The Breakfast at Tiffany's House

Who could forget Holly Golightly's house? Who could forget the fabulous cocktail parties, with Mickey Rooney as Mr Yunioshi shouting protests from the balustrade above? Who could forget the bathtub sofa, and the gloriously simple bedroom, where Givenchy's glamorous dresses appeared like magic? And finally, who could forget Audrey Hepburn's poignant rendition of Moon River on the fire escape, a song that brought some gentle reflection to an otherwise whirlwind drama?

Well, now the house that was in Breakfast at Tiffany's is up for sale. Owned for more than a decade by a former Merrill Lynch broker, the Upper East Side Manhattan townhouse has just been listed for $5.85M. The residence is located at 169 East 71st Street, and although most of the interior shots were filmed in a specially designed studio, there were some scenes that were shot here, including the exterior street scenes and (supposedly) a party. The house no longer features the green and white striped window awnings it wore in the movie, but it is still delightful, and you can't look at it without imagining Audrey stepping out of a taxi and prancing up the steps in big dark sunglasses.

It's difficult to believe that this film was considered a little risque when it was first released. The idea of a character who is a call girl may seem completely acceptable to us now but back then it was considered rather shocking. Apparently Truman Capote (the author of the novel) wanted Marilyn Monroe for the role, but the producer and the screenwriter pressed for Audrey, believing that her natural charm and the fact that she was much less overtly sexual than Monroe would make the character less offensive to both the censors and the public. As it turned out, they were right. But not everyone was happy. Audrey's husband, Mel Ferrer, urged his wife not to play a call girl, fearing it would end her career. However, Audrey took the character and, with Givenchy's help, made it her own.

Four decades later, we're still enchanted by it.

{Photo: Publicity stills from Breakfast at Tiffany's.}

Illustrating Chanel

For the past five months I have been working away in my library writing and illustrating two books. One of them is a book that looks at the real story behind the novel Picnic at Hanging Rock (and believe me, there is a real story, and a scandalous one too!). The other is an illustrated guide to Chanel, entitled How To Live A Beautiful Life. While the first book was both an eye-opener and a sentimental literary trip down Picnic lane, it was the second one that really captured my heart. 

Chanel has become Big Business in publishing circles. Everyone wants to write books about her, film movies about her, or simply idolise the iconic black and white logo and the gorgeous collections produced from the prestigious French fashion house each year. As such,  there are already  a couple of beautiful Chanel books out there, including Justine Picardie's impressive biography. However, I wanted to do a book that was like Chanel's own diary or fashion notebook. The idea came from a Chanel press release I received many years ago; a press release that was so extravagant it took my breath away. Chanel produces these extraordinary designs on August 19 every year in celebrating of Miss Coco's birthday. Each year the Chanel team comes up with ever-more fanciful ideas for press releases and each year beauty editors ooh and aaah over the stunning results. Quite frankly, I don't know how these release can become any more gorgeous. Unless they sent a couture Chanel gown out with them. 

Anyhow, the 2005 press release (which was so beautiful it was featured in Vogue, above) inspired me to do this book. And so for the past few months I've been trying to think of ways to illustrate it. Without using the name, the interlocking Cs, or any photographic images of the collections, all of which would be illegal. Somehow, I found a way to illustrated it, mostly via the marvellous medium of college. The art materials and manuscript have now gone off to an editor I know, for her to mull over them and offer her professional thoughts. In the meantime, here are some of the discarded "off cuts" from the creative process!

Trend {Spot}ting...

The beautifully quirky Kate Spade image of the black balloon in a recent post has started me thinking about polka dots and their classic charm. I've always loved polka dots – almost as much as I love stripes. There's something so cheery about their cheeky playfulness. And if you think polka dots are just for  girls, well, Miss Sarah Jessica Parker shows that they can be downright sexy too. Spots have been huge in fashion and interiors this season, and although the trend may be waning, I think there's still room for some polka dot glamour this coming Australian summer.

Polka de résistance: SJP in a black-and-white polka dot ballgown. How beautiful does she look with her slicked-back hair and her tuxedoed husband standing handsomely beside her? {Image via Ivy and Piper and Gild and Grace}

Going dotty: A page dedicated to polkas from Vogue Australia.

Spot-on style: Sumptuous spots in a sumptuous salon. {Image by Tim Walker for Vogue Italia via This is Glamorous blog}

Coming out in spots: A birthday party setting for Cassandra Lavalle of Coco & Kelly Blogspot.

Doing the polka: British model Jacquetta Wheeler in a sweet Jigsaw frock from the 2011 collection.

Oh my: Michael Kors' memorably sophisticated version of spots.

Join the dots: Tommy Smythe's chic living room, featuring Kelly Wearstler's confetti-printed KWID fabric. {Image via Style Redux blog}

Hitting the spot: A page from Harper's highlighting the playful polka.

Seeing spots: Kate Spade's iconic iPhone cover.

Dot to dot: Kate Spade dinnerwear.

