God is in the Details

If you were a fan of Domino magazine, then you remember Lili Diallo's amazing styling skills.  I'm very excited that her new book Details: A Stylist's Secrets to Creating Inspired Interiors has just been released so we can all learn from the master.  Also seemed like a good time to revisit her Brooklyn loft.  It's like the American version of Loulou de la Falaise's Paris apartment.  Enjoy!

Working Girl

"If you produce one book, you will have done something wonderful in your life." - Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

There are not one but two fabulous new books that chronicle the more than two decades that Jackie Kennedy Onassis spent as a book editor.  Jackie as Editor: The Literary Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis by Greg Lawrence which you can read an excerpt from in the January 2011 issue of Vanity Fair and Reading Jackie: Her Autobiography in Books by William Kuhn.  For most of her life, Jackie was defined by the men in her life but it wasn't until she started to work that she really came into her own.  Jackie was said to have nurtured her authors, many of whom left Doubleday after her death because they couldn't bear working there without her.  I was surprised to learn that she worked with Diana Vreeland on her book Allure which was recently rereleased.  Vreeland's grandson, Nicholas Vreeland, remembers Jackie coming over to Diana's apartment to work on it.  I can't wait to read both books and see what else she helped to publish! 

Diana Vreeland and Jackie Kennedy Onassis

The Art of the Scrapbook

I could spend a week discussing Cecil Beaton.  He was a photographer, set designer, costume designer, interior designer, diarist, style icon, and probably more.  Among the highlights of his career were the sets and costumes he designed for Gigi and My Fair Lady as well as the wedding photos he took of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.  If you really want to really learn about this intriguing man, then I suggest picking up Beaton: The Art of the Scrapbook from Assouline.  I will warn you that the volume is a bit expensive and quite heavy.  I could barely lift it off the shelf to leaf through it but it's definitely worth it.  Looking through the pages of images is like looking into Cecil Beaton's mind and creative process. "Beaton’s scrapbooks allowed the artist to play with pictures he had taken (and perhaps those he wished he had) in the dreamspace of artifice that was always his favorite setting."  Definitely makes me want to start a scrapbook but then again, my blog is my modern version of a scrapbook. 

"Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary." - Cecil Beaton

Reporting in Style

Whenever I visit Barneys, I love to check out the books on the 9th floor. I came across one book recently that is especially chic. In English it's called Reporting in Style and in French, Collection Privée.  Regardless of the name, the photographs by Benno Graziani will speak for themselves.  Benno Graziani was one of the founders of Paris Match along with Daniel Filipacchi and Willy Rizzo.  He told British Vogue, "Match was our little club. There were no editors meetings because we hardly spent time apart from each other - and it worked! Some editions sold more than two million copies...very quickly we were the best. The worlds press envied us and tried in vain to imitate us." He also became friends with many of his subjects including Jackie Kennedy Onassis who invited him on vacation with her.  "She (Jackie) began as a reporter-photographer and led a truly exceptional life, a fairy tale transformed into Greek tragedy. Today she is part of history," Graziani added. "There are people who make history, those who endure it, and those who tell about it. That's me." 

Jackie Kennedy and Benno Graziani

Jackie Kennedy, Amalfi 1962

Jackie Kennedy, Ravello, 1962

Jackie Kennedy, Amalfi, 1962

Jackie Kennedy, Amalfi, 1962

Jackie Kennedy and Lee Radziwill, 1962

Jackie Kennedy, Ravello, 1962

Jackie Kennedy, Ravello, 1962

Caroline Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Christmas, 1970

Jackie and Aristotle Onassis, 1970

Gianni Agnelli with Heidi von Salvisberg, 1967

Oleg Cassini with President John F. Kennedy, 1962

Encyclopedia of the Exquisite

The Encyclopedia of the Exquisite is a book after my own heart.  I love the title and I love the premise.  Author Jessica Kerwin Jenkins was an editor at W magazine and while covering stories around the world, kept a folder full of interesting clippings, photos and "other ephemera."  She said recently, "every time I came across something that was just breathtakingly lovely, something that made me sigh with wonder, into the file it went." Sounds like every blogger I know.  Her files have now been compiled into a book that Michael Kors declared, "a wonderful melange of chic and amusing tidbits" that made him smile.  I love learning new things and I have a feeling I will also be smiling with delight at this exquisite little book.  Also looks like a perfect gift for the holidays! 

Avec Eric

I don't really care what chef Eric Ripert is cooking up as long as he's talking about it in that sexy French accent.  His show Avec Eric on PBS is mesmerizing and now he has compiled a companion cookbook. It is actually more than just a cookbook.  Avec Eric is also a travel guide and personal journal of Eric's culinary adventures around the world.  I wonder if there is an audio book version.  Bon Appétit!

Antiquaires: Paris Flea Markets

Flea markets are a weekend ritual for many people.  One of the biggest regrets that Stefan and I have about our trip to Paris is that we did not make it to the legendary les puces.  When we do finally make the trip, we will have a wonderful guide in Antiquaires: Paris Flea Markets by Laure Verchere.  You would expect to find antiques like Louis XVI chairs but the Paris flea markets also offer mid-century pieces and modern art.  You just have to find the right antiquaire as illustrated in the beautiful photos from Laziz Hamani.  The book also highlights the famous faces who frequented the stalls for inspiration including Madeleine Castaing, Coco Chanel, and Rudolf Nureyev.  I think I'm going to have to head downtown and I can see what I can find at the garage flea market. Happy hunting to those of you doing the same!

Photos by Laziz Hamani