Veranda November/December 2016

Serving Up Style We’ve put together an array of picture-perfect place settings—just in time to inspire your own holiday tables. veranda.com/placesettings Deck the Halls! Access 30 years’ worth of Christmas trees, garlands, flowers, and piles of gorgeously wrapped gifts in a roundup of our very best seasonal decorating. veranda.com/holidaydecorating Toast the Season Cheers! We asked some of our favorite tastemakers to share their go-to holiday cocktail recipes. Milk punch, anyone? veranda.com/cheers follow us a rug giveaway ROLLING OUT THE RED (AND BLUE!) CARPETS Fabulosity is afoot! ATGStores.com, a one-stop decorating source that stocks everything from lighting to hardware to pillows, is giving away gift cards valued at $1,000 each to three lucky readers for use toward the rug of their choice (in whatever color!). The selection runs the gamut—from traditional Persianinspired styles to modern iterations, with thousands of rugs available. Turn to…

“It can be pretty swell to be the recipient of some sort of treasure. It doesn’t have to be an extravagance; sometimes, a simple gesture can be just as meaningful.” When it comes to gifts, I’m of the mind-set that it’s better to give than to get (I’m making my list and I’m checking it twice!). Yet you have to admit that it can be pretty swell to be the recipient of some sort of treasure. It doesn’t have to be an extravagance; sometimes, a simple gesture can be just as meaningful. In Manhattan, someone holding the door for you when your arms are full can seem as joyful as Christmas morning. When I’m feeling harried, having more time is the ultimate gift; on weekends, additional sleep is worth a million bucks.…

in the ’90s and aughts, when Vanessa Seward was working her way through the ateliers of high fashion—she counts Karl Lagerfeld and Tom Ford as former bosses and was later the creative director of the couture house Azzaro—the Argentine-born Parisian dressed to the nines. “It was very precious clothing: lace skirts and always, always high heels,” says Seward. “Everything needed to be dry-cleaned!” In 2011, Seward left the world of haute couture and became a mother, changing the equation. She began collaborating with A.P.C. and eventually launched her own label, with the brand’s support. “A.P.C. is a very laid-back place, and I didn’t know how to dress casual-chic. When I went to the country I’d look terrible, because I couldn’t put together the right outfit. I started obsessing over finding a…

what would happen if you tried to barter a string of pearls for anything these days? Guffaws and swiftly shut doors, however radiant the strand. But in 1917, socialite Maisie Plant wanted nothing more than a Cartier necklace of 128 graduated natural pearls, then valued at a million dollars, and her husband happily traded his neo-Renaissance manse for it. For Pierre Cartier, grandson of the storied jewelry firm’s founder, it was the real estate swap of a lifetime. Located on a coveted stretch of Fifth Avenue in the middle of Manhattan, the building became a fitting flagship for his U.S. operations. But even great beauties can use an occasional makeover, and the Beaux Arts landmark has just reemerged from a four-year overhaul masterminded by Thierry Despont, the architect responsible for the…

victoire de Castellane’s jewelry designs for Dior are celebrated for their gorgeous idiosyncrasies, and she has drawn inspiration from such diverse sources as New Look couture proportions to insects and memento mori. For her latest line, she conjures Versailles and spotlights details from the ne plus ultra of French decorative art. The pieces zero in on tiny details one might overlook amid all the splendor—the faceted angles of a crystal tassel dripping from a chandelier, carved rocaille ribbons in boiserie—and renders them in supple precious gems and metals that speak to cutting-edge modern techniques, all the while gloriously referencing the past. EXTERIOR: ALAMY; SALON DE MARS, CHAMBRE DE LA REINE: ART RESOURCE, NY; SALON D’APOLLON: CHÂTEAU DE VERSAILLES, FRANCE/BRIDGEMAN IMAGES…

DREAM TEAM Baccarat and jewelry designer Marie-Hélène de Taillac have collaborated on a capsule collection of jewelry. The kaleidoscopic array of candy-hued baubles perfectly marries the designer’s flair for color with the house’s famously nuanced and vivid crystal. ALL THAT GLITTERS Colette Steckel’s jewelry pieces are swirling, gem-studded flights of fancy inspired by nature: plumed-feather earrings wrought in diamonds, antler-shaped rings that twist around the finger. Now the French-Mexican designer has a fitting new showcase for her work in Los Angeles. The boutique, devised by Steckel, also takes its cues from the natural world. With touches like a Murano chandelier that looks like a cascade of blossoms, and luxe details such as gold drawer pulls and marble floors, it’s a jewel-box space equal to her stunning creations. 8463 Melrose Pl.; colettejewelry.com. BLURRED LINES Why should…