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With the opening of both the Grace Kelly exhibition at The Victoria & Albert in London, and the Cartier-Bresson show in NYC, this is indeed a month of celebrating beautiful images in black & white. Part III of my tribute to these opposites on the colour spectrum begins with this cool graphic photo of Sophia Loren, looking amazing as always. The polarity of black & white creates a dynamic quite like no other. If in doubt, trot it out when you’re having those fashion meltdowns and questioning everything else in your closet (What was I thinking?!) The black and white combination will always save you. What’s chicer than a LBD with pearls? A well cut pair of black trousers or black pencil skirt with a white shirt and black heels? Done! The one image I searched for but couldn’t find was a really fabulous looking traditional room in a black and white scheme. I know I have one somewhere… Perhaps an excuse to do just one more black & white post?!!
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I’ve always loved this photo of Peter Beard.
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photo Ralph Pucci
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YSL 2010
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Cookie photo from Sweetamb.blogspot.com
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Dolce & Gabbana Spring 2010
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This is not a photo, but rather a tapestry by the artist Pae White, generated from a photograph of smoke.
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Antonio Piccirilli Fall 2010
Such a beautiful dress!
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Chiharu Shiota creates spacial installations spinning a filigreed cocoon of black wool yarn from ceiling to floor around ordinary objects. These photos from “In Silence“
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Marchesa 2010
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“Book Binding: Found Reference” by Cara Barer
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Dolce & Gabbana 2010.
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Camilla Skorvgaard for Amanda Wakely 2010
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Slim Paley photo
Some good reads from my library- The Complete Ripley Novels, New York Stories, A Charmed Life; Growing Up in Macbeth’s Castle, The bookshop at 10 Curzon St.(my favourite bookshop in London), and Angels on Toast by Dawn Powell (btw- read anything by Dawn Powell)
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Isabel Marant Fall 2010
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A winning combination for Slim- black & white, a dhurrie, a big pile of books and a tent- bliss!
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…and this isn’t bad either…
Tom Ford 2010
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Blake’s Hotel, London
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Chanel Fall 2010
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One of the very best scents by Diptique
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Slim Paley photo
A pebbled floor in Greece
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Oh yes!! I could SO go wherever this plane is going! And look at all the wall and ledge space I could decorate- they’d never get me off!
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Chloe spring 2010
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Vera Wang 2010
Wedgwood from the Jasper Collection (1962)
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.Slim Paley photo
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see the hour…so late at night…but the sight of black and white
made the weariness alright. xo
Black and white cupcakes and the Swiss Air cabin……….oooh………and yes, the Tom Ford look , not bad either. One of my all time favorites in B/W is the simple zebra skin rug. Cliched perhaps right now but never passe. Piano keys aren’t bad either. Or a mans tux.
Love the photography…beautiful!
I am right below my fav guy… Hi Gaj. slim i saw the smoke tapestry in person i think it was the bi-annual at the Whitney, it was amazing. B/W is my personal best. Capote party is my uber fav of all time.
Love and adore it all, another fabulous post, with so much beauty and inspiration. Peter Beard stole my heart when I was 12. Me, Peter, the tent…that’s a dream combo! The Isabel Marant
outfit is SO ME! Black and white is my go-to when I just don’t want to have to overthink an outfit. Always classic. I also pack all black and white mix-n-match when I want to pack light for a quickie weekend. Where are those black and white rascally raccoons? ! ; )
And I have a book recommendation for you….”Bright Young People- The lost Generation of London’s Jazz Age”. About the young socialites of London in the 1920′s. Think Cecil Beaton, Nancy Mitford, etc…. And guess what? The cover is B &W!! Interesting read!
Thanks Emily- I had forgotten about that book!
as for rooms…..
a dorothy draper installation in a hotel comes to mind — the photo is out there waiting for you to find it!…
I want to fly first class with the guy and wear that dress
Read the books, go camping in the tent & eat cupcakes.
Black and white is always a fashion statement.
I found the perfect “black and white” room was on the set of the original Mission Impossible.
Tried to find a picture on the web, but couln’t find one. Perhaps you could since you are so much better at finding things on the web.
Your blog is a great way to start the day. Love your pictures and how everything just flows together. Keep it up.
Hi Slim,
I love black and white so much my entire house is black and white. I think it comes from my Catholic school uniform. Deeply ingrained.
~janet
Pencil slim black skirt, crisp white shirt with the collar turned up of course, the perfect black pump, perfection! Maybe your diamond wedding ring, DONE. I concur.
Great Post!
I love the Pae White tapestry piece, the Chiharu Shiota wool yarn installation, the pebbled floor, and the Tom Ford model.
i’d be o.k with a 4th black and white post
We put up an outdoor sleeping tent on Memorial Day weekend and take it down the first weekend in October. Our granddaughters love decorating it and sleeping in it. So do I. Since it is white I think I’ll suggest black and white decor this year — good backdrop for their artwork that we pin up as summer passes us by.I
I enjoy you Black and White posts in particular–thank you!!!
I seem to recall the first time I noticed anything in Black & White outside the realm of my obsession with Truman Capote’s Black & White Ball, my love of old movies, and my Mother’s daring flair by installing black and white tiles in on our old Victorian’s foyer floor– was the Beatle’s ‘Revolver’ cover. I remember being mesmerized by it. I would sit in school and surreptitiously sketch it on my denim notebook.
Black & white foyer floors- one of my absolute favourites! In fact, I’ve been compiling a post about them.
Yes—this was in the early ’60′s. Me Mum also wallpapered the foyer lavatory with New Yorker covers.
The only thing you are missing is a photo of my Santa Barbara private Jewelry Boutique’s black and white striped wallpaper …….. SO chic!!!
Corinna Gordon Jewelry. 805 963 9909
Im with Roxie, san dress of course!
Gaj, when are we flying to Geneva?
I’m so often tempted to turn some of the photos on my blog into B&W -but am afraid people would get bored. This convinces me that b&w is NOT boring. Look -a whole post of it! Next time I’m tempted, I’ll go for it!