Monthly Archives: December 2024

…………………Last night I had dinner with Robyn Cosio, one of my oldest and DEAREST friends……We have been friends since the mid 70’s….Robyn used to do the makeup on the models for my Anne Klein shows. She moved back to California, her home state, but Robyn to me is a New Yorker from the top of her head to the tip of her toes. She married a brilliant Hollywood makeup artist named Armando Cosio. They both came to NY to do my shows, and the models grew to trust them and love them! They did beautiful work!….The four of us….Robyn, Armando , Jac and I were besties……Tragically, Armando passed many years ago at a young age……Robyn has always stayed in the business doing makeup for private clients, but she moved on to become an “EYEBROW EXPERT”, for years now she has worked in different salons and has a long client list of women who’s eyebrows Robyn does her magic to…..As Robyn says…”the eyebrow is very important….it frames the face”…..She even wrote a book on the eyebrow through the ages….It’s simply called….”THE BROW”…….Robyn doesn’t only do her magic in LA….she also works out of a salon in NYC, which is located in the Sherry Netherland Hotel…..We always try to have dinner when she’s in town for one of her short visits…so last night we met at the Harry Cipriani Restaurant on 5th Ave between 59Th street and 60th street. It is also connected to the Sherry Netherland Hotel…….Years and years ago I used to frequent “Harry’s” quite often. They are most famous for their restaurant in Venice, Italy. I believe it opened in the 30’s and had a list of famous clients that any restaurant would lust for…..from Hemingway to Churchill, and every movie star that ever went to Venice!…..anyone who was anyone went to Harry’s Bar for a Bellini, where the drink was created!…..I have to say I was very impressed! I haven’t been there in years, but it looked like, with the size of the crowd, and clients of ALL ages….from the established to the younger edgier generation….the place hasn’t skipped a beat! I have never scene so many waiters, in their spotless white DB Jackets, in one restaurant….There had to be at least 20 of them plus the major duomo! Tall, dark and handsome….controlling the room!….I started with a beet, string bean and goat cheese salad, and Robyn had the puree leek and potato soup…Then I had the ravioli with spinach and ricotta with butter and sage, and Robyn had penne Bolognese….It was all delicious…..Afterwards Robyn had to use the ladies room, which was off the lobby of the hotel, so I sat in a chair and watched the parade of people!….I had totally forgotten that “DOUBLES” a private club was also in the Sherry Netherlands Hotel….The “private” door to the club is right next to the door of Harry Cipriani, so I sat watching people going in and out. I was really surprised at how many YOUNG couples were going down stairs to the club and leaving through the same door…..It’s a very expensive exclusive club to join!…..Years ago, Jac and myself, Andrea Pfister and his partner Jean Pierre Dupre, and friends of Andrea’s, who were members of the club, we all went there for NEW YEARS EVE…..that must have been 20 years ago!……Just sitting there in the lobby of the Sherry Netherlands Hotel brought back so many wonderful memories of that New Years Eve………..Then Robyn and I bundled up and headed down to see the tree on 50th street….at Rockefeller Center!!!

…………..On our way down to see the Tree at Rockefeller Center…..we stopped to see the windows at Bergdorf Goodman….Both Robyn and I agreed…we thought they were pretty fabulous. The evening clothes chosen, and the setting that were created were all beautiful with an edge!…………..Then to the tree!!

……………….Even though it took me….TWO HOURS….to drive into NYC which I rarely do anymore…..IMUST ADMIT…….there is absolutely NOTHING like NYC at Christmas time!!!!…..Every store is resplendent in their Christmas finery! The LV store looked like pieces of LV Luggage piled one on top of the other….It was incredible. It’s supposed to have a wonderful LIGHT SHOW on the building, but it ends at 10PM and we were too late….It was FREEZING COLD, but thankfully no wind so it was bearable……..The TREE in Rockefeller CENTER is fabulous with the skaters below!……It was the perfect end to the evening!!

………………….Years ago, when I added this room onto the house….the architect who I worked with named it……..”THE GATHERING ROOM”……instead of the “Family Room”…….I really wasn’t familiar with that term and asked him why he labeled all the architectural drawings “Gathering Room”….he answered….”because this will become the nucleus of the house where you and your family and friends “will gather”…..It made perfect sense to me, and his prophecy came true. It is the room where I do all of my entertaining…..It’s wonderful in the summer with the big windows open to the sea breezes, and it’s cozy in the winter with the large fireplace burning……The top left photo was taken in the Green Library, looking through the Living Room into the Gathering Room…..The architect said he liked the perspective of looking through one room into the other into the other……he said it was very typical of English, French…..European grand homes…….The other photos are just different views of the room…..The two at the extreme right were taken in front of the fireplace looking across the room….You can see the entrance from the living room, and the pocket door at the right, to the sun porch…..In the bottom middle photo you can see the other entrances into the room….two from the dining room and one from the living room….There are two couches and two large club chairs all upholstered in a celadon green wool/cotton chenille fabric with matching throw pillows….The walls of the room are in a very pale shade of celadon, and all the wood moldings are a dark walnut…….In the center of the room, in front of the couches, is a huge glass top table that sits atop a French window guard made of iron in a scroll design…….Behind the couch, and against the wall, under the John Carroll Doyle painting of the Egret…are two long Chinese tables….one is an alter table and the other is a scroll table….On the table behind the couch are two very large Chinese jars, that Jac found, asked to be converted into lamps. Each of the four sides depicts a different scene, and with their celadon shades they work perfectly in the room…A great find!….The one other piece of large furniture is a round dining table that can seat 6……It’s at the end of the two Chinese tables in front of the pocket door. There are four Chinese dining chairs around it with tapestry loose cushions…..There is a silver tray table between the two armchairs, and usually two end tables on either side of one of the couches made from very sturdy Chinese woven baskets, but one has been moved to make room for the TREE!!…..Book cases were very important to me so I had them built where ever it made sense…..In the top center picture, and the one below it, you see a bookcase next to the fireplace. Below the books is the TV hidden with folding doors…….Before I built the room I always told Jac I wanted a big room facing the water with great views….a huge fireplace and a TV……Jac said….”if you sell your apartment in the city you can build the room”…….I didn’t have to think twice. At this point I was renting the apartment…..The only things remaining from my bachelor apartment are my African sculptures in the room and the scull with horns on the wall!…everything else was built in……so I sold it and built my room…….our room!………..What I love about this room is….it looks like it was always here.

………………..Jac was very prolific and very proficient at needle pointing…..The way she could whiz through a pillow amazed me….rarely making a counting mistake……All of the pillows in the photos are on a window seat in our bedroom over looking the water…..She also made the carpet that sits in front of the window seat……The fabric on the window seat was from ETRO.