I saw Kelly Wearstler's new fabrics a few weeks ago at Maison Luxe and just shook my head.
Remember the early 80s? Remember when every McDonald's had turquoise hard plastic seats and the wallpaper was some kind of watercolor-y pattern in pink & baby blue shades like some kind of fake Sante Fe sunset? That's what the patterns and the colors reminded me of. And I am not saying that in a good way.
The best part about the image above is if you click to enlarge, you can see it says, "...moving on from Hollywood Regency." Well, it's about time.
What does everyone think of this room, featured in this month's Domino (or so I hear, since my issue hasn't arrived yet. Again. What kind of 19th century transportation are you people using to get your magazine to Seattle anyway?).
Saturday, September 20, 2008
My eyes hurt.
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92 comments:
Actually, I love it. It appeals to my girliness. All together like she's done, though ... no. But I like the sharp veer-away she's done. I think given some time that designers will find their ways of picking a stand out fabric like IT and we'll see it everywhere.
Well from what I can see here I would most definitely say "no"! That wallpaper? Eew! I just look at that room and think "porn shoot set"...a "klassy" porn, mind you, but porn nonetheless.
The WORST of the 80s. Ok, maybe not. Country blue with ducks and dried flowers was worse.
Barfy barf barf barf.
Barf.
wait until you see the black & white room with 100 different patterns. Really, I did the 80's and it wasn't good then...
not to bash Domino...they gave my website a nice plug in this issue, but what do you think of wall-to-wall carpet coming back? There is an article about that.
Dear Kelly,
We are not going there with you.
Sincerely,
The Rest of the Damn World
I am not a carpet fan, in general. I prefer wood floors and rugs on them. Carpet always looks filthy (unless freshly installed to be photographed for a magazine, I suppose).
No shit about Domino's snail mail! And Elle Decor! I hear people talk about the new issues on blogs all the time, and mine doesn't arrive in Portland for another week!
I think the room looks awful. Maybe there are better shots of it in the magazine. Who knows. Is Kelly an egomaniac who gets joy off of people doing whatever she says regardless of how terrible it is?
Well, she must love being a trendsetter (who wouldn't), but to be fair, I was speaking with a designer recently who told me that Kelly Wearstler is actually really a great person to know - intelligent & kind. So while I am in no position to dislike her personally, this room is just not doing it for me.
Wasn't she a Playboy bunny? This could explain a few things. I have always thought she was WAY over rated.
Well...I am a super simple girl and this is definately too many patterns for me!!!
Take care~
I didn't do it the first time around.......woof!!! I remember friends saying they thought some ducks might be nice against my terra cotta and navy decor. I had one duck, a cement simple thing on the porch. But....my 4 girls wore pink til I thought I would throw up. Ginny
Totally love the fabric on the headboard. That pattern has to have come from an old Beacon blanket robe.
Looking around, that's pretty much the only part I dont hate...
Yeah, I guess I shouldn't be so snarky about someone I don't know. But what was she thinking? I got my magazine this afternoon, and I think the bedroom would be alright if she got rid of that wallpaper.
I just cannot bring myself back to MAUVE. Can't go there, ya hear!
DO. NOT. WANT.
He who doesn't remember the late seventies is doomed to repeat it.
Yah, this can't be good. I am sure she is probably looking in the archives of some design mag thinking to herself how clever she is to have ressurected the aztec patterns and shades of mauve, peach and blue. I hated it then (OMG! My mother did this look and I was horrified), and I can't even imagine it now. I don't care how much of a trendsetter Kelley is, this is one heap of pooh that needs to be buried.
this reminds me of a cheap hotel...I can just visualize dateline in there with their black lights...
I like it.
But for someone else, not for me.
I really liked a lot of the fabrics and wallpapers from Kelly's line, but this is probably the first project of Ms. Wearstler's I have not swooned over. In fact I really didn't like it at all (sadly I couldn't even find individual elements of the room that resonated with me). When I saw the spread in Domino's I was thinking bad 80's. I guess even the best have a misstep sometimes! And who knows, maybe there is an element that simply isn't conveyed through the pages of a magazine? Kelly will remain one of my favorites despite this folly.
