THE PERSONAL STYLE OF KATE SPADE

The Spade name is synonymous with chic. There's Spade Green, Spade Stripes, and the Spade Shape (that boxy bag). But forget the fabulous arm candy and follow the yellow floral fabric to its source:  Kate Spade herself. As any Vogue reader would know, Mrs. Spade favors bright colors, strong pattern, and a bit of shine. But I'd never seen a full retrospective on her look, so I decided to create one. Here it is:  Kate Spade Style. Morning, evening, and in-between, below are a few snaps of the icon of green.

P.S. Don't forget to join the fabulous give-away! 

Miss Congeniality photo, Vogue via blog Coquette. Plaid dress via Flickr. Pink tights pic. Doll from here. Yellow jacket with bib pic. Yellow rose jacket photograph. All other photographs, Life.com.

FRIDAY GIVE-AWAY! THE HOUSE THE SOUND OF MUSIC BUILT

UPDATE:  Today (Friday the 16th) is the last day to participate in the give-away! I'll announce the winner on Monday the 19th, so stay tunned.

It's a Sanity Fair first! A give-away, and being from me, it's a book! I've collected vintage design books for years, and I can attest to the fact that they're invaluable. And this give-away choice is a double for design:  it has a great cover and great content (sometimes, you CAN judge a book by its cover!). The book is Dorothy Rodgers' The House In My Head.

Socialite extraordinaire, wife of the "Rodgers" in "Rodgers and Hammerstein," entrepreneur, art collector, and fashion and decor diva, Dorothy Rodgers was a Manhattan chameleon. And she was so well known for her superb hostess skills (from conversation to recipes) that guests dubbed her "La Perfecta." Jackson Pollacks hung on her walls; Slim Hayward and Noel Coward hung out in her drawing room.

In 1964, Dorothy published a book called My Favorite Things. It was a whirlwind of advice  - everything from how to properly throw a dinner party and display your hobbies as decor, to tips on maximizing storage space in small closets. She knew from whence she spoke - entrepreneur Dorothy had founded her own design and renovation firm Repair, Inc. years before. And she practiced what she preached. Overwhelmed by the amount of care (even with servants) that her colonial Connecticut manse required, she set out to design a modern, efficient home from the ground up. That project became The House In My Head.

The House In My Head chronicles every step of her home's creation, from the "first pencil stroke to lighting the final lamp;" Dorothy thought about everything:  how she preferred to store things, the lighting she liked, the way she (and her family) inhabited a home. She was determined to create perfection. It's a design story we can all sympathize with:  triumph and frustration, excitement and planning - and a welcome reminder that even super wealthy socialites must suffer at the hands of contractors (though the recent success of your husband's musical, The Sound of Music, makes bill-paying painless). As Rodgers herself says in the book's conclusion: "if only we had known how much confusion, delay, uncertainty and expense we would have to accept.... however, to create one last 'if only'... if only we had built the house ten years ago." But the real plum in the pudding is her recipe collection in the back of the book, meticulously organized into select menus. My favorite? A special brunch menu for spring:  Spring Soup with scallions, Croissants, Chutney, Sliced Tomatoes with Basil and French Dressing, and Sour Cherry Tart. Break out the good china!

The Give-Away ends next Friday. The random generator will choose a winner from among comments I receive April 9 - 16. So leave a comment, and cross your fingers (and be sure to include your email)! BONUS:  "Follow" Sanity Fair in the LH sidebar, and you'll be entered twice - just be sure to mention in your comment that you did so!

Specs:  254 pages, First Edition, Color and Black and White photos by House Beautiful. Jacket review by Kitty Carlisle Hart. Published by Avenel. Rare vintage edition; excellent condition with only minor wear; one pen mark. A note to overseas readers:  all shipping is to U.S. addresses. Keep that in mind!
Read more about Dorothy here via the New York Times.

Image of Dorothy from divasthesite.com.

GRACIOUS KELLEY

The new Vanity Fair is all about her Serene Highness (I used to wonder as a child - did this mean she wasn't allowed to be mad?), Princess Grace. I'd just finished reading a bio of her over my vacation, one short on text and heavy on pictures - as any book about her should be. That was the same week I visited the Princess Diana Exhibit, so it was a few days of heavy princess-ing. The contrast between Grace's bio and Diana's exhibit was that, despite the pressures and restrictions of royal life, Grace's movie-star background stood her in good stead. She was always a hard worker and a quick study, and that famous self-discipline made her much stronger than the younger and inexperienced Diana in the harsh glare of public scrutiny.

Below, one of the best of Grace Kelley's fashionable moments:  the movie Rear Window. The movie is memorable for a number of reasons. It was a wonderful confluence of talent (Hitchcock, Jimmy Stewart, Thelma Ridder, Raymond Burr) filmed almost entirely in a single setting, Stewart's tiny apartment, with its window-with-a-view. But the costumes are the most memorable of all. Designed by the notoriously gifted Edith Head, each one is so breathlessly arresting, they practically steal the scene.

A stunning green three piece suit - note the wrap blouse finally revealed beneath.

