Books,I want

I'm always on the hunt for a book. I have a long list written down on pieces of scraps in all sorts of places - handbags,drawers, other books etc. So....... when I'm out and about I'm always looking out for one of the books on my list. Recently I was anticipating my trip to London as I knew there is a good chance of finding many many books. Of course, it is much to the horror of Darling that yet again I will inevitably be 20kgs overweight on luggage! I had recently read about Fleur Cowles in the January issue of the UK Elle Decoration, and could not wait to get my hands on her book 'The Best of Flair' by Dominic Dunne (a big socialite) and Fleur Cowles herself. To my horror not a single book shop had the book! I was flummoxed, I was in England after all. Why is this? So on returning home empty handed I began my research with aplomb! Thank goodness, there the lovely little red cover was staring at me from my computer - Amazon you are so clever. Then! What! $600.00 Holy smackrels no wonder WHSmith was out of stock. So now I am totally possessed. How am I going to lay my itching hands on the pretty red cover. I am so depressed.



Extract taken from UK Elle Decoration, January 2010, Style Icon



"Fleur Cowles(1908 - 2009) was a go-getter. Her life path was a familiar one for grande dames - obscure beginnings, a series of husbands each more powerful than the last, stellar middle age - but everything else about her was unique. She's best known as the creator of style magazine Flair, which blazed a trail through New York in 1950 but folded just after one year. This wasn't because it was no good - in fact, some have suggested it was spiked by jealous rivals- but because it was so ahead of its time and expensive to make. It boasted hedonistic features such as short stories printed on silk-like paper;pages impregnated with scent;invisible ink that required cigarette smoke to reveal its secrets;and debut magazine pieces by the likes of Lucien Freud and WH Auden.

What makes her an icon? After the press storm that followed Flair's downfall, Fleur bounced back .She already had considerable power - having charmed a series of political leaders on her world travels, she was offered an ambassadorship by President Eisenhower in 1954 - and set her sights on conquering London. Her Piccadilly home, The Albany, was an 18th-century mansion once lived in by Lord Byron and Benjamin Disraeli. Fleur filled its Wedgwood blue drawing room ('the most beautiful in London' she declared) with exotic antiques and her own magic realist paintings of animals and flowers. As well as being exquisitely stylish, it was also well-frequented: attendees at Fleur's salons included Winston Churchill,Cary Grant and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, who'd been cajoled into having their home photographed for Flair in 1950. Not bad going for an ordinary girl from New Jersey - but then Fleur's motto, displayed on her office wall, said it all: 'No matter what you've got, it takes more than that'"



So now you can see why I simply must have this book.



The original copy of the Best of Flair when it first came out in 1996 with HarperCollins. Hardcover.

An upright half page making a heart on either side.

The work of Salvador Dali presented with die-cut shapes on two pages.

'Girl with roses' by Lucien Freud. The card is perforated and was the first in a series of Flair memorable art insets.

The Place Vendome, Paris with eleven little windows to open revealing whats going on inside the building.

A Sixteen page insert featuring the wonderful art of Saul Steinberg.

Fleur Cowles thoughts on Flair written in gold on dark blue Kraft paper. The lovely illustration is by Rouche, May 1950

Famous folk from the Fifties sketch their ideal woman.

An insert about painter Andre Bouchant

A sixteen page insert with a story of carnival life by Gypsy Rose Lee

A sixteen page insert, written and illustrated by Jean Cocteau.

A hard copy edition printed in 1999.

An original Flair magazine cover

Another Flair issue with cut-out cover

Fleur Cowles in her blue drawing room.