I love the British fashion magazine Tatler –even if it is just for the titillation of the title. I purchased a copy at the King’s Cross newsstand to peruse on the train to Edinburgh.
Inside, the editorial fashion layouts offered a lot of cheese for this mouse. I was absolutely smitten with this knitted Chanel confection. There is a revered mill in Scotland that produces cashmere sweaters for Chanel and Hermes. Simply the best. My guess is that the trim is made by Lesage, the venerable master french beading and embroidery house, and then married to the Scottish product.
I love the classic shape and the contrast trims of this cardigan. The price? £2,770 or roughly $4,155 at today’s exchange rate. How many will you snap up?
I always contend that I end up in the most wonderful places. More often than I care to admit, a leap of faith has landed me in the lap of luxury. However, sometimes my idea of perfection is refined rusticity. Stobo Home Farm is just that.
Georgina and Hugh Seymour have a working farm just outside Peebles in the Scottish Borders. I found them years ago on the About Scotland website that has been my go-to resource for years. It’s absolutely chock-a-block full of great Scottish secret hideaways. Take a look; if this doesn’t rev your wanderlust into high gear, I’m afraid you might be dead.
The first time I stayed here friends and colleagues mistakenly thought that I was staying in Stobo Castle; the very posh and impressive crenellated edifice on the hill (with the architecturally abominable spa addition that should have never been granted a building permit). It takes everyone a bit to realize I’m in the farm house behind the castle. Dress-code here? Wellies are de rigueur.
This isn’t your average B&B. The ambiance here is more like being a houseguest in the home of an old friend. Last night, Georgina cooked dinner for Rom and me. We were joined by the three Italian fly fishermen who have come to cast along the banks of the Tweed for wild brown trout. Sitting in her drawing room, we feasted on a fabulous leg of young female Sika deer — which among venison aficionados is considered one of the very finest game meats for the table. A starter of homemade lovage soup, waxy new potatoes and a chocolate pudding (Brit English for dessert) slathered in heavy cream was a perfect home cooked meal. Are you jealous yet?
On the farm, Georgina and Hugh raise a herd of Limousin and Angus cattle; keep chickens (egg heaven) and horses. There are dogs, too. Dennis the Jack Russell is my best buddy – ever since I treated him to bits of venison under the dinner table.
See? Three days travel can get you practically to heaven!
Today, I thought I’d let one of my Scottish friends write the post. John MacEwan is one of my dearest so as he likes to say, I’m turning the “ talking stick” over to him.
Caron and Rom came to stay today at 94DR, Caron and I shared a Cashmere connection late last century, that saw us travel the USA, work hard and end up in some very funny situations … who knew Georgia was in Russia? We are older and wiser now, that is for sure!
I with my partner Paul now run 94DR, a 6 bedroom contemporary Inn in Edinburgh, we lavished our love and time to create a intimate space with a big personality … which seems to fit Caron just fine!
It’s been over a year since I have been to see my suppliers in Scotland. When Queen of Cashmere was just starting up, over 6 years ago, I racked up enormous amounts of air miles travelling to Scotland at least once a month. Trying to manage my production wasn’t easy. Mills were closing, orders weren’t delivered on time and the general chaos kept me crossing the pond. It got to the point where friends begged me to quit the business. I’m nothing if not doggedly persistent.
The fact that this is only my third trip in as many years is a testimonial to how important good production is to ones business. Because I finally found a stable manufacturer, I have been able to dedicate myself to selling and marketing the brand. However, this trip is a very important one.
Queen of Cashmere is on track for a record breaking year. Luckily for me, the recession seems to be ebbing away and the trend is nothing but up. It’s now time to pay a call to my mill to vie for a larger share of their total production. I have told the knitter repeatedly that I would take it all. (See doggedly persistent comment above.) Some conversations are best had face-to-face so I packed my bags, hopped the plane and we shall see what they say.
Before departing Chicago, I promised to try to get a few blog posts off my fingers and posted. And while I’d love to show you the ins and outs of Scottish cashmere production, I am loathe to give up any proprietary information on the internet. It’s a cutthroat business and my cashmere cards are best played close to my chest. Instead, I’ll give you the Queen’s tour of a country that I adore and introduce you to my many good friends. It will be fun.
You really didn’t think that this trip would be all work and no play, did you?
