CHARLES JAMES AND ME

Some of the VIP’s who made the list for the “Oscars of the East” hosted by Billie Eilish, Timothée Chalamet, Amanda Gorman, Naomi Osaka, Tom Ford, Adam Mosseri and Anna Wintour were a sexy and shirtless Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello, Sienna Miller, Zac Posen, Debbie Harry, Elon Musk,Emily Blunt, Brooklyn Beckham, Cara Delevingne, Amy Fine Collins, and Thom Brown . This year many of the old guard were swept off the red carpet, which was actually white this season, to make room for the new stars. What I heard, repeatedly, on the Met’s steps was “It’s my first Met, I want to see what’s inside,” followed swiftly by “When are we going to eat?”The quick answers were Justin Bieber belting out “Baby,” “Lonely,” “Hold On,” and “Anyone” in front of theTemple of Dendur and a totally plant-based dinner. What else did you expect for 35 k? Here’s the inside scoop!

The Dècor

This year’s dramatic décor was inspired by the fall foliage of the American countryside. The entrance featured a facsimile of a grand oak tree with orange, yellow, red, and green leaves, which soared 40 feet above what is usually the mundane Information Desk in the Great Hall. The oak’s pedestal, covered in wild grasses and yellow florals, provided the base for the tree’s fabric-covered trunk. Leaves created from preserved materials covered the branches and appeared to have fallen onto the wall-to-wall sisal below, where they were hand-painted. Have you ever? After cocktails and non-stop gossip about AOC’s wildly inappropriate dress, n’est ce pas? — guests checked out the striking exhibitionIn America: A Lexicon of Fashioncurated by Andrew Bolton and Wendy Yu. The New York Times Senior Fashion Director and Chief Fashion Critic, Vanessa Friedman called out couturier Charles James’ black “La Sirène” dress made in 1939 as one of the show’s primary highlights. Check out my accompanying story “Charles James and Me” about my friendship with the legendary haute couturier. But I digress, the perfumed pack of 400 pared down from the usual 600, strutted to The Temple of Dendur for dinner. Rihanna, A$AP Rocky, Kim Kardashian, Isabelle Huppert, Prabal Gurung, Kaia Gerber, Jeremy Scott, Irina Shayk, Vera Wang, the Met Museums’ CEO Daniel Weiss, Director Max Holleinand others of that silk and stripe entered the glass-walled room through a triumphant arch cut out of a hedge covered in green boxwood and white clematis, before emerging into the dining room. The usually spare, stone-floored space was made to resemble a park with naturally overgrown, cascading flora. Trees made from recycled paper, some up to 14-feet tall, surrounded square and round tables throughout the room. Hand-painted fall leaves appeared on the trees, tablecloths, and the chic and ubiquitous sisal carpet. Centerpieces with club moss bases emitted wild grasses and late-summer flowers. Moss also filled the bottoms of hurricane lamps holding white candles. Fruitwood ballroom chairs had cushions covered in ivory or green linen, which matched the

This year’s dramatic décor was inspired by the fall foliage of the American countryside Far left to right: Lil Nas X, Kendall Jenner, Shawn Mendes, Megan Fox, Gigi Hadid, Kate Hudson, Anna Wintour, Kim Kardashian, A$AP Rocky & Rihanna

‘‘AS IN YEARS PAST, THE BATHROOMS BECAME THE DE FACTO VIP ROOMS WITH ILLICIT CIGARETTE SMOKING AND THE TAKING OF THE FORBIDDEN SELFIES.’’

hemstitched napkins. Who else would tell you these things? Miranda Brooks and Raul Avila, who created the magical décor, confided that all the flowers and other décor elements were sourced in the United States and were donated after the party and the latter—created primarily from recycled materials—will be reused. I knew you’d want to know.

The Menu

I’m going to spend less time on the menu because frankly, I preferred the years they served giant icecream scoops of Belugacaviar. That said, this year’s menu featured plant-based dishes from a group of 10 up-and-coming New York-based chefs—both firsts for the Gala. Among the chefs Marcus Samuelsson chose were Lazarus Lynch, Chef Simone Tong, Sophia Roe, Nasim Alikhani and Erik Ramirez.The chosen few received a parting treat of donuts coated with sugar and cinnamon by Chef Fabián von Hauske. Thank goodness for dear sweet and talented Fabián.

