The Glamour of New York (In 10 Easy Lessons)

Rule No 1: Wear good shoes. 

Unlike their Parisian cousins who prefer flats, New York woman are serious heel girls. They prefer their shoes like their architecture: high-rise and dripping with glamour. The only flats around here are those packed for the beaches in the Hamptons.

(NB No, I don't know how they do it, either. One day in this pair and I was ready for a week with my feet up. I don't think I'd make a very good New York girl...)

Rule No. 2: Take your fashion as seriously as your shoes. 

New York women know their brands like the back of their manicured hands. Some of them know them so well, they can discern a fake Chanel from a real one at 90 paces. Yesterday a woman recognised my lipstick as being a MAC one. How do they do it? Beats me. There are obviously night schools. (This sign was the fist thing that tipped me off.)

Rule No. 3: Buy a dog. 

Thousands of New Yorkers have dogs. They love them. Love them! They even buy cute doggy outfits for them from cute doggy shops. This one matched the owner's handbag. Even the royal blue harness matched the owner's blue dress. I couldn't help but be impressed.

This owner had also matched his hat to his dog. I tell you, New Yorkers are a co-ordinated bunch.

Rule No. 4: Never pay retail.

I figured this out fashion trick halfway through last week. I couldn't work out why so many SoHo girls were parading around in high-end designer clobber, and then I found an entire annexe of second-hand stalls that sold gorgeous vintage clothes and jewellery – from Chanel to Dior – for gob-smackingly low prices. There was one stall that sold authentic Chanel necklaces from $500 (complete with boxes and certificates). Incredible. There are also lots of ongoing sales in New York. I nipped into the Armani one and found frocks for $300 – one-fifth the normal Australian price. (Most sales can be found in the weekly Time Out magazine.) I believe that even Parisian women would be impressed by the New Yorker's ability to sniff out a sartorial bargain. (No mum, I didn't buy anything!)

Rule No. 5: Shop where the pros shop.

On Thursday, I discovered this place: the D&D Building at 979 Third Avenue. I thought I'd hit the Design Jackpot. Spread over multiple floors are showrooms for all the big interior design and decorative home furnishing brands. I spent an hour in Kravat showroom alone. This was the Windsor Smith display. Beautiful.

Rule No. 6: Ensure your bathroom (and other living spaces) are as glam as your wardrobe.

This was a tile shop I stumbled across near Gramercy Park. Look at this tile design. Have you ever seen a more gorgeous mosaic? I would have bought it, but we don't quite have the luxury 5-star-style ensuite to put it in. 

 Here are some more from the same showroom. There were hundreds of these stylish designs. Why can't Australia have these ranges?

Rule No. 7: Do your food shopping at the Union Square Markets

This seems to be where all the truly glam New Yorkers (or at least from Downtown) buy their fresh, farmer-grown produce. There were beautifully rustic stalls featuring just-plucked vegies on hessian blankets, and delicious drinks from witty stands such as this (above). Think Collingwood Children's Farm Farmer's Market, but with five times the number of people.

Rule No. 8: Book a hotel for a glam night out, but only do it on Sunday night

If you want to experience real New York glamour, then check into one of the city's famous hotels, such as the Gramercy Park Hotel, the Empire, or the Nomad. But here's a little tip: Do it Sunday nights, when the prices drop considerably. Friday and Saturday nights are also reasonable. I paid just $200 for a night at Morgan's on Madison, and got upgraded to a suite.

Rule No. 9: If it rains, be ready with the wellies.

I saw so many New Yorkers walking around in designer wellies, I thought they were filming an ad for Hunters. Women wore them with Prada frocks, men wore them with tailored trousers, I even saw six doormen wearing them as part of their rainy-day uniform at a certain upscale hotel. Then I saw these yellow cab numbers. Aren't they cute? Imagine a little kid wearing them in Central Park? I loved them. Just loved them.

Rule No. 10: Inspiration is everywhere.

You don't need to be rich to have style in New York. There are so many stores selling replicas of the high-end collections that you can easily dress like a catwalk model for a few dollars. This was a window display in Bergdorf Goodman. I saw a similar dress in Gap for $10!

