
Without actually knowing the words
Feeling more now than she'll ever know;

And she'll be gone in a wink and
The flash of a wave when the ancient
Who made her forgets.

When he nods in the sun
And the heat of the noon
When eighty years now again take their toll.

The criminal curve of the girl
Comes and goes with his chance
Memories, and his dreams turned to lies.

by André de Riano, 1961

Read Poem I, here.
Our friendship.
Images: André, private collection • Veruschka poses in Pucci in Brazil, photo by Henry Clarke/Condé Nast Archives/Corbis

Inspired | Vintage Costume Jewelry

There wasn't much that captured my attention at the flea-market yesterday until I walked by this area chock-full of large, gaudy necklaces [I like to call Studio 54 jewelry] and I was totally inspired for about an hour. It's the kind of jewelry that bodes well against my favorite caftans, black tees and white man-tailored shirts. These bold, graphic shapes and glossy metals were de rigueur in the era of the Tutankhamen exhibition, which took The Met by storm in 1979.

As the 70's became the 80's, our peasant blouses and Mexican silver bangles were traded for silk blouses and chunky, Monet necklaces. Big and bold was THE look.

The necklace [just above] grabbed my attention because it reminded me of the necklace Jenna Lyons and team spotted at a Massachusetts flea-market recently and re-created for J. Crew [just above, right]. Maybe this was the inspiration! Madame Bijoux's jewelry [Annie Webster, proprietor] can be found at Brimfield [in the Pavilions], and also at Connecticut's popular Elephant's Trunk. She travels to quite a few shows in the summer and fall and then heads to Palm Beach in the winter. Her market is largest in Palm Beach with women between 40-95 "who love to wear these bold, vintage pieces."

Ms. Webster's collection is just incredible with one amazing piece after another. A collector from Essex, MA was busy buying Yves Saint Laurent and the more fancy [signed] vintage pieces.

Iris Apfel is reportedly a big customer and this did not surprise me because Webster's collection is rich in history, creativity and cultural icon-ness. She sells inspired pieces by Kenneth Jay Lane, Nina Ricci, Gucci, Guy LaRoche, Lanvin, Monet, Lacroix, Iradj Mioni, Chanel, and so many more!

I bought the necklace [below] which I love for its circular, graphic design and the fact that it moves as you lean forward. It reminded me of Alexander Calder.


I thoroughly enjoyed this hour of amazement and stroll down a big + bold memory lane.

Note: Ms. Webster does not sell online. If you are looking for something in particular, you can reach her here: 413-222-4041.