$5.00 SEPTEMBER 2012
JULIE MACKLOWE IN TOM FORD AT THE MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
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FALL FASHION ISSUE
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Impeccably-designed, renov elevator TH on the most desirable UES block. 5BRs, 5.5 bths, 3 fplcs & high ceils. $19.5M. Web #1297691. D.DiLorenzo 646-942-7327
Builtin2000toclassicTHstandards.5BRs,7fplcs,S-facing grdn, 2 balcs, elev. State-of-art plumbing, wiring & radiant flrs.$10.9M.Web#1294509.K.Henckels212-452-4402
E 67th. Terraced on every side, eleg 10 rm, full flr PH. LR, libr,dblMBRwWBFPs,Frdrs.Opncityvus.Sep2BRapt avail.$9.95M.Web#1269814.J.Bowden212-585-4551
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Park Avenue Beauty with 3BR Plus Library
3 MBRs + libr or 4BRs. Large LR w WBFP, FDR & hi ceils. Bright corner MBR floats over Park Ave. FS co-op w stor, gym.$6.2M.Web#1279804.A.Lambert212-452-4408
Top prewar co-op. 4 rms facing Park. Lrg gallery opens into eleg LR w WBFP & adjacent FDR. Beaut E/W open vus. $5.3M. Web #3274615. R.Brown 212-434-7079
LR & libr w CP views, 2 MBRs, 2.5 bths & kit w bkfst rm. In most desirable white glove Emery Roth bldg on 5th Ave.$4.35M.Web#1305787.M.Furniss917-696-5577
New.Renov9into8rm,prwrdetail,sunnyNWexpos.LR wWBFP,libr,FDR,EIK&maid'swbth.DistingFSCarnHill bldg.$3.495M.Web#3299210.K.Meem212-452-4415
Prewar Spacious Classic 6 in Prime 70's/Lex
New to Mrkt. Amazing CP & City Skyline Vus
New to Market. 4BR Condo on W 57th
Hidden Hamilton Heights Gem on Best Block
Elegant2-3BRco-op.Fyr,grandLR,DR.2mrblbths,wndwd EIK,maid’srm&bth;W/D.Hiceils,grtclsts,thru-wallAC. $1.935M.Web#1302099.E.Frommer212-452-4389
Mint,renovMetropolitanTwrcondo.3700+sf,hiflr3-4BR, 4.5 bath, LR, DR. Beautiful. Pool, garage, dining club, gym, concrg.$9.99M.Web#3351758.C.Taub212-452-4387
Spectacular Hudson & city views. Approx 3417 sf apt w great rm/DR, kit, 4 bths. Bldg drmn, gym & rooftop pool $5.95M.Web#3235660.EmilyHanna212-452-4404
MagnifrenovTHwtradit'ldtls&newdtls.Newhotwtrtnk, plumbing, electric, wiring, roof, kit applis, HVAC & 3 wine cellars.$1.875M.Web#3266236.L.Yusuf646-613-2640
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950 5th Avenue Duplex with Central Park Views New. Stunning 12-room triple mint apartment overlooking Central Park. Living room and library with wood-burning fireplace, formal dining room, eat-in kitchen, 4 bedrooms, 5.5 baths, high ceilings and lovely architectural details. $27.5M. Web #3284379. Cindy Kurtin 212-452-4406/Jessica Vertullo 646-709-3340
Historic House on Bleecker Garden
FabW.VillageFullFlrCondoOvertheHudson
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Stylish West Chelsea South-Facing Loft
Renov,charming5floor,4BR,4bathoncovetedPerrySt. 7fireplaces,double-heightLR&topflrsunrmwlrgdeck. $9.995M. Web #3124246. P.D’Arc 212-452-4377
New. 4BR, 3.5 bth w 4 expos & vus from every rm. Terr, den, grmt kit, lndry, corner MBR w built-ins, fplc & mbth. $4.9M. Web #3299376. T.Garland 646-613-2626
Loft-like 1BR, 1.5 bath duplex co-op. LR w 18' ceils, stateof-art kitchen, spiral staircase, W/D. FS bldg w garden & gym.$1.85M.Web#3310055.C.Serrano212-585-4571
New. Bright & elegant w 12' ceilings, Schiffini kit. Storage incl. Full service condo w rich amenities. $1.05M. Web #3186768.ShannonHelmsWisniewski646-613-2755
UPTOWN 924 MADISON AVENUE 212 570 2440 · CHELSEA 340 WEST 23RD STREET 212 243 4000 · TRIBECA 32 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS 212 941 8420
John Burger
Naomi Davis
Rachel Glazer
THE LEHMAN ART HOUSE
TRIPLE MINT FULL FLOOR-5TH AVE
THE PLAZA PARKFRONT 4BR & LIB
West 50s/Fifth Avenue. Meticulously restored into a 21st Century headquarters, 25’ wide, commercially zoned, elevators, trading rooms, gym, original details . Exquisite. $65M. WEB# 1756112. Paula Del Nunzio 212-906-9207
East 70s/Fifth Avenue. High floor, 70’ fronting Central Park. 18 rooms, 6BR. Masterfully designed, meticulously renovated. Soaring ceilings, 30 windows, 2 wood burning fireplaces. Eat-in kitchen. $50M. WEB# 3127836. John Burger 212-906-9274
CPS. Opportunity to own two 15th floor apts. Outstanding park views-80’ fronting Central Park. Over 4,600SF. Iconic Plaza Hotel. 5 star amenities. $25M. WEB# 1757792. Burt Savitsky 212-906-9337 John Burger 212-906-9274
HIGH FLOOR PARK AVE DUPLEX
PARK AVENUE BEAUTY
SUNSETS AND SERENITY ON FIFTH
UES. Sun-drenched 12 rm dplx in PW Co-op, 4BR, 5.5 baths, LR, FDR w/wbfp and wet bar, EIK w/b’fast rm, libr, gym, billiards rm w/kit, 2 md’s rms, md’s bath. $7.695M. WEB# 1563802. Cathy Franklin 212-906-9236 Alexis Bodenheimer 212-906-9230
Park Ave. Beautiful corner apt with fantastic views, 7 room classic. Living rm with wbfp, FDR. 2BR + library/bedroom, staff quarters, storage bins. Bldg has garage with special price for tenant. $6.3M. WEB# 1752829. Avideh Ghaffari 212-317-7712
East 60s/Fifth Avenue. This airy five room apartment floats above Central Park with views equally appealing at dawn or dusk. 2BR, 2.5 baths, doorman building. $5.75M. WEB# 3230705. Kathy Sloane 212-906-9258
LARGE 2BR NEAR CENTRAL PARK
THE TURIN
ELEVATOR TOWNHOUSE PENTHOUSE
UES. Large LR. FDR. 2BR, 2.5 baths + staff rm/bath. Great S-facing light. Lovely built-ins. 10 closets. W/D in apt. Wonderful bldg near Park. Pieds-a-terre ok. $2.25M. WEB# 3218055. Diane Abrams 212-588-5605 Felise Gross 212-588-5681
CPW. Renov, sunny 3BR, 2 bath Co-op w/open city/park views. Gracious LR & DR, sep BR wing, WEIK, PW details, high ceils, great storage, W/D, 24-hour DM. $1.995M. WEB# 1755773. Curtis Jackson 212-317-7774 Adam Flax 212-317-7708
UWS. Sun flooded penthouse in elevator mansion with private roof terrace and Juliet balcony. 2BR + office, 2 full baths, wood burning fireplace, Central Park block. $1.485M. WEB# 1543414. Edward Joseph 212-588-5646
William Grant
Caroline E.Y. Guthrie
Scott Harris
Thomas Hemann
Curtis Jackson
Edward F. Johnston, III
David Kornmeier
NEW YORK CITY
THE HAMPTONS
PA L M B E A C H
All information is from sources deemed reliable but is subject to errors, omissions, changes in price, prior sale or withdrawal without notice. All rights to content, photographs and graphics reserved to Broker. Equal Housing Opportunity Broker.
Russell Miller
Howard Morrel
THE DUPLEX AT TRUMP TOWER
OLYMPIC TOWER DUPLEX
HISTORIC AND GRAND PREWAR
CPW. Only duplex in 1 CPW. Sitting on the 49th & 50th floors with 4,266SF and 4BR, 4.5 baths. Gorgeous Western exposure of the river. Triple mint. 5-star service. $16.4M. WEB# 1557703. Kyle Blackmon 212-588-5648
Fifth Ave. Direct Central Park and River views from this corner living room, formal dining room and wood-paneled library. 3BR, 3 baths and double master bedroom suite. Meticulously renovated in 2010. $10.75M. WEB# 1745077. Daniela Rivoir 212-906-9276
Carnegie Hill. 13 rooms into 10. 4 grand entertainment spaces, 50’ directly on reservoir with classic park views, 3 wbfp, 4-5BR. Lots of original details. $8.995M. WEB# 1555479. Frosty Montgomery 212-588-5655
Frans Preidel
Stephanie Rappoport
Sophie Ravet
GREAT HOME AND INCOME
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Kips Bay. Co-Excl. Wide townhouse, currently lovely 2 bedroom owner’s duplex, 2 bedroom rental apartment, and garden floor medical office. Delivered vacant, wonderful light, tree lined street. $4.5M. WEB# 1753211. Liz Dworkin 212-906-0509
Park Avenue South. Ground floor retail space with 15+ ft ceilings and approx 5,497 total useable SF. Zoned for commercial use, allows restaurant, office, retail and many others. $3.75M. WEB# 3164051. David Kornmeier 212-588-5642
Midtown W. Lux LR/DR w/lrg new wndws, wood flrs, 2BR, 2.5 bath, 2 terraces, close to CP in FSB w/concierge, DM, garage, gym. Pieds-aterre and pets ok $2.895M. WEB# 1735522. Carol A. Raskin 212-452-6215 Mark P. Raskin 212-452-6214
Michael Reed
Nada Rizk
Kathy Sloane
2 BEDROOM WITH TERRACE VIEWS
INCREDIBLY LOW MAINTENANCE
MINT CONDO DUPLEX WITH VIEWS
East 67th Street. 2BR, 2 baths with set back terrace. Amazing city views, priced to sell. Doorman building. $1.055M. WEB# 1547950. Louise Devlin 212-588-5622
UES. 2BR, 2 full baths, west of Third in handsome full-service Co-op bldg. Close to 6 line and crosstown bus. Very quiet. $995K. WEB# 1735524. Jane Rothchild 212-712-1127
UWS. Mint1BR, 1.5 bath duplex with 16’ windows and balcony. Renovated chef’s kitchen and baths. Master suite with total privacy and light control. FS with pool, gym, library on roof. $775K. WEB# 3168498. Dede Minor 212-396-5825
NEW YORK CITY
THE HAMPTONS
PA L M B E A C H
All information is from sources deemed reliable but is subject to errors, omissions, changes in price, prior sale or withdrawal without notice. All rights to content, photographs and graphics reserved to Broker. Equal Housing Opportunity Broker.
Penny Toepfer
Lisa Vaamonde
100
114
CONTENTS FALL FASHION I SSUE 90
BELLE OF IT ALL
fashion muse for some of today’s top designers—is at it again, launching a brand-new luxury skincare line, vbeauté, and modeling some of this fall’s hautest fashions for Quest at the Museum of the City of New York. AND
100
DANIEL CAPPELLO,
PHOTOGRAPHED BY
THE KING OF COUTURE
PRODUCED BY
ELIZABETH MEIGHER
BEN FINK SHAPIRO
Sitting down with one of America’s most renowned women’s
fashion designers, Oscar de la Renta, as he receives the 2012 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion at the Museum at FIT.
108
MODELS: THEN AND NOW
BY
VALERIE S TEELE
A look back on the glamorous life and times of three of the
industry’s original—and truly great—supermodels. BY LILLIAN CROSBY
114
BERGDORF GOODMAN: ANNIVERSARY OF AN ICON
The New York City department
store legend has set the gold standard for a singular 111 years.
120
108
The ever-stylish Julie Macklowe—mother, businesswoman, and
THEIR NAME WAS VERONICA
BY
LILY HOAGLAND
Sisters-in-law Veronica Swanson Beard and Veronica
Miele Beard are pioneering a new brand of American chic.
BY
DANIEL CAPPELLO
120
144
62
CONTENTS 68
C OLUMNS
66
26
SOCIAL DIARY
58
SOCIAL CALENDAR
62
HARRY BENSON
64
OBSERVATIONS
66
FRESH FINDS
74
AUDAX
76
CANTEENS
78
ART
136
WHAT THE CHAIRS WEAR
138
APPEARANCES
140
YOUNG & THE GUEST LIST
144
SNAPSHOT
Tales and chronicles of the social scene, as we see it.
BY
DAVID PATRICK COLUMBIA
Our monthly guide to the best benefits, events, and charity happenings.
What it was like to photograph the grande dame of couture, Madame Grès. Gore Vidal: A master of American letters, and more. BY TAKI THEODORACOPULOS
New outfits and outlooks for fall. BY DANIEL CAPPELLO AND ELIZABETH MEIGHER
Our columnist on what is was like to return to boarding school, and how that has changed. An “industrial brasserie” makes an entrée on the downtown scene. BY DANIEL CAPPELLO
Considering Steven Holl’s revolutionary implementations of space. BY ELISABETH SAINT-AMAND Ensembles fit enough for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. BY KAREN KLOPP
The Allen & Company conference at Sun Valley will enlighten you.
BY
HILARY GEARY
All the best summer parties come to an end. BY ELIZABETH QUINN BROWN
Turning the camera on the fashion world’s photographers for a change.
BY
DANIEL CAPPELLO
1223 MADISON AVE N U E AT 88TH STR E ET
questmag.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
DAVID PATRICK COLUMBIA C R E AT I V E D I R EC TO R
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EDITOR’S LETTER
Behind the scenes of the Quest photo shoot with Julie Macklowe (left); vintage sketch from the Bergdorf Goodman archives, now at the Fashion Institue of Technology’s Special Collections (right).
“It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.” – Oscar Wilde FASHION IS A LANGUAGE that New Yorkers speak fluently.
They know how to pronounce its diacritical marks, from the accent aigu of a gold cuff bracelet to the cedilla of a stiletto heel. Speaking this language tends to sharpen the tongue, as those who dedicate their lives to it know too well, so it’s best to bob and weave when dashing through the tents during Fashion Week. I passed by a poster recently that perfectly summed up the city’s relationship with fashion, “NYC: Tolerant Of Your Beliefs. Judgmental Of Your Shoes.” Luckily, well-heeled men and women abound in this year’s Fashion Issue, starting with the multifaceted Julie Macklowe. As a bright (and beautiful) young woman, she managed her own $250-million hedge fund, Macklowe Asset Management. Not content to rest on those laurels, she has now launched her own cosmetics company, vbeauté. This darling dynamo still found time to swan around the Museum of the City of New York for our cover story, humbling the rest of us mere mortals who can’t even find time to finish the copy of Salmon Rushdie’s latest memoir, sitting reproachfully on the bedside table. Moving along from fatwas to fabrics, Oscar de la Renta is being honored this month with the 2012 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion. Valerie Steele talks to the designer about his success through the years and how it’s more fun to design for today’s modern woman, since he believes we know exactly what we want. I will try to remember that the next time I’m at a restaurant (“Oh, I’ll order after everyone else, thanks!”). One of Mr. de la Renta’s favorite places, Bergdorf Goodman, is celebrating its 111th anniversary this year. We spoke with Linda Fargo, who is among those helming the occasion, and she gives us an inside peek at the festivities, from the store-wide parties to the exclusive collection. Now is definitely the time to stop by this stylish store—the shopping has never been sweeter. 24 QUEST
While you’re perusing, take a gander at Veronica Beard, the twice-eponymous clothing line started by two sisters-in-law. Daniel Cappello sits down with the fashionable version of “The Patty Duke Show” to discuss what it’s like being one of Gwyneth Paltrow’s favorite brands. Half of fashion might be clothes, but the other half is the people who display them. Lillian Crosby had a backstage pass to the runway madness as the mother of a famous model, and she relives the halcyon days while catching up with how the leggy, bird-like beauties are doing today. As avid fashion ornithologists, we can’t get enough. Finally, a belated introduction. I’m Lily, the new executive editor of Quest. I have Georgina’s high-heeled shoes to fill— large only in spirit, not in size—and look forward to gamboling in them. In the immortal words of the great philosopher David Bowie, “I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring.”u
Lily Hoagland ON THE COVER: Julie Macklowe, founder of the new luxury skincare line vbeauté, photographed by Ben Fink Shapiro at the Museum of the City of New York in a Tom Ford dress, Marina B earrings, and JAR ring. Part of “Belle of It All,” by Elizabeth Meigher and Daniel Cappello.
