A Little Thank You From Miss Coco...

Coco would like to say a sincere thank you to everyone who kindly sent their caring comments and 'get well' emails last week. We were all very touched, and apologise if we didn't get back to everyone who wrote in.

She is still, well, vomiting (I can't think of a more ladylike term for this), so I suspect her stomach and digestive systems have been compromised by the near-death, chocolate-scoffing experience.

However, apart from that minor ailment she seems to be very much back to normal health. (For which read: Utterly Naughty As Usual!)

We were all grateful she pulled through. Cooper most of all.

With licks and love from us.

The Genius of Jason Wu

Jason Wu stormed into the fashion headlines when he designed Michelle Obama’s iconic inaugural ball gown. He hasn't stayed out of them since. Up and up the Snakes and Ladders world of Style he has climbed, dressing stars such as Mad Men's January Jones (love that name), Amber Valletta and Diane Kruger along the way.

Now Mr Jason Wu is considered so significant in the world of fashion, Target recently asked him to design a line of Wu-some apparel for the cheap-but-slick chain store.

The first collection, released in stores on February 5, 2012, has been so well received, many of the pieces have sold out faster than you can say wu-hoo! (Sorry.)

Here's a little lookbook from the man who continues to take Manhattan by storm. Oh – and here's his bio from the wonderful Wiki, just to fill you in.

Born in Taiwan, Jason Wu moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada at age nine and attended Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, Massachusetts and Loomis Chaffee, in Windsor, Connecticut. He learned how to sew by designing and sewing for dolls, and went on to study sculpture in Tokyo. Wu continued this career path at sixteen by learning to create freelance doll clothing designs for toy company Integrity Toys. He decided to become a fashion designer while spending his senior year of high school in Rennes, and studied at the Parsons The New School for Design at The New School. He later interned with Narciso Rodriguez. First Lady Michelle Obama is a noted Jason Wu customer.

She was introduced to Wu by André Leon Talley, Vogue Magazine's editor-at-large, who had been advising the current First Family on their appearance. 

Appearing on the cover of Vogue, Obama wore a Wu design, a magenta silk dress. Upon her arrival in London during the First Lady and President Barack Obama's first official European trip, Obama wore a chartreuse silk sheath dress designed by Wu; the next day she wore a Wu coat during her visit with the Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.

And the Cinderella gown of New York Fashion Week 2021...

Trench Coats And Other Fashion Question Marks

So. This post's gonna cause a lot of up-in-arms. (Although judging by how stylish you all are, they'll most likely be Marc Jacobs-clad ones.) But I think there are some things that need to be said. Or at least discussed in a reasonable fashion.

It has to do with just that.
Fashion.

I've been browsing through the glamour blogs – or 'glogs', as a friend of mine calls them – and I've started to realise that some of the things many of us think of as 'fashion classics' – such as the beige trench coat, the white shirt and so on – are actually rather challenging to get right.

Before you all start to pummel me with your Kelly bags, let me try and explain. And then give me a ten-minute head-start to get away.

The Beige Trench 

Ah, the ol' trench coat, as Maxwell Smart would say. Now I know a lot of women love trenches, so I'm gonna try to be tactful about what I write. I can't promise anything though so if you're wearing a beige trench right now, look away.

Beige is not an easy colour to wear. It makes many blondes look bleached, and many brunettes look even more consumptive. I don't know about you but I'm not aiming for the TB look this year.

Designers often try to lift the colour up a notch, but it still tends to sit on the dull, dishwater-y side. I mean, look at the shade of the Burberry trench above. What would you call that? Gobi Desert?

Even the colour sounds a little boring. Beige.

And I know we shouldn't mention the war, but beige trench coats make me think of the French resistance. And of course English troops too. (NB Did you know that only officers and Class 1 Warrant Officers were allowed to wear them? No other ranks were permitted to. I suspect the other ranks were quietly pleased about this.)

So. I'm thinking that it's time to let the epaulettes go. Rest in peace little shoulder pads. And as for that little D-ring that was supposedly for the attachment of hand grenades? Well, I mean who's carrying hand grenades around nowadays? John Galliano?

Yes people, it's time to let the beige trench die a dignified death.

Oh – one other argument. Beige trench coats are so ubiquitous now that I'm tickled pink when I see one in colour. Wouldn't you rather be standing next to the pink girl (above) at a Trench Coat Convention? Me too. Doesn't she look much more FUN?

In saying this, there's always an exception. The always-glam Janet from The Gardener's Cottage blog looks splendid in her J.Crew number.

