a watercolor of Jacqueline Kennedy sleeping in D. Porthault linens by Jacqueline Duhême... swoon.

A lavish new book celebrates the sprightly, deluxe linens of the beloved French house

I took a very quick business trip down to New York last week—all told i was gone from home for a grand total of 37 hours. While I was there I managed to squeeze in a visit with my lovely friend Peninah, who was gracious enough to entertain me even though she is about to have a baby any moment now. The other highlight of my trip was to D. Porthault. We've all seen their linens in House Beautiful, Elle Decor and countless other shelter magazines. The image that first made me crave a hit of Porthault in he bedroom was Rita Konig's own bedroom in Domino. I love the play of the prints in her old bedroom. Then this Michael S Smith bedroom in House Beautiful sealed the deal. I love the mix of blue patterns: paisley, hearts, stars and a bold border. Visiting the store was so much fun. I snapped some photos while I was there with my iPhone and thought I would share. Here is a view from the entrance of the store. I loved the antique mirror walls and display tables. The store was very appropriately decorated for the month of March with the pois de senteur, lilas yellow, and trefles green patterns heavily featured throughout. What I love about Porthault is the mix. Check out the riot of pattern in this sachet display. I love how all of these pillows work together even though they are different patterns and different pinks. This display wall was particularly inspiring. I just love how the company effortlessly mixes their prints to create a very fresh look. Here is a close up of one of the pairings. Very Kelly Wearstler, non? It was also interesting to see the range of merchandise. Porthault has much more than bed and bath linens, you can pick up these adorable robes to coordinate with your interior. And check out those cute frames and lingerie bags on the table. My focus was on some of the more well known Porthault patterns such as the coeurs and bouquet éclaté which I wanted to pick up for my own home. Sadly the pillows I wanted in the bouquet éclaté were not available, but fear not, they are ordered. In the meantime, these two darlings made it safely back to Boston with me and have now taken up residence on one very lucky little girl's bed.

Thank you to the Scully & Scully catalogue for reminding me that the world hasn't completely gone to hell in hand basket. Its numerous pages filled with photos of folding bridge tables, hardboard place mats, wooden breakfast bed trays (similar to the one above), and other traditional niceties always bring me comfort, for they make me realize that some people in this world continue to appreciate such things. Speaking of breakfast bed trays, there was a time when the morning meal often required its own set of dining accoutrements, including china and linen made especially for use on a breakfast tray or a small breakfast table. If you read any of the 1930s and 1940s-era design magazines, you'll find numerous articles written for the bride, advising her of the household inventory she would need to run her home efficiently and entertain properly. Along with luncheon china and luncheon linen, dinner china and dinner linen, and tea sets and tea linen, breakfast china, referred to as "luxuries" in a 1936 House & Garden article, was often recommended for one's "breakfast repertory". Needless to say, brides were encouraged to own a lot of china and linen. (Don't even get me started on the recommendations for bed and bath linen. The lists for these were endless!) Although not a bride, I, too, have breakfast china (Porthault's Trèfles pattern), a large breakfast tray, and a set of breakfast tray linen, which consists of one mat and two napkins. I wish that I could say I use these daily, but instead, it's more like a Sunday occurrence. If only my life were leisurely- and if I had staff- then perhaps my weekday breakfast repertory would be far more luxurious than it currently is. Singer and actress Julie London, photographed in bed with her breakfast tray by Slim Aarons. Truman Capote's Porthault breakfast set, sold at Bonhams in 2006. Mario Buatta created this dining-in-bed vignette for Tiffany. Wooden breakfast bed tray from Scully & Scully Another Slim Aarons' breakfast-in-bed photo, this one of Mrs. Saunderson of Montecito. Brooke Astor's breakfast china by Hammersley & Co., sold at Sotheby's in 2012. Vintage Madeira pink breakfast set from D'Anjou Linens An elegant bed vignette, courtesy of Tiffany & Co. A 1940 Léron linen ad, which shows their charming "Bouquet" table linen. The linen was available in luncheon sets, tea sets, and breakfast sets.

