I cannot thank you all enough for your outpouring of love and concern. I am healthy in mind and spirit and am quite grateful for the many messages from dear friends and extended community. As you probably know from The Chiffon Trenches, I’ve experienced many peaks and valleys in my life and remain quite resilient. The matter we are dealing with is unfortunate, but will be handled by my very capable legal team at this time. To Akeem Smith and the people who put up the Go Fund Me and those who have contributed, I appreciate the thoughtful gesture and generosity, but it is completely unnecessary. 📸// Alice Springs #thechiffontrenches #resilience #cfda #vogue
On the grand Pont Alexandre III in Paris, France, in Tom Ford court coat, Ralph Lauren black tie, Charvet shirt, Roger Vivier court shoes, photographed by Jonathan Becker, my favorite bridge in Paris. Paperback writer: Chiffon Trenches, my New York Times best-selling memoir goes on sale in paperback next week. It has been a long, hard year but the memoir has bought me incredible joy and news. I was nominated for a Grammy award for audio sound, which was a first. To be nominated is already a win. And the most incredible joy I sustain, is that I learned last Sunday, I am a Chevalier de l’ordre des arts et des lettres, of the French Republic. This was the best day in my life, to be in the august and impeccable body of Chevaliers: Diana Vreeland, Tina Turner, James Baldwin, Rudolph Nureyev and for a black man educated in public schools in Durham, North Carolina, I thank my French teacher, the late Cynthia P. Smith, who wrapped me in French: the language, the culture, style, history and literature. I also want to thank Wanda Garrett, my English teacher, who still resides in Durham, and who is a member of the Links Chapter of Durham, who had her own television show in Durham, early in the Sixties. She somehow knew that I was special. Oh how I wish my mother, my father, William Carroll Talley, and my grandmother, all her nieces and nephews, all her siblings , and all my cousins who have gone on to glory were here. Photograph by Jonathan Becker #JonathanBecker #tomford #ralphlauren #abyssinianbaptistchurch #cfda #thechiffontrenches #hamishbowles #monoloblahnik #virgilabloh #marcjacobs
First Monday in May
First Monday in May
First Monday in May
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First Monday in May
First Monday in May
André Throwback: The moment in time, waiting alone, in the basement of the Louvre, for a Valentino show to begin. I am wearing, a beautiful gray twill Chanel jacket with brass buttons and four pockets, designed just for me by Karl Lagerfeld. It was the second jacket he made for me in the couture, and at that time, M.Pacquito was chief of tailoring. My turtleneck is English cotton, and my officer trousers with the contrast stripe are from Welsh & Jefferies, Savile Row. It is where the English Royals go for military dress. I have many trousers like this in every conceivable color and contrast, best ones, evening dress, with big gold braid. The shoes, inspired by a pair of 1930s ski boots in the Hermès archives, Paris. I loved them so much, simply because they had red shoelaces,and still have them in my Paris archives closets in North Carolina. That was when I felt like life was all sunshine, and very few dark clouds. I did make it into the Intrenational Best-Dressed Hall of Fame. Look at how I look, what a grand and elegant giraffe, if I had to compare to another creature. #valentino #hermes #paris #welshandjeffries #thechiffontrenches #armani #amyfinecollins #tbt
“André Leon Talley is being honored with the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. The former creative director at Vogue and author was notified by mail by France’s minister of culture Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin.” “Established in 1957 to recognize artists and writers, as well as others who have contributed significantly to the arts in France, the Order of Arts and Letters has been awarded to Robert Redford, Meryl Streep and Paul Auster, among others. Joining the ranks of recipients like James Baldwin, Tina Turner, Lee Radziwill and Rudolf Nureyev energized Talley.” 🙏 @wwd #france #chevelierdesarts #vogue #cfda #tomford #paris
