Dolly Hoffman
image from a very old W magazine
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The Prada Book
Prada Book event in Moscow.
The Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, a former bus depot, was transformed for three days only, into a faux antique library to launch Prada most precious edition, the Prada Book.
Leathers and skins
The New York Epicentre
The Los Angeles Epicentre
A still from the collaborative film between Miuccia Prada and Ridley Scott
Thunder Perfect Mind
The Fondazione Prada
A stack of publications from the Fondazione
The Fondazione Prada
The Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, a former bus depot, was transformed for three days only, into a faux antique library to launch Prada most precious edition, the Prada Book.
The faux antique library with the Prada Book in the centerpiece
The walls are lined by wallpaper printed with trompe- l'oeil books
Published last year, the 798-page tome documents the venerable fashion house's three decade long, ranging from the clothes, shoes and bags, to the architecture and industrial design projects of recent years.
A selection of highlights from the book
Display of Prada's distinctive green store
Leathers and skins
The New York Epicentre
The Los Angeles Epicentre
A still from the collaborative film between Miuccia Prada and Ridley Scott
Thunder Perfect Mind
The Fondazione Prada
A stack of publications from the Fondazione
The Fondazione Prada
Images courtesy of Wallpaper magazine
teamuncoolfashion likes: DON'T F*** WITH FUHRER
Fuhrer is the brainchild of Shaun Gardner, Jason de Villiers and Sean Metelerkamp, and whether you like it or not Fuhrer is here to stay. Fuhrer is more than just a tee company – it’s a tangible example of brazened originality, from conception through to execution. These three like-minded creative’s, these three friends, have created a brand that is underground yet accessible, a brand that is causing glitches of social contest and a brand that speaks to the masses without using any audio aggression. Bold aesthetic dialogues of red, black and white say it all.via
Beaton, et al.
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Some stories never get written. Perhaps that is why so many of us crowd the internet with our own stories-what are we leaving behind? Pouring through books, shelving them, having them settle inexorably in our minds. The authors have written their stories, what do we take from them? Cecil Beaton's story of his beloved country home Ashcombe is one book that recurs in my mind's eye. What did the bon vivant say about...? This? That?
His stories are always about the people in his life-characters-real characters: Rex Whistler, Edith Olivier- two that inhabit the story & seem to form the spine of the Ashecombe narrative. His constants-as it were.
The ever knowledgeable Toby Worthington tells me- they are Lord David Cecil, Olivier, Ottoline Morrell and Rex Whistler- (where was Beaton? behind the camera, perhaps.)
Edith Olivier- charming mayoress of Wilton, Rex Whistler and Beaton took off on a joy ride while the two men were staying with Edith at her Dayehouse in Wiltshire-only to find themselves amongst the pages that would be Cecil Beaton's beautiful tale of Ashcombe- The Story of a Fifteen Year Lease.
Though a stream of players would enter: Morrells, Sitwells, Cecils, Johns, and exit-an Olivier and a Whistler-and their friendship with Beaton were Ashcombe's brightest stars. Beaton dedicates the book- "to the memory of EDITH OLIVIER who brought me to Wiltshire:
The Garden from the Terrace
"Of the neighbors on whom I grew to rely more and more, Edith Olivier was perhaps always the most cherished...& so largely responsible for my having blossomed into a happy adult life." Her close proximity deprived Cecil from her company as his weekend guest- "I would refrain from asking other guests, for selfishly I wanted to keep to myself the benefit of her company. Edith was always at her greatest advantage when a deux."
As the pages of Ashecombe receded in my mind, one day-this appeared.
A delicately painted notecard from a dear friend. Who was responsible for the magical garden watercolour? It struck me- a Cecil Beaton watercolour of Ashecombe? Was this another?
Not so.
The artist is the vibrant daughter of the note's sender.
Where was Ashecombe? To the shelves with other of my Beaton books- & off it came.
