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Carolyne Roehm in Oscar de la Renta with the designer.
Photo By Steve Eichner
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Political pundits get excited over blue and red, but for Carolyne Roehm, it’s all about blue and white. The interior designer celebrated her ninth book, “A Passion for Blue and White,” with a gathering at her 57th Street abode on Wednesday night. Friends Patricia Duff, Oscar de la Renta and Sandy Hill stopped by, but all refrained from donning the tome’s titular colors. “I thought it would be too obvious,” said Roehm, in a champagne-colored Oscar de la Renta blouse.
Roehm’s affection for the two hues began when she was working for the designer and lived in a one-bedroom apartment on the Upper East Side. “I draped everything in that bloody fabric,” she said. “I wanted to have blue and white porcelain, too, but of course I couldn’t afford any antiques, so I was always in Pier 1 looking for little vases or plates. I still use some of those pieces mixed with the 18th-century stuff.”
Next, Roehm is working on a book about her homes, but an incident later in the evening proved she has equal expertise in hostessing in a crisis. When the long hair of Luisa Beccaria’s daughter Lucilla accidentally came in contact with a candle, it was quickly set aflame. “I do it myself, I flip my hair away from my neck, and she flipped and it caught,” Roehm said. A fellow partygoer immediately helped put it out without any major physical damage being done. To say nothing of the emotional effects. “After I realized she wasn’t hurt, I offered her a drink,” Roehm said. “I told her, ‘Maybe you need something stiffer than wine.’”
Roehm’s affection for the two hues began when she was working for the designer and lived in a one-bedroom apartment on the Upper East Side. “I draped everything in that bloody fabric,” she said. “I wanted to have blue and white porcelain, too, but of course I couldn’t afford any antiques, so I was always in Pier 1 looking for little vases or plates. I still use some of those pieces mixed with the 18th-century stuff.”
Next, Roehm is working on a book about her homes, but an incident later in the evening proved she has equal expertise in hostessing in a crisis. When the long hair of Luisa Beccaria’s daughter Lucilla accidentally came in contact with a candle, it was quickly set aflame. “I do it myself, I flip my hair away from my neck, and she flipped and it caught,” Roehm said. A fellow partygoer immediately helped put it out without any major physical damage being done. To say nothing of the emotional effects. “After I realized she wasn’t hurt, I offered her a drink,” Roehm said. “I told her, ‘Maybe you need something stiffer than wine.’”
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