OSCARDELARENTA .COM
D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A
David Patrick Columbia
NEW YORK SO CIAL DIARY AUGUST DAYS were the dog days of summer in New York. As anyone within the Northeastern corridor knows, it was a hot month with occasional rains. That kind of weather kept New Yorkers off the streets (whenever possible), although the restaurants were doing business after the
sun went down. And the tourists filled in for the New Yorkers who were out of town, up in the mountains or out by the beaches. So it was a peaceful place to be for those of us who kept close to home. What seemed remarkable to many of us was the sheer number of well-known New York-
ers, or New York-centric individuals who left us in the short span of a month. For example: Gore Vidal, Marvin Hamlisch, Helen Gurley Brown, Neil Armstrong, Judith Crist, and Phyllis Diller. There were also others whose passing caused great sadness and shock because, although they were not
famous, they were prominent, highly regarded members of the community and, very often, famous among the famous. Samuel “Sandy� Lindenbaum was one of the most prominent of these. Mr. Lindenbaum, whom I did not know, was revered in the business, cultural, and real estate
THE 2012 MILLBROOK HORSE TRIALS
Lelee Brandt and Tom Francoline
Molly Schaefer and Linda Daines 26 QUEST
Caroline Merison, Rebecca Seaman, Cat Kennan and Karen Klopp
Phillip Dutton with Donald and Barbara Tober
Monica Wambold and Becky Thornton
Doug and Jennifer Dundas
A N N WAT T
Chris Spitzmiller and Alexandra Kasmin
THE WO O DLA ND CHA R M B R A C EL ET
P L E A S E C A L L 212 688 1811 F O R P E R S O N A L S H O P P I N G S E R V I C E S W H I L E W E A R E C L O S E D F O R R E N O V A T I O N V I S I T O U R W E B S I T E A T A S P R E Y. C O M
D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A ANIMAL RE SCUE FUND OF THE HAMPTONS HOSTED “JEWELS OF SUMMER”
David Yurman and Jay Gladstone
communities. While I never met the man, I was always aware of him because so many people referred to him by his nickname with apparent respect and affection. I never heard a suspicious or unkind word uttered about him, which is unusual for someone with such a high profile in the corridors of power. Among those who posted notices mourning his loss were the Board of Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, the Board of Trustees of the Educational Alliance, the Weill Cornell Medical College, the Board of Trustees of Guild Hall of East 28 QUEST
Lisa McCarthy with Donald
Sara Davison and Frances Heyward
Hampton, the Board of the Lincoln Center of the Performing Arts, the Prospect Park Alliance, Riverdale Country School, Hunter College, the UJA-Federation of New York, the Board of Trustees of Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, the American Friends of the Israel Museum, and dozens of individuals who either worked with him over the years or were his friends. They remembered him with abundant gratitude and friendship, describing him with words and phrases such as beloved, mentor, a major force, shaped the skyline, invaluable, a great man, generous, a man who treasured his family, the smartest man
Alana McCarthy and Hailey Baldwin
Faran Cohen, Marcy Czeizler and Jayme Cohen
in the room, a great friend, a loving father and grandfather, a joy in travel, a visionary, and steadfast. I only knew Mr. Lindenbaum by name, which I heard often in passing conversation and always in the kindest tones. I didn’t even know until recently that he was a lawyer—obviously an important one. His area of expertise was real estate and he was a revered friend to many. He was evidently the go-to guy, the man who could make things happen. His word could clear the path for development, for assistance, and he kept the wheels turning in the city. Every community that is healthy
and vibrant has a Sandy Lindenbaum, if they’re lucky. New York was lucky. Another individual who was held in high esteem and was well-known in cultural and social circles on both sides of the Atlantic was Elizabeth Fondaras, known as “Liz” to her many friends. She died at her home at 2 East 70th Street. Liz turned 96 last March and, despite handicaps created by the vagaries of old age, I saw Liz only a little more than a month ago at the ballet. She bore a certain resemblance to Edith Wharton: an American bred in another age who moved in society and adopted France as her second,
PAT R I C K M C M U LL A N
Rita and Frank Castagna with Gene Pressman
190 YEARS AGO
A MAN BET ON HORSES AND CHANGED WATCHMAKING FOREVER .
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D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A and sometimes permanent, home. I would classify her as a personal “friend” only in the way that happens in New York, where one can meet so many people but see them so rarely. We met at dinners, parties, and benefits. We were sometimes dinner partners and, occasionally, I was a guest of hers when she entertained at home. What distinguished her from most other people was that Liz was always warmly friendly. Not unsophisticated but, nevertheless, imbued with a real down-home American personality. In other words, there was nothing fancy in her self-presentation. There was no need; she was comfortable
with herself. We met through our mutual friend Heather Cohane back in the ’90s when I first started writing for Quest, which Heather started in the late ’80s. Heather, who now lives in Monte Carlo, sent me this message about Liz on hearing about her death: “She was the first American I knew. We met in Kitzbuhel, Austria, when I was 17. I was with my Mother, staying in a wonderful old castle, and Liz chaperoned me to all the nightclubs with her dog, Wig. I loved her dearly and, when I was in New York in May, I stayed with her in East Hampton. She was a wonderful friend.”
Liz was born in Boston on March 19, 1916, as Elizabeth Temple Robertson, a descendent of an old Virginia family. I learned that from the New York Times obituary. It explained her natural graciousness, which was understaded but thorough. Her first marriage was to a wealthy lumberman named Charles Miller from the Midwest. Mr. Miller left her a widow early and she moved to Paris, where she lived for 10 years in grand style in an apartment in the Hôtel Lambert on the Île Saint-Louis. Her life in Paris had a profound influence on her. It was where she met and married another American, Theodore Weicker, Jr., of the
Squibb pharmaceutical fortune. The Weickers moved back to New York where Mr. Weicker was in the stock brokerage business. In the early 1950s, Liz started the Elizabeth R. Miller Traveling Scholarship program, which funded 10 young French surgeons to work in American hospitals. In the mid-1950s, she started another scholarship program with the St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire. Over the course of a half century, the program supported the education of almost 100 French boys and girls. Right up to the end of her long life, she was involved with philanthropies, supporting the Franco-Ameri-
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can community. Liz just liked people. She was nobody’s fool and took people on their own terms. To Heather, for example, she always played the role of the older sister. She served on the boards of the St. Paul’s School, as well as the Children’s Storefront in Harlem, the Institute for International Education, and La Maison Française here in New York. Every year on July 14th, she gave a big Bastille Day picnic for around 100 friends at her beachfront house in East Hampton (with an irresistible menu provided by Vincent Minuto of Hampton Domestics). She also threw herself a birthday party each 32 QUEST
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year at her apartment at 2 East 70th Street. In 1971, three years after Mr. Weicker died, she married Anastassios Fondaras, a Greek Navy commander and former managing director for Stavros Niarchos. The couple divided their time between New York and Paris where they kept a pied-à-terre, also on the Île Saint-Louis. Mr. Fondaras died in 1999. There was a funeral service for Liz at St. Luke’s church in East Hampton. A memorial will be held at a later date, here in New York. New York is the ultimate passing parade of remarkable humanity, fast and often furi-
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ous. Many of us who consider ourselves New Yorkers—who are regarded as New Yorkers—come from all over the world, to pursue our dreams and goals, to realize our talents and to build better lives for ourselves. The city and its access to everything necessary for the creative personality, especially the access to other people, is its own aspiration. One of those who exemplified it was Helen Gurley Brown. Too modest a personage to ever hold herself in high regard or be concerned with her own prominence, she lived a life that perfectly articulated those words of another brilliant New Yorker, Fred Ebb:
“If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere. New York, New York...” Goodbye, Pussycat. Helen Gurley Brown died at New York Presbyterian Hospital sometime during the early part of the day on August 13. She had turned 90 on her last birthday, February 18. Many of us who knew Helen hadn’t seen her in a couple of years. In the previous decades, I shared Thanksgiving dinner with Helen and her husband, David Brown, as their guest at the Four Seasons Restaurant. Always at the same table, for four, in the Pool Room. Always at 4 p.m.
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D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A We had met in the mid1990s at one of Judy Green’s cocktail parties, or maybe at one of Alice Mason’s dinner parties. I think it was Alice who first suggested that Helen and David invite me as the fourth when another guest couldn’t make it. It became an excellent and, for me, fortunate habit. Helen always called in May to make the date. “Hello, Pussycat,” she’d purr—well, almost, in that soft gentle voice that greeted me on the other end of the line. “We’re hoping you will join us for Thanksgiving this year.” I was always happy to accept. “Now don’t back out on us, Pussycat,” she’d say in
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her dulcet tones, before saying goodbye. A couple of weeks later, I would receive another call in the morning. “Good morning, Pussycat.” Of course, I knew whose voice I was listening to.
“David and I are looking forward to seeing you on Thanksgiving at 6 p.m. at the Four Seasons Restaurant.” How could I forget? That was a partnership: “David and I.” A partnership
to remember. A tribute to Love and Marriage. Anyone who was ever around them knew that. A complete partnership. There never were children, not even a pet, I don’t think. (David had a son named Bruce from a previous marriage.) It was Helen and David or David and Helen. He was the “he” and she was the “she,” and they lived out their marriage together, very often planning business, dinners, and trips. When Helen had to travel for business, David, who had a long and very successful career as a film and theater producer, was by her side, or standing behind her. When, at the end of her career, they’d
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D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A moved her upstairs and sent her out to open Cosmopolitan magazines across the world, David went with her, always taking the backseat. He was Mr. Helen Gurley Brown, and delighted to be so. It amused him because, of course, he was attending with his teammate. He was the story of her life. They met in Los Angeles in the late 1950s through Don Belding, the California partner of the major advertising firm of Foote, Cone & Belding, which is now part of Interpublic Group. Helen had started out as the secretary to Don Belding, who ran the West Coast office. She later became a copywriter after nagging for “a chance.” (Nagging is the
wrong word because Helen wasn’t a nagger, but it’s the right idea.) She was given that chance and she succeeded. That was about 60 or 65 years ago and, to give you an idea of what Helen was like, when she was given that promotion to copywriter, she brought in a young woman named Charlotte Kelly to replace her. Helen had originally hired Charlotte on Belding’s behalf to work as a file clerk. The two women became good friends from the start. The last time I had Thanksgiving with David and Helen, in 2010, the other guest was Charlotte Veal, formerly Charlotte Kelly, a longtime New Yorker and close lifelong friend of Helen.
When Helen made friends, she kept them. Neither David nor Helen had a flamboyance of ego, which often afflicts people in what are perceived as “important” positions for “important” people—positions that are held in professional lives. They certainly could get V.I.P. treatment wherever they went, and I’m sure they didn’t mind it for the convenience of moving more quickly through a crowd. But they conducted themselves as one of us. When they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a dinner together at Per Se, the haute cuisine restaurant in the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle, upon leaving the res-
taurant, Helen wanted to take a bus back to their apartment on Central Park West because she thought the meal was too expensive. David reneged on that one, persuading her that he wasn’t going to finish celebrating the day by taking a bus home. He was thinking of the convenience he had earned and she was thinking of what was financially practical. Helen very often took the bus, even long after Hearst had provided their star editor with a car and driver. The first time I ever saw her in New York, sometime in the late 1960s when she was already the famous and famously successful editor of Cosmopolitan, she was getting on the uptown
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bus in the vicinity of the Hearst offices, carrying a couple of briefcases and a shopping bag full of papers. When she took you out to lunch and had invited you, she’d pull out her change purse to count out the nickels and dimes to get the exact change on the table. She wasn’t “cheap” but she was mindful. David wasn’t crazy about that, and they did have the kind of money where they could afford a car and driver anytime. Helen wouldn’t hear of it. In the 1960s, Helen was a successful copywriter at Foote, Cone & Belding; David had become involved in 38 QUEST
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film production, working for Darryl Zanuck as a story editor at 20th Century Fox after having been hired away from Cosmopolitan, where he had held a similar position. It was then that David suggested to Helen, who had been a single girl well into her thirties (which in those days was considered well on the way to spinsterhood) that she write a book about her experiences as a single woman supporting her family and looking for a man. The result was Sex and the Single Girl, a title David had suggested. It sold in the millions and Helen became famous. She was now married and much of her time was
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being taken up personally responding to each of the thousands of letters she got from fans seeking advice. One day David, seeing how serious she was about each letter, suggested she turn the whole thing into a magazine where she could have articles with “advice,” etc. He had the nose: the time was ripe. The two of them—the team—set out to make a proposal for a magazine. And when it was finished, David, using his connections in the business, went with Helen around to publishers with the idea. The famous book was the editorial hook. The idea wasn’t an overnight sensation
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in the executive suites of the magazine industry. In the mid1960s, the topic of women and sex as the basis for a popular publication was either avant garde or pornographic—in a time when pornographic was as far from mass appeal as it was from avant garde. But it was just as the culture was in transition. Finally, when Helen and David took their magazine idea to Hearst, the man they pitched it to (someone David knew well) understood the idea. That said, he was wary of investing in and launching a new title. However, David learned that one of the company’s former staples, Cosmopolitan,
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D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A had long fallen out of interest with the readers and was going to stop publishing. Why not bring it back as a fresh, brandnew magazine with Helen as the editor, doing her thing? The rest is history. As ordinary as it seems today, it was groundbreaking. It was not a “woman’s magazine.” It was a magazine for a woman making her way, on her own. The current obituaries list Helen as “an editor” of the magazine. That is incorrect. She was the magazine. It wouldn’t have existed without her. Helen Gurley Brown (and David) created a new magazine that went public using an old, nearly defunct title. In a short time, it became so hip (read:
successful) that it was then forever known as Cosmo. Hearst made millions. For more than two decades, it was the hottest and largest grossing magazine in the Hearst stable. Whether or not it is true, it has often been said and reported that, for years, Cosmo kept its parent company in the black. The editorial focus came easily to Helen because it, like her bestselling book, which was made into a film with Natalie Wood, was a reflection of her life. She grew up a poor girl from Arkansas who had to work to support herself and her mother and her sister, who had been crippled by polio at an early age. She was a worker bee but also a natural student
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with a flair for expressing herself in words, and without any illusions about her looks being used as a lure for a man of means who could solve her financial obligations. I never asked her about it but I am certain that, in her three decades at the helm of her magazine, she had her eye on the ball all the time. That was the way she was brought up and the way she lived. That was actually the way that entire generation of Americans was brought up. Helen’s great success in her business originated with hard work. She was faithful to her dreams, wishes, and needs as a woman, and was magnificently enhanced by her marriage and the intellectual and creative partnership she developed with her husband. Over the years, the Browns were enormously successful professionally, separately and together. With this mutual 42 QUEST
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success, they shared a mutual respect and devotion to each other. There were issues that you might call marital. I don’t know of many, but they were only human. He thought it was ridiculous to take a bus when you could easily afford a limousine, or at least a taxi. She felt that one glass of scotch (for David) before dinner was enough. Both were expressed in front of their friends, but always rather mildly. Those matters were not their focus as a couple. David always wrote the cover lines for Cosmo, just as he suggested the book and its title. As a man who was always looking for a good story—he was, after all, the man who purchased writer Ernest Lehman’s short story, “Sweet Smell of Success,” for Cosmo when he was story editor of the magazine in the late 1940s, early 1950s—David was al-
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ways aware of what his wife was thinking about editorially because it had often been discussed long before. And she picked his brain for feedback. In their great careers, they came to know the world and the world came to know them. Together and separately, they were polite, gracious. He was courtly and she was girlishly intimate in conversation. They both were curious to know you in depth. They were serious about their interests, their curiosity, and their endeavors. They loved their social life but it never owned them. They lived for the past three decades in a triplex apartment at The Beresford at 81st Street and Central Park West that their friend Alice Mason had found for them. It was just “home” to them. Together, they wore their luxury like an old coat. They lived well, were wined and
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dined by the best upper sets, etc., but Helen always made David’s breakfast before she left for the office. And that was after she’d had her morning workout with a trainer at the crack of dawn. She always managed the household staff, planned the dinner dates, arranged the trips, sent the cards, and wrote the thankyou notes. David handled his own business similarly. He enjoyed her “wifely” habits, and her “womanly” issues of keeping herself in shape and looking good. “Sexy” was an important part of her regimen. Later, there were “liberated” women who would criticize her for it, but it was her modus vivendi: how she, this little girl from near Little Rock, got what she had always wanted yet never imagined she could have. David liked that too. Their professional lives were their
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D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A main mutual interest, their great bond outside the bonds of holy matrimony. David was really Helen’s executive editor. The reverse may have been true for her with him. Although, whatever feedback he got from her about his work was kept between them. Their myriad friends from the rich, the famous, and the celebrated to the completely unknown were all their pleasure. They enjoyed everyone’s company. David was very liberal (in the current vernacular) in his political leanings, although they
were always mildly expressed or with an ironic tone of voice; Helen was always the wifely listener. You could easily imagine that she shared his opinion, whether she did or not. The last time we all dined together (with Charlotte Veal) was on Thanksgiving in 2009 at the Four Seasons Restaurant. David, who up until a few months before had been in relatively good health, was suffering from serious kidney ailments and on dialysis. He had been nonambulatory for about a year and required a
wheelchair, which annoyed him greatly. Helen, too, had begun to have trouble getting around although when I met them for dinner that year, she refused to be taken into the room in a wheelchair. After taking the service elevator to the main floor, I walked her from the kitchen to our table on the other side of the Pool Room. It was a long walk for a woman who had seemed to me to have become frail overnight. It took us a good 20 minutes. David’s infirmities had more than begun to
get the best of him. Sound and sharp in mind, his body was failing him. His natural mild manner was afflicted with the little things that had become monumental, like feeding himself and sitting at table in a wheelchair. He nevertheless kept up our conversation with anecdotes and questions to me about the world I was seeing and the thoughts I was having. But it was a hard one for him. After dinner, David was quickly wheeled from the dining room, although Helen still
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refused a chair to help her move quickly from the crowded (and still crowding) room. Our trip to the door was even slower because so many got up from their tables to say hello and tell her how much they admired her work. The lady loved the compliments. They warmed her heart like a gift from a loving husband. Meanwhile, David had to sit there and wait on the ground floor, which would have annoyed me greatly, although he barely showed any impatience. Once we were all together, several came to assist the couple out into their waiting limousine on a jammed East 52nd Street at 6:30 p.m. The whole 46 QUEST
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ordeal upset David very much, although he naturally withheld his high exasperation for the benefit, no doubt, of his wife who was maintaining her own frail demeanor. I left them that night very concerned about their days ahead. David could no longer fill his role as her partner and protector, nor could she completely fulfill her role as wife and caregiver. I knew they were well taken care of by special staff but nothing could provide the gusto and the energy that propelled this extraordinary couple to a big, rich, full life blessed with work and reward, friendships and amazements, leading accomplished,
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industrious, prosperous lives together and separately. David died two months and four days after that Thanksgiving. He was 93. I was amazed at his great age because in the previous 20 years that I had known him—as a man much older than I—his mind and thoughts were always fresh. Not young but vigorously, youthfully fertile. When I heard the news that he had died, I was relieved for him but my thoughts immediately turned to Helen’s future. I know it was a great concern of David’s because, in those last days, he could still assess her situation. She had become very vulnerable. It was one of
those situations where I was sorry they couldn’t have left together, as evenly as they had lived the previous half of a century. Charlotte Veal and I had dinner with Helen that following Thanksgiving. As was her habit, she called me (“Pussycat...”) the previous May, and again the following October, to make sure we still had a date. I knew it wouldn’t be easy for her but, this time, she let them bring her to the table in a wheelchair. We talked about many things, including me. I learned that she had several opinions about my habits and how I liked things and what I
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D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A didn’t like. I was amused by her thoughts because they also reflected how she had assessed all men and how she had navigated successfully through life on her point of view and its subsequent assessments. But she was failing that day too. And it made me very sad when we left that she was not going home to David because she was lost without him. And getting more lost. Hers was a very gentle spirit. You could hear it in her voice. I’m sure there were “downsides” to the lady who pressed the Zeitgeist. That may have annoyed some, perhaps many. But she was a woman of morals, and grace, and a natural courage. That was her
birthright, which she managed with prudence and alacrity. She was loyal and devoted to her friends, as well as her husband. And she was kind. These simple virtues, as natural as the sun and the wind, are not so easily found in many of the work and social environs that Helen Gurley Brown navigated on that extraordinary all-American trip from Little Rock to the Great Metropolis. God granted her a great life, with a man who was her great man. And God granted us a friend, a friend to many, including those she would never meet and never know who would yet somehow know her. A good life passed through and blessed us all. u
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WEST 74TH STREET – STEPS TO CENTRAL PARK: Brand new
drenched terrace. Opulent master suite with two baths and two dressing rooms. $3,450,000. WEB: Q0017516
townhouse renovated to beyond perfection. $20,000,000.
