Go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art!

The facade of the Branch Bank of America from 1822-24, originally located on Wall Street, and now found in the newly renovated American wing at the Metropolitan Museum.

Since the Fourth of July fell in the middle of the week, TD and I were in town for the holiday and we decided to take advantage of the day and go up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We did our best to get there on the early side, before it got very crowded, arriving at 11 am.

The first stop was Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations, the current exhibition at the Costume Institute. It opened in May and you might have read about it; it pairs together in conversation and clothes Elsa Schiaparelli, the Italian surrealist fashion designer who lived from 1890 - 1973, and Miuccia Prada, the Italian fashion designer who is of course alive and thriving. Cleverly, the curators of the show created video clips directed by Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge!, Australia) in which Prada and Schiaparelli, played by actress Judy Davis, have compelling conversations.

I loved it.

(No photography allowed; these two photos from The New York Times)

The show was just so smart, and it was so interesting to hear the fashion designers talk about their work and see their clothes presented together. And the clothes are beautiful. Carefully constructed and decorated with embroidery, beads, paillettes, and plastic disks, the designs are intricate, striking, and timeless.

They discuss their different approaches to fashion – Prada designs from the waist down and Schaparelli designed from the waist up, noting that she lived in a cafe society where women sat at restaurant tables so it was important to look fashionable on top, with an emphasis on the shoulders and the bust.

Prada on the other hand notes that "there is so much going on from the waist down, sexy stuff, being attached to the earth." In fact, I have noticed in photos that she often wears a plain sweater and a crazy skirt, like one made of feathers, and outrageous shoes. In this movie, in fact Prada, perhaps the most influential fashion designer in the world, sits at a table wearing a simple white shirt with a grey v-neck sweater, small earrings and no makeup.

This is a photo of Jenna Lyons, the creative director at J. Crew, with designer Eddie Borgo, arriving at the opening party of this exhibition, and you can see that she is channeling the same idea with a plain v-neck sweater and a fantastic, opulent feather skirt. And a great red lipstick.

It's such a cool way to dress – understated on top and glamorous on bottom, a great combination.

Elsewhere in the show, Prada said (and I was trying to write down the quotes correctly), "With my clothes, I try to make men look human. I try to make women look powerful."

"I don't want to make women look pleasing in any way."

"I am trying to create something to wear that makes sense with the mess of life."

Go see this show – it's a very intelligent presentation of clothes and the ideas behind them.

After the dazzle of ornate decoration, we went to see the exhibition of plant drawings by Ellsworth Kelly, which was like a clean, cold, bracing drink of water.

Sunflower, from 1957

Ellsworth Kelly, the contemporary painter who is renowned for his minimalist, color-field paintings, lives in upstate New York, where he produces delicate plant drawings that are lovely in their simplicity. It's a wonderful show to see in the summertime.

The Ellsworth Kelly Plant Drawings catalogue

Then we headed up to the hot, sunny rooftop to see Cloud City, a large constellation sculpture of interconnected modules by Argentinean artist Tomas Saraceno.

Made out of metal and transparent and reflective materials, it looked like a shiny space ship had landed on the roof of the Met. It's possible to climb up into it, but visitors need to go first to the fourth floor to get a timed ticket (free).

After a lunch in the cafeteria, we headed to the recently renovated American Wing (pictured at the top of this post) which I had previously visited with Jane. Here, the museum's American paintings have been beautifully mounted in airy new galleries; I think my favorite room holds the John Singer Sargents. It was a hot summer day, but the whole museum was cooly air-conditioned. The spacious, serene museum is for me like going to church, and there is a lot to see there right now. It's like being in heaven.

A Picture-Perfect Wedding on Lake George

The scene after the ceremony on the dock of the Lake George Club (click on photos to enlarge)
TD and I had the great pleasure of attending last weekend the wedding of my cousin Lindsay Mumford and Mark Nemith. The wedding was held upstate on Lake George where my family spent a lot of summer vacations when I was growing up. On Saturday TD and I rented a car and sped up the Northway, voted America's most scenic highway in 1967. We checked into Capri Village and had time to take a most refreshing swim in Lake George off the dock.

Next door was Beckley's, an old fashioned gas station that boats can drive through. I love this sort of thing.

Then it was into our Hugo Boss suits and on to the main event at the Lake George Club at Diamond Point. I had never been before to the club which is perched on the shore of the lake and was built in the Tudor style in 1909. Here is a photo of it circa 1923.

(photo from Lake George Mirror magazine)
Guests were beginning to arrive at the club

and assemble on the dock were the ceremony would take place. It was a gorgeously warm and sunny day fortunately because the weather on Lake George can be less than forgiving.

Soon Lindsay descended the steps of the club on the arm of her father, my uncle Brian Mumford.

