The Pursuit of Style: The New Classics

I have something to confess. I’ve been spying on all of you. Well, sort of. This website has a mechanism which tells me a bit about all of you—how many of you there are, where you live and how you heard about The Pursuit of Style.

This week, I’m ecstatic to say, the number of visitors to this site passed the 1,000 mark. In the 3 months I have been writing this blog, readers from 74 cities in 11 countries have visited. Sure, some of them found it through Google keywords, but the vast majority of them typed the URL in themselves. Which means they heard about it from you forwarding emails and telling your friends. And I would just like to say thank you for helping to make what began as my little "just-for-fun" project into something I now consider a success in its own right. I hope the styles and items I feature inspire and empower you to think more about not just what we do in our daily lives, but how we do it, and how it expresses our personal style and enriches the quality of our lives. So, thank you again. And please keep forwarding those emails!

Back to Basics: In honor of the 1,000 visitor milestone, I thought we should take a moment to get back to basics. Everyone who knows me knows that while I periodically have a schoolgirl crush on a trend, like spin art shirts in the ’80s, Seven jeans in college (I still love their fit, but would never wear the signature squiggle again) and ruffled blouses lately, nothing gets me worked up like my first love, the classics--big, plastic sunglasses, trenchcoats, black cashmere turtlenecks, and black stiletto pumps.

And while a classic is, by definition, something that never goes out of style, a classic can come into style. These are "new classics", items which have recently arrived on the design scene but which you can feel comfortable investing in because they'll be around for a while. Read on for my favorite oldies but (still very much) goodies, followed by the new classics which are not-quite-replacing them so much as adding to the canon.

Objet d' art: Obelisks / Seashells

(Designers in the '60s used obelisks extensively. I recently saw two giant crystal obelisks guarding an entry on a console table--still as gorgeous as ever. I also love how the shape is interpreted as a lamp by Circa Lighting, below.)

Sofa: Upholstered lawson / Tailored & Slipcovered in white

(The Lawson sofa is characterized by arms which are lower than the back and loose cushions.)

Dining Table: Mohagony, rectangular (w/turned-wood or cabriole legs) / Mohagony, round (pedastal)

My solid mohagony dining table has truly withstood the test of time--I'm the fourth generation in a family of design addicts to love mine!

Window Treatment: Silk drapes / Roman shades

Al Fresco Dining: Poolside patio / Walled-in courtyard

Flooring: 3" plank wood / 5" plank wood

Flowers: Roses / Orchids

(A dozen pastel-colored roses will always epitomize chic romance, but don't write off potted orchids as a passing trend--I have both in my house right now.)

Glasses: Martini / Stemless wine

Cabinets: Painted, white / Painted, earthtones

(Wood tones du jour come and go, but painted cabinets never go out of style.)

Living Room Centerpiece: Glass cocktail table on a metal base / Fabric ottoman on a wood base (like in Allegra Hicks' home, below.)