It’s Kaiser Karl (Lagerfeld) and Andre (the tall skinny beanstalk (Leon Talley) in 1977, at the legendary wedding ball of the late @ysl muse, Loulou de la Falaise, to Thadee Klossowski. Paris, on the ile du bois, a special evening where I flew over to Paris, and Karl and I went together. We were on the official list of invited guests sent out by the house of YSL. Karl’s love of his life, the late Jacques de Bascher was not invited. He caused the complex rupture of friendship between Karl and Yves. He dangled his dazzling sexual chemistry on a tightrope in front of Yves; and Karl seemed amused by it all. Lagerfeld and I were in our second year of friendship. When we met, through Andy Warhol, in May , 1975, we got on like fireworks in a spectacular display. Lagerfeld was way ahead of everyone, even then, we climbed into a high Range Rover as a luxury sedan to go to the ball, which lasted until dawn. Lagerfeld, resplendent and I, in a hand me down custom made Halston white dinner jacket, and a cotton kerchief carrying my evening stuff, ( a comb and a mini camera) to catch the likes of Bianca Jagger , in a Zandra Rhodes crinoline, where Yves stood her against a wall and decorated with fresh palm fronds, or where I missed all the decadence, going on, on the outer edges (drugs, sexual dalliances! hetero and homo). I flew over coach to Paris, and stayed in the late Joel LeBon’s flat where Picasso once lived. Tina Chow, came over for the wedding , wearing her favorite Fortuny silk dresses wrapped around her throat as a muffler to the gay Club Sept. What was so wonderful about going out with Lagerfeld in 1977: he was a rising star in the fashion galaxy, designing for Chloe, the luxury ready-to-wear French house and Fendi. I was on a fast track , speed dial, tutorial learning everything from Karl about Eighteenth century France: style, art, design, fashion, arts de vivre. Everything about Karl was exceptional, and elegant. There was nothing seedy, or vulgar, nothing perverse, then or ever, during our near four decades of friendship. Those were the great days of my youth. #wwd #thechiffontrenches #karllagerfeld #vogue #dvf #andywarhol
Manolo Blahik and yours truly in Manhattan, somewhere. We are like brothers and have always been. Manolo is the most elegant man I know. He could have been an interior architect, a set designer, as well as shoe king. He has designed beautiful wrought iron furniture, that he cast in his beautiful town, Bath, England. Manolo has a marvelous house on the Crescent in the historical city of Bath. We used to spend glorious weekends in his Luchino Visconti rooms, he decorated on his own, with roaring fires watching Visconti films before there were cable boxes. He had all Visconti and Bertolucci films in his library. My favorite pastime, was to walk into town to the bookstore and come home, and watch Manolo bake a cake in his AGA oven. The house had all the style of those great English homes you see where cozy means really cozy, yet it is grand. Oh, did we laugh, just the two of us. My best country house weekends were spent with Manolo in the Eighties, just the two of us. I once went to London and spent an entire week, reading to him, the entire works of Camille Paglia: Sexual Personae and Sex, Art, and American culture. Out Loud. The main purpose of my trip was to sit by his bed, every day from eleven a.m. to four p.m. reading out loud, in a clinic where he was convalescing after surgery. We had the best time, as he lay in bed and I sat there, every day having very little food and reading out loud from Paglia’s great essays. I met Bianca Jagger through him, she has all his great designs from decades in storage. Manolo Blahnik’s suits from Anderson and Sheppard are the most dandy, pure dandy suits ever ordered. These are moments in time, timeless, precious and always there. #vogue #thechiffontrenches #manoloblahnik
Vogue; All-IN! @amandascgorman cover of Vogue is not only brilliant and modern, it is in the history of the great magazine, a first. A first for so many levels, but more importantly, its the first time a poet , an African-American poet, has appeared on the cover. It is historical because a black man @virgilabloh of @louisvuitton designed the Kente cloth, classic African heritage cotton, from his native Ghanian culture. The poet laureate, Amanda read her exceptional poem; The Hill We Climb at the 2021 Inaugural of President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris. We ALL: we are continuing to climb hills, hills of healing, hills of forgiving, and climbing hills and mountains of overcoming all adversity, systemic racism and inequity. Dame Anna Wintour accelerates her promise of inclusivity and diversity, gently putting her Manolo Blahnik sandals to the metal. This cover is yet another soaring moment in the history of Condé Nast – It is a cover all mother’s and grandmothers and aunties of any color would want their young daughters to see and experience. Exceptionalism and Excellent creative force done by photographer @annieleibovitz styled by fashion editor @gabriellak_j #vogue #cfda #louisvuitton #virgilabloh #kente #tomford #dvf #ralphrucci #alexandrakotur #monoloblahnik #arimelber