Not only was that watercolor-y wallpaper hanging in McDonald's restaurants, it still hangs in my doctor's waiting room today. I don't get Kelly Wearstler.
so bad it's good...in a really effed up way.
just saying.
yeah, Decorno, Kelly is amazingly kind, involved, and (in my opinion) very talented. but hey, that's why I'm interning for her!
and yes, shes totally digging on the 80's vibe right now...but I love it!
HATE the feature on her home. It would look perfect in Saudi Arabia or Dubai though (especially the black/white room and her ofiice). I guss she and her interns are the only people appreciating and following her "trend".Such a f***ing waste of 8 pages in the magazine and the cover as well.
Absolutely loved Anya Hindmarch's London home though.
Uncle Beefy you are right. I think she cannot help it considering her previous career as a playmate. How cool would it be if she starred in a porn movie shot in that guesthouse. Come on, surprise us Kelly.
Oh GOD it's awful.
Bradlees circa 1981.
Or maybe Caldor's..
You can pick up lots of this kind of stuff at garage sales. Maybe her new "vibe" is ghetto decor.
Part of the reaction I suspect is against Kelly herself.
Its hideous, but the eighties are back, the only people that are really down with that are those that didn't live it the first time round......
If all the OB/GYN offices around the country could afford this crap it is what they'd use.
It should be in a medical supply catalog.
It also pairs perfectly with light pine wood accents all around, silk flowers, 10x12, or larger, framed/hung school head shots and catchy phrase wood plaques like "Bless This Mess".
Total cheez-whiz.
Oh, yeah. The room on the right is totally early 80s flyover state powder room and you can't use the towels because they have some freaking bow around them.
However, I love the Wearstler. When I first saw IT, I ordered her two books from Amazon and when I got them, I returned them. Glamazon wasn't exactly what I was going for. And she was on every page in a gown like she was in a decorating pageant.
But she's unique and doesn't seem to give a shit what people think. So I like that.
One positive: I like the pillowcase in front of the bolster.
I have been in that room; it was in a hotel somewhere. Or a room close to that one.
I don't want to be "transported" anywhere near there!
Hate it. HATE it.
She's jumped the shark.
I know Kelly personally and, yes, she is very sweet, open and friendly. And, in my opinion, very talented. This line of textiles might not be everybody's cup of tea, but her new (relatively) house is unfucking believable. Very sexy and unique. Not mauve-y or anything.
It's the "accessories" (tchotchkes) she developed for Bergdorf Goodman that are godawful: ugly, charmless accretions of material.
Kelly--people are supposed to love their tchotkes! No one can love these. Even if your kid made them in camp, you'd feel no affection for these grotesqueries and would quickly hide them away.
(Domino, being a KW syncophant, shows them not just once but twice in the Oct. issue.)
In college in the 80's, I had a Godforsaken sofa in these colors. It was a floral pattern with the flowers about the size of my ass (that is my ass at the time - not my ass now). Jesus H Christ it was hideous. The sofa - not my ass. My ass was pretty cute back then. Ahhhh Those were the days, for asses - not for sofa fabrics.
It's really bad. An unbelievable case of adult ADD. Not a surprise to learn she's from Dirty Myrtle (Beach), South Carolina, after viewing her rooms. Just awful.
I see that Kelly Wearstler is holding a launch party at her home for the new Domino book.
It's all very one-hand-washing-the-other.
I love that KW is so out there, but this color scheme reminds me of my dentist office's waiting room.
i am so glad someone of respected taste said their tummies hurt after seeing the debacle that is the new kelly wearstler. i hate to poopoo, but, in her defense, i just didnt get it. thanks for the collaboration. for a moment i thought i just didnt understand good design.
xo
Anon 11:33, I don't know Kelly and I don't have anything personally against her, but she's a BRAND and I am a customer (albeit a small one; if I ever won the lottery, she would be on my short list). I've purchased her books, really like about half of what she's done, and totally agree with anon 7:32. She has, indeed, jumped the shark.
