December 25, 2015 Notes: Rendering by Jake Gariepy of Jackie's White House Red Room (circa 1962) decorated for the holiday season. Jackie chose a striking cerise red silk for the walls.  Scalamandré fabric has been a mainstay in the White House's Red Room since the Kennedy era.

Image copyright Jake Gariepy (Dapper and Dreamy)

By Rusty Thomas

December 20, 2015: Before starting my own business, I ran the flower shop of The Carlyle Hotel from 1988 to 1991, where I was in charge of the florals for the public spaces, restaurants, private banquet rooms, and 35 floors of guest suites. Working at the hotel was one of the most cherished times in my career because it was nearing the end of an era when ladies were ladies, and gentlemen were gentlemen. It set a high bar as to what was expected of my work, while teaching me the importance of discretion and respect for the privacy of my clientele.

At that time, The Carlyle was the only five-star hotel in New York for over a quarter century, and early in the morning on my first day, the hotel’s concierge stopped by with greetings and to offer a bit of good advice: “No matter how rushed or overwhelmed you may get during the day, when the phone rings always be calm when answering because you’ll never know who is on the other end.” Boy, was he right. 

Literally everyone who was anyone at one time or another rang the shop for orders, from movie stars to politicians to the titans of industry and the ‘ladies who lunched’. Many times they would stop into the shop, especially if they were staying at the hotel: Audrey Hepburn and Givenchy (he owned an apartment in the hotel), Henry and Nancy Kissinger, Annette Bening and Warren Beatty, Kitty and John Kenneth Galbraith, Dixie Carter, Bobby Short, Kitty Carlisle Hart, Brooke Astor, Olivia de Havilland, Jayne Wrightsman, Julie Andrews, Happy Rockefeller, Lauren Bacall, Elizabeth Taylor, Nancy Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Imelda Marcos, and various Kennedys and Vanderbilts.

You get the picture. Eventually I just got immune to all of them but the one person who could always get my heart racing was Jacqueline Onassis. She was always kind and complimentary of my work, and on some days she could make me laugh out loud--on purpose.

One such day was 25 years ago today. Mrs. Onassis would walk down Fifth Avenue in the mornings on her way to work, and take Madison Avenue for the walk back to her apartment at 1040. Aside from window shopping, it was very clever because that way her back was to traffic, minimizing gawkers and those who might become annoying.

December 12, 2015 Notes: Rendering by Jake Gariepy of Joe and Rose Kennedy's Palm Beach mansion decorated for Christmas. Joe bought the Florida house in 1933 for use as a winter retreat for his family, including wife Rose and their children.

Image copyright Jake Gariepy (Dapper and Dreamy)

December 7, 2015 Notes: Rendering by Jake Gariepy of John and Jackie Kennedy's 3307 N. Street home in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. decorated for the holiday season. JFK purchased the house in time for Caroline's birth in November 1957. They left this residence for the White House in January 1961.

Image copyright Jake Gariepy (Dapper and Dreamy)