Town & Country August 2016

1976 LAVIE EN ROSE “We’re Dancing Again,” T&C reported in March 1976. To accommodate the craze, New York City granted 45 cabaret licenses that year, one of them to Doubles, a members club–slash– discotheque–slash–rolling backgammon tournament. The club, which turned 40 in May—an eternity in a business where success is measured in dog years— has lately become a favorite among uptown tweens, who congregate there for private school mixers.…

“I don’t do official family stuff if I can help it,” says Zara Phillips, Queen Elizabeth II’s oldest granddaughter, who is known more for her prowess in the saddle than for ceremonial ribbon cuttings. In the last decade the onetime “wild child” daughter of Princess Anne has tamed her public persona, declined most of the tedious obligations that define the lives of her relatives in the House of Windsor, and literally emerged an Olympian. She was the eventing world champion until 2010, she won silver at the World Equestrian Games in 2014, and she has qualified for three Olympiads: Beijing in 2008, London in 2012, and now Rio. Although the queen, who recently celebrated her 90th birthday, remains one of her greatest supporters (“a typical grandmother,” Phillips says), these days…

FOR MORE THINGS TO DO, GO TO TOWNANDCOUNTRYMAG.COM ARTS & CULTURE Through August 21 Bill Cunningham His photos of the historic 1973 “Battle of Versailles” fashion show are on view at SCAD FASH in Atlanta. Through August 27 Gagosian San Francisco The new space opens with an exhibit comparing artists’ 2D and 3D works. Go see the usual suspects: Lichtenstein, Twombly, et al. Through August 14 Van Cleef & Arpels Four hundred jewels will be displayed at the ArtScience museum in Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands Hotel. Don’t miss the rooftop infinity pool while you’re there. Ongoing Dior in London The maison’s new megaboutique in Mayfair now carries the brand’s very first—and very posh—home collection. August 3–5 ArtCrush The Aspen Art Museum’s fundraiser includes an auction, a dance party, and dinner.…

When it came time for Claire Distenfeld, the owner of the boutique Fivestory in Manhattan, to plan her March nuptials to Michael Olshan (who works in finance), she had decades’ worth of inspiration to fit into a weekend’s worth of parties. Jetset emblems of the 1960s—boîtes like El Morocco and the Stork Club, legendary artist Tony Duquette’s colorful home, the photographs of longtime T&C contributor Slim Aarons—were used to recreate the glamour of that era, set against the understatedly chic backdrop of Palm Springs. “She’s a very visually astute person, with such confidence in her style,” says wedding planner and designer David Stark. Together they found malachite tablecloths, de Gournay monkey print wallpaper, and a band to play Sam Cooke classics for the threeday celebration, which included a rehearsal dinner…

Her Imperial Majesty Farah Pahlavi, Empress of Iran, is sitting in her living room in Potomac, Maryland. Behind her is a portrait of a young woman wearing a crown of rubies and emeralds, and a guestbook with notes by Jimmy Carter and King Hussein. She’s telling a story about how she died recently—for the third time. “They said I had a heart attack in L.A.,” the 77-year-old Pahlavi says. “Apparently my body was sent to Egypt to be mummified.” “They” refers to the ayatollahs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who in 1977 overthrew the government led by Pahlavi’s husband, the shah of Iran. Pahlavi believes that the ayatollahs circulate rumors of her death to lure into the open—and punish—Iranians who might be tempted to mourn her passing. She hasn’t…

I support eccentricity. People might say I’m an eccentric myself. Florence Foster Jenkins is a splendid example of an eccentric, as well as the sort of big-bosomed society dowager that I spent my childhood watching Groucho Marx be rude to in movies like A Night at the Opera. These women were usually played by the actress Margaret Dumont, who took Groucho’s abuse so touchingly, and when my agent sent me Nicholas Martin’s script for Florence Foster Jenkins, I flipped: It felt as if it were a film about Dumont. Florence was real, of course—a New York grande dame who loved music. She really did support musicians, including the conductor Arturo Toscanini. She was an amateur soprano who would occasionally give private recitals at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, but she really couldn’t…