Town & Country articles from May 2007

Town & Country archives from May 2007

Starting from scratch.(EDITOR'S LETTER)
May 1, 2007... BUILDING A HOUSE from the ground up is a herculean task. It usually means beginning with a blank slate and turning nothing into something. But that doesn't seem to stop people from doing it--certainly not any of those we feature in this month's...

In your own words.(Reader Mail)(models' body)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2007... In Town & Country's March issue, which was devoted, as it is every year, to fashion, our "Editor's Letter" ("Into Thin Air," by Pamela Fiori) covered the ongoing debate about models and eating disorders, prompting numerous reactions. Although...

Sizing up.(READER MAIL)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2007... Thank you for once again addressing the epidemic of anorexia, an ugly disease often disguised by beauty. For every girl who seeks treatment for her eating disorder, many more are suffering in silence. We, as a nation, need to teach our...

Prime-time fashion.(READER MAIL)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2007... As an aesthetician, an instructor and a T&C subscriber who's over fifty, I would appreciate seeing more information for baby boomers. Show us dresses and suits (including swimsuits) that we can wear comfortably and that complement our figures....

Older, wiser, better.(Reader Mail)(ethical wills)(Letter to the editor)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... I savor my issues of T&C. When a new one arrives, I place it in my favorite room in the house, the sunroom, saving it for a weekend morning, when I do not have to race to the office, so I can enjoy it at my leisure. After reading the March...

Take care.(READER MAIL)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2007... Although the "charmingly bucolic plot that surrounds your country house" ["Down on the Farm," by Diane Guernsey; January] may seem like an ideal setting for a pint-sized animal, having livestock is not like having a garden ornament in the yard....

Mini miracles.(READER MAIL)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2007... It was such a thrill to have Jeremy's Heroes included in "Mini Happy Returns" [by Diane Guernsey; January]. The feedback from our supporters was tremendous. Most important, your magazine has helped us reach a new group of enthusiastic donors...

Food for thought.(PARTIES: Food Allergy Initiative)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Taste of New York: A festive and flavorful evening awaited guests of the Food Allergy Initiative's ninth annual ball, held at the Pierre hotel, in Manhattan. The nonprofit organization supports research to find cures for life-threatening food...

Nothing could be finer.(PARTIES: Opera Carolina)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Second Time Around: Last season, Opera Carolina, founded in 1948 and the oldest and largest opera company in the Carolinas, kicked off the event calendar with its first-ever black-tie dinner-dance a few days before the official opening...

Rockin' the Rotunda.(PARTIES: Guggenheim Museum)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Young at Art: Youth is always in fashion, a fact certainly evident at the Artist's Ball, the annual fete thrown by the Guggenheim Museum's Young Collectors Council (YCC). This year's affair was cochaired by Roberta Armani, Giorgio's niece, with...

Pacific coast overtures.(PARTIES: San Francisco Symphony)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Sizing It Up: So big was the San Francisco Symphony's opening night that the festivities simply couldn't be contained in a single celebration--or even in two or three. It took three dinners, a concert and four cocktail parties--three before and...

Belles of the ball.(PARTIES: Crillon Ball)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Dressed to Impress: Wearing haute couture by the world's most celebrated fashion designers, twenty-three young women made their debuts at the sixteenth annual Crillon Ball, which took place in Paris at the fabled Hotel de Crillon. Global...

New and improved: five destinations--from shops to museums, music halls to office towers--that are better and bolder than ever.(ON THE TOWN)
May 1, 2007... PARIS On a stunning Left Bank site along the Seine, the $300 million MUSEE DU QUAI BRANLY is a brand-new showcase for art from Africa, Oceania, Asia and the Americas. Collections of these works were formerly shown at the Musee des Arts...

Custom-made solariums.(IN THE COUNTRY)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... TANGLEWOOD CONSERVATORIES founders Alan Stein and Nancy Virts named their company for the Berkshires' famed music festival, and while their stylish structures don't actually sing, they do give new voice to the elegant traditions of 19th-century...

Paper finery.(IN THE COUNTRY)
May 1, 2007... The PRINTERY evokes a quainter time--and for good reason: it was established in 1881, long before the proliferation of junk mail, e-mail and spam. Tucked away in a historic building in Oyster Bay, on Long Island's North Shore, this master print...

Southern comfort.(IN THE COUNTRY)(Creole Houses; House in the South)(Brief article)(Book review)
May 1, 2007... If this month's Kentucky Derby gets you thinking about life down South, mix yourself a mint julep and crack open two beautiful books on homes throughout the region. In Creole Houses (Abrams; $35), photographers Steve Gross and Sue Daley show...