ROGER ERICKSON SENIOR MANAGING DIRECTOR
212.606.7612 | www.roger-erickson.com
EAST SIDE MANHATTAN BROKERAGE | sothebyshomes.com/nyc 38 EAST 61ST STREET NEW YORK, NY 10065 T 212.606.7660 F 212.606.7661 Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. is owned and operated by NRT LLC. Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark.
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D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A A L E X H I T Z ’ S D I N N E R PA R T Y I N H O L LY W O O D H I L L S
Carol Mack and Alex Hitz
Bily and Alexandra Kimball with George Farias
Carly Steel
Sharon Sondes, Rachel Hovnanian and Justine Bloomingdale
Nikki Haskell and Barbara Davis 54 QUEST
Marin Hopper and Frances Schultz
Annette Tapert and Georgia Howe
Beth Rudin DeWoody, Susan Stroman and Craig Starr
PAT R I C K M C M U LL A N
Christine and Jason Kirk
B R A S S E R I E
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D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A A B O O K PA R T Y F O R I M P E R F E C T B L I S S B Y S U S A N FA L E S - H I L L AT J . M C L A U G H L I N I N S O U T H A M P TO N
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PAT R I C K M C M U L A N
Dayssi de Kanavos and Ashley McDermott
Featured Greenwich Properties
Private and expansive manor set on 8.7 acres with 2 gated entrances. Exceptional kitchen by Smallbone, indoor pool, sports facilities, staff wing, wine cellar, theatre, generator, and more complete this ultimate Greenwich residence. $23,000,000.WEB: 0066249. Shelly Tretter Lynch & Amy Marisa Balducci
Custom 2007 shingle and stone Colonial on 4+ landscaped Backcountry acres with English gardens, pool and spa. Master suite with 6 additional family bedrooms and ensuite baths. Fabulous lower level with game room, theater, pub, wine cellar, sport court, gym, steam room. $17,199,000.WEB: 0066296. Carol Zuckert
Better than new. A gated entrance welcomes you to this park-like estate on a private in-town lane. Renovated to perfection 10,000+ sq ft main house with 8 bedrooms, 7 full baths, 9 fireplaces, home theater, gym, wine cellar, and elevator. 3 bedroom guesthouse. Pool with spa. $11,900,000.WEB: 0066134. Renee Haggquist
Timeless design and superbly crafted 20 room manor on 5 lush acres. Six bedrooms, 9 full baths, luxurious kitchen, 4 family rooms, library, English pub, theatre area, elevator, wine cellar, exercise room, 8 fireplaces. Pool. Approvals for court, guest and pool houses. $10,500,000.WEB: 0066034. Barbara Stephens
Escape to your secluded Mediterranean compound on Putnam Lake with unparalleled water views and sunsets. This spectacular 5-acre property at the end of a cul-de-sac includes a guest cottage, indoor and outdoor pools, and a sports court. $8,690,000. WEB: 0065947. Bill Andruss
Beautiful Belle Haven Victorian. Eight bedroom retreat on sweeping lawns and lovely gardens accompany this picture perfect country compound complete with oversized pool and fully equipped, terraced pool house. One bedroom studio carriage house. $7,950,000. WEB: 0066264. Lyn Stevens
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CALENDAR
SEPTEMBER York Mets will play the Atlanta Braves. For more information, call 212.365.7442.
8
STOMPING DIVOTS
The University of Virginia will play Yale University at the 28th annual Harriman Cup polo match from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Meadowbrook Polo Club in Old Westbury. For more information, call 212.716.2142.
9
IN THE ’BURBS
The Greenwich Cup will take place from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Greenwich Polo Club in Greenwich. For more information, call 646.526.7643.
12
FIRST PLACE
1stdibs and the New York Design Center will present “The World of Gloria Vanderbilt: Collages, Dream Boxes, and Recent Paintings,” an exhibition open from September 13 to October 24. For more information, call 212.679.9500.
15
ART FOR ART’S SAKE
“AfterDark@THEARC” to benefit Town Hall Education Arts Recreation Campus will begin at 6:30 p.m. in Washington, D.C. For more information, call 202.889.5901. GAME, SET, MATCH
The Wall Street Tennis Challenge to benefit the National Ovarian Cancer Early Detection Program at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine will take place at the Field Club of Greenwich and the Greenwich Country Club. For more information, call 917.459.2027. On September 18, New Yorkers for Children will host its annual gala at 6:30 p.m. at Cipriani 42nd Street. Last year, the event raised $1.75 million to benefit the non-profit organization, which partners with the Administration for Children’s Services. For more information, call 212.867.1117.
1
6
“Azuero on the Harbor” will take place at 4 p.m. at the home of Cindy Sherman in East Hampton. For more information, call 631.907.9040.
The “Fashion Illustration: A Contemporary Look” exhibition will open at the Brooklyn Public Library Central Branch, on display through December 1. For more information, call 513.478.4489.
EASTBOUND AND DOWN
5
FASHION FORWARD
BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY
Mikhail Baryshnikov will be honored at the “Bright Lights Shining Stars” event at 6 p.m. at New York University’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. For more information, call 855.692.5678. 58 QUEST
STARRY NIGHT
American Ballet Theatre will present “Stars Under the Stars” at the residence of Jeanne and Anthony Pitzker in Beverly Hills. For more information, call 212.477.3030.
PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER
Fashion’s Night Out at Rockefeller Center, an event sponsored by the Council of Fashion Designers of America, NYC & Company, the City of New York, and Vogue, will take place from 6 to 11 p.m. For more information, call 212.768.5700.
7
TAKE ME OUT TO THE GAME
New York Stem Cell Foundation will host an event at 7 p.m. at Citi Field, where the New
18
CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS
New Yorkers for Children, a non-profit organization that partners with the Administration for Children’s Services, will host its annual gala at 6:30 p.m. at Cipriani 42nd Street. For more information, call 212.867.1117.
20
ALL ABOARD
“Art Greenwich” will take place through the 24th from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. aboard SeaFair, a 228foot yacht docked at the Delamar Greenwich Harbor in Greenwich. For more information, call 239.495.2024.
Established 1934
Future brides and grooms please join us for a Champagne Reception for our Wedding Registry Event September 22nd 11 to 6.
504 Park Avenue
(between 59th and 60th Streets)
212-755-2590 www.scullyandscully.com
Fine Home Furnishings
Gifts
Bridal Registry
Interior Design
CALENDAR
SEPTEMBER THE LOT OF IT
Sotheby’s will auction property from the estate of Brooke Astor at 10 a.m. For more information, call 212.606.7000.
27
ONCE UPON A DREAM
The American Cancer Society will host the DreamBall to benefit Look Good...Feel Better at Cipriani 42nd Street. For more information, call 212.237.3896.
30
GOES FOR MILES
The Atlantic Antic will host 500 vendors from 12 to 6 p.m. on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. For more information, call 718.243.1414.
OCTOBER 4
MOVE YOUR BODY
BODYART, a modern dance company, will open its season at the Baruch Performing Center through the 7th. For more information, call 212.861.0990.
9
TURN OFF THE LIGHTS
The Museum of the City of New York will host “New York After Dark” with sponsorship by Badgley Mischka annd Graff Diamonds at the Four Seasons Restaurant. For more information, call 917.492.3326. On September 12, 1stdibs Gallery will present “The World of Gloria Vanderbilt: Collages, Dream Boxes, and Recent Paintings,” an exhibition at the New York Design Center. For more information, call 212.679.9500. BE MY VALENTINO
New York City Ballet will hold its annual gala, with performances featuring costumes designed by Valentino Garavani. For more information, call 212.870.5570.
22
FARM TO TABLE
City Harvest will host its Brooklyn Local event at 11 a.m. at Pier 1 in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Guests will be able to experience items from 75 vendors. For more information, call 917.351.8725. CHAMPAGNE WISHES
Scully & Scully will host a reception for couples preparing to register from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at its store at 504 Park Avenue. 60 QUEST
For more information, call 212.755.2590. SAY GRACE
to benefit the Buoniconti Fund will take place at the Waldorf=Astoria. For more information, call 305.243.4656.
10
A WALK IN THE PARK
The New York-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medical College will hold Cabaret 2012 at the Park Avenue Armory. For more information, call 914.235.1490.
The Princess Grace Foundation will celebrate its 30th anniversary with an awards gala at 6:30 p.m. at Cipriani 42nd Street. For more information, call 212.245.6570.
24
IT’S AN HONOR
The Honorable Tina Brozman Foundation will hold its annual benefit at 6:30 p.m. at Cipriani 42nd Street. For more information, call 212.880.5757. A HOME RUN
The Great Sports Legends Dinner
On September 8, the annual Harriman Cup polo match will host a competition between the University of Virginia and Yale University at the Meadowbrook Polo Club. For more information, call 212.716.2142.
Heart of Eastwoods - Long drive to private setting. Three landscaped acres with gorgeous Pool and Spa. Classic Country Colonial. Gracious Entrance Hall. Living Room with Fireplace. Cozy Library. Formal Dining Room. Kitchen open to fabulous Great Room with Fireplace and French doors to Screened Porch. Private Master Suite with Fireplace and door to private Sun Porch.Three additional Bedrooms plus Au Pair. $999,000
A Pound Ridge Landmark - Charming Country Farmhouse, circa 1850, with wide plank floors, hand-hewn beams and original hardware. Living Room with Fireplace. Den with wet bar. Formal Dining Room. Country Kitchen with Breakfast Area. Three Bedrooms. Private Office. Wraparound stone terrace. Two peaceful, usable acres, bound by old stonewalls, with gorgeous gardens. Small Barn,Two-Car Garage and old farm building. $739,000
Distinctive Shingle - In the heart of Bedford. Pillared front porch.Two Story Entrance Hall. Sun-filled Living Room with Fireplace and coffered ceiling. Formal Dining Room. Country Kitchen with Breakfast Room. Family Room with Fireplace. Four Bedrooms. Media Room. Wine Cellar. Bonus Room. Over four private acres with wonderful playing field, rushing stream, old stonewalls and rolling lawns. Perfect privacy yet just moments from Bedford Village. $1,895,000
Beech Hill - Fabulous Stone and Shingle Colonial with the finest materials and appointments. Grand Entrance Hall. Sun-filled Living Room. Dining Room with Fireplace. Family Room with Fireplace. Country Kitchen. Garden Room with Fireplace. First Floor Guest Suite. Master Suite with Fireplace, Sitting Room, Dressing Room and Bath. Three additional Bedrooms all with ensuite Baths. Playroom. Nearly five gorgeous acres. Pool site. $2,995,000
Overlooking Whippoorwill Lake - Serene setting with protected privacy. 12.9 acres surrounded by conservation lands. Long drive to 90’ bridge over a waterfall to dramatic building site. Stunning high elevation with amazing southern water views. Approved pool site. Access to Turn-of-the-Century Boat House and right to build your own dock. An exceptional opportunity to create an incredible retreat within one hour of New York City. $2,150,000
Phenomenal Waterfront - Sophisticated Stone and Cedar Country house beautifully sited overlooking a scenic pond and the Mill River. Visually stunning living space imbued with style-reclaimed oak floors, paneled walls painted in crisp white, walls of windows and vaulted ceilings. Fabulous for entertaining! Over three spectacularly landscaped acres. Stunning Swimming Pool, outdoor Fireplace and outdoor shower. Sauna at water’s edge. $2,195,000
(914) 234-9234
493 BEDFORD CENTER RD, BEDFORD HILLS, NY SPECIALIZING IN THE UNUSUAL FOR OVER 60 YEARS
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H A R RY B E N S O N
IT SEEMS LIKE YESTERDAY PHOTOGRAPHING FOR French Vogue in the
early Seventies, my wife, Gigi, always said to me, “If you have the opportunity to photograph Madame Grès, be sure to do your best, for she is my favorite. Nothing compares to her evening dresses. They are incredible.” When the assignment came, I found Madame Grès was also the favorite of the editors I was working with at French Vogue. To them, she was couture royalty. I was well aware of this when I met the famed designer for the first time in Paris. I had to live up to the expectations not only of Gigi, but of the editors as well. Madame Grès was as elegant and charming, as was to be expected—no hysteria, no frenzy, just calm elegance. Before we began, she sat down for coffee with three French Vogue editors and me in what they called her cabine, or atelier. The models in her signature draped silk jersey gowns joined us. It was so calm. No one was shouting like in the other ateliers we had visited. No histrionics. No throwing a 62 QUEST
bunch of scarves on the floor like Yves Saint Laurent. No walking out of the showroom because she was unhappy with how things were progressing, like Hubert de Givenchy did. Her house opened in Paris in the 1940s and closed sometime in the 1980s. Her signature perfume, Cabochard, was launched in 1958. Although now absent from most of the shelves and hard to find, hers was the best, worn by men and women alike. All of the other designers were always very respectful of Madame Grès. She was exactly what the editors said she was: an innovative artist with good manners and impeccable taste. Copied today by others who fall short of her incomparable tailoring and attention to detail, she is sorely missed in the world of couture— but not forgotten. u Madame Grès founded her eponymous house in Paris in 1942. Here, she dresses models in colorful silk jersey in the early Seventies.
SEPTEMBER 2012 63
TA K I
TO THE BEST MAN
This page: Gore VIdal, Gay Talese, Susan Sontag, and Norman Mailer at an event. Opposite page, from top: Truman Capote; Norman Mailer; Dennis Altman, author of Gore Vidal’s America, calls his subject “the most significant American writer of the second half of the 20th century”; a young Gore Vidal.
