Month: September 2017

In Luxury Travel, Mystery is the New Transparency

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

In recent conversations, a new trend has become clear to us here at Dandelion Chandelier: for luxury travel experiences, word of mouth is the new social media. Analog is the new digital. Silence is the new shouting. How do we know this? Because some of the best luxury properties in the world have exited social media completely. We recently interviewed a devotee of ultra-luxury destination health and wellness retreat Vana in Dehradun, India. It’s a unique and highly exclusive spa for the jet set (frequent guests call themselves “Vanavasis,”) and it’s not well known amongst the hoi polloi. Hearing about its many wonders made us keen to visit: the property’s website is filled with images of a dreamy tropical paradise where serenity might actually be within reach. Eager to share our discovery, we published our post and then set to work on our usual social media promotion for the post. A curious thing happened on the way to social media, though. We went looking for the Instagram handle for the Vana retreat, and we couldn’t …

The Best Luxury Gift This Holiday could be a Surprise

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

It’s that time of year. Yes, it’s time for you to start your holiday shopping. What’s that, you say? It’s way too soon? Actually, no. It’s about to be too late. That is, if you want to give your loved ones something truly special, bespoke, unusual or hand-made. True luxury takes time. And that means you had better get moving. Now. But don’t stress – we’ve got you covered. Our holiday luxury gift-giving series will showcase truly special products and experiences that will delight your beloved. We’re showcasing incredible items and experiences that you can order now. That way, when the holiday season actually arrives, you can go to parties, drink eggnog, look cute and be generally just totally chill. Sounds like a dream? If you want to kick it like that this year, read on.

Gucci Launches a New Exclusive Luxury Home Line

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

We predicted that Gucci would be the force that brings the world together and changes the way we see ornamentation and embellishment for years to come. And now there’s further proof: Gucci is coming home with us – literally. Our smartphones started vibrating like crazy here at Dandelion Chandelier one morning last week. The email subject lines and texts were all pretty much the same: Gucci Décor has arrived! The exclusive new home collection designed by Alessandro Michele includes both furniture and decorative objects. It’s available in New York only at the Gucci flagship store and at Bergdorf’s – and online at Gucci.com. Just in time for New York Fashion Week. And for the upcoming holiday gift-giving season.

TWIST: What You Need to Know to Talk Sports This Week

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

You don’t love professional sports, but your livelihood and/or personal happiness depends upon your being able to converse intelligently about it. It’s a common dilemma with a simple solution: you need to learn a new language. You need to learn how to talk sports. And we’re here to help! The TWIST is our weekly Dandelion Chandelier guide to what’s happened on the field, on the court and on the ice. Every Sunday you’ll find the three (and only three) things you need to know this coming week to speak cogently about professional sports with the boss, the gang at the office, your barber, your barista, your secret crush, or your in-laws. Do the TWIST every week and we promise you’ll know how to talk about sports like a champion.

Is Nix Really the Best Vegetarian Restaurant in New York?

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

In the not-so-distant past, “sexy vegetarian” would have been an oxymoron. However, Beyoncé, Brad Pitt, Samuel L. Jackson, Woody Harrelson, Ariana Grande, Liam Hemsworth and Natalie Portman have definitively proven that such creatures exist and freely roam the earth. PETA even names the two “sexiest vegetarians” annually. But a sexy vegetarian restaurant? Extremely hard to find in the precincts of Manhattan until very recently. During the dark days of 2016, an annus horribilis if ever there was one, at least one bright spot appeared on the horizon: restaurant Nix opened on February 29th. Perhaps not since the Garden of Eden has being surrounded by plants been so interesting. The restaurant, located on University Place in the Village, is the brainchild of James Truman and Chef John Fraser. Truman is the urbane and insightful former editor-in-chief of Details magazine and longtime Editorial Director at Condé Nast. After a hiatus in the art world, Truman turned his formidable talents to the restaurant world, first as a culinary consultant to hotelier André Balazs at restaurant Narcissa in the …