In the pantheon of twentieth-century interior design, few names carry the quiet authority of Billy Baldwin (1903–1983). Known simply as “Billy” to clients who ranged from Jackie Kennedy to Babe Paley, Baldwin defined a distinctly American elegance: urbane, tailored, and timeless. If Dorothy Draper conjured fantasy and Sister Parish invented cozy chic, Baldwin distilled modernismContinue reading “Billy Baldwin: The Dean of American Decoration”
Category Archives: History
Isabella Blow: Fashion’s Fearless Muse
In the theatre of late twentieth-century fashion, no figure was as magnetic, or as tragic, as Isabella Blow (1958–2007). A style editor, talent scout, and muse, she was a woman who blurred the line between the backstage and the spotlight. To know Isabella Blow was to witness fashion as performance, risk, and revelation. To loseContinue reading “Isabella Blow: Fashion’s Fearless Muse”
Three Cinematic Villas in Italy
If Villa Malaparte is the most iconic villa on screen, it is not alone. Italy’s landscape of villas — patrician palaces, lakeside estates, country retreats — has long provided cinema with atmosphere and grandeur. 1. Villa Erba, Lake Como 2. Villa di Geggiano, Siena 3. Villa Albergoni, Lombardy TL;DRFrom Visconti’s Lake Como retreat to Bertolucci’sContinue reading “Three Cinematic Villas in Italy”
Villa Malaparte, Capri: A Modernist Monument on the Edge of the Sea
Perched on the cliffs of Capri’s Punta Massullo, its red walls blazing against the Tyrrhenian Sea, Villa Malaparte is one of the most arresting houses of the 20th century. At once austere and theatrical, it is both architectural landmark and cinematic icon, immortalised in Jean-Luc Godard’s Contempt (1963). Few houses better embody the interplay ofContinue reading “Villa Malaparte, Capri: A Modernist Monument on the Edge of the Sea”
Twiggy: The Girl Who Became an Era
In 1966, Britain had a new monarch. Not one of crown and throne, but of hair, eyes, and attitude. Lesley Hornby—nicknamed Twiggy for her reed-slender frame—was just sixteen when she became “The Face of ’66.” In a single season, she transformed from a hairdresser’s assistant in Neasden into the international emblem of Swinging London. WithContinue reading “Twiggy: The Girl Who Became an Era”
The Phantom Carriage: A Haunting New Year’s Tale
Among the treasures of silent cinema, few films are as haunting — or as seasonally apt — as Victor Sjöström’s The Phantom Carriage (1921). Set on New Year’s Eve, it spins a chilling legend: the last person to die before midnight must drive Death’s spectral carriage for the next year, collecting souls along the way.Continue reading “The Phantom Carriage: A Haunting New Year’s Tale”
The Glamour of New Year’s Eve Style
New Year’s Eve has always been more than a date — it is a performance. The last night of the year invites transformation: sequins shimmer brighter, velvet feels richer, champagne tastes sharper. Fashion has long been the language of this ritual, each decade reinventing how the midnight hour should look. The Jazz Age Sparkle InContinue reading “The Glamour of New Year’s Eve Style”
The Ritual of Renewal: New Year’s Eve Across Time
Every year, as midnight approaches, the world holds its breath. Glasses are lifted, clocks tick down, crowds gather in squares and living rooms alike. The turning of the year is both the simplest of rituals — the passage of time — and the most charged: a moment that transforms calendars into ceremonies, routine into theatre.Continue reading “The Ritual of Renewal: New Year’s Eve Across Time”
Truman Capote’s Swans: Society’s Last Great Myth
In the gilded world of mid-century society, there existed a rarefied circle of women who seemed to embody elegance itself. They were wealthy, beautiful, impeccably dressed — but above all, they were admired for their poise. Truman Capote, who both adored and betrayed them, christened them his “swans.” To this day, their names evoke aContinue reading “Truman Capote’s Swans: Society’s Last Great Myth”
Brigitte Bardot: The Making of an Iconic Style
Few figures in 20th-century culture reshaped the visual language of femininity as powerfully as Brigitte Bardot. More than a film star, she became a style phenomenon — a woman whose clothes, gestures, hair, and posture seemed to crystallise a new mood in post-war Europe: sensual, insouciant, and utterly modern. Bardot did not merely wear fashion;Continue reading “Brigitte Bardot: The Making of an Iconic Style”
My World of Interiors 