(By the way, French fashion law dictates that trenchcoats should be tied, never buckled, with the tie positioned slightly to the right. Or the left – I can't remember. Even better, leave the belt untied. It gives a more elegant line. And the sleeves should be pushed up slightly to show the wrist. Or so I've been told. But again, Janet proves you can do what you want and still look hot.)

Short Skirts on Women over 20 Years Of Age

Coco Chanel believed that women over 20 should never show their knees. (Okay, over 40. I'm just stretching the truth for the argument.) And I have to say, I'm beginning to feel the same. Knees are ugly. Have you ever see a pretty one? Even Ms Wintour's are a little on the bony side. Skirts are SO much prettier when the hems are not up around your eyeshadow. Chanel believed that skirts should skim the knees. And so do I. A hint of knee is elegant. An entire kneecap is frightening.

Feel free to disagree with me on this. I know a lot of friends who do.

White shirts

I've had a love/hate relationship with white shirts for years. I know the collars frame your face well. I know the white lightens your complexion. (Which is why Chanel often put white collars on her black dresses.) I know the cuffs look sexy. And I know the whole outfit makes people think you are clever, competent, and classically stylish. But busty girls can't wear them. I don't know why but it's true. Maggie Alderson once did a column on this. She agreed with me. I can't even wear Anne Fontaine's designs. (The High Priestess of the White Shirt Wearers – pictured above.) My boobs would look very bad in this.

White shirts look best on lithe figures. If you're a girl with cleavage and you want to wear a white shirt (as I do), then you need to find one that's fitted. Such as this. Isn't it pretty? Just love those cuffs. Such a sexy part of a shirt, don't you think? I call this the 'Librarian Chic' look. Love it.

Suede

Suede is fashion's biggest farce. I know many of you agree with me on this. Whoever thought of it really needs to be taken out the back and horse whipped with cow hide. It's a fabric that only looks good in the store. Once you put it on – especially shoes – it picks up bits of fluff and dust, wears thin within the first week and attract water like nothing else. Seriously. I once had a pair of suede shoes in London that I didn't dare wear. Eventually I took them out of the closet for a big First Date. It was supposed to be sunny that afternoon but wearing suede is like doing a rain dance: a shower is bound to fall. And when it does: so long suede. You can kiss those little cuties goodbye.

(PS Sorry Christian Louboutin. Normally I loved your shoes. But just not in suede. Not even hot pink suede.)


[Image at very top via Kate Spade]

The Love Of A Dog

"Free To Good Home –" the ad said. 

"Jack Russell/Maltese terrier. Slightly energetic – (I loved this, the way they'd tried to downplay what was obviously a crazy personality) but still full of love. Likes the beach, sitting on the heating vent in winter and licking feet. Also likes walks, lamb chops and chatting to other dogs. Looking for loving new home."

I looked at this ad, and the pixelated photo with it, and contemplated the idea. For the past three months we had endured fertility tests in an attempt to start IVF, but I was ready to pull out early. It was demoralising, frightening, and unexpectedly lonely. For months I had sat in clinic waiting rooms while RR was at work and for months I had quietly watched other couples hold hands while I sat on my own. It wasn't his fault: I had told him he didn't need to miss work. But a part of me wished I'd been more selfish. There is nothing sadder than sitting in a fertility clinic looking at a poster of a happy family when you're all on your own.

A few months later, after a gruelling work trip to New York, a bad publishing deal, some pummeling deadlines and a traumatic house move, I waved the white flag. "Let's get a dog instead?" I quietly suggested. So we bought Coco home.

Now I don't know why the previous owners called her Coco since she doesn't look anything like Ms Gabrielle Chanel. (More like Courtney Love on a bad peroxide day!) Nor does she act like her; with hauteur and smoothed-down sophistication. In fact, she's as mad as the Mad Hatter. Maybe more so. But it seemed like fate that she came along. I was writing a book about Chanel at the time. What were the odds of finding a dog with the same name?

I remember she looked at me as we drove up the mountain, wagging her tail in a courageous way. I remember thinking how brave she was, getting into a car with a stranger, and how well she faced uncertainty. I thought: I could learn a lesson or two from you little girl.

Then reality hit. And our home exploded. For the first few months Coco wrecked havoc on our lives. She chewed through iPods, iPhones, new shoes, new gardening gloves (see image above) and even my manuscript notes. I punished her, then cuddled her with guilt. It was clear I had no idea how to be a good mother.