GORE VIDAL was as good as it gets where writing is concerned—I can’t think of a single awkward sentence he ever wrote. He wrote a hell of a lot for someone who came from a very privileged back64 QUEST
ground and who was able to do more fun things than sit behind a typewriter. He completed 26 novels, among which were Williwaw, Washington, D.C., Myra Breckinridge, 1876, and The City and
the Pillar—his zinger—a novel about homosexuality that had his chic friends in Washington, D.C., as well as his patrician family in the South, heading for the hills for the duration. That was
in 1948. Vidal’s essays were his forte and his most successful play was The Best Man, which enjoyed a recent revival on Broadway. But all this you know. I want to tell you about a Gore Vidal that few people knew because he was an expert in hiding feelings behind a cold and cynical mask. The first time I met him in London more than 40 years ago, his opening line was: “Oh, hello. I read with great interest the lies you wrote about me.” He then shook my hand and smiled. “If only I could say the same thing,” I answered, as no one had ever heard of me at that point except for my parents and a few friends. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship, however seldom our paths crossed. Gore wrote short notes, mostly urging me to keep on writing and always saying, “Bravo!” when some rude remark such as one about Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians had readers asking for me to be sacked. Like all extremely intelligent people, he had an eccentric side to him. He was convinced that I was the well-known English writer Trevelyan writing fluff under the pseudonym of Taki. Go figure. Vidal was very funny about “queens,” as he called people of his sexual persuasion. (He was totally monogamous.) He was also extremely brave physically and, though a gentleman of the Old School, he never backed off when challenged. And he got challenged a lot because he was merciless with frauds, dumb rich people, social climbers, rightwingers, drag queens, ugly feminists, and cheap celebrities like Bianca Jagger and her ilk. And the Kennedys. Gore was the first to stand up to the thuggish and bullying Bobby Kennedy who, as attorney general, was busting down doors and acting like the
gangster his father and most of his family were and are. Bobby threatened Vidal in the White House during a state dinner once, and Gore told him to go ahead with his threat, saying, “I know how to handle cowardly gangsters like you…” Kennedy dropped it. Jackie was his stepsister, and he had seen through her long before we had elevated her to sainthood. Ultimately, his wicked wit was devastating. When informed that Truman Capote had just died, he remained expressionless and announced that it was “a good career move.” Capote was jealous of Vidal’s patrician manners and superior talents and spread a lot of malicious lies about him. Vidal never bothered to complain or ask for a truce. He simply killed Truman a second time. When Norman Mailer, very drunk, landed a left hook on Gore’s jaw at a very grand party 35 years ago, Vidal smiled and announced, “Here’s Norman, at a loss for words yet again.” Back in 2002, I went up to Provincetown to spend a day with Norman Mailer for a cover story we did in The American Conservative. To my surprise, I found Gore Vidal sitting on the veranda with a wicked smile on his face. “Have you boys discovered a new fascist to lead you?” pointing at Norman. “He’s been here a whole week and he’s driven me nuts,” said Mailer, who matched wits with Gore throughout his life. I was pleased to see two old literary lions in winter poking fun at each other. I am now very sad Vidal is gone, but he must have been pleased to leave. The modern world is not his natural habitat. u For more Taki, visit takimag.com. SEPTEMBER 2012 65
QUEST
Fresh Finds BY DA N I E L C A P P E L LO A N D E L I Z A B E T H M E I G H E R
THIS MONTH, with Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week taking place right here in our own back yard, it’s hard not to think of serious fashions for back-to-school time. And we’ve picked up some major labels, from Hermès and Carolina Herrera to Giorgio Armani and Prabal Gurung. Why not a new pair of Tom Ford shades for her, or Ralph Lauren velvet slippers for him? From gold accessories to golden scents, fall is in the air.
Fall babies (i.e., Scorpios) will be sure to fall for Roberto Coin’s Scorpion bracelet in 18-kt. yellow gold with cognac diamonds. $30,300. Roberto Coin: At Neiman Marcus, 888.888.4757.
Proving the power of print: the round-collar Twillaine dress from Hermès in “Laboratoire du temps” scarf print on black silk twill and “Les Cannes” print on black silk crêpe. $4,800. Hermès: 800.441.4488 or hermes.com. Stuart Weitzman’s Dagger heel makes the mark in black suede with chocolate feline hair. $385. Stuart Weitzman: 675 Fifth Ave., 212.759.1570.
Montblanc introduces the limited-edition Picasso writing instrument, featuring a Cubist profile on the cap and a pencil-inspired barrel. $33,500. Montblanc: 800.995.4810. 66 QUEST
Fresh Finds Get wrapped up in J.Crew’s three-
Your identity is safe with Tiffany’s Atlas luggage tag in sterling silver with black leather strap. Price upon request.
season printed scarf in a lush but airy
Tiffany & Co.: Fifth Ave. at 57th St.,
wool mix. $65. J.Crew: Available
212.755.8000, or tiffany.com.
at J.Crew boutiques and jcrew.com.
Cat’s got your eyes with Tom Ford’s Nikita sunglasses, in shiny black and
Carolina Herrera
shiny ivory vintage-style acetate frames. $360. Tom Ford: 845 Madison Ave., 212.359.0300.
masters it with this double-georgette embellished blouse ($2,290) and cottonand-silk mikado
Wake up your skin’s cell vitality with an ideal solution for normal to oily skin types: Kiehl’s Rosa Arctica Lightweight Cream. $60. Kiehl’s: Available at Kiehl’s stores, 800.KIEHLS, or kiehls.com.
Asprey’s divine Fern necklace, featuring emeralds and diamonds set in platinum with black rhodium highlights. $302,000. Asprey: Available at 212.688.1811 or asprey.com.
68 QUEST
short ($990). Carolina Herrera: 954 Madison Ave., 212.249.6552.
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Fresh Finds Polished to perfection: Rolex’s Oyster Perpetual
No time for nonsense? Go for Angelo Galasso’s
Datejust II in
Polso Orologio Corleone
steel comes with a
Collar Shirt in burgundy.
polished bezel
$1,230. Angelo Galasso:
and Oyster
One West 58th St.
bracelet. $7,150.
(at The Plaza Hotel),
Rolex:
212.371.4400.
800.36.ROLEX.
Keep the essentials close at hand with Salvatore Ferragamo’s distinguished leather wallet in a rich, masculine shade of burgundy. $300. Salvatore Ferragamo: 800.628.8916.
Giorgio Armani makes the man: jacket ($2,495), shirt ($925), trouser ($895), hat ($425), and bag ($2,315). Giorgio Armani: At select Giorgio Armani boutiques and armani.com.
David Yurman offers a sophisticated new take on a timeless men’s piece with the black pavé diamond Curb chain ID bracelet in sterling silver. $4,500. David Yurman: 212.752.4255.
Add an elegant touch of heritage to your wardrobe with Ralph Lauren’s dark brown Collis Velvet Horse Slippers, crafted in Italy. $650. Ralph Lauren: ralphlauren.com.
70 QUEST
WITH GRATITUDE TO OUR MANY HUNDREDS OF SUPPORTERS FOR A HUGELY SUCCESSFUL NEW YORK CITY BOOK LAUNCH AT THE MUSEUM OF ARTS AND DESIGN ON MAY 9, 2012.
–MEERA GANDHI AND THE GIVING BACK FOUNDATION
$50 HARDCOVER AVAILABLE AT
Chartwell Booksellers • the Corner Bookstore • Crawford doyle Booksellers rizzoli Bookstore • st. Mark’s Bookshop • www.aMazon.CoM
please visit: thegivingBaCkfoundation.net
Fresh Finds
To celebrate new roads leading to the resort, Casa de Campo is offering free roundtrip airport transfers for visits of four nights or longer. For details and restrictions, visit casadecampo.com.do.
Wempe’s Helioro BY KIM tapering bangle is a set of nine 18-kt. rose gold strands flowing seamlessly into one another, seemingly endlessly. $12,945. Wempe: 700 Fifth Ave., 212.397.9000.
Stacey Bendet’s Reese flare box-pleat dress is the perfect go-to dress for all of fall’s occasions. $495. alice + olivia by Stacey Bendet:
Meet HiM—the result of a decade in the making—and find a fresh, woodsy scent sure to please both him and her. $50-95. Hanae Mori: Exclusively at Bloomingdale’s, 59th St. and Lexington Ave.
aliceandolivia.com.
Go glam from head to toe in Prabal Gurung’s doré gold cut-pile tinsel coat (price upon request), ivory wool crêpe and gold lamé skirt ($1,195), and ivory silk crêpe and The little gold shoe that will carry you a long way: Belgian Shoes’ metallic Midinette in gold with black trim. $350. Belgian Shoes: 212.755.7372.
72 QUEST
gold lamé darted blouse ($795). Prabal Gurung: Bergdorf Goodman, To Order, 212.753.7300.
ROBERTA.McCAFFREYREALTY ROBERTA.McCAFFREYREALTY Garrison • Cold Spring, NY • 60 Mins NYC Westchester,Putnam,DutchessMLS Garrison • Cold Spring, NY • 60 Mins NYC Westchester,Putnam,DutchessMLS
143MainStreet,ColdSpring,NY10516 143MainStreet,ColdSpring,NY10516 Tel:845.265.4113•www.mccaffreyrealty.com Tel:845.265.4113•www.mccaffreyrealty.com info@mccaffreyrealty.com info@mccaffreyrealty.com COLD SPRING Stunning cedar and stone contemporary is nestled on 2 ½ acres of private, fenced, woodland property. The spacious three bedroom home features pine slat-wood ceilings, stone walls, gleaming hardwood floors, open floor plan and clean, modern lines. The beautifully landscaped property, with blue stone paths and patios and lovely gardens is only minutes to the village and Metro North. Offered at $799,000
GARRISON, NY - Enjoy the ultimate in condo living in THE CASTLE, a well-known landmark high above the Hudson River. This luxurious 2 floor, 2 bedroom unit offers breathGARRISON, NY - Enjoy the ultimate in condo living in THE CASTLE, a well-known taking views from Bear Mountain Bridge to Newburgh Bay. It has huge open rooms, 12 to 15 landmark high above the Hudson River. This luxurious 2 floor, 2 bedroom unit offers breathfoot ceilings, 4 fireplaces, gourmet kitchen, and sumptuous baths. It also offers outdoor spaces, taking views from Bear Mountain Bridge to Newburgh Bay. It has huge open rooms, 12 to 15 central air conditioning, and garaging for 2 cars. Offered at $2,999,999 foot ceilings, 4 fireplaces, gourmet kitchen, and sumptuous baths. It also offers outdoor spaces, central air conditioning, and garaging for 2 cars. Offered at $2,999,999
PUTNAM VALLEY Historic 1906 Oscawana lakefront cottage, completely restored to perfection. Built by Christy Walsh, Babe Ruth’s manager, the house hosted the Babe in the GARRISON, NY - An Spacious and open country home withporch fabulous HUDSON RIVER 1920’s and 30’s. expansive, wrap-around VIEWS to the west and north to Storm King Mt and Newburgh Bay. The living room features GARRISON, NYcomfort - Spacious and and open country home with fabulous RIVER offers breezy gorgeous views overandHUDSON cathedral ceiling and stone fireplace, and all living areas enjoy the views access to stone terVIEWS to the west and north to Storm King Mt and Newburgh Bay. The living room features races. 4 bedrooms and 2 ½ baths, includes huge masterevenings suite privatelybylocated on its own level. the lake and forested parkland. Enjoy cathedral ceiling and stone fireplace, and all living areas enjoy the views and access to stone terThe in-ground pool and cabana further enhance the 5.6 acre property. Offered at $1,995,000 races.original 4 bedrooms and 2 ½stone baths, includes hugeand masterdays suite privately the rustic fireplace on thelocated on its own level. The in-ground pool and cabana further enhance the 5.6 acre property. Offered at $1,995,000 beautiful lake. Adirondack living just one hour from NYC. Offered at $999,000
GARRISON, NY - Courtside. This rustic stone barn, whose distinctive architecture sets it apart from the ordinary, has been converted into 10,000 square feet of luxurious GARRISON, NY - Courtside. This rustic stone barn, whose distinctive architecture living space. The home features large public rooms, country kitchen, 7-8 bedrooms and sets it apart from the ordinary, has been converted into 10,000 square feet of luxurious a separate 2 bedroom apartment. The beautifully landscaped 4 acre property also offers living space. The home features large public rooms, country kitchen, 7-8 bedrooms and a tennis court and gunite pool. Offered at $1,650,000 a separate 2 bedroom apartment. The beautifully landscaped 4 acre property also offers a tennis court and gunite pool. Offered at $1,650,000
EAST FISHKILL, Dutchess County, NY - Wiccopee House. Circa 1894, this beautiful estate on 17.6 acres, includes the 7000 square foot Georgian style main house featuring EAST FISHKILL, Dutchess County, NY - Wiccopee House. Circa 1894, this beau6 bedrooms, gleaming wood floors, multiple fireplaces, period details and a gourmet tiful estate on 17.6 acres, includes the 7000 square foot Georgian style main house featuring kitchen. Additional features include a 100’ x 30’ barn with a 2 bedroom apartment, pad6 bedrooms, gleaming wood floors, multiple fireplaces, period details and a gourmet dock, pool, and tennis court. Offered at $2,495,000 kitchen. Additional features include a 100’ x 30’ barn with a 2 bedroom apartment, paddock, pool, and tennis court. Offered at $2,495,000
COLD SPRING, NY - Masterfully designed contemporary offers massive two story entry, living room and dining room sharing a grand floor to ceiling stone fireplace, large COLD SPRING, NY - Masterfully designed contemporary offers massive two story chef’s kitchen and 4 bedrooms. Walls of French doors lead to deck cantilevered over rushentry, living room and dining room sharing a grand floor to ceiling stone fireplace, large ing mountain stream. Delightful details and high quality materials are evident throughout chef’s kitchen and 4 bedrooms. Walls of French doors lead to deck cantilevered over rushthe home which is sited on almost 5 acres. Offered at $1,875,000 ing mountain stream. Delightful details and high quality materials are evident throughout the home which is sited on almost 5 acres. Offered at $1,875,000
Putnam Valley, NY - Lovely country retreat on almost 5 acres. This C. 1935 home offers 4356 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 4 ½ baths, 2 working fireplaces, hardwood floors, and numerous Putnam Valley, NY - Lovely country retreat on almost 5 acres. This C. 1935 home offers window seats, nooks and crannies for added character. The glorious backyard features an in4356 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 4 ½ baths, 2 working fireplaces, hardwood floors, and numerous ground pool with spa and sizeable barbeque and patio area. The property also includes a forwindow seats, nooks and crannies for added character. The glorious backyard features an inmer dairy barn and pond. Offered at $1,300,000 ground pool with spa and sizeable barbeque and patio area. The property also includes a former dairy barn and pond. Offered at $1,300,000
Member of Westchester/Putnam, MLS • Mid-Hudson MLS (Dutchess County) Greater Hudson Valley MLS • (Orange, Rockland, Ulster, Sullivan Counties) Member of Westchester/Putnam, MLSand • Mid-Hudson MLSmany (Dutchess County) Greaterand Hudson • (Orange, Ulster, Sullivan Counties) For more information on these other listings, with full brochures floor Valley plans, MLS visit our website:Rockland, www.mccaffreyrealty.com For more information on these and other listings, many with full brochures and floor plans, visit our website: www.mccaffreyrealty.com
ANUADMAEX
BACK TO BOARDING SCHOOL
At left: Nion McEvoy, one of the author’s classmates, in the woods by Narragansett Bay. At right: McEvoy and the author in 1969.
SEPTEMBER IS back-to-school month, and reading a recent birthday gift from my old friend Philip Goelet, The Schoolmaster, by that eminent Edwardian Etonian, Arthur Christopher Benson, put me in mind of my own boarding school days over 40 years ago on the shores of Narragansett Bay. Portsmouth Priory (now Portsmouth Abbey) School had been founded by Father Hugh Diman as a Benedictine School of the Lord’s Service like Ampleforth or Downside in England. Father Hugh had previously, as a deacon in the Episcopal Church, also founded St. George’s with its magnificent situation on the ocean side of Aquidneck Island.