The biggest criticism against Kelly is that she basically just re-used Regency as already exhibited before. That's cool, I guess; it's been recycled many times. It's been around for a couple hundred years and it has a lot of timeless appeal. Her recent rendition was mostly good. But I for one was really looking forward to see this new line of wallcoverings, rugs, fabrics, and furniture to see if she's evolved a bit. Nope! Now she's merely using most of the bad aspects of the 80s. It doesn't take much to figure out that most people have a gag reflex when they see, as anon 3:55 succinctly described, aztec mauve. I would be willing to give her artistic license with experimentation if this article wasn't merely an advertisement for her new products. Listen up, all brands, get to know your customer. If you're trying to sell me something, at least try to make it something that I would actually like.
One bad collection does not mean anyone has "jumped the shark."
Watch "Unzipped," a documentary on Isaac Mizrahi's successful return after a bad fashion collection.
And then recall how his career took yet another nose-dive in the following years. (Made money from Target, sure, but his credibility is gone.)
As a designer, I think it is fresh. Trust me people were saying all the same things about hollywood regency in the 80's and 90's. She brought regency back, don't be surprised if she brings mauve back as well.
This isn't what my arpartment looks like, but I love what she is doing.
She's big enough that she can push our greater aesthetic around...so i'd say, deal with it, because you probably will in 5 years anyway...it will all seep back into our rooms somewhere.
anon 5:22: Nope. He is still doing couture collections, for both women and men:
www.isaacmizrahiny.com/collections
"Making money from Target" doesn't ruin "credibility." Ask Todd Oldham, Cynthia Rowley, Thomas O'Brien, Victoria Hagen, Michael Graves...
This is just what she did for her guest house. I agree, it wasn't a success, but is there any indication she is going to inflict this on her clients now? It could have been a momentary whim she indulged.
(Yeah, the black-and-white room is sort of shocking in its badness. I think the bedroom is okay, in comparison.)
Michael Graves. You're right. His Target deal wasn't the death of him, it was The Portland Building in downtown Portland, OR (which came before his awesome foray into toaster-making). That nasty piece of shit building is a black mark on an otherwise lovely little downtown.
But just because Isaac still has an apparel business doesn't mean that he is still an influence on fashion. He makes very pretty semi-custom dresses, but he seems pretty marginal now.
"...i'd say, deal with it, because you probably will in 5 years anyway...it will all seep back into our rooms somewhere."
No. Not my rooms. I never owned a Chinese Chippendale chair or a blue foo dog, either, for that matter. I know how to resist a trend when I need to. :)
"...i'd say, deal with it, because you probably will in 5 years anyway...it will all seep back into our rooms somewhere."
No. Not my rooms. I never owned a Chinese Chippendale chair or a blue foo dog, either, for that matter. I know how to resist a trend when I need to. :)
http://pinknavy.blogspot.com/2007/02/kelly-wearstler-ne-gallagher-shows-you.html
Looking at the actual Domino layout, it isn't terrible.
I'm not a mauve fan, but I've seen worse rooms in Domino.
At least it's not ORANGE, the scourge of apartmenttherapy.com. Orange and big round light fixtures.
Dude, the 70s were gheyer than the 80s, and I remember both decades.
I don't buy the whole "jumped the shark" thing. I think it's wishful thinking.
Artists have good years and bad years. They're up, they're down. Frank Sinatra was thought at one point to be washed up, and he had over three decades of a career still to come.
As for Isaac Mizrahi, he's now the creative director of Liz Claiborne.
I JUST GOT MY COPY IN THE MAIL. I LL LET YA KNOW. BUT MOST PROBABLY- ITS A NO.
OH AND WAHT SWITH THE CRIMPED HAIR?
I love the cover, but the wallpaper and that big leathery puffy chair in the inside? If that's cutting edge, then I think you would find that half of middle America is already very cutting edge.
I got my issue on Saturday and Kelly's room was a NO..some was ok, but the majority gave me a headache, esp the black and white room. seriously, it even looked like it smelled bad
It DID look like it would smell bad!
Genius comment.
What people don't remember is that mauve in the 80s was, itself, a revival color -- part of the 30s art deco revival that happened in the 80s.
I'm not surprised to see KW making that transition from Hollywood regency to mauve. Many of the glamorous Hollywood interiors from the Fred Astaire days were mauve -- we just don't realize that because we only see them in black and whire.
Hands down ugly. I will burn out my eyes before this gets anywhere near my house.
Kelly's dead-turquoise room, on the next spread, is far, far worse than the mauve bedroom.
Totally. I kind of like the turquoise screen, though. It's ostentatious and would be cool in a toned down setting. "Dead-turqoise." Fabulous.
Totally. I kind of like the turquoise screen, though. It's ostentatious and would be cool in a toned down setting. "Dead-turquoise." Fabulous.
Anon 6:20, but that's what is so bad about it! KWID is in bed with every design and shelter mag and spawns copycat kittens like the whore cat that lives behind my dumpster. She's influential. Slowly but surely, this atrocity is going to morph into our near-future aesthetic bliss. We need to stop it.
This is not my taste, but I LOVE it! If only because once again KW has taken design that everyone has discarded, seen the potential in it and made it work. I don't know if anyone saw the Memphis shelves she has in her studio (from Harpers Bazaar)-she's clearly been loving the 80's for a while. At least she's pushing design and not just following the same old trends (bright white walls, some geometric patterns, bit of vintage and pops of colour, anyone?). She's experimenting and pushing herself as a designer.The odds are you probably will find this in a hotel somewhere, all be it a 6 star luxury resort in the Bahamas developed by her husband..What's more you'll all probably be ranting and raving about how fabulous it is on your blogs! Btw her line for BG is beautiful!! p.s.Thanks for the pinknavy link...
Lisa - The mauve of the Art Deco era was typically combined with black (laquer) and white and silver, not dusty blue, which makes it an 80s thing, right?
She even dressed the 80s part: Did you see her pegleg pants? But in an unusual twist, her hair was too small for once. :-)
BTW, loved Uncle Beefy's komment.
People like pieter and Style Court and going to stick with her no matter what. She commands intense brand loyalty, and as long as she does, she's probably not going anywhere, even when various collections prove unpopular. That in itself is impressive.
Agh, I hated it. I got my issue over the weekend and much of it was really great this month, but I really loathed the whole Wearstler story. And I love her/find her extremely amusing on Top Design. I just can't bear to think that this could be the Next Big Trend if people jump on board. (I doubt it, though--too many people are still stripping this stuff out of apartments and stuff to fall for it again.)
Anon 5:58--why don't you let the other blogs speak for themselves. I give both of those sites enough credit to decide what looks they approve of apart from the name recognition.
everybody's entitled to their own opinion and i definitely see your point. but i somehow like it, im not sure if i like it more because kelly is the designer, or because of what the design represents, either way, i like it.
i chuckled a bit about the transportation bit, haha true though.
Not a fan
it makes me want to vomit.
so gross - I haven't been able to pick up my domino to really read it after my first pass through, though after seeing her spread I wasn't yearning either.
Like a 1980s Holiday Inn room - Haven't gotten my issue yet. It does not pass the "would I want to live with it" test. I don't think I could take more than a few minutes in there. It's not harmonious - too busy and the dusty colors are just plain bad. but I do love the huge pink canvas. I guess only time will tell if she's foreshadowing anything great.
like, gag me with a spoon...
my first thought when i saw this room was HELLO 80's! I mean, i get what she's trying to do with reviving some old looks/color schemes, but can we please leave this to the fashion world? who wants to decorate with 80's wallpaper? you're gonna regret it 5 minutes later. appreciate the idea, but do NOT love the outcome.
Wow...You people are so against another person's style. This is who Wearstler is. She's unique, eclectic and all out crazy. Why does that give all of you to bash her style. She's not forcing you to love it nor is she forcing you to buy it...She's showing you how you can be unique in your home and reflect your personality in your home. Let's be a little more democratic with style.
i think people hate it because it's not unique and they already rejected the look 20 years ago...
She needs to make a sharp turn career- wise but I think she veered the wrong way. I'm sure we'll all be turning 80's pretty soon but.... this isn't it - I hope.
It feels stale not re-thought and updated.
Name sounds like a character from Doctor Suess. Patterns are ugly; please don't attempt to bring them back. I like it when she wears funny hats on Top Design. That's that.
