"Bill Cunningham New York"

Last night I saw a film that I loved and I hope you will go see as soon as it officially opens. It was a special preview screening of the award-winning documentary "Bill Cunningham New York" put on by The Costume Council of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.   For years I have been reading Cunningham's columns for the New York Times:  "On the Street" and "Evening Hours" that appear each Sunday in the Style section of the paper. Sunday morning with a cup of coffee and the New York Times would not be complete without reading these fabulous fashion features by photographer Cunningham.  I loved this film because it is about fashion, New York, and Bill who is very much a maverick and a legendary figure in the New York fashion world.

As Anna Wintour says in the film, "We all get dressed for Bill," most fashion figures in New York hope to be featured in his columns, as well as everyday people on the street. He has been chronicling fashion for decades for the Times, featuring fashion trends and high society charity events, and his images and vision have established him as a cultural anthropologist.  Wintour says  "He has been documenting me since I was a kid, one snap, two snaps, or he ignores you which is death."

Anna Wintour, being interviewed about Cunningham for the film

Cunningham on the street

But one of the things that is so engaging about Bill is his egalitarian attitude toward his subjects.  As one of the curators at the Metropolitan museum says,  " That doesn't mean he is unaware of cultural vision and hierarchy.  He just treats it all the same."  He is not interested in the celebrities who get free clothes.  He is more interested in the clothes, it's all about the clothes.  He says "The best fashion show is definitely on the street... fashion is the armor to survive the reality of everyday life.  I don't think you can do away with it, it would be like doing away with civilization."

When he is honored by an organization in France, he says in his acceptance speech, "He who seeks beauty is destined to find it."  You get the feeling that this has been the driving philosophy of his life and his career.  This is a man who has been seeking and finding beauty of all sorts his entire life.  And his life  is about his work. He is defined by it, lives and breathes it, and repeatedly tells his interviewer that he has no time left over for his personal life.  The image of him cycling all around Manhattan with his camera and his blue shirt is an iconic image, he is a maverick and loves the streets of New York, teeming as they are with the tapestry of life.  This is his subject.

I was moved by his story.  He is beloved by the fashion world and I got the feeling that his family is the New York Times.  He walks into a society event and everyone welcomes him, his sunny disposition and lack of pretension endears him to all.  He won't eat or drink at these events, he is only there to work.  As one of the magazine editors says, "Bill has never, never sold out, his fingerprints are all over everything he does."  Bill himself say, "If you don't take money, they can't tell you what to do."

Go see this film.  If you are like me, you will be moved by this story of a man who turned his passion into a successful career and became a legendary fashion photographer, with a style that is all his own.  What an impact he has had on the fashion world! 

Photos from billcunninghamnewyork.com 

Dreaming About Gardens

My Garden

Now that March is here, I have been dreaming about how my garden will look in the spring and summer seasons.  And it's time to order new plants.  I have been looking at all kinds of inspiring gardens for ideas.  But perhaps the most exquisite and inspiring gardens I have ever seen were those I saw on my Garden Conservancy trip to England last summer.  We toured the Cotswolds and recently I looked at my pictures from the trip. Nothing beats the English countryside in the month of June for sheer gorgeousness!

First we went to Kent to visit Sissinghurst Castle Garden

Is there any more iconic garden image from England than roses climbing on a brick wall?

This is from Sissinghurst Garden where Vita Sackville-West lived

The white garden at Sissinghurst

Tower at Sissinghurst where Vita Sackville-West wrote

Garden in the Cotswolds

 Cotswolds

Hidcote Manor Garden

Hidcote

Pastoral scene from the Cotswolds

Another incredible garden on our tour

How serene and inviting does this look!

Gorgeous garden ornaments were in abundance

These garden supports were all over the English countryside

Garden support as the focus of a small hedged garden area

Stately wall plaque and fountain

Fort Belvedere, the home of King Edward VIII, where he abdicated the throne in 1936

Fort Belvedere

After I returned from this amazing garden tour of England last summer, I was inspired by so many of these English garden images.  I planted David Austin roses in my garden in the front of the house,  filled the parterres in the back garden with more flowers, and added special garden ornaments everywhere.  And  I was so happy that the climbing roses and vines were getting mature.  Can't wait to plant for the next glorious summer season.

