Bid for the chance of a lifetime: a private tour of Grey Gardens with Sally Quinn

What an opportunity, and only 2 more days to bid! As I write this, the current minimum bid is $1,700.

From Playwrights Horizons' April Online Auction

Unique Experiences: A Private Tour of the Real Grey Gardens in East Hampton with Sally Quinn

If These Walls Could Talk

The story goes that after her Grey Gardens Estate fell into disrepair and Little Edie Beale was finally forced to sell, she refused to hand the home over to anyone with designs on leveling it for a fresh start. Edie wanted assurance that Grey Gardens’ story would continue to grow even after she was gone, and she found just the right buyers in former Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee and his wife, writer Sally Quinn.

Visit this infamous home in East Hampton and enjoy a personal tour from the owners who have lovingly restored Grey Gardens to its former glory. Not many people can say their home has inspired an acclaimed documentary film and an Award-winning Broadway musical, as well as countless conversations among the enamored and the appalled. Here’s your chance to be a fly on the wall.

Special Instructions

The tour is for up to 4 people. Travel to East Hampton is NOT included. Must be arranged at a mutually convenient time for the winner and donor. Winner must call 4–6 weeks in advance of desired date and provide multiple dates. Subject to availability. Tour MUST take place in August 2010.

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Limited edition prints of Lois Wright's paintings now available for purchase

So we heard about these prints by Lois Wright a while back, but now they're available for purchase online, not just through the Gallery Sag Harbor.

From Grey Gardens Editions

Grey Gardens Editions

Grey Gardens Editions publishes limited edition prints of two of Lois Wright's most popular paintings of the Beales of Grey Gardens. Each print is signed and numbered by Lois Wright.

We print on Sommerset Velvet, one of the highest quality Giclee Fine art papers. It is 100% cotton natural white paper that yields exceptional depth of color with a velvety fine art texture.

The surface of the paper becomes an inherent part of the finished print, but without overwhelming the image.

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Grey Gardens-inspired exhibit at Miami Beach Cinematheque

Judging by the images, this looks like an interesting exhibit!

From Miami New Times, by Amanda McCorquodale, on April 16, 2010

Miami Beach Cinematheque Evokes Grey Gardens to Fundraise New Green Cinema Space

If you've been to the Miami Beach Cinematheque this month, then you've seen their Grey Gardens-inspired photo exhibit, shot by Andre Gabb and styled by Stefanie Del Papa. The exhibit leads up to a garage sale at the end of the month, which will raise funds for the Cinematheque's new green space south on Washington Ave.

They're playing to the right crowd. Cinephiles know and love the two Edies from the cult 1975 documentary Grey Gardens. The film features the eccentric cousins of Jackie O, a mother and daughter who slipped from dashing debutantes to crazy cat ladies, living in health-department-condemned squalor. Surpassing even the worst of today's Hoarders, the two lived among possums, raccoons, and nearly 100 cats in a crumbling mansion in East Hampton, New York. How bad did it get? Well, they ate cat food and called it pate.

Little Edie's transformation is the most startling. She went from being a promising model and singer to never leaving home, wearing skirts as capes, and performing flag-waving musical numbers with a passion that was clearly laced with lunacy. After the marginal fame from the 1975 documentary, she moved down here to Bal Harbour, where, sadly, she died alone in 2002, her body going undiscovered for days.

But there's no denying that Grey Gardens mania continues. America's obsession with these two bizarre, almost-famous dames is evident in the recent remake starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange. Lesser known, though, is that there was a long-running Grey Gardens musical, a Grey Garden's jewelry collection created by a distant relative, and numerous fashion shoots inspired by their eccentric, yet somehow still couture, hermit style. Here's Little Edie in action:

Del Pappa, who styled the models for the Cinematheque's exhibit, thinks "people are drawn to the 'Little Edie' Grey Gardens style because we all know that we are kooky and would love to just chuck it all, but can't. Little Edie did just that. She had true personal style unlike everybody else who follow snippets of trends and are too scared to really express themselves. Her 'costumes of the day' were original and creative and inspired by only herself. For me, I love crazy cat lady fashion, and can't wait until I'm older and really embrace it."

The photos are available for purchase at the Cinematheque garage sale on April 27, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Dana Keith, founder of the Cinematheque, says "the idea is to bring something either ahead of time or the day of, to be sold." With the 1975 documentary screening throughout the evening, he hopes cinephiles "will be inspired by the two Edies to become a pack rat, and buy something." Admission is $10 or $5 if you bring at least one garage sale treasure to be sold to benefit MBC. The Miami Beach Cinematheque is located at 512 Española Way in Miami Beach.

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Grey Gardens named one of the most influential films on fashion

This "award" isn't from a fashion institute or anything official, yet it's still fun to see our ladies rewarded and why.

From Times Online, by Lisa Armstrong, Luke Leitch, and Alice Olins, on April 21, 2010

25 movies that shook the world of fashion

Ticking off the calendar until Sex and the City 2? Well, we aren’t. There are just so many more stylish movies out there...

20 Grey Gardens, 1975

The 2009 HBO feature film scored a Golden Globe for Drew Barrymore, as the eccentric, patrician Little Edie Beale, a cousin of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. But it was the original documentary, showing Little Edie and her equally whacky mother Big Edie in the decaying squalor of their Hamptons mansion that kicked started the Grey Gardens cult, spawning many a fashion accolyte, including the Olsen twins. Broke they may have been but those Beales were dressing eclectic when John Galliano was still in short-trousers.

Thanks to Mary Ellen for sending this in!

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Edie Beale goes to Girl Scout camp, courtesy of J. Crew

Edie Beale goes to Girl Scout camp? I don't quite see it, but I appreciate using her as inspiration!

From New York Mag, by Caitlin Petreycik, on 2 April 2010

At J.Crew's fall 2010 presentation at Milk Studios last night, models wore rugged tweeds, textured tights, and outerwear with Mongolian lamb accents. J.Crew creative director Jenna Lyons described the look as “Edie Beale goes to Girl Scout camp.” The saucer-sized jewelry and homemade headpieces would definitely be at home in Grey Gardens, and Lyons suggested “slapping brooches all over everything” to achieve this eccentric, layered look.

For spring, which finally seems to be upon us, Lyons likes minimal looks. “I can’t really wear them, but I love all the paler creams,” she gushed. “What Pheobe Philo is doing for Celine is so beautiful. It’s all about the most expensive fabric in the world, the most beautiful tailoring, the biggest bank accounts, and the most beautiful bodies. It’s not going to happen. Those things aren’t working for me.” However, she's not a fan of the eighties revival, and didn’t escape that decade unscathed herself. “I was committing fashion crime after fashion crime all day long. I had asymmetrical hair. It was bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.”

Lyons recently said she would love to do a designer collaboration with Christian Louboutin for footwear. Last night she came up with a slew of designers she'd like to work with. "Alber Ebaz, Phillip Lim, Riccardo Tisci," she said. "YSL—I’m dying. I would love to work with Stefano [Pilati]. I’m a huge fashion freak."

As for celebrity design collaborations? “I would have to say Cate Blanchett. I love her. She’s not a clone. If everyone is wearing cupcake dresses she’s not wearing a cupcake dress, she’s wearing something totally different. Or Maggie Gyllenhaal, I love Maggie Gyllenhaal. She looked incredible at the Oscars in that Dries little column dress.”

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