Beaton’s My Fair Lady’s Costumes

I found a group of limited imprints of six of the costumes that Cecil Beaton designed for the film, My Fair Lady, in 1964. Beaton won an Academy Award for Best Colour Costume for his designs, which remain classic today.

I thought it would be fun to look at the sketches and then the finished product. I think that this is the most well-known of the dresses from MFL. It’s the dress that was worn in the black and white scenes at Ascot.

Probably one of the most pivotal scenes is at the Ball, when Eliza dances with the prince in this spectacular dress.

This is the Prince’s mummy, who is wearing a gorgeous tone-on-tone purple gown with a green sash and elbow-length gloves. Of course the most incredible thing about her costume is her hair and headpiece.

I can’t remember the scene where Eliza wore this dress… can you?

There are two other sketches that I can’t find the film images for. If you know what scenes they’re in, or who they are, let me know and I’ll add them to the mix.

I do love this movie! It, along with Mary Poppins, is one of my all-time favourites! What are yours?

I’ll Take This… The House of the Furry Dance!

This is Georgian graciousness in historic Helston town centre. For £485,000 you get ornate arched windows and fireplaces, cornicing and alcoves, which glorify large wood-floored rooms. There are four bedrooms, with room for a fifth in the vast attic. It’s just a shame, or not, depending on your preference, that folk dancers cavort through the house once a year as part of the ancient Furry Dance. The origins of the dance are certainly pre-Christian and are connected with ancient spring festivals all over Europe. The youngest children start in the morning, and they wear the flower symbolic of their primary school.  Mid-day, invited guests dance in top hats, tails and gowns. At the end of the day, there’s the dance for everyone… all wearing a lily of the valley to symbolize the arrival of spring in Cornwall, just as they’ve done for hundreds of years. I think I’d take the house anyway. After all, it’s only once a year.

Curtains for You!

My friend over at Maxminimus recently did a post about television shows of his youth. He mentioned some of the classics like Green Acres, Gunsmoke and Petticoat Junction. We didn’t have a television when I was little and when we finally got one, we could only watch on weekends. I still barely watch the telly, although I must admit I was pretty fully addicted when I lived in Wales.

Anyway… Max omitted one of my favourite shows from my childhood. It was called The Persuaders and starred Sir Roger Moore, later 007, and Tony Curtis as Lord Brett Sinclair and Danny Wilde, two millionaires swanning about the Cote d’Azur and some of the better houses in the UK, solving crimes and looking delicious. I found a few episodes on YouTube, and was just amazed by some of the interiors they showed, including this stunning set of curtains from Brett Sinclair’s London Flat.  Of course, what’s even more amazing are the clothes the gentlemen wear. OMG. I am quite taken with orange lately, and I also need to start looking for some new curtains. While I love these, I am not sure that they’ll be what I need.

Lectures @ Evergreen

One of the events I look forward to each spring is The House Beautiful, an annual lecture series at Baltimore’s Evergreen House. The topics are always so interesting and touch on subjects relevant to Evergreen and its era.

This year’s lectures are going to be FABULOUS!  First up, on March 30, is the amazing Emily Evans Eerdmans, who will speak on "The Style Malmaison". This will be a discussion of twentieth-century tastemaker Madeleine Castaing (1894–1992), one of the most influential players in the mid-century melding of eighteenth-century Bourbon elegance with modern living for a truly modern audience.

A view of Madeleine Castaing’s salon de la rotonde at her country house Lèves. Photo by Roland Beaufre

On April 13, Thomas Jayne, will present the lecture "Collectors and The Finest Rooms", a visual tutorial of rooms by collectors, whether they be of furniture, art or unusual objects, and the particular trials and triumphs involved with decorating around them.

Sitting Room, Albert Hadley Apartment, New York City. Photo by Kerri McCaffety

Rounding out the group on May 18 will be Daniëlle Kisluk-Grosheide, discussing "The Wrightsman Galleries for French Decorative Arts", an introduction to the ever-evolving concept of interpreting décor through an exciting narrative of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s heralded reinstallation of the famous Wrightsman Galleries for French Decorative Arts.

An interior from the Hôtel Lauzun in Paris, c. 1770. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. CharlesWrightsman Gift, 1963

Evergreen’s fourth annual The House Beautiful lecture series explores décor from the perspectives of the iconic tastemaker, the contemporary design world, and the museum. The illustrated talks will take place in Evergreen’s Bakst Theatre, followed by a lightly catered reception. The program is made possible by the Evergreen House Foundation.

Click here to purchase tickets or here to download Lecture Series Brochure

Venn Diagram

When I bought the little Flossie spoon, I thought I’d put it on my Etsy Shop. But then I started thinking about the possibility of there being someone named Flossie who read either my blog or subscribed to my Etsy shop’s feed. I though the chances of that happening were Slim and None… and Slim’s out of town!

But low and behold, I got an e-mail from a reader and buyer named Flo who lives in Fla!  And now the little Flossie spoon will be hers!

This internet thing never ceases to amaze me!  Click on the circles above to learn about Venn Diagrams.

Silver Spoons

I found a cache of old silverware this afternoon, unlike any other I’ve seen… and I’ve seen a lot of silverware, because I LOVE it, and collect unusual pieces. While my current favourite is the French Ivory handled cutlery, I do like the look and heft of old silver.