The journey to the Scottish Borders takes two days. The overnight flights from the US to Europe are brutal. I am certain that they age me unduly so they are avoided like the plague. Instead, I make it a habit to take the morning flight out of O’Hare that lands at Heathrow at about 10pm. Fight off the urge to nap on the flight, check into a hotel (or in my case my in-law’s guest room), have a very late dinner and jet lag is someone else’s sorry story.
There are some days that are just made for flying and yesterday was one of them. We were in brilliant blue skies almost the whole flight. In the past week, airports in Scotland and Ireland have been closed. Yes, it’s due to that volcano with the unpronounceable name. Heathrow is still open but flights have been diverted far to the north to avoid the ash plume. The scenery was just spectacular.
Latitude 66°N. Somewhere above Greenland. Glaciers as far as the eye could see.
At one point, on the other side of the plane, someone said “I see it”. Everyone tried to get a glimpse of Eyjafjallajokull but I don’t think anyone really did.
Last Thursday, I woke up with a yearning. It was very early and the sun was just rising over lake Michigan outside my bedroom window. Golden spring light was seeping into the room around the draperies. I donned my first white jeans of the season, a frilled tuxedo shirt in robin’s egg blue cotton lawn and ballet flats. By the calendar, most Chicagoans would deem me a month or more too early to wear such an ensemble.
My sleep addled husband, who has never, ever been a morning person, opened one eye and asked me where I was going. “I’m driving to Nashville to see Susan. I need some new clothes”, I replied and the ensuing silence made me think that he had gone back to sleep. He wasn’t sleeping, he was estimating miles and dollars. Yes, it’s almost 475 miles one way. Quite a distance for an impromptu road trip.
Susan is Susan Sutherland of Style Paris. Her Parisian line of made-to-order clothing is worth going the extra mile (or 475) not to mention fits in nicely with my mantra of “make it your own”. The clothing, all made in France, is custom tailored, feminine and über-elegant. Just like Queen of Cashmere sweaters, each Style Paris garment is made for the wearer in their choice of fabric and color. Patterns are altered for each customer before the fabric is cut so a perfect fit is assured. Being a tough fit, I have come to rely on Style Paris for my better clothing. Additionally, these garments are top notch and come out of a factory that produces clothing for Louis Vuitton and Balenciaga so everything is exquisite.
Currently, there are two Style Paris shops — one is in Palm Beach and the other Southampton. However, if your travels aren’t taking you to either locale, all is not lost, there are other ways to see the line. Susan is the Grande Dame of the trunk show curcuit. Each season, Style Paris sets up shop for a few days in cities around the U.S. and suites in some of the chicest hotels are turned into a Parisian salon. The collection is shown by invitation and all are welcome. To have your name added to her inviation list you can e-mail your request to info@styleparis.com .
Additonally, Style Paris can also be found online at Taigan, a new shopping website that is certainly one of the most breathtaking on the Internet. Created and curated by a Nashville based group of shopping cognoscenti, Taigan is a veritable treasure trove of goodies guaranteed to seduce you. In order to take a peek inside, you must first become a “member” but trust me, the experience is well worth the divulging of your name and e-mail. Just take a look at the roster of retailers currently featured. Divine!
But now back to Nashville; the drive was 7.5 hours and once I passed the flat, fallow fields of Indiana, spring began to bloom. Rolling hills, horse pastures and split rail fences welcomed me into Kentucky. The blue grass had turned into verdant velveteen and magnolias, forsythia and dogwood were like floral fireworks. By the time I crossed into Tennesee my white jeans began to not feel so silly. Finally, I pulled into the driveway at my destination.
One of the Taigan-esses had opened her home for a private sale for two of the Taigan retailers. There couldn’t have been a more perfect venue.
Each end of a fabulous sunroom was set up as a shop. That is Susan in the image below dashing about. She did pause long enough give me a hug hello although she never slowed enough for me to get a good picture of her.
At the other end of the room, was Susan van der Linde and her charming husband Tom. The ladies of Nashville were eating up her couture hats and handbags for The Derby. However, I was mesmerized by her collection of Fascinators. For the uninitiated, a Fascinator is a headband with a decorative fixture that approximates a hat. How I wish I had the place to wear one!
That evening, we were all invited to the Belle Meade Country Club for dinner. Sitting at the next table was a lovely couple. They came over to our group and the lady proclaimed that Style Paris has “saved her life”. Her daughter’s wedding was in three weeks and until that afternoon she had nothing to wear. She had purchased a pink Style Paris suit which will be manufactured in time and arrive altered and pressed. It’s not an uncommon story and the sort of customer service that makes a person drive almost 1000 miles in two days for the Style Paris touch.