Vintage French Porthault linen cocktail napkins

I wish that I could say my introduction to Atelier Safrane Cortambert, a French embroidery house whose needlework has graced the collections of Dior, Chanel, and Balenciaga, was thanks to a couture frock hanging in my closet. Regretfully, that's not the case. In fact, it was while surfing the web that I stumbled upon their website. But no matter how I learned of Safrane Cortambert, I'm glad that I did. I find it both refreshing and reassuring to know that there are still workshops where the art of needlework is alive and well and hopefully flourishing. As beautiful as the website's photos are, I'm sure that they don't do their work justice. Embroidery like this is best appreciated up close where it can be both seen and touched. Below you can see some examples of their work, including photos of chairs that have been embroidered by the atelier. And not that I've ever not appreciated couture clothing, but the work of Safrane Cortambert certainly gives me new insight into the artistry and technical skill that defines couture. All photos courtesy of Atelier Safrane Cortambert

I have a big regret that really bugs me. Not big as in it majorly affected my life, but rather one of those nagging regrets in which I could really kick myself. It involves Porthault linen. Years ago my sister participated in a neighborhood yard sale, and my mother donated a set of Porthault table linen that looked similar to the carnation pattern shown above. The napkins were a bit worn and the tablecloth had some holes in it. And dumb me didn't rescue the Porthault for myself. I thought "Why would I want a tablecloth with holes?" Because it's Porthault, stupid, and it costs a fortune! Now, I'd give my right arm for a Porthault tablecloth, but of course my budget doesn't quite allow for it. (And please don't excoriate me; proceeds from the yard sale did not benefit a charity or anything. It was strictly for profit. My sister made a whopping $30 from those linen. See, I told you I missed an opportunity there.) Had I had the sense and style of Deeda Blair, I could have recycled the holey Porthault (or perhaps I should call it the Holy Porthault) and used it in some ingenious way. Mrs. Blair took her trousseau sheets and made bed curtains out of them. Truly, how smart is that? Of course, I couldn't say that my Porthault was trousseau, but I could have made something up rather than admitting that it had been saved from the Peachtree Hills Yard Sale. Or perhaps I could have made the cloth into a shower curtain, albeit one that was a little worn and that may not have completely covered my shower. But after seeing this shower curtain née bed sheet in the home of Kate Rheinstein Brodsky, well, I wish that I had thought of this. The napkins could have come in handy too. They would have made great tray cloths. You know, for when I serve myself breakfast in bed on my breakfast tray. I really do have a breakfast tray, and it's actually Porthault. I wish it got used more often than it does, but going to all of that trouble to set a tray for yourself is a drag. You need someone to do it for you...like CZ Guest. This is probably why her tray, above, looks so enticing. Or, I could have used a napkin to protect my bedside table from my water glass. Two of the chicest people I know use Porthault cocktail napkins for such a thing: Chris Spitzmiller and Todd Romano. Oh well, I know that Mom's Porthault is probably in a good home now. In fact, I remember how quickly the female customer scooped it up. I bet she thought my sister and I were a bunch of dummies. And you know what? She was right! (Deeda Blair photo from House Beautiful, 9/2001; Brodsky photo from Elle Decor, March 2010, William Waldron photographer; CZ Guest breakfast tray from House & Garden, June 2004; Romano bedside photo from New York Social Diary, Jeffrey Hirsch photographer)

I wanted to share this treasure with all of you. Oh my! While I have been unpacking our latest shipment of antique French Linens, I have relished each and every page of The Book of Fine Linen, writ…

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Last fall as I was writing about the history of the the luxury linen house D. Porthault, I became intrigued by the company’s incredibly chic and elegant owner, Joan Carl. In 2005, Francophiles Joan and her husband Bernard purchased D. Porthault with a vision to preserve the venerable 90 year-old French company. As a loyal client for […]

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would it be weird if i just climbed in? #porthault (Taken with Instagram)

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Last fall as I was writing about the history of the the luxury linen house D. Porthault, I became intrigued by the company’s incredibly chic and elegant owner, Joan Carl. In 2005, Francophiles Joan and her husband Bernard purchased D. Porthault with a vision to preserve the venerable 90 year-old French company. As a loyal client for […]

Learn the story behind the world-renowned purveyor of fine French linens.