Beginnings -- Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf, 1902

It is so interesting to learn about the beginning of a writing career such as that of the brilliant English novelist Virginia Woolf.  On Tuesday of last week, The Writers Almanac told us that on March 9, 1913, almost one hundred years ago, Virginia Woolf delivered the manuscript for her first novel "The Voyage Out" to the Duckworth Publishing House in London.  She had been working on it for almost 7 years.  By 1912 she had written five drafts.  Between 1912 and 1913 she rewrote the entire novel one more time, almost from scratch, typing six hundred pages in two months.  Anyone who writes can only imagine the stress this experience must have been for her.  The book was finally accepted, but the extensive revision process took its toll on Woolf and may have contributed to a mental breakdown that delayed the novel's publication.  It was eventually published in 1915.

"The Voyage Out," 1915

This first novel by Woolf shows aspects of what would become her distinctive Modernist style.  Another interesting first in this novel is the appearance of Clarissa Dalloway, a character who would remain in Woolf's mind for another ten years and become the subject of of her masterpiece "Mrs. Dalloway" (1925).  Although "The Voyage Out" may be her least read novel, many critics feel it is important because it displayed many of the principal themes that were to appear in  in her later works.

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But even earlier than that day on March 9, 1913 when she handed in the manuscript of "The Voyage Out," there were other stirrings of her literary career that are fascinating to read about.  Born into a Victorian family, she did not have the formal education that was provided for men at the time.  But her father was the esteemed scholar Leslie Stephen who had an admirable library filled with literary masterpieces which  Woolf devoured.  She also had tutors in various subjects, including Greek.

Short story by Woolf published by The Hogarth Press

As early as 1905 she began writing book reviews for literary journals.  Her letters and her diaries reveal a love for pen and paper and handmade books that augur her later career as a publisher and printer of beautiful small press books, some hand printed by her on her dining room table.  This was the book  publishing company The Hogarth Press, founded by Virginia and her husband Leonard Woolf.

Another early publication by the Hogarth Press

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Virginia Woolf, 1920's

"Mrs. Dalloway,"1925

From "The Voyage Out" to "Mrs. Dalloway" and her other masterpieces, Woolf's literary journey is one that is fascinating to read about and can truly enhance our reading of her books.

Spring Flowers

This weekend we had glorious spring weather, it almost felt like summer.  And Saturday night we were having friends over for dinner.  So I called upon one of my favorite florists Holly Flora to fill the house with beautiful flowers!

Dining room table centerpiece

Tulips in the hallway

Begonias for the living room cachepot

And these glorious purple hydrangeas for the kitchen

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After a wonderful night of good conversation with our friends (one topic was the new book "Room" by Emma Donoghue -- it is riveting), I was excited to find this quote from novelist Henry Miller: 

"Develop interest in life as you see it;  the people, things, literature, music -- the world is throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls, and interesting people.  Forget yourself."  

These are inspiring words to live by.  Happy Spring!

Secret Garden

Virginia Robinson Estate

"I love my garden.  I am writing in it now in the late afternoon loveliness, much interrupted by the mosquitoes and the temptation to look at all the glories of the new green leaves washed half an hour ago by a cold shower.  Two owls are perched near me, and are carrying on a long conversation that I enjoy as much as any warbling of nightingales." --  Elizabeth Von Armin from "Elizabeth and Her German Garden"

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Now that it is March, our thoughts are turning to gardens and warm weather.  I can't think of a more inspiring place in Los Angeles for gardens or a more exciting event for garden lovers than Virginia Robinson Gardens and the Garden Tour that this group puts on in May.