The story goes that the then John Byron Diman almost gave his spinster sister a heart attack when, while suffering from appendicitis one night in their house, asked her to call a Roman Catholic priest. This was not the done thing in their Yankee world (and St. George’s patron John Nicholas Brown never spoke to him again), but Diman had been reading Cardinal Newman and made up his mind to “cross the Tiber.” He never looked back, and by the time he died, in 1946, had established not one but two of New England’s leading boarding schools. September brings with it ambrosial associations of still warm weather in
Rhode Island, swimmable water, grass still growing green, and the peach and pear and plum and apple orchards bringing forth their abundant fruit. Then there was the sweat and pain of early football, and too soon the onslaught of classes and crushing homework assignments. Dr. Schehl, the Austrian classics department chair, enjoyed insisting, “You should have at least two hours of homework in every subject.” I came to boarding school from a small village on Long Island that still had dirt roads and horses. My roommate arrived from Madrid via Carnaby Street with hair that the headmaster swiftly had shorn,
ANUADMAEX psychedelic cuff links and a lapel button that blared, “Let’s Legalize Pot.” Nion McEvoy, today the C.E.O. of Chronicle Books in San Francisco, would use his drumsticks to beat out Wilson Pickett’s In the Midnight Hour on cinder block walls after lights out every night, until I started bombarding him with my heavier textbooks. The room we shared looks microscopic today. September turned into fall and fall into a very long winter. Winters were colder then. When ice formed on the inside of one’s window and a mild plea was made to one’s housemaster, the reply was not terribly sympathetic: “My room isn’t cold.” So we shivered and persevered. In a really cold winter Narragansett Bay would almost completely freeze over,
taxi from seven miles away to take him the two hundred yards to the monastery when bad weather threatened. Or Father Wilfrid, who had danced with Pavlova and was a Grand Dragon of heraldry. He enjoyed sharing his rather racy limericks: There was once a lass from Aberestwyth / Who took grain to the miller to make grist with / The miller’s boy Jack laid her flat on her back / And they mingled the things that they pissed with. And my own housemaster, Father Hilary Martin, whose photograph leaving La Grenouille after lunch with Amanda Burden made the front page of Women’s Wear Daily, a copy of which mysteriously ended up in front of the Abbot’s chair at recreation one evening. Father Hilary was
my two boys, up to school for his final year. Portsmouth is co-ed and thriving again now, and the lucky sods are now surrounded by beautiful and incredibly sweet young ladies with whom to explore the two miles of shoreline down by the Bay. The beautiful campus designed by Pietro Belluschi and only half-built in my day has now been completed. The food is edible now, vacations are longer, weekend passes—once forbidden—are ubiquitous, pizzas and take-out Chinese are delivered to the dorms, every common room has a large TV, and yet somehow work is still being done, the masterpieces of the Western canon are still studied, the monks still sing melodious Gregorian Chant, and the three imperatives of Reverence, Respect, and
From top left: The author’s son Pierce (pink tie) graduating from Portsmouth Abbey next to brother Rhoads; Christopher Buckley, Bill
CO U RTE S Y O F J A M E S M ACG U I R E , N AT R E A
Crimmins, and the author; on the Bay back in the day; Abbey Church.
and we could walk several hundred yards out on the ice to smoke cigarettes. This inspired the setting of the opening scene in my classmate Christopher Buckley’s first book, Steaming to Bamboola. Portsmouth was full of wonderful characters such as the mad polymath Father Andrew, who never slept and liked to offer you two-day-old pancakes from deep in his habit if he passed you on campus. Or Brother Basil, the gnome-like librarian with hair sprouting out of his ears who could recite all the members of Europe’s royal families going back centuries, but who was so deathly afraid of thunder and lightning that he would call a Newport
unfazed. “I was in New York fund-raising,” he explained matter-of-factly, “and, after all, you have to eat somewhere.” Winter eventually gave way to spring, Sunday morning softball games after Mass with the Grateful Dead blaring from the dorm speakers, walks in the woods, and a rare sighting of females on Prom Weekend in early May. Most of the year the closest we got to girls was receiving an occasional letter from Farmington or Dana Hall with a wax seal that read SWAK for “sealed with a kiss.” That was then. Today the world of boarding schools is very different. Earlier this month I took Rhoads, the younger of
Responsibility are words for the entire school community to live by. The woods where we used to grill steaks over a fire and monastic farm of old have become Carnegie Abbey, a global golf destination. “Where do we take our vow of affluence?” Father Julian, my old Latin master, asked when he saw it. In almost every way boarding school is a much kinder, gentler, and joyous experience than it was in the turbulent and decidedly single-sex Sixties, and when I left Rhoads it was with real regret and the sense that this was a place to which one really could come home again. u SEPTEMBER 2012 75
CANTEENS
THE FARE ON KENMARE BY DANIEL CAPPELLO WHATEVER HAPPENED to the good old New York City restaurant? Everything these days, it seems, is some incarnation of an obsolete institution (i.e., the speakeasy), a museum or opera house canteen gone upscale, or a version of some borrowed title from France, like the oft-cited brasserie, writ nouveau. (Technically speaking, brasseries are French for “breweries” or “brew houses”—local places, more or less, for beer and small plates—more pub-like and pedestrian than their modern-day makes.) A current case in point is the downtown 76 QUEST
hotspot Ken & Cook, chef Richard Diamonte and managing partner Artan Gjoni’s take on an “industrial brasserie.” Like beauty, the industrial brasserie might be said to lie in the eye of the beholder. We get it, we suppose: the leather banquettes, the polished brass tables, the seafood platters. But Ken & Cook is more like a pastiche of Pastis (which, officially, is a bistro) and, with Wagyu burgers and pistachio-peppered pork chops, the fancier fare here does seem to suggest “bistro.” Diamonte, who trained at the knee of Jean-Georges
This page, from top: The intimate table settings in the dining room, with the bar at back; Richard Diamonte’s menu; perfect lighting and cocktails. Opposite page: Dark, sheeny exteriors and a red-neon sign set the mood upon arrival. Ken & Cook: 19 Kenmare St., open daily for lunch and
CO U RTE S Y O F K E N & CO O K
dinner, with brunch on weekends; 212.966.3058 or kenandcook.com.
Vongerichten at Mercer Kitchen, Nougatine, and Jean-Georges, has crafted a pared-down menu, offering only the choicest of preparations across categories, from a veal-and-radicchio pappardelle to Romanesco monkfish, and even comfort staples like mac and cheese, fried chicken, and biscuits. Oysters Rockefeller are on offer, in addition to squid, beets, and the seemingly obligatory tartare. In short, no craving will go unsatisfied. What’s more, it’s refreshing to have attentive but not obsequious service. The staff is there to guide you, mix up made-toorder cocktails, or leave you to linger without forcing the issue of dessert, all the while keeping the water carafes filled. Diamonte and Gjoni are arbiters not just of good cuisine but of downtown chic, and this is exactly the kind of place you want to be when heading to that enthralling meeting point of
Kenmare—part SoHo, part Nolita, part Bowery and Chinatown, with courthouses and Old Gotham trappings looming in view. And, this being Kenmare, there has to be a downstairs spot of fabulousness, like La Esquina and Downstairs at Kenmare before it. At Ken & Cook, that space is Lil Charlie’s, an homage to ’70s Rock ’n Roll, with lots of brass, copper, and amber. Which is not to distract us from upstairs. Ken & Cook is a see-and-be-seen spot. With few nooks to hide away in, everyone here, from Vanity Fair editors to actresses alike (judging through the votives), is on pretty much equal display. Rather like an open stage, we all feel somewhat artfully mise en scène in the open rectangular dining room, as if Diamonte and Gjoni were directing each seating themselves. It makes for a very cool night out, and that is what a New York restaurant should be all about. u SEPTEMBER 2012 77
ART
STEVEN HOLL ARCHITECTS:
A CINEMATIC ADVENTURE
IN THE CASE of Steven Holl Architects, architecture involves a multifaceted understanding of space with implications that its purest, irreducible substance is in fact, movement. This exploration involves semantics as much as philosophy to illuminate architecture as, in Holl’s words, “a cinematic adventure.” The first point to consider in this line of thought is the genesis of space in architectural philosophy between 1890 and 1930, which spans a spectrum of implications. While Gottfried Semper defines space as an “enclosure,” El Lissitsky, Moholy-Nagy, August Schmarsow, and Siegfried Eberling assert that space is a “continuum” and “extension of the body.” The bottom line is that architectural philosophies regarding space extend beyond solid-to-void relationships. “Space is conceived as flowing… Openings and boundaries, perforations and moving surfaces, carry the periphery in the center, and push the center outward. Architecture [is] understood, not as a complex of inner spaces nor as a fixed enclosure but as an organic component in living, as a creation in the mastery of space experience,” states Moholy-Nagy. Steven Holl Architects appear to imbue their designs with Moholy-Nagy’s concept, with an added thrill in the experience. Holl begins the design process by sketching, often in 78 QUEST
watercolor, to explore not only geometries but variations on perforation and enclosure. In some of his sketches, the folding and unfolding of lateral and overhead planes creates a continuous route. There is no indication of distinct rooms but, rather, the suggestion of a journey encountering surfaces. An ethereal blue horizon and shadows overhead furnish elemental architectural principles of prospect and refuge. The Void Space/Hinged Space Housing development in Fukuoka, Japan, expands on ideas represented in the featured sketch exploration. The project features modern versions of fusuma (vertical rectangular panels) as the basis for the interiors, so that walls collapse to combine rooms. The dynamic revolves on the incorporation of corners and degrees of depth in relation to the position of the fusuma. As demonstrated in the photograph sequence, all layouts achieve narrative features of foreground, middle ground, and background in contrast to a singular “unfolded” versus “folded” binary condition. While the Fukuoka project explores this kind of transitional living space for individual apartments, the Linked Hybrid development in Beijing expands upon the concept to the larger scale of urban planning. The development includes over 600 residential apartments, public green space, schools, a cinema, and more. In this case, bridges and elevators enable passage at various elevations and via varied routes, at times invoking a sense of the ‘jump cut’ film technique. Steven Holl describes the project as a “filmic urban experience of space; around, over and through multifaceted spatial layers. [It is an] open city within a city.” If the Linked Hybrid describes a journey suspended in the air, Steven Holl Architects’ Bloch Building at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (or NAMA) plunges the expedition into the ground
T H E S O LO M O N R . G U G G E N H E I M F O U N DAT I O N , N E W Y O R K . P H OTO : DAV I D H E A L D © S R G F, NY.
“It is a commonly held belief that the term ‘space’ refers to the ‘purest, irreducible substance of architecture’—the property unique to it, that sets it apart from all other practices. But if this might seem reassuringly consensual and certain, our confidence will go as soon as we discover how little agreement there is as to what is meant by space.” —ADRIAN FORTY, Words and Buildings
T H E I M A G E O F T H E S O LO M O N R . G U G G E N H E I M M U S E U M I S A R E G I S T E R E D T R A D E M A R K O F
BY ELISABETH SAINT-AMAND
The New York Landmarks Preservation Foundation will honor Steven Holl of Steven Holl Architects at its “Lunch at a Landmark,� held this year at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (pictured).
ART
Clockwise from top: A watercolor by architect Steven Holl, 2004; a Linked Hybrid concept sketch by architect Steven Holl, 2003; the lobby of the Bloch Building at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art; the
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S T E V E N H O LL , 2 0 0 4 ( PI C T U R E )
and further into the story of Steven Holl Architects themselves. The Bloch addition consists of five interconnected structures modeled into the landscape. The design pivots on vertical relationships between groundplane and constructed intervals, serving as a testament to Steven Holl’s statement that “sections for 21st century cities are much more dominant than plans, therefore the sectional richness of movement may be enjoyed.” While the way in which the Bloch Building is connected illustrates a clear sense of spatial continuum, Stephen Holl Architects’ structure at NAMA also provides an opportunity to explore space as a factor of the human body. Author Fred Bernstein believes that “Steven Holl may have [a great deal] in common with artists who create experiences—think James Turrell, Robert Irwin, Olafur Eliasson—Holl’s buildings aren’t so much containers for art as they are sculptures created with light and surface.”
A N DY RYA N ( A B OV E P H OTO ) ; RO L A N D H A LB E ( B E LO W P H OTO ) ;
exterior of the Bloch Building at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
S T E V E N H O LL , 2 0 0 3
At The Nelson-Atkins Museum, the play of light on walls and floors has the effect of dematerialization, thus transferring focus to perception over physicality. The human body becomes a vessel into which the journey takes place, an effect towards introspection as best described by Eliasson himself: “I consider the body as a stick of measurement and would rather use this than the objective system of meters and centimeters, which can only be central to us. With this conception of journey, depth is suddenly seen as originating in the person moving; to journey thus means to apply depth to space.” The purest, irreducible substance of architecture in works by Steven Holl Architects is thus a factor of ‘applying depth’ through motion and perception. Strategically placed transitional panels in the Void Space/Hinged Space project enable daily flexibility at the residential-apartment scale, while bridges in the Linked Hybrid development help enable a continuous circuit through a sequence of high-rises. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art furnishes a route of travel over and underground while creating an experience that is provocative at the cerebral/ sensory level. The great achievement throughout is that Steven Holl Architects incorporate a multifaceted and elusive determi-
nation of space in works that exhilarate the spirit. Steven Holl of Steven Holl Architects will, this year, be honored at the Landmarks Preservation Foundation’s annual “Lunch at a Landmark.” The event is scheduled for October 11 and will be held at the celebrated Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. u ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Elisabeth Saint-Amand’s academic background includes a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Virginia Graduate School of Architecture, a certificate from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and a BA from Vanderbilt University. Her professional experience includes over ten years in landscape design, recognition as a top-15 finalist in the Highline Ideas Competition of 2003, and Principal of SaintAmand Landscape Design, LLC since 2008. She currently serves on the Executive Board of the New York Landmarks Preservation Foundation and the Frick Collection Young Fellows Steering Committee. Elisabeth is also a board member of the Garden Conservancy and an emeritus member of the Board of Advisors for the University of Virginia School of Architecture, as well as the Jefferson Scholarship Finalist Selection Committee. SEPTEMBER 2012 81
VIEWPOINT
RAISING RUMSFELD BY JOAN CARAGANIS JAKOBSON
We also have a grown daughter, and when she mentions a “MOM,” my then-17-year-old son casually asked over breakfast one day, “Remember when we imposed economic sanc- former classmate who is currently so busy climbing the social ladder that her hands are calloused, I can actually respond tions on Libya?” “Of course I do, sweetie,” I answered. “Um, would you like with full sentences and sometimes even add a helpful tip about some more maple syrup for your French toast?” I will walk to under-eye concealers. She is the child I expected to have and Vermont, drill holes in trees, boil some sap, and make him more whose questions I am prepared to answer. I assumed that my son maple syrup. I will do anything not to have to discuss economic would, as the children of my friends did, follow unquestioningly his father’s path and become involved in business and real estate. sanctions this early in the morning. Or ever. Raising a son who is as passionate and knowledgeable about And I still wouldn’t understand what he did but I’d have friends foreign policy as I am about the pages of People magazine poses who could help me out because they’d be in the same boat. (Or, a specific set of maternal challenges. Fortunately, he has no idea in my brave new world, a guided missile destroyer.) But being the mother of a son whose goal in life is to be that, when he asks my opinion on U.S. policy toward the Soviet Union, I am wondering what became of the housekeeper who Secretary of Defense does stir and delight me, and I am lived next door to O.J. Simpson and became engaged to a ven- proud that he has always wanted to serve his country. I was triloquist from Baltimore. As a general rule, I have no idea what feeling a bit disheartened as he prepared to leave for college, Nick is talking about. During a semester abroad in Greece, he imagining how lonely our house would be without him. On called home (even after his father imposed economic sanctions one of his last nights at home, he and I sat in the living room, browsing through books of on his cell phone) to say that photographs of stealth bombhe was quite upset because, the “His father and I knew that being his ers and discussing nuclear night before, the bouncer at a warheads. We weren’t actuclub had refused to admit him. parents would not be a smooth ally discussing them. He was “I was so mad,” Nick said, “I countdown to missile launch when chatting about them while I felt like saying, ‘Excuse me, sir, was nodding in agreement but do the Truman Doctrine he was 15 and...violated and thinking that I might and the Marshall Plan mean the Atomic Energy Act of 1946.” miss looking through books nothing to you?’” I considered on the air battles of World suggesting that a discussion of post-World War II foreign policy was probably not the way to War II, until he asked me, “Mom, who do you think was a make one’s case with an Athenian nightclub bouncer at three in more nationalistic leader: Hitler, Stalin, or Mao?” As I considered my answer (which would come down to eeny, the morning, but I was afraid that Nicky might want to know my meeny, miny, Mao), I said to myself, “And then again, maybe views on the Truman Doctrine, so I just let it go. His father and I knew that being his parents would not be these empty-nest years will be a time of rest and reflection.” Just before he graduated from college, I asked him what he a smooth countdown to missile launch when he was 15 and woke us at two o’clock in the morning to tell us that he was would like for commencement. “A clear and decisive policy having a problem. On his computer screen was a message on defending Taiwan,” he answered. Now that Nick is really out of the house, I’ve started to from the Department of Energy and the United States Air Force, informing him that he had violated the Atomic Energy think about the day he gets married, which is an even more Act of 1946 and would have to cease and desist immediately nerve-racking notion than economic sanctions in Libya. As any communications or face a report to the Air Force. He had a senior in high school, he ran his school’s Model United been emailing a director of ICBM testing at an Air Force base, Nations and referred to the other student participants rather inquiring about MIRV (Multiple Independently Targetable oddly. “South Africa digs me,” he told me, “but I like Nigeria. Re-entry Vehicle) warheads on the Minuteman III, the time Iraq’s an idiot and he should go back to Scarsdale, but I may between a missile launch and first-stage booster separation, get Nigeria’s number and call her when I get home.” If he and Nigeria were to marry, I would assume that they’d and other subjects that I’d never even heard of in my life. He wrote back that he was in the tenth grade, loved his country, plan to name their first son Dean, after Dean Acheson and Dean Rusk—and maybe, for me, after Dean Martin. u and was simply interested in U.S. nuclear strategy. 82 QUEST
Clockwise from top left: The world—and the world of international relations—have always intrigued the author’s son; President Harry Truman, who in 1947 invoked the Truman Doctrine to support Greece in its civil war against the Greek Communist Party; New Jersey congressman Edward J. Patten meets with Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara in 1965; seal of the U.S. Department of State; Donald Rumsfeld served as Secretary of Defense under presidents Gerald R. Ford and George W. Bush; President Truman with Secretary of State Dean Acheson in 1949; the Manhattan headquarters of the United Nations; world leaders at the 2011 G-20 Summit in Cannes.
MARRIAGES BY ELIZABETH MEIGHER AND ELIZABETH QUINN BROWN
Ashley Banker & Nicholas Enthoven JULY 14, 2012 LOCUST VALLEY, NEW YORK
Orange accents were incorporated into the reception in honor of the groom’s Dutch heritage. The first dance? “The Way You Make Me Feel” by Michael Jackson.
