These boots are made for riding

It was my birthday last Sunday, and in anticipation of our year in England, my husband gave me a pair of custom-made riding boots. I ride almost every day when we're in England - its my favorite way to spend time with our kids, and it keeps both me and the horse in shape. So yesterday I went to E.Vogel on Howard Street to choose a style and get measured. I first thought I'd like classic black ones with the brown band around the top, until my husband explained that those are fox hunting boots, and as we are going to be in the middle of fox hunting country I'd look like a fool to wear them if I'm not a member of the hunt. Then I liked the polo boots, but I'm not a polo player either. Finally I was debating between a very simple and chic black pair with almost no detail at all, or a lace-up field boot with three buckles on the shaft. If I were buying boots off the rack I think I would have chosen the simple pair, but as these are custom boots I thought it fitting to choose the pair that are the most unique and intricately designed. I loved the richness of the brown leather, but felt the old-school design would look a bit less precious in black. Now I just have to wait 14 weeks for them to be made. I know it will be worth it.

I Love Your Style: My mom in Lilly

Whenever someone asks me who my style icon is, I always put my mom at the top of the list. She had many phases in her life - skinny Palm Beach teenager, chic young wife in the 60's, chic young mother in the 70's, NYC power dressing in the 80's, casual elegance in the 90's, classic American woman today - and all of them influence how I dress. Because of the physical similarities we share (minus her longer legs and bigger boobs), she laid the groundwork in figuring out what suits our similar body type, coloring and lifestyle choices. But my favorite phase of my mother's style evolution is her Lilly Pulitzer phase. When she was 17, my mom got a job working in the Lilly boutique on Via Mizner in Palm Beach. Soon after she became the girl who modeled the clothes for the Lilly newspaper ads. I love these photos because they are such a distinct moment in time when Palm Beach style was becoming defined and first getting noticed. It is now a time that has been emulated and copied a million times over (even by the new incarnation of Lilly Pulitzer itself), so I love being able to witness this moment again and again in its authentic glory. I also enjoy these pictures because my mom's time working at Lilly led to her meeting my dad, who owned an art gallery across the way. In celebration of their wedding, Lilly herself designed a custom floral print for the bridesmaids' dresses. I often wonder and hope that Palm Beach style will evolve in a new direction away from this nostalgia to define a moment and place in time yet again.

I ♥ Your Style: Phoebe Philo

Celine has become one of the most visible brands on the planet, but its super talented designer Phoebe Philo has always remained discreetly behind the scenes - giving very few interviews and only rarely showing up at fashion industry events, usually only to humbly accept a major award. I love a woman with a bit of mystery around her, don't you? Who does she hang out with? Who inspires her? How does she always know exactly the way women want to dress? One clue to her success is that she appears to do things on her own terms - leaving her job at Chloe to focus on raising her family, insisting that her studio remain in her hometown of London rather than Paris, canceling her last runway show in anticipation of the arrival of her third child. It would seem that because she prioritizes her life as a working mom and wife, she is able to understand the reality of women's lives in a way that makes her unique as a designer. Coming across the following photos reinforces my admiration of her life choices, her career and her personal style. They are the very definition of chic.

Snapshot: The best Birkin bag I've seen

In a world of Hermes-bag-toting reality show superstars, it was such a revelation to lay my eyes on stylist Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele's 30 year old, worn-in and personalized Birkin the other day. I walked on the set of a photo shoot and it was just casually lying there amongst her static guard and lint rolls. You could see that it was a different kind of leather than they use these days, and the stitching looked more handsewn. I don't think I'd spend the money on a new Hermes Birkin bag today, but if I had one that looked like this I certainly wouldn't let Kim Kardashian keep me from carrying it.