The Glamour of New York: A List

"He adored New York City. He idolized it all out of proportion...no, make that: he romanticized it all out of proportion. Yes. To him, no matter what the season was, this was still a town that existed in black and white and pulsated to the great tunes of George Gershwin." 

― Woody Allen, Manhattan. 

No matter how you feel about traffic, noise, rude people, expensive rents (and hotels), and general urban chaos, you can’t help but feel a frisson of excitement every time you come into New York. It is the most scintillating of cities. As Sinatra sang in that anthemic tune, it’s a place where ‘those little town blues’ just melt away.  I have been to New York many times, and I'm just as in love with it as I was when I first visited as a child. I've lived in several countries but my heart still beats a little faster with anticipation every time the taxi drives down the Long Island Expressway and the Chrysler Building comes into view. 

Lots of people I know are visiting New York this year, so I thought I'd share some of the places that I love about this city. Here, in no particular order, and some of New York's prettiest and most memorable hideaways. I hope they inspire you, and perhaps even encourage you to seek out your own favourite New York places.

HENRI BENDEL DEPARTMENT STORE

Forget Saks (although the shoes sales are sublime). Forget Barneys and even Bergdorf Goodman. (Ditto re shoe sales.) Henri Bendel is where I go to grab great gifts for friends. Avoid the front of the store, which is frantic with sales assistants and cosmetic counters, and instead head to the rear of the ground floor, which offers gorgeous accessories, scarves, jewellery, books and other lovely New York-ish gifts. Fifth Avenue.

BENOIT BAR & RESTAURANT

One of Vogue Contributing Editor Andre Leon Talley's favourite hangouts, this French-inspired bolthole is a little piece of Paris in Manhattan. Go there during Fashion Week and you'll spend most of the night playing Spot The Star. And if you can't afford dinner, the bar is just as beautiful on its own. 60 West 55th Street.

BALTHAZAR BAR & RESTAURANT

Still a favourite with locals and tourist alike, even after all these years. Keith McNally's Parisian-style bistro is just as stylish as anything on the Left Bank. The energy, however, is pure New York. And the conversations are as memorable as any you'll have. I went with an investment banker and we had a two-hour discussion about Brooklyn (the good and the bad). Completely enlightening. And the food is great, too.  80 Spring Street, SoHo.

CAFFE STORICO 

A new kid on the New York block, this cheery little cafe is hidden away in the New York Historical Society (which, in itself, is one of New York's best-kept secrets).  The lemon-and-white colour scheme is refreshingly different from anything else in the city, but it's the dinner-plate decor that really made me smile. It's glamorous and yet whimsical at the same time. My favourite new place to eat in Manhattan. And judging by the swarms of diners walking in, it's the new favourite of many Upper West Siders, too! 170 Central Park West.

THE FLATIRON DISTRICT
The Flatiron is famous for its iconic, iron-shaped building, but the neighbourhood is fast becoming one of the funkiest in town. It's full of design stores, many of which are housed in extraordinary architecture, so it's great place to wander if you're into design. But it's also a lovely place to take a seat and linger – either in the loveliness of Madison Square Park (grab a shake at the iconic Shake Shack), or in one of the sleek new eateries, the best of which is Eleven Madison Park (shown). (Bottom image via viamagna.es)

THE NOMAD HOTEL

One of my two favourite hotels in Manhattan (the other is the Gramercy Square Hotel), this inspiring and utterly delightful hideaway is a gilded dream of a place. 

The hotel styles itself on a bygone era of travel and every aspect of the design is one part sentimentality, one part sophisticate. For example, upended vintage steamer trunks serve as bar fridges in the rooms, which are decorated with vintage maps, old prints, gilt frames, and swathes of Parisian-style silk. It's lush, elegant, and completely enchanting, (More on the Nomad soon!) 1170 Broadway.

THE STRAND BOOKSTORE

My partner groans whenever we head here, because I can spend hours in this store, wandering the aisles. It's still one of the best bookstores in New York – on our last visit, I found a copy of (the now out-of-print) Cecil Beaton: In Vogue for $20 and Bill Blass' autobiography Bare Blass for $5. There are fantastic literary finds to be found here. In fact, I could have bought up the whole biography and fashion sections – and lots of people do. Kate Spade's buyers reportedly come here for the books displayed in Kate Spade stores. 828 Broadway.