Here's the stunning nightgown scene, which drives poor Jimmy into a fluster.

A perfectly proper Grace in florals, watching anxiously with Thelma Ridder.

A very chic black evening gown. Wouldn't it also look lovely without the sheer sleeves?

The most famous dress from the movie:  a black v neck, with a corresponding v back,

cap sleeves, and a gorgeous pouf of a skirt ringed with feathers.

Jimmy appears to be suffering terribly.

Images, the IMBD database. Vanity Fair Cover, vanityfair.com.

THE GREAT COVER UP

There's a curious concealment going on in the design world, a conspiracy that stretches from Architectural Digest to Country Home. Glance through the pages of any shelter magazine, closely examine the pictures of bathrooms, and you'll notice that something's missing. In water closets across the country, some Americans are apparently bathing in defiance of the laws of physics:  they never splash any water when showering. How do I know? Because all of these beautiful, glamorous bathrooms never have a shower curtain in sight - but the grouting is crisp and the floors are dry. Apparently, swags of vinyl are de trop in mag land. Of course, who can blame them? There are few things that scream "tacky" like "plastic shower curtain." But we can't all have marble dividing walls and crystal stalls. The rest of us - us non super-showerers - need a buffer between water and walls. And our bathrooms should look good doing it. So without further ado, some (very challenging to find) examples of proper shower curtain etiquette - and where you can get your own.

   The simplicity of a monogram brings elegance to a bathroom. No 

     ugly here! (For similar shopping options see below.)

Kate Spade's bathroom. Stripes? Check. Zebra stripes? Double check. Using a graphic

pattern to offset the color on the walls is a nice trick - the same one you might use for curtains

in any other room. Scalamandre zebras can cavort across the walls safely shielded from 

the dangers of errant spray.

In a rental and don't want to paint? A shower curtain can bring needed 

color to a bland bathroom. I love the orange and pink pattern - so Tory Burch!

Patterned elegance. Designer Krista Ewert goes luxe with a fabulous fabric 

shower curtain in a pop of pink. Don't hesitate to have your favorite fabrics made 

into bathroom decor. Ever heard of a plastic liner?

How beautiful is this bathroom? An exotic ikat gives it style and substance, 

photo courtesy of Cote de Texas.

Another great white bathroom gets the pattern treatment. 

SHOWER SHOPPING!

Above:  Beautiful chinoiserie examples: Avian shower curtain, from Anthropologie.

 Blue and white pagodas from West Lake at Inmod.

Below:  Patterns, Paisleys, and Monograms. Clockwise:  Green and white patterned Kew shower curtain, at Inmod. Paisley Pop shower curtain from PB Teen. Monogramed Catalina shower curtain, 

Ballard Designs.

Images:  Products, as attributed. Rooms:  Domino monogram, Kate Spade room at Habitually Chic, Orange bathroom, Pink bathroom, Black and white paisley bathroom.

EMERSONMADE ME HAPPY

One of my favorite little companies that could, Emersonmade, makes charming fabric florals - brooches, hair accessories, bridal bouquets, boutonnières, and shoe clips. I adore wearing floral brooches, and their packaging is so much fun. I couldn't resist taking a few snaps when I opened a box of small flower pins in February (meant to share this earlier. Ooops).

More from Emersonmade....

What about you? Do you like to wear flower brooches, or are jewelry ones your thing?

Credits:  final five photos, Emersonmade.

EASTER PARADE

"You'll be the grandest lady in the Easter Parade.

I'll be all in clover and when they look you over,

I'll be the proudest fellow in the Easter Parade.

On the avenue, fifth avenue, the photographers will snap us,

And you'll find that you're in the rotogravure.

Oh, I could write a sonnet about your Easter bonnet,

And of the girl I'm taking to the Easter Parade."

-Irving Berlin

Wishing you a joyous, blessed Easter Sunday! 

"He is not here: for He is risen, as He said." Matthew 28:6

  Mario Sernio Photography

I WANT TO BE MEG BRAFF

Remember when you were a child in school, and your teacher told you that you were as unique as a snowflake, that you were wonderful, that you should never want to change? It was all a lie. Because I want to be Interior Designer Meg Braff.

Let's get down to brass tacts. I've never met Meg (we'll just go ahead and get on a first name basis). I wouldn't recognize her on the street. But when I saw her color-saturated, pattern-intense chinoiserie-inspired rooms in House Beautiful, I was a goner, hook-line-and-sinker. I fell in love with those rooms the way anyone does who has struggled to perfect an ideal - and suddenly sees that ideal before them. To employ pattern, yet not be too busy; to use color, but not be too bright, to be tasteful, yet never pretentious. And to use copious amounts of chinoiserie, yet not look like one of those hapless Eastern market mall stores, with dusty fountains and moon stones for sale. In short, to look like this:  cheering, soothing, simple, and above all, harmonious. It's a beautiful thing.

East Hampton, New York

Clarke Avenue, Palm Beach

Newport, Rhode Island

Ritz Tower, New York

Newport, Rhode Island

Newport, Rhode Island

Images, megbraff.com.