Now-about Guinness in Paris

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In a recent story about Gloria Guinness the indubitable Toby Worthington- commenter to this blog -practically since its inception- and still-and for that I extend heartfelt thanks- said:



"Gloria Guinness may have been a minimalist in terms of her fashion choices,but when it came to doing up her Paris residence in the 1950s it would seem that minimalism was the furthest thing from her mind. The

interiors by Georges Geoffrey were richly detailed, at least that is the impression gained by photographs shown in the 1960 publication,Les Réussites de la Décoration Francaise 1950-6."

IN RESIDENCE

Gloria Guinness

my reply:

"You may be right-I am taking a bit of license to make the point about this particular design idea. And I guess another thought might be-when In Paris do as the Parisians do. How I, and my readers surely, would love for you to share her interiors by Georges Geoffrey.If you have it, please scan some images for us. Again-as many- many a time I have asked, write a guest post for Little Augury and share your ideas,with all your brimming bookshelves of information you can be my resident scholar! As always I am glad you are reading and something here has peaked your interest, glad to know I am still one of your favorites."

& he was.

& he did!

lucky for all!

THE SALON

The decorator of the Guinness apartments was Georges Geoffrey. Friend Hubert Givenchy remembers him: "Geoffrey was an 18th century gentleman, a figure from another era, one of a breed of decorators that is extinct today." (from the AD January 2000 issue) Givenchy was an ardent admirer of the designer's work- like himself- Geoffrey was a purist. The opulence of the Guinness rooms never gives way to cliche & like the Guinness stripe- it is classic, timeless, chic.

The Salon, occupying a height of two stories, exuded the splendor of Louis XVI and was filled with art selected by designer and client.  Designer Geoffrey preferred devoting himself exclusively to a  client's project-with no others to distract him. He was a master with draping his own curtains just as a fashion couturier would do-his fabrics-taffetas, silk satins and failles were made to measure by Prelle.

detail of the Salon 

(from AD January 2000)

Givenchy said "Georges's great quality was his inventiveness." Easily seen-this inventiveness- from the detail above of the Salon's bookcase and mantle walls where Geoffrey cleverly uses swathes of fabric and trim to mark the soaring height of the room and soften it simultaneously. His use of fabric and mirror in the halls (see below) is another example of his trademark use of trompe l'oeil and sense of theatre.

IN RESIDENCE

In the photograph below, Gloria Guinness and her daughter Dolores are wearing Balenciaga, photographed by Henry Clarke for French Vogue in 1957. Delores- born Dolores Maria Agatha Wilhelmine Luise, Freiin von Fürstenberg-Hedringen- to Gloria by a previous marriage- married her step father's son Patrick Guinness at the age of  19. Patrick was killed ten years later, 1965, in auto crash. The couple had three children. Delores Guinness never remarried.

a page from Les Réussites de la Décoration Francaise 1950-6

THE DINING ROOM

Geoffroy selected an 18thc neoclassical paper depicting Greco-Roman statuary

(image from Architectural Digest 2000)

THE BED CHAMBER

An 18th century  wallpaper transforms the bed chamber into a Chinese garden, while along side a pair of Hepplewhite chairs stands a gilded table displaying malachite objects.

THE HALL: SMOKE & MIRRORS

One of the doors is false, the other gives on to a small office.

For all its grandeur the Geoffrey's rooms created for the Guinnesses never abandon Gloria's adherence to the classic- or the chic-and in this case-the best.

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Guinness Stripe: the Classic

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ACAPULCO 1966, by Cecil Beaton

In an age of swans, she may have been thought of as the Black Swan or-maybe a Shark. Regardless of her reputation-and there is much to consider-but that is another story- another day.  For the moment, I'm looking at her black and white stripe banquette.



Never accuse Gloria Guinness of being tame-she was all about LESS is MORE.



Think about the year-1966- when this photograph was taken by Cecil Beaton. Over fifty years old and still everything is "of the moment." The clothes- the interior- the stripe. For a woman that wanted to be known as "an original"-Gloria Guinness hit the mark.

In W magazine she declared "CHIC? It is absolutely innate, I was born with it. CHIC cannot be taught." 