Ah ha! Yes. There was the same distinctly atmospheric handling of a scene. Just enough detail to make it memorable. Both watercolour scenes of, as Beaton put it so well, where he blossomed into happy adult life. For Beaton, Ashecombe, for Laura-Chatam Hall. Her continued rite of passage from there to college and now a graduate-returning to Chatam Hall this autumn to start a career. I marvel at this daughter of my childhood friend and her siblings-as they travel through so many passages- marriage, motherhood and the loss we must all suffer inevitably as adults.
Rex Whistler stood by Beaton as constant friend within the many pages of Ashecombe. The friendship of the two- Rex and Edith- was a part of the story as well. Rex "made Edith's Dayehouse his second home. He often told me that he was happier there than anywhere else." He confided in Cecil his fears that he could not survive the sudden loss of Edith-were something happen to her. An Ashcombe Sketching Competition between the two friends was judged by Olivier. "Rex reflected an extraordinary atmosphere of serenity and quite continuum. It was a sweet Auburn sense of life that he liked and always seemed to create."
The eighteenth century was his inspiration" and his work said Beaton, "contributed much to the taste of the twentieth century." What might be a labour for other artists-Rex "flicked off expertly in a few twists of his pen."
Parties and tableau were so much a part of the Ashcombe set, characters floating in and out, moving off stage and with the onset of the war, Ashcombe's idylls waned. Rex enlisted, Edith threw herself into the war efforts in Wilton. She chronicled her experiences beautifully in Night Thoughts of A Country Landlady & presided as Mayor of Wilton.
Cecil's return from his travels during the war found Edith much the same, somehow though her dark black hair, such a part of her gipsy persona, had turned pure white. Beaton feared Edith had become a staid spinster. After a few minutes of talk, he saw no other marked changes. His fears that their cherished Rex would not return from the war were realized when news came-Rex had been killed in Normandy. "I have never ceased to mourn his death... I am continually wishing for his delightful company, his views on character and people, and his suggestions on a thousand details of taste and decoration."
It is often the case as we see our own stories go off course- characters exit suddenly without saying goodbye- Our loss palatable. We cherish the illusion that we might go on for ever. (from Beaton Ashecombe)
"Love , marriage, death, the passing of a house-these things are the milestones of life and they point a finger to the clock. The expiration of my lease was as a milestone which indicated that a lump of my life had passed in a timeless flash." It can not go on forever.
all Quotations are from ASHCOMBE- Cecil Beaton
ASHCOMBE, all house images-unless noted
STYLE TRADITIONS RECREATING PERIOD INTERIORS, by Stephen Calloway and Stephen Jones-Whistler image of Daye House.
.
Rex Whistler's own- Ashcombe
His stories are always about the people in his life-characters-real characters: Rex Whistler, Edith Olivier- two that inhabit the story & seem to form the spine of the Ashecombe narrative. His constants-as it were.
Conversation-piece at The Day House
1937, by Rex Whistler
Edith Oliver perched on her daybed- though the other Players are unidentified- they are likely Beaton, seated with Olivier, Ottoline Morrell, opposite, and perhaps the painter himself.1937, by Rex Whistler
The ever knowledgeable Toby Worthington tells me- they are Lord David Cecil, Olivier, Ottoline Morrell and Rex Whistler- (where was Beaton? behind the camera, perhaps.)
Edith Olivier- charming mayoress of Wilton, Rex Whistler and Beaton took off on a joy ride while the two men were staying with Edith at her Dayehouse in Wiltshire-only to find themselves amongst the pages that would be Cecil Beaton's beautiful tale of Ashcombe- The Story of a Fifteen Year Lease.
Olivier strolling about Ashecombe just after Beaton arrived.