And thus, Susan has good naturedly labeled me her favorite driving fool. Next week? New Jersey.
I love crowns and am really vested in them. My logo was only the first of many crowns that I appropriated and assimilated and it truly would have been a shame if this Queen gig would have been a flash in the pan. Intially, I chose the logo crown because it was very Josephine and it’s been the jumping off point for endless others.
Early on, some asked me, perhaps a little bitchily, just who the heck had made me Queen. Well, I’ll tell you what I told them. “I’m self anointed. It’s a Napoleonic concept.” I really revel in that. It gives me the jollies and starts my days right. Embrace the concept and you too can be Queen (or King) – just not on my patch of cashmere.
I wear a crown almost daily and before you get a vision of me as Queen Victoria stting behind the computer in a jeweled coronet and lace lappets, let me explain.
Currently, I wear a diamond crown pendant mixed in with stands of pearls. It’s a jeweled version of my logo crown and I stumbled on it purely by accident a few years ago. My good friend Frank Pollak offers amazing, fine Art Deco and other vinatge jewelry on 1st Dibs. Frank has a gorgeous Art Deco conference room that overlooks Rockefeller Center on 5th Avenue and when I’m in New York and need a place to show cashmere to buyers he often, generously, lets me conduct my appointments there. Lucky me. I rarely leave empty handed either. My diamond crown was a real score. Hung from a chain around my neck or pinned to a black beret military style, I rarely step out without it.
Do you remember my post on Sandi Miller Burrows? She of the fabulous monogram pendants. Well, since my first post we have become friends. Although my pendant is still on the drawing board, I have been inclined to have her design one that incorporates a crown. I wouldn’t be the first woman to desire a jeweled monogram surmounted by a crown.
Princess Margaret was quite the bon vivant of her day. One of the first modern, royal celebrities, she was strikingly beautiful and unburdened by the royal responsibility that was carried by her sister Lilibet. Popular and and a real rebel, she was once quoted as saying, “disobedience is a joy”. She had a penchant for handsome young rogues, living in the fast lane and diamonds. As Princess Royal she was perfectly within her rights to sport a crown on her head and a dashing gentleman on her arm, but sometimes she opted for a crown on her lapel and a rogue in, oh never mind.
Below is a portarit of Princess Margaret, looking deceptively angelic, and the auction tear sheet for a diamond bauble given to her on the occasion of her 21st birthday. A curvaceous M surmounted by a diamond diadem, it was auctioned off a few years ago. I wonder who is the lucky person who wears it now?
And then there was Catherine the Great of Russia – another royal of legendary libido. In researching this post, I discovered that in her older years, she actually had someone “test drive” her lovers to make sure that they were of suitable prowess before they were admitted to her bedchamber. No sense in wasting a night with someone beautiful who could not deliver, is there now?
But to get back on track: while Catherine the Great preferred her crowns on her head, her ladies-in-waiting wore a monogram brooch to signify their service to the empress. I wondered why not a “C”? I imagine that “E” is for empress though as far as a monogram goes, it seem pretty generic. I could envision myself wearing something like this, except with a CS, hanging from a chain around my neck. Suggesting antiquity my pendant would be chunky, with rose cut diamonds that are slightly irregular, set in blackened, rhodium plated white gold. Divine, no? Sandi, are you listening?
This year, Lunar or Chinese New Year coincides with Valentine’s Day. Instead of designing my own mash up celebration, I’m inclined to singularly celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Tiger instead. Sorry, Cupid.
We have needed new dinner plates in my home for a while. In searching for a red and white pattern to replace my chipped and pale Bernardaud Louvre dinnerware, I considered these and these. Ultimately, I purchased the Red Dragon pattern from Mottahedeh. The dragon, a mythical animal that is revered by the Chinese, symbolizes benevolence and good fortune. It is also the ancient royal symbol of the Chinese Emperor. Royal. Undoubtedly, that speaks to The Queen on some subliminal level and must have been the deciding factor in my chosing this service.
Now that we know there will be a party, and it won’t involve paper plates, we can focus on the menu. Chinese tradtion dictates eating dumplings to usher in wealth and good luck for the upcoming year. I can roll with that, for sure. This year, since I’m a little under the weather from some recent surgery, we will have to order in. Auspiciously, my favorite restaurant in Chicago just happens to be Asian and is just around the corner.
