Magazine March/April 2025

Anna Sui

Enmeshed in Luxury: Unable to stop a spear but singularly effective at getting people to stop and stare, metal mesh handbags were all the rage at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Benjamin Davidson and Pippa Biddle

Down by the Bay: Erstwhile colonial seat and mid-century destination for the Hollywood elite, San Juan is a city where rich food, good times, and reminders of the past are always just around the corner — nowhere more so than at the Caribe Hilton.
Sharon Kong-Perring

Modern fashion and the automobile in Saint Louis, bouquets for Rachel Ruysch in Toledo, Tamara de Lempicka’s return to Houston, and more.

Wiwen Nilsson, ed. Flavia Frigeri
Gardens for Modern Houses: Design Inspiration for Home Landscapes by Beth Dunlop

Cartier: Jeweler of Kings, King of Jewelers: An exhaustive survey of the global brand’s nearly two centuries of output arrives at the Victoria and
Albert Museum in London.
Jeannine Falino

Walk-in Closet of Curiosity: At the Fashion Institute of Technology, designer clothes and accessories evoke the exotic objects coveted by collectors during the Age of Discovery.
Eleanor Gustafson

At home and in her professional life, the keen eye and advocacy of New York collector and retailer Kathryn Hausman have served to breathe new life into the arts of the Jazz Age, a century on.
Eve Kahn

Maverick, villain, libertine, genius. Austrian eyewear designer Udo Proksch has been known by many names, but the book we excerpt dives deeply into his archive and puts emphasis on his working methods, fecund productivity, and the undeniable impact he had on design in the twentieth century—and to this day.
Luisa Jean Cooper

A fantasia in ceramic, Leighton House in London testifies to the decorative sense of its namesake builder, artist Frederic Leighton, and the craftsmanship of William De Morgan.
Anna Sui with Daniel Robbins

Deploying paste, base metals, and imitation stones in the place of costly gems and other precious materials, costume jewelry has more to recommend it than just its price point. One of the most discerning collectors of the style is fashion designer Norma Kamali, who has been snapping up lux and creative examples from around the world since the 1960s.
Sarah Davis

On the short history and enduring appeal of disposable dresses
Marlen Komar

In the early twentieth century changing social conventions and beauty standards—and the new availability and popularity of cigarettes—gave rise to a materially sumptuous smoking culture, as well as a new consumer base for tobacco accoutrements: women.
Maggie Lidz

For decades, Kelly and Randall Schrimsher have acquired the best of the best in early nineteenth-century American furniture. Now, much of their collection has a period-appropriate showcase in Charleston, South Carolina.
Matthew A. Thurlow