The couple was married on Bastille Day at Saint John’s of Lattingtown in Locust Valley, New York, where the bride’s parents were wed 35 years ago. The reception was attended by 240 guests and featured a cupcake tower and a sundae bar for dessert in lieu of a cake.
The maid of honor was Teddy Baxter and the best man was Jamie Enthoven. After the wedding, the couple honeymooned in Bali and Hong Kong.
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F R A N C E S CO M A S TA L I A P H OTO G R A P H Y
The bride wore a dress by Amsale with her great-great-grandmother’s veil, carrying a bouquet of English roses, freesias, and gardenias; the bridesmaids wore dresses by J.Crew.
WEDDINGS
MARRIAGES Lindsey Wheat & Michael Passaro MAY 19, 2012 NASSAU, BAHAMAS
The ceremony took place at St. Paul the Apostle and the honeymoon began at the One&Only Ocean Club followed by a couple of days in Turks & Caicos.
BEN JAMIESON
The bride was walked down the aisle by her father to “Ma Cherie Amour” by Stevie Wonder, carrying a bouquet of phalaenopsis. The couple’s first dance was to “You Are” by Lionel Richie.
The maid of honor was the bride’s sister and there were two best men: the groom’s cousins, who are identical twins. The bride and her close friends wore orchids in their hair.
The reception took place at the Lyford Cay Club, where the 137 guests enjoyed a red velvet cake by the Cake Box. Much later, guests enjoyed a dip in the ocean—blame the club’s signature cocktail, the Rum Dum!
The bride wore a dress by Monique Lhuillier, to which she added a halter, with a veil by Vera Wang.
SEPTEMBER 2012 85
MARRIAGES Hilary Heard & George Gurley JULY 9, 2012 BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
The bride wore a refurbished version of the wedding dress her mother wore with a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes.
After marrying at the Brooklyn Municipal Building, the couple toasted each other with Dom Pérignon before dancing to “Dance the Night Away” by Van Halen at home.
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The bride tucked a 1968 photograph of her mother and father at their engagement party in Washington, D.C., into her bouquet.
The couple celebrated with friends a week after their wedding at Le Poisson Rouge, where Dean & Britta played Galaxie 500.
N TAT S EV UERNA LH E X OP R E S S I O N S
The couple enjoyed a private wedding with their photographer, Steven Heo, serving as witness. The bouquet, which was designed by Renny & Reed, was tossed to a group of women dining at the River Café in lieu of wedding guests.
WEDDINGS
ENGAGEMENTS
Christie Schiff & Jack Fennebresque Christie Schiff and Jack Fennebresque will be married on May 11 in Nassau, Bahamas, with a reception at the Lyford Cay Club. “We chose the location because I grew up going there and it feels like home to me. We thought it would be fun to have a destination wedding with all of our friends and family in a place that we love,” says Christie. The couple was introduced to each other by friends in Locust Valley before starting as freshmen at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. They exchanged numbers, reuniting on the first day of school after a phone call from Jack to Christie. Soon, they learned that their connection had been established a generation or two earlier: their fathers had attended the same middle school and their grandmothers had played bridge together, years ago. Jack proposed to Christie on a vacation to the south of France, popping the question after a day spent driving along the coast. He asked her to marry him during a walk on the grounds of their hotel, in Cap d’Antibes, with a view of the Mediterranean Sea.
Lauriston Roach & Richard Segerson Lauriston Roach and Richard Segerson will be married on November 17 in Palm Beach, Florida, with a service at Bethesda by the Sea and a reception at the Bath and Tennis Club. A rehearsal dinner will precede the event, taking place at the Everglades Club. The matron of honor and maid of honor will be the bride’s sisters, Hayden Cilley and Cameron Roach; the best men will be the groom’s father, Richard Segeron, and brother, Michael Segerson. The couple met in 2006 at a party in New York City, introduced by a friend who knew Lauriston from Vanderbilt University and Rich from Palm Beach. Soon, they learned that they both grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut, and had attended the same high school. Richard proposed to Lauriston after inviting her home to Chatham, Massachusetts, for Thanksgiving. The Monday before the holiday, the couple went for a walk before lunch. “The sun had come out and it was a beautiful, chilly fall day on the water,” says Lauriston. They made their way to a flower garden, where Richard asked her to be his wife.
Tessa Benson & Tucker Tooley Tessa Benson and Tucker Tooley will be married on September 23 in Montecito, California, in front of immediate family. The service will take place at AllSaints-by-the-Sea, an Episcopal church that was founded at the end of the 19th century when Santa Barbara was still a ranching and fishing town populated by less than 10,000 people. A reception will follow at San Ysidro Ranch, a luxury hotel located in Southern California’s wine country. Tessa Benson (daughter of photojournalist and Quest columnist Harry Benson) and Tucker Tooley (awardwinning filmmaker and president of Relativity Media) have celebrated their union with engagement parties in Los Angeles, California, and New York, New York. In California, the couple was fêted in Los Angeles, where they reside together in a home in the Pacific Palisades. In New York, the couple was toasted by the bride’s parents, Harry and Gigi Benson, at a party for friends and family at the Colony Club attended by David Patrick Columbia and Liz Smith. u
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OPEN HOUSE
PERCHED NEAR the top of The Tower
of Fifteen Central Park West—New York’s most celebrated new condominium building—is an exquisite six-room residence with magical vistas of Central Park and the Hudson River. Presently the only apartment available in The Tower building, the three-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath residence spans approximately 2,761 square feet. The grand living room has unparal-
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leled views of Central Park and beyond to Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue. An adjacent 20-foot library or formal dining room also provides outstanding eastern vistas, as does the spacious third bedroom that includes a walk-in closet and full bath. The enormous eat-in kitchen also has a suberb view of Central Park. The spacious master bedroom overlooks Lincoln Center and soars over the Hudson River. Tailored walk-in closets and dressing areas stand adjacent to a beautiful Calacatta marble-clad master bath. An adjacent guest bedroom and bath also affords a view to the beautiful western skyline and exquisite sunsets. Fifteen Central Park West’s Indiana limestone façade, designed in a neo-classical style by Robert A.M. Stern, graciously embraces historic neighborhood. Residents enjoy outstanding amenities, including a 14,000-square-foot fitness center and spa featuring a 75-foot lap pool (with skylights illuminated by the reflecting pool in the garden above),
wet- and dry-steam saunas, a whirlpool, weight-training and aerobic equipment, private rooms for personal training and massage, and an aerobics/yoga room. Other amenities include a private inhouse restaurant with butler service, a private screening room designed by Theo Kalomirakis, conference facilities for private meetings, on-site parking, and a children’s playroom. Included are a formal garden courtyard with a reflecting pool, a side-street motor court entrance and fountain, 24-hour concierge service, a well-appointed business center, game room, full-time maid and maintenance services, individual wine cellars, and private storage units. These elements seamlessly combine to make Fifteen Central Park West a unique luxury residence with elegance and warmth in the tradition of Manhattan’s most prestigious apartment buildings. u For more information, please visit www.bhsusa.com
CO U RTE S Y O F B RO W N H A R R I S S TE V E N S
SCENIC SANCTUARY
OPEN HOUSE
This page: The residence’s grand living room (top); the Limestone façade designed by Robert A.M. Stern (bottom left); the formal dining room with a skyline view (bottom right). Opposite page: The Tower of Fifteen CPW offers superb views of Central Park. (top); exclusive listing agent Paula Del Nunzio of Brown Harris Stevens (bottom).
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Opposite page: Julie Macklowe descending the grand staircase at the Museum of the City of New York in a blue gown with patterned lace detail by Carolina Herrera, adorned by Asprey's Calla Lily brooch, Feather earrings, and Feather ring.
PRODUCED BY ELIZABETH MEIGHER AND DANIEL CAPPELLO PHOTOGRAPHED BY BEN FINK SHAPIRO
BELLE OF IT ALL Before the age of 30, Julie Macklowe managed a multi-million-dollar hedge fund, became a mom, and achieved “It Girl” status as a regular on the fashion and social scenes. Today she is the founder of a new luxury skincare line, vbeauté. Here, Quest invites Julie, ever the style muse, to the iconic Museum of the City of New York, to model some of this fall’s hautest fashions.
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Julie pauses before the museum's marbled main entrance in Valentino's white wool Calvary coat with embroidered detail and Manolo Blahnik's Swan heels. She wears Asprey's Feather ring and a necklace and earrings by Roberto Coin, and carries vbeautĂŠ's It Kit, which also serves as a clutch.
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On the south terrace of the museum's back courtyard, Julie is a vision in Tom Ford's blue velvet dress with mesh detail. She wears Marina B's Ageco earrings and her own diamond JAR ring.
BUSINESSWOMAN, mother, fashion muse and icon—
there’s nothing Julie Macklowe hasn’t accomplished. Her latest endeavor, vbeauté, is a technologically advanced skincare line meant to meet all of a woman’s daily beauty needs. Using antioxidant-rich, age-preventative technologies, vbeauté consists of five essential products—from nourishing eye cream and anti-wrinkling serum to an everyday foaming cleanser—all wrapped up in a chic oval package known as the It Kit, which cleverly doubles as an evening clutch (and is perfect to grab when traveling on the go). We sat down with Julie here to hear more about both her and her line of vbeauté. Quest: Tell us a little about yourself. Julie Macklowe: I consider myself fearless, adventurous, perennially curious, and very discerning, which explains why I felt compelled to go from running a $250-million hedge fund to starting my own luxury skincare brand.
Q: What was your inspiration for vbeauté? JM: I love helping women feel more confident about themselves, and having great skin is an incredible confidence-booster. I felt like most of the high-quality lines out there were not only over-priced, but didn’t deliver on their promises. After having my toiletries confiscated last year by TSA authorities, I came up with the travel-friendly, highly effective It Kit—it’s easy, convenient, and has all the traveling skincare essentials. This is a super-luxequality line developed by CRB Labs in Switzerland with a group of very smart scientists who develop many of the best lines in the world. vbeauté is based on the latest Alpine Rose Botanical Technology (ARBT) and combined with a patented anti-age BioCellular Peptide (BCP), which has been clinically proven to diminish fine lines, wrinkles, and free radicals. It was imperative that the line work for my own very sensitive skin, so it is fragrance-free, parabenfree, gluten-free, nut-and-oat-free—basically, a super-clean anti-aging line for all women of all skin types and ages. Q: Will our skin really look like yours if we use these pretty purple products? How long will it take? JM: We always say you need a month to see best results, but many clients claim they see immediate results. These products changed my skin dramatically and every day people tell me how much better their skin tone looks, how their fine lines have disappeared, and that they are vbeauté converts. Q: Who are your icons? JM: Nan Kempner and Lauren Bacall. Q: Something most people don’t know about you? Like a hidden talent? JM: I can stand on my head for a long time. u
This page: In a gallery, Julie wears a jacket and belt by Chris Benz, a feather skirt by Pink Tartan, Jimmy Choo's Levir heels, earrings and a bracelet by BaubbleBar (baubblebar.com), and a ring by Marina B. Opposite page: On the entrance balustrade in a custom pink crochet dress with jewel detail by Zang Toi, Asprey's Fern necklace, her own JAR bracelet, custom Robert Marc sunglasses, and an Edie Parker Confetti clutch.
Back in the galleries, in a gold dress with black-cut details from Jason Wu and earrings by Roberto Coin.
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Outside the museum's gift shop, in a pink dress with pink lace detail by Oscar de la Renta, red open-toe sandals with red jewel detail by Tabitha Simmons, and a ring and earrings by Marina B.
Taking a seat in her own custom dress by Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton and own JAR ring, along with silver slingbacks by Manolo Blahnik; a ring, gold bracelet, and gold-and-gemstone necklace by Marina B; and vbeautĂŠ's It Kit.
Leaving the museum in a Tom Ford red dress with open back and gold zipper detail, heels by Ralph Lauren Collection, and multiple bangle bracelets and rings from Roberto Coin. Style assistant: Jamie Yike. Hair by Foto and makeup by Lindsay, both for Valery Joseph Salon. SEPTEMBER 2012 99
THE KING OF COUTURE BY VALERIE STEELE
THIS MONTH, the Couture Council of The Museum at FIT proudly honors Oscar de la Renta with the 2012 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion. One of America’s most acclaimed designers, Oscar de la Renta was born in Santo Domingo and moved to New York City at the age of 30. As a young man, he studied art in Madrid, and then worked for the great Spanish couturier Cristóbal Balenciaga. Next he joined Antonio Castillo, becoming a couture assistant at Lanvin. After a stint designing couture for Elizabeth Arden,
This page: A sketch for the Fall 2012 collection, an ice floral brocade cloque pailette and feather dress. Opposite page: A portrait of the couturier Oscar de la
CO U RTE S Y O F O S C A R D E L A R E N TA
Renta taken in 1969.
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women—from socialites to First Ladies, and from film stars to royalty. The list of his famous clients is long, and includes Hillary Rodham Clinton, Penélope Cruz, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Sarah Jessica Parker, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Walters, and Anna Wintour. As Ms. Wintour once noted, Oscar’s success owes much to his personal knowledge of the lifestyles of his clients, for he, too, lives a glamorous, social life. Together with his wife, Annette, he has supported many cultural and charitable organizations from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to New Yorkers for Children. Oscar de la Renta is especially known for his brilliance as a colorist. Although it is often said that fashionable women only wear black (and Oscar, like Balenciaga is a master of deep, velvety Spanish black), he also knows that there is nothing like clear, beautiful colors to make a woman the cynosure of all eyes. In addition to his outstanding use of color, he has a profound understanding of how best to enhance female beauty, whether through flirtatious ruffles or luxurious bodyworshipping fabrics and cuts. Still, he never rests on his laurels, and is always looking to the future, as was made clear when we sat down together to talk on the eve of his receiving the 2012 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion.
VALERIE STEELE: Your designs are consistently lauded for their timelessness but also their ability to capture the pulse of the moment. How do you balance that enduring quality with a modern, relevant point of view? OSCAR DE LE RENTA: For me, looking forward is the most important thing. I am a better designer today than I was twenty years ago—or last year, even. I approach every day as a learning process. VS: Do you imagine a certain kind of woman wearing your clothes when you conceive and design them—or do the clothes happen first, followed by the kind of woman who would fit them? ODLR: You know, today is the best time to be a designer because the woman you are dressing is completely in control of her life and her destiny. This is a woman with an extraordinarily busy life and a woman who knows exactly what she wants. That is what challenges me to design, to do better for her. VS: Among all the celebrities who have worn your looks, do you have any particular favorites, and why? ODLR: I am lucky to dress many beautiful, powerful women. It is always the highest compliment as a designer when a woman chooses your dress.
CO U RTE S Y O F O S C A R D E L A R E N TA , PAT R I C K M C M U LL A N , FA S H I O N I N S T I T U T E O F T E C H N O LO GY
he opened his own fashion company in New York in 1967. He immediately became known for his luxurious and often exotic styles, such as silk brocade caftans. Indeed, along with Yves Saint Laurent, Oscar has been one of fashion’s leading exemplars of ethnic-inspired fashion. He is probably best known, however, for his glamorous evening dresses. Oscar’s clothes are often described as “romantic,” “dramatic,” and, above all, “feminine.” In 1992, he became the first American chosen as chief designer for a French couture house, spending 10 highly successful years at Balmain. Working first at Balenciaga and then at Balmain gave him a profound knowledge of the highest level of couture craftsmanship. But Oscar de la Renta is also very much an American designer, attuned to the lifestyle of the modern woman. His growing success has been mirrored by the increasing prominence of New York as a global fashion capital. Oscar de la Renta has played an important role in building American fashion, serving (twice!) as President of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, and providing inspiration for many younger designers. Over the course of a long and illustrious career, Oscar de la Renta has dressed many of the world’s most beautiful and powerful
This page, clockwise from top left: Oscar de la Renta with Aerin Lauder at the New Yorkers For Children fall gala in 2008; with First Lady Nancy Reagan; a bold houndstooth look on the runway; with Iman and Pat Cleveland at a Costume Institute lunch honoring models of the 1973 Versailles fashion show; several of de la Renta’s looks, like this one, are now housed in the Museum at FIT; with Vogue editor Anna Wintour; the young designer; escorting Penélope Cruz (in Oscar de la Renta) to the Costume Institute gala in 2011; a runway shot; with Oprah Winfrey (in Oscar de la Renta) at the Costume Institute gala in 2010. Opposite: Fall’s ice paillette dress; a runway scene.
CO U RT E S Y O F O S C A R D E L A R E N TA
This page: A look from the current Fall 2012 Oscar de la Renta collection, a black silk chiffon embroidered ruby ribbon tweed skirt suit. Opposite page: In any decade, Oscar de la Renta could be counted on for sending glamorous, feminine silhouettes down the runway. SEPTEMBER 2012 105
VS: Speaking of Balenciaga and your roots, what is it like being such an iconic “American” designer, but one who grew up in the Dominican Republic and trained 106 QUEST
VS: Was design in your genes? Where does your love and talent for fashion come from? ODLR: As a young boy I was always drawing. Because of the Spanish Civil War many creative people had immigrated to the Dominican Republic, and I was taught by some extraordinary teachers. My father did not want me to be an artist; I was his only son and he wanted me to take over the family insurance business. My mother, however, was very supportive.
