I can't tell you how much I dislike the word "classy." But it's impossible not to love everything else about Chanel's fabulous sense of style.

I've written several posts on weddings lately . . . I promise this will be the last one for awhile.  But actually, it's a little about weddings, a little about decorating. I've held on to this quote from one of my favorite architects for some time now:

I remember Bobby's words every time I see pictures of a house that is swagged and jaboted to the hilt. I love beautiful, relatively simple curtains with a French pleat. When the fabric is gorgeous, it speaks for itself.

Now, if you're interested in more inspiration like the photo above, visit tackyweddings.com.

 

Matthew White, interior designer

A number of years ago, I had the pleasure of being seated next to designer Matthew White at a dinner party in Suzanne Rheinstein's home in Los Angeles (please forgive the name-dropping, but one of the genuine pleasures of my job is all the interesting people I have the opportunity to meet). He was an utterly charming dinner companion, and we talked of everything from our shared Southern roots to the fact that he was leaving the next weekend to join Sir Elton John at a house party in Venice.

Shortly thereafter, Matthew sent me an essay he had written about finding beauty in the modest environment he grew up in in Amarillo, Texas–seemingly worlds away from the glamorous life he now leads and the circles he often travels in. His words were so poignant, so real, that they brought tears to my eyes. Eventually I tucked the story away in a file, and every now and then during one of my cleaning purges, I would come across it and reread. I never quite knew what to do with it, but I couldn't bear to part with it, so back in the folder the story went.

A couple of years later, a perfect opportunity presented itself. We were putting together our 30th anniversary issue and decided to commission articles written by style setters on the elements of timeless design, including beauty, comfort, tradition, personality, and love of nature. I knew exactly where we should start and out came the folder again. Matthew graciously agreed to let us publish his essay, and afterward, we received a flood of letters and emails telling us how much the story had meant to our readers. One elementary school teacher even made it a project to read the article to her class and have the children write letters to Matthew sharing their stories and pictures of beauty.

If you happen to have a few extra minutes this weekend, click read more to find the entire essay. I hope the story will touch you as it continues to touch me. I believe, as Matthew does, that no matter where life's road takes you, it's important to always remember the people and experiences that brought you there.

photo by Pieter Estersohn; for more on Matthew White, visit whitewebb.com

Designer Elsie de Wolfe in 1936. Photo courtesy of Life.com.

While reading the latest issue of our sister magazine, Real Simple, I came across this quote attributed to Elsie de Wolfe, the legendary decorator who is quite a design heroine of mine. Can't believe I hadn't heard it before as it should probably be the motto for our blog: