Town & Country April 2015

EDITOR’S LETTER I WAS TOO YOUNG TO BE AN Elvis fan while he was still alive, but my sister Susie, who was three years older, wasn’t. We were living in a duplex apartment in Houston at the time. My father had recently moved us there from West Texas, where, for most of the previous two decades, he had had a successful practice as a general dentist. He had never liked the à la carte demands of those days: X-rays and prophylaxis, toothaches and flings, bridges and crowns. He performed high-quality work but, being cursed by perfectionism, dreamed like a perfectionist, imagining the truly perfect work he would do if he could do only one thing and do that one thing repeatedly and endlessly, like the golf pro or the marksman…

1 MAX VADUKUL “This season couture has been about romance, experimentation, and the link between generations,” says Vadukul, who shot “ARCHITECTURAL MODELS” (page 150). “Here I am in 2015 photographing Stella Roversi, a stunning beauty who’s the daughter of Paolo Roversi and Laetitia Firmin-Didot— one of the first models I shot for Per Lui magazine, in 1985. Te lineage goes on and on.” Vadukul lives in New York City. 2 VICKY WARD In “BUYER’ S REMORSE” (page 134) Ward writes about the recent leadership drama at Sotheby’s and Christie’s. “I came away thinking you don’t ever want to bid at auction without really having done your homework,” she says. “As one person said, ‘If you’re sitting there with a paddle and you don’t know who the sucker in the room…

I was delighted to see this photo again [December/January]. I was 25 when Slim Aarons took this picture of me, and I had been married a year. We would spend the winters skiing: We had an apartment in Gstaad, and we would go from there to Cortina d’Ampezzo, then drive to Lech. My husband knew Slim, who was terrific—tall, handsome, and talented. He photographed me three times—in Lech in ’79, Cortina in ’83, and in Gstaad in ’85. To see this picture now makes me wish I were that age again. It was an exciting time in my life. And I still have that coat! Congratulations on the rejuvenation of the magazine and for including just a little bit of its past. LUCY HAMILTON, ST. HELENA, CA` DEFENDING BASIA I…

FAST CROWD WHILE THUMBING THROUGH one of Cecil Beaton’s unpublished scrapbooks two years ago—enjoying a peek at a friend’s rarefied collection—I stumbled on a blurry black-and-white photograph of a tousle-haired youth. Beneath it Beaton had scribbled a caption: “Horrid Madboy.” It was a thrilling discovery, as it offered a unique glimpse of the destructive animus between Beaton, the venerable photographer, and robert Heber-Percy, the sly young man in the picture. known for the spontaneous antics that earned him the nickname “Mad Boy,” robert relished the shock value of riding naked on horseback at Faringdon House, the idyllic oxfordshire estate of his three-decadesolder lover, Lord Berners, an elegant, monoclewearing novelist, painter, and composer who wrote music for Diaghilev’s Ballets russes and was admired by Stravinsky. I sensed that Beaton’s photo would…

DONNA KARAN NEW YORK Town & Country partnered with Donna Karan new York on December 5 for an event at the Americana manhasset boutique, hosted by infuencers monique Bloom & haleh Damaghi. timed with Americana manhasset's champions for charity, this special occasion was in support of the hUGs fund to beneft cohen children's medical center MAX MARA on november 7, T&C and max mara celebrated victoria tennant's new book, Irina Baranova and the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo. hosted by irena and mike medavoy, the industry event took place at the max mara boutique on rodeo Drive and featured a DJ set by Daisy o‚Dell. over 120 stylish guests shopped the latest max mara collection in support of Brentwood school. TO ACCESS OUR EVENTS AND PROMOTIONS, GO TO TOWNANDCOUNTRYMAG.COM/INSIDER GAIN…

ARTS & CULTURE COACHELLA April 10–19 The California music festival will offer AC/DC, Jack White, and Drake, as well as a strong lineup of socialites in this year’s haute bohemian looks. LAKE FOREST SHOWHOUSE AND GARDENS April 25 We can’t promise that Jake Ryan will materialize, but an impressive roster of designers has transformed director John Hughes’s 1929 Lake Forest estate. AN A MERICAN IN PARIS April 12 Based on the word of mouth from its sold-out Paris run, this play is not to be missedwhen it pirouettes to Broadway. DOCTOR ZHIVAGO,THE MUSICAL April 21 How to top Julie Christie in that fur hat? Add show tunes. JAZZ & COLORS April 24 Washington Crossing The Delaware with a song. Fifteen jazz bands take over the galleries at New York’s Metropolitan…