Well Said: Vincent Fourcade

“I learned my trade by going out every evening as a young man. I went to every pretty house in France and Italy and other places, too, and I remembered them all, even down to what was on each little table.”



So said interior designer Vincent Fourcade (1934-1992), a master of the magnificent.


Simply put, nothing beats keeping your eyes open.

Details Count: Fillet, Fillet, Who's Got a Fillet?

The Dowager Duchess of Devonshire's drawing room at the Old Vicarage, Edensor, Derbyshire, England. Image from Côte de Texas.

I was thumbing through the September 2010 issue of The World of Interiors last night and came across an illuminating comment from the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, who has moved from the family pile, Chatsworth, into an early-nineteenth-century former vicarage on the estate: "One thing I learned from Chatsworth was what a good finish a fillet gives round the cornice, the doorcases, and skirting."

The fillet of which she writes, in case you didn't know, is a narrow strip of fabric, metal, or gilded wood that outlines a room and its architectural features. It is especially useful when one wishes to provide detail without actual bulk, particularly when a room is, well, deficient in architectural charm. In Deborah Devonshire's pale-pink drawing room, show above, the walls and windows are defined by a whisper-thin fillet of plain giltwood, probably three-quarters of an inch in width; its gentle metallic flash adds a touch of animation as well.

One could use grosgrain ribbon to similar effect.

Well Said: Pauline de Rothschild

"The great danger for an American woman married to a Frenchman is to become too French. To assimilate too much of another nationality weakens you. Though on the surface I might not seem to be 100 percent American, I have tried to remain as shaggy inside as possible."

So said Pauline de Rothschild (1908-1976), style icon, fashion designer, hostess, and author.

Well Said: Anita Loos

"I've had my best times when trailing a Mainbocher evening gown across a sawdust floor. I've always loved high style in low company."

So said Anita Loos (1888-1981), best-dressed writer and wit and author of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."

Well Said: Min Hogg

 Min Hogg in a photograph by Peter Schlesinger, 1978. Image from "A Chequered Past" (Thames & Hudson, 2003).

"Why does everything have to be so perfect? Nothing in real life is, you know."

So said Min Hogg, the founder and former editor in chief of The World of Interiors and a firm believer in stylish rooms filled with endearing mistakes, sleight-of-hand solutions, camouflage decorating, and such.

Well Said: Betty Sherrill

Interior decorator Betty Sherrill of McMillen Inc at home in New York City. Photograph by Jeffrey Hirsch, from an article published on New York Social Diary.

"I skipped to school. Nobody skips anymore do they?"

And frankly, more's the pity.