Loretta Caponi Linen

Hand-embroidered linens are a weakness of mine, but in my opinion, it's not a temptation to which I mind succumbing. My lack of restraint has resulted in some great additions to my linen closet including a set of beautiful embroidered floral cocktail napkins from Paris. As far as I see it, it's not a such a bad problem to have.

Recently, I've become intrigued by the linen of Florence, Italy based Loretta Caponi, whose reputation for fine embroidery is known the world over. Along with her daughter, Caponi runs her eponymous linen shop that specializes in hand embroidered table and bed linen, lingerie, and baby clothes. Thank goodness for Caponi and others like her (Leron comes to mind) who are keeping the tradition of hand embroidery alive. It, like so many other crafts, is a dying art.

And because I couldn't resist, I also included a few photos of Caponi's christening gowns and children's dress clothes. If I had a son, I would be mighty tempted to dress him in that Little Lord Fauntleroy outfit- if I knew he wouldn't be traumatized, of course.





































All photos from Loretta Caponi's website.

Gayle Warwick Linen

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend a Gayle Warwick linen trunk show at Gramercy. Gayle's line of table and bed linen is, in two words, simply breathtaking. Made of the finest quality cotton and linen, the line is truly special thanks to the amazing embroidery that decorates the napkins, cloths, and bedding. Gayle's linens are embroidered by craftswomen in Vietnam, a country where needlework has a long and storied tradition. Using both silk and at times metallic thread, the Vietnamese embroiderers are responsible for bringing Gayle's inspired designs to fruition. Needless to say, these linens are so exquisite and so well-made that you'll be passing these down to your children.

Gayle's website is currently under construction, so make sure to check back for photos and updates on her latest collections. In the meantime, if you have any questions about the linen featured here, you can contact Gramercy for more information.

Now, if only I could figure out what I should buy. A difficult decision indeed!












These photos show napkins and mats that are part of a jewel inspired collection.






Two different runners embroidered with fruits and vines. Photos don't really capture the impressive gradation in color of the grapes. Stunning.







Other examples of embroidered borders and motifs.




Beautiful hemstitching that is all done by hand.





Bags, perfect for jewelry and delicates, are embroidered with small, colorful paisley.


All photos by Jennifer Boles for The Peak of Chic

That Rascal-y Radish

Hip and cool is something that I most definitely am not. The things that I like aren't cool, the music that I listen to isn't hip, and the movies that I watch are old, old, old! Anyway, any attempt at being cool would be dashed by my posts on my likes and dislikes. And the like that we'll discuss here today is...radishes.

Quite frankly, I'm not big on the taste of radishes, especially if they're too hot. (Some radishes even taste like dirt. Well, to me at least.) China, linen, and porcelain with radishes on them, on the other hand, never fail to whet my appetite. It's an odd thing to like, I know, and I have no earthly idea why this City Girl would be taken with of all things a root vegetable. Really, who knew that radishes could be so haute cuisine?





Raynaud's Villandry Radish Dessert Plate



Embroidered Radish napkins by OKA Direct.




Look at these vintage Marghab napkins that were sold at auction. Tiny radishes, peas, and carrots were held together by a yellow ribbon.




This is one of my trompe l'oeil pieces. I admit that the radishes and carrots don't look terribly realistic, but the green onions look pretty good.





A Royal Vienna radish plate from around 1760.




Seeing that I can't do this kind of needlework, this placemat kit won't work for me, but I do find it charming.

Image at top: My Porthault hand towels have radishes and other veggies on them.

Color Inspiration

Last week, I attended a luncheon at which Charlotte Moss was the guest speaker. If you've read any of her books, you know that Charlotte finds inspiration in almost everything: travel, architecture, books, flowers, fashion. It was interesting to learn what sparks her imagination and how that spark might manifest itself in a later design project. Take, for example, Madeleine Castaing's pink and black bathroom (at top). Charlotte has long been a devotee of Castaing, and the particular color combination used by Castaing intrigued Charlotte- so much so that Charlotte later used a pink and black color scheme for her table setting that was photographed for At Home with Wedgwood: The Art of the Table. You can see that Charlotte chose a pink cloth and napkins as a backdrop for her black basaltware. Very striking just as Castaing's bathroom was.

