What do you think?
Rate this book
Redeeming Features: A Memoir
From British interior designer Nicholas Haslam, a dazzling and witty account of a frenetic and full life—from the 1940s to the present—in Europe and America, in a crowd of friends and acquaintances that includes virtually all of the cultural icons of our time.
Haslam has found himself at the center of some of the most interesting circles wherever he is—at parties, opening nights, royal weddings. In London in the late 1950s he crossed paths—and more—with Cecil Beaton, Francis Bacon, Diana Cooper, Greta Garbo, Lucian Freud, David Hockney, David Bailey, and Noël Coward. A time living in the still unspoiled south of France was an education in everything from the work of Buñuel to the style of toreros like Dominguín and Ordóñez. In Paris he met Jean Cocteau and Janet Flanner, and, in Saint-Tropez, danced with Brigitte Bardot. In the 1960s, in New York, he encountered Dorothy Parker, Cole Porter, Andy Warhol, Jack Kennedy, Joan Didion, and Marilyn Monroe while working in the art department at Vogue and later as art director, following Henry Wolf, at Huntington Hartford’s Show magazine. After Show, Haslam moved to a ranch in Arizona to raise Arabian horses—Truman Capote and John Richardson, among others, came to stay—and he began designing and commuting to Los Angeles to decorate for the stars.
Back in England in the 1980s, he worked on David Bailey’s Ritz magazine, attended the wedding of his cousin Diana Spencer, and designed for everyone from the financier James Goldsmith to rock star Bryan Ferry.
Redeeming Features is about much more than documenting a life among the celebrated and the eccentric: it is a vivid, at times humorous and moving portrait of a way of life that has all but disappeared. Haslam has an exacting eye for the telling detail and his story is a compelling and wholly fascinating document of our times.
Haslam has found himself at the center of some of the most interesting circles wherever he is—at parties, opening nights, royal weddings. In London in the late 1950s he crossed paths—and more—with Cecil Beaton, Francis Bacon, Diana Cooper, Greta Garbo, Lucian Freud, David Hockney, David Bailey, and Noël Coward. A time living in the still unspoiled south of France was an education in everything from the work of Buñuel to the style of toreros like Dominguín and Ordóñez. In Paris he met Jean Cocteau and Janet Flanner, and, in Saint-Tropez, danced with Brigitte Bardot. In the 1960s, in New York, he encountered Dorothy Parker, Cole Porter, Andy Warhol, Jack Kennedy, Joan Didion, and Marilyn Monroe while working in the art department at Vogue and later as art director, following Henry Wolf, at Huntington Hartford’s Show magazine. After Show, Haslam moved to a ranch in Arizona to raise Arabian horses—Truman Capote and John Richardson, among others, came to stay—and he began designing and commuting to Los Angeles to decorate for the stars.
Back in England in the 1980s, he worked on David Bailey’s Ritz magazine, attended the wedding of his cousin Diana Spencer, and designed for everyone from the financier James Goldsmith to rock star Bryan Ferry.
Redeeming Features is about much more than documenting a life among the celebrated and the eccentric: it is a vivid, at times humorous and moving portrait of a way of life that has all but disappeared. Haslam has an exacting eye for the telling detail and his story is a compelling and wholly fascinating document of our times.
- GenresMemoir
352 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
3 people are currently reading
48 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Read
December 24, 2019This memoir by interior designer and all-round fashionista Nicky Haslam’s is firmly pitched at celeb-watchers and lovers of gossip. There’s some fruity stuff here, and if name-dropping were an Olympic sport, Nicky would win platinum!
In his early teens Haslam had sex in a public convenience with Hugh Paddick, whose memory is cherished by fans of Round the Horne. He went to parties where he met Noel Coward, Ivor Novello, Frederick Ashton, Tony Armstrong-Jones, Cecil Beaton – the great and the good (and the gay) of the 1950s. At 15, an Eton schoolboy, Nicky had a brief fling with an (unnamed) actor in New York who took him to meet Tallulah Bankhead.
The names reel by as love affairs and his career with Vogue flit him between London and New York: Garbo and Dietrich, Cole Porter, Jackie Kennedy, Nureyev, Gloria Swanson, Capote, Gore Vidal. He went to a séance with Salvador Dali and his wife at which the ghost of Marilyn Monroe, not surprisingly, failed to appear. He was a fan of Wallis Windsor but not of the Duke, about whom he has some revealing gay gossip. And the bitchy tone is enjoyable: Graham Sutherland “seemed less like an artist than a civil servant, dust-dry and persnickety and dainty”; his wife was “somewhat sullen.”
It’s the tidbits of scandal that perk up the page. I must confess to fast-forwarding through some of the endless parties and first nights. Haslam writes well, but the descriptions of house interiors run to Proustian detail and there are lapses into Barbara Cartland phrasing - “a fatally handsome man”, “the shapely white cheeks of Lady Chaplin” – that made me wince and occasionally lol.
Endlessly reinventing himself, Haslam befriended rock stars as well as royals; he sings cabaret and wears leather in old age (which he fought off with plastic surgery). With friends in high – and occasionally low – places, his biography is a gluttonous feast for lovers of celebrity tittle-tattle.