Printed Matter: "Sappho By The Sea"

 

As you may have noticed, collecting vintage fashion and photography books is one of my great passions. I find them everywhere - thrift stores, antique stores, amazon.com, vintage shops, high end book dealers like Glenn Horowitz, and even sometimes on the street (I once bought a copy of Diana Vreeland's "Allure" from a homeless man for 50 cents). "Sappho by the Sea: An Illustrated Guide to the Hamptons" (1976) is my all time favorite vintage book. Its chic, unusual and highly eccentric. Needless to say its about two lesbians, and thats's where the obvious part ends. The book is a story of the love affair of two gorgeous women whose style I can only describe as 70's high-style preppy with a good dose of bohemian romance. Through their weekend escapades they take us on a visual tour of the Hamptons of that era, and it's a thrill to see the various towns' old-school charm before they were overrun with movie stars and hedge funders. Short historical descriptions and relevant seaside poetry (for real) round out the  book, but it's the clothes that are the real gem. Enjoy!

I Love Your Met Ball Style

In the vast sea of stylist-chosen gowns and jewelry, it was the girls with the most original and personal take on fashion that stood out for me last night. 

 

Bottoms Up! : The first time I met Christian Louboutin

I was 23 in this picture, and I remember it was the first time as an adult that I felt glamorous. Having worked as a studio assistant for Patrick Demarchelier on and off for three years I had been exposed to many glamorous people and places - Naomi Campbell in Paris, Madonna in Miami, Claudia Schiffer in St Bart's - but I never associated them with myself. In those days, I was super skinny, always dressed like a tomboy in Levi's, a tank top and Converse All-Stars, and spent most of my time hauling studio lights and loading cameras. I was also growing out my drastic Jean Seberg haircut.

A few weeks before the photo was taken I had met Christopher, the boyfriend that would become my husband. After only a week of dating he invited me to come to a wedding with him in Paris. Why not? I told myself. Only issue? What to wear. I went to Barneys CO OP and bought a navy Philosophy di Alberta Ferreti suit and shocking pink suede Ann Demeulemeester heels for the wedding ceremony. For the party after, I got a grey bias cut slip dress from Zara to go with my feather-covered Jamin Puech bag I had bought on a whim in Paris a few months before. The only thing missing was shoes to wear with the dress, but since we had a few days in Paris before the wedding I thought it'd be a fun excuse to go shopping.

No luck. It was the night before the wedding and I still hadn't found the right shoes. We went to the rehearsal dinner at a trendy restaurant called Natacha. I was intimidated because I didn't think I would know a soul there. I hardly even knew my boyfriend. After a lap around the room I ran into my friend Olga, who I knew because her boyfriend went to Brown with me. Instant relief. She came and sat with us, and introduced me to lots of her friends. When I told her about my shoe dilemma, she pointed across the room at a guy in a yellow and purple checked shirt and said that he had the best shoe shop in Paris. She would take me there the next morning.

$550 for a pair of shoes?!?!? But I loved them, they went perfectly with my dress, and I was in real trouble without them, so I swallowed hard and put down my credit card. They were strappy burgundy silk stiletto sandals with a small gold ring around the skinny heel. I wish I still had them to show you.

So I arrived at the party that night wearing my new Louboutin shoes, and Christian was the first person at the party to come speak to me. He was funny and engaging and incredibly friendly. When time came to dance we found each other on the dance floor and pretty much stayed there the rest of the night.

Four years later when I married Christopher, Christian made my wedding shoes (and my bridesmaids') as a present. When asked by the New York Times how we met, here's what he said about that night:

Mr. Louboutin said it was appropriate he was celebrating Ms. Cutter's wedding, since their friendship began at a wedding years ago. ''I was so impressed because she was the only woman I didn't know at the wedding, and I know everybody,'' he said, ''but also because she could dance and dance in these gorgeous six-inch heels as if they were sneakers.'' He paused. ''Of course, they were my shoes, so that was also a great source of pleasure.''

I can't honestly say they were 6 inches high, but I did get a good workout dancing in them. And I wore them for years afterwards, each time remembering the fun I had that night.