I jokingly call Big Bowl on Cedar my second kitchen. We eat there at least twice a week — if not more. Whenever we have guests in from out of town they unanimously request to eat at Big Bowl, too. It’s a place where the food is excellent, the vibe cool, and the prices are like a kiss on the cheek. Add these attributes to a culinary conscience that adheres to authenticity, quality and sustainable resources and it doesn’t get much better than this. No wonder there is a well worn path from our front door to theirs.
To make things really festive, how about a Hibiscus Martini?
Do you recall last month when I recounted my story of sabrage at a party hosted by a gentleman named Adam? That would be Adam Seger, a Chicago mixologist of great acclaim whose latest creation is a liqueur called Hum Spirit –a lush and sophisticated, 70° potion. Hum is rum infused with an exotic blend of hibiscus, kaffir lime, cardamom and ginger.
Hibiscus + Rum = HUM. De-lish!
Big Bowl Hibiscus Martini
In shaker, pour over ice
2oz HUM Spirit Liqueur
1 oz. Yuzu Sour Mix
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
Shake and strain into a martini glass and ganish with a wedge of lime and a star anise.
Enjoy!
It’s another monster snow day here in Chicago. The forecasters have said this is going to be an “extended duration event”.
Once again, I’m dreaming of a snowy escape. It’s not the snow coming down on the salty street in front of my apartment which I can see through winter-grime laden windowpanes. Unfortunately, Daniel, the window washer who boldly hangs on hooks outside the building, wont be back on call until April.
I’m dreaming of heavy pristine snow. Colorado snow in the kind of setting that makes one sigh and think that they really are a winter person after all. In the kind of place that makes one wish for dinners for two (or twelve) before a roaring fire.
While I was in Beaver Creek two weeks ago, I picked up the Real Estate Update a big, luxe glossy aimed at making you covetous of the good life. Instead of reading the newspaper at breakfast, we perused the real estate listings.
Of course, Conrad the man/boy picked out the houses in the $12-13 million price range. Like this one with the Gothic, red foyer whose interior architecture literally screamed my name.
I don’t think that Conrad realizes homes like that need a staff including a major domo. My son is a lot like my father, a man of impeccable taste who always had the nicest house on the street, the newest luxury car and the biggest boat at the dock. Ernie lived large and Conrad is a lot like him. Let’s hope he finds a way to fulfill his grandest desires and take care of his loving parents in their old age!
On the other hand, I am a bit more realistic even in the fantasy arena. However, I’d still need to win the lottery to make my downscaled dream come true. Now I do know of several people who have actually won a lottery jackpot. One couple held the single winning ticket for a $40 million landfall that netted them $18million. Nice, huh?
Tonight the Illinois Mega Millions jackpot is $32 Mil. That would be sufficient, thank you very much. As I write this, Rom has been sent to the store for some snow day provisions and a winning lottery ticket.
I always say that the fantasy of spending the winnings is well worth the dollar price tag of a ticket. This is my dream for this week. How perfect is this charming chalet? And I might add it’s a comparable deal for a mere $2,850,000.
The interiors would need a little tarting up though. Inside it was all so brown making every room look like the furniture aisle at Costco. Obviously, the owners didn’t spend much time drooling over the design blogs or paging through the shelter magazines. The things I could do. Oh, another cool million would cover it.
If you came into a $32 million jackpot, where would you go? This is an exercise in fantasy so cut loose. Have fun.
It’s only a buck to dream big.
Jayson Home and Garden in Chicago has a way with, well, just about everything.
During the summer, the brick-paved, outdoor garden shop is an urban oasis of topiary and green lushness. I never thought about cut flowers from Jayson Home until, like a breath of fresh air, an e-mail blew into my inbox this morning. Mad Love it proclaimed. Yup.
Leave it to Jayson Home and Garden to add just a little extra something to make their arrangements stand out.
How about a fragrant arrangement in a julep cup? Bedside perfection. And if one is good, a pair is better.
Or a lush pastel bouquet gussied up with pink and green ribbon? TrèsParisien, mes amours.
Va-va-voom red always sets my heart racing. How about you? 
Living only a few minutes from the shop, I popped by this afternoon and look what I found. You know these monogram hors d’oeuvres plates are right up my alley. What better excuse is there to have a few friends over for cocktails?
You can always shop online but be forewarned, the array of merchandise is so beguiling, you will want everything you see.
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