If Cher Horowitz Became an Astronaut…

Welcome to Saint Delphine, where the socialites go to outer space, the brownstones are cotton candy coloured, and the ever-green manicured topiaries are the proven antidote to stress. “I refer to the goings on here as the Socialite’s Science Fiction (SSF),” says Cara Deming Butler, the artist, unofficial mayor, and overall space cadet behind this…

The Lost Romance of Dance Cards

If you’ve been watching Netflix’s sauciest new period drama, Bridgerton, your curiosity might have been aroused (among other things) by the notable nod to a forgotten footnote of historical dating etiquette – dance cards! In between the sexually-charged scenes of one of Netflix’s most binge-watched shows of late, the bygone ballroom accessory made numerous appearances…

The Diva Who Grew Her Own Exotic Kingdom

“Don’t touch. And don’t eat what you touch unless you want to die” are the first words you’ll hear upon entering Lotusland, the exotic, 37-acre kingdom of plants tucked away in the quiet town of Montecito, California. Its roots run three owners and 135 years deep, but it’s the touch of its final, failed opera…

The Unsolved Case of the Missing Perfume Heiress

It’s the best Agatha Christie novel that never was: the story of the disappearance of Manhattan perfume heiress, Dorothy Arnold. She was a woman about town and the belle of too many Uptown balls to count, but to this day, no one could ever figure out whether Dorothy was murdered, kidnapped, or stepped through some…

French Art Deco Dream Girls

Pochoir was a damn delicate practice, and it was inextricably bound to the star of Paris’ Golden Age of Illustration, André E. Marty. The Frenchman and his stencil-centric drawing or pochoir method defined the aesthetics of a generation, especially for the high fashion set. There was “an outpouring of luxury fashion publications that used pochoir” at the…

For Sale: The Lost Island Kingdom of a 1920s Bad Girl

“I ran a country”, boasted the tattooed, cigar-smoking, openly gay It-girl of the 1920s, whose life reads like an unwritten book by F. Scott Fitzgerald. She built her own private island kingdom, was hailed the “fastest woman on water” as a champion motorboat racer and had her suits made on Saville Row. But Marion Barbara ‘Joe‘ Carstairs said herself, she…

Made in Chelsea, circa 1950s

It’s debutante season for mid-century London’s high society and Life magazine was on the scene to capture all the tea drinking and social climbing at its finest. I found this set of undated photos in the magazine’s archives which follows a group of well-to-do English debutantes as they attended the various la-di-da events of the social calendar including Ascot,…

What they Wore to the Vanderbilt Ball: Inside the Photo Album

Like they do at prom, the guests of the 1883 Vanderbilt fancy dress ball each had the opportunity to have their photo taken at the event of the year, or perhaps the century. All of New York’s elite society turned up at the Fifth Avenue mega mansion dressed as pirates, goths, animals, gypsies and other inventive…