Blass Act

Since I mentioned fashion designer Bill Blass in my last post, I thought his One Sutton Place apartment deserved a little love.  I've found a lot more photos of the elegant apartment since I first wrote about it in 2008.  I still love his quote about interior design, "I have always thought that fashion designers are the best interior designers. I love it. It's all a question of the eye; you are soliciting the same innate talent."

"There is nothing feminine about that apartment on Sutton Place or the Connecticut house.  There's nothing feminine about the way he entertains.  The flowers are not feminine.  There's just a bunch of one of a kind." - Mica Ertugun

"There's no question that I find houses and decorating absolutely fascinating.  That really turns me on. That's when I get excited." - Bill Blass

Blass worked on the One Sutton Place apartment with Chessy Rayner and Mica Ertugun of the interior design firm MAC II.

As any apartment does, it went through changes over the years and his famous Picasso drawing replaced a map over the fireplace.

I might have to go back to The Metropolitan Museum of Art to see if left them this head.

"There is a sense of dignity, a simplicity and a classicism in my clothes which can be read into the apartment. As I am surrounded with colours and fabric all day I look forward to a monochromatic home. I work in fashion - I don't want to live somewhere that looks fashionable." - Bill Blass

"I moved in solely because of the height of the ceilings and the size of the rooms, and because they were square. I mean, square is the perfect shape for a room." - Bill Blass

"I absolutely believe in Pauline de Rothchild's theory that lamps are the most jarring note in almost any home.  She only brought them out at night when they were needed.  Otherwise, they were to be banished, like the Hoover sweeper." - Bill Blass

"What I have here is the result of a lifetime of collecting. There is no relationship between the things themselves - except that I like them. You know how American women choose to wear a dress and invest it with their own spirit: I admire that sort of philosophy, and when I collect things, I choose how they are going to look in my life. The way I decorated here was to surround myself with the things I love...and they all have great dignity. And although I choose all the furniture and pictures, I did, as a bachelor, seek out a woman to put it all together...I had the advice of Chessy Rayner." - Bill Blass

 

Drawing of Bill Blass bedroom by Jeremiah Goodman

Magnificent Met Museum

In order to start photographing my book, I first had to upgrade my camera.  After appealing to the powers that be at Canon for a discount, to no avail, I plunked down a boatload of money for the Canon EOS 5D Mark II.  As I joked on Twitter, learning to use this camera was like trying to drive a Ferrari after only having ridden a Vespa.  I decided that a great place to practice and escape the heat would be The Metropolitan Museum of Art.  The Greek and Roman Galleries are my absolute favorite places to visit and were my first stop.  I was inspired to shoot in black and white by the hauntingly beautiful photos of statues in Florence and The Louvre by Christopher Draghi. What always strikes me is how alive the statues still look to this day.  I really had the feeling that some of them were going to all of the sudden start speaking to me.  These galleries are really magical and magnificent but with help from Bill Blass, see last photo, I would expect nothing less.

   

Photos by Heather Clawson for Habitually Chic