Innehållsförteckning för September 2021 från Town & Country

1962 THE NEW WEST SIDE STORY In Town & Country’s Christmas 1962 issue we reported on the massive urban transformation taking place in Manhattan between 42nd Street and Morningside Heights, referring to this moment as the new West Side Story: “Its choreographers are real estate agents… Its music is the raucous cacophony of uninhibited riveters…” The cover image, shot by Charles Rotkin, features illustrations by Ludwig Bemelmans. This month New York City will welcome a new era of excitement once again, much of it swirling around the city’s beating heart: Broadway. After 18 months of darkness, theaters will reopen at full capacity, and we’re celebrating their return with our cover star, Rachel Zegler, who plays Maria Vasquez in Steven Spielberg’s upcoming film adaptation of the legendary 1957 musical West Side…

Besides the live jazz and Art Deco interiors, one of the biggest selling points of Casa Cipriani, a private members club opening this month at the southern tip of Manhattan, is that nearly every window provides views of the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, or the East River. The Staten Island Ferry hasn’t had such a star turn since the opening scene of Working Girl. The Cipriani family—which runs Harry’s Bar in Venice, among other international see-and-be-seen boîtes—has gone all out for the landmark 1909 Beaux-Arts Battery Maritime Building, including embossing a shuffleboard court on the floor that will likely never be used to play shuffleboard. Casa Cipriani, which requires an application approved by a membership committee and annual dues that start at $2,300, is just one of a…

When Charaf Tajer was a kid growing up in Paris, he and his friends would collect items from legacy French brands—Hermès, Cartier, Lacoste—and wear them to project their visions of themselves. “We used to say we were doctors going to play tennis on a Sunday,” Tajer says, on the phone from his office in London. “Those brands were mental windows to another world—a world that we didn’t at the moment necessarily have access to.” Fake it ’til you make it, if you will. Tajer doesn’t have to fake it anymore. The 36-year-old turned his talent for full-picture dreamworlds into his full-time job, first as a nightlife maestro (he founded the buzzy Paris club Le Pompon) and then as the creative director behind the fast-growing brand Casablanca, which last year earned…

When a friend approached Nadine Ghosn to create a five-carat diamond ring for his wife, the jewelry designer explained that she doesn’t work with solitaire stones. Instead she went with her own interpretation of the request: a ring of five carrots—yes, the vegetable—set with orange sapphires and pavé diamonds. How did the friend’s wife react to the gift? “She loved it, because it was harboring their inside joke,” Ghosn says. Such is the tongue-in-cheek sensibility that has enabled Ghosn to conjure a series of unexpected pieces—from produce to hamburgers, sushi, and pencils forged in precious metals and gemstones. The pandemic, especially, turned out to be a ripe time for Ghosn’s business. Just as clients were craving talismans of optimism and joy, she launched a Lego-inspired collection with agates carved in…

Designer Spotlight Corey Damen Jenkins @coreydamenjenkins The nationally acclaimed designer shares how to make the most of your bedroom. What are the elements of a perfect sleep sanctuary? The proper color palette is essential. It’s important to know whether visual movement inhibits you from calming down. If so, stick to the monochromatic and avoid pattern play on pillows, wall coverings, and rugs. Tips for finding the best bedding? I help my clients create their dream beds through a series of discussions, and ultimately, it comes down to taste and budget. Choose brands committed to quality and timeless design, and you’ll never go wrong. What are some easy ways to refresh a bedroom? For a quick update, switch out the table lamps on your nightstands, or hang a fantastic mural or…

Forty miles north of the Hollywood sign and a world away from the palm-adorned L.A. of juice bars and luxury shops, a group of people in sunglasses and brimmed hats, their dogs at their sides, have gathered in a dusty desert pasture of a place called Drummond Ranch to watch a puppy try to herd a flock of three sheep. Like me, they’ve driven from various parts of Southern California to give their animals a chance at connecting—reconnecting—with their herding instinct, an inner aptitude dogs do not tap into while wafting around urban dog parks, lounging at outdoor bars, or, as my dog once did, trying to herd my rollerblades when I went skating. The puppy in the spotlight, Kota, belongs to a couple wearing vintage overalls and Birkenstocks who…

