Interiors « Queen of Cashmere Daybook

January 13, 2010

A Meeting Of Minds or Why Everyone Should Have A Really Big Bust

Filed under: Adoration, Destinations, Interiors, Personalization, Queen of Cashmere, Various & Sundry — Tags: Busts, Civility Design, Elysian Hotel — Queen of Cashmere @ 6:30 AM

I left a comment on a blog the other day. The post was on my favorite topic of monogramming and personalization. It is often said that the meat of a blog can be found in the comments and I couldn’t agree more. A comment left, in response to mine, by Civility Design reached out and grabbed me. Like minds. Stylistic soul-mates. Who were they?

Of course, I had to sleuth them. Their website let me know my instincts were right. Don Raney and Jaymes Richardson, the talented, monogram loving duo behind Civility Design and I were destined to meet. We like so many of the same things. The best part? They are my neighbors. Not neighbors in the scope of cyber, which could mean anyone living under the same weather pattern, but truly two-blocks-over neighbors. I shot off an e-mail and they responded with an invitation to talk about our love of all things personalized. I knew that this meeting was going to be a good thing.

Now, let me just interject that I have a bust fetish. A major one. I do have two antique, carved busts of Romans perched on sconces in my living room but what I really lust after is a great big terracotta bust on a pedestal. Put a bust of an 18th century Frenchman with a wild wig full of curls and a Gallic nose in my living room and I would never need another thing. Don and Jaymes employ busts galore to lend a sense of history to their interiors. That was my first clue.

civility designs Tudor Bust

Second clue? A fearless love of punchy color and gloss. I’m feeling those horn chandeliers, too.

Kitchen pic 1 for Caron

But it was doggy love that sealed the deal. Mavis Astor meet LouLou.

Mavis LouLou

Not pussy-footing around, we selected a place to meet for coffee the very next day. The Elysian Hotel recently opened a few blocks away we were all interested in walking over and having a look-see. From the moment I entered (and was greeted by those amazing busts) I knew I wouldn’t mind playing Eloise at the Elysian. Is the casting call for that role still open? F5CS7882

That afternoon, in a wonderful setting, we laid out plans for a Civility Design/Queen of Cashmere media collaboration. The topic? Personalization beyond monograms.

Out of the ether of the Internet, real friendships emerge.

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November 2, 2009

Champagne Brunch and a Doggy Bag

Filed under: Cocktails & Libations, Frocks, Interiors, Restaurants, Shopping, Society, Various & Sundry — Tags: alessandra branca, Barney's New York, Brilliant Bowler, Fred's at Barney's New York, Nina Ricci — Queen of Cashmere @ 4:26 AM

Today is my BFF’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Sara Dah-ling! I adore you. Your friendship is precious and ever enlightening.

Yesterday, we fêted Sara at a lovely Sunday brunch at Fred’s. For those not familiar, Fred’s is the penthouse restaurant atop Barney’s here in Chicago. It was the first beautiful afternoon after seemingly endless weeks of rain and everyone was out in force.

Fred's

In the window seat, I spied Alessandra Branca looking very chic in a Toscana shearling vest and drapey jersey skirt. She was giving kisses to the cutest baby I have ever seen. On her way out, I congratulated her on the launch of her new book New Classic Interiors. I’m going by her offices today to have my copy signed before she heads to D.C. which is the next stop on her book tour.

Let me just say, that the first person who conceived of putting a restaurant and bar atop a department store was an unparalleled marketing genius. After plentiful champagne, I shopped my way home. I’ll be paying that card off for quite some time.

I have been on a quest for a new handbag for absolutely ages. So, on my way out of Barney’s and after beaucoup coupes des champagne, I found the perfect purse. And even now, after the champagne haze has cleared, I still really love it. Unlike the red lipstick I got talked into which is definitely getting returned.

The bag, made by Nina Ricci and deemed the Brilliant Bowler (by Olivier Thyskens not by me), is embellished with a classic laurel wreath that has been butched up with whip stitching that makes it modern and a bit edgy. A solid and sturdy everyday purse, it should stand up to anything that I can put it through.

Nina Ricci brilliant bowler

The biggest selling point however was it’s flat bottom and zippered top. I have pretty specific requirements that my bag must fit all the essentials that I take with me when I am out and about. This bag met them.

It’s a perfect LouLou bag, don’t you think?

LouLou

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September 21, 2009

Adoration: Cire Trudon Candles

Filed under: Adoration, Details, Fragrance, Interiors, Shopping, Various & Sundry — Tags: cire trudon candles, luxury home fragrance, roi de soliel — Queen of Cashmere @ 3:58 PM

Forget the mundane and everything you have previously encountered in the home fragrance arena. Cire Trudon, is a scented candle line so artistic, steeped in history and utterly unique that there can be no comparison to anything else. Its emergence onto the global luxury market in the last year is due to the re-branding genius of Ramdane Touhame, a renegade fashion designer turned candle maker.

Personally, I can’t get enough of Roi Soliel. Clean and elegant this scent was created to evoke the memory of Versailles’ Hall of Mirrors on a sunny day – waxed wooden floors warmed with sunshine and a light green scent suggesting formal gardens just outside the open windows. In the wide range of candles that make up the collection, this scent is destined to become their signature and an elegant classic.

