Town & Country features the latest in luxury, from beautiful homes, sumptuous dining to exotic locations. In 11 gorgeous annual issues, Town & Country covers the arts, fashion and culture, bringing the best of everything to America's trendsetters
1996 THE BRANDOLINIS IN VENICE When Diane von Furstenberg invited T&C into her new home on the Grand Canal for this month’s cover story (see page 82), we got déjà vu. It wasn’t our first time in that palazzo—in 1996 we visited Countess Marie Brandolini d’Adda, who had moved into the upper-floor apartments when she married Brandino Brandolini, scion of the noble clan that has called this splendid palazzo home since the 15th century. “People say I was predestined to live in Venice, because of my Venetian red hair,” Marie told T&C. “That exasperates me.” In fact, Marie, a French-born Rothschild, had come to La Serenissima for amore, and by the time of our visit she had carved out her own niche, channeling a longtime fascination with Murano glassware into…
The first time I saw a Laguna B glass it was in Town & Country. I was working at another magazine, and I read the story in the February 1996 issue on Countess Marie Brandolini d’Adda. (Marlo Thomas was on the cover.) So I knew about Laguna B, and the woman behind it, when I started spotting the glasses on desks in corner offces at 350 Madison, holding chilled water or more often filled with red pencils (we still used those then). I was lucky enough to meet Marie a few years after that, when I visited jeweler Antonia Miletto in Venice. We stopped at the Laguna B studio and ate cicchetti by the Grand Canal. I can’t recall if her son Marcantonio was with us, but he is in…
WHERE ARE WE GOING? How do you translate a period drama into wordless movement? Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet will show us when it stages the U.S. premiere of Atonement, a dance adaptation of the Ian McEwan novel–turned–Oscar-winning film, at the Lyric Opera House. The subject matter is heavy, so afterward head to Gene & Georgetti’s, where a steak and a martini will help foster deep contemplation. OCTOBER 17–27, JOFFREY.ORG WHAT ARE WE WEARING? As history proves time and again, atonement is best delivered with a side of diamonds—especially when they come in a certain blue box. Look closely here and you’ll see that this Tiffany Eternity watch has a different cut of diamond (Asscher, emerald, heart, pear, marquise, etc.) to mark each hour. Even the crown is a mini version of…
On the night of November 5, some-where between 40 and 50 percent of you will begin a period in which your preferred president is out of a job. If you’re in that club, congratulations: It eventually includes everyone. The etiquette of living in dissent there-after, especially if it goes on for a long time, is another matter. In theory, we are supposed to learn how to be good losers as kids. Athletic leagues give out sportsmanship awards, and institutions like the Scouts try to coach their members toward grace in defeat. Both aim to teach us how to live on the outs, perhaps drawing upon the British public school attitude of let’s-all-pull-together-for-the--empire. (The out-of-power party in the UK is even known as“His Majesty’s Most Loyal Opposition.”) In the American ideal,…
With his all-American good looks, David Ellison could have been an actor. He did try for a while, dropping out of USC in the early aughts to make it in Hollywood. An onscreen career never took off, but he did ultimately make it big in this town—as a producer. Since founding Skydance Media in 2010, Ellison has put his stamp on series like Grace and Frankie and blockbuster movies like Top Gun: Maverick and the Mission: Impossible franchise. By 2021 his star was so ascendant—and his company so valuable—that a New York Times profile predicted, “Skydance could quickly become an acquisition target.” Turns out Ellison had greater ambitions. In July Skydance launched an $8 billion bid to take over Paramount. If the deal is finalized, it will effectively end the…
Back in April, at Coachella, an up-and-coming musician dressed in a glimmering red fairy costume cooed to the crowd, “My name is Chappell Roan. I’m your favorite artist’s favorite artist. And I’m your dream girl’s dream girl.” Like some mystical invocation, that phrase boomeranged around social media and kickstarted the ascent of a new musical phenomenon. Chappell Roan is the alter ego of Kayleigh Rose Am-stutz, a 26-year-old singer-songwriter raised in rural Missouri, a fact she alludes to in the title of her 2023 debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, a sleeper hit produced with the help of pop svengali Dan Nigro. Since then Roan has appeared on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series, The Tonight Show, and at Gov Ball (dressed as Lady Liberty), Bonnaroo,…
