Clothes might make the man but the right button makes the statement!
As my mantra is “A fabulous life on a shoestring”, the RIGHT buttons play a BIG role in this. The most ordinary cardigan, coat or blouse can be turned into something fabulous by putting on great buttons. The large French Army button above adorns the peacoat of a stylish friend to great effect!
Night or Day, the Manhattan skyline never ceases to amaze.
I always consider New York “my” town. For as long as I remember, it is the place where I wanted to live and work. Alas, my destiny deviated me through France, but luckily New York is on the agenda several times a year.
Don’t pooh-pooh bamboo! Versatile and simple, it crops up in many guises
Hokusai – bamboo
A miracle of nature, bamboo is a multi talented material not only strong and practical but also beautiful in its simplicity and grace. I have a deep attraction for anything “bamboo” themed. It is the form and “vibe” of bamboo that I am most interested in. That is what the Italian fashion brand Gucci and some of the more exotic objects and jewelry I describe have in common. I also found some surprising and unexpected ways bamboo can be used! More will be revealed at the end of this post.
A 25 000 dollar Panama hat anyone?
My late friend Myles’ “Super Fino” Panama hat
You heard that right, I got that price straight from the elegant and knowledgable hat maker extraordinaire, Orlando Palacios, owner of Worth & Worth in New York.
A rich man’s dream: The Getty Villa on the California Coast
The Portico of the Getty Villa
After a grueling road trip in morning rush hour (see yesterday’s post) I managed to revisit the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades after its massive restoration. Initially built by the oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, its design was inspired by the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum. The Getty Villa opened in 1974 to the public as a museum, housing the entire original Getty Collection but was never seen by Getty, who died in 1976. The Villa now houses just the Antiquities Collection.
Busts of Alexander the Great and his close friend Hephaestion
My obsession with all things Roman (and Greek) was greatly satisfied, the Villa houses an astounding collection of objects and also a beautiful collection of Antique jewelry. It was hard not to contemplate a heist…
Roman Ring
The Villa dei Papiri that served as the inspiration for the Getty Villa was buried by the ashes of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius that destroyed Pompeii in A.D. 79 as well as nearby Herculaneum. Shortly after its rediscovery in the 1730s, the richest finds were from a villa that came to be called the Villa dei Papiri, because it also yielded upward of a thousand papyrus rolls–the only library ever to have been recovered from the classical world. To the great excitement of contemporaries, the papyri held out the tantalizing possibility of the rediscovery of lost masterpieces by classical writers.
Fresco from the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum
You might find the whole thing a tad too “Nouveau”, but I think it is a triumph, the Romans themselves were “Nouveau” compared to the Ancient Greeks and Egyptians, but they brought living standards up to a level, not seen again until the Renaissance.
The Peristyle of the Getty Villa
chateaustyle.me 