Inspiration can be a funny thing. There are times when we see a photo or a color combination, for example, and might actively find a way to incorporate it into whatever it is we're working on. But then there are times when inspiration can be more passive. You might be struck by the mood or feel of something, and only much later do you realize that that "thing" has found its way into one of your creations- maybe a piece of art if you're an artist, or perhaps a dress if you're a fashion designer, or even a table setting if you like to entertain. This not so "deep thought" occurred to me after Charlotte's lecture. When thinking about the Castaing influence on her Wedgwood table setting, I remembered this photo of the Maharaja of Jaipur, featured in The World in Vogue, that I first saw well over a year ago.




This image is all about dazzling color- vibrant pinks, oranges, blues, and golds. It's really quite magical. Every so often, I would pull the book from the shelf just to take a good look at the Maharaja and soak in the gorgeous setting. But you know, I never really thought too long and hard about the photo. I never made a concerted effort to strike up a room in a bevy of pinks and blues because that's not my style, nor did I ever think to write a blog post about this photo. I made no plans to do anything with what I saw. And then it dawned on me a few days ago- this photo has indeed had an effect on me, though I never realized it. I now believe that it inspired me to:



1) Buy these Rajasthan table linens by Le Jacquard Francais. My linen closet is filled with solid-colored hemstitch napkins and some Porthault here and there, but when I saw Rajasthan last Fall, I was so taken with the pinks and the oranges that I had to have them. The Maharaja never once crossed my mind while making this purchase, though. Or did he?





2) Arrange my books by color. Well, at least on one shelf. Now you know that I'm one of those people who will not arrange books by color. I have a system that works for me and organizing by color would mess that up. But on one shelf of books on fashion, I found myself stacking rows of pinks mixed with some reds. How did that happen? Maybe the photo had something to do with it?




3) Pull fabric samples that seem to fall in the pink, coral, orange, or peacock blue range. They tend to all be velvet, which isn't very Indian-like, but the colors certainly are. Now, where should I use this fabric???

Of course, there very well may have been other factors, and obviously I'm not the only person currently influenced by these particular colors. But, perhaps that photo of the Maharaja was the spark that I needed to branch out and experiment with a new color palette.


(Castaing image from The World of Madeleine Castaing; Wedgwood photo from At Home with Wedgwood: The Art of the Table; Maharaja from The World in Vogue)

House of Malbranche

I tend to avoid making design declarations, but I do think that no linen closet is complete without some type of embroidered linen. It doesn't have to be anything fancy nor complicated. It could be a pair of linen hand towels with an embroidered monogram, either your own or, if antique, someone else's. Or, perhaps cocktail linens with an embroidered motif. But to have, say, custom embroidered table linen that was designed to complement your formal china, well, that is truly a luxury.

Fortunately in this country, we have Léron, a New York based linen shop that was founded in 1910. Still owned by the same family (the Forsters), Léron sells the most marvelous embroidered linen. I could go on and on because I do adore their linen, but seeing that I've written a lengthy post about them in the past, I'll encourage you to click here to revisit Léron.

Now, in Paris, Malbranche at 17 rue Drouot is where I would go for custom embroidered linen. In business since 1860, the company not only designs and embroiders table and bed linen, but they also teach the art of embroidery to students. In fact, one of my Paris readers has studied at Malbranche for seven years. Can you imagine being able to study embroidery? I'm going to add that to the list of things I want to do "someday". But in the meantime, I think that for me, purchasing embroidered linen is the way to go.

Finding photos of Malbranche's work is a little difficult, so I had to pull images from all over the web. (You'll have to forgive the poor quality of most of the photos.) I do know, though, that the "W" pillows above- as seen in the Walter Lees bedroom at Givenchy's Clos Fiorentina- were embroidered by Malbranche. It makes me wonder if Lees' napkins with Les Invalides embroidered on them might have been by Malbranche. Anyway, I think that after you see the embroidery below, you too might be planning your next journey to Paris with a little side trip to Malbranche.