I just received my Domino magazine. My eyes hurt too. I actually had a physical reaction to those rooms. Each page there was something worse. I actually wretched when I saw her squiqqle turd painting as the focal point of one of her rooms.
Chris - it's called commentary.
Also - until Domino published reader letters, I will continue to let Decorno be the forum for feedback for their magazine.
Much of it reminds me of the wallpaper and fabrics my father furnished his bachelor pad with after my parents' divorce in 1976.
Let's get real here. The decor was featured in Domino because she is trying to sell it. Guarentee, it will be on the shelves of BG this winter with her name all over it. I agree with allot of the comments that it feels stale. If this is the next direction of design than it needs to be fresh, less literal and more original than what Domino's starry eyed editors would have us believe is the next big trend.
Carol
p.s. Note to Domino....If you wish to be credible as the premier, in the know trend setters you would like us to believe you are, having the subjects of your adoration throw you a party doesn't evoke allot of trust in your ability to be unbiased in your editorial content.
I have a feeling some of the younger design types simply cannot fathom the churning nausea those colours elicit in anyone old enough to remember the 80s.
That wallpaper is a crime against eyes.
I think it's gross too. I'm all for people having their own taste. By all means, go ahead, but when it's in a homes magazine and you're going to be selling it, it's open for the public response. My parents still have mauve carpet, so maybe they're back (if they were ever "there" to begin with.
Just got the magazine. These rooms remind me of the scenes in Goodfellas at Ray Liotta's girlfriend's apartment. SO tacky. Made me glad i did not have disposable income back in the late 70's.
agreed!!! when i got my issue, i was like, "am i the only one who doesn't like her style?" it's soooo over-the-top ornate and not inviting and just not pretty. i know that she is really respected in her field, so there must be something that i'm missing, but i don't get it. thank you for this post! makes me feel better!!
Upon spying KW's rooms in Domino, my hair grew wings and my shoulders sprouted pads and I shreeked "eeeeew!" That wallpaper looks like design on valium. And not in any sort of good way. Sure 80s design is back. But, can't we use only the best of it and not the wretched cruise-ship-stylings Kelly's honed in on?
I know this is late, however here is a small list of trends i have not followed in home decor:
- southwestern
- shabby chic
- pottery barn
- minimalism
- anything microfiber
- wenge everywhere
- hollywood regency
ummmm what else..
- neutrals
- chenilles
- satin bedding, with beaded lamp shades
- and i can prolly kick Wearstler's version of 80's redux out of bed..
funny story though.. i purchaed a MCM sofa from a local vendor in my town who has a HUGE warehouse full of stuff, and when i was there last in APRIL I asked him what was up with all the vintage high end 80's lacquer and tinted glass. His response was "its the next big thing.."
they are having an clear out clearance this weekend... you can play eye spy...
http://www.margiebeeglesales.com/upcoming.html
my boyfriends grandmother then gifted us an 80's chrome and grey tinted glass square breakfast room table. which we decided we liked paired with a set of haywood wakefield style dining chairs (strange but it works in an unpredictable metal and wood way...)
the MOST annoying thing about the spread is Wearstler used her guest house re-hab as not only a way to display her geological nightmare giftwares but also her $400 yard new line of interior fabrics. I theoretically "GET" what she is doing, but the only folks who are going to jump on that thar bandwagon is a new wave boutique hotel with an "honour" bar that opens up in Williamsburg or a penthouse in Dubai.
But on a different note, I LOVE Kelly's wardrobe, fashion sense and personal costumes. (I hesitate to call it personal "style" because lets face it, she really wears costumes...)
I know someone who works very, very closely with Kelly. Whomever said ego-maniac was right. Like Glen Close as that boss from hell, but worse, real, and oblivious that she's like that (or thriving off it). It sounds like a bad movie plot, unless you know the poor soul who has no life because of her, and is appreciated less than the family dog. I don't see the new 'twist' on the old 80s stuff, so isn't that just being a hack, not a designer? I love her Regency stuff. She didn't define that trend or create it, but she imitated it and put together some great rooms. I could do that, though, and don't deserve the reputation of a designer.
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