The Guests

As in years past, the bathrooms became the de facto VIP rooms with illicit cigarette smoking and the taking of the forbidden selfies. Among those spotted in the cubicles were Pete Davidson, Lil Uzi Vert, Frank Ocean and Erykah Badu. As I wrote about the stellar show in my last column, let’s focus on a few of the guests. My favorites were Lil Nas X, who arrived in an enormous golden cape which he slipped off to reveal gold-plated armor before stripping down to what he called “A slutty body suit.” Timothée Chalamet in his Converse sneakers, a vamping Billie Eilish - who stole the Met’s steps with her Cinderella dress on steroids - and Amanda Gorman, who came as the Statue of Liberty with a book as a purse that said, “Give Us Your Tired” on the cover. Isn’t Amanda adorable! Many of the attendees interpreted the“American Independence” dress code to go retro Hollywood glam including Hailey Bieber who confessed, “For me it’s about timeless American beauty, looking back on the Grace Kelly’s of the world and being inspired by that.” Let’s give the last word to the goddess that is Donatella Versace who said, “There’s something very special about the MET, when you are in this great building and have the courage and freedom to express yourself.” Among those doing just that were Megan Thee Stallion, Jennifer Hudson, Serena Williams, Alicia Keys, Dan Levy, Congresswoman Carolyn B Maloney, Ella Emhoff, Leon Bridges, Eliza Gonzalez, Karlie Kloss, Saweetie, Megan Rapinoe, Cynthia Erivo, Simone Biles, Ciara,Emily Ratajkowski, and Sudha Reddy! Part One of this must-see exhibition runs through September 5, 2022. Save the dates: Part Two of the show, In America: An Anthology of Fashion, opens on May 5, 2022, and the next Met Gala is on May 2, 2022. I can wait if you can. P metmuseum.org

R. COURI HAY AND CHARLES JAMES AT THE CHELSEA HOTEL IN 1972 The first time I met Charles James, I was a 17-year-old student escaping from prep school to party in NYC. Later, our friendship deepened while I was at Georgetown University and studying with Pulitzer Prize and Oscar winning writer Larry McMurtry at American University. Charles was always bursting with ideas and the energy to complete them and seemed infinitely more talented and committed to his craft than other designers I knew. For example, the sweater I’m wearing in this photograph of Charles and me in the Chelsea Hotel had two buttons that fell off the pockets. One was re-sewn by Halston, my lover at the time, the second by my mentor Charles James. Guess which one stayed on?

BY R. COURI HAY CHARLES &ME AMESJ My Friendship With the Fashion Icon

I GREW UP HEARING THE NAME CHARLES JAMES IN OUR HOUSE AND LIVING with his clothes. My maternal grandmother, who I called Nana, and my mother loved his hats, dresses and coats; my little brother, Walter, wore Charles James baby clothes. When I first started coming to New York on my own in the late 60s, I had letters of introduction, including one to my cousin, Kate Couri, who was a close friend of Diana Vreeland and her husband, Thomas, but who my Nana really wanted me to meet was Charles James. Alas, Vreeland and Charles never got along—they had a classic love-hate relationship—so instead, Mrs. Vreeland decided to send me along to Halston to get our Panama hats for Palm Beach. It was a meeting that kick-started a long friendship and ultimately an affair with the designer.

Mrs. William Randolph Hearst, Jr. in the four-leaf clover masterwork gown Charles James designed for her

BLACK AND WHITE FOURLEAF CLOVER GOWN c. 1964–1967, black marker on paper This famous Charles James-designed gown was originally creat-ed for Mrs. William Randolph Hearst, Jr. (left) to wear to the Inaugural Ball of President Eisenhower in 1953, however it was too large to fit through the doors of the White House. Mrs. Hearst did wear the Four-Leaf Clover Gown to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II later that year in London. Three exact duplicates were made for other clients, and several other garments with the same structure but differ-ent colors and skirt details were made over the next few years.

I met Charles at his 60th birthday party at Max’s Kansas City in 1966 and he fascinated me from 5 the get-go. There was romance around Charles, not to mention the constant drama and theatricality of his whole life and personal history —including the time the writer Jean Cocteau had to cut Charles down from a rope when he tried to hang himself over a love affair that ended badly. Charles lived and worked in three adjacent rooms on the sixth floor of the Chelsea Hotel on West 23rd Street. People like to talk about how seedy the hotel was in the 60s and 70s, but Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Willem de Kooning, Virgil Thomson, Viva, Thomas Wolfe, Ultra Violet, Dylan Thomas, and Richard Bernstein (the illustrator who did all the covers for Andy Warhol’s Interview Magazine), had all called the Chelsea home at one time or another. I recall hearing Lou Reed sing one of the first drafts of “Take a Walk on the Wild Side” to Candy Darling, who inspired the song , in Charles’ room at the Chelsea while she modeled Charles’ gowns. There was magic and mystery and a palpable charisma around Charles, and it was New York City for me. I can still visualize Charles’ main room, number 620 , with a big wall

