Strike a Pose
Just in time for NY Fashion Week, Gainsborough's style statement, L.A.'s hot new neighborhood, Valentine's Day jewels...Oh, and our first podcast promotion!
Dressing the Part
What to wear when posing for a picture? If the issue is still potent in this age of the selfie, it was even more so in 18th-century Britain, which was obsessed with fashion. Did you want to be seen as a Greek goddess, as a gypsy, a leader of industry, a Biblical character, a hero from an opera or play? For Thomas Gainsborough there was no question—his subjects should be depicted in their most fashionable finery. Anything that looked to the past, the “fancy dress” so popular with other painters, would detract from the spirit of the person he was trying to capture—even if some of his subjects would later ask him to rework a painting once their outfits had gone out of fashion.
That fidelity to his time makes his paintings especially appealing. “Gainsborough: The Fashion of Portraiture,” which opens at the Frick on Thursday and runs through May 25th shows that whether painting a wealthy farmer and his wife, an acclaimed actress, or a military hero, Gainsborough lavished attention on their silks, satins, and laces, a reflection of the staggering sums of money that went into the clothes, not to mention the hours of labor needed to concoct the elaborate hairdos that were all the rage. For the artist, fashion was not just a marker of status and station, but an aspect of personality. Right now, obsessed as we all are with labels and influencers, poseurs and celebrities, Gainsborough’s paintings seem very of the moment. MB
Hot in Hollywood: Melrose Hill
There are so many neighborhoods in Los Angeles it’s hard to keep up with what’s hot and what’s not, but if you’re driving in a nondescript stretch of East Hollywood where the retro car wash places still outnumber chain stores and you see a giant David Zwirner sign you know something’s up. You can feel the buzz at the intersection of Melrose and Western Avenue, a neighborhood that’s been called Melrose Hill since the early 1900s. More recently, before developer Zach Lasry snapped up 18 buildings in a three block radius around Western Avenue, the area was known for its furniture warehouses and mostly Korean, Mexican, Central American and Armenian population. Lasry’s plan was to lure independent businesses in order to preserve the walkable quality of the area while also creating an arts district of sorts. Since 2023 galleries like David Zwirner, Emma Furnberger, and Moran Moran have opened huge spaces and restaurants like Little Fish, Étoile, and Etra have made Melrose Hill a foodie destination. There’s also highly curated L.A. Grocery & Cafe, Filipino favorite Kuya Lord, and Ggiata, a deli selling Jersey-style sandwiches. At Café Telegrama, the weekend crowd lines up for delicious pancakes and breakfast burritos—before checking out the retail outpost of jeweler Spinelli Kilcollin which is conveniently located in the parking lot. For those furnishing their new lofts, Pop Up Home sells — and rents — the requisite vintage Carlo Bartoli chairs, Brazilian brutalist wood frame leather sofas, and a huge selection of contemporary ceramics. KB
Insider Info
Design books are usually written by designers (often with ghost writers, of course). But in the past couple of years, a new genre has emerged—books by interior stylists. Stylists have that special skill that can make a room look better in a photograph than in real life, a skill that in our image-obsessed social media age has become more vital than ever. In 2023, Colin King’s book Arranging Things became a big success. Mieke ten Have, whose country house caused a bit of a sensation when it appeared in AD, followed with Interiors Styled by Mieke ten Have. Next month, Benjamin Reynaert’s book The Layered Home is out, featuring more than a dozen homes filled with antiques, collections, vivid color, rafts of books, paintings galore, and displays of quirky objects. All of them tread that fine line between layered and messy that the British have always been so good at—but American homeowners not so much.
I have had the enormous pleasure of working with both Mieke and Ben, so I know how sophisticated they are and how hardworking. Working with top interiors photographers, they have had access to some of the most beautiful houses and apartments in America. Their books, no surprise, are full of sound advice and practical information as well as hundreds of inspiring photographs. They have seen things and learned lessons all of us can benefit from. MB
Broadcast News
Last week we had the enormous pleasure of being guests on the podcast A Life Creative, which goes live today. The podcast is hosted by Michael’s friend and former colleague at Martha Stewart Living Melanio Gomez, and is produced by Mel’s husband, Chris Kangas. We had a wonderful time—and a lot of laughs— talking about everything from our backgrounds, our days working together at Vogue, the most valuable lessons we learned from Anna Wintour, and what we see ahead for mainstream media and fashion. Check it out.