On July 6, after more than a year of dreaming about it, and after hundreds of walks past the Delacorte Theater dreaming of its return, and after weeks of heightened anticipation, I stood in line with my niece to see Shakespeare in the Park. It got rained out. A wise man explained what it meant: We are all going to come back from this; it just may not go as smoothly as we would like. But that doesn’t mean we’re not going to get there soon. As I write this, I have just returned from the joyous and triumphant production of Merry Wives (which runs through September 18). There was no rain this time—in fact, it was one of the prettiest nights we had this summer. And so, now on…

THE CONSCIENCE OF BROADWAY / DEEPTH ROAT’S REVENGE / DRINKING FOR VEGANS It’s safe to say that once again une star est née. From Sarah Bernhardt to Brigitte Bardot to Léa Seydoux, French actresses have long found that a certain continental countenance can pave the way to a formidable career on American stages and screens. Thanks to Stillwater, a dramatic thriller in theaters now, it’s happening again. Camille Cottin, the 42-year-old Paris-born actress, established herself in France with the 2013 TV comedy Connasse, but it was last year, when the razor-sharp series Call My Agent! began streaming on Netflix, that Cottin (who played Andréa Martel, a glamorous, ruthless rep for France’s A-list actors) received international attention. In the coming months she’ll appear in House of Gucci, opposite Lady Gaga and…

I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that chef Daniel Humm’s recent announcement that Eleven Madison Park was going meatless sent shock waves through the culinary world. The Manhattan restaurant, which has three Michelin stars, was renowned for its honey lavender duck and its butter-poached lobster. Surprising as the change in direction is, it serves as a ratification of a powerful trend toward plant-based dining—a trend that poses new challenges and opportunities for wine lovers. Show me a steak, or a roast chicken, and I will show you hundreds of appropriate wine pairings. There are centuries of tradition to guide these choices—oysters and Chablis, lamb and red Bordeaux, caviar and Champagne. A salad, on the other hand, presents a dilemma. “One of the hardships—which is also an opportunity—is that…

THAT MEDICI SCENT / DO WE SMELL REVENGE? / HANDS - OFF BEAUTY If you were to guess the most precious flower in a perfumer’s palette, you might say a rare rose, an obscure jungle gardenia, or perhaps a finicky, fast-blooming jasmine. In fact, it is Iris pallida, a magnificent, proud flower with a head like a lavender flame, or an exotic bird with a frilly pompadour. And the funny thing is, it has no scent. Though some iris species (there are nearly 300) offer up a spectrum of whiffs ranging from Welch’s grape jelly to candied violets to vanilla-tinged suede, the pallida’s bloom is, from the olfactory perspective, nothing special. The aroma so coveted by perfumers comes strictly from the part of the plant that grows beneath the earth.…

THE HERO’S JOURNEY It takes a high level of self-awareness to hit pause on a successful acting career and go back to drama school, but that’s what Fala Chen did in 2014. Already a major celebrity in Hong Kong, with more than 30 credits under her belt, she auditioned for Juilliard, got in, and returned to America. (Born in Chengdu, the actress moved to Atlanta when she was 14 and then to Hong Kong to launch her career after graduating from Emory.) “I wasn’t feeling challenged,” she says. “I needed to walk away and unlearn and relearn everything.” It would prove a wise decision. Fresh off receiving her MFA in 2018, Chen landed her first American gig, as one of the Upper East Side private school moms in HBO’s The…

VIRGO AUGUST 24–SEPTEMBER 23 It’s time to get started on new plans and projects, but be ready to engage in some tricky negotiations. Saturn in your work angle prompts you to look at all the options with new eyes and to honor your highest principles. Toward the end of the month you’ll begin to see results, but with Mercury changing direction on the 27th, it won’t be until later in October that details will begin to cohere. CHOPARD, CHOPARD.COM/US PISCES FEBRUARY 20–MARCH 20 If someone makes you feel attacked and defensive near the 2nd, speak up and clear the air. The new Moon happens in your relationship angle on the 7th, and it brings change and renewal. You’re feeling uncertain about what you want this month, so give yourself permission to…