Though a stream of players would enter: Morrells, Sitwells, Cecils, Johns, and exit-an Olivier and a Whistler-and their friendship with Beaton were Ashcombe's brightest stars. Beaton dedicates the book- "to the memory of EDITH OLIVIER who brought me to Wiltshire:
from the 1949 Ashecombe The Story of A Fifteen-Year Lease
The Garden from the Terrace
by Cecil Beaton
"Of the neighbors on whom I grew to rely more and more, Edith Olivier was perhaps always the most cherished...& so largely responsible for my having blossomed into a happy adult life." Her close proximity deprived Cecil from her company as his weekend guest- "I would refrain from asking other guests, for selfishly I wanted to keep to myself the benefit of her company. Edith was always at her greatest advantage when a deux."
As the pages of Ashecombe receded in my mind, one day-this appeared.
Chatam Hall
by Laura
A delicately painted notecard from a dear friend. Who was responsible for the magical garden watercolour? It struck me- a Cecil Beaton watercolour of Ashecombe? Was this another?
Not so.
The artist is the vibrant daughter of the note's sender.
Where was Ashecombe? To the shelves with other of my Beaton books- & off it came.
Ah ha! Yes. There was the same distinctly atmospheric handling of a scene. Just enough detail to make it memorable. Both watercolour scenes of, as Beaton put it so well, where he blossomed into happy adult life. For Beaton, Ashecombe, for Laura-Chatam Hall. Her continued rite of passage from there to college and now a graduate-returning to Chatam Hall this autumn to start a career. I marvel at this daughter of my childhood friend and her siblings-as they travel through so many passages- marriage, motherhood and the loss we must all suffer inevitably as adults.
Beaton in the Circus room,posing in an 18th-century-style jacket, with surreal touches,
for a fete champetre, hosted at his country house, Ashcombe.
for a fete champetre, hosted at his country house, Ashcombe.
Rex Whistler stood by Beaton as constant friend within the many pages of Ashecombe. The friendship of the two- Rex and Edith- was a part of the story as well. Rex "made Edith's Dayehouse his second home. He often told me that he was happier there than anywhere else." He confided in Cecil his fears that he could not survive the sudden loss of Edith-were something happen to her. An Ashcombe Sketching Competition between the two friends was judged by Olivier. "Rex reflected an extraordinary atmosphere of serenity and quite continuum. It was a sweet Auburn sense of life that he liked and always seemed to create."
The eighteenth century was his inspiration" and his work said Beaton, "contributed much to the taste of the twentieth century." What might be a labour for other artists-Rex "flicked off expertly in a few twists of his pen."
Whistler's distinctive style
Parties and tableau were so much a part of the Ashcombe set, characters floating in and out, moving off stage and with the onset of the war, Ashcombe's idylls waned. Rex enlisted, Edith threw herself into the war efforts in Wilton. She chronicled her experiences beautifully in Night Thoughts of A Country Landlady & presided as Mayor of Wilton.
Edith Olivier as Mayor of Wilton
Cecil's return from his travels during the war found Edith much the same, somehow though her dark black hair, such a part of her gipsy persona, had turned pure white. Beaton feared Edith had become a staid spinster. After a few minutes of talk, he saw no other marked changes. His fears that their cherished Rex would not return from the war were realized when news came-Rex had been killed in Normandy. "I have never ceased to mourn his death... I am continually wishing for his delightful company, his views on character and people, and his suggestions on a thousand details of taste and decoration."
It is often the case as we see our own stories go off course- characters exit suddenly without saying goodbye- Our loss palatable. We cherish the illusion that we might go on for ever. (from Beaton Ashecombe)
"Love , marriage, death, the passing of a house-these things are the milestones of life and they point a finger to the clock. The expiration of my lease was as a milestone which indicated that a lump of my life had passed in a timeless flash." It can not go on forever.
all Quotations are from ASHCOMBE- Cecil Beaton
ASHCOMBE, all house images-unless noted
STYLE TRADITIONS RECREATING PERIOD INTERIORS, by Stephen Calloway and Stephen Jones-Whistler image of Daye House.
