kaftan love

Jean Etienne Liotard
1702-1789

Signora Antonella Agnelli, Vogue 1966

with her 2 year old son Gianni wearing a century old caftan from Casablanca

the inimitable ROSE Cumming

another Liotard

Comtesse Michel de Ganay
in Egyptian cotton stripe caftan

gorgeous Marina Rust in quaftan

I grow tired of summer, the heat, the humidity- but I never grow tired of my summer At Home uniform. Winter too for that matter.

Caftan-Origin 1585–95; Russian Kaftan, Turkish - Persian Qaftan


go to The Costume Institute to see their collection (here)
A 1970 Lanvin from the Costume Institute


in a Liotard painting

Alexandra Czarina in a traditional Russian kaftan

Model Lily Donaldson in bohemian caftan

YSL fantasy kaftan

Allegra Hicks designed this form fitting caftan

the designer Allegra Hicks

Aerin Lauder in Michael Kors

Principessa Nancy Ruspoli Vogue 1966
in a man's Moroccan caftan

Mrs Richard de la Mare
in a Liberty Caftan
vogue 1966

Mrs. Lesley Blanch
Vogue 1966

Mrs David Naylor-Leyland
Vogue 1966

"Mrs. Ahmet Ertegun" as Vogue put it in 1966
wearing a gold Moroccan caftan as an evening coat

& today, more beautiful as Mica

Muriel Brandolini

interior designer & fashion designer
(photograph by Carter Berg)

obviously a favorite with Marina Rust- this one by designed by Muriel Brandolini

an Ossie Clark

style.com
(I'd love to have this one)

and Andre Leon Talley

Willis Smalls and ALT in Diane Von Furstenberg caftan and Roger Vivier neclace, attend Maya Angelou’s July 5th brunch. photograph by Chase Beck

This photograph of ALT is just dynamite. I am crazy about this man. Read the story here. He has deep North Carolina connections and his 2003 book ALT: A Memoir is a book everyone interested in fashion, family, and destiny should read- That means everyone. Get it. Read it.

Wear a Caftan!



the Vogue 1966 photographs Cecil Beaton, Henry Clarke, Horst, Rastelli

"to get a room that sizzles" Polly Mellen

photograph by Eric Boman

I love Billy Baldwin. I love originality. As a designer, decorator-whatever one wants to call it- I always try to work toward an unstudied look. Shaken not Stirred.

In light of that and the appearance of my old curtains into the dining room of my now-not- so- new (old1930's) house and a recent post about it, I am celebrating Billy Baldwin. Bringing out the books again.

In honor of this great modern American Decorator, when I see a room (in the many many magazines I get every month) that reflects my favorite of his decorating ideas... "To get a room that sizzles with personality, you've got to take risks. A person with a real flair is a gambler at heart."


the Vogue caption reads " the living room, with a rug and pillows of Mellen's making, Meret Oppenheim's side table with stork legs, Three tapestries, made by Mellen's mother in the 1960's, hang on the back wall."

and this room happens to follow two more of Billy Baldwin's dictums:

"If you fall in love with something, that's all that matters. Your love protects you from all upsets."
"I'd Love to see less and less studied decoration and more and more things chosen because you Love them, That's the whole point really."

read the whole story (click here) written by Marina Rust for Vogue, with photographs by Eric Boman
and Mrs Blandings (click) post.