This Palm Beach based “Queen of Prep” was the daughter of a Standard Oil heiress who began her career selling orange juice on Worth Avenue. Customers loved Pulitzer’s bright dresses and seizing on this, she began to sell them. Soon, her creations became the favourites of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Caroline Kennedy and members of the Rockefeller, Vanderbilt and Whitney families. Sales reached $15 million a year in the 1960s and 1970s and net sales in 2010, by which time the company was owned by Oxford Industries, were $122.6 million. Lily Pulitzer’s designs remain as “must-have” items in the wardrobes of wealthy socialites and jetsetters and “The Lilly” is a household name. When told a specific print could not be used for an exhibition of her works because it was expensive, she answered simply: “A budget… How embarrassing”.
Tag: United States
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Lillian Pulitzer Rousseau (born Lillian Lee McKim; 1931 – 2013)
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David Patrick Columbia
This gentleman giant is the editor-in-chief of Quest magazine and the founder of the New York Social Diary. A revered social chronicler, “DPC” as he is widely known, previously collaborated with Debbie Reynolds on her autobiography and has also variously been an actor and stockbroker. He is seen at all of New York’s best events and amongst his favoured lunching spots are Michael’s and Swifty’s. Of dinner parties, DPC states: “You really never know who you will get as a dinner partner. It is a roll of the dice. I look forward to meeting different people from all walks of life — that is what makes life interesting”. -
Collecting a view
The sale of a 15,000 square foot Hamptons home complete with a private island and a room with a truly spectacular view
Andrew Zaro is a collector with a difference. This philanthropist and Democratic donor leads a life that is no doubt the envy of those from whom his firm, Cavalry Portfolio Services, “helps create affordable solutions to resolve their debt”.
Zaro’s wife, Lois Robbins, is a native New Yorker who has appeared in Sex and the City, Ryan’s Hope and Law & Order. She has been cast in the upcoming film Blowtorch, expected to be released in November 2013, where she will star alongside Billy Baldwin.
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Baroness Gabriella Langer von Langendorff
The widow of the creator of White Shoulders perfume is well known in New York for both her “amply proportioned figure” and for being “highly made-up”. This resident of The Pierre loves bright colours and once told the New Yorker: “I never wear a watch at night. I don’t want to know what time it is at night”. The New York Social Diary suggests she even has her “fur coats dyed to match her emeralds, rubies, diamonds, and sapphires”. They add: “The baroness is one of those individuals of indeterminate youth and age, to put it politely, whose legend, long having departed reality, provides a rich lore that may be more enticing than the facts”. -
“Where are they now?” – Monica Lewinsky
What has become of the world’s most famous intern Monica Lewinsky?
Monica Lewinsky, it seems, is making a return to public life. The world’s most famous intern was spotted at the birthday party of Heather Kerzner at the Downton Mayfair restaurant last Tuesday night. In the company of amongst others the Duchess of York, Princess Eugenie and her former Admiral Codrington barman boyfriend Jack Brooksbank, Donna Air and the Duchess of Cambridge’s brother, James Middleton, the Daily Mail described her as wearing “dark layers with gem-laden accessories”.
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Pass the Chablis
ASmallWorld gets even more small minded
When it started in the same month in 2004 as Facebook, the social network ASmallWorld was ahead of the game. Founded by Erik Wachtmeister with the help of such people as Rob Hersov, it fast found favour with the so-called “elite” of London, New York and Paris. It was a place where people made fun of one another but also a place where people trusted the advice they were given.
Such esteemed (and not so esteemed) people as Michael Ezra, Uri Schneider, Emma Gibbs (now Farah), Emma Louise Hill (now West), D’Arcy Wyvill, Anthony Mamo, Timmy Grech, William Aitken, Emma Rogers, David Reuben Jr, Jakob Eltz, Payam Ghamsari, Gabriele von Lutzau, the Ceveli sisters and Antonine Sorice quickly became the flavor of the site’s forums and others such as a woman who wore sunglasses and furs in all seasons [who since has demanded her name be removed otherwise she’ll report us to the police] talked about camels, chocolate and basements. A man named Eddy Chabli even went so far as to recount an encounter with “The Donald” (Trump) and much to the mirth of the membership was met with only: “Just have another glass… [of Chablis]”.
The likes of Robert Bell hosted parties in honour of the website and at some oddballs turned up. I remember an “up the skirt” photographer harassing my friend Kerri Moss (now Beaumont) at one but we laughed like drains the day after.