THE EMPIRE HOTEL

Oh, how I love the Empire! It's almost as good as the Nomad and the Gramercy Park Hotels. (Perhaps even on a par.) Located on the Upper West Side, it features a high-glam interior that is almost Hollywoodesque. But it's not the interior design that guests return for: it's the service. Staff here are so impeccable, you can't fault anything. They kindly gave me an upgrade to a suite (see above), and were so lovely, I'd return in a heartbeat. It went through a bad patch a year ago, I believe, but I can tell you that things have turned around and the place is running like a well-oiled Bentley! Beautiful. Just beautiful.  (The rooftop bar, terrace and pool are fabulous, too.) 44 West 63rd Street.

THE MONDRIAN HOTEL, SOHO 

The Mondrian doesn't get as much press as The Crosby Hotel down the road and that's a shame, as it's just as innovative, and just as stylish. The exterior (above) is a creative mix of conservatory-style elegance meets urban rusticity, while the restaurant (top image) is truly one of the prettiest in town. I loved the table full of glass cloches (a nod to the greenhouse theme), the crystal chandeliers, and the gardening tools lining the shelves. A gorgeous place to come if you love gardens, as I do. The staff were great as well. I hate snobbish, arrogant people and there were none to be seen here! Everyone was as delightful as the decor. 9 Crosby Street, SoHo.

THE PENINSULA AND THE PLAZA HOTELS

If you've been to New York before but are travelling with someone who hasn't, and you want to show them some of the city's 'old glamour', then head to either the rooftop terrace of The Peninsula Hotel on Fifth Avenue (top image) for one of the best views of Fifth Avenue and Central Park, or the salon of the Plaza, for a quintessential New York-style afternoon tea. Both will leave a suitably good impression. Fifth Avenue.

GRAMERCY PARK, AND THE GRAMERCY PARK HOTEL

Gramercy Park is the last of New York's private parks. Like the park in the film Notting Hill, it's only available to residents: you need to own an apartment on the park to have a key. One way around this is to stay at the Gramercy Park Hotel (which is also on the park). The hotel is not only happy to let you experience this exclusive green space, it also provides a coolly glamorous rooftop terrace so you can look out over the entire neighbourhood! A symphony in green, black and white, it's highly popular with locals and guests: on a sunny afternoon, nothing beats it at this level! (More on the Gramercy Park Hotel and the area in a future post.) 2 Lexington Avenue.

RALPH LAUREN ON MADISON

If you haven't yet seen Ralph Lauren's new store on Madison Avenue (opposite his old one in the Rhinelander Mansion), then make sure you pop in, if only for the architecture. The staircase is one of the most beautiful in the city. 888 Madison Avenue.

PIPINO

A hair salon so cute it looks like a confectionary store. The decor is divine, the staff are lovely, and the hair cuts would make even a supermodel happy! 3 Center Market Place.

GEMMA AND THE BOWERY HOTEL

A cutey in the Bowery district, Gemma is the restaurant of the Bowery Hotel. Both hotel and restaurant are worth a look (the hotel's bathrooms are some of the plushest in town), but if you've only got half an hour, stop here for a drink. The interior is startlingly chic. 335 Bowery.

And when the President drives past, well, that's when you know you're in a great city!

All photographs copyright © Janelle McCulloch 2012, except where indicated.

Design Wise: Schappacher White

We're not design snobs here in the House of the Frugal Decorator. We have $300 Italian lamps beside $50 Ikea ones. We have a $400 Bose iPod speaker on a $40 chest of drawers (found at a garage sale and painted matt black to match). We have $1000 Bruno Benini fashion photographs next to my rough old amateur ones. And we have a $250 limited edition Louis Vuitton book (a gift from RR) sitting beside $1 titles found at The Strand in New York.

Interior design should never be precious, in my opinion. It should consist of the things you love. I don't want to lecture you because you're all quite capable of decorating your own homes, and you should do it the way you want to! But the moment I see a room that is styled to within an inch of its life with high-end furniture and precious antiques, I quietly shudder! (Where do they put their feet? Where do they sit their coffee cups without worrying about marking the mahogany? And where – oh where – do the poor dogs go?)