I took a very quick business trip down to New York last week—all told i was gone from home for a grand total of 37 hours. While I was there I managed to squeeze in a visit with my lovely friend Peninah, who was gracious enough to entertain me even though she is about to have a baby any moment now. The other highlight of my trip was to D. Porthault. We've all seen their linens in House Beautiful, Elle Decor and countless other shelter magazines. The image that first made me crave a hit of Porthault in he bedroom was Rita Konig's own bedroom in Domino. I love the play of the prints in her old bedroom. Then this Michael S Smith bedroom in House Beautiful sealed the deal. I love the mix of blue patterns: paisley, hearts, stars and a bold border. Visiting the store was so much fun. I snapped some photos while I was there with my iPhone and thought I would share. Here is a view from the entrance of the store. I loved the antique mirror walls and display tables. The store was very appropriately decorated for the month of March with the pois de senteur, lilas yellow, and trefles green patterns heavily featured throughout. What I love about Porthault is the mix. Check out the riot of pattern in this sachet display. I love how all of these pillows work together even though they are different patterns and different pinks. This display wall was particularly inspiring. I just love how the company effortlessly mixes their prints to create a very fresh look. Here is a close up of one of the pairings. Very Kelly Wearstler, non? It was also interesting to see the range of merchandise. Porthault has much more than bed and bath linens, you can pick up these adorable robes to coordinate with your interior. And check out those cute frames and lingerie bags on the table. My focus was on some of the more well known Porthault patterns such as the coeurs and bouquet éclaté which I wanted to pick up for my own home. Sadly the pillows I wanted in the bouquet éclaté were not available, but fear not, they are ordered. In the meantime, these two darlings made it safely back to Boston with me and have now taken up residence on one very lucky little girl's bed.

I recently reread author D. J. Taylor's excellent book on the "Bright Young People", those 1920s-era young, upper-class whippersnappers of London whose antics were heavily chronicled by the British newspapers of the time. Cecil Beaton, Evelyn Waugh, Brian Howard, Nancy Mitford, and their ilk made up this tightly-knit group of revelers who pretty much partied their way through the decade. I have to say that after reading Taylor's book for the second time, I am left with conflicting opinions of this group. On the one hand, I admire the writers that Waugh and Mitford became. On the other hand, I think that as a whole, the Bright Young People were mostly vacuous, self-centered people who seemed incapable of understanding- and filtering into- the world outside of their clique. No matter whether one finds the bright young set obnoxious or dazzling, I believe most would agree that this group makes for interesting reading. One Bright Young Person who was mentioned numerous times in Taylor's book was Nancy's sister, Diana Mitford, seen above as a young woman. Mitford married Brian Guinness during the 1920s, and they went on to become two of the leading lights of their social set. (Or, to use today's terminology, they were a "power couple" amongst their cohorts.) As we know, Diana Mitford Guinness scandalized her family by throwing over Guinness for Oswald Mosley, the fascist politician who founded the British Union of Fascists and later, the New Party, which included the infamous Blackshirts. Diana and Oswald would later marry in Germany at Joseph Goebbels' house (where Hitler was in attendance, no less,) espouse fascism, be interned during World War II, and eventually end up living in France. Political persuasions aside, Diana and Oswald Mosley did have a pretty home in Orsay known rather grandly as Temple of Glory. While the interiors seemed to reflect their French locale, the house also had a very British feel to it, cozy thanks to books and bibelots. According to The Finest Houses in Paris, in which these photos appeared, the house had few rooms, prompting one guest, the Duchess of Windsor, to query, "It's a charming place, but where do you actually live?" Pale blue, Diana's favorite color, made appearances throughout the house, especially via walls and fabrics. An enthusiastic entertainer, Diana often invited guests to Sunday lunches, where her Irish butler prepared the meals. For her table settings, Diana preferred to use her rare Saxon porcelain china, placing it directly on the table sans place mats. And candied fruit (see below) was frequently served after dinner. All in all, the Mosley house was very elegant and inviting. It's too bad the same thing can't be said for their politics. All photos from The Finest Houses in Paris by Christiane de Nicolay-Mazery, I. B. Tauris publisher, 2000.