A Touch of Glamour

Miles Redd signing his book "The Big Book of Chic"

Sometimes it's fun to add a little glamour to our lives.  Interior designer Suzanne Rheinstein owns one of the prettiest home decor shops in Los Angeles.  Hollyhock is filled with beautiful furniture, antiques, accessories, and art for the home.  It is also the site of some of the best book signings around.  Suzanne hosts elegant evenings that feature interior designers who have written design books.  It is always exciting to go to these events and meet the designers. Lately it seems that many of them are writing books that are as much about their inspiration as about the homes they create for their clients.  The books are beautiful, dreamy, collage-like volumes that intersperse quotes, favorite books, photos of style mentors, images of works of art, and beautiful details of everyday life with images of the rooms they design for clients.   These are the sources of inspiration for these designers and the story of how they pull them all together and use them in their work is very exciting to see.

Suzanne Rheinstein's store Hollyhock in West Hollywood

A couple of months ago I attended a book signing that Suzanne hosted for New York City-based decorator Miles Redd and his book The Big Book of Chic.  As Miles says, "This book is about big glamour -- the kind that inspires the sensation of dancing across an MGM soundstage, silhouetted by a klieg light."

Suzanne Rheinstein with Miles Redd

There are some people that have to be described as debonair.  Such is Miles Redd.  It is almost as if he belongs to another age -- that period of flamboyant glamour between the wars when Cecil Beaton and Coco Chanel were the tastemakers of the day and Noel Coward was the greatest wit.  He is one of today's bright young things, a brilliant young interior designer whose exuberant take on traditionalism includes a mix of playful colors and eclectic glamour that has won him many fans.

After reading up on Miles, I learned that his lucky clients think his style feels like the world's most glamorous party. His sense of fun is contagious.  Not surprisingly, he writes that his favorite period of time is that "between the wars, the era of madcap, bright young things.  Frivolity gets a bad rap, but I will defend it to my dying day." This book includes the beautiful, dramatic, and cozy settings he has created for his clients as well as a medley of images of people, artists, and places that inspire him.  These include Cecil Beaton portraits, Rene Gruau sketches, Fitzgerald and Mitford novels, and royal memoirs that have influenced his unique approach to decorating.

Here are some of the quotes and images that have inspired his design aesthetic:

And here are some of the glamorous and whimsical settings he has created:

These rooms evoke old-style glamour.  They could be the setting for fabulous parties and it is easy to  imagine Noel Coward, Truman Capote or Coco Chanel in attendance.

It is true that sometimes we just need a dose of glamour to brighten up our day.  "The Big Book of Chic" by Miles Redd will do just that, with a healthy dose of wit and whimsy thrown into the mix.   The book reinforces the idea that creativity comes from many different places and is fueled by the evanescent impressions that come our way each day: the books we read, the trips we take, the art we see, the writers we admire.  All of these things live in our memory and if we hang on to them, we will be able to use them later.  Inspiration can come from many different sources -- a beautiful satin ribbon, an antique tapestry, a dinner party scene from a favorite book, a view of the Italian countryside or a painting by a Flemish master.  These impressions inspire the way we decorate our homes, plant our garden, set our dinner table, stitch a needlepoint pillow, paint a watercolor, or write a poem. 

As Miles Redd says about his book,

  "It is a piled-on mix of work and fantasy and perhaps you can make it your own."

Last seven photos via here

Holiday Inspiration

With the holidays coming up and their sensory feast of colors, foods, and decor, I have found myself inspired by several recent experiences:  reading "The Cookbook Collector" by Allegra Goodman, a visit to a bookstore in Vermont which involved a cookbook shopping spree, and a recent visit to the Ferry Building in San Francisco on Farmers' Market Day.  Maybe I'm overly excited for the upcoming festivities, but every where I look I see a "still life," as gorgeous as any painting by the Dutch masters.

Let's start with "The Cookbook Collector."  It didn't hurt that I read the book at the beautiful Pitcher Inn in Vermont.  This book is a delightful romantic comedy in the spirit of Jane Austen, with a heroine we love who is watched over by her more sensible older sister.  At the same time the book contains a serious examination of the dot-com rise and fall of the early 21st century.  Jess, the heroine, works at a used book store named Yoricks, which is owned by George, a wealthy bachelor who discovers a collection of rare cookbooks.  The descriptions of the books and the recipes are written with the sensibility of a book lover who also loves food.  In fact, all the descriptions in "The Cookbook Collector" of the meals, the houses, and the natural scenery are sensual and ravishing. The still life on the cover foretells the luscious world awaiting the reader.

Regarding the cookbook shopping spree in Vermont, we went to Tempest Bookshop in Waitsfield, where I discovered three wonderful cookbooks that were published a few years ago but are still available.

"Elizabeth David's Christmas"

I am in love with the green of the cover as well as the pretty design.  Here are the endpapers, what a beautiful touch.
It turns out that renowned British food writer Elizabeth David had over the years collected recipes, essays, and notes in a box marked "Christmas."  Her literary executor and agent compiled the contents of the box into this charming book.

"Paris Sweets" by Dorie Greenspan

"Confessions of a French Baker" by Peter Mayle and Gerard Auzet

I confess I bought these books as much for their physical beauty as for their content. Just looking at them makes me smile.  They evoke warm holidays, baking, Paris, and Provence.

I have to mention these brand new cookbooks written by two of my favorite food writers.

"Barefoot Contessa, How Easy is That" by Ina Garten

"Nigella Kitchen" by Nigella Lawson

All of these books will provide inspiration for Fall and Holiday entertaining.

I just spent a fabulous weekend in San Francisco and one of the highlights was a visit to the Ferry Building and the Farmers' Market that is held there on Saturdays.

Ferry Building

Here are some of the "still lifes" I encountered:

Persimmons, pears, and pomegranates at Farmer's Market

Fall display from McEvoy Ranch

Cups and Pitcher from Culinaire Antiques

 

Table setting from Culinaire Antiques

Chocolate Filled Cookie Cutters

Collecting and Decorating with Books

A portrait of Chattie Salaman by Duncan Grant

I love my books and although I know I will someday purchase a Kindle, I am still a book girl and continue to purchase them, doing my part to help preserve our independent bookstores. As an English major at UCLA, I discovered Virginia Woolf and she is still my favorite writer.  In 1975 my mother-in-law gave me the first volume of "The Letters of Virginia Woolf" and I proceeded to devour all six volumes.  That beloved first copy, which sits proudly in my library with the other five volumes, inspired my passion for colletcing old and sometimes rare editions of my favorite books. 

For me nothing makes a room warmer than a personal collection of books.  I love going into someone's home and seeing their books displayed.  Here are some of my favorites that I've displayed around my house.

These wonderful books, one by Vita Sackville-West, the other by Edith Sitwell, are from the "Britain in Pictures" series.

Another one by Elizabeth Bowen.

Some special books published by Virginia and Leonard Woolf's Hogarth Press.

 On the right is an American edition of "Seducers in Ecuador" by Vita Sackville-West.

Yesterday I made a book store run to our neighborhood Diesel Books looking for "My Hollywood" by Mona Simpson.  It was sold out (yay, Mona!) and instead bought this luscious looking stack of books: "A Gate at the Stairs" by Lorrie Moore, the new translation of "Madame Bovary," and "The Cookbook Collector" by Allegra Goodman.

 How beautiful is this dust jacket for  Lydia Davis' new translation of "Madame Bovary."

And finally what could be a cozier sight than a special nook in your kitchen for all your favorite cookbooks!