& SO too LIFE

that's LIFE:

September 3rd 1951

 Charles Beistegui's  Le Bal Oriental, at the Palazzo Labia.

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that's LIFE: the cult of LUNT

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“The Lunts were magic, and I have never, never found anyone quite like them again.” Julie Harris

This couple's home is now a pristine museum dedicated to Home, Art, Design-called Ten Chimneys. The Lunts were the closest thing to Royalty in the States in the thirties and forties. The pair's stage presence is undimmed at Ten Chimneys and I say Bravo. The interiors are charming, romantic- full of joie de vivre-just as the couple was known to be. I want to visit someday.

“They really are the most extraordinary couple. They are sweet and warm and friendly…I love and admire them both so much.” Noel Coward


 EXPLORE Their legacy  HERE.

that's LIFE: WACs WASPs & WAVEs,

what they wore

S A L U T E

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that's LIFE

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 I continue to See what LIFE has to offer.

MAY covers that struck Me date from 1939 to 1952.
All feature Women. Timeless, Classic.
What a way to LIVE.

That's LIFE: the women He loved, Augustus John

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the handsome John in 1899, painting by Sir William Orfen

Ida Nettleship with Gwen John, an artist in her own right, Augustus' sister.

at far left of drawing is a friend- drawing by Augustus John 1897.

1st wife Ida, with the couple's  baby (they had five sons)

Ida with sister Gwen, Augustus, & their 1st child (at the time Ida & John were married)

Dorelia  at r. painted by John

after Ida died  giving birth- Dorelia & John married

Dorelia (at right) painted by Gwen John-(Gwen-Self Portrait, at left ) 

it is rumored the pair had an affair in defiance of Augustus, & Ida

 Lyric Fantasy

a gathering of John's women, 1909 here, even the late, Ida, at far right

Dorelia & John had two daughters-  

Vivien & Poppet

 artist Vivien alongside a John painting of her mother Dorelia, at left & Poppet painted by her father

Gwyneth Johnstone, daughter of  John & Nora Brownsword,

painted by John, she became a painter like her father

John's daughter, Amaryllis Fleming- from John's liaison with Evelyn St. Croix Fleming, 

Eve- a painting by Augustus John here

& the many Women he painted and loved-likely too numerous to name, or to know-

Luisa Casati 

Elizabeth Bibesco, nee Asquith

Princess Bibesco

Tallulah Bankhead

Lady Cynthia Asquith

Lady Ottoline Morrell, & at right with Dorelia

the menage years later-

Iris Tree

&  standing in for all the others- 

John's The Sphinx

more?

the Augustus John Sphinx is owned by singer Bryan Ferry, at 66, llike the Sphinx-ageless, timeless & like John- a Slave to Love.

for more John paintings see artvalue here

more about John here

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that's LIFE: doing her bit

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"After weeks of more or less patient waiting, repeated timid, pleading, urgent, and finally importunate requests to the authorities who rule such matters in Washington and London, and a rapid-fire barrage of telegrams, cables, and telephone calls, it had happened. At last I had permission to do what I had been wanting desperately to do for four years—go to England and do my bit on a tour for E.N.S.A.(Entertainments National Service Association)" -Gertrude Lawrence, from her 1945 memoir A Star Danced.

Just hours after landing,Gertrude Lawrence entertained British and American troops who,as it turned out, were deployed for the imminent D-Day invasion at Normandy.

from her husband Richard Aldrich's biography of Lawrence:

 She went over with the first E.N.S.A. unit to go into France, making the crossing in an LST (Landing Ship, Tank). Others in the party included Ivor Novello, Margaret Rutherford, Diana Wynyard and Bobbie Andrews. In her autobiography, A Star Danced, she has given a graphic account of their landing on Normandy Beach and of the progress of her unit through the wrecked towns, where there was still no water or electricity. Shows were given in shell-torn movie houses and hastily lighted casinos.

The physical discomforts -- the sleeping in attics, the total lack of sanitation, the scanty and poor food -- Gertrude could and did take as fortunes of war.

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Madeline Weinrib: that's LIFE nov 15

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Fur Lined Coats-

I'd say an Ikat print inspired Fur.

LUCE, one of Madeline Weinrib's signature designs.

Look at the classic shapes  & lines of Madeline Weinrib's Collection of Jackets & Tunics made with her beautiful Ikat fabrics.
The color & saturation of these Ikats is a little overwhelming when seen together.
It is hard to have a favorite, All so beautiful.I want them all.

Here's LUCE in walnut-

This Velvet IKAT sent me over the edge- the most sumptuous velvet fabric I've seen in a while. Velvet and mohair may be my favorite textiles for upholstery.  I envision this covering the walls  and sleek banquets hugging the corners of a room.

This extraordinary Ikat's colors and pattern remind me of Vienna- KLIMT & Emilie Floge.

After sitting down with Madeline in her Studio last month-it's apparent that her creative nature is reflected in her work spaces.  An artist, developing wallpapers, textiles, carpets, clothes and accesessories, Madeline sketches in her office, keeps her inspiration boards close at had and surrounds herself with found treasures from her travels. She works on low table in on of the offices, but I don't hesitate to think there is a fluidity here. More tables, one where we dined becomes a conference table later while I am visiting and another silver tray  table surrounded by large cushions made up in new textile designs acts as a place for me to plunder stacks and stacks of pillow covers.

Weinrib''s Latest Fabric Collection

more from the new textile collection

SADU in Black, and below in Brown

There is a wall in Madeline's Studio covered in photographs from the days of the Empire collected on her many trips in search of Inspiration over the years.

As with the patchwork of photographs-there is a sense at Madeline's Studio of many ideas and much inspiration- coupled with a discriminating and disciplined Eye.

This month Madeline is off to India and I for one can not wait to see what inspires her next-inspiring Me over the months to come.



Links- more of Madeline and Soledad Twombly's Collection on Ulla's Model's Own here
more of Madeline's clutches here at Model's Own
an in depth Interview with Madeline Weinrib by Diane Dorrans Saeks at the Style Saloniste here