It is because of her that I was able to go to art school. Back then it was only natural to study abroad in Spain—if you could— and it was there that I went to study art and fell in love with fashion. VS: What’s your favorite color? ODLR: Color is such a big part of who I am as a designer. I like strong, happy colors. VS: Is there anything you must have when designing? A certain space? Music? Silence? Food? Beverage? ODLR: I am always looking things up on my iPad. Really the best time for me is when I am designing in my studio in New York with my assistants. VS: Looking back on your fashion career to date, what’s your proudest moment? ODLR: I think that my proudest moment is ahead of me. The brand is evolving and growing faster than ever before. There is so much more to be done. u
CO U RTE S Y O F O S C A R D E L A R E N TA , PAT R I C K M C M U LL A N
VS: You trained under Cristóbal Balenciaga, and others. How important do you think completing an apprenticeship is to becoming a designer? Is it important to complete several? ODLR: Before Balenciaga, I had never been to fashion school. Working there I learned how clothing was constructed. Balenciaga was like an architect. It was an extraordinary learning experience.
under European influences? Is there something particularly “American” about you and your designs? ODLR: I am proud that my success has happened in America. There is no other country in the world that gives more opportunities to foreigners than this one. I am very proud to be a part of what the American fashion industry has become.
This page: One of the finale looks from the Fall 2012 collection, a black and ice strapless, tiered tulle ball gown. Opposite page: A runway show featuring signature patterns and bold colors; with Vogue’s Hamish Bowles and Grace Coddington, speaking at the Fashion Group International’s “Night of Stars” dinner in 2009.
Lisa Crosby This page: A recent photograph of Lisa Crosby, who lives in Montana with Chuck Pfeifer. Opposite page, clockwise from left: A picture from a photo shoot; the cover of Collections (1976); an ad for Van Cleef & Arpels; the cover of Marie France (March 1976); an ad for Chanel.
Then and Now BY LILLIAN CROSBY 108 QUEST
CO U RTE S Y O F L I S A C RO S BY
Models:
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CO U RTE S Y O F S H AU N C A S E Y
AS THE MOTHER OF one of the most successful models of her time, I have come to understand the modeling industry as few have—from the inside. My daughter, Lisa Crosby—known to the world simply as “Crosby”—was only six when she proclaimed that she would travel the world and be rich, and only 17 when she was signed by Ford Models and sent to Paris. Since those early days, I have spent many hours listening to and sometimes counseling other models, and, just as they have come to regard me as a second mother, so do I count them as my dearest friends. It’s always a joy for me to relish their successes and happiness—and to think back to when it all began. Remember the rip-roaring late Seventies and Eighties? Free-wheeling, out-of-control bankers, lawyers, and just about everyone else. A time that marked the beginning of AIDS, the widespread use of drugs like cocaine, and the ever-present denials and rhetoric of politicians. Gorgeous blondes, brunettes, and redheads with long legs, elongated torsos, and flowing hair were lured to New York, Milan, London, and Paris to launch the era of the supermodel. Some were stunningly beautiful, others not so much so, but with that special “something.” Some were sophisticated and already tough as shoe leather, others were
wide-eyed innocents soft as kittens, waiting to be toughened and molded. Only years later did the general public learn about some of the “happenings,” like illicit all-night parties in stretch limos to the Hamptons. Countless beauties should have had contracts with major clients but didn’t because the agencies kept the girls doing catalog work, which brought in more money. Some just wouldn’t play the games of the powerful. There were three models in particular whom everyone in the business recognizes: my daughter Crosby, from Florida; Suzan Wyatt, a Loretta Young look-alike from Virginia; and Shaun Casey, from Connecticut. They started their careers at about the same time, meeting each other for the first time on airplanes—usually the Concorde—or on the job. Shaun became the face of Estée Lauder, and grew to be a wonderful representative for the company. Reflecting on her career, she says: “My mother was a John Robert Powers model and one of her artist friends asked me to pose for a book cover when I was 16. After high school, I was signed to Wilhelmina Models. One of the most memorable times was getting my hair dyed platinum so Helmut Newton could photograph me for the cover of French Vogue, which became the cover of the year. I had great fun going to all the best restaurants and nightspots in Paris and New York. I loved every minute and would do it all over again if I could. I now live in California with my husband, Bill, where we raised two daughters.” Crosby, looking back on her career, remembers: “I did beauty campaigns for Chanel, Max Factor, and Revlon, as well as TV commercials for Kodak, Arrow, Revlon, Hanes, Midol, Clairol, Old Spice, Macy’s, and Bloomingdale’s. After my career ended, I began photographing models and actors myself, and, most recently, began shooting wildlife and horses in particular. Carpe Diem restaurant in New Canaan, Connecticut, decorated their walls with my horse photographs, and I am represented by Lars Bolander Gallery in West Palm Beach, Florida. I like to flyfish and spend time with my husband, Chuck, at our ranch in Montana, where Shaun and Suzan visit us often.”
Shaun Casey This page: A recent photograph of the model, who lives in California with her husband and two daughters. Opposite page, clockwise from top left: Shaun Casey modeling preppy clothing; the cover of Glamour (December 1974); Shaun Casey modeling a Ralph Lauren top; the model in a photo shoot from the Eighties; a photograph reading, “To Shaun, with love from Arthur.�
like a goddess, absolutely stunning. Clubs like Privé, Safari, and, of course, Régine were on our list of favorite spots. Crosby and I had gold membership cards at Régine, where Omar Shariff once lit Crosby’s cigarette. We nearly fainted! Those days, one might be sitting next to Aristotle Onassis or Johnny Hallyday. I now live in New York City with my husband, Matt Mitchell, a former professional tennis player.” Studio 54 was in full swing during that time. The club stayed open all night with disco music, dancing, sex, drugs, and Rock ’n Roll. Every celebrity in the country could be spotted there at one time or another, gyrating with the likes of Truman Capote, Bob Hope, and Halston. We may never see times quite like those again, with the leggy Crosby, Shaun, and Suzan, but wouldn’t it be fun? u
CO U RTE S Y O F S U Z A N W YAT T
Suzan remembers the highlights of her days: “I got my start by winning a modeling award judged by Kasper and Willie Smith in Atlanta, where I went to Massey Junior College. I came to New York with the school’s annual trip to meet modeling agents and was accepted by Wilhelmina, which sent me to Paris, and on the plane I met Lorraine Bracco, who was also with Wilhelmina. I began work immediately. I walked into a hotel lobby and there was Crosby, former ballet dancer, demonstrating her jeté skills. We became fast friends and enjoyed the Parisian nightlife together at places like La Tour d’Argent, where we listened to the owner, Claude Terrail, talk about his time with Ava Gardner. At cocktail parties at Hôtel Meurice, we met Salvador Dalí, who wanted to sketch Crosby and me. We attended concerts by Josephine Baker and, once, Sophia Loren showed up looking
Suzan Wyatt An image from the model’s Wilhelmina Models portfolio, declaring details like her 5’9’’ height, 8 1/2 shoes, and blue-green eyes. Insets (clockwise from top): A recent photograph of Suzan Wyatt and her husband, Matt Mitchell, who was a professional tennis player; the model was featured wearing a pearl necklace and pearl earrings for a Givenchy campaign; Suzan Wyatt in a photo shoot from the Eighties. SEPTEMBER 2012 113
BERGDORF GOODMAN: ANNIVERSARY OF AN ICON
O P P O S I T E PA G E : R I C K Y Z E H A V I A N D J O H N C O R D E S
THE WINDOW DISPLAYS, a spectacle of fashion and art. The restaurant, the social apogee for the ladies who lunch. The shoe department, where polite women turn into vicious predators. Bergdorf Goodman is one of New York City’s crown jewels, and this idiosyncratic gem is celebrating its 111th anniversary. Why 111? The number one seems symbolic for a store that has no other locations and a peerless position in the fashion world. “Bergdorf Goodman has not only been a landmark to my career, but a landmark for almost every other important designer,” says Oscar de la Renta. “It is a very unique store. You know, my only regret is that there is only one Bergdorf Goodman.” This standard of style was founded in 1901 by partners Herman Bergdorf (a talented Alsatian tailor) and Edwin Goodman (a merchant with insatiable ambition). Goodman eventually bought out his partner and moved to the famous Beaux-Arts building on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th street. Generations of Goodmans lived in the opulent penthouse above the store until 1993, and although the business was bought by the Neiman Marcus Group, the family still owns the building, giving credence to the feeling that people are shopping in someone’s sumptuous home.
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B Y L I LY H O A G L A N D
This page: The dramatic “Gothic Splendor” window diplay for Akris. Opposite page: A Bergdorf Goodman photo shoot for Look magazine; the Beaux-Arts edifice on Fifth Avenue; passersby enjoy 1938 window displays.
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When Cary Grant took Doris Day on a shopping spree in the 1962 classic That Touch Of Mink, it was
The store grew to become its own character in New York City culture. It was more than a shop—it was a signal of class and taste. When Cary Grant (class incarnate) took Doris Day on a shopping spree in the 1962 classic That Touch Of Mink, it was at Bergdorf Goodman. That influence has spanned the decades, proven by the fact that the store was one of Carrie Bradshaw’s favorite places to shop in “Sex and the City”, the show that defined aspirational Manhattan to a generation of shoppers. Linda Fargo, senior vice president of Bergdorf Goodman’s women’s fashion office and store design and presentation, is one of the directors of the upcoming celebrations for the anniversary, among which is an exclusive collection of items by more than 100 designers from Akris to Christian Louboutin. “It’s natural for the designers to do what they do best and celebrate with us by designing something inspired by the history of the store and their impressions of it,” she said. “It became their tribute.” Besides the collection, HarperCollins is publishing an anthology of personal recollections titled Scatter My Ashes At Bergdorf Goodman; a documentary by the same name will debut at the Paris Theatre. Among the celebrity contributors are behind-the-scenes glimpses from insiders like Michael Perricone, the director of BG Restaurants: “We try to handle everything as smoothly as possible. We This page: A Bergdorf ad for styles long past. Opposite page (clockwise): Coffee cups at BG Restaurant; the restaurant; a shoe display on the second floor; windows at the Men’s Store; royal themes in a window display; vintage ads show the evolution of fashion.
CO U RTE S Y O F B E R G D O R F G O O DM A N ( O P P O S I T E PA G E ) CO U RT E S Y O F B E R G D O R F G O O DM A N ; PAT R I C K M C M U LL A N
at Bergdorf Goodman.
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This page (clockwise): Jacqueline Kennedy ordered her Inaugural gown and cape from Bergdorf; iconic wrappings; “Open All Night,” a window for Patrick McMullan’s book S080s; Scatter My Ashes At Bergdorf Goodman by Sara James Mnookin; a Balmain sketch for spring 1966. Opposite page: “Subway Twister,” a window honoring the New York City Department of Transportation.
M U S E U M , FA S H I O N I N S T I T U TE O F TE C H N O LO GY, H A R P E R CO LL I N S .
displays will give a visual history lesson of the store’s past. Bergdorf Goodman has always been the paradigm of luxury shopping, as a sanctum of Mrs. Brooke Astor and as the place where Michael Kors got his start. The store has been able to remain relevant and cutting-edge without losing its cachet, or falling victim to fleeting fads and current pop-culture madness. When asked what she thought Bergdorf would never carry, Linda Fargo replied, “A children’s collection by Snooki.”u
CO U RTE S Y O F T H E J O H N F. K E N N E DY P R E S I D E N T I A L L I B R A RY A N D
may have a lady who likes a certain corner table, but then as we’re walking her to that table, she’ll see someone nearby and say to me very quietly, ‘Oh, I can’t sit here today, dear. Put me as far away as possible.’ And without seeming like we’re out of step at all, we just casually go right by and take her to another corner of the room, out of sight from whomever she doesn’t want to be seen with.” To top it off, the Men’s Store, housed across the street, will open the newly renovated Third Floor and Shoe Library, its first comprehensive renovation since it opened 22 years ago. The season of celebrations will be inaugurated with a storewide party during Fashion’s Night Out on September 6, with the contributing designers signing copies of the book. And throughout the rest of the month, the commemorative window
R I C K Y Z E H AV I A N D J O H N CO R D E S
THEIR NAME WAS VERONICA
BY DANIEL CAPPELLO
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C L A I B O R N E S WA N S O N F R A N K /
CO U RT E S Y O F V E RO N I C A B E A R D
D E A N N E V I LLE / B FA NYC . CO M ;
SITTING OFF TO THE SIDE in the lobby at the Gramercy Park
Hotel, the co-founders and heads of the Veronica Beard fashion label are every bit the picture of the celebrity who helped launch their brand, Gwyneth Paltrow. Veronica Beard and Veronica Beard (yes, they share the same name, having each been born “Veronica” and then each marrying a Beard brother) have just completed a walk-through for the staging of their clothing line’s Spring 2013 presentation, which will take place at the hotel during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. They could easily be
slumped or crouched over the low-lying table on which sketches and paperwork and reams and reams of details are being shuffled about, along with condensing glasses of lemonade and iced tea. Instead, they are uncannily elegant and composed, the calm in a harried meeting with designers and publicists and journalists. This page: Brand founders and sisters-in-law Veronica Swanson Beard and Veronica Miele Beard; a sketch for a Fall 2012 look. Opposite page: The same look from Fall 2012, with the Birdseye Tweed Fox Fur Collar Jacket in Bordeaux.
sketches, including the Brown Patent Lambskin Shearling Moto Jacket and Blush Animal Scroll Print Silk Pleated Maxi Skirt (top right), and the Dark Navy Stripe Tweed Robe Coat and Black Scuba Legging (bottom left). All looks and pricing are available at veronicabeard.com. Opposite page: Elettra Wiedemann photographed by Claiborne Swanson Frank for the Fall 2012 campaign.
O P P O S I TE : C L A I B O R N E SWA N S O N F R A N K / CO U RTE S Y O F V E RO N I C A B E A R D
This page: Looks from the Fall 2012 collection, some with accompanying
T H I S PA G E : CO U RTE S Y O F V E RO N I C A B E A R D
They also have model faces, beautiful golden hair falling to their shoulders, and are by far the two best-dressed women in the hotel without even seeming to try. They are juggling families at home (between them, they have seven children) and making final decisions on what pieces will be shown the following week or sold in any of the 60 worldwide stores that carry them. And still they seem to glow and look as if they’ve just wrapped a movie. Is it any wonder that Ms. Paltrow fell for the utterly effortless chic of their clothing when she spotted it several years ago in the Kirna Zabête boutique in SoHo? After all, the Veronicas are reminiscent of the ever-stylish Academy Award winner herself. And their clothing, which is pioneering the space between high-end luxury designers and very affordable contemporary collections, is thoroughly modern and made for today’s woman who knows high style but is looking for better price points: the kind of woman who appreciates and can wear both Hermès and H&M. Their collections bear the imprint of their exacting style needs—with strong attention paid to design, quality, and fit—and their label consistently delivers pieces that transcend trends. Each piece is a statement of fashion, but not a victim of fashion’s whims. Veronica Beard is all about clothes that will last a lifetime, or parts of “the uniform,” such as the timeless jacket, the perfect-fitting pair of pants, the go-to dress that will transition from parents’ day at the kids’ school to an uptown cocktail party at night.
SEPTEMBER 2012 123
jacket with red-and-navy striped dickey; a Fall 2012 look featuring the Glen Plaid Jacket with Shawl Dickey, the Pearl Stretch Georgette Button Down, and the Loden Stretch Melange Wool City Trouser; the accompanying sketch. Opposite page: The Navy Tuxedo look from Fall 2012.
O P P O S I TE : C L A I B O R N E SWA N S O N F R A N K / CO U RT E S Y O F V E RO N I C A B E A R D
This page, from left: One of the very first pieces, still a brand icon—navy
T H I S PA G E : CO U RTE S Y O F V E RO N I C A B E A R D
Sisters-in-law Veronica Miele Beard and Veronica Swanson Beard merged their respective backgrounds in finance and fashion to launch Veronica Beard in the fall of 2010. More like reunited sisters who had been separated at birth than your ordinary sisters-in-law, they complement each other in ways that constantly elevate the style, quality, and vision of the brand. Though distinctive in their own personal styles and personalities, they aren’t so much yin to the other’s yang; there’s an overlapping, shared aesthetic that is continually tweaked and improved upon by the other at every step of the way. Together, they came up with a single staple that launched it all back in 2010: the iconic Veronica Beard navy jacket with interchangeable dickies that was perfect for so many occasions—the plane, the Saturday soccer game in the stands, and the business meeting. The brand has since grown far beyond that much-coveted piece. Veronica Beard has evolved into a full ready-to-wear line in which every item is an essential part of a woman’s wardrobe. Along the way, from coast to coast, they’ve helped the “I give up” woman (the one who’s had the kids, manages the family, runs the finances, and might not think she has time for fashion—until she meets Veronica Beard, that is), and have afforded the busy, modern woman the perfect launching ground to look effortlessly chic. “We are our own customer,” the two Veronicas explain, almost in perfect unison. u
SEPTEMBER 2012 125
Robert Benson
The Annual Rose Garden Dinner Dance Monday, October 1, 2012
P e g g y R o c k e fe lle r R o se Gard e n
The Board wishes to salute
Nonie and John Sullivan for their loyalty, friendship, and generosity.