Printed Matter: Clifford Coffin

There aren't a lot of photographs from the 40's and 50's that I relate to - it's just not an era that I generally connect with personally. So I was surprised when I discovered how much I love Clifford Coffin's work. He was one of the major Vogue photographers of his time, and his work is wonderfully detail oriented with tons of graphic consideration and personal style. His work resonates as strongly today as it did at the time. 

Since when has it been cool to be matchy matchy? Not for a long while, right? For years and years, its been considered overly put-together, too uptown, too ladylike to match your shoes to your handbag, but how can you not love matching your red french manicure (!) to your red lipstick, or your emerald dress to your emerald ring to your emerald eyeshadow to your emerald fan??? Or in a more laid back way - your striped straw hat to your striped straw beach back - double chic! I vote for bringing matching back.

I remember being astounded by the composition of these photographs - it must have seemed audacious to crop these photos in such an irreverent way in the 50's. Miuccia Prada must have liked these photos too, as her 2001 ad campaign was clearly inspired by them.

 I LOVE a luxe bohemian. I guess Countess Uberto Corti was the Mary Kate Olsen of her day.

This photo of Mrs Stanley Grafton Mortimer, Jr (before she was divorced, remarried, and better known as Babe Paley) is one of my favorites ever. I love the contrast of the mink jacket with the men's tailored pants and the feminine hair worn with no jewelry and only subtle make up. Don't you want to know what shoes she was wearing?

I ♥ Your Style: Leelee Sobieski

Leelee Sobieski caught my attention for the second time (the first time being in Eyes Wide Shut) when she sat across from me at a benefit about a year and half ago. She had cut her signature long hair very short, and it was gelled up and sculpted back off her face a la Princess Diana. Sounds kinda scary, right? But actually no. She looked incredible. She did actually look very much like Princess Diana, but in a more modern, sophisticated way. I haven't seen her in person since, but I notice from photos that she's let her hair grow out to a bob and she's refined her style in a minimal/classic way that is very American, very Lauren Hutton. And there is not greater compliment I can give than compare someone to Lauren Hutton. I hope she settles into this style and keeps it simple. 

Dreaming is Free: Junya Watanabe's Trench Coats

The trench coat is such a traditional piece of clothing that even when they are designed with an eye towards irreverence, they're still classic. If you follow fashion, you'll know that I'm talking about the trench coats in Junya Watanabe's spring collection. Every girl sitting in that show wanted one of those coats - the cape version, the cropped version, the navy one, the tan one, the black one. They are just enough fashion, without being too "look at me," and they are just classic enough, without making you feel like you're buying something everyone else will have. To put it practically, they are super chic and they are money well spent. And no worries - if you need to save up for one, he made equally inspired versions coming for Fall. 

Get them here and here

Collaborations

I was looking at Boaz Mazor's apartment on The Selby the other day, and I noticed these collages in his bedroom. One is clearly an Andy Warhol / Frank Stella collage and the other is Warhol / Stella / Roy Lichtenstein collage. What on earth are they? Was there a collaboration between these artists I didn't know about? Or is a DIY project made from postcards and gallery announcements? Whatever it is, I'm diggin' it. They remind me of the Warhol/Basquiat collaboration paintings from the '80's.  I wish more artists and designers would collaborate with each other. Maybe that will be the next fashion collaboration trend - designers collaborating with each other. Its been done before in small ways (see below - I have a printed Alaia t-shirt made by Comme Des Garcons), but I'd like to see it in a bigger way. Come on Rick Owens + Lanvin! Proenza + Junya Watanabe! Christopher Kane + Narciso Rodriguez! Get it on! 

Hello, again.

Hi there. I'm back! 

So, recently my family and I made the decision to spend a year on our farm in Oxfordshire, England. I am calling it my "creative sabbatical." First on my agenda? To get my blog and up and running again. I also have ambitious writing plans for the next year, and you all will be the first to know about them as they unfold. In the meantime, here is a look at my future dwelling, all about which I will share when I arrive there at the end of June. Stay tuned!