Is Periwinkle The Perfect Blue?

It's a tough discussion, the Blue Debate. I mean, how do you possibly choose the perfect blue?

There's the sophisticated, dignified, thoroughly distinguished blue that is navy. (Which I have always had a soft spot for. And I suspect half of Paris does too, judging by their wardrobes.) There's the rich glamour of royal blue. There's the crisp smartness of French blue, which always reminds me of dress shirts and school uniforms. And finally, there's the soft elegance of periwinkle blue; a blue that's so quietly beautiful, it makes all other blues look flashy by comparison.

Some people think periwinkle blue is simply a pale, watered-down blue, but it actually has a hint of mauve swirled through it. It's a delicate blue and it can be difficult to do. If the paint is tinted too dark it can turn out to be lavender. Too light and it fades to a wishy-washy shade.

It can also be difficult to decorate with, or dress in. Many designers and decorators suggest using it as a dominant feature, which shows off its loveliness, rather than hiding it behind another principal colour such as white. Personally, I love seeing it with a sweep of glossy black; a colour combination that's unexpectedly glamorous and surprisingly sexy.

However you feel about periwinkle (or plumbago, porcelain, sky blue, or whatever else you want to call it), one thing seems certain: it's sneaking its way into the fashion and design worlds. Just look at how much of it was in Chanel's Spring-Summer 2012 show. In fact, many people think that pale blue, and its equally delicate and elegant cousin pale turquoise, could be the colour(s) to watch in 2012 and 2013. {Above image via the inimitable Rodney Smith.}

"It's an ahhh colour! Completely uplifting!"  

– Designer Jamie Drake on pale blue

The new Mondrian SoHo hotel, in New York, a poem to periwinkle. {Via Mondrian and Hotel Chatter}

Chanel's Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2012 show, which was more or less a tribute to the prettiest, palest shades of blue. {Via Chanel}

The Hotel Ferrero in Valencia Spain, which is owned by Spanish tennis champ Juan Carlos Ferrero. Look at that blue. It's so unusual for a hotel facade, isn't it? But so perfect for the elegant architecture, the petite size and the gorgeous, glorious, sun-kissed Spanish setting. {Via www.hotelferrero.com}

Pale blue in a French-style interior. I've misplaced the credits for these images and I wish I hadn't because I adore this space. Look at the silk-taffeta drapes, the high-gloss floor, the stunning armoire... If you know whose home this is, please do let me know so I can credit accordingly.

My old apartment in South Yarra. The stripes on the walls were painted in Porter's Paints' Nebular blue (low sheen and pearl gloss), which gave the tiny space the feel of a French salon. (Curiously, it also made the space seem larger.) Oh, how I loved this blue! I'd love to do another apartment in the same colour palette.

JK Place hotel in Florence. I never tire of staring at this beautifully designed space. In this image, the blue looks more turquoise, but in real life it's a pale blue. And while not strictly periwinkle, it's very much in the same family of pale blue hues.

My favourite Jonathan Adler sofa. In fact, this could be my favourite sofa ever. Look at those sexy lines. Doesn't it make you want to pour a martini or a gin and tonic, slip into a white silk dressing gown and spend an entire evening watching episode after episode of Mad Men? {Via jonathanadler.com}

A few of the spectacular pieces from Oscar de la Renta's recent collection. Oh, Oscar. You do know how to do a magnificent blue! {Via Vogue and Dustjacket Attic}

Chanel's alluring blue nail lacquer, highlighted at the recent Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2012 show. {Via Chanel}

The Kelly Wearstler-designed restaurant, BG, at the top of Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York. This is one of my favourite restaurants in New York. The views up Fifth Avenue and across Central Park are as sublime as the interior. {Via Apartment Therapy and Carlos Melia}

The Hotel de Vendôme in Paris. Flashy, but still fabulous. {Via Vendôme}

A print of Lulu Guiness's London home by the talented Anne Harwell of Annechovie. {www.annechovie.blogspot.com}

And more inspirations...

Heart Gardens

Just because it's Valentine's Day...

Don't you love a garden with a (horticultural) heart?

