Innholdsfortegnelse for Dec/Jan 2021 i Town & Country

1985 SOCIAL REGISTER Nina Griscom, the ’80s It girl, model, and entrepreneur—who died in January at age 65—was the rare uptown socialite with a true rebel streak. She appeared on T&C’s cover three times, and she wrote in a 2012 column that she picked up her pack-a-day Marlboro habit at a Swiss boarding school, age 12. She ran with Bill Blass and Blaine Trump and made Park Avenue fun again (in her early sixties she got a porcupine tattoo on her forearm to support a sick friend). On December 8 Christie’s will auction off pieces from her jewelry collection, giving a new generation the chance to own some of her unconventional New York style, the kind of larger-than-life flair that draws so many to the Imperial City.…

No, things were not better then, I remind myself whenever I succumb to bouts of nostalgia about the glory days of New York. The defining moment, in a supercharged city whose essence is change, is always and axiomatically now. “I despise when people say things used to be so great,” says Kim Hastreiter, who as a founder of Paper magazine has had a front row seat at New York’s cultural arena for more than three decades. “It is always better now. Now is when it’s best.” The topic is club life. If it has seemed to some in recent years that Manhattan clubbing has died (an all but inescapable conclusion even before the pandemic), they just weren’t looking in the right places. Yes, gone are the warehouses, the storefronts, the…

POP QUIZ: WHAT MAKES A NEW YORKER? WENDY GOODMAN: “Kindness. You see it all the time on the subway: people doing things they don’t need to do.” For the Proud STYLE SNOB “What do I want for the holidays? Bottega Veneta everything. Daniel Lee is a genius.”—Antwaun Sargent, author and critic, Downtown Brooklyn “Every New Yorker should have a fabulous coat in her wardrobe. I live in my Max Mara Teddy all winter.”—Nicky Rothschild, designer, NoHo Bushwick Birkin or the OG? “I first asked my parents for an Hermès bag when I was 10, so there’s your answer. (They said no, by the way.)”—Bonnie Morrison, brand consultant, Soho POP QUIZ: WHAT’S YOUR GO-TO NEW YORK GIFT? MOHAMMED AHMED, owner Casa Magazines: “I ♥ NY T-shirt and caps by the late…

There has been much talk, since mask wearing became de rigueur, about the death of lipstick. The lipstick index, that famous economic barometer coined by Leonard Lauder (who noted that lip color sales tend to soar in tough times), has been declared defunct. Beauty brands have scrambled to foreground their eyeliner offerings, and countless stories have been published about how to play up peepers peering over PPE now that the mouth is no longer a viable focus. And yet there is resistance. Ask virtually any woman—especially any New York woman—what irks her most about wearing a mask, and she’ll tell you: lipstick stains. Legions of us are still applying the stuff devotedly, masks be damned. “People are dying to still wear lip color,” says Jessica Richards, owner of chic beauty…

ALASKA OWN THE GREAT UNKNOWN Ancient Greeks called the realm beyond the northern bounds of their maps Ultima Thule. Experiencing that terra incognita privately is the promise of Ultima Thule Lodge. Its five cabins are 100 miles from the closest road and have Wrangell–St. Elias National Park as a 13.2 million–acre back yard. Guests have daily access to a fleet of bush planes and pilots—i.e., a pass to a wilderness the size of Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Switzerland combined. Not enough? After a few nights at the lodge, set off in a Cessna 185 to any national park in the state. Kayak on alpine lakes, hike volcanoes, or observe polar bears in the Arctic, staying along the way in private homes, villages, and old-fashioned tents—true adventure on an Alaskan scale. TO…

I have traveled to Charleston every year for the past few. I skipped 2020 because of Covid and long to go back, to walk along narrow streets at dusk as cicadas thrum and the sky over the harbor turns indigo. It is far from a simple affection that the city elicits. Beneath its beauties lies human bondage; for centuries, to a degree greater than anywhere else in the U.S., slave labor was the engine of its economy, the creator of its wealth. Nowadays Charleston is remarkable for its bracing evolution. The city’s cultural institutions and public discourse, since well before last summer’s Black Lives Matter outcry for social justice, consciously and passionately champion the difficult virtue of truth telling—who built this beautiful place, and under what circumstances. “It is our…

“I hate being away from home,” says Rosie Perez. It’s the trudging through airports, marching through security. “I hate the whole process,” she says. It’s ironic, then, that Perez plays a flight attendant on HBO Max’s new series The Flight Attendant, when the actress is an utter homebody. Home, for Perez, has always been Brooklyn. “When the pandemic hit, there were so many people saying ‘New York is over, I’m fleeing New York, you gotta get out,’” she recalls over a Zoom call from her home in the borough’s Clinton Hill neighborhood, her loose curls perfectly framing her dimples. But Perez and her husband stayed put. “They said that when I was a little kid, in the ’70s, during the post-Vietnam era, and during the crack epidemic, during the AIDS…

