Denise in Europe

Dénise the hat goes to Europe 
with her friend, Judith.
Dénise was beside herself with joy. She had just found out that her friend, Judith, in whose hatbox she currently resides, was planning a trip to Europe with her beau, Mr. J.

Judith owns hundreds of hats, most of whom are prone to gossip, and Dénise had heard, through the hat vine, so to speak, that Judith was planning to take her to Europe. Dénise is French, and speaks the language trés bien, albeit with a bit of an accent, which is perfectly all right as long as she can make herself understood, which she usually does.

This is Dénise modeled on a mannequin in

the studio of Carol Markel, the milliner who

created her.

The day of embarkation finally arrived when Dénise would leave Judith's house in Denver and fly to Europe. She was carefully swathed in tissue and lovingly cradled in a hatbox by Judith, who takes meticulous care of all her hats. At the airport, Dénise sailed through security with nary a T.S.A. agent's raised eyebrow in sight.

This is the story of Dénise in Europe. It just goes to show you that a hat can travel, especially a hat with a friend like Judith, who wrote the commentary for each of the pictures below.

Barcelona
Denise made her European debut in Barcelona.  I wore her to dinner with Mr. J on our last night in the city; the weather was chilly and a vintage jacket, gloves, scarf and boots accessorized her for the evening.  Denise is a collage of many colors, so it’s not difficult to choose an outfit that harmonizes with her beauty.

Paris
I wore Dénise in Paris after a special day of hat shopping.  I chose this blue tunic for dinner and a live, musical performance in a cathedral located in the Latin Quarter.  Denise was happy with the many compliments that she received.  She’s French, speaks the language and feels comfortable in the city that she calls home.

Nice
In Nice, Denise was thrilled to accompany a yellow, vintage jacket to dinner.  I appreciated her warmth and charm, and she added to the magical feel of the evening.  Her last outing in France was unforgettable!

Choosing an outfit for Denise in three European cities became an intriguing part of the story of a trip that I had dreamed about for years.  She sits on the mantel in my living room, and reminds me daily of my enchanting adventure.  She was an integral part of my journey, and each time that I wear her in the future, she will evoke special memories.  Thanks Carol, for creating a hat that brings me so much pleasure.

And thank you,

Judith Boyd, for taking these wonderful

photos and writing about your trip for Femme et Fleur.

Be sure to look at Judith's great blog,

The Style Crone, here.

À Bientôt!

Bunny Mellon Sale at Sotheby's

Bunny Mellon
She Was A Sellin'
Last week my sisters, Susan and Jeanne, and I, went to a yard sale at the tony auction house, Sotheby's. Rachel Lowe Lambert Lloyd Mellon's -- Bunny to her friends -- household belonging were auctioned off to benefit her horticultural foundation and library. Of course, I don't mean that old mops and half-empty jars of cold cream were sold (although there probably were some brooms). Oh no. This was the gentile contents of her multiple houses. For instance, in Upperville Virginia, there was a little 4,000 acre place called Oak Springs Farms and houses in Antigua, Nantucket and Cape Cod and a New York townhouse.

 Copper and white-painted wood octagonal building

cupola from Oak Springs Farms.

Sold for $13,750.

 Polished floors gleam at the Upper East Side 

headquarters of Sotheby's.

The auction preview covered 5 floors.

L-R, Susan, me and Jeanne.

Elevator doors and walls were adorned with

photo-murals from the Virginia farm.

Bunny Mellon was an heiress to a pharmaceutical fortune. Her father founded the Gillette Safety Razor Company and Warner L. Lambert Company. The product that brought in the dough was so much mouthwash, Listerine. As if her own money was not enough, she married Paul Mellon, heir to a banking fortune. Her pockets were as deep as the Grand Canyon, and she could buy anything she wanted. And what she wanted were old, chipped chairs and ceramic table-top items in the shapes of vegetables. Mrs. Mellon died in March, 2014 at the age of 103 while looking for a cauliflower soup tureen on EBay.

 American, 20th century dollhouse.

Sold for $4,688.

 Bunny was a great horticulturalist and gardener.

At President Kennedy's request, she designed the

White House Rose Garden.

Many of her pieces had themes from nature.

 A painted cabinet.

There were lots of dining tables and chairs and sets of china.

Someone will have a Bunny Thanksgiving.

 Bunny Mellon is considered to have had impeccable taste

and the confidence to mix things from different periods and sources.

She owned a lot of chairs. Of course with so many

houses, there was a whole lot of sittin' going on.

 Jeanne and Susan check a price in the catalog.

 Louis XV provincial fruit wood child's chair,

18th or 19th century.

Sold for $10,000.

 Many pieces of furniture were named after English kings.

This is a George III 4-poster bed which sold for $4,375.

Embroidered Oak Tree symbols on the

bed linens.

 The Mellons bankrolled the Yale Center for British Art.

This charming painted by Ellen Meehan shows the site of the Center in 

New Haven, Connecticut.

 The ultimate Shabby Chic.

A pair of these George III armchairs, circa 1775,

sold for $6,250. And you still have to pay to have them recovered!