Versailles Hall of Mirrors

As a counterpoint to some of the elegantly charming aromas, there are some really offbeat but intellectually intriguing scents. Odeur de Lune, was imagined from the components NASA found on the moon’s surface. It’s dark, gothic, otherworldly and somewhat dangerous. In it I smelled resin and camphor. This is not a candle for the faint-of-heart and, while I liked it, it elicited visceral responses from several friends. This candle will just have to be burned when I am alone and in a state of chic-but-broody-darkness.

Cire Truson Barney's

The line, sold at Barneys, is offered under individual clear glass cloches. The ritual of selecting a frangrance by lifting and smelling the scent captured in the cloche is as lovely as the line itself.

Cire Trudon, purveyor of high quality wax products to kings, courts, churches and couturiers since 1643. Cire Trudon at Barneys New York

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September 15, 2009

Queen of Cashmere Monogram Pillows + Buckingham Interiors

Filed under: Interiors, Personalization, Queen of Cashmere, Various & Sundry — Tags: Bespoke, Buckingham Interiors, Julia Edelmann, Queen of Cashmere Monogram Throw Pillow — Queen of Cashmere @ 5:14 PM

A couple of years ago, I had the great fortune of meeting Julia Edelmann, a Chicago-based, nationally recognized interior designer. It was autumn and she had seen an image of a the Queen of Cashmere Pasha pillow in Chicago Home – Luxury Edition. Not long afterward, she began using Queen of Cashmere products in many of her projects but the highest form of appreciation was that she used them in her own home. I was terribly flattered.

When asked for images that showed her placement of Queen of Cashmere pillows and throws, she sent a love note to post as well. Julia says:
“I have always been drawn to anything regally elegant- the Queen of Cashmere, Caron Slimak, introduced me to the ultimate expression of home decor accessories that exemplify this feel. The cashmere throws and pillows that I have chosen for my clients are now gracing homes from the Colorado Rockies to the Southern California beaches with plenty of cozy comfort embracing my Midwestern Chicago clients homes. They are timeless accents with a personal touch.”

Queen of Cashmere Edelmann Edelmann for Queen of Cashmere

Julia’s style is warm and modern. Hers are interiors that are meant to be the setting where wonderful life stories are played out – sophisticated and elegantly eclectic but never pretentious
You can follow Julia on the blog, Material Girls where she regularly contributes. I would also strongly suggest visiting her company website to see her vibrant and unique design style Buckingham Interiors + Design.

Queen of Cashmere Monogram Throw Pillows available bespoke in over 50 colors. Online at Saks Fifth Avenue or Queen of Cashmere 1-800-550-6386.

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September 10, 2009

Rock n’ Roll Baronial

Filed under: Frocks, Interiors, Various & Sundry — Tags: alessandra branca, balenciaga, branca, cricket jackets, english school boy, nicholas ghesquiere, posh-brit — Queen of Cashmere @ 6:03 PM

The other day, as I stared at images of Roger Federer’s foray in to the world of logos, the referees’ jackets beckoned to me from the background. It was a high form of unintended irony, for sure.

I have been smitten with the English cricket or schoolboy jacket for as long as I can remember (heaven knows, I’m a pushover for anything with a good English accent), and I’m not alone in loving the look. Coco did her version circa 1925. Inspired, no doubt, during the time she spent in England while having her scandalous affair with the Duke of Westminster.

However, the most recent resurgence of the cricket jacket kicked off when Nicolas Ghesquihère riffed on the style for Balenciaga’s 2007 Fall RTW collection. The moment I saw his collection for Balenciaga, I fell deliriously and rapturously in love. My heart still beats fast every time I see these images.

I even love this posh-Brit look when translated to home decor. A few years back, one of my Queen of Cashmere customers invited me into her home and Elizabeth’s living room stopped me dead in my tracks. I walked in and it literally took my breath away.

The style of her home, dubbed “Rock n’ Roll Baronial”, was so right up my alley that it has haunted me for years. So as I write my post on English schoolboy jackets, I can’t possibly post about the jackets without showing you that room.

Branca for Queen of Cashmere

Incredibly, this home is located on the 14^th floor of a 1920’s apartment building in the heart of Chicago’s Gold Coast. The Chesterfield sofas have been punched up with sun-drenched, yellow velvet and the ottoman, upholstered in an exotic animal print, is a modern echo of the English Empire’s thrill of the hunt. The whole effect is modern, posh-Brit perfection!

Alessandra Branca, the genius behind this design, has a website where I could spend days. Take a look at her wonderful interiors and her fantastic offerings. Branca Alessandra is a big fan of monogrammed luxury so, hopefully, I’ll be bringing you a more about Branca soon!

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August 6, 2009

Sweetest Dreams at the Hob Knob

Filed under: Destinations, Interiors, Personalization, Various & Sundry — Tags: hobknob, linens, MA, Martha'svineyard — Queen of Cashmere @ 12:49 PM

Among the myriad of delightful things that are blog-worthy on Martha’s Vineyard, I discovered the most darling boutique hotel. The Hob Knob could be featured here for any number of it’s gracious elements. However, what really made me smile were the wonderfully original bed linens.

Perfectly crisp and cool, the bedding invites you with promises of only blissful dreams and a restorative night’s sleep. Cleverly flourished with embroidery of polka dots and personalization, they bid the pampered guest good rest in a series of languages –Good Night, Bonne Nuit, Buona Notte, Boa Noite, Gutten Nacht.

How charming!

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