Category: Historical Design

Historical design research and historical design movements are the foundation of all design, and they are subjects I write about often. I adore certain periods of history but rarely come across a design movement I don’t enjoy.

One of my heroines of historical design is Jacqueline Kennedy Onasis. She had such an eye for great design, which reflected her classic fashion sensibilities and she wasn’t afraid to stand up and say when an interior or a piece of architecture deserved preservation—two of her greatest achievements along these lines the White House and Grand Central Terminal. I go on an excursion with her and her sister Lee, which they illustrated in a beautiful slim, large format book titled One Special Summer.

In my post A Backward Glance on Rue de Varenne, I fantasize about actually getting into Edith Wharton’s apartment on that storied street rather than standing in the rain as I have on two trips to Paris—longing to see what’s behind that statuesque door in terms of the buildings historical design. So far, no success, but I’ll keep trying! In my piece, Courtesan Style Counts, I look at a gorgeous chair called the Courtesan through the eyes of the English Demi-Monde in their heyday. And in Henry VIII’s Cult of Cloth, I look at how the Tudor king used textiles to make like more sumptuous.