Spots are the new stripes: Playfully spotty sun loungers – the perfect place to spend all day in the sun. {Image via cococozy.com}

{More} Iconic Ad Campaigns

As a little addendum to the last post, here are few more beautiful ad campaigns from the archive files. I collect these because they're often great inspiration for photographing books, or for writing briefs and shot lists for other photographers when you're commissioning them to shoot books. The Bruno Cucinelli (below) is one of my all-time favourite ad campaigns. I often refer to this when I'm looking for ways to shoot people, particularly families. It's so original, so fresh and fun and full of laughter and life. You could almost believe it was an authentic Italian family getting together for a reunion at their Tuscan villa.

Bruno Cucinelli ad campaign for the cashmere collection (top).

A Ralph Lauren campaign from 2001, featuring Penelope Cruz. This was an inside front cover for Town and Country magazine. Such a beautiful collage of glamorous images. It doesn't even looked staged, thanks to the delightfully haphazard way the images have been placed in the design. It looks more like Penelope's summer photo album.

A GANT by Michael Bastion ad campaign from S/S 2011 (above). GANT never fail to do fabulous ads. I always try and grab a copy of the GANT magazine whenever I'm near one of the stores. They're full of inspiring photography and great articles. It's marketing dressed up as a magazine!

A Chanel ad campaign from S/S 2011. Love the flirty pink dress, the setting and the delicacy of the table set for high tea. This ad was a change for Chanel. Normally Karl likes his ads darker, moodier, more Gothic in tone. {Image via ministryoffashion.co.uk}

A Chanel ad campaign from 1958. © Lillian Bassman: Anne-Saint Marie, NY. {Image via theculturalist.com}

One of the ads for Louis Vuitton’s spectacular celebrity-focused ad campaign. This one features filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola and his daughter Sofia sitting in the sun-kissed countryside of Buenos Aires. The image was shot by Annie Leibovitz. The Louis Vuitton bag is almost overshadowed by this father-and-daughter duo. (NB I'm not sure why Annie Leibovitz and Louis Vuitton took them to Argentina? To me, the Coppolas are always associated with the Napa Valley and Paris, where they have a second home. I think LV should have shot them in Paris or Napa. But that's just my humble little opinion.)

Iconic Ad Campaigns

There are some ad campaigns that you remember long after the collections have come and gone. These are the ads that mix fashion with whimsy and humour, and style with sassiness and cute street scenes. They're ads that Grace Coddington could have directed, with Rodney Smith standing behind the camera. They're ads that show a life we often wished we led. In fact, they're ads that we often wish lived in! Here are some ad campaigns that stand out from the rest.

J. Crew. August 2007. Such a cute ad.

Kate Spade. Fall/Winter 2009/2010. The balloon with the polka dots was an inspired idea.

And a few more from Kate Spade's incredibly creative and memorable ad campaigns over the years... (The company was certainly a leader in marketing until the Spades sold it and a little of the magic and talent was sadly lost.)

Lilly Pulitzer (below). The queen of bright colour, bold patterns and cheeky wit.

Ralph Lauren always shoots great ad campaigns. The one with Penelope Cruz (above) was spectacularly glamorous.

Here are two more.

Images from Ralph Lauren ad campaigns throughout 2008. I'm not sure which one I prefer? The image with the gorgeous gilt frames or the image with the gorgeous gentlemen...

These shots are not exactly an ad campaign – they're images from German Amica – but Karl loves the pix of Diana Kruger wearing Chanel so much he's posted them in his diary on the Chanel website. Clever marketing.

Cabana Drama

Cabana curtains are nothing new. They've been seen at swish hotels and chic pool houses for the past decade or more. But now I'm starting to see them on verandas, porches and entrances, too.

The sight of these glamorous swathes of fabric draped around a verandah or creating a stylish frame to an otherwise bland entrance has inspired us to sew our own theatrical drapes for this place. We hope that the effect will be as dramatic as these ones.

A country house outside Sydney. {Image via Vogue Living} I love the way the box hedges have been trimmed into geometric shapes to reflect the sharp lines of the house, and the way the curtains are cream so they blend into the architecture and don't detract from the lush, rich greens of the garden.

Another image from the same house. {Via Vogue Living} Notice how they've grown jasmine up the columns to create a kind of 'horticultural hem' to the ballgown-style drapes? The jasmine is also white and green, so it acts as a lovely segue between the white of the space and the green of the garden.

A Portland, Oregon, home belonging to designer Henry Brown and his partner Steve Bedford. {Image via Traditional Home} Look at how the pond matches the greens of the box hedges and jasmine... A truly gorgeous terrace design.

The Massachusetts home of Robert and Cortney Novogratz. This image has been featured in several places but I still love the freshness and originality of it. Those yellow and white drapes (which perfectly match the shutters) turn this entrance into a spectacularly dramatic space. I would have perhaps replaced the front door with a glossy black one, but I hate to nitpick so I won't. It's lovely.

A sweet cottage in North Carolina. {Via countryliving.com} 

This is a very old image from my archives so forgive me but I've mislaid the credit. (Please email me if it's yours and I'll duly credit you.) I believe it was a house somewhere in the Hollywood hills. In any case, this poolside scene reminds me of something out of The Great Gatsby... Only with a Spanish design focus rather than a Long Island one.