Town & Country March 2025

1958 GENA ROWLANDS T&C’s October 1958 issue wasn’t expressly dedicated to OGs the way the current one is—it’s our fourth annual issue devoted to them (the list begins on page 49)—but it may as well have been. In one story there was Joan Crawford, who invited us into her Fifth Avenue duplex, and in another, Olivia de Havilland and Maurice Chevalier at his villa in France. And here was Gena Rowlands, photographed in Beverly Hills fresh off her film debut in The High Cost of Loving. The actress, who died last August at 94, would go on to have a legendary career defined by daring and complex work, much of it in her collaborations with director-husband John Cassavetes, whom she married in 1954. To this day she is considered one of…

Are you Town or are you Country? We have often done video segments in which we pose the question to our cover stars. I think you all know my answer. But over the almost 180 years of this magazine’s existence, we have covered both with equal enthusiasm. Long before our Snob’s Guides appeared on townandcountrymag.com (have you read the latest on New Zealand and Aspen?), we devoted entire issues to places we loved. And more than almost any other, we returned to Los Angeles. We will—as so many of our friends and contributors there have asked us to do—continue to cover and visit that city of dreams and support its recovery. You’ll find ways to help, and details about the efforts to restore and rebuild, on townandcountrymag.com. As I write…

WHERE ARE WE GOING? Before Florence there was Siena. In the 14th century the city was the center of artistic achievement, thanks to painters like Duccio and Simone Martini, who spun Byzantine and Gothic influences into richly layered, and singularly Sienese, masterpieces. If you missed the show at the Met, you have a second chance at London’s National Gallery. ”SIENA: THE RISE OF PAINTING, 1300–1350,” THROUGH JUNE 22, NATIONALGALLERY.ORG.UK WHAT ARE WE WEARING? Harry Winston painted vivid tableaux too—with gemstones. His eye was the best, bar none (at 12 he found an emerald in a junk bin and turned an impressive profit), as was his technique. See: the Cluster setting, which hides the metalwork to give the illusion of diamonds floating on the body. Here is a modern interpretation, with…

A London billionaire industrialist recently convened a dinner at his mansion. The president of an oil-rich nation was invited, but the biggest surprise the host got was the intrusion into his tony abode of a most unexpected guest: a taster. A taster is the member of a VIP’s advance team who is tasked with going into wellappointed kitchens with a chemical kit to detect the presence of poison. The billionaire was somewhat taken aback by the cameo, but he was mortified by what happened next. “The meal was all Indian dishes, and the live cultures in the yogurt sauces set off the kit’s detector for biological agents. The whole banquet had to be scrapped and done over from scratch at the last minute, when everyone was already seated at the…

Practice, it’s said, makes perfect. In our fourth annual OG portfolio we’re paying tribute to people who have reached undeniable heights—and the tried-and-true moves and inimitable places that have helped them get there. Some of these legends you may already know, others might come as a revelation, but all of them have earned their spot in the cultural pantheon through grit, determination, and no small amount of hard work. Some might call the process old-fashioned, but we prefer to think of it as a practice perfected.…

One of the perks of achieving OG status is that often one is inclined to revisit one’s humble beginnings. The Rolling Stones played a 650-person nightclub when they released their most recent album. Media titan Tina Brown is scribbling for a Substack newsletter each week. Philly-born Bradley Cooper is chasing his 2024 Oscar noms by opening a cheesesteak shop. How can you make this work for you? Follow these rules. RULE 1 Write It Down Graydon Carter is best known as a magazine editor; his frenemy Keith McNally owns some of New York City’s most popular restaurants. What they have in common is long memories and forthcoming memoirs. Carter’s When the Going Was Good and McNally’s I Regret Almost Everything both recall the triumphs and tragedies of gold-plated careers. They…