Manceeeeeeep

Showing posts with label red. Show all posts

red

riding
hood
beware of wolves in sheep's clothing, red capes and grandmother's lingerie.
wolves- & people are not always what they first appear to be.

"Once upon a time there was a dear little girl who was loved by everyone who looked at her,

but most of all by her grandmother, and there was nothing that she would not have given to the child."

"Once she gave her a little riding hood of red velvet,

which suited her so well that she would never wear anything else;

so she was always called Little Red Riding Hood."

"The grandmother lived out in the wood, half a league from the village,"

& just as Little Red Riding Hood entered the wood, a wolf met her.

Red Riding Hood did not know what a wicked creature he was, and was not at all afraid of him."

'What a tender young creature!

what a nice plump mouthful -

she will be better to eat than the old woman.

I must act craftily, so as to catch both.'

'See, Little Red Riding Hood, how pretty the flowers are about here -

why do you not look round?

I believe, too, that you do not hear how sweetly the little birds are singing;

you walk gravely along as if you were going to school,

while everything else out here in the wood is merry.'

'Suppose I take grandmother a fresh nosegay; that would please her too.

It is so early in the day that I shall still get there in good time.'

"Meanwhile

the wolf ran straight to the grandmother's house and knocked at the door.

The wolf lifted the latch, the door sprang open,

and without saying a word he went straight to the grandmother's bed,

and devoured her.

Then he put on her clothes,

dressed himself in her cap,

laid himself in bed and drew the curtains."

"Red Riding Hood-then,

remembering her grandmother, and set out on the way to her."

'Good morning,' but received no answer;

so she went to the bed and drew back the curtains.

There lay her grandmother with her cap pulled far over her face,

and looking very strange.

'Oh! grandmother,'

'what big ears you have!'

'All the better to hear you with, my child,'

'But, grandmother, what big eyes you have!'

'All the better to see you with, my dear.'

'But, grandmother, what large hands you have!'

'All the better to hug you with.'

'Oh! but, grandmother, what a terrible big mouth you have!'

'All the better to eat you with!'

"And scarcely had the wolf said this,

than with one bound he was out of bed and swallowed up Red Riding Hood.

When the wolf had appeased his appetite,

he fell asleep and began to snore very loud."

"The huntsman was just passing the house, and thought 'How the old woman is snoring!

I must just see if she wants anything.'

So he went into the room, and when he came to the bed,

he saw that the wolf was lying in it."

'Do I find you here, you old sinner!' said he.

'I have long sought you!'

"But just as he was going to fire at him,

it occurred to him that the wolf might have devoured the grandmother----"

we abruptly interrupt our GRIMM story here-
suffice it to say-

this is not your ordinary grandmother

or Red-
for that matter.

this tale opens in theatres March 11-
the writer did not receive any compensation or make a cameo appearance in this movie.

movie images-warner brothers, all other works by odilon redon-or lucas cranach or medieval woodcuts

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in praise of the Red Room, & Lesley Blanch

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The first time I had an opportunity to do up a place of my own- I painted my little sitting room Red. It pleased me. So much so- that I painted my next abode - yes-Red. My next move was into a large house and it would seem Red would naturally follow me the short two blocks away. It eventually did- in the form of an gorgeous and complex ELITIS paper of a Red, fuschia and orange geometric and damask pattern.* Better late than never- Red is the color of passion, fire, beauty, royalty and for me above all these- it represented Independence- A Room of One's Own as it were. With each move I found I needed it less.

I don't have any Red in my current home-but I do have lavender- and don't forget lavender would be no where without Red, or blue, or white for that matter. Loving all three- but not so much its imagery of stars and stripes- rather each one standing singly or paired together or Mixed appeals to me greatly- just stay away from a full out patriotic RWB room (just a word to the wise). If two or three houses were within my grasp-there would be a Red room in at least one of them.

Now here we arrive at Lord and Lady Iliffe's Basildon Park country house along with Lesley Blanch and photographer Henry Clarke on a VOGUE assignment in July 1966...

while other guests are off to Ascot.