But we persevered. We bought her a playmate – a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, which we called Cooper, after an Adelaide beer. (Don't ask.) She loved him at first lick. Then we bought her toys to keep her bright mind occupied. We encouraged her to dig outside (rather than in our shoe cupboards), and, after failing at Dog Training Group (we were the bottom of the class), worked out our own Coco Education Classes. It was a long, slow road.

But even though I adored her (they both sleep in our bed), I never really felt that rush of protective love some people have for their children and pets. I was too scared I guess. I still wasn't sure she'd stay, you see. I wasn't even sure where we'd be in two years.

Then last night she snuck into the pantry and – in typically Coco fashion – helped herself. This time, though, it was a packet of raspberry bullets. Chocolate coated. All 400grams worth. Chocolate is poisonous to dogs. It can kill them in 24 hours. Dark chocolate is worse (cooking chocolate is lethal!) but milk chocolate is just as bad. Coco went crazy from the sugar rush and then proceeded to gulp all the water bowl and vomit her way through the evening. Big chocolate-y vomits. Which smelled like you wouldn't believe. I stayed up most of the night watching her and cleaning up. We ran out of paper towels and fresh blankets at 2AM. It wasn't an easy morning.

Then, at 9AM this morning, barely coherent from lack of sleep, I looked up "chocolate and dogs" on the Internet. "CHOCOLATE TOXICITY," it said in big letters, and I felt the alarm bells go.
"Dogs that accidentally eat chocolate can become excited and hyperactive and then very thirsty. Vomiting and diarrhoea soon follow. The effect on the heart is dire. Death is possible, especially with exercise. Many pet owners assume their pet is unaffected as the signs of sickness may not be seen for several hours. Death can follow the next day."

Within two minutes, I had the leads, Cooper in his car harness and a sickly Coco in my arms and we were racing down the road to Moss, our lovely vet. He ushered us all into the surgery (Cooper stood on the table too) and calmly checked her heart, her eyes, and her stomach. When he said that she must have vomited most of the poison up, I gave a little murmur of thanks. And then I burst into tears.

That's the thing with dogs. You can hold them at arm's length but they'll still somehow sneak their way into your hearts. I had always looked after Coco. Walked her. Fed her. And ensured she was okay. But I'd never really cared for her. It was difficult loving a dog that was so naughty. And maybe I wasn't quite willing to remove the guard from around my heart?

But then she almost died. She ate some chocolate licorice and almost died. Driving down to the vets, sobbing "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" as she lay sadly on the seat beside me, I realised she had been the strong one all along. She had brought us all together and made us laugh. She had saved me from my loneliness and infertility. And she hadn't wanted anything in return but love.

So this is a tribute to Miss Coco. She may be naughty, and she may not look anything like Miss Gabrielle Chanel, but she's very much a dog with a heart.

Bottling The Smell of Books

Lately I've been noticing that more and more perfume entrepreneurs and fragrance makers are bringing out scents inspired by books and libraries. It's a great idea. I've always loved the smell of a brand new book. I just never thought of bottling it.

The first time I noticed it was in the Assouline bookshop in New York. Assouline is a French publishing company known for its sophisticated high-society books. So it was a surprise to see a new range of candles among the design titles. I couldn't see the retail link. Then I noticed the name.

BOOK. 

Yes, that's right, it was a candle that smelled like paper. Or as Assouline put it: a candle that "evoked the atmosphere of your fantasy library and the pleasure of reading..."

Here's the packaging. It's very slick and impressively sparse. Hemingway would have approved.

Then I noticed that Assouline had produced another candle inspired by – wait for it – a library! (Although they called it a 'Culture Lounge'.) Now I haven't smelled this but I presume it's the scent of thousands of books all piled together in a small airless room, many of them gathering dust, with an old leather armchair as the fragrance's 'top note'.

I'm not far off the mark. This is Assouline's description:

These scented candles are each designed to evoke the rich fragrances of a library. Inspired by the distinctive aromas of leather bindings, worn wood, and crisp pages, Assouline candles are the perfect accoutrement to any luxurious library.

If you need even more atmosphere, there's also a leather one and a wood one. 

Burn them all together and you could almost imagine you were in The New York Public Library. 

Or a summer bushfire.

Then I read a story about a talented perfumier in Brooklyn called Christopher Brosius, who owns a fragrance boutique called' I Hate Perfume'. (Nothing like telling it straight up!) Mr Brosius makes a scent called 'In the Library', which smells  – surprise, surprise – like a library!

