Make Gloves, Not War: Perrin Paris

If you are looking for something new and fresh, not oversold or cliche, then you need to go to Perrin Paris.  Since 1893, Perrin Paris has been making the most exquisite leather goods, specializing in glove making.  The house has evolved with every year, and currently Perrin Paris creates the most beautiful handbags, clutches, totes, sunglasses, and, of course, gloves.

I recently visited the Beverly Hills store over the weekend and came out with a few treasures.  I found the perfect guest gift for a dinner party I'm hosting on Friday night, a special Christmas gift for a friend, and a little something for myself: the incomparable Ball Bag.

One of my fave people: Clo Perrin modeling the gold Ball Bag

Croc Sunglasses: the ultimate in chic.  Forget those CC glasses that everyone has!

Quelle Heure Est-il? glove: any watch will do

I also was able to have a sighting of the beautiful and talented, Sally Perrin, a friend and Creative Director of Perrin Paris.  She is always a delight and introduced me to my first Perrin bag with the Capitale Clutch as a gift.  With her husband, Michele, they have pushed this design house into the future with their curious designs, impeccable craftsmanship and avant garde visions.

Sally and Michele Perrin: classically wonderful

Giving my best Perrin: Capitale Clutch

Three boutiques adorn the world in Beverly Hills, Paris and New York.  I highly suggest that you visit a boutique and see for yourself how special all of their pieces are.  And if you're still looking for a unique and elegant gift, look no further!

Manhattan's Guggenheim in Black and White

If you've never walked through the Guggeheim Museum, now is the time to do it.  Currently through January 23, the museum is showcasing an exquisite Pablo Picasso show: "Picasso Black and White".  With over 100 works spanning the decades of 1904 to 1971 in either sculpture, painting or studies, this body of work is what Picasso is all about.  The exhibit tells the story of his life in black and white, early times of love, days in Provence, love betrayals and muses, French occupation in the 1940s, reconstruction of the 1950s, and old age after.

Bust of a Woman (Marie-Therese, 1931)

What is striking is how much his muses affected his work.  Marie-Therese seems to be the highlight of this show as you watch her evolve from young girl without any power or control into a woman who took his work on a detoured path.  I enjoyed reading about the collaborations Picasso had with musicians, choreographers etc in the 1920s and early 30s.  

Two Women (1907-08)

Olga in a Fur Collar (1920)

Milliners Workshop (1926)

The period of Holocaust is striking and terrifying to see.  Death and destruction consume and dictate a somber mood in the work that is widely overlooked.   And it seems as you walk through the exhibit that perhaps Picasso never gets over what he'd seen in France, the Spanish Civil War Guernica and visions of the Holocaust victims from the Nazi genocide.

The Charnel House (1944)

Cat and Rooster (1953)

Sylvette (1954)

But going to the Guggenheim is more than what is housed inside.  Sometimes beauty does conquer all.  Sometimes you can tell a book by its cover.  Sometimes the outside can be more important than what's on the inside.  Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1943, the Guggenheim is one of the world's most revered museums, but it also is recognized as a work of art in and of itself.  Wright was not able to see the completion of the building before his death.  

The ongoing question when you visit the Guggenheim is whether to start at the bottom and walk up or start at the top and walk down.  This show moves chronologically from the bottom up.  I would love to re-visit and start at the top.  Would it be more uplifting to see a young man's love of beauty as you head out the door into the beautiful and breezy Manhattan?