never stop to think...do i have a place for this?

"They thought
that hereafter they would be Thing-Finders every
single day." Pippi Longstocking

It is not always easy, in a world full of minimalists, to declare oneself a Thing-Finder. After all: in the finding there is sometimes keeping. The keeping is part of the joy. And the keeping hasn't much to do with quenching the thirst to minimize. 

There's a new book about keeping, and it's written by someone who knows, better than just about anyone, how to find a place- an inspiring and perfectly imperfect place- for the things that we love. 

Mary Randolph Carter may be the patron saint of Thing-Finders. Reading her books makes me feel like the world is exactly as it ought to be. Here is a place for those of us who know the thing we are set to find, the very thing we need, is right around the corner. (And, conversely, know that all that truly matters is never a thing, but love- a heart that beats for it, a home- and the life we choose to create with care and generosity.) 

Never Stop To Think...Do I Have A Place For This?

Mary Randolph Carter

top photo: Mary Randolph Carter

(but perhaps a tray of madeleines would be fine)

i thought about naming this

post temps perdu, but that

would be sort of. well. to be

honest, it would be silly (since

i've never actually read mr.

proust's great work and what

do i know?). the reality is that

i'm trying to clean off my

desktop some, and these are bits

i've saved. the procrastination

one is from merlin mann. i think

he's right on this. the sheer &

haunting chandelier is from

tim denike; it's a snapshot of

an rrl room. the party-goers

are from room 26. the chair

is a gould (lord knows i've

raided their coffers lately;

thank you gould auctions,

i love you). and the real

thought behind this is that

times change. our little house

used to be stuffed to the gills

on the holidays, and now it is

not so much. and where i once

prayed for an hour to catch my

breath, i now have ample time

to marvel at the future. and it

is good. but it will be better, i

think, to marvel less & remember

who we are more. here's to a

busy, happy 2011. may you well

remember who you are and what

a great gift it is. i am thankful,

today, for where we have been

and where we are going. and i

wish all of you godspeed.

yep

Ralph Rides Again (via Mrs. B.)

Mrs. Blandings always finds such great goods:

the latest, with an assist from Kansas City's Stuff.

See here. Above, a treasure from the vault.

have a cookie, dear

The Selvedge Yard and A Restless Transplant

collaborated with Ralph luminaries on a 

marvelous article over at h(y)r.  Excellent.

ivy

Another brilliant pictorial

(this one, a tribute to an HTJ post) 

from JP of

The Selvedge Yard.

JP's knowledge is encyclopedic; his is one 

of the most fascinating blogs you'll find. 

He's an alum. of 

Barneys, 

Ralph Lauren, 

Hart Shaffner Marx &

Lilly Pulitzer.

[simply amazing stuff]

Here, The Selvedge Yard on

Levi's, Tokyo|Style, 

the new Lilly Pulitzer,

Grey Gardens (and it's 

just the beginning)...

out to sea

Jeremy. And Ralph. At Home.

selvedge yard: good eye. 

Books. Sofa. Streep. Lauren. Canonero. Poiret.

A quick minute to think about the intersection and origination of fashion + interior design: clothing lines + home lines. Musing thusly, of course, leads anyone smack into Karen Blixen's house and onto Ralph's brilliance...via, of course, the incandescent Meryl Streep, clothed - thanks to the genius of Milena Canonero - in one of the greatest cinematic wardrobes we'll see in our lifetimes. Hats off to Paul Poiret, who (see below) started it all (and to the fact that I finally ended that last sentence...it's been a long day).

"With all of Poiret’s accomplishments, the greatest obstacle he faced may simply have been his timing. For if Poiret’s debut marked the opening of an era, the curtain call for his encore would not come again until the near close of the twentieth century. And, then almost as if taking their cues directly from the King of Fashion himself, contemporary fashion designers emerged as total arbiters of taste. Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Giorgio Armani, and the late Gianni Versace were among some of the first to expand their clothing lines to encompass home lines."

Laura Layfer, Antiques and Fine Art

'Paul Poiret: Furnishing the Fashion Industry'

Poiret Room: Domino Magazine

Ralph Lauren Sofa: Apartment Therapy

Meryl Streep: 'Out of Africa,' Milena Canonero

For You, Dad

Over hill, over dale
We have hit the dusty trail,
And the Caissons go rolling along.
In and out, hear them shout,
Counter march and right about,
And the Caissons go rolling along...

photo credit:

A Continuous Lean

is one of those perfectly amazing blogs; here, a

couple of West Point cadets from the Class of '38

learn a thing or two about Field Artillery.

About Our New Profile Photo

The incredibly talented Miss M. Logsdon, above, is our new profile girl...the photo above was taken last spring during a shoot for a book which we have been working on for some time. Miss M. is a gifted actress and we thank her for providing us with endless amounts of inspiration. The shoot was styled and conceived by our design team, and taken by the marvelous Margot Hartford (whose website can be found here). We thought this light-hearted image would be just right while we prepare to roll out a new design start-up (we're also decking lots of halls for the upcoming holidays whilst we watch, warily, the economic news). Here at Victoria Thorne Design, hope doth spring eternal. 

Thank Goodness.

Miss M. is reading the delicious How to Dress for Every Occasion..., which is cheered on here by Daniel Handler and Lisa Brown. Her plaids are from The Scotch House of London and Mr. Lauren of NYC. The vintage cable sweater is from the collection of Miss Vivian Catherine Thorne, and the jeans are the model's own. 

The exquisite antique silk child's chair is from The House on Laurie Avenue.

Ralph Lauren at the Olympics: It Doesn't Get More Gatsby Than This

Watching the Closing Ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. Goodness.

Ralph: Nice Job.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, for better or for worse, captured the spirit of a new America...Ralph has perfectly defined the sportswear.

Jay Gatsby is somewhere, smiling broadly, wishing he could've stayed around long enough to suit up in these whites.

Looking at the athletes as they walk past the camera, you can smell the Sands Point lawn, and feel an Indian Summer breeze, almost, floating sweetly off the Atlantic...

Southampton shells courtesy of Kirk. Many Thanks.