The astonishing Knot Garden at Villandry Chateau, Loire Valley, France. One of my all-time favourite gardens. {Image by Janelle McCulloch; this is my pathetic attempt at copyright but you're all more than welcome to forward these images if you link back and credit.}

The charming kitchen garden at Lady Bamford's Daylesford Organic estate, Gloucestershire (The Cotswolds), England. {Image by Janelle McCulloch}

The magnificent Prieuré d'Orsan Garden (the Medieval-inspired Priory Garden), in the Berry region of France. {Images by Janelle McCulloch}

The enchanting Van Buuren Museum and Gardens in Brussels. {Via the fantastic photographer known as Dan@94. www.flickriver.com/photos/93340}

A beautiful heart-shaped gate at Petersham Nurseries, in Richmond, London. {Images by Janelle McCulloch}

A delightfully simple heart-shaped gate in the USA. {Via themagictutu.typepad.com}

A lovely plan of a country house garden, complete with heart-shaped beds for tea roses. Designed by the magnificently named The Hon. Frances Wolseley, Principal of the Glynde School for Lady Gardeners in Sussex. Drawings by Miss M. G. Campion. {Via the book Every Woman's Encyclopaedia and chestofbooks.com}

Tricia Guild's sublime townhouse garden in London, with its square of pleached limes. The heart-shaped leaves of limes (tilia cordata in particular) are so pretty in spring, it's no wonder it's one of my favourite trees. Paul Bangay loves this tree as well. Good man. {Via telegraph.co.uk}

Rather fond of this little garden. Wish I knew where it was. {Credit source unknown. Please notify me if you know the credit.}

The Heart Garden, a great story of art patron Sunday Reed and her famous garden at Heide. Interestingly, the gardeners at Heide recently uncovered a heart-shaped garden that she had created for her lover, the artist Sidney Nolan, which was hidden under lawn for years. I think it perhaps should have stayed there, as Sunday and Sidney's secret. (NB I love the name Sunday, and was so pleased when Nicole Kidman chose it for her daughter – a decision inspired by the life of Sunday Reed.)

A heart-shaped trowel. How I love this. Be still my beating heart! {Via thegardeningwebsite.co.uk}

Better get back to writing books now or my fiercely disciplined, whip-wielding readers will have something to say.

Secret New York

The second in this 'Travel Triptych' is the Big One: New York. Before I lead you into the darkly glamorous corners of Manhattan though, I'd like to apologise for the poor quality of the Library's photos lately. My old Canon camera is playing up, but I'm not quite ready to spend another $3000 on a new Canon 5D Mark II plus lenses just yet. We're hopefully going to New York in April so will wait and purchase new goodies then. Until then, I do hope you can overlook the shocking photography!

But back to more important things – the secret corners of magnificent Manhattan...

SECRET NEW YORK

THE ROOFTOP GARDEN OF THE MET
Most people head to the sky to get the best views of Manhattan – using either a helicopter, or joining the queue for the Empire State, or (one of my favourite) taking the lifts to the top of the Rockefeller Centre (superb for views of the Empire State, Midtown and Downtown).  However, there are other ways to get up and above the city, and one of them is the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden of the Met Museum. It's one of those places many of us never think to go when we're wandering up and down Museum Mile, but it's definitely worth the effort. Spend a few hours exploring the newly opened American Wing of the museum, and then head up here in the golden light of the late afternoon to see the city dazzle. There's a cute cafe and bar, which come alive on warm nights, especially on Friday and Saturday evenings when lots of locals head here. It's a great place to meet someone, too. {Image via the great blog  blog.travelpod.com}

THE FRICK GARDENS
I first learned about the secret gardens of the Frick Museum from landscape designer Paul Bangay, who counts it as one of his favourite gardens. And I'm glad he shared the secret. The Frick's gardens are some of the best in the city, There's an indoor courtyard, or 'Garden Court', and two outdoor gardens. The grand Fifth Avenue garden features neoclassical urns and grand façade, but it's the Seventieth Street Garden, designed by Russell Page, that's delicate and intimate: a horticultural poem of sheer loveliness, with just the right amounts of simplicity and detail, lawn and leaf, and classical and modern. It was designed to be viewed from the street or through the arched windows of the Reception Hall like an Impressionist painting. An interesting idea, but it works. (Image at top is also from the Frick.) 1 East 70th Street, New York. {Via www.frick.org}