The return of rum.(IN THE COUNTRY)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... For too long, rum has been associated almost exclusively with sugary punches and swash-buckling pirates. But the blended spirit--a staple in classic American mixed drinks of the 18th and 19th centuries--is making a comeback as a key ingredient...

Natural lights.(IN THE COUNTRY)(lamps)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... We give these illuminants a glowing review. Not only do they provide excellent light, but their organic design brings the outside in, producing a modern landscape of environmental decor. In the ebony-toned Krakal table lamp, a cluster of...

Tooling around.(IN THE COUNTRY)(garden tools)(Advertisement)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Gardens tend to accumulate tools--most of them rarely, if ever, used and some inevitably getting lost on the far edge of the flower bed. My new solution to this perplexing problem is multipurpose implements. Many come from the Far East, and as...

Lulu de Kwiatkowski.(FASHION & STYLE)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... OCCUPATION: Head designer of Lulu DK, a fabric-and-wallpaper company she founded in 1998. Current projects include a line of bed linens for Matouk, a furniture collection for Elite Leather and an eponymous book of her hand-painted collages, due...

Anchors away!(FASHION & STYLE News)
May 1, 2007... Set sail for the Riviera, or any other divine destination, in an updated take on classic nautical style. Navy and white stripes, anchor motifs and rope details are decorative touches that will stay fresh all summer. Above: Dsquared cotton top...

Sunshine state.(FASHION & STYLE)
May 1, 2007... Capture some rays and add a burst of yellow to your summer wardrobe. Clockwise from top: TANIA SPINELLI sandals ($590). CHANEL patent-leather handbag ($1,275). LEIBER Briolette lizard clutch ($2,495). HOLLYWOULD Candi wedges ($245). SERGIO...

Pop the cork!(FASHION & STYLE)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Poolside or seaside, a cork-trimmed bag and shoes are the perfect complements to a summer dress or a great pair of white jeans. Clockwise from top: STUART WEITZMAN Slits peep-toe heels ($280). DIANE VON FURSTENBERG Busta clutch ($450). COACH...

Measuring Up: gents will have it made with these customized and limited-edition togs.(FASHION & STYLE)(Buyers guide)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... PETER ELLIOT BLUE's cashmere sweater ($995), striped cotton shirt ($265), silk tie ($475), alligator belt ($145) and silk boxer shorts ($145 each) can be custom ordered in other colors, patterns and materials. 212-570-2301. [ILLUSTRATION...

Gifts for grads: good things do come in small packages (each for under $2,500, too).(Jewelry)(Buyers guide)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Good things do come in small packages (each for under $2,500, too). Cartier 18k-rose-gold and pink-sapphire Love ring ($1,300), 800-CARTIER. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Hermes Chaine d'Ancre enamel bracelets ($460 and $390),...

A new way for pave.(JEWELRY)
May 1, 2007... Traditional pave (in which many tiny stones are set close together) gets a modern face-lift in oversized rings covered with precious and semiprecious stones of every size. From top: STEFAN HAFNER 18k-white-gold, blue-sapphire, and white- and...

J'Adore Zamora.(WATCHES)(Advertisement)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... An enticing yet intimidating diamond scorpion sits poised with its ruby stinger ready to strike. A pink flower of diamonds, rubies and sapphires is caught midbloom. These are just two of the highlights from the new collection of timepieces by...

Happy feet.(Beauty & Health)(foot care products)(Buyers guide)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Narrow-tipped high-heeled boots may have looked great this winter, but squeezing into them probably wreaked havoc on your toes. Now that sandal weather is here, give your cramped feet a break and pamper them with these special treatments and...

Foot health for the well-heeled: orthopedist--turned--shoe designer Taryn Rose, of California, proves that fashion and comfort aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.(Beauty & Health)
May 1, 2007... Taryn Rose's shoes passed the ultimate test in my book: I wore her charcoal peep-toe, chiffon-accented Ceria evening pumps with three-inch heels to a black-tie gala and felt no pain--not even any swelling at the end of the evening. And I was...

Lily Garfield on climate control: the founder of the Cos Bar beauty boutiques reveals the must-have products for looking lovely from coast to coast.(Beauty & Health)(Buyers guide)
May 1, 2007... When Lily Garfield moved from New York City to Aspen, in 1976, she was horrified by the high and dry climate's effect on her skin. Even more troubling: "There was absolutely nothing available in the stores to make my dehydrated, scaly skin look...

Implants update.(BEAUTY & PLANTS)
May 1, 2007... Silicone breast implants famously went, ahem, bust in the 1990s. Women sued the manufacturers, claiming the products ruptured, leaked and caused diseases like connective-tissue disorder. In 1992 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned...

