Elena Bowes

New York-London design & culture writer of a certain vintage looking for meaning and wholeness in life

Present Ideas – My Top Picks

July 1st, 2016
Personal

I hate to be all about me- but Brexit and birthday in the same week? Not to mention so much rain that I checked Amazon for 1-Click Ark delivery.

But it’s not all bad. Boris is out. One buffoon-coiffed politician down, one to go.

And as regards ageing, there are  some pluses – fewer hairs to pluck (or maybe I just can’t see them), teenage acne is a thing of the past, and the fact that I never learned to cartwheel, dive or whistle is ok. Finally.

The obvious other perk to getting older is, of course, the presents. Great birthday presents are impractical, spoiling and let you dream you’re the diva they say you are –

Like this Charlotte Olympia pug clutch. It demands a sparkling night out on the town.

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And this Le Labo monogrammed scent holder is the ideal companion to my  luxurious clutch.

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I am that woman who whisks out her EB monogrammed scent, dabs it behind each ear – channeling Lauren Bacall – as other diners whisper to one another,

 Who is that divine creature?

Or maybe I’ll head to Rio sporting my new non-synthetic, beyond  comfortable leggings from Asquith –  Do enough downward dogs, and the navel below will be my navel.

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Yes, a good present can transform a person

Or a house …  John Derian’s trio of shops in Manhattan’s  Lower East Side are full of  beautiful handmade objects, like this dragonfly dish…

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Read about his heavenly shops on The Women’s Room or my blog.  And don’t miss his sublime new book John Derian Picture Book coming out this autumn. Anna Wintour wrote the forward.

July 2016