.
teamuncoolfashion likes: Givenchy Men spring 2011
Givenchy Men's
by Stéphane GabouéThose who doubt Givenchy's clout in menswear should know that this summer's €1200 gold-studded sandals have been sold out for months. Riccardo Tisci seems to be well aware of the phenomenon he has triggered, as his spring 2011 collection delivered exactly what his fans crave. Despite a slightly disturbing atmosphere—i.e. hockey-meets-Darth Vader masks and the soundtrack to the cult 80's vampire flick “The Lost Boys”—the show was primarily about offering variations on the label's trademarks: shorts-cum-skirts, streamlined tailoring, pristine shirts (beautifully crafted in lacy fabrics), tight and short combos, bold prints (this time leopard), not to mention torso-baring latin hunks. And, as usual, browsing the front row was an interesting exercise, as it revealed Tisci's eclectic pop sensibility. This time, guests included French bad-boy rapper Joey Starr, 1950's Givenchy model Bettina Graziani, twin hip hop dancers Larry and Laurent, and the legendary image wizard Jean-Paul Goude.
Summer Table
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I've always been so intrigued by this Horst photograph of Mrs. Charles Fuller's Connecticut porch. I Love this table size food screen-a Japanese gauze fly guard. Its tentlike coverage with fine screening is brilliant for waylaying pesky flying things. Horst photographed and published Mrs.Fuller's home in the now covetable Vogue's Book of Houses Gardens People.
The house-once a church-was so tempting Mrs. Fuller purchased the property by telephone.
Intriguing- all the interiors- and I will share them as the summer progresses. It is a good mix of Bohemian elements all set within the 1889 stained glass Victorian structure. In fact several photographs transport us to the houses on the Bosporus.
Intrigued?
What do you do that takes you away right on your own back porch?
.
I've always been so intrigued by this Horst photograph of Mrs. Charles Fuller's Connecticut porch. I Love this table size food screen-a Japanese gauze fly guard. Its tentlike coverage with fine screening is brilliant for waylaying pesky flying things. Horst photographed and published Mrs.Fuller's home in the now covetable Vogue's Book of Houses Gardens People.
The house-once a church-was so tempting Mrs. Fuller purchased the property by telephone.
Intriguing- all the interiors- and I will share them as the summer progresses. It is a good mix of Bohemian elements all set within the 1889 stained glass Victorian structure. In fact several photographs transport us to the houses on the Bosporus.
Intrigued?
What do you do that takes you away right on your own back porch?
.
More 45s: If there’s a hole in your sleeve …
... why not make the most of it?
So many of 45 sleeves simply ignore the hole. Some sort of use it. These here, in my opinion, nail it.
Sources: Record Envelope, flickr: Joy of a Toy, Fabrik
So many of 45 sleeves simply ignore the hole. Some sort of use it. These here, in my opinion, nail it.
Sources: Record Envelope, flickr: Joy of a Toy, Fabrik
Small Spaces at the Victoria & Albert museum-London
Architects build Small Spaces
This summer, the V&A museum has commissioned seven architects at the forefront of experimental design to create their first built structures, design structures which explore notions of refuge and "retreat".
Due to my fascination for tree houses and trees (see tree house and Big Bambu), I chose "Ratatosk", a playful climbing structure, built of ash trees, strips of willow, moss, and gnarled knots, designed by the Norwegian group Helen and Hard architects.
Their concept
Recalling the tradition of the British 18th-century garden folly, this climbing structure reawakens our memories of childhood play and exploration. 'Ratatosk' is an Old Norse word which means 'drill-tooth'. It refers to an ancient squirrel from Norse mythology that lived in a giant ash tree standing at the centre of the cosmos.
The architects have split five ash trees lengthways and planted them face to face, thus allowing visitors to step into the 'interior space' of the trees. Crowning the structure is a hand-woven willow canopy which hangs over a soft play-surface of wood shavings.
