Cynthia Rose
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métier© Katharine Mac Daid
Hats off to heritage
Without hats, said Christian Dior, “we would have no civilization.” The legendary couturier was well aware of the hat as pivotal to le style anglais. In Paris, since the 1770s, these three little words have stood for elegance. It was around then that French aristocrats fell in love with the riding and sporting clothes of their British counterparts. Thet were celebrated for their expert tailoring, understated style a...
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memory© Sweet Memories of Arundel
Ils nous vendent leurs salades...sucrées?
Aujourd’hui, il faut qu’on parle d’une nouvelle entente cordiale grâce à la réception anglaise qui est maintenant accordée au chèvre – au plus exactement, au chèvre chaud. Étant donné que nous, les rosbifs, n’avons jamais été doués pour les salades et que nous avons déjà passé plusieurs siècles en gaspillant un grand patrimoine de légumes verts, a réussite anglaise de cette chose est d...
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object© Studio Harcourt
Paris retakes the photo
Every autumn, Paris holds a string of events intended to honor the art of the photograph. The largest are grand and official, such as Paris Photo at the Grand Palais, the Salon de la Photo at the Porte de Versailles and the Photoquai 2011 by the Musée de Quai Branly. The latter, free to all and open 24/7, is hosting work by 46 talents from 29 countries.
Alongside such sprawling shows are others in museums, galleries and fou...
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object© A. Hughes
L'air du temps perdu
The luxury goods of France have always been seductive. But, to this day, nothing can outdazzle her 18th century porcelain. This “white gold” remains an art form of its own, a showcase for flawless decorative skills and technical virtuosity.
A tour of any UK collection – whether at the V&A, Hereford House or Waddesdon Manor – can still startle the eye with proof of just how lavish life once was.
From it...
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expo© Musée du Louvre
Reinventing French recreation
He is famous for elegiac portraits of elegance. But Jean Antoine Watteau was not a typical high-society painter. Preceded by the heaviness of royal Baroque, followed by imitators who wallowed in the luxuries he depicted, his own works show a different type of radical talent.
By reuniting Watteau’s key drawings, London’s Royal Academy showed how and why they engineered changes in taste. Perhaps only an outsider li...