English earle.(BEAUTY & HEALTH)
May 1, 2007... Liz Earle has an eye for natural beauty. The native Brit and former healthand-beauty editor first put her know-how to the creative test in 1995, when she teamed up with friend Kim Buckland to make products suitable for both her eczema and...

Bright eye-deas.(Beauty & Health)(surgical methods)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... "Our eyes blink ap proximately twenty times a minute, for a total of 12,000 daily movements"--so report the late Stephen Bosniak, M.D., and his medical partner, Marian Cantisano-Zilkha, M.D., in their new book, BEAUTIFEYE (MD-Publish; $29.95)....

Clarin's makeover.(BEAUTY & HEALTH)
May 1, 2007... Go ahead and judge CLARINS makeup by its new, modern oval-shaped packaging. We did--positively--and when we popped open the white-gold-toned and candy-apple-red compact, what we uncovered was just as captivating. The cosmetics company has...

Sisley holds water.(BEAUTY & HEALTH)
May 1, 2007... As you age, your skin becomes drier, and moisture loss accentuates fine lines; compare a plump grape to a raisin. To prevent skin dehydration and combat aging, Sisley delivers Hydra- Global Intense Anti-Aging Hydration ($220), a moisturizer...

Editor's choice: hair heaven.(Beauty & Health)(Phyto Universe)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Phyto, the luxe French hair-care brand, takes its inspiration--plants--to new heights at PHYTO UNIVERSE: the Manhattan spa's back wall is a vertical garden (left), a fourteen-foot-tall display of some 9,000 tropical plants that stretches from...

Exercise smart.(BEAUTY & HEALTH: Must-Dos for May)
May 1, 2007... Nutritionist Cheryl Zielke, of Connecticut's Mayflower Spa, shares a tip for maximizing your workout's benefits: "Exercise elevates metabolism. If you split an hour workout into an A.M. and a P.M. session, you'll get a metabolic spike twice...

The right setting: what the art world's favorite architects have to say about housing your collection wisely.(ARTS & CULTURE)
May 1, 2007... YOU KNOW IT'S time to move when you run out of wall space for your Picassos. At least that's what's happened to Michael Ovitz, who has very clearly outgrown his manse in Brentwood. Almost every wall in the house is filled with modern and...

Philip Johnson's open house.(Arts & Culture)(The Glass House)
May 1, 2007... House museum: for many the term conjures up images of droning docents and waxy woodwork. But such an approach would hardly be appropriate for any mid-century icon, much less the glass house Philip Johnson designed for himself in New Canaan in...

Partying for versailles.(ARTS & CULTURE)(fund raising event hosted by the American Friends of Versailles for the restoration of the Pavillon Frais in Versailles, France)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Since its successful 2004 restoration of one of the Sun King's favorite Chateau de Versailles garden retreats, the Bosquet de Trois Fontaines, the AMERICAN FRIENDS OF VERSAILLES has taken on a new challenge. The nine-year-old group, which...

May must-sees.(Arts & Culture)(museums)(Calendar)
May 1, 2007... Through July 15, Atlanta's High Museum welcomes "The Gates of Paradise: Lorenzo Ghiberti's Renaissance Masterpiece," displaying newly restored bronze panels from the doors of Florence's Baptistery. 404-733-HIGH; high.org. + Julie Christie...

Art basel strategies.(ARTS & CULTURE)
May 1, 2007... Remembering the frenzied hordes that mobbed Art Basel Miami last December, collectors may groan a bit as they gear up for its parent event, but they'll board the plane for Switzerland anyway: the original Art Basel (June 13-17; artbasel.com), a...

Italy's unsung heartland: Thomas McNamee visits three towns in umbria and the Marche where the culture has been unchanged for centuries and the handmade pasta is sublime.(TRAVELER'S NOTEBOOK)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... WE WERE TIRED of eating in restaurants where three-quarters of the diners didn't speak Italian. We had visited the great sights, waited in the interminable line at the Uffizi, seen Italy through the wrong end of the telescope. My wife,...

Gubbio: medieval austerity, renaissance exuberance, timeless beauty.(TRAVELER'S NOTEBOOK)
May 1, 2007... WITH ONLY 32,000 citizens behind its forbidding walls, Gubbio is so singular that it evokes the ancient insularity of the city-state. Indeed, human habitation there goes back 35,000 years. Located a short drive from the Umbrian capital of...

Ascoli piceno: italian urbanity at its most refined, with very few tourists.(TRAVELERS NOTEBOOK)
May 1, 2007... TO GET TO Ascoli Piceno, two and a half hours from Gubbio, we wound our way eastward through the vertiginous Apennines all the way to the Adriatic Sea, and then back west up a narrow valley--small wonder the town (population 52,000) has...

Urbino: where a ferocious killer for hire built one of Italy's gentlest, loveliest cities.(TRAVELERS NOTEBOOK)
May 1, 2007... URBINO, 133 MILES from Ascoli, required another drive along the sea and up into yet another mountain valley. It was geographically the most isolated of our three cities, and the smallest, with just 15,000 inhabitants. The university, on a...

A kiwi classic.(TRAVELER'S NOTEBOOK)(Huka Lodge)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... The twenty-room HUKA LODGE, on New Zealand's North Island, has been beloved by guests for its English-country elegance since it opened, in 1985. With the unveiling of the property's Owner's Cottage, devoted visitors can now have the run of...

Paradise on phuket.(TRAVELER'S NOTEBOOK)(Trisara hotel)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... More than two years after the 2004 tsunami struck Southeast Asia, the Thai island of Phuket is making a comeback as a beach destination--thanks in part to TRISARA. Opened shortly before the disaster yet virtually unscathed by it, the boutique...

Ah, Espa.(Traveler's Notebook)(spas)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... When building the requisite spa at Acqualina, a Rosewood Resort, which recently opened in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, the designers had the good sense to connect with Susan Harmsworth, owner and CEO of ESPA INTERNATIONAL. For this, her...

Design trends: whether you're building from scratch or just rethinking a room, these leads are bound to inspire.
May 1, 2007... Suddenly bored by your neutral interiors? Then turn to PANTONE--the color company universally trusted by graphic artists and fashion designers--whose long-awaited oil- and water-based paints in 3,000 heavily saturated hues will entice you to...

Setting up shop.(Charlotte Moss Townhouse)(Buyers guide)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Last month interior designer CHARLOTTE MOSS unveiled one of her most impressive projects to date, just completed for a stylish client with exacting standards: herself. The Charlotte Moss Townhouse, on Manhattan's Upper East Side, is a...

Renovation aggravation: remodeling, the fulfillment of many a dream, can also be a nightmare for relationships.(Social Graces)
May 1, 2007... IT ALL BEGINS with a vision of turning a house into a home. Six years ago, when my husband and I bought an 1870 white clapboard farmhouse two hours north of Manhattan, I decided to renovate it in "French country style." Fortunately, my spouse...

Two for the tropics: what does it take to set up house in the Dominican Republic? For design pros Bunny Williams and John Rosselli, the answer is simple: each other.
May 1, 2007... "I THINK WE CAN SAY that we had the baby, then we got married." Bunny Williams is a nice girl from Charlottesville, Virginia, who grew up to become one of this country's most esteemed decorators, so it stands to reason that her...

Light box: architect Steven Holl plays entracing games with the sun in a Hamptons beach house.
May 1, 2007... JOAN CAMINS AND HER HUSBAND, Martin B. Camins, a neurosurgeon in Manhattan, wanted to build a weekend house from scratch. Their chosen site was a half-acre lot in Water Mill, New York, with a run-down Cape Cod cottage set among gnarly old...

A Morroccan fantasy: in Marrakech, a cosmopolitan duo has created a dream getaway worthy of its romantic setting.
May 1, 2007... WE'RE halfway across Marrakech's main square--the Djemaa el Fna--when the heavens open up. It pours, and even my rain-resistant traveling companions are glad to see the legion of umbrella purveyors who have instantly materialized before us. ...

Inside out: a Virginia couple builds a quietly daring window onto their world.(INSIDE OUT)
May 1, 2007... Blue Ridge foothills of Albemarle County, Virginia, have a gentle, undisturbed beauty. As you turn onto the private road that traverses Dan and Nancy "Nan" Brody's 260-acre farm, you follow a series of switchbacks around a clapboard caretaker's...

Earthy paradise: welcome to a new style of home on the range: a hacienda with heart, set high in the Colorado desert.
May 1, 2007... TRYING TO LOCATE McElmo Canyon, Colorado, on Google Earth is like giddily skimming the surface of the moon over brown-cratered mountains and uninhabited desert. Instead, on a U.S. road map, put your finger on southwest Colorado just where it...

Weddings.
May 1, 2007... Derrick Clay Diggs and Rashida Kali La Lande were married this past fall in an oceanside ceremony at the Cap Juluca resort, in Anguilla. The bride wore a strapless taffeta gown by Amsale. The couple, who honeymooned in India and the Maldives,...

Horoscopes.
May 1, 2007... May Taurus April 21-May 21 Go ahead and play with your options this month. It's not just your birthday hut a whole new era. Saturn is wending its way out of the most sensitive--and private--part of your chart, and you're feeling if...