The Glamour of Black and White

Sometimes things just look better in black and white...

(Above pic from Designers Guild's Amalienborg collection.)

 Lazy Chairs by B&B Italia, from Space Furniture. {Via Space}

The Dylan Hotel, Amsterdam. Interior design by Anouska Hempel. {Via Dylan}

Uma Ubud Hotel, Bali.

The Milestone Hotel, London. {Via Milestone}

Cotswold 88 Hotel, Cotswolds.

De Witte Lilie Hotel, Antwerp. {Via De Witte}

The Chantal Apartment, Chez Vous Apartment Rental, Paris. {Via Chez Vous}

Ralph Lauren's Brook Street collection. {Via Ralph Lauren}

Ralph Lauren's Black Sands collection. {Via Ralph Lauren}

Poolside at The Chamberlain hotel, LA. {Via Chamberlain}

Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard, 2009.

Old Town, Key West, 2008.

South Beach, Miami, 2009.

The Raleigh, Miami, 2010.

How To Travel Five Star on a One-Star Budget

Before we explore the secret sides to London, I'll like to offer some tips on how to travel cheaply. Admittedly, I'm not as skilled at this Travel On A Shoe String Thing as my frugal parents, but I've picked up a few tips over the years. You lovely readers will probably have a lot of ideas as well, since most of you love to travel too, so just drop me a comment and I'll add it to the list.

1. TRAVEL ON A TUESDAY. Or a Thursday. These days are usually significantly cheaper than other days because business people don't travel as much as they do on Mondays or Fridays. Same goes for hotel rooms. Always cheaper mid-week. I almost always fly on a Tuesday now.

2. IF YOU'RE FLEXIBLE WITH DAYS, RESEARCH WHETHER YOUR DESTINATION IS CHEAPER WEEKDAYS OR WEEKENDS. Some cities are more expensive on weekdays, and cheaper on weekends. New York, for one, is cheaper earlier in the week (Tuesdays, especially.) Miami, on the other hand, is more expensive on weekends – like many of those destinations that people fly to for the weekend. Paris is also more expensive on weekends. It becomes cheaper on Mondays and Tuesdays.

3. BOOK YOUR OWN FLIGHTS FOR THE BEST PRICES. If you're not used to travelling, go with a travel agent. Otherwise, shop around online. I use bestflights.com.au. One year I flew to London return for A$900. And get on email lists, so you know when good deals come up. At the moment there's a price war to the US. You can fly to NY return for $900 or so (plus $200 or so taxes).

4. JOIN A FREQUENT FLYER PROGRAM. You'll be able to accumulate points towards free flights, use airport lounges and be first in line when upgrades become available. We're with United / Star Alliance. I know United isn't as highly regarded as, say, Singapore Airlines but I love them. LOVE THEM. I check in via First Class, occasionally get free upgrades to Business, and last time I flew home from NY they let me check in the 72 kilos of books I've bought at Strand bookstore. For free. They're always lovely, professional, kind and willing to help with problems. Such as excess book baggage. Gotta love a FF program. Some people dismiss them, but they're better than you think.

5. IF YOU REALLY NEED SOME EXTRA ASSISTANCE OR EXTRA ROOM, DON'T BE AFRAID TO ASK. (NICELY.) I've had countless times where this has happened. One year I had to fly to Europe to interview a member of a royal family (virtually as soon as I stepped off the plane), so I quietly asked the cabin manager if I might have two seats somewhere at the back of the plane to get some sleep? (I did say the BACK of the plane.) The lovely manager proceeded to move some poor guy out of a seat and let me have three seats in a row. And yes, I felt guilty – especially in front of an almost full Economy Class who were glaring at me! And I'm not sure I'd do it again. But it was incredibly kind of them. The same goes for when you need a larger room in a hotel (such a family room), or a room with a bath. If it's late in the day and there's a room free, ask nicely and they might just upgrade you.

6. DON'T BOOK A HOTEL DIRECTLY THROUGH THE HOTEL. They'll just give you an expensive 'Rack Rate'. Go through someone like tablethotels.com, designhotels.com, lastminute.com, etc, for better deals. If you can be bothered doing it, take the "better deal" and go back to the hotel with it. They may match it.

7. ALWAYS ASK HOTELS / CAR HIRE COMPANIES, ETC, IF THAT'S "THEIR BEST RATE?" I know. I hate doing it too.

8. CHECK CANCELLATION FEES. I once came across a hotel in Nantucket that had a 6-week cancellation-fee policy! WTF?

9. DON'T GET AIRPORT TAXIS. Most airports have shuttle buses or trains to the city that are half or even one-quarter of taxi fares. (Catch JFK's shuttle at Grand Central Station for $20.) Research before you go. Wouldn't you rather save the $50-$100 and spend it on shoes when you get there?

10. IF YOU DO WANT TRANSPORT, RESEARCH PRIVATE CAR COMPANIES. You can usually find a limo company that will pick you up from JFK for $80 or so. If you're a group of 4, it works out the same as getting the bus.


