In an earlier journal post, I presented the irrepressible fashion maven Iris Apfel,  who is the subject of a well deserved documentary.  But the night of her exclusive Newport showing also included  an “Iris in Wonderland” picnic contest on the back lawn of Marble House, capping off a truly red letter evening of summer, 2015! Here, Sarah Vickers, Erin Ribeiro and I are set to judge the picnic  offerings.

With a nod to Iris, I wore a silk and passementerie-embroidered salwar kameez I purchased in Delhi 20 years ago (less the gobs of beads and bracelets.) Fortuny pillows, Chinese boxes, Japanese tea table and bone-handled flatwork helped set the scene which honored newportFILM’s directive to “think fashion and fairytale, extraordinary and quirky, costume and couture.”

Inspired by Iris’s attire (above,) my picnic vignette included cotton napkins and tablecloths that played up the colors of exotic spices ( mace, nutmeg, curry, paprika, cumin and cardamom) as did the menu.

Practical tin plates (copies of Commemorative Plates from the Royal Collection purchased in London in May) also carried out the cumin and curry color scheme.

Comfortable beach chairs were a priority for watching the hour+long movie, but their nautical tone was disguised by large Indian shawls.

While you may not totally embrace Iris Apfel’s dictum that “more is more and less is a bore,” just playing in her orbit for awhile has convinced me…I’m taking a page from her book!!