House SEAT WHAT’S #VERYTANDC HERE? The history: Starting with his most famous role—King Mongkut of Siam in The King and I, on Broadway and in the film—Yul Brynner cut a majestic figure: handsome and irresistible, with a fascinating (if occasionally apocryphal) backstory. (Born in Russia and raised in China and Paris, Brynner liked to claim he was the son of a Mongolian prince and a gypsy.) The sophistication and commitment to craft that earned him two Tony awards and an Oscar also defined his behind-the-scenes life. “He was a man of great style, and he liked beautifully made things,” says his daughter Victoria Brynner. He treasured comfort backstage, which isn’t surprising given how much time he spent there; Brynner played King Mongkut 4,625 times. And the actor never settled into…

“How I shrieked,” Jessica Mitford once said of reading her eldest sister Nancy’s book The Pursuit of Love. Those shrieks weren’t gleeful. With the novel, Nancy had managed to fictionalize the members of her complicated, calamitous family—with their fascist fervor and Nazi ties—and turn them into charmingly eccentric toffs. During the 1930s and ’40s, the Mitford brood—six sisters and a lone brother, Tom—were constant headline fodder. Nearly a century later, not much has changed: Mitford biographies hit best-seller lists; the sisters’ lives are endlessly parsed in articles and documentaries; stories based on them are regularly dramatized. The Pursuit of Love has been, over the years, made into three television series, including a just-released BBC/Amazon show adapted and directed by Emily Mortimer and starring Lily James and Dominic West. Yet the…

CARRYALLS FIT FOR CARDIO / GENZ’S JETSET WARDROBE / WHO ARE YOU WEARING NOW? LET’S TALK Remember travel? Out of reach until recently, wanderlust was the one item the nomadic New York designer Ulla Johnson most wished to scratch off her vision board for a lot of the past year. Instead, she did the next best thing. She designed for fall with the idea of far-flung destinations in mind, the kinds of remote lost cities she grew up visiting with her archaeologist parents. Stamina is needed for that kind of trek, and a drive for discovery, but perhaps just as valuable is a carryall so you can finish the adventure in one piece. “A take-anywhere treasure for journeys both near and far afield. We were dreaming of a future moment…

A CUFF SO GOOD IT HURTS / THE NEW 5-CARROT RING / THE HAMBURGLAR’S SECRET VAULT…

During a session with Evoke, a new bipolar radio frequency treatment designed to address facial skin laxity that is being offered in dermatologist offices and in the salons of select aestheticians such as Joanna Vargas, the patient is set up in a comfortable seated position with the device strapped on and, well, left to her own devices. “I quickly realized this was great for a pandemic, because it’s private and hands-free, so you can sit there and answer emails, read, or listen to music, without a technician hovering over you,” says Bruce Katz, a dermatologist and founder of New York’s Juva Skin & Laser Center. Same goes for Emsculpt Neo, Emtone, and Emsella, devices that harness similar technology to treat the face and body with minimal hands-on contact. “We have…

“Heavens, do you not regret anything you’ve done?” asks Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York. It’s a spring afternoon in England, and Ferguson is perched in a corner of Royal Lodge, the sprawling cottage orné built in 1662 that was once inhabited by King George IV and that she has shared with her ex-husband, Prince Andrew, since 2008. Whether it’s just her tendency, as a self-described “people pleaser,” or perhaps the aftershocks of Andrew’s disastrous 2019 Newsnight interview addressing his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein—a performance that ultimately cost him his role in British public life—Ferguson has left little to chance, choreographing elements of our Zoom interview, relying on off-camera assistants to present a variety of visual aids. “What I thought I’d do,” she says, “is that when you say, ‘Okay,…

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Hollywood finally has a museum dedicated to the industry that put it on the map. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures opens this month at Fairfax and Wilshire. (Look for it above, on the illustration gorgeously drawn by artist Konstantin Kakanias.) My own Hollywood history dates back to 1988, when I arrived to write for a TV variety show. The producers had rented a fancy apartment for the show’s star, and they offered me the maid’s room. The stately brick building on Havenhurst Drive, near Sunset, had been home to Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, and Cary Grant. Grande dame Bette Davis still resided there, and I tried not to gawk at the two-time Oscar winner. Still, we had one memorable interaction, when we both stepped into the elevator at the…