11. TRAVEL IN SHOULDER SEASON IF YOU CAN. It's the 'in-between' period, when fewer people travel. But the weather's usually fine and hotel rates are cheaper too. We usually travel in May or September/October.

12. INVESTIGATE THE IDEA OF RENTING A BEACH HOUSE. Even hotels are now offering private beach houses as part of their menu of rooms. Hayman Island, for example, has just installed beach houses for families who want the extra space. The sublimely designed Beach House (above and top image) is part of the Coral Sands Hotel on Harbour Island in the Bahamas. {Via Coral Sands} Wouldn't you rather be here than in a hotel room?

13. DON'T THINK TRAVEL IS EXPENSIVE. Not everywhere is like Australia! For example, if you're going to New York, look at side trips to Mexico and the Mayan ruins and resorts of the Yucatán Peninsula (very IN right now) as flights to Cancun are often just $60 through JetBlue. Or Nantucket island ($100), or even Miami ($80). If you're flying halfway across the world, make the most of it when you get there. 

Heels v Flats, Glamour v Life

I'd like to deviate from the usual Library discussions, if I may. I'd like to chat about shoes. I know not everybody has an obsession with shoes, but there are Things That Need To Be Said.

Let's begin. What was going on with Prime Minister Julia Gillard, her bodyguard and those shoes the other day???

For those of you outside of Australia who missed it, our prime minister was suddenly caught in a potentially 'dangerous' situation during an Australia Day protest in the nation's capital this week. (I've used quotation marks because Canberra's hardly a dangerous place, is it? I mean, it's not Kabul.) Fearing her safety, her extraordinarily good-looking security guy – a guy who looked like he should have been in CSI New York  – grabbed the PM in a Kevin Costner/Whitney Houston/Bodyguard-style clench and LIFTED her off her feet! The security guy, who had the rather un-CSI name of Humphrey, then CARRIED the PM through the fracas and into a waiting car. Have a look at the image that was splashed all over the papers this week...

Now I don't know about you, but I think they look a little... friendly? In fact,  I think Ms Julia Gillard looks HAPPY to be Humphrey's arms? If the police weren't behind them, I'd think they were on their way to the Moonlight Cinema for a screening of Breakfast at Tiffany's. Here's a closer shot.

What the media focused on the most, though, was not the complexion, the jawline or the pecs of this glaringly handsome gentleman, or even the danger the PM might have been in (what? a grope?), but the fact that poor Jules LOST HER SHOE! Yes, that's what we care about in this country, my dear readers. SHOES.

So now we get to the point. Jules' lost shoe was a wedge heel. Suede. Navy. Rather nice, actually.

But forget the fact that it was lost. What this shoe showed was that Jules is a smart woman. 'Cos wedges are comfortable. They come off easily when you're lifted into the air by a man called Humphrey.  Although I would have preferred to have seen her do a little Humphrey huggin' in these navy polka dot numbers:

Finding stylish but comfortable shoes is a lifelong problem for most women. I've spent 20 years trying to search for The Perfect Shoe. The Perfect FLAT shoe. Because heels don't cut it when you're travelling. (Or running countries, for that matter, as Julia might attest to.) Ballet flats were in for a while, but even they had their issues, namely lack of support and an awkward fit.  (I once spent a week in Paris wearing ballets. Every night I'd come home from racing around the city on photo shoots and sit in the bottom of the hotel shower, tearfully wiping the blood and blisters from my swollen ankles. )

The thing is, it's so important to wear comfortable shoes! Our ankles can't take 5-inch heels once we pass 40 years of age. My feet have had 20 years of 5-inch heels. They're now crying out for flats. But do you think I can find stylish ones? I'd have a better chance of doing the deed with Humphrey!

This is a selection of the high heels I used to wear to work:

Then I became a freelance writer and photographer. This is a selection of the shoes I wore for a number of years while travelling and lugging suitcases and cameras around the world:

Now I'm a stay-at-home author. Who gardens. And renovates. And walks the dogs. What do you think I wear most of the time now?

Yes, that's right – wellies. I love them. Loooove them.  And these Joules ones especially. They're cheaper and prettier than Hunters, they look good with jeans or jodhpurs and you can toss them on when you're going to the shops without fearing that you'll be pulled over by the Aesthetically Correct Squad.

But there's a problem. You can wear wellies – or their urban counterpart, boots – when it's winter, but when it's summer you need another option. And flip flops are not really acceptable, not when you're going to an appointment, meeting a friend, going out for dinner or boarding a plane.

So this is my question. Why, when there are 7 billion or so people in the world, can we not design a shoe that is low-heeled, comfortable, easy on the feet, and STYLISH???

WHAT IS GOING ON PEOPLE?

Orange You Glad Orange Is In?

I adore orange. The scent. The drink. The idea of a walled orchard with nothing but Citrus × ​sinensis trees, blooming white in spring. And I love the colour on some people. And in some places. Marrakech medinas, for example. And Palm Beach in summer. (See Elle's gorgeously sexy frock below.) Orange is tropical. Fresh. Flirty. Romantic. It's the colour of candlelight. And sorbet. And the Palm Springs sun. It brings to mind summer nights and sun-kissed skin and cocktails with giant paper umbrellas balancing on top.