This may be true- and perhaps in the era of this Swan-when information was limited Guinness' definition of CHIC might have been apt. Today CHIC is everywhere. It can be taught-but one must study, study, study-and Guinness is a great teacher.



Lesson I-Less is More.

Guinness was a Minimalist. It carried over-from her pared down fashion- to her pared down interiors.

It seems when she was poor- and she was-she was able to keep climbing the ladder to marital success in a simple black cardigan and skirt.(period) She took her success with that uniform right to her interiors brilliantly for richer or poorer.  I don't think La Guinness was one to keep hovering about a room with a pillow in hand- of say-red or yellow or both- trying to decide where to toss it and hope it lands like spontaneity.



Lesson II- Less can be More.

It also seems though she married well-very well-on her third outing, her husband was Loel Guinness,  held tightly to the La Guinness purse strings.  Friend and writer Nancy Holmes said, " I remember the drawing room in her house in Lausanne was covered in the cheapest chintz you could buy. But she had everything so exquisitely made that it looked wonderful." So obviously- though it may have pained her to admit it- Mrs. Guinness was on the dreaded "budget."



Lessons III, IV, V, VI

Keep it:

classic

tailored

sharp

sleek

&

Lesson VII

Keep it:

simple.

These must have been the only words in her personal style lexicon. Bold words-those. In another photograph Beaton shot with GG and her bold banquette, she wears-again-always classically stylish-a caftan. Of course we love them- and while it might seem GG would have selected a black or white caftan with some hand embroidery-surely she had one-she side steps the obvious and wore another stripe. That's another sign of the CHIC Gloria Guinness oozed-that's the part that is-"absolutely innate," &  she must have been onto something when she said " I was born with it."

 

ACAPULCO 1966, by Cecil Beaton

What could be more simple-stylish- than a black stripe- make it a wide one- with graphic pillows?  This is one fabric you can find as GG did for cheap-get lots and lots of it- and let it work for you. My best guess is you may find a good upholstery fabric for as little as 20  dollars a yard (cheaper-probably). Of course, there are fine black and white stripes-not exorbitantly priced ones, like the ones from Pierre Frey, one of my favorite fabric houses.  I gathered a collection of Pierre Frey fabrics to exhibit Lesson VII the power of simple.

top to bottom: THESSALIER NOIR 01,  a painterly linen stripe with two different stripes within the pattern. TUILERIERS NOIR 02,  a woven stripe-still bold, full of nuance. ISOLA VERANDA III ORAGE 7 another bold stripe-it's reversible, designed by Alberto Pinto, more greige than white but its size outweighs the color. Lastly as a the pattern to accompany your stripe-ELLIPSE/NOIR & BLANC, a series of concentric circles in black and greige.





Along with the graphic bold stripe- Guinness simply added some black and white solid pillows and some in a checkerboard pattern-again bold-probably pieced from solid black and white squares. The statement-along with the stripe-is adding a bold pattern-one of the tricks GG uses that I love.

Lesson VIII Be BOLD.

 What fabric GG used-I don't know, though the Marimekko fabric JOONAS from the sixties, puts me in mind of it. Adding a pattern like this to a room is always worth the money and "ups the ante." Marimekko also obliges Guinness stripe seekers with a black and white stripe called Juhla-Raita.

This is the house in Acapulco Guinness dressed in her black & white stripe -the domed "palapa" room of her Acapulco home, photographed in 1972, probably the room we are seeing stripes  in 1966. The  Guinness "palapa" was a thatched-roof, open-sided structure, material to cover the roof of such is usually dried and woven palm-tree leaves.

Her style-CLASSIC. 

Her approach one note-but- played like a virtuoso.

photograph by Beaton

STILL One of the best resources for reading about women like Guinness is  The Power of Style-by Annette Tapert and Diana Edkins. Most of what we read on the internet about great women of style is sourced from the book- and if you are tuning into the subject of style for the first time-get the book. a contributing editor to Harper's Bazaar from 1963 until 1970. She also was a member of the International Best Dressed List.





see JOONAS in Elle Decor here



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