ANDRE; ALL IN. HERE, ME THE SKINNY, IN MATSUDA, SWEATER, CHARVET SOCKS AND BROOKS BROTHER’S CLASSIC MOCS: Christmas mourning in 1989 at Karl Lagerfled’s country estate Le Mee. The furniture in the salon is rare 18th Century Italian, a settee with chairs. Of course, I lost my grandmother and Diana Vreeland, that year. So on Xmas eve, I went by Concorde to Paris, was shuttled off by car, Briam, (he was the chauffeur then) and Karl hosted me for two weeks, into January. Karl had also lost the love of his life, Jacques de Bascher earlier that year, so we both mourned. He was never seen before lunch, (often and frequently served at 4 p.m.) and everyone was served breakfast in bed. We changed clothes,and dressed to the moral codes of dress of our host. Food was superb, personal service, out of this world, next level quality. Diptyque candles were lit in every room, and burned all day. Saffron yellow Porthault towels were abundant. Linens were changed every single day. There was a hidden staff, I never saw the staff until dinner was served or when they came with my breakfast tray. If lunch was at 4 in the afternoon, then dinner might happen at 9:45 p.m. and last until the early hours of the morning. Karl once loaned me the sofa that I am seated on, but he made sure he asked for it back when I returned to New York in 1995. Karl was that generous. He would lend you rare suites of furniture and then ask for them back. The flowers in a fresh wicker basket were from Moulie Savart, where Karl spent fortunes for years. The best florist on square Palais-Bourbon, just a door down from Vogue’s Paris office. I loved Karl’s sense of luxury, and he always sent his favorites huge wicker tubs of flowers. #karllagerfeld #paris #chanel #diptyque #mouliesavart #chanel
First Monday in May #metball #metgala
FLASHBACK : LEE AND ME. SHE IN HER BRAND NEW MARC JACOBS RED COAT, HE DESIGNED JUST FOR HER, WHEN HE WAS AT LOUIS VUITTON. WE WERE IN THE GREAT PARC CITROEN, AND LEE WAS SO THRILLED WITH HER NEW COAT. She died Feburary 15, 2019 and left specific instructions for her invitation only funeral. She wrote everything down by hand to the choice of sweetpeas , the music. Marc Jacobs and I sat next to each other. I wore a coat Lee loved, a sable lined nylon greatcoat by Karl Lagereld for Fendi. Lee Radziwill loved both Marc and Me, like we were her brothers, she never had. She gave us the joys of unconditional love, shared her style, her homes, her wit and humor, and her knowledge about living. Another great friend was Martin Grant, designer who dressed Lee in the same little fencing jacket, but in every conceivable color, fabric, including leather and fur. I introduced them. Lee went on her last holidays by the sea with Grant in August, renting Jacqueline de Ribes great house in Corsica. Sad she left us without her own penned memoir, but her visual memoirs are resplendent #assouline #marcjacobs #tomford #cfda #silvanavenurini #fendi
Queen Bey: All-IN. 28 . Beyoncé has been our Queen forever. And so we must salute her with her history making night at the 63rd Grammy Awards. She now counts 28 , the most any female artist has ever earned. This is the relevance of women power. Our Queen Bey, She is beautiful, she is talented, she is a role model for all little girls and young women and transgender globally. The last time I saw her at an intimate private event, was Steve Stoute’s wedding. She was so gracious, kind, always has been. Her style endures. Ricardo Tischi at Givenchy couture made her elegant and provocative, and bold transparent illusion sheaths, as in this exquisite black spangled dress with a train of lavender colored ostrich plumes, for the THE MET, 2017. Her hair was pulled back in a simple braid. She was so full of joy that evening. I found out , at the last minute, she was thinking of coming. Her Tischi dress arrived and she decided, at the last minute, it was a go. She arrived in a huge black mini