In saying this, it's something of a perennial colour.  It comes and goes, and then comes and goes again. It's not an evergreen, like white, or blue. As such, I don't know how much media saturation (if you'll forgive the colour pun) Pantone is going to get out of its Tangerine Tango forecast this year. Just how much blood can we squeeze out of this design orange? I mean, how much tangerine tango IS there in fashion and interior design. Or perhaps a more pertinent question is: How much tangerine tango can we take for twelve months?

The thing is, orange is one of those colours that sneaks up and seduces you with its wit, charm, and humorous take on life. It's like Hugh Grant. It's a colour cad that's never around for long but it's fun when it does appear. So I suspect tangerine might take us all by surprise this year. I was watching that poignant Parisian episode of Sex and the City last night (An American Girl in Paris, Part Deux), and there was a fabulous bright orange panelled wall in one of the scenes with Aleksandr Petrovsky. It immediately made me want to repaint our summer library in a cheeky mandarin shade.

Orange as a decorating refresher ... This is Windsor Smith's master bathroom, where she has given a gilt Louis XVI console an injection of modernity with orange Hermès boxes, a vintage Gucci bag and a fabulous 1950's fashion photograph. The orange doesn't overwhelm or dominate the scene but enhances it and lifts it up from being a purely all-white place. {Via House Beautiful}

Punch drunk... A striped orange banquette in the corner of The Dunmore's dining room on Harbour Island (formerly The Dunmore Beach Club) looks immediately inviting – ready for a Bloody Mary breakfast to counteract the big night you had at The Landing restaurant the evening before! The picture frames really pull this whole scene together and make it whimsical, fresh and fun. Very Harbour Island. {Via The Dunmore}

Orange with a twist... A bathroom in the Vernon Pantone suite of the Maidstone Hotel in the Hamptons is full of punch and glamour, although it's toned down by the layers of white. Some of the orange touches in this room include an orange blanket on the bed, Torbogen print paper by Wohnzimmer, and Benjamin Moore’s Outrageous Orange paint in the ensuite. {Via Maidstone}

Slices of orange... A corner of one of our guest bedrooms is an ode to orange, or  more correctly – to Penguin classics. It's such an unusual colour for a series, isn't it? I wonder if Penguin has trademarked it like Tiffany has done with its pale blue shade? The vintage French garden chair was spray painted to match and the taffeta fabric was bought in Paris for some incredibly cheap price – 10 euros/metre, I think? I simply sewed some tangerine bobbles on the edge to tie it all together. 

Mango glow... Pumpkin-coloured towels in a country bathroom make this space warm and engaging. {Via Sunset}

Bright with white... The sublime saffron-and-white palette of the Mondrian Hotel in LA. Like Liza Minelli, the Mondrian LA is still great after all these years. {Via Mondrian}

A desert orange... The Parker Meridien Palm Springs uses splashes of desert orange liberally throughout the interior, including the famous front door. Top image is also from the Parker Meridien. {Via Parker Meridien}

Champagne as decorating inspiration... Designer Maureen Footer painted the inside of her client's kitchen cabinets in Veuve Clicquot orange because he was a bit of a bon vivant whose signature pour was Champagne. What a fantastic idea. She suggesting coating the paint with beeswax for an antique look, but I think high gloss would be just as glamorous. {Image via House Beautiful}

Exotic orange... I always thought orange looked beautiful with something unexpected, such as zebra stripes. The top image was a small Hermès box I bought in Paris (I couldn't afford a big one!), and loved the colour so much I photographed it before I opened it. My handbag just happened to be behind it, and as it turned out, I loved the combination as much as the box. Other people seem to like it too. Look at how glam it looks here, in the image below. {Via Domino}

More Hermès orange here:... Hermès' gorgeous orange pencil shaving pillows {Via Decorati}

A corner of our orange-and-pink guestroom. My partner complained that there wasn't enough colour in our black-and-white-themed house. So I cobbled this together one day, thinking he would hate it and we could happily return to our monochromatic lives. But instead he loved it, and now sneaks down here for his afternoon siesta. Sometimes, when I'm not around, he'll even put mismatching sheets on the bed, just to add more colour. I think he was born in a circus??

Orange as stripes... Paul Smith's signature stripes are usually seen inside his suits but here they look surprisingly stylish as a wallpaper decorating the hall of a Hague apartment. Doesn't it remind you of sweet bon-bons? I once saw this wallpaper stretched over a five-storey staircase in a tiny boutique hotel called the Hotel d'Angleterre in Versailles. It made the staircase fantastically dramatic and also a little cheeky and upbeat. You couldn't help but feel happy when you walked up it. {Image via www.beinteriordecorator.com}

Designers Guild's boldly striped wallpaper in Arafura geranium. Imagine this in a powder room Or a craft room?

And Les Toiles du Soleil's French canvas fabric in Mogador-Rouge, a beautiful orange-and-pink stripe  for a beautifully bright armchair or deckchair.

And some more orange inspiration...

 Carrie in Sex and the City 2

Elle in Sydney this summer...

And a Marrakech mediana, where we hope to be next year...