BLACK AND WHITE FOUR-LEAF CLOVER GOWN c. 1964–1967, black marker on paper This famous Charles James-designed gown was originally created for Mrs. William Randolph Hearst, Jr. (left) to wear to the Inaugural Ball of President Eisenhower of white paper roses that he made in tribute to the in 1953, however it was too large to fit through the doors of the White House. Mrs. Hearst did wear the Four-Leaf Clover Gown to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II later that year in London. Three exact duplicates were made for other clients, and several other garments with the same structure but different colors and skirt details were made over the next few years. French designer Balenciaga, his erotic drawings, the peeling paint, the big storyboard for the biography he wanted me to help him write but never had time MRS. WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST, JR. IN THE FOUR-LEAF CLOVER MASTERWORK GOWN CHARLES JAMES DESIGNED FOR HER to finish, his faithful protégé Homer Layne, and always, his beloved beagle, Sputnik. During this period, I also embarked on a relationship with Halston. We went to Fire Island, Greece and Paris where he would send me to Yves Saint “CHARLES JAMES IS NOT ONLY Laurent to buy clothes, and he would instruct me,

THE GREATEST AMERICAN “Buy the trench coat, get the safari jacket, get this, COUTURIER, BUT THE WORLD’S get that.” And then he’d say, “You know, I’m just going BEST AND ONLY DRESSMAKER to move this button a half-inch and change the collar WHO HAS RAISED IT FROM AN APPLIED ART FORM TO A PURE ART FORM.” a little bit, and thensend it to China to copy; it’s a lot faster and cheaper than being Charles James and Cristobal Balenciaga spending three years and $20,000 perfecting a sleeve.” I’d buy hats in London from Herbert Johnson, and I’d come back for one of Halston’s shows and he would take the hat right off my head, put his label over Johnson’s, and send it down the runway. Of course, I told Charles everything and it fed right into not only what he felt about Halston, but about Seventh Avenue. When it came to design, Charles’ mantra was “I give a woman the figure she wants but doesn’t necessarily have.” He was an engineer and an architect; he built his clothes from the inside out. For example,

that time, 70 and infinitely distinguished and very quiet and witty, Miss Dietrich chose to be photographed in it, and then wished to buy the dress. I thought she looked badly in it, and Miss Arden wouldn’t let it be sold to her. She felt that the way she did her hair was uninTell me about dressing Marlene Dietrich in the Bow Dress for Vogue? When I remade it for Elizabeth Arden, 10 years after first making it for a lady who was, at that time, 70 and infinitely distinguished and very quiet and witty, Miss Dietrich chose to be photographed in it, and then wished to buy the dress. I thought she looked badly in it, and Miss Arden wouldn’t let it be sold to her. She felt that the way she did her hair was uninspired, and certainly she was extremely grouchy at the photographic sitting. It was a hot day—there was no air-conditioning at Miss Arden’s in those days—I got an immense block of ice and put a fan behind it, and it still did not please her. The dress was in one piece, cut on the bias, with ties on the diagonal opening from which allowed a certain amount of flesh to be seen for those whose figures justified this—such as the divine Dietrich. spired, and certainly she was extremely grouchy at the photographic sitting. It was a hot day—there was no air-conditioning at Miss Arden’s in those days—I got an immense block of ice and put a fan behind it, and it still did not please her. The dress was in one piece, cut on the bias, with ties on the diagonal opening from which allowed a certain amount of flesh to be seen for those whose figures justified this—such as the divine Dietrich.

“I THINK IT WAS WRONG TO PUT HIM IN THE MARKET—THAT’S LIKE TAKING PICASSO AND SAYING YOU’RE A PAINTER, PAINT THE HOUSE. THIS IS A MAN WHO SHOULD’VE BEEN KEPT IN THE EXPERIMENTAL LABORATORY DEVELOPING THESE THOUGHTS HE DID.” Bill Cunningham Fashion Historian and Photographer for The New York Times

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continued on page 96 MARLENE DIETRICH WEARING CHARLES JAMES’ BOW DRESS IN A 1944 ISSUE OF VOGUE.