van-bus because of the train and the Mae West silhouette, scorching the red carpet at the last minute with an 8:30 p.m. arrival, just as the dinner bell was ringing. I knew she was coming alone, that year, without her husband, and thought she would like to be escorted up the steps with someone from Vogue. Yours truly; stood there, calmly , waited for her to descend and slowly walked her up the steps stopping to chat with Entertainment Tonight. I was so proud wearing my black Balenciaga court coat, designed by Nicholas Ghesquire. I maintain all my Met Court capes and coats at Garde Robe. It was a moment! #thechiffontrenches #vogue #metball #beyonce #givency #balenciaga #louisvuitton #garderobe #beyhive #grammys
Anne Bass died last year on April 1. She was the wife of billionaire, Sid Bass and she was my dear friend. Another great, grand lady who saw in me, the possibility of being a close knit friend, not just a superficial, light bulb in the chandelier of New York, Paris, and Connecticut. She studied art history at Vasssar and became a collector of great contemporary art, which hung on nearly every wall in her homes, as well as for her exceptional gardens. “Perfection is everything to Anne Bass.” I wrote that in her first big Vogue spread in 1988 , which featured the glamorous rooms of her Mark Hampton Fifth Avenue apartment. It also was the apartment where I spent many wonderful evenings at dinner, often with Bass, wearing her Chanel couture, short dinner dresses. Anne and I over the years, had so many wonderful moments as friends. Here in this photo in the spring of 2004, she warmly and most affectionately is photographed with me at the premiere, performance of yours truly, in The Martha Graham Dance Company. I was a guest performer, in the amazingly charming dance, based on the “The Owl and the Pussycat” originally created for Liza Minelli. Ralph Lauren designed my outsized herringbone tweed cape and plus fours, and also the black to the floor Russian greatcoat( I am wearing here.) She clearly showed how happy she was with my performance. Others who attended my seven performances, including matinees, were Diane von Furstenbeg, Lee Radziwil, Karl Lagerfeld , Anna Wintour, Vera Wang. It was a moment for me I will cherish forever. Anne was the real deal. The last time I saw her was for lunch at Majorelle, with another friend. Her friend, artist Julian Leftbridge called me one day and said. “Anne is not long with us, you are at the top of her list of people she wanted to contact to be told of her battle with cancer.” It was such a sad day for me. I miss Anne as I miss all the great women in my life: my grandmother, Bennie Frances Davis,Julia Reed, Diana Vreeland, Sao Sclumberger, Lee Radziwill and now Anne. #zacposen #vogue #dvf #ralphlauren #JulianLefthbridge #yslfoundation #womensmonth
Grace Jones, on Ebony magazine cover in July 1979, when she emerged as Disco Queen. Ebony magazine, has just published Covering America by @Rizzoli. This is a great book, showcasing every cover from the first in 1945 to 2020. Founded by John H . Johnson, Ebony magazine was the African-American community’s answer to Life or Look, It was family oriented, yet it focused on every aspect of life in this country and the world that dealt with black culture. For one December cover, Louis Armstrong was featured with the brassy Tallulah Bankhead. Lena Horne, and Aretha Franklin had so many covers. It is a compendium of the history of the struggle for quality, success, and progress of Black people. Based in Chicago, another great contribution was Johnson’s wife, Eunice Johnson, the founder of Ebony Fashion Fair, who gave annual traveling fashion extravaganzas to the United States and Puerto Rico. She was the first Black woman to proudly take a front row seat in Paris and buy French haute couture, in 1958. I worked for Mrs. Johnson, for one year in 1982, flying by Concorde to Paris, with her and her daughter Linda, to buy couture, to create dazzling shows in cities across the USA. Tickets to these shows, were to support local charities, for education, inclusivity, and empowerment. One of my favorite covers was the December 1978 cover of Mounia, YSL’s muse, in a gorgeous YSL hand-embroidered jacket in gold sequins. I am proud of my year with Mrs. Johnson, full time, and I treasure being by her side, when she wrote Ebony checks for jackets like this gold bouillon for $50,000. 00! Mrs. Johnson also embraced giant black Africain-American fashion talents like Scott Barrie, Stephen Burrows and the couturier, B. Micheal, who was the best friend and couturier and escort to Cicely Tyson. In its half century of existence, Ebony Fashion Fair, which started as a charity event for a hospital in New Orleans in 1958, raised 50 million dollars. From that, Ebony Fashion Fair Cosmetics was created and sold in exclusive department stores and retail outlets. #ebony #thechiffontrenches #gracejones #newbook #cfda #vogue #blackfashion