Now I haven't smelled 'In The Library' but apparently it's quite evocative. One blogger described it as 'leathery and lovely'. (He's obviously been reading first editions. The only leather in my library is the half-chewed shoe my puppy's been destroying for the past week.)

The thing is, these are all really lovely but can they take the place of a real book? I mean, when you're sitting up there in bed with your iPad or your kindle, reading the e version of The Hunger Games on your computer screen and sniffing your Library candle as it sends wafts of paper scent through the room, is it really going to be as good as an authentic book?

I'm thinking of buying the 'Books' candle, just to see.

In the meantime, I wish Mr Brosius would create a really interesting scented candle or fragrance. Personally, I'd really love one that smells like New York – you know; urban-y and architecture-y and fume-y, with a top note of new-clothes-on-sale, the summer grass at Bryant Park, and the ambiance of Balthazar. Now that's a fragrance I'd spray!

Sofia and Francis Ford Coppola's New Hotel

Some people are so innately creative, their talents don't stop at just one thing. Sofia and Francis Ford Coppolas are two such aesthetes. If making successful movies wasn't enough, now they're venturing into hotels – and what sublime hotels they are!

The latest project is Palazzo Margherita, a magnificent, magical painted palace set in its own lush gardens in southern Italy, in a town that was the birthplace of Coppola's grandfather. The decor was a combined effort between Coppola (is there no end to this director's talents?) and the well-known French designer Jacques Grange.

There are Baroque, inspired hand-painted fresco ceilings, exotic tiled floors and rooms decorated with understated Italian glamour.

It is beautiful. Just beautiful. No wonder Sofia chose the setting for her wedding last year.

For more details, see www.palazzomargherita.com or coppolaresorts.com or click here.

Yellow: An Unexpected New Design Trend?

Yellow is a difficult colour. It's like the middle sister of the colour wheel: overlooked by some, left out by others, and adored by those who know just how bright, witty, colourful and uplifting it can be. It's never as popular as, say, red, or pink, or even that go-to-when-you-don't-know-what-else-to-do colour, beige. It doesn't have the gravitas of navy, or the glamour of black. And while it might be as cheerful and as light as white, it never seems to reach the same soaring levels of popularity of its pale-complexioned sister.

But all that might be about to change. Yellow, it seems, is coming out of its colour siblings' shadows. Crisp, refreshing and great as a pick-me-up, it's a colour classic that will make you as happy as egg yolks served sunny-side-up on a summer weekend. No wonder Sibella Court's just re-painted her store's front door in it!  {Image at top via indulgy.com – but uncertain of true source. Image below is a new addition to Jonathan Adler's home page on his website.}

"We just did a bedroom in Florida in sunshine-yellow walls. It's so eye-popping and energising. And when you wake up – wow! It's like having a glass of orange juice thrown at you!" 

– Christopher Coleman, House Beautiful.

"What I love about it is that you can't be in a bad mood around it..." – Amanda Nisbet

One of the highlights of New York Fashion Week recently was Oscar de la Renta's beautifully bright dresses, many of them in uplifting shades of yellow. This one was my favourite. Imagine it at a summer garden party in the Hamptons?

 Here are some more...

A current page from Kate Spade's blog. You can almost smell summer in the (northern hemisphere) air with these witty pix! {Via Kate Spade}

Can't find the original source but I adore this happy armchair.

A Palm Beach entrance hall dressed in the wittily named 'Showtime' by Benjamin Moore, decorated by Christopher Drake. {Via Home Beautiful}

Nancy Lancaster's famous yellow drawing room in London, which was decorated by John Fowler using numerous layers of glaze over a butter yellow paint. {Image source unknown}

Courtney and Robert Novogratz' country retreat in Massachusetts, New England. Aren't those shutters just so inviting? {Via Absolutely Beautiful Things; magazine shoot unknown}

A sweet Cecil Beaton print {via Kate Spade}

A colourful cottage with a clear love of boldness. Love those cheeky polka-dot stools! {Via Home Beautiful}

A fantastically glamorous yellow dining room belonging to Caroline Inge's father – who must be one stylish man! {Via Absolutely Beautiful Things}

A classically elegant yellow houndstooth print by Lee Jofa. Imagine this on a banquette in a kitchen?

Retro with a dash of lemon. {Via indulgy.com}

A favourite painting – 'Girl with the Pearl Earring' (1665), by Johannes Vermeer. Although now I can't look at this without seeing Scarlett Johansson in the film version.

 A chic little number by Coach.

A cuter-than-cute print from Freya's Art's Etsy Shop – here