black and white dresses to the horse show at the Garden, got the bottom all fouled up and then I had continued on page 96 to have the skirt taken to pieces; she was very upset about having to pay to have it repaired. I couldn’t afford that sort of client.” MARLENE DIETRICH WEARING CHARLES JAMES’ BOW DRESS IN A 1944 ISSUE OF VOGUE. Charles was not a businessman, so money was PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN RAWLINGS, VOGUE, OCTOBER 1, 1944 always a problem. He hated the fact that he had to make money to produce his beautiful garments so he simply ignored the financial realities of his situation. “My clients don’t pay their bills on time so neither do I,” confided Charles. Even though he had a serious list of rich patrons, he never had a client or a corporation that poured endless streams of money into his accounts. I always felt protective towards Charles because I had always heard his name spoken

at 10 pounds, the “Four-Leaf Clover” gown, also known as the “Abstract” dress, is one of Charles’ heaviest gowns, but the bodice was tight and the gown was engineered so that all the weight came to the hips. Charles was all about the Point: point of sexuality, point of tension, point of interest, and point of weight. Austine Hearst, who the dress was made for, said it became practically weightless when she famously wore it to the March of Dimes gala and then to Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation Ball in London. Charles was very proud of the fact that when they ran the film of the gown in movement, it looked good regardless of whether the film was running forward or in reverse.

Despite his many clients and creations, I never really thought of Charles as being in business. When Charles looked in the mirror, he saw Charles James the artist; he never saw a designer— he hated MARLENE DIETRICH wearing Charles that word. “You are only as good as the people you James’ Bow dress,” said Charles, whose client roster comprised a who’s who of the 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond. This Dress in a 1944 issue of Vogue. group included Queen Ena of Spain, Lady Dina Cooper, PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN RAWLINGS, Millicent Rogers, Dominique de Menil, Mrs. John VOGUE, OCTOBER 1, 1944 Hay Whitney, Gloria Vanderbilt, the sculptor Elizabeth Strong-Cuevas, Elsa Peretti, and Babe Paley, of whom Charles recalled, “I ended my business relationship with Mrs. Paley because she expected 120 yards of hem to be shortened a half-inch by the evening, only coming in at three and didn’t expect to pay. And she wasn’t the only one.” Of Mrs. Vanderbilt he remembered, “Gloria Vanderbilt wore one of my big

“DRESSMAKING IS THE MOST VITAL IF IT CARRIES WITH IT A FORM OF LOVEMAKING FROM THE MAN WHO DOESN’T WANT TO MAKE IT WITH THE WOMAN.” Charles James

BOW DRESS 1962, pencil on paper Bias cut crepe evening dress made in 1944 for Marlene Dietrich; 1935 is the date when the dress was first made. 87

BOW DRESS 1962, pencil on paper Bias cut crepe evening dress made in 1944 for Marlene Dietrich; 1935 is the date when the dress was first made.

of Art during the “Charles James: Beyond Fashion” exhibit at the Costume Institute in 2014. A more thorough exhibition was subsequently mounted at The National Arts Club later that year hosted by Cornelia Guest, Amanda Hearst, Anne Hearst McInerny, Patricia Hearst Shaw, Gillian Hearst Simonds, and Kimberly Rockefeller. In 2020 I gave the Met three hundred of James’ drawings from my treasure trove, which ended up being the largest private collection of the designer’s drawings in the world. Eventually, I’m planning on giving the Met several hundred more along with similar gifts to The Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Museum at FIT. I’ve also given a group of his erotic drawings to the Leslie Loman Museum in NYC. Currently, I am BOW DRESS 1962, pencil on paper Bias cut planning additional gifts and a James show at the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, Russia. Over crepe evening dress the years I bought more drawings so that Homer made in 1944 for Marlene Dietrich; 1935 is the date Layne could buy back many of the grand gowns, dresses and coats that were also part of the Met’s when the dress was show from an auction at Doyle’s. It’s my great sorrow first made. that I never wanted to wear any of the dresses, although I did don his famous rainbow-colored ribbon cape and the white satin eiderdown evening jacket that Salvador Dali described as the “first soft sculpture” to Studio 54. I knew that Charles needed love, he needed attention, he needed support, he needed encouragement. I tried to bring a youthful enthusiasm to his life. Back then I was a tornado of energy. I would come into the Chelsea and turn the place

with almost reverence during my youth and knowing how much my mother and grandmother loved his clothes, I took care of him , as best a teenager could, in a friendly way. One winter, I bought him a grey cashmere coat and a black lamb’s fur hat at Brooks Brothers on my parents’ account. I would take him to Max’s Kansas City or the local automat, just to have dinner and talk. Charles was a peerless raconteur and I never tired of listening to him. He was my window into an earlier era of history, a flashback to a time I never knew.

I bought Charles’ drawings, some of which I posed for nude, one by one for $500 each, which is why today I have this remarkable collection; a selection of which were displayed at the Metropolitan Museum