Tiffany & Co. is embarking on the next chapter of its Vision & Virtuosity exhibition, bringing over 400 objects from the Maison’s archives to London’s iconic Saatchi Gallery—a visual chronicle of the storied jeweler since its founding in New York City in 1837, which also marks Tiffany’s 150th anniversary in London. The display takes visitors on a journey through everything from archival high jewelry designs, Tiffany’s famed window displays and its recently acquired Empire Diamond of over 80 carats, to important relics of popular culture such as the original script from Breakfast at Tiffany’s. An accompanying exhibition catalogue, with a foreword by the late André Leon Talley and text by Vivienne Becker, presents the exhibition’s highlights, showcasing creations by everyone from Louis Comfort Tiffany and Gene Moore to Jean Schlumberger, Elsa Peretti, Paloma Picasso, John Loring, and the House’s most influential visionaries. @tiffanyandco @saatchi_gallery @assouline #thechiffontrenches
Tiffany & Co. is embarking on the next chapter of its Vision & Virtuosity exhibition, bringing over 400 objects from the Maison’s archives to London’s iconic Saatchi Gallery—a visual chronicle of the storied jeweler since its founding in New York City in 1837, which also marks Tiffany’s 150th anniversary in London. The display takes visitors on a journey through everything from archival high jewelry designs, Tiffany’s famed window displays and its recently acquired Empire Diamond of over 80 carats, to important relics of popular culture such as the original script from Breakfast at Tiffany’s. An accompanying exhibition catalogue, with a foreword by the late André Leon Talley and text by Vivienne Becker, presents the exhibition’s highlights, showcasing creations by everyone from Louis Comfort Tiffany and Gene Moore to Jean Schlumberger, Elsa Peretti, Paloma Picasso, John Loring, and the House’s most influential visionaries. @tiffanyandco @saatchi_gallery @assouline #thechiffontrenches
Tiffany & Co. is embarking on the next chapter of its Vision & Virtuosity exhibition, bringing over 400 objects from the Maison’s archives to London’s iconic Saatchi Gallery—a visual chronicle of the storied jeweler since its founding in New York City in 1837, which also marks Tiffany’s 150th anniversary in London. The display takes visitors on a journey through everything from archival high jewelry designs, Tiffany’s famed window displays and its recently acquired Empire Diamond of over 80 carats, to important relics of popular culture such as the original script from Breakfast at Tiffany’s. An accompanying exhibition catalogue, with a foreword by the late André Leon Talley and text by Vivienne Becker, presents the exhibition’s highlights, showcasing creations by everyone from Louis Comfort Tiffany and Gene Moore to Jean Schlumberger, Elsa Peretti, Paloma Picasso, John Loring, and the House’s most influential visionaries. @tiffanyandco @saatchi_gallery @assouline #thechiffontrenches
Tiffany & Co. is embarking on the next chapter of its Vision & Virtuosity exhibition, bringing over 400 objects from the Maison’s archives to London’s iconic Saatchi Gallery—a visual chronicle of the storied jeweler since its founding in New York City in 1837, which also marks Tiffany’s 150th anniversary in London. The display takes visitors on a journey through everything from archival high jewelry designs, Tiffany’s famed window displays and its recently acquired Empire Diamond of over 80 carats, to important relics of popular culture such as the original script from Breakfast at Tiffany’s. An accompanying exhibition catalogue, with a foreword by the late André Leon Talley and text by Vivienne Becker, presents the exhibition’s highlights, showcasing creations by everyone from Louis Comfort Tiffany and Gene Moore to Jean Schlumberger, Elsa Peretti, Paloma Picasso, John Loring, and the House’s most influential visionaries. @tiffanyandco @saatchi_gallery @assouline #thechiffontrenches