“Alva and Christopher represent the energy of New York, its endless possibility. I met her through Giorgio di Sant’Angelo and Stephen Burrows, the designers who inspired me most when I first came here. Christopher worked for me right after school. I don’t often say this, but I told him to go out and forge his own road. I went to his first show and I was so proud. He’s an explosion of color and goodness and enthusiasm, just what this moment calls for.”—Diane von Furstenberg Hair by Nai’vasha for Oribe at the Wall Group. Makeup by Emily Amick for MAC Cosmetics…

“There’s so much wrong with the world that you have to respond with dance. There’s a desperate need to infuse your surroundings with joy. Is there a reason to dance right now? Yes, more than ever.”—Robbie Fairchild “What keeps New York City going is the arts. Dancers have kept the vivaciousness of New York alive. You see resilience in dancers, and that same resilience is echoed in the city as a whole.” —Danelle Morgan…

Because when I say I don’t, the universal response is “Oh, you’re a real New Yorker,” and nothing makes me prouder. As this year draws to a close, we pay tribute to the city many of us at T&C call home. It’s a town that has taken an especially hard hit in 2020, and when we sent an incredible group of photographers, stylists, and writers into its streets to chronicle some of New York’s most indelible characters, we confirmed what we’d known all along: It’s the people. This issue is really a salute to all the cities we love, the ones that we yearn to see again, that inspire us and teach us and feed us. But it’s a celebration most of all of city people, that fierce, resilient ragtag…

The 1980s were good to me. My career and family flourished, yet, looking back, I feel some embarrassment. So many of today’s social ills took root in that decade. Not that I was oblivious, but I was wrapped up in my own concerns. I feel similarly mixed emotions when I think about The Bonfire of the Vanities. In 1990 Brian De Palma agreed to give me full access to the movie he was making—an adaptation of Bonfire, the 1987 Tom Wolfe novel that had been embraced as a metaphor for everything that was wrong with 1980s New York. In the book, Wolfe lampooned the city’s racial politics, corrupt judicial system, rampant gentrification, barracuda press corps, and ethnic hostilities. It was high-octane social commentary as entertainment, and Bonfire became an instant…

MAUI, HAWAI I PLAY HARD WITH WATER The island’s north shore is a water sports paradise, home to the windsurfing hotspot Ho’okipa and the legendary surf break Jaws. The recent opening of Haiku House, a nine-room estate on 20 acres that once belonged to sugar magnate Henry Alexander Baldwin, finally gives visitors a luxe base close to the waves—plus access to some of Hawaii’s top athletes. Downwind paddleboard with world champion Connor Baxter, windsurf with former pro Kevin Pritchard, free-dive with five-time national record holder Kurt Chambers, or try Hawaii’s latest craze, wing foiling (on a board with an attached fin with wings), under the tutelage of Zane Schweitzer. While you acquire new skills, you’ll also pick up a truly local perspective. TO BOOK: MARILYN CLARK, MARILYN@LIGHTHOUSETRAVEL.NET COLORADO SUMMIT A…

SAGITTARIUS NOVEMBER 23–DECEMBER 21 You’ll be getting on a promising path in December, and long-considered plans will finally take off. With Saturn entering Aquarius, you’ll be challenged to find new ways to reach out and make your presence felt. Financial planning features strongly in January; be ready to make abrupt changes that shift your focus. The wisdom of the decisions you’re making will soon be clear. TIFFANY & CO., TIFFANY.COM CAPRICORN DECEMBER 22–JANUARY 20 You’ll be guided to make the right moves if you thoughtfully strategize in December. You’ve been through some enormous tests in the last few years; now it’s a whole new game. In January it’s time to speak up and take action, even if you encounter resistance. As long as you think creatively, you’ll be able to…

“If there were a runner-up to the Statue of Liberty, that almost-queen would be Lady Bunny. Her cotton candy hair, flawless dance moves, and scandalously short skirts are legend. In 1983 she hitched a ride with RuPaul from Atlanta to the Big Apple. Since then she’s clowned, go-go-danced, and DJ’d her way into the hearts of the Naked City. She’s a timeless treasure, and we adore her.”—Mickey Boardman…

Hair by Josué Perez for Tineco Beauty. Makeup by Gianpaolo Ceciliato for Dior Beauty. Tailoring by Lars Nord at Lars Nord. Production services by Cassandra Tannenbaum. Production security by Reggie Henry for Harry Hill & Associates “In my estimation,” says Sarah Jessica Parker, “there is no greater city than New York City.” The actress turned fashion mogul turned civic activist finds joy lately in working the sales floor at her new SJP flagship shoe boutique, which opened this July on West 54th Street, sometimes even delivering orders to customers’ doorsteps on her way home. She expounded on her love for New York in a recent Zoom interview. It all began in 1976, when she debuted on Broadway at the age of 11 and then moved to the city from Cincinnati…