THE CAMPBELL APARTMENT BAR
This tucked-away cocktail bar located in a corner of Grand Central Terminal is a great place for a late-night after-dinner cognac. There's too much history to mention here so I'll just touch on the best bits. When it was first created, the enormous space was designed to resemble a 13th-century Florentine palace with a hand-painted plaster of Paris ceiling, leaded windows, a grand mahogany balcony, and a Persian carpet that took up the entire floor and cost $300,000, or roughly $3.5 million in today's money. There was also a permanent butler named Stackhouse. (Love the name.) When the owner died, it became a jail, albeit a rather upscale one. In 1999, it was restored to its former glory and is now a handsome cocktail bar, complete with the original steel safe as a reminder of Mr Campbell's wealth. The place was spruced up by British designer Nina Campbell (no relation), who did it in 24 hours so the place didn't have to close. Such efficiency! 15 Vanderbilt Ave, New York. (Inside Grand Central Terminal.)

FREEMAN'S
Part bar, part taxidermy museum, part speakeasy, this secret spot hasn't been so secret since the word slipped out, but it's still a great little find. Filled with beautiful people dressed in their edgiest New York best, it's a darkly atmospheric bar and restaurant with a fascinating turn-of-the-century feel. It's difficult to find (keep going down the dead-end alley) but it's an experience when you get there.
Freeman Alley, New York.

THE NEW HERB GARDEN AT THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
With a 50-acre forest, a grand Victorian glasshouse, a perennial garden and much more, the New York Botanic Garden is certainly worth a visit, but it's the new Nancy Bryan Luce Herb Garden that everyone's really talking about. With its glorious formal boxwood parterre and intriguing planting scheme, it makes for a serene – and scented – escape from the madness of Manhattan.  2900 Southern Boulevard Bronx, New York. {www.nybg.org}

PALEY PARK
New York doesn't have as many gardens as Paris or London, so when you discover them, usually by happy accident as you're marching from one must-see attraction to another, it's a wonderful surprise. Paley Park is one of these places. This "pocket park" is situated on West 53rd between Fifth and Madison and has been variously described "a corner of quiet delights" and "an urban oasis".There are ivy-covered walls, a grand waterfall, an ornate gate and an overhead canopy formed from locust trees. There's even a piece of the Berlin Wall – complete with bullet holes. It's a much-welcomed respite after hours striding up and down Fifth Avenue. {Via the great blog newyorkplantsandotherstuff.blogspot.com}

BRYANT PARK GRILL
While not exactly a secret (not much in New York really is!), this is nevertheless one of my favourite 'hidden' places. Few tourists come here, although it's beloved by New Yorkers who adore the leafy views of the park from the rooftop terrace. It's one of the loveliest places to dine in New York on a summer's night. You can find it behind the New York Public Library, on Bryant Park’s Upper Terrace between 40th and 42nd Streets. It's a first-come-first-service basis for the outdoor patio garden and rooftop garden, so be early! And if you can't get in, try the quirky bar and hideouts at the other end of the park – deckchairs, people watching and park pleasures galore. 25 West 40th Street New York. {Via the great blog blog.bryantpark.org}

BACK ROOM
Love the name, especially since it really is a 'back room'. Accessed through a gate marked 'Lower East Side Toy Company' (very witty considering the playthings inside), it's a whimsical speakeasy that's packing them into its dim corners. (If there's no bouncer, just let yourself in.) Great for clandestine meetings with people you shouldn't be having clandestine meetings with. Just one of the fab speakeasies that are sprouting up all over the city like cocktail umbrellas at Palm Beach, it's at 102 Norfolk St, New York. Another one is Raines Law Room, a luxe-louche lounge near the Flatiron that's found by way of a doorbell at the bottom of an unmarked staircase. You take your seat and then buzz another buzzer to summon the bartender. All very entertaining. 48 W 17th St, New York, New York.




More Secret New York tomorrow, with tips on hidden fashion and style hideaways, plus great hotels and places to get away.