Happy Mother's Day!

I'm off to give fond wishes to my Mom on her special day! I hope you all have a very nice weekend and don't forget to tell your mommy you love her! Happy Mother's Day to all you mother's out there!

the olympic

Own your own!! Petit Trianon

Remember the rare 1913 book I had on the Petite Trianon with full floor plans, sections and details? Well one is on ebay now with 3 days left - this is a FABULOUS and RARE book! Not sure what it will go for but I paid well over $100 for mine. The cover looks a little different than mine but the edition is the same. Bid todayat EBAY!

Favorite Photograph

Do you have a favorite image? Perhaps something that sums up your aesthetic tastes in one equisite photo or painting? Well, I do. It's a photograph of models in Charles James couture gowns taken by one of my icons - Cecil Beaton.

Charles James was a couturier's courturier who championed the 'New Look' along with Dior, just less commercially and more exquisitely (exquisite is the word of the day, folks!). Cecil Beaton was a tastemaker, artist, author, photographer, designer from the mid 20th century, best known for his set and costume designs for such movies as Gigi and My fair lady. Pair them together and you have 2 of the geniuses of the 20th century working together! It's so odd that most of my favorite designers (and characters, they were all odd!) were friends. In this huge world they found each other to share ideas with. How lucky!

I love the fact that these models are seen relaxing before a fashion show in a BEAUTIFUL room in beautiful gowns. They're having tea, fixing their hair in the mirrors and chatting: they're LIVING in beauty GLAMOROUSLY.

I especially love the color version of this as it has that TECHNICOLOR glow -so much better than REAL color. The black and white images is also beautiful but doesn't capture quite everything for me. The most memorable part of this famous photograph for me is the model off on her own in the background on the far left side. You get a glimpse of her looking into the mirror; a private moment. She is eyeing the photographer and through him, us, the viewer. She seems to be saying ' oh, just leave me alone'. She had no idea she would live on for history in this really insignificant moment during her life.

I've looked for a quality hard photo of this image for years to frame, but haven't found one in my price range (they range from 4-6k!!! for a copy of a photograph!!). One day, one day...

Mount Clare

This weekend while in Baltimore, I stopped by Mount Clare -a house museum right in the middle of the city on a huge property. The weather was beautiful and I managed to take a few pictures.Dating from 1760, the home was built as the summer house of Charles Carroll; the center of an 800 acre plantation named ' Georgia'. Later after his death, his wife retired there and it stayed in the family for over 100 years. The house boasts a sophisticated Georgian plan with the stately stair to the side of the entry hall -not your common center hall! Also, instead of wood, the 'paneling' on all the walls was actually made of insect repellant plaster.Later, because of the change in the neighborhood it housed numerous organizations till 1900 when it was purchased by the city and used as a bathhouse for the industrical workers who lived in the neighborhood and the remaining property became a city park. Now a Registered National Historic Landmark, the home is open for tours and is operated by the city of Baltimore.A crappy image of some cool built-in bookcases at the office. Excuse the mess!

Visit them online

cute bike!

Forget the outfit, this bike is AMAZING! How cute would it be to drive this around a beach town this summer? I wish I lived in a more bikeable area!

Via the Sartorialist

Minton Vases

I've been a bad blogger and haven't posted in a few days! I've missed sharing my thoughts here! So for this week, I thought I'd start with a china of the week posting - these beautiful Minton vases are sucessionist in style from around 1910. I know Loda will appreciate the pink and green colors!The secessionist art movement started in France formally in 1897 with Germany and Austria quickly following. The term 'secession' refers to the modernist artists seperating themselves from academic art cultures. The most famous of these artists was Gustav Klimt ( I think you all know 'the kiss'! ).

I love the natural crazing that these older pieces have. While these aren't something I would have in my own home I really love the color and playfulness of them!

They're online on ebay for a short time only ( 4 hours left as of this posting )