The year the New York Mets were founded, they lost. A lot. 120 times, to be exact. It was 1962, and no team had posted more losses in a single season since before the turn of the century. Still, they captured the city’s heart in a way that the Yankees, the sport’s gold standard, never could. Over the decades Mets fans have followed a team whose fortunes have mirrored their own lives, resigned to the fact that moments of victory are forever fleeting. “These exultant yells for the Mets were also yells for ourselves and came from a wry, half-understood recognition that there is more Met than Yankee in every one of us,” the great Roger Angell once wrote. “I knew for whom that foghorn blew; it blew for me.”…

WHAT’S #VERYTANDC HERE? The history: Throughout this issue dedicated to New York City, we pay tribute to the places, people, and institutions that make up the fabric of the city. And what would New York be without its museums? They took a hard hit during the pandemic, but plans for the future soldiered on. A look at all the projects underway around the city (the new home for the Studio Museum in Harlem, designed by Adjaye Associates and slated to open in 2021, is shown here) offers proof that New York is as alive as ever. The news: The Studio Museum is just the tip of the iceberg. Downtown, Rem Koolhaas’s OMA is designing a second building for the New Museum. Uptown, the Frick is temporarily moving into the Met…

Every New York story is ultimately about real estate, and The Apartment is no different. Billy Wilder’s 1960 film centers on the action at 51 West 67th Street, where Jack Lemmon’s C.C. Baxter plays reluctant gatekeeper to his officemates’ trysts. But like so many movie domiciles, this one was too good to be true. What we see in the film isn’t New York but Hollywood’s version of it; the titular residence is a fabrication, shot on a soundstage. For all its movie magic, however, The Apartment does tell us something true: that what fuels the city is New Yorkers. This season Manhattan is striving to recover from a strike against what The Apartment argues is the city’s soul: density. “Wilder wanted the glamour of New York but also its anonymity,”…

THE SOUTHWEST WAKE UP IN A WONDERLAND The only way to spend the night in the magically colored and contoured national parks of the Southwestern U.S. used to be basic DIY camping. No longer. When the pioneering glamping company Under Canvas opens its newest camp in April—on the edge of Canyon Rim Plateau in Lake Powell–Grand Staircase, on 220 acres of red, orange, and yellow land—you’ll be able to book a circuit that also includes camps in the Grand Canyon, Moab, and Zion parks. The stylish tents sleep up to seven, have hot water and daily housekeeping, and include the services of a personal “adventure concierge,” who will arrange every imaginable activity, including rugged Jeep tours, mountain biking, whitewater rafting, and more. TO BOOK: RESERVATIONS@UNDERCANVAS.COM THE EAST COAST BIKE LIKE…

WITH BATTERY POWER. MADE BY STIHL. The BGA 57 is built in the United States with domestic and foreign components. Batteries and chargers are sourced internationally. MANUFACTURING AMERICA’S WORKFORCE The National Association of Manufacturers estimates that by 2025, manufacturers in America will need to fill more than 4.6 million high-skilled jobs. Two million of these jobs are expected to go unfilled due to the skilled trade gap. Creating workforce development initiatives to reskill employees is part of the solution. STIHL Inc., located in Virginia Beach, VA, uses a multifaceted approach to close the skilled trades gap. While automation is key to remaining competitive in the global market, at STIHL Inc. no full-time employee has ever been replaced due to automation but is instead retrained. In addition to reskilling employees, STIHL…

Hair by Johnny Lavoy for Save Me from Hair Repair + Scalp Care. Makeup by Karen Dupiche, Emmy-winning makeup artist. Tailoring by Clara Rubio at Lars Nord. Set design by Hans Maharawal at the Wall Group. Production by Sasha Corban Production Services. Shot on location at the Empire State Building Observatory.…

“Why do we love New York City? It’s full of energy, it’s fun, it’s surprising and glamorous and unexpected. All of those things are also true of Bevy Smith. There are people leaving New York right now, but nobody likes a quitter—and Bevy is definitely not a quitter. She’s the quintessential New Yorker, and the city is better because she’s here.”—Andy Cohen Hair by Derick Monroe. Makeup by Merrell Hollis at crowdMGMT for @LuvanyaBeauty. Location courtesy of the Apollo Theater Foundation Inc.…

In the summer of 1969, soon after the first astronauts landed on the moon, Aristotle Onassis commissioned a pair of hammered gold earrings for his wife Jackie to commemorate the occasion (it was also her birthday). In the 1950s a series of spiky gold brooches marked the news of Sputnik. In 1835, when Halley’s Comet appeared in the night sky, a fashion for diamond- and emerald-studded celestial-themed brooches gripped the circles who could afford them. (When the comet came back in 1910, a more democratic paste stone variety swept the globe.) Space exploration, and the heavens, and the planets’ rays, and the shapes of stars have a deep-rooted place in jewelry history. How far back does it go? “Diamonds are the beginning of the universe. They are our closest connection…