In his early teens Haslam had sex in a public convenience with Hugh Paddick, whose memory is cherished by fans of Round the Horne. He went to parties where he met Noel Coward, Ivor Novello, Frederick Ashton, Tony Armstrong-Jones, Cecil Beaton – the great and the good (and the gay) of the 1950s. At 15, an Eton schoolboy, Nicky had a brief fling with an (unnamed) actor in New York who took him to meet Tallulah Bankhead.
The names reel by as love affairs and his career with Vogue flit him between London and New York: Garbo and Dietrich, Cole Porter, Jackie Kennedy, Nureyev, Gloria Swanson, Capote, Gore Vidal. He went to a séance with Salvador Dali and his wife at which the ghost of Marilyn Monroe, not surprisingly, failed to appear. He was a fan of Wallis Windsor but not of the Duke, about whom he has some revealing gay gossip. And the bitchy tone is enjoyable: Graham Sutherland “seemed less like an artist than a civil servant, dust-dry and persnickety and dainty”; his wife was “somewhat sullen.”
It’s the tidbits of scandal that perk up the page. I must confess to fast-forwarding through some of the endless parties and first nights. Haslam writes well, but the descriptions of house interiors run to Proustian detail and there are lapses into Barbara Cartland phrasing - “a fatally handsome man”, “the shapely white cheeks of Lady Chaplin” – that made me wince and occasionally lol.
Endlessly reinventing himself, Haslam befriended rock stars as well as royals; he sings cabaret and wears leather in old age (which he fought off with plastic surgery). With friends in high – and occasionally low – places, his biography is a gluttonous feast for lovers of celebrity tittle-tattle.
July 2, 2022
If you're up to date on your stylish Brits and Amos, you'll love Nicholas Haslam's autobiography, "Redeeming Features". Haslam was born to a wealthy and connected family in the early days of WW2. The youngest son - of three children - he was raised in a country home safely located outside London and the German bombings. After the war, he was stricken with polio and was bed-bound for a couple of years. He later was sent away to school, and then on to Eton. However, Nicky made a life outside of his four walls at Eton. Realising early his sexuality, he mainly used Eton as a base for his real life in London, amid the clever and trendy people he befriended. Haslam has lived life to the fullest, it seems, in his 70 years. He is currently an interior designer of note, and also writes for both shelter and style magazines. He's lived - and loved - in many places; London, the south of France, Morocco, Jamaica, Barbados, Los Angeles, and, for a short time, northern Arizona! Haslam "names names", but never in a mean way. His writing is delightful and the reader is introduced to many unforgettable characters Haslam has met, worked with, and loved in his life.
I can't really recommend this book to the average reader. I think if you didn't "know" at least most of the names he writes about, you wouldn't enjoy it. For those of us who do "know" the names, "Redeeming Features" is a fun read.
I can't really recommend this book to the average reader. I think if you didn't "know" at least most of the names he writes about, you wouldn't enjoy it. For those of us who do "know" the names, "Redeeming Features" is a fun read.
August 30, 2024
Redeeming features is a wonderful read. It made me nostalgic for the Kings Road in the '60s and New York in the '70s. Nicky shares his life and times with candour, wit and wisdom. He is creating and reviewing trends in style, design, fashion and culture with verve and energy.
Nicky knows everyone because he is interested in everyone, and generous with sharing his friends. I had seven pages of notes for further research to discover art, music, forgotten eccentrics and most of all inspirations for design.
Nicky's adventures in London, New York and later on in rural Hampshire are entertaining from start to finish. He is a man of style that has lived a wonderfully adventurous life, making his own opportunities and making life more fun for the rest of us.
Nicky knows everyone because he is interested in everyone, and generous with sharing his friends. I had seven pages of notes for further research to discover art, music, forgotten eccentrics and most of all inspirations for design.
Nicky's adventures in London, New York and later on in rural Hampshire are entertaining from start to finish. He is a man of style that has lived a wonderfully adventurous life, making his own opportunities and making life more fun for the rest of us.
February 19, 2017
A great gossip. I love his use of flamboyant language dropping half a dozen names per line. What made a difference to my enjoyment of this particular book is I knew all the words and recognized the names of 90% of the people and all the connections to other biographies I have read. He met and socialized with all the peoples whose lives I want to know about and was very detailed about my favourite individual. I followed this up by googling his home The Hunting Lodge and checked out some YouTube interviews. Interesting man.
May 31, 2016
If the reader can manage to get past the first two chapters, in which the author earnestly tries to impress upon the reader his family's lineage & aristocratic links (convoluted & boring), then I suppose it can make for an amusing look at the post-WWII social history of Britain & America (a look taken, I advise, with a good pinch of salt).
October 7, 2010
First off, it's wildly racist in parts, plus there's tons of name-dropping and juicy gossip that may or may not be accurate or fair. And yet I sort of enjoyed being plunged into the world and mindset of someone as wealthy and self-aggrandizing as Haslam.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews