you know it, sister

while i'm on this 'preppy' riff, as one reader pointed out, i need to include the legendary designer and foxcroft girl, sister parish.
super digging that black lacquered wall. talk about swish. that was a total 'trust me' move.
Culled from and inspired by scraps of materials Sister stored in her house in Maine or used in the rooms there, they are true to her love of color and pattern.
parish always contended that she had no 'look'-which i rather like. never pigeon hole yourself sister.
"Oftentimes Mrs. Parish had to compensate for the client's furniture by using a lot of pattern and color, because I think that was what carried her rooms off sometimes -- for people who didn't have big collections." Libby Cameron

and on a non-sequitor note:

how about the names in this family? 'sister', 'bayard, 'apple', 'ibbie', 'tizzie'. love them~! living in l.a. there's such an importance placed around interesting names for children. but these people were just passing down the family lineage.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I love Mrs. Parish, these prints always remind me of my grandmother's linen closet, the bathroom at MHCC (the big one), and all the places that smell like powder and lovely older ladies. Soon enough this will be my smell and my look, I'm certain.
72 and sunny said…
you totally nailed it. i think this is why i find comfort in all of this. very MHCC. old powdery ladies with their feet crammed into low stacked heeled patent leather pumps. so summer at the club. and ya, you are going to end up one of them. i can just see it already!
Style Court said…
Great post Megan! Glad you shared the dark-walled room.
Anonymous said…
I love this paper and post, it's great.
katiedid said…
I came from a the prepster heart of California: Pasadena. Home of the "Valley Hunt Club". You are right, though, about the comfort of it all. And it can be very beautiful, as is the Parish sensibility. I have always thought the nicknames were a kick!
72 and sunny said…
ah katie, you get it too. i know the valley hunt club.
Decorno said…
SHUT UP with that fucking fabulous black laquer wall. Why you gotta talk dirty like that, Sista Parish?

Love it. LOVE IT. Now I just have to figure out which room in my house I can do that to.
Anonymous said…
Oh, her grace, wit and insight AND being undisputed arbiter of all things perfect, Sister Parish was!!!
A must read: "Sister: The Life Of Legendary American Interior Decorator Mrs. Henry Parish II".

Regals family and tradition as truly being the heart of life. Impeccable book.

Toted this as a vacation read about 7 years ago and purposely read slowly as I did not want the story to end....A lovely and beautifully written tome by Parish's daughter and granddaughter, Apple Parish Barlett and Susan Bartlett Crater.

Have since re-read it.....Cheers Alison

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