Carven Online

Carven is available online and now at NET-A-PORTER.

Sunday

It’s grey and cool so I’m attempting to declutter my desk. I now have two work spaces, having recently taken over the front guest bedroom. One office for kic and one for reading, garden planning, i.e. non-kic endeavors. However, it’s never a clean line between the two. This new space is the first domino. Converting the barn to accommodate guests, and finally wallpapering the dining room have been put to the fore. I got a bit overwhelmed when we took on this house, and I’m now ready to finish it. As we are looking for an apartment in Paris, I need this house to be done — I am not one for never-ending projects and redecorating.

Hence, I am going through pictures the girls made for me over the years, polaroids of models I cast from the ’90s — mid-aughts, family photos, thank you notes from Irving Penn, Helmut Lang and so many incredible people I worked with, and endless amounts of personal ephemera. It all invokes powerful memories of beloved people, places, and times. My mother-in-law just sent me her grandmother’s Verdura Curb-Link bracelet from the 1940s. The fact that it was worn by three generations of women in my husband’s family before it came to me is extraordinarily powerful. Jewelry designer Brooke Garber Neidich talks about the profound effect jewelry, especially heirlooms, can have on the wearer. The beauty is that I can wear and enjoy the bracelet every day, unlike the piles of stuff I am sifting through.

Wishing everyone a relaxing Sunday, xp

Bits & Bobs

An Agnes Baddoo Market Tote tops my Mother’s Day gift list. Sadly, my girls rarely read kic so I’ll have to drop a hint some other way. The Dries Van Noten denim skirt with belt loops and a pleat ticks all the boxes.  A friend forwarded me The English Room with a post on gorgeous Lulie Wallace small quilts — another Mother’s Day item. New books from two of my favorite authors are out/soon to be out — Christopher Tilghman’s On The Tobacco Coast and Claire Messud’s This Strange Eventful History. After years of passively looking for a small black pouch, I picked up this one by The Row — it’s perfect.

Cashmere Care

A few weeks ago I posted on a Barrie cashmere cardigan and was asked about how to care for it. Paula very kindly spoke with a number of cashmere experts and here’s what they said:

The softer the cashmere (Baby, Vicuna), the more pilling will occur. Pilling is a completely natural part of the fiber, it’s part of wearing the softest natural fiber made.
It’s practically impossible to avoid pilling.  Over time, cashmere pills less and less.
Pilling comes from the fibers drying out and abrasion.  
They recommend hand washing often, using Loro Piana cashmere laundry product, which contains olive oil, to keep the cashmere moisturized.  Dry flat.  
Dry cleaning is not recommended.  
The cashmere sweater is not ruined if it pills, it can be cared for and restored to almost brand new.
All agree a simple pilling comb with a sharp razor blade on end is the correct tool to remove pilling.  The combs are basic and sell for as low as $4.00 on Amazon.
Manual combs are recommended over automatic.
Never store sweaters in plastic. I have placed a couple of orders with The Butler’s Closet and am very happy with everything!

Thank you, Paula!

A New Bag

I took two bags to Paris for three weeks and wore the brown Gucci 1955 Horsebit the entire time. The Saint Laurent Hobo is the perfect size, however burgundy is not my color. This Louis Vuitton Low Key Hobo MM caught my eye –  love the hardware, but it’s larger than I’d like. The hunt is on.

Finding the Current Within

My dear friend, the former fashion PR executive Ashley Wick, developed a coaching business supporting creative women entrepreneurs. Launching leaders and building conscious cultures is her passion. Ashley has partnered with the original culinary adventuress, Peggy Markel, on a trip Sailing and Savoring the Pontine Islands Program: Finding The Current Within, June 30-July 6. The duo will take a group through the Pontine and Phlegraean islands off the Italian coast of Napoli for 6-days, on a private 68-foot sailing Ketch while sampling the local luxuries of each port city, including Procida, Ischia, Ventotene, Ponza, and Palmarola. The guests will learn to make simple, fresh dishes from specialized agricultural traditions and reset on the water while working with a transformational coach to find their current within. I will be with my family on Martha’s Vineyard that week, otherwise I would join this adventure in a heartbeat.

Crimson Cashmere

This morning I went to Crimson, Linda Wright‘s fantastic shop in the 8th arrondissement, for a blue shirt and left with a cashmere sweater that perfectly matches (no surprise) a shirt I bought from her last fall. Linda’s eye for color and updated classic designs is unparalleled.

Phoebe Philo Line Coming To Bergdorf Goodman

A Phoebe Philo pop-up is opening in Bergdorf Goodman on April 11. Will be nice to see the collection IRL and try things on. Available in-store, only.

Barrie

I didn’t realize what was missing in my wardrobe until I bought this Barrie cashmere and cotton velvet-effect cardigan. I love its heft, which makes it a jacket of sorts. Barrie is one of the oldest cashmere knitting manufacturers in Scotland and joined Chanel’s Métiers d’Art in 2012. The quality is sublime, and this cardigan is from the Barrie + Sofia Coppola collaboration so it’s cool, too. I will wear it with jeans, over a slip dress tonight at a dinner, with anything, really — it’s a  forever item.

Robert Ryman Inspired

My younger daughter was here for Easter weekend and we saw Paris 1874 Inventing Impressionism at the Musée d’Orsay. It’s an impressive exhibition, despite the crowded galleries, and will be at the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. from September 8, 2024 to January 20, 2025.  Robert Ryman: The Act of Looking at the d’Orsay’s sister museum, Musée de L’Orangerie, is first-rate. Robert Ryman is one of my favorite artists and this exhibition was top of my Paris to-do list. It, also, inspired this Toteme dress (here, too) and Neous sandals combo.