She wore a beautiful, simple strapless gown and a flower in her hair.

Quickly she and Mark were husband and wife!

At the reception, the star of the setting was the lake itself which was constantly changing as the sun descended and the light shifted.

My goddaughter Erin Mumford, sister of the bride and a maid of honor. Peonies and a beer: a great combination.

Inside, the club featured dark wood, ceiling beams, and Tudor windows. It had that turn of the century style that I love.

The furniture reminded me of the lobby of the Raleigh Hotel in Miami.

There were charming views out the window behind the bar

and upstairs out to the boat houses along the lake.

Florist Dryck de Matas arranged a spectacular quantity of peonies into luscious clouds. Susan Mumford, the mother of the bride, collected silver birch bark on the family's property in Argyle, New York, which was incorporated into the flower vases. Susan also cut silver birch logs to make the escort card holders and the table name holders. Peonies are full and lush while silver birch is quiet and understated – a perfect pair.

Pale peonies bloomed in bark vases on all the dinner tables which lined a porch overlooking the lake.

It was the most spectacular place to eat dinner on a night in June.

As the sun set, a band revved up in the club's main room and dancing took off, but I will remember the wedding's lovely simplicity and elegance.

A beautiful day as Lindsay and Mark start their new life together.

A Day in Chelsea: Flowers and Art

Great style at the farmer's market. (Click on photos to enlarge)
Gee, I've had some ideas for the blog but they didn't work out. (Did you see the Hemingway & Gellhorn movie on HBO? I was really looking forward to that but it wasn't so good.)
New York City came to the rescue: yesterday TD and I had a nice day in the neighborhood. It started at the Union Square Farmers Market which is now in full tilt. The woman pictured above was wearing a cotton coat and carrying bunches of flowers in her arm. Her coat was not new trendy fashion but instead a beautiful, timeless print which looked especially great combined with the flowers. That to me is real style.
Into our canvas shopping bag we crammed lilies, sunflowers and a baguette. What else do you need?

Bunches of peonies with a yellow eyelet dress

and waves of perennials.

Back at home a red sparrow visited the bird feeder

while Bell napped on the couch below.

Then it was off again to some art galleries in Chelsea. First stop, Gagosian Gallery for the murals and portraits of Richard Avedon. Between 1969 and 1971, Avedon created four huge murals which pictured Andy Warhol and the Factory, The Chicago Seven, military and government officials known as the Mission Council, and Beat poet Allen Ginsberg and his family.

The murals are gigantic, and it was almost like watching a movie as they progressed along the walls.
Then it was on to Matthew Marks to see paintings by Brice Marden.

Most of the paintings here were oil on slabs of marble which Marden completed last year on the Greek island of Hydra. The thin paint on the white marble was serene and quiet.
Then we stopped into 192 Books on 10th Avenue which seems to be just about the last independent bookstore on the isle of Manhattan.

After this exploration, we required some refreshments so happily we found two empty stools at the bar at The Red Cat restaurant where we had a restorative glass of wine and some French fries. On our way home we vowed that our next foray would be up to the High Line which is now extended up to 30th Street.

A Trip to the Kips Bay Designer Show House

The Aldyn Residences, at 63rd Street and the Hudson River - click on photos to enlarge (photo from company website)
TD and I were invited last week to the cocktail preview party of the 40th anniversary Kips Bay Decorator Show House, which is always a big event in the springtime when decorators pull out the stops to style their assigned room with their signature panache. The Show House is usually mounted in a classical manse on the Upper East Side, but this year it is presented on two floors of the new, modern luxury Aldyn Residences on the west side – as far west as you can get in fact as its location abuts the Hudson River. The Show House is open until June 14 and admission is $30 – you get your money's worth for sure as 32 talented designers are presenting their work this year; the pictures here are a small selection of the event.
The modern interiors featured huge windows which revealed spectacular views up and down the Hudson. Outdoor decks stretched in either direction along the river. At one end was perched...wait for it...the private lap swimming pool. It was a grey evening but the light on the Hudson was luminous.

Inside was a panoply of design, color, textures and ideas. Set in a living room with soaring windows, the reknowned Bunny Williams, along with Brian J. McCarthy and David Kleinberg Design Associates, created a tribute to the iconic American designer Albert Hadley, who passed away this March, complete with Hadley's signature red pops of color.
I found myself drawn to the serene rooms which were quiet and relaxing. Raji Radhakrishnan/Raji RM & Associates created a peaceful home office. I would love to work at this desk. And look at that view!

