The Third Floor

Liberty of London

"Liberty is the chosen resort of the artistic shopper." - Oscar Wilde

Stroll inside the striking Tudor Revival building on Regent Street and discover an emporium of luxury: a selection of beautiful apparel, accessories, cosmetics, and objets d'art tucked into small rooms between intimate staircases, intricately designed elevators, polished wooden balconies, and glass atriums.

Liberty's Interior

Founded in 1875, Arthur Lasenby Liberty's imprint remains on his iconic store. Along with 
his own influence and support of Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau, and Orientalism during his lifetime, the Liberty Store has showcased new and cutting-edge design while never losing touch with its origins. The character of that philosophy is everywhere, and walking through this great palace, one feels a sense of timelessness.

An Early Photo of Liberty

And the, of course, there is the 3rd Floor. House in one of the most splendid settings in the city is a collection of fabrics that rivals its surroundings. Liberty Cotton Lawn prints are some of the most supple, luxurious cotton fabrics in the world. Grown originally near Lake Tana in East Africa, the same ultra-fine long staple cotton is selected to create this gorgeous fabric that is finished without the use of crease-resisting chemicals or irritating allergens.

A Liberty Print

A Liberty Print

Liberty's timeless gems vary from prints that speak to Mr. Liberty's Eastern aesthetic, to the famous florals and ultra-modern geometrics. They are a glorious homage to a time of elegance in a very modern moment.

A Very Mid-Century prin

A Very Vintage Button

Afternoon Tea

Dry Sherry
Toasted Mushroom Canapes*
Small Pate a Choux filled with

  Chicken Salad (meat or vegetarian)

Cucumber Lilies

Madeleines

Mini Scones 

Jams

Clotted Cream*

Assorted teas

Toasted Mushroom Canapes

Saute and then mince small white mushrooms
Make a white sauce 1/2 as much as mushrooms. 
Season with: salt and paprika, freshly grated nutmeg
Combine sauce with mushrooms. When chilled,
add a little whipped cream.
Heap these ingredients on small rounds of toast.
Garnish with paprika and parsley

Clotted (or Devonshire) Cream - makes 1 c.
2 c. heavy cream
Cook cream in top of double boiler over simmering water
until reduced by about half. It should be the consistency of butter,
with a golden "crust" on the top.
Transfer, including crust, to bowl. Cover and let stand 2 hours,
then refrigerate at least 12 hours.
Stir crust into cream before serving.Keep unused portion refrigerated,
tightly covered, for up to 4 days. 

And now....a word from Reggie

Everyone knows about my sad life with the Cavanaugh's, tormented as I am by those two furry blobs that live here. However, I do get to escape now and then to the dog park and to Doggy Disneyland, aka Santa Fe Tails. You can't see it in the picture, but it says "resort" on the sign. Now, I haven't experienced a facial or massage there, as I should expect at a resort. However, I have a super good time there, playing with my pals, being adored

by friend like Jamie, digging holes to roll around in, and getting all my pals to howl along with me.

On the drive over to SF Tails, I can tell when we're getting close, and I get so excited I start howling and barking at the top of my lungs. Of course, when Dad picks me up at the end of my day there, I can hardly walk to the car. I sleep all the way home until Mom makes me have a bath, and my sad life begins again.

It's Showtime, Part II

Two fun costume exhibitions this fall are happening at the Met and, of all places, the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI. One would expect a great show at the Met's Costume Institute, but a costume collection at a museum dedicated to all things Ford? American Style and Spirit draws from an amazing collection unearthed from the attic of a "chic but thrifty lumber scion named Augusta Roddis, known as Gussie, who died at 94 six years ago."* 

https://www.thehenryford.org/current-events/calendar/american-style-and-spirit-exhibit/. This exhibition spans 130 years of American style. The collection covers everything from 19th c. ballgowns to 20th c. couture.

American Style and Spirit

Then, 500 miles away at the Met,Masterwoks: Unpacking Fashion, http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2016/masterworks opened Nov. 18, and features significant acquisitions of the past 10 years. The Costume Institute has honed its collection to reflect only the finest in costume aesthetics, and to feature those designers who have advanced fashion as art.

Masterworks: Unpacking Fashion

Alexander McQueen Armadillo Boots

A Cynthia Textile Vignette

Silk Dupioni

 A young designer sits in her small atelier outside Rome, creating her very first collection. Inspired by the ball gowns her grandmother wore to opening nights at La Scala, and the luxurious drapes in her mother's Venetian apartment, she uses this beloved Indian silk in new and inspired ways. Dupioni, whose very name implies sumptuous, finds its way into her own modern signature pieces: pieced and paired with bits of ethnic fabrics, crisp cottons, and rustic silk blends that her Nonna and Madre would never have imagined.
-from Santa Fe Fabrics.com

* NYTimes