Lady Iliffe wearing Indian jewels in gold and pink silk inside her walled garden

born Renee Merandondu Plessis of Chamerel, Mauritius

With the introductions completed- First- a quick tour around a few famous Red rooms by Vuillard in preparation for the splendid Octagonal Room of Basildon Park.

Vuillard, Red Interior, 1900

Vuillard, In the Red Room, 1914

Basildon Park, a historic country house in the Anglo Palladian style is just one of three houses Lord and Lady Iliffe share. in the words of Lesley Blanch- "The three houses Lord and Lady Iliffe call home are exactly that: Although in violent contrast to each other, all three express the same unifying sense of harmony- of home...No professional decorator has ever devised so much as a pelmet-indeed, Lady Iliffe is apt to do that herself, creating from a job lot of antique fringes and tassels...Through all three houses a curiously exotic note is sounded...there runs a thread of tropicana, of languorous, frangipani-scented zephyrs..reminding us of Lady Iliffe's French childhood in Mauritius."

Basildon Park's "Piano Nobile"

The Octagon Room with claret-red walls and brocaded curtains from Blenheim Palace.

All the grandeur of the Palladian style is present in this room. Paired with the saturated claret Red in the room is a pale butter yellow, with eighteenth century bamboo tables and Chinese lacquer. Lady Iliffe's love of gardening is hinted at with the addition of a gardenia bush in the jardiniere-thought to be an eighteenth-century Italian linen basket.

Another Red room at Basildon Park -The Indian-red Library.

Henry Clarke photograph of Lord Iliffe, r. with Lord Roderic Platt & Sir Neill Cooper-Key.

other important rooms in the house

the Drawing Room

The Dining Room

The Great Hall

pages from the Lesley Blanch story in Vogue July 1966: Triple Entente

If you are wondering where Lord and Lady Iliffe were during the other months of the year in 1966- think a streamlined flat overlooking Piccadilly and a "pint sized sun trap overlooking the Mediterranean."( LB) All three homes Blanch contends -"has its own manner of an unorthodox, entirely personal, and triumphant approach to decoration." That is an idea one can take to heart in 2011- Don't you think? How are the other homes decorated? maybe another time.

& Lesley Blanch

Lesley Blanch is described on her own official website as a "scholarly romantic" & that sums it up succinctly -what every writer aspires to. Of her own still she said, "My rooms are gestures of defiance against every rule of the pundit decorators. Now East, now West, my rooms reflect the globe. Cultures, races, climates, colours and epochs mix in harmony here, as do bargains and chintz..." Shusha Guppy describes her house: "Lesley Blanch’s house is filled with mementos of her travels and adventures: Russian icons, samovars, Qajar paintings and rugs from Persia and Turkey, exotica from India. Divans and the scent of incense and jasmine further enhance the exotic and relaxing atmosphere … "She works at a desk strewn with books, papers and clippings in the living room. All the other rooms, including her own, are also lined with bookshelves." Looking Back, A Panoramic View of a Literary Age by the Grandes Dames of European Letters (1992)

Now-that sounds like heaven.

Lesley Blanch photographed by Henry Clarke

Read all about her here.

* my Elitis paper

Vogue pages from 1966- my own.

honeysuckle & GOLDEN

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This is my pick for best dressed at the Golden Globes yesterday, does anyone really care who wins? It is all about what they wore. Not necessarily so-but I seldom go sit in a theatre any more- rather I wait for netflix to fill the movie ticket. Julianne Moore always pulls something spectacular off-this time it is a one shoulder Honeysuckle Lanvin gown. It is a glorious color to wear-a bit harder to decorate with. Honeysuckle 18--2120 is Pantone's color of the year and has already been much talked about.

Getty image

HONEYSUCKLE

Pantone's Color of the year

but in this room by Mica Ertegun, Honeysuckle is done at its best.

(though any photographed room can appear a certain color-

if the first image is correct it is more honeysuckle than coral-but so hard to tell.)

& always- in praise of RED.

Another stand out was Alexa Chung. She co-hosted NBC's pre-show of the Golden Globes. No pictures of Alexa Chung at the moment- but there is a you tube video of the fashion darling at the event.
The dress is Valentino.