Tag Archives: Flammarion

BOOK REVIEW: MAISON: Parisian Chic at Home

 MAISON:  Parisian Chic at Home

By Ines de la Fressange & Marin Montagut

Photography by Claire Cocano

Published by Flammarion

£30

ISBN 978-2-08-020367-0

MaisonParisianChicatHome_cover

 

It’s always good to change one’s own point of view and this book has had that effect on me. While I always look at books such as this I rarely want to have a copy but the authors of this book have achieved this desire through the text, photographs and delightful watercolours.

The authors Ines de la Fressange and Marin Montagut introduce us to a total of fifteen apartments, including their own.  They are places which draw the reader in and stimulate the eye and mind. The mixture of old and new, practical and frivolous remind us that our homes should be ever evolving, living entities that reflect our lives and interests. The “Get the Look” pages are very useful.

This is one to keep!

 

editions.flammarion.com

BOOK REVIEW: Brigitte Bardot: My Life in Fashion

I have asked John Kirkwood to review this book:

Brigitte Bardot: My Life in Fashion  

Henry-Jean Servat, Brigitte Bardot

Publisher: Flammarion
ISBN: 978-2080202697
£29.95

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It may seem slightly odd to bring out a book about fashions worn by an actress who was well known for wearing no clothes at all on screen.

 

Bardot says that le style Bardot is her style which is to say that there is no style at all as she wears what she feels like at the moment. However, it was impossible in the late fifties and early sixties not to see girls who were clearly influenced by her on almost every high street. The gingham dress or Breton sweaters and jeans crowned by the disarranged ‘choucroute’ hairstyle piled on top.

Bardot never really followed fashion, she was a complete individualist and in so being created a look which became her style. For some of her films she was dressed by Givenchy, Dior, Chanel, Balmain and Cardin but in her private life wore designs by the House of Real and Jacques Esterel who made the famous pink gingham dress which was copied everywhere. In the seventies she was very enamoured of the gypsy cum hippie look of Jean Bouquin.  At one time she went to Coco Chanel because she so admired the Chanel dress worn by Delphine Seyrig in Last Year In Marienbad and wanted one like it. In one of her best roles in La Verité she wore clothes which she herself had bought from Monoprix, the French version of Woolworths and in other films would quite often wear clothes from her own wardrobe.

As a long term practioner of ‘Bardolatry’ I found this to be a very well-constructed book which takes us through the evolution of Bardot’s non-style with many wonderful images which still remain fresh today.

Now in her eighties and devoted to her Foundation which benefits animals Bardot when asked about her style today says ‘I don’t dress up anymore!’

 

http://editions.flammarion.com/

BOOK REVIEW: Empire Style

Empire Style: The Hôtel de Beauharnais in Paris

Written by Jörg Ebeling and Ulrich Leben, Photographed by Francis Hammond

 Flammarion
ISBN: 978-2-08-020272-7
£95

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It does not come as a surprise to me that over ten years research has been undertaken to bring about this splendid monograph on the Hôtel de Beauharnais.

Built in 1713-15 by the architect Germain Boffrand it was when Josephine Bonaparte bought it for her son Eugène de Beauharnais that the real story of this “hotel particulier” begins. He had the building decorated and renovated at great cost and the results preserved to this day are the remarkable Consulate and Empire interiors which make it such a jewel among Parisian interiors. The costs were so high that his step-father the Emperor Napoleon was angry and took over the use of the building as a place for important visitors.

The wall facing the windows in the Four Seasons Drawing Room boasts unique furnishings of draped mirrors above a sofa flanked by chairs and armchairs. © Francis Hammond, from Empire Style: The Hôtel de Beauharnais in Paris (Flammarion, 2016).

The wall facing the windows in the Four Seasons Drawing Room boasts unique furnishings of draped mirrors above a sofa flanked by chairs and armchairs.
© Francis Hammond, from Empire Style: The Hôtel de Beauharnais in Paris (Flammarion, 2016).

Following Napoleon’s fall the building was bought by the King of Prussia and the building became the Prussian Legation and eventually the German embassy and today it serves as the Ambassador’s residence.

While the history of this building is of great interest and expertly recalled it is the interiors and furnishings that make this such a special book.  As well as a detailed tour of the main rooms there are special essays looking at the decorative paintings, Empire furniture, fabrics and trimmings and at the ideals behind the Empire Style.

The ceremonial bed in the Hôtel de Beauharnais, dated 1804–05, is probably the only one of its kind still in situ. According to legend, the hole in the mirror in the back was made by a stray bullet fired during the uprising of the Commune in 1871. © Francis Hammond, from Empire Style: The Hôtel de Beauharnais in Paris (Flammarion, 2016).

The ceremonial bed in the Hôtel de Beauharnais, dated 1804–05, is probably the only one of its kind still in situ. According to legend, the hole in the mirror in the back was made by a stray bullet fired during the uprising of the Commune in 1871.
© Francis Hammond, from Empire Style: The Hôtel de Beauharnais in Paris (Flammarion, 2016).

This beautifully illustrated book is a great celebration of a historic building and its spectacular interiors. A must for all interested in history and interior decoration.

 

http://editions.flammarion.com/

BOOK REVIEW: Beautiful People of the Café Society

Beautiful People of the Café Society

Scrapbooks by the Baron de Cabrol

Written by Baron de Cabrol, Text by Thierry Coudert

Publisher: Flammarion
ISBN: 978-2-08-020271-0
£75

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The Baron de Cabrol’s legendary scrapbooks take us into an exciting era of glamour and style combined with extravagance and decadence.  It is the world of cosmopolitan café society from 1938 to the 60s amusingly brought to life by through collages, watercolours and archival documents, Daisy and Fred de Cabrol were one of the leading society couples of their era and knew everybody worth knowing.

Bal de Têtes” at the Cabrols, March 25, 1949. © Fred de Cabrol, from Beautiful People of the Café Society (Flammarion, 2016)

Bal de Têtes” at the Cabrols, March 25, 1949.
© Fred de Cabrol, from Beautiful People of the Café Society (Flammarion, 2016)

In this riveting social history we encounter the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Arturo Lopez-Willshaw and his wife Patricia, Pamela Harriman, Charles de Beistegui, Cecil Beaton, Diana and Duff Cooper, Mona Bismarck and many, many others. This is a wonderful trip into a vanished world – those were the days!

Bobsy Carvalho’s Venetian ball, given in 1948 at the Deligny swimming pool. To the left is Daisy de Cabrol, to the right, Fred de Cabrol and the Baroness de l’Espée, and in the center, Bobsy Carvalho. © Fred de Cabrol, from Beautiful People of the Café Society (Flammarion, 2016).

Bobsy Carvalho’s Venetian ball, given in 1948 at the Deligny swimming pool. To the left is Daisy de Cabrol, to the right, Fred de Cabrol and the Baroness de l’Espée, and in the center, Bobsy Carvalho.
© Fred de Cabrol, from Beautiful People of the Café Society (Flammarion, 2016).

http://editions.flammarion.com/