How beautiful is this? This 1970s Bill Gibb silk satin jacket was up for sale on eBay last week through KittyCatSilver and it immediately had me swooning. Though there were a couple stains, overall it was in pretty immaculate collection. Incredibly well-designed, the perfect pin-tucks allow it to hug the body in a very flattering way. Every single detail of this jacket is so thought out- clothes do not get much better than this. I really considered bidding on it, but it was far too big for me and I'm not the type to tailor designer vintage to fit me. I hope whoever won it loves it as much as I do and takes good care of it- donating it to a museum would probably be the best thing for it.
Rokeby is a 195-year-old, 43-room house in the Hudson River landmark district, one of the last family-owned properties there. The land has been home to Livingston and Astor descendants for 11 generations.
The article in last week's New York Times on Rokeby, a mansion in the Hudson Valley, New York, showcased a beautiful house, a remarkable living situation and an intriguing story of survival. One hundred and ninety-five years old, the house is on land that has been in the Livingston family for ten generations. It was inherited by three siblings in 1963 from their grandmother, who did not leave them any money to maintain it. Since then they have been constantly hustling in order to pay the high taxes and keep the house in family hands. Many of the 43 rooms are rented out to artists and other creative people. It is really a testament to this family's tenacity that the home is still loved and lived in, and has now become a source of inspiration for others.
I am actually descended from the Livingston's, but sadly my part of the family moved south so long ago that there is no connection between my family and descendants at Rokeby, who are also members of the Astor family. I would love to visit Rokeby though, not least because a Shamanic scholar lives there alongside the rest of ragtag bunch.
The “crow room” was painted by Robert Chanler, a great-uncle and a well-known muralist, in the 1890s.
A third-floor bathroom.
You can see the Hudson River from a tower. In the 1840s, a hill was shaved to capture the view.
The oval lay light was put in by Stanford White, a family friend.
A standing panel by Robert Chanler is in the reception room; the panther is in homage to a ferocious ex-wife.
Sophia Michahelles and Alex Kahn with their creations in the barn.
The view from the second floor.
The sun porch was added in the 1920s.
The inside of the tower.
Rokeby is home to an ever-changing assemblage of family and friends.
Up the stairs to the tower.
All photos and captions from the New York Times. All photos by Piotr Redlinski.
I must see new things and investigate them. I want to taste dark water and see crackling trees and wild winds. I want to gaze with astonishment at mouldy garden fences. I want to experience them all, to hear young birch plantations and trembling leaves, to see light and sun, enjoy wet, green-blue valleys in the evening, sense goldfish glinting, see white clouds building up in the sky, to speak to flowers. I want to look intently at grasses and pink people, old venerable churches, to know what little cathedrals say, to run without stopping along curving meadowy slopes across vast plains, kiss the earth and smell soft warm marshland flowers. And then I shall shape things so beautifully: fields of colour…
- Egon Schiele
Off to the countryside for two days- can't wait...
A few months ago I did a photo shoot and interview with StyleLikeU, the great website that showcases people's personal style, which is now up here. I've felt an affinity with the work they have been producing since they started as their goal of finding a broad range of people with unique styles is similar to the photography project of interiors I have been working on, on and off, for around eight years. If you've never visited their site it is definitely worth a look- it is easy to get sucked into looking at profile after profile as each is engaging and full of creativity.
Kasoundra Kasoundra, artist and High Priestess of the Light reading the Sign of the Times in her New York studio, 1969. Photo by Don Snyder from Aquarian Odyssey: a Nineteen Sixties Album
All photos by Erica Lennard from her book Les Femmes Les Soeurs, which was published in 1976. An American, she settled in Paris in the early 70s, doing art photography and taking photos of her friends, such as these ones. The publication of Les Femmes Les Soeurs led to more fashion and beauty work for magazines and advertisements, but for the last twenty years she has been primarily focused on photographing gardens and interiors. All of the photos in this book have a raw yet dreamlike feel, which show why she was able to translate her message so well into fashion.
Thirteen years ago Gianni Versace was brutally murdered outside his home in Miami. This was definitely a defining moment in my childhood- I had long been a fan, following all of his collections in the pages of British Vogue, but that summer I was far away from the fashion world, at camp in New Hampshire. When I got news of Versace's murder during my once weekly call home I was very distraught, as I felt a true connection with him and his work in the way that only a young person can. I already felt quite out of place there- while the walls of my cabin were covered with posters of Jarvis Cocker and Brett Anderson, my roommate's were adorned with JTT- and my fellow campers reaction to the news that so devastated me- "Oh, who's Versace? I've never heard of him"- made me realize how completely incompatible their lives were with mine. I've stayed a fan of his work though his look has gone in and out of fashion several times in the last thirteen years as his clothes are really all about being a strong, beautiful woman who is sexy, fun loving and smart (he cut a killer suit)- how can that not be appealing?
I'm currently finishing up House of Versace: The Untold Story of Genius, Murder, and Survival so will put up a full review of the book sometime this weekend, but until then amuse yourself with these videos of his runway shows- he was really the designer who brought the supermodels onto the runway and made the shows into the circuses they are today. Colourful clothes decorate the most beautiful, joyful and unique models there have been, which is a far cry from the parades of identikit miserible Eastern-European models that have been so prevalent since his death.
Below is the Gianni Versace Spring 1994 Fashion Show, in five parts, showcasing around 100 outfits- quite a difference from the thirty-odd they now show.
It takes hundreds of hours a month to find and scan all of these amazing images- if you enjoy my treasures, please donate so that I can continue to uncover more.
so will put up a full review of the book sometime this weekend, but until then amuse yourself with these videos of his runway shows- he was really the designer who brought the supermodels onto the runway and made the shows into the circuses they are today. Colourful clothes decorate the most beautiful, joyful and unique models there have been, which is a far cry from the parades of identikit miserible Eastern-European models that have been so prevalent since his death.
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