ASmallWorld, in fact, to the majority of the membership back then, was just another link in our already interlinked worlds. Then, with new ownership, as one could only expect, it went south. In came people who talked about what to do about the prostitutes who frequented the corridors of the buildings where they lived (I do not make this up) and a man named, if I recall correctly, Bruno, who worried about which private aviation firm would be able to let his dog aboard. Bruno later asked if anyone wanted to share his “ride” with him. I suspect this freak deservedly flew solo.
Friends renamed ASmallWorld “the small minded world” and we all turned off. I was, therefore, as someone who’d quit several years ago, surprised to receive the following yesterday:
Dear Valued Member
Trust is important to us. How important? Well, as part of our ongoing efforts to protect the integrity of our membership, we have decided to terminate the accounts of anyone who undermines the unique spirit of openness that serves as the cornerstone of ASW—and sets our community apart. Obviously you are not one of those people! You’re receiving this email because we value your contributions to the community, and we hope you always feel comfortable here at ASW, online and off. The reality is simply that our growth has inadvertently allowed certain members to degrade this trust, and those are the people we’re exiling, effective immediately. It is our hope that this will help you feel even more at ease in sharing your life with the rest of the ASW community.
Warm Regards and Happy Travels,
The ASW Team
P.S. Should you wish to review the conduct expected of an ASW member, feel free to read our rules. In the event that you feel a member is in clear violation of our Rules, please email [email protected].
The team at ASW have not only lost the battle to Facebook, they’ve lost the plot. Not only is their grammar appalling and not only is their use of capital letters awful, they have yet again illustrated all that is wrong about their “world”.
It’s simply time for another world. Next!
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Sandi Toksvig
In 2013, this Danish-British former Liberal Democrat author and presenter stated: “The Duchess of Cambridge lacks a single [relevant] opinion”. The nation were far from impressed. “Toxic Toksvig”, as some refer to her, is a Cambridge educated lesbian and mother of three whose works number Hitler’s Canary and Heroines & Harridans. She started her career on the appropriately named Motormouth and once stated: “When I see comedian – and ‘comedienne’, of course I hate it – I think ‘Oh, really?’ because I think of myself as a writer and broadcaster”. Miaow! -
Anna Wintour OBE
Her Evening Standard editor father was known as “Chilly Charlie” and she’s become “Nuclear Wintour”. This New York based Brit states that she’s “lost count” of the number of times she’s been attacked by activists and once retaliated by sending anti-fur campaigners a plate of roast beef when they picketed her Condé Nast offices. In her youth, Wintour went to parties with the Daily Mail’s Nigel Dempster, dated older men and set her stall out clearly in the remark: “You either know fashion, or you don’t”. Now, this divorced trendsetter has morphed into a grande dame and hidden behind her sunglasses and a pageboy bob, this powerhouse of fashion truly does deserve the title: “Unofficial Mayoress of New York”. The Devil Wears Prada may have indeed been based on her, but the reality is far more salacious. -
Sam Dangremond
This New York based journalist is an assistant editor at Town & Country and has also contributed to New York Magazine and the New York Social Diary. (more…) -
Magnificently CUT
A review of Wolfgang Puck’s CUT at 45 Park Lane
Continuing our series of revisiting articles from the blog that preceded The Steeple Times, today we re-publish our review of CUT at 45 Park Lane. We’re delighted to report that it’s just as good today.
Wolfgang Puck once commented that he “learned more from the one restaurant that didn’t work than from all the ones that were successes.” With the opening of his new restaurant, CUT, at The Dorchester Collection’s newest hotel, 45 Park Lane, he certainly proves that he learnt well.
Wolfgang Puck Now magnificently illuminated at night and featuring 24 metal panels by Thierry Despont, this narrow Park Lane building was unoccupied for 13 years until The Dorchester Collection creatively brought it back to life. The building has a fascinating history having been owned in the 1950s by one George Parkin Catchpole, a liquidator, who rented it out “for anything legal.” He is said to have told a group of artists named the Park Lane Group: “When I’m not using it, you can – and I won’t charge you” and they did. They set up a 150-seat theatre and the pianist John Ogdon and the Welsh soprano Dame Gwyneth Jones DBE performed there.
The magnificently lit exterior of 45 Park Lane at night In the 1960s Catchpole sold the building and 45 Park Lane took on a new life as the Playboy Club. Run by Victor Lownes, the casino at the club became the most profitable in the world by 1981 but following a decision to revoke the club’s gambling licence and a row between Lownes and Hugh Hefner, the venue closed.
45 Park Lane is now well and truly back on the map of the international jet-set following this latest refurbishment. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt stayed in September and the opening party was itself attended by Philip Green and his daughter, Chloe, as well as Kate Moss, Jamie Hince, Matt Bellamy and Kate Hudson.
