This month, sartorial star Simon Doonan publishes his new tome Maximalism: Bold, Bedazzled, Gold, and Tasseled Interiors (Phaidon). We checked in with the madcap maestro for his words of wit and wisdom.
BREAKFAST: Crunchy granola + fruit + mint tea. Think 1970s health nut.
WAKE-UP TIME: Foxylady snorts in my face at 6:30. Foxylady is not a nickname for my husband, Jonathan Adler. See below.
DOPPELGANGER: People have mistaken me for Leslie Jordan, RIP, but I think I look more like Paul Newman.
NEMESIS: Anyone who won’t admit that I look like Paul Newman
ESCAPE: Sometimes I escape lunch guests for an alfresco pee in the backyard.
WEAKNESS: Buying vintage Saint Laurent, from the Hedi Slimane era, on therealreal.com
UNIFORM: See above. See also Liberty floral print shirts with narrow mod ties.
YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH: Books by Simon Doonan
NEVER SCRIMP ON THE: Fresh undies. I grew up in postwar England when undies were scarce.
HOTEL: Soho Farmhouse. It’s a faux-rustic fantasy, like myself.
WORKOUT: Pilates + Tai-chi. (I’m not kidding.)
LAST MEAL: Jonathan Adler (designer husbear) is a great cook. He makes pesto with broccoli or asparagus.
FAVORITE FILM: The Devils by Ken Russell from 1971. It combines horror, history and glamour. Maximal sets by Derek Jarman.
MENTOR: I’m so old that I have had many: Fred Pressman, Diana Vreeland, Peter Marino…
FALL VIBE: Very Ravel’s Boléro
CURRENT MOOD: Very Bowie. Moonage Daydream.
PET: Foxylady, a little russet mutt from the North Shore Animal League
BEST ADVICE: Show up 10 minutes early, and check your coiff ure in the loo.
PHILANTHROPY: The Ali Forney Center in Harlem helps homeless LGBTQ youth.
MANTRA: Keep calm and look fab.
TV SHOW STREAMING NOW: Last Call, a true tale of a gay serial killer
FAVORITE APP: The one with the heart that helps you count your steps. This is also the only app I use. I am an idiot and a late adopter. I had a phone with a 20-foot cord into the ’90s.
SIGNATURE MOCKTAIL: I gave up hooch in 1985. I am currently guzzling homemade ginger iced tea with fizzy water.
DINNER: Saint Ambroeus, anywhere. It’s cozy and Italian.
SOULMATE: Actual soulmate: Jonathan Adler. Fantasy soulmate: Louis XIV.
BEDTIME: 11-ish
BOOK AT BEDSIDE: The Search for Warren Harding by Robert Plunket. Beyond insane and hilarious. Plunket was recently rediscovered living in a trailer park in Sarasota.
THEME SONG TO YOUR LIFE: “Strawberry Fields Forever.” I’m a psychedelic ’60s bitch.
VIEW: Peconic Bay, specifically the Bug Light House
IN THE WEEKEND BAG: Frederic Malle fragrance: Geranium Pour Monsieur
FAVORITE WORK OF ART: Nothing trendy. Anything Toulouse Lautrec, the Warhol of the Belle Epoque.
LOCAL HAUNT: The garden and house at Longhouse Reserve, Jack Lenor Larson’s symphony of chic, craft y maximalism
3 DESERT ISLAND ESSENTIALS: A geodesic dome. Neutrogena sunblock. A bunch of nift y Mr. Turk swimsuits in bold prints, easy to spot from a rescue helicopter.
YESTERDAY: It rained all day. Refreshing and glamorous. I’m mad for rain.
ZODIAC: Scorpio. So was Tiberius and Marie Antoinette. #madmaximalists
Photography by: PHOTO COURTESY OF SUBJECT