Rose Garden Dinner Dance MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2012 marks the date for the Rose Garden Dinner Dance at The New York Botanical Garden. This annual event features the Botanical Garden’s world-famous Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden, designed by renowned landscape architect Beatrix Jones Farrand in 1916, and fully realized in 1988 through a generous gift by Peggy and David Rockefeller. With more than 4,300 rose plants in 693 cultivated varieties, the Rockefeller Rose Garden is one of the most spectacular displays at The New York Botanical Garden. Long lauded as one of the most beautiful rose gardens in America, it has been transformed in recent years into one of the most sustainable public rose gardens in the world.
The Rose Garden Dinner Dance celebrates the glorious autumn flowering of the Botanical Garden’s magnificent rose collection. The evening begins with cocktails in the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden, followed by an elegant dinner with dancing in the Garden Terrace Room. The event attracts 300 members of the Garden’s extended family, and raises $600,000 to support the maintenance, development, and continued care of one of the world’s premier rose venues. This evening is being presented by Piaget.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT CAROLINE BALKONIS AT 718.817.8773
2012 Rose Garden Dinner Dance Honorees THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN is proud to pay tribute to Nonie and John Sullivan at this year’s Rose Garden Dinner Dance. Nonie and John’s long-standing commitment to the Garden and Nonie’s dedicated service as a Member of the Board for nearly 25 years have helped to advance the work of this worldrenowned institution. In particular their participation and involvement in the Special Events Program has raised significant annual revenue for the Garden. These vital funds enable the Garden to present horticultural programs and exhibitions that inspire
820,000 annual visitors, innovative and engaging educational programs that reach the youngest preschoolers to adult learners, and make possible the research and conservation efforts of Garden scientists working at home in the Garden’s laboratory and at field sites around the world. In addition, Nonie and John’s very generous support of the Bourke-Sullivan Display House, the public component of the Nolen Greenhouses for Living Collections, allows Garden visitors to enjoy a closeup look at unique flora while learning the techniques of the Garden’s professional horticulturists. Nonie and John’s participation in the life of the Garden has helped to ensure NYBG’s status as America’s premier urban garden.
Chair List Guests of Honor
Vice Chairmen
Mr. and Mrs. John M. Sullivan, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Coleman P. Burke Mr. and Mrs. Richard L. Chilton, Jr. Mrs. Thomas H. Choate Mr. and Mrs. Robert Douglass Patricia and Eric Fast Amy Goldman Fowler and Cary Fowler Robert F. Gossett, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Graham, Jr. Laurie and Peter Grauer Mr. and Mrs. James B. Gubelmann Mr. and Mrs. William B. Harrison, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Mitchell Jennings Jr. Jeanne Jones Jane and Charles Klein Angus and Leslie Littlejohn Susan E. Lynch
Chairmen Mr. and Mrs. Jeremy H. Biggs Mr. and Mrs. Harry Burn III Mr. and Mrs. Marvin H. Davidson
Honorary Chairmen Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Hubbard Mr. and Mrs. Wilson Nolen
Mr. and Mrs. John R. Robinson Mr. and Mrs. Hartley Rogers Ellen and Kenneth Roman Marjorie and Jeffrey A. Rosen The Edward John and Patricia Rosenwald Foundation Mrs. Arthur Ross Mr. and Mrs. Charles M. Royce Julie and Nick Sakellariadis Mr. and Mrs. Robert K. Steel Carmen and John Thain Mr. and Mrs. Hans P. Utsch Caroline A. Wamsler, Ph.D. Mr. and Mrs. Edward K. Weld Dee and Pug Winokur Mr. and Mrs. Richard Witmer, Jr.
List in formation as of August 16
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Rose Garden Dinner Dance
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1. Roly Nolen, Gregory Long 2. Jeffrey and Diane Jennings 3. Dotty and Lionel Goldfrank 4. Muffy and Donald Miller 5. Diana Revson 6. Beth and Beau Taylor 7. Chris and Grace Meigher 8. Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden 9. Coleman and Susan Burke 10. Chuck and Deborah Royce 11. Maureen Chilton, Mary Davidson, Friederike Biggs, Ann Johnson, Jean Burn 12. Marvin and Mary Davidson
SALUTES
NONIE AND JOHNNY SULLIVAN AND
The New York Botanical Garden
KLOPP
WHAT THE CHAIRS WEAR Karen Klopp, Founder of What2WearWhere.com, has laid out her wardrobe for fashion’s most exciting event, New York City’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, in this month’s column. Yaz Hernandez, Eleanora Kennedy, Alexandra Lebenthal, Valentino Garavani, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, Liz Peek, and Charlotte Moss of the Couture Council.
THE MOST EXCITING time of the year in fashion is finally here. Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week kicks off in the first week of September, showcasing designers’ newest collections and promising the unveiling of yet another season of innovation and trendsetting in the fashion world. As has become the tradition, the arrival of Fashion Week will be heralded by The Couture Council of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology Luncheon and the presentation of the 2012 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion on Wednesday, September 5. This highly anticipated event is held at the David H. Koch 136 QUEST
Theater at Lincoln Center and will honor Oscar de la Renta. Underwritten by American Express, the luncheon has been fashioned by Dr. Joyce F. Brown, Dr. Valerie Steele, and luncheon chairs Daphne Guinness, Eleanora Kennedy, and Alexandra Lebenthal, along with honorary luncheon chair Annette de la Renta. This fête draws the most fabulous flock of fashionistas and fashionators! u For more information about the Couture Council, please email couturecouncil@fitnyc.edu or call 212.217.4532.
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Fashion Week is the most exhilarating and exhausting week in the city. Dresses are so easy to just zip up and go! The Oscar de la Renta sheath (1) is a doubletrender with its color blocking and use of garnet. This MICHAEL Michael Kors houndstooth number (4) and J.Crew dress (8) are simple statements of style. For feet, we love fall’s “it” color in Stuart Weitzman pumps (6) and boots (5). Our purses are new and neutral, with selections from Rebecca Minkoff (7) and Ralph Lauren (3) and, for jewelry, we chose from Marina B’s Avita collection (2).
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APPEARANCES
DOWN IN THE VALLEY BY HILARY GEARY
OFF TO SUN VALLEY, that storied ski
resort in Idaho that is just as delightful in the summer as the winter‌ In fact, many residents swear the summer is by far their favorite time there. They all rave about the
glorious climate: warm in the day and cool at night, plus all the terrific summer sports and activities that this oasis offers. Wilbur and I were there for the fabled Allen & Company conference that, for
three decades, has attracted movers and shakers from not only the tech and media worlds, but other arenas too. The five-day, brilliantly organized conference kicked off with a horse-driven wagon ride to
From left: A musical performance at this year’s Allen & Company conference; an Indian welcomed visitors to Sun Valley, Utah, this summer. 138 QUEST
APPEARANCES
Clockwise from left: Joel Klein, formerly of the Department of Education in New York City, and Mayor of Newark Cory Brooker; Wilbur Ross, our columnist,
CO U RTE S Y O F H I L A RY G E A RY
and Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel in Sun Valley, Utah; Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com; Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie with his wife, Mary Pat.
dinner: a scrumptious western barbeque with music, teepees, and cowboys and Indians. Each morning started with a vast buffet breakfast followed by fascinating and lively discussions with one brilliant panelist after another covering everything topical. The lineup included “Into The Cloud,” moderated by Willow Bay of the Huffington Post with Andy Bechtolsheim of Arista Networks, Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com, and Aneel Bhusri of Workday; “Iran And Israel: On A Collision Course,” with David Ignatius of the Washington Post, who quizzed Martin Indyk of the Brookings Institution, Karim Sadjadpour of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and General Amos Yadlin of Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies; and “Energy: Independent At Last,” moderated by Erin Burnett of CNN with Tom Friedman of the New York Times, Mark Papa of EOG Resources, Daniel Yergin of HIS Cambridge Energy Research Associates. We were treated to a discussion
between Erskine Bowles and Senator Alan Simpson about their economic plan, plus “China In Transition,” which was moderated by Tom Brokaw of “NBC Nightly News” with Muhtar Kent of The Coca-Cola Company, Rodney Faraon of the Crumpton Group, Evan Osnos of The New Yorker, and Minxin Pei of Claremont McKenna College. Plus, there was an interview of the charming new Italian Prime Minster, Mario Monti, conducted by Charlie Rose. Meanwhile, George Stephanopoulos took on Governor Chris Christie and Mayor Rahm Emanuel; Oprah Winfrey interviewed Warren Buffet; and George Tenet queried General David Petraeus! At lunchtime, we gathered at the “duck pond” for more delicious food to fuel up for the afternoon activities with a vast menu of things to sign up for: rafting, fly fishing, trap shooting, skeet shooting, golf, tennis, knitting, yoga, and more. Lots of parents brought their children along as Allen & Company provided a superb
program for the kids, which is beautifully crafted and supervised for all ages. The kids were entertained with activities such as tennis, ceramics, kickball, “story time,” finger painting, puppetry, field games, and ice skating—all in all, a dream camp for the little ones. In the evenings, the grown-ups headed off to either a large buffet dinner or a small seated one. I spotted Herbert Allen, Sydney and Stanley Shuman, Tim Armstrong, Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Patty and Gustavo Cisneros, Meredith and Tom Brokaw, Peter Ueberroth, Diane von Furstenberg and Barry Diller, Wendi and Rupert Murdoch, Mark Zuckerberg, Bob Kraft, Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis, Debbie and Philippe Dauman, Kristin and Charles Allen, France Chrétien and André Desmarais, Mike Bloomberg and Diana Taylor, Mary Pat and Chris Christie, Cory Booker, Linda and Jim Robinson, Joel Klein and Nicole Seligman, Sir Howard Stringer, and lots more. What a fascinating week! u SEPTEMBER 2012 139
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THE YOUNG & THE GUEST LIST This summer, our columnist escaped New York City, venturing everywhere from Millbrook to Montauk as she chronicled the the comings and goings of the twentysomethings-about-town. BY ELIZABETH QUINN BROWN
Ben Watts, known to use the hashtag #Shhhhh for his tweets, hosted the 10th annual “Shark Attack Jaime King, Zoe Sounds” in Montauk. Saldana, and Diana Agron at a Persol event.
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ANA Chau and David X Prutting with Elisa Settimi and Julia Mackler at “Shark Attack Sounds” in Montauk on July 6.
Melanie Laurent at a Cinema Society after-party at No. 8 on July 23.
Ania Cywinska at an event hosted by Ben Pundole, Mazdack Rassi, and Ben Watts.
A couple of girls perched atop a lifeguard
BILLY FARRELL/BFANYC.COM; MADISON MCGAW/BFANYC.COM; PATRICK MCMULLAN
chair at “Shark Attack Sounds.”
The 10th annual “Shark Attack Sounds” took place at
Erin Gray, Boris Talan, and Rory Tahari
Rick’s Crabby Cowboy Cafe in Montauk on July 6.
together at “Shark Attack Sounds.”
“THAT’S THE PROBLEM with drinking, I thought, as I poured myself a drink. If something bad happens you drink in an attempt to forget; if something good happens you drink in order to celebrate; and if nothing happens you drink to make something happen,” wrote Charles Bukowski in Women. Well, you didn’t have to drink to make something happen this summer! On July 6, Ben Pundole, Mazdack Rassi, and Ben Watts presented the 10th annual “Shark Attack Sounds” at Rick’s Crabby Cowboy Cafe in Montauk with music by Victor Calderone, Zen Freeman, Carl Kennedy, and Chelsea Leyland. Dressed in Tracy Feith, I arrived with Sean Hotchkiss, prepared for “a thousand people, alcohol, lasers, and perfection” (Saturday Night Live, anyone?). Some dancing with the DJs and it was one tequila, two tequila, three tequila... Talkhouse? On the weekend of the 20th, Karen Klopp of What2Wear-
Where.com invited Caroline Smith and me to her home, Smithfield Farms, for the Fitch's Corner Horse Trials in Millbrook. The event, which included the Blue Jean Ball and the Spectator Luncheon, was aswirl with “Olympic Village”-themed outfits worn by revelers including Natasha Blodgett, Chrissy Gaffney, Emily Hottenson, Bobby Hottenson, and John Shaddock. Of course, the gold went to the hostess with the mostess, Karen Klopp, who was decorated with a stars-and-stripes scarf. On the 23rd, the Cinema Society hosted a screening of Killer Joe with Bally and DeLeón Tequila. At the after-party, Gina Gerson and Matthew McConaughey, who appear in the film, mixed and mingled with Jessica Hart, Nicky Hilton, and Stavros Niarchos at Amy Sacco’s latest and greatest, No. 8. On the 27th, I visited the Della Femina residence in East Hampton for an outdoor screening of Robot & Frank, hosted SEPTEMBER 2012 141
by the Cinema Society and RentTheRunway. com. Following a dinner catered by Tutto Il Giorno, I snagged a seat behind Susan Sarandon, Russell Simmons, and Liv Tyler before a bonfire on the beach. On August 9, the Cinema Society hosted a screening of 2 Days in New York with MCM. The after-party, at DL, was attended by Heather Graham, Alexia Landeau, and Marisa Tomei, who sipped Grey Goose’s “Hamptons” and “Lakeshore” punches on the roof. On the 11th, I dined at Sotto Sopra in Amagansett, a restaurant owned by Rose Evangelista, cousin of Linda Evangelista, which serves Northern Italian fare with a steakhouse menu. Joined by Gabe Wood and Caroline Smith, I indulged in Spaghettini a la Greco with shrimp, spinach, and spicy arrabiata sauce and Tournedos de Manzo with beef filets, sautéed mushrooms, and
A view of Sotto Sopra, a restaurant in Amagansett that serves Northern Italian fare with a steakhouse menu year-round.
New York, with an after-party at DL.
red-wine shallot sauce. So yummy, especially when paired with margs! On the 13th, Nick Ventura and I joined Jessica Chastain and Shia LaBeouf at a screening of the Weinstein Company’s Lawless, hosted by the Cinema Society and YSL Manifesto. The film, based on The Wettest County in the World by Matt Bondurant, chronicles bootlegging brothers in Prohibition-era Virginia—lots of stars and non-rotten tomatoes! At the after-party, at Gallow Green at the McKittrick Hotel (of Sleep No More fame), I caught up with Sam Dangremond, Drew Grant, Carson Griffith, Ted Gushue, and Nick Hunt while overhearing the actors explain that the Lawless set had been “the most method set... ever.” Now, back to school or, maybe, back to the tents? Either way, the uniform is the same: boots, cashmere, and wool tights. u
PAT R I C K M C M U LL A N ; TO M F I T Z G E R A L D / T H E F I T Z G E R A L D P H OTO G R A P H Y
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On August 9, Nina Arianda attended the Cinema Society screening of 2 Days in
Jeff Slonim and Carson Griffith at the Della Femina residence in East Hampton on July 27.
Bernadette Murray and Darren Henault at the Fitch’s Corner Horse Trials in Millbrook. ChloÍ Sevigny at the Cinema Society screening of Lawless on August 13.
Zosia Mamet and Clint Spaulding at the Cinema Society screening of Robot & Frank in East Hampton.
Seth Meyers and Alexi Ashe at the Cinema Society screening of Lawless on August 13.
James Marsden and Liv Tyler at an event hosted
Shia LaBeouf and Jessica Chastain co-starred in
Jennifer and Erik Oken with their daughter,
by the Cinema Society and RentTheRunway.com.
Lawless, a film about Prohibition-era Virginia.
Paige, and Chrissy Gaffney in Millbrook. SEPTEMBER 2012 143
SNAPSHOT
Top reel: Bill Cunningham; Mary Hilliard; photographers on the riser at the end of the runway; Dan Lecca. Middle reel: Shooting the runway; Billy Farrell; Mimi Ritzen Crawford; Steve Eichner. Botton reel: Patrick McMullan; gearing up for the show; Greg Kessler; Hannah Thomson.
and the start of school, in New York, we know it’s that time of year when Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week rolls around and the tents go up at Lincoln Center, transforming it from the cultural capital to the epicenter of chic. And for those of us in fashion, we tend to quantify our lives as much in terms of Fashion Weeks as we do in days, months, and years (“I can’t believe I haven’t seen you since last Fashion Week!”). Of course, trends change like the weather forecast, and fashion is always hitting highs and lows, but one constant we tend to rely on are the faces of Fashion Week whom most peo144 QUEST
ple don’t get to see: the photographers who bring it all to life, shooting front row, backstage, the runway, and after-parties all over town. They are the go-to photogs for the fashion bibles, the style blogs, and the greatest newspapers of the world. And when we’re rushing around to all of the shows, trying to keep up, they’re often a comforting beacon, a steadying presence, and the only ones in the room we actually want to grab a drink with and talk to in the fray of it all. We often hear them shouting out names and asking, “Hey, can I get a shot?” Well, Bill, Mary, Dan, Billy, Mimi, Steve, Patrick, Greg, and Hannah, here’s getting a shot of you! —Daniel Cappello
B FA NYC . CO M , A N D G R E G K E S S LE R
MUCH AS YELLOW BUSES and backpacks mark summer’s end
CO U RTE S Y O F PAT R I C K M C M U LL A N ,
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