Virginia Robinson Gardens is a hidden gem in Beverly Hills, six acres of gorgeous gardens and a Beaux-Arts mansion, that many people are unaware of.  It was the  home of Virginia and Harry Robinson, owners of Robinson Department stores.  Built in 1911, it was the first luxury estate of Beverly Hills.

Walkway to the entrance of Robinson Gardens

Virginia and Harry Robinson married in 1903.  When they returned from their three year honeymoon to Europe, India, and Kashmir, they commissioned Virginia's father, Nathaniel Dryden , to design their house on a beautifully sloped parcel of land, originally owned by the founder of Beverly Hills, Burton Green.  After the completion of the home, Virginia Robinson created her beautiful gardens.  They include an Australian King Palm Forest, a bucolic Rose Garden, and the tranquil Italian Terrace Garden.

Swimming Pool and Pool Pavilion at Robinson Gardens

The estate was once the site of lavish Hollywood parties, whose attendees included Marlene Dietrich, Fred Astaire, Sophia Loren,  and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Virginia's neighbors were Glen Ford, Lillian Disney and Elvis Presley.  She played tennis with Charlie Chaplin.  She hosted many philanthropic benefits, but one that really stands out for those of us who live in Los Angeles was her Hollywood Bowl Patronesses Benefit. Each year after the opening of the Hollywood Bowl season, the orchestra would repeat their performance on the estate's Great Lawn.  Amazing!

    Great Lawn

Gardens at Robinson estate

Shortly before her death, Virginia Robinson bequeathed her estate to Los Angeles County.  The County, along with the not-for-profit group Friends of Robinson Gardens, preserve and maintain the estate and its gardens.

Gardens 

Palm Forest

Rose Garden

Virginia Robinson

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But a few years ago, all of this was unknown to me.  At that point a friend invited me to go on the Robinson Gardens Tour.  I had no idea what this was, but I said yes.  It was a beautiful day in May, we got dressed up, and we drove to the first of five incredible private gardens in west Los Angeles.  We handed in our tickets at the entry and we wandered through a gorgeous garden at a residence in Bel-Air.  We walked through magnificent native oak trees and an English rose garden, all adorned with superb Italian garden ornamentation.   I was completely entranced by the gorgeous grounds I saw and my brain went into overdrive with  plans for my own garden, though on a much smaller scale!

We got back into our car and drove to four more private residences where we toured additional exquisite grounds.  There was  a gorgeous Spanish style garden that evoked the eclectic spirit of the 1920's; a French Mediterranean style garden with endless parterres filled with roses; an impressive and large Gertrude Jekyll-inspired garden; and even a small cottage-style garden that could have been in the English countryside.  I had no idea that these kind of gardens existed in Los Angeles.

Front Entrance at Robinson Gardens decorated for Garden Tour

After our garden treks, we drove to the Robinson estate.  As we entered the house we walked through room after room, each one transformed by Los Angeles florists and designers into a world of color, style, and a bit of whimsy through floral arrangements and decor.  There was the living room, the morning room, the library, the galleria, the dining room, all adorned with flowers and beautiful accessories.  Each one a fantasy creation of the florists and designers.

Master Bedroom

The Library

Mrs. Robinson's Bathroom

Master Bedroom

The Library (from a different year)

The Loggia

Beautiful Detail

Next we walked outside to the Great Lawn and enjoyed a wonderful Garden Party that included a sumptuous lunch, a fashion show, floral demonstrations, a boutique, book signings, and a high tea.  Women were dressed up for a garden party, with big hats and floral dresses. Everyone was sipping a marvelous looking drink called a "Peach Fuzz" and nibbling on cucumber sandwiches.  I thought, hmmm...where exactly am I? I felt transported to another era, the 1920's perhaps, when lavish garden parties like this were more common.

It really was a day of elegance and beauty, filled with magnificent gardens, creative and interesting  design, delicious food, and high spirits.  This year's tour is May 13 and the theme is "Under the Tuscan Sun."  If you would like to get tickets, just click on to Robinson Gardens.

Photos from Robinson Gardens website