CUT itself is a stylish space that seats 70 guests that is managed by the most personable Loyd Loudy, formerly of the OXO Tower, Hakkasan, China Tang, Shoreditch House and Sartoria. This is a slickly run dining room that has art deco hints and is dominated by Damien Hirst artwork.
CUT’s narrow but stylish dining space When I told a friend that I was going to CUT, he complained that the music there was a “horrible mixture” of 1970s and 1980s rock music chosen by Puck himself. My dining companion, a fan of such tunes as KC and The Sunshine Band’s Come To My Island, was delighted, however, by this prospect and only disappointed that his favourite tune didn’t get an outing. I was hoping for a rendition of the Strawbs’ Part of the Union in honour of, excuse the pun, those protesting about the government’s ongoing economic cuts, but I guess that would hardly have gone down well with the Mayfair hedgies and well heeled hotel guests who flock to this glamorous dining destination.
John Walsh, in his review of CUT for the Independent, describes Wolfgang Puck’s name as being “Mozart-meets-Shakespeare” and this culinary maestro is himself worthy of note. Austrian by birth, Puck began his career at Maxim’s in Paris, the Hotel de Paris in Monaco and the Michelin 3-starred L’Oustau de Baumanière in Provence. In the 1970s he moved to the United States and set up his first flagship restaurant, Spago, in 1982 on the Sunset Strip of West Hollywood. Spago became known for its signature dishes of haute cuisine pizzas topped with smoked salmon and caviar and awards galore and a burgeoning restaurant empire followed in the 1990s and 2000s with further openings in LA, Las Vegas and Singapore.
Puck has brought in David McIntyre as executive chef at CUT at 45 Park Lane. Part of his team in Los Angeles for the last 13 years, McIntyre’s career began at the Culinary Institute of America and progressed eventually to a “strong culinary partnership” with Puck first at Spago and then at CUT, Beverly Hills and WP24.
Puck and McIntyre offer a menu that most certainly couldn’t fail to please any meat lover. Though not designed for those on a budget, the focus here is on cuts of beef, be they from Casterbridge in Devon or Creekstone Farms in Arkansas City, Kansas, that are grilled over hard wood and charcoal then finished under a 650 degree broiler.
To start, I began with an Australian wagyū steak sashimi with spicy radishes and a Greek cress (£22). It was truly delicious and the envy of my companion who found his bigeye tuna tartar with wasabi ailoli, ginger, tōgarashi crisps and tosa sauce (£21) just as enjoyable. For those looking for a meatier option the Austrian oxtail bouillon (£9) certainly should appeal and vegetarians could definitely enjoy the roasted baby beetroot salad with goat cheese (£12).
For our main courses we naturally both chose to try out the cuts but those looking for something different could opt for a sautéed dover sole (£45) or a warm lobster club sandwich (£24). Both my 6oz filet mignon (£30) and my companion’s 35 day aged 10oz New York sirloin (£34) melted in the mouth and truly top my list for the best steak of the year. The accompanying Armagnac and green peppercorn sauce was a phenomenal choice and utterly perfect. Though slightly over salted, the French fries with herbs (£5.50) were pleasant and the tempura onion rings (also £5.50) could not be faulted.
To conclude, though somewhat conquered by the feast we’d just enjoyed, we moved on to a light banoffee pie and a delicious chocolate dish that tasted akin to a Kit-Kat with blackberries. Here ended a meal that was most certainly one of the best I’ve enjoyed in 2011.
The wine list is exactly what you’d expect to find in an establishment of this stature. Staring at £7 a glass for whites by the glass and £16 for Laurent Perrier 2002 champagne, key highlights include a Château Petrus 1988 for £4,900 a bottle and a 2009 offering from the estate of Sir Peter Michael at £270 a bottle.
One of 45 Park Lane’s 45 rooms and suites 
Suites with terraces boast views over Hyde Park and the rooftops of Mayfair Above the restaurant a striking staircase leads to Bar 45, a chic space serving cocktails and offering bar-dining for 30. Adjoining this is media room with 10 comfortable armchairs and a library. The remainder of the building appropriately consists of 45 stylish rooms and suites that include a most impressive penthouse suite with a wrap-around balcony that offers expansive views across Hyde Park.
Fay Maschler concluded her review of CUT with the words: “Cut and come again.” I’d only add that this is a restaurant that is cuttingly magnificent.
CUT, 45 Park Lane, London, W1K 1PN. Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7493 4554. Website: http://www.45parklane.com
Follow CUT on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/WolfgangBuzz
Follow 45 Park Lane at: http://www.twiter.com/45ParkLane