 Sotheby staffers in snappy black aprons, stand by to assist.

Jeanne admires a Diebenkorn painting.

Most of Bunny's art collection, which included great works by Rothko,

was sold separately as were her jewels.

A blue diamond fetched over $30 million, and the buyer was from China.

 This Victorian cast-iron umbrella stand sold for $5,000.

 The nine walking sticks, including this Bunny one,

went for $11,250.

 These two diminutive Ben Nicholson gouache paintings

were Jeanne's favorites. The top one sold for $42,500 and

the lower one, for $57,500.

I offered to forge one for her, but

she thought that was terribly déclassé of me.

 These are fruit wood tea caddies from the late 18th century.

 The lived-in look living room.

The aesthetic is:

I can buy anything I want, but what I want are objects

owned by dead English people, tureens in the shape of cabbages

 and torn upholstery.

The Ann Redpath painting over the fireplace sold for $43,750

and the two George III papier-mache fans on the table in front, circa 1785, for $6250.

A bargain, already!

 Who's coming to dinner?

Jackie Kennedy thought Bunny's taste was the cat's pajamas,

and copied her style.

 Apparently you can never have too many asparagus soup tureens.

Chelsea basket.

 This pair of Chelsea asparagus tureens and covers c. 1755

sold for $118,750.

 Needlepoint pillow which was a gift from a friend of Bunny's.

 Collection of her Louis Vuitton luggage.

 I am admiring what I believe is a Giacometti sculpture of a bunny.

Bunny herself is in the photo, pruning an espaliered tree.

Don't you love her plain, little cotton skirt?

 My favorite thing in the preview was this 20th century dressing table,

which sold for $11,875.

 A comical rendition of horses ridden by monkeys.

The Mellons bred race horses and one of them, Sea Hero,

won the Kentucky derby in 1993.

 More monkeys. 

What is it with old-family money and monkeys? 

Or should I say old-family monkeys and money?

 An unfortunate use of perspective, or maybe intentionally funny, Bunny?

After the show, we went to lunch at the Eric Kayser cafe.

The baguettes were delicious, and my

Saint Honoré pastry was sublime.

À Bientôt!

Painted Bride Art Exhibit

Painted Bride in Philly:
45 years Old & Going Strong
The Painted Bride Art Center in the Olde City section of Philadelphia was founded in 1969 by a group of alternative artists. Today it still hosts art, music, theater and dance and is an integral part of the Philadelphia art scene.

Richard and I moved to Philadelphia in 1966. I had just graduated from college, and Richard was starting a job teaching at Tyler School of Art. After a couple of years in Germantown, we moved downtown to a 2-floor loft on 10th Street, a few blocks from Chinatown. Our rent was $40 a month, but before you get too excited, let me tell you that we did not have a proper bathtub or a shower. We bought a galvanized tub and filled it from the sink in the tiny bathroom, for baths. It was a lot of work, so sponge baths were more the order of the day. And I cooked on a hot plate. The Reading Terminal Market was near, and we did our shopping there at the great stalls for meat, fish, produce and Basset's ice cream.

Richard's parents came to visit, and his mother took me aside, and said, "Don't worry, someday you will have real appliances."

I got myself started on Philly because we were there recently.We are in a show at the Painted Bride. Our friend, Paul Santoleri, the world-renown muralist, curated the show and asked us to be in it. On the first Friday of November, we went down to Philly to see the show.

 Paul drawing on the wall at the Painted Bride.

Paul can usually be found drawing.

He's the drawing man.

My work on left is a drawing and collage

with marker and paint-chip samples from

Benjamin Moore. Richard's work is an automatic

drawing called "Police Bird."

 Christina May, who helped hang the show .

You know that guy in the green jacket.

Paul with an artist named Candy.

 Richard with Tyler grads Nancy Stroud and Matthew Turner.

 Richard looks like the guy with the pressure cooker on his head.

 Paul started drawing the pattern on Richard's shirt.

 I wore one of my hats! 

Clowning with Paul and Steve Garr.

 With our buddy, Sir Paul.

Steve Garr with his giant saw.

Very Fargo and a great work.

Steve is brother to our friend, Michael Garr, 

a Tyler grad who lives in Minneapolis with his lovely wife, Natalie.

 The Terrible Trio.

RC, Brian Cote and Charles Burwell.

Brian and Charles are great painters.

This is some story. We were walking in the door to our hotel in Philadelphia, and I see this guy on the right giving Richard the side-long glance. This can only mean one thing: a student of Richard's has recognized him. And he was trying to go incognito. Fat chance with the green jacket. This is Morgan Craig, Tyler class of 2000, who was having dinner at the hotel's Red Owl Tavern. I hope the name of the tavern is a tip of the hat to Temple: colors are red and white and their mascot is an Owl. But even if it's just a coincidence, it was great to have these two connect because Morgan was dining there.

He's a wonderful artist, and was in Richard's famous urban landscape class.

Painted Bride -- such memories!!

And new experiences too.

À Bientôt!