The Unexpected Elegance of Orange

If there was one colour that kept peeking its cheeky head above the Manhattan monochromes in New York last week, it was orange. Orange is everywhere over there. Everywhere. Blame it on the northern hemisphere summer. Blame it on the Pantone hype. Or just blame the fabulous whimsicality of the colour, but I saw more orange in Manhattan than at Marrakech market.

Furthermore, it seems to be ripening? There's seemingly more orange around now than there was a month ago? Look at the Christian Dior frock from the latest Resort Collections (above), which is a bold blood-orange colour that would stop any French man in tracks.

Here are some of my favourite orange moments in Manhattan. (NB I promise this is the last NY post. Funnily enough, my week alone there cured me of wanting to live in the city. I don't think I make enough money to look as gorgeous as all the New York girls do, all the time?)

The silk drapes of the 'Atrium' restaurant at the new NoMad hotel in New York, which was designed by Jacques Garcia. Who would have thought tomato red, tangerine and green would go so elegantly together?

A beautiful window of a store near Bergdorf Goodman. Look at how they've elevated a simple orange handbag to a grand shrine? So gorgeous.

Florence Broadhurst's wallpaper in Kate Spade's SoHo store. Broadhurst was an Australian designer, so it was a thrill to see how the company has embraced her prints as part of its 2012 'pattern' collections.

A detail of the exquisite chair in my room at the Gramercy Park Hotel. (It was so elegant, I was almost afraid to sit on it.)

I took my new tangerine Sambag handbag to the US (which is so orange you have to co-ordinate all your outfits with it in advance) and I received so much praise that I swore I could see the handbag swelling with every compliment. (Every now and then I'd have to poke it, to remind it who was boss!)

 Look at how full it is. I can't tell you how much I stuffed in there! I think there's a SLR camera, a lens, passport and wallet, a make-up kit, itinerary and notes, a small bottle of water, and quite possibly my partner too... (See his head sticking out the side?)

A fabulous frock on Fifth Avenue. (Trying saying that five times.) Oh, to have a derriere like this...

The summery windows of Prada on Fifth Avenue. Loved the cute cloche hat. 

The deck chairs of the Sunset Beach Hotel, on Shelter Island. (Near the Hamptons.)

Georges Rech.

Madeline Weinrib's rugs.

More of Madeline Weinrib's rugs.

Mood's amazing fabric store in the Fashion District.

I found some vintage Beatons at a second-hand store in New York. I'd been searching for ages for the orange one. Beaton's early books were so full of colour and whimsy. No wonder modern editors such as Grace Coddington are now being infuenced by them. (See further below.)

This one is almost impossible to find. If you stumble across it, buy it! It's worth a fortune.

I spent one night at The Empire hotel on the Upper West Side, one of New York's most fashionable hotels. (Lots of models stay here during Fashion Week.) It was a smartly tailored combination of orange and chocolate. The lobby was a riot of tangerine and leopard skin. I'm not partial to chocolate but I couldn't stop staring. It was so dramatic. No wonder the models love it.

This is Miss Grace Coddington's memoir, which is due out in November. Do think she was inspired by Cecil Beaton's Sixties book? I wish Grace would also do a book on her Vogue fashion shoots. Perhaps that might be the sequel?

And some more orange inspiration, from the archives...

I'm not sure who this designer is, but I'm in love with the gloves as much as the bag. 

{Via Elle and This is Glamorous}

Love this. {Via Habitually Chic}

And this. (What a smile!)

Kate Spade's Cockatoo Cross-Back Retro Maillot. Now on sale (online). Orange cockatoos on a swimsuit. How cute. This is the sort of number you'd take down to the Caribbean.

And this is what you'd drink with it! This was my orange margarita on the Florida Keys. Yes, that really is the size. I think I was drunk for a week.