home a short history of an idea by witold rybczynski

The first was relatively crude, with masters and servants sleeping in one or two big rooms on beds that were often set up at night and put away by day, so the cooking and eating could proceed. He has something specific in mind, but first he takes us on a tour of the household arrangements of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. All display what Rybczynski calls “invented traditions,” and he goes on to ask what we miss in our present-day arrangements that makes this harking back so alluring. The Bloomingdale’s show is certainly eclectic, yet there is a common note running through its four sections: the rustic Western “Log Cabin” look, the plantationlike “Jamaica,” the huntin’, shootin’, Spartan-tartan-and-brass of the “Thoroughbred” section, and the Early American of “New England.” All, in their costume-drama way, evoke past graciousness. So does his comment, referring to the eclectic results, that “his renown as a designer has been the result of his commercial success, not vice versa.” Calling this designer of life styles-clothes, luggage, soap, eyeglasses, room decor-a tailor releases considerable energy. “Fifty years ago he might have been a tailor or a dressmaker,” he writes. He has great fun with Lauren and his billion-dollar image industry.

He starts off with the present, by taking a wickedly innocent tour of the Ralph Lauren home-furnishings boutique at Bloomingdale’s, New York’s temple to that zone of modishness that is excitingly close to, yet prudently distant from, the cutting edge.

Home a short history of an idea by witold rybczynski