The wonderful Charlotte Moss, who last year around this time published a beautiful book, designed on the second floor a very romantic master bedroom. A long hall, which was covered with wallpaper that looked like pale silver birch, and hung with photographs that Charlotte had taken in France, led to the bedroom which had walls lined with green velvet. Charlotte herself was tucked in a corner wearing a long dress that shimmered with golden sequins which she told me was vintage Adele Simpson. Preserved boxwood covered one wall, the air was scented, and birdsong played overhead. It was dreamy escape.

Charlotte Moss in her room (photo from Kips Bay)
Back down we went to the first floor of the Show House where Susan Zises Green designed a very pretty living room. I met the decorator who said that she was inspired by the colors of the Hudson River outside the windows, and on that grey evening her room of tranquilly-toned furniture, art and antiques perfectly matched the view beyond.

We took one more trip out onto the deck and then headed downstairs to an interior courtyard where a party tent had been erected. Bars were set up there and hors d'oeuvres were passed to a chic crowd who required some refreshments after a long house tour. It was a very civilized outing here on the isle of Manhattan.

Cocktails at Bergdorfs with William Yeoward

With designer William Yeoward
I had the pleasure recently of going up to Bergdorf Goodman to have a cocktail with English designer William Yeoward who produces crystal, china, furniture, accessories, fabrics and table linens. I wrote about William in the past for Elle Decor magazine; you can read that piece here. But we had talked over the phone so I was looking forward to meeting him in person.
The occasion for the celebration at Bergdorf Goodman was the launch of William's American Bar Collection of crystal cocktail glasses.

The designer has also just published his book William Yeoward's American Bar - The World's Most Glamorous Cocktails

The gloriously glossy book offers more than 150 pages of cocktail recipes from his favorite bars including The Connaught Bar, Annabel's, and the American Bar at the Savoy.

In the book he writes, "Beautiful crystal is the ultimate enhancement for any drink but cocktails in particular afford the opportunity to use many different shapes and sizes." At Bergdorf Goodman, his collection offers a sparkling range of options, reasonably priced at $21 - $150.

At the party bartenders concocted Green Park drinks from the Savoy, a fresh blend of basil, celery bitters, lemon juice, sugar syrup, Old Tom gin and an egg white. With it was offered cheese sticks made by William's cook in London. It was a delightful treat at the end of a work day. "I love to mix cocktails, no less than four," William said with a wink.
TD and I don't often make cocktails at home but recently we have been mixing for fun Old Fashioneds, which are a blend of whiskey and lemon juice over ice with a slice of orange and a maraschino cherry. The smell of an Old Fashioned reminds me of childhood at 611; it is my Proustian madeleine. Last Christmas, after a midtown outing we landed at cocktail hour with my sister Cynthia and her partner Barb in the Monkey Bar, Graydon Carter's restaurant on East 54th Street. There, the Old Fashioned came with big, truly old-fashioned square ice cubes that you don't see anymore, and was gloriously laden with fruit. For a luxurious cocktail, don't miss the Monkey Bar.

A Trip to Miami South Beach

(click on photos to enlarge)
TD and I last week took a fun five-day trip down to Miami South Beach for some much needed r and r. We have been down several times before, and we always enjoy wide sandy beach and the surf of the Atlantic Ocean while being close to a lot of great restaurants and stores. It's an easy getaway. The flight is less than three hours and once we get there we don't need to rent a car because everything is within walking distance. We were on a 7am flight out of LaGuardia and swimming in the warm ocean by 11:30.
We checked into the charming Villa Paradiso which in one block from the beach, and were looked after by the helpful Anna.

At night we strolled around in shorts. A colorful Cadillac was parked in front of the Marlin Hotel; the car and the building go back in time.

South Beach was developed in the 1930's, and claims to have the largest collection of buildings featuring Streamline Moderne Art Deco architecture. I love the pastel colors and cubic lines of the apartment houses. It looks to me like Old Hollywood. I said to TD, "Can we move here?"

Voluptuous bougainvillea smothered a dusty pink apartment building at dusk.

At night we walked along Lincoln Road, a long pedestrian row lined with stores, restaurants, galleries and bars. In the 1960's Miami Beach architect Morris Lapidus designed Lincoln Road as it appears today, and I think it must be one of the great public spaces in the world. It is always crowded with visitors from all over the world, and offers great people-watching when you sit down to eat dinner. One night we had authentic Northern Italian pizza at Spris, and another night we ate at the lively Sushi Samba. On Collins Avenue we had a delicious Italian dinner at Spiga (sit on the porch) but the best dinner we had was at the newish Yardbird Southern Table and Bar (thanks Beth). Oh, I can still taste that fried chicken.

But mostly in Miami, we sit on the sandy beach and swim in the warm water. It feels like a relief to the body and spirit to be enveloped by tropical nature after a winter in the city. Even the clouds cooperate.

At the beach I am happy.