Someone else who shares my down-to-earth design philosophy is Ms Rhea White. She is the kind of woman I love: practical; innovative, creative, funny, and fond of a decorating bargain.  She is a woman who can make a flea-sale find look like an antique from a Sotheby's auction.

I spotted Rhea sitting next to Celerie Kemble in a Habitually Chic photo last week and it prompted me to do a Design Wise post on her firm. I had the great pleasure of meeting Rhea and her design partner Steve Schappacher on Shelter Island near New York when I shot their beach house (above and below) for a book on coastal architecture. Steve Schappacher is the architect of the duo; a design genius who can see possibilities where the rest of us see run-down wrecks. Rhea White is the interior designer of the family; a woman who can style a house like no one – and I mean NO ONE – I've ever met!

I'd like to show you. This, my library friends, is how the pros make over their homes!

(Note: Depending on where we end up living after The Big Move, I'm going to see if we have enough money to get these two to do our next house. That is, if they have time between all their other Manhattan commissions...)

The whimsical black-and-white dining room. The rusty old garden chairs were picked up for a song at a second-hand store on Shelter Island and deliberately left as they were. (Rhea simply put some striped cushions in for comfort.) These chairs really make this space. They are adorable. 

Notice how many of the fittings and furniture pieces are black? It's a clever move because the dark colour outlines the beauty of these pieces by silhouetting them against the white backdrop. 

I've forgotten where she picked up this fabulous vintage chair (I was too busy gawping and photographing madly to make copious notes, sorry!), but I love how it sits beautifully with the gently aged kitchen cabinet behind it. Look how Rhea has painted the back of it, to highlight the dinnerware.  Normally people paint cabinets or bookshelves black and then leave the back of them white. Rhea, however, has gone the opposite direction. I told you she was clever.

The kitchen. This is such a lovely cooking space for an island beach house. Look at how the black dinnerware makes a statement on the white shelves. And how the cupboards are like old-fashioned farmhouse cupboards. The modern twist to this room is the stove. It's black. (I desperately want one of those!) Love the geometric sink in the island bench too. And the elegant tapware with the simple benchtop. Just beautiful.

Chalkboards have been in so long they're bound to go out soon, but Rhea and Steve have given theirs a contemporary look by painting the entire kitchen wall in chalkboard paint and doodling cute pictures on it. It works because the wall beyond it is black too, while the door trims have been painted white. The layers of black and white are instantly dramatic. Even the shell hanging on the far wall has been painted white. And look at the cream sandshoes. Very cute.

This is a detail of the hallway in the previous photo. Rhea has simply strung up an old fishing rope and thrown some hooks over it. So creative. The beach bag is a witty play on words. (The house is on Shelter Island.)

The powder room. Located off the side entrance, this was my favourite room. That steel shower screen is actually VERY expensive.  (I doubt their laundry/powder room was a $30 makeover like ours!) But look at the retro-style black tapware. Isn't it beautiful? It's a lot like the bathrooms in the guest rooms of Ace Hotel in New York. And those light fittings! I love this powder room. Such a glamorous beach house ensuite. It makes you want to wear a retro-style, polka-dot black maillot, and then hang it up on a hook to match!

The living room. The top image is out of focus but it doesn't matter as many of you will have already seen this room in the blogosphere. The bottom image is the one I wanted to show you. It's home-made artwork, created out of rusty old bits of steel. Love the 4-by-3 configuration.

The bedrooms. These were ordinary farmhouse bedrooms, located either side of the landing at the top of the stairs. But look how lovely they are with a black-and-white palette?

The garden. The garden was as gorgeous as the rest of the house. Rhea and Steve built the long pergola and the outdoor fireplace, and converted the carport to a cool pool house. I'm told by another architect (a famous New York one, who knows about these things) that this pool is VERY expensive because of the long steps on the side. I'm too polite to ask how much it costs, and it doesn't matter, because it's the final exclamation design on this spectacularly clever Shelter Island beach house.

For more details of this creative duo's projects, look up their website schappacherwhite.com, or click here – Schappacher White