Here are a few of the pieces I found today.

A few weeks ago, I talked about monograms, and which way they should face when placed on the table. The question was mainly regarding an M monogram or a W monogram. There should be no question about this sweet little spoon! The rest of the pattern on the spoon reminds me of a suzani pattern. All swirls and swishes. I don’t really think that there would be any question about the engraving on this piece either! The American Export Lines owned dozens of steamships in the early 1900’s. It amazed me to find this knife.

Once again, we are back to the question of M or W! I love the vaguely Asiatic look of this monogram. But I am pretty sure the monogram on these pieces is a W. This pattern is so unusual in the shape of the handle. It’s not anything I’ve seen before. The pattern is Holmes & Edwards’ Hostess. The company basically merged with several others in Massachusetts in the early 1900’s and ceased to exist. The mark on the reverse of these pieces is XIV, so maybe that’s 1914?

To me, there’s nothing more fun than digging through a box of old silverware and finding the most interesting pieces.

St. David’s Day

March 1 is St. David’s Day (Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant), and St. David is the patron saint of Wales, where I lived.  Wales is one of those very under-the-radar places, but it’s spectacular. Let’s have a little geography lesson, shall we? Wales is to the left of England, when you’re looking at a map. It is separated from England by the Severn River, as well Offa’s Dyke, a linear earthworks. It is surrounded on three sides by water – the Bristol Channel on the south side, the Irish Channel to the west and north. Wales has more than 700 miles of coastline. Because of how far north Wales is, it has major tidal swings – often 30 or more feet between high and low tide. Wales is surrounded by the Ring of Iron – all of the castles that protected Wales from invaders via the land and sea.  There are 400 castles, or castle ruins in Wales, and about 100 of those are still intact. I worked at St. Donat’s Castle, built in the 1200’s along the south coast of Wales. One of other castles I visited regularly was Caerphilly Castle, the second largest castle in the UK after Windsor Castle.  With the late summer sunsets, I used to drive the 10 miles to Caerphilly and do a walk around the perimeter of the castle’s property and listen to BBC Radio 4. Another castle that I visited often was Fonmon Castle, owned by one of my colleagues and her family. It was just a “small” castle, but it had been in her family for 600+ years. It was covered with a veil of Virginia Creeper, which turned an amazing scarlet colour in the fall. You can see it just beginning to change below. The national symbols of Wales are the daffodil and the leek. At rugby games, where there would be 60,000 people yelling and singing – mostly Tom Jones’ songs – they would be waving inflatable leeks and daffs. If you’ve never tried a leek, they’re like mild onions, and look like huge spring or green onions.Here’s a great and simple recipe for Welsh Leek Soup or Cawn Cennin (serves 6-8)

• 4 slices of raw bacon
• 6 thick leeks, trimmed of the roots and dark green, then chopped
• 10 cups chicken stock
• Salt and pepper, to taste

1. In a large soup pot, sauté the bacon over medium heat until crisp -then remove it from the pan, drain on paper towels, and reserve it for the garnish.
2. In the soup pot, reheat the bacon grease over medium heat and stir in the leeks, turning to coat them, and sautéing for several minutes, until they take on a little golden color.
3. Pour in the stock, bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to low and cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Purée, solids first, then pour back into the pot. (I use an immersion blender for this task.) Season to taste.
4. When ready to serve, reheat the soup over medium high heat, then ladle it into bowls and top with crumbled bacon and fresh circles of leek.

Garnish: Crumbled crisp bacon and a few circles of sliced leek per bowl. You can also add diced potatoes and cream for a more hearty soup.

Happy St. David’s Day!

DRUMROLL…

And the winner of the BAKE! cookbook is: I’ve never had that happen before! The random number generated is usually in the middle of the the group somewhere, so this was funny to see.

Oh, you want to know who number 1 is? Why it’s Nelle, the writer of local blog, Stone Hill Farm! In addition to writing about her lovely cottage on Stone Hill, she writes about cooking and baking. So, Nelle… what are you gonna make for me?

American Craft Council Review

I am always so impressed with the sheer number of vendors who present at the ACC Show each year. To be in the presence of so many talented people makes me really appreciate what they all do.

As we strolled through the show this afternoon, I was so taken with all that I was seeing, that I was distracted from taking lots of pictures.  But here’s a sample of some things that we saw.

While this teapot looks like a shaggy dog, when you get close up, you can see what it actually is.  Dollar bills! I was fascinated with this necklace. In addition to my friend Liz at The Felted Garden, there were a number of other felters there. This gal had added silk to her wool to make this gorgeous scarf. Local crafter, Caitlin Phillips and her Rebound Designs, makes handbags out of old books. They’re so clever!

I remember this clay-master from last year and just love the colours and shapes of his works.

One of the most fun things about attending the ACC show is seeing everyone wear the pieces that they have purchased in years past. This gal had on the most striking cape. I was quite taken with this artisan who casts everything from items found in nature. 

This wall was pretty incredible! These reminded me of Madonna’s cone bra.I was at a friend’s house for lunch the other day and she had the most amazing collection of old buttons. I thought these pieces were very clever.

The colours in these glass jars really caught my eye. The American Crafts Council show in Baltimore runs through Sunday.