Big Book of Chic [Hardcover]

Miles Redd (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 20, 2012

An internationally acclaimed interior design sensation, Miles Redd is known for his quirky brand of cozy glamour. This lavishly illustrated volume features a diverse selection of his unique interiors, an inspiration to anyone interested in spirited, eclectic design.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 300 pages
• Publisher: Assouline Publishing (November 20, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1614280614
• ISBN-13: 978-1614280613
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 2 x 13 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,207 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #16 in Books > Arts & Photography > Decorative Arts & Design > Decorative Arts
  • #19 in Books > Professional & Technical > Architecture > Interior Design
  • #48 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Home Improvement & Design > Home Decorating & Design > Interior Design

More About the Author

Internationally acclaimed interior design sensation Miles Redd is known for his quirky brand of cozy glamour. His unique aesthetic vision is characterized by a playful mélange of high and low, invigorated with whimsical splashes of color and modern gestures. Drawing on inspirations ranging from Richard Avedon fashion photographs to Rene Gruau illustrations, Redd has crafted interiors for a wide array of venues. His trademark approach to design has brought to life rooms infused with boldness, fantasy, and sophistication. This lavishly illustrated volume will be an inspiration to anyone interested in spirited, and eclectic design.

Miles Redd embarked on his interior design career after graduating from NYU, honing his skills with luminary antiques dealer John Rosselli and decorator Bunny Williams. In 1998, he opened his own design firm in New York City's NoHo neighborhood and he has been the creative director of Oscar de la Renta Home since 2003. The Big Book of Chic gives a glimpse into the inspiration that fuels Redd, and focuses on the pleasures of living life in a beautiful way. It includes a wide range of projects, from Redd's own townhouse and beach house to projects in Houston, Atlanta, Millbrook, and Locust Valley.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Big Book of Black and White November 23, 2012

By Beth Wilkinson

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I was eagerly anticipating the Big Book of Chic after enjoying Miles Redd's work in magazines. I am quite confused about this book, as his forte, in my opinion, is color, and the book has over a third of it's photos in black and white. I just find it hard to be inspired by a black and white photo of a room, and you can see the contrast when he places the same photo side by side, one in color and one in black and white. No contest; for me the color wins. A better book would have been " A Little Smaller Book of Chic, But Full Color". I won't return this book, but I did think about it.

24 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Mind of Miles November 10, 2012

By L. M. Keefer TOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Do not buy this book if you want a book of full-color photos of Miles Redd's rooms. This is not that kind of book. However, if you have been delighted by his design vision, you may enjoy seeing what inspires him. This is a collection of images and quotes--and yes, some photos of his rooms, but many in black and white--which nourish his creative sensibility. If you are a devotee of designer Miles Redd, you may enjoy this huge, heavy and wonderful book full of images which speak to him. It allows you to get into the mind of Miles, see the world through his eyes, and view it with his creative vision. It is an artful collection.

How to describe Miles Redd's rooms?

Exuberant, effervescent, colorful, inventive, irrepressibly spirited, buoyant, elegant, glamourous with a bit of quirk. You sense the designer has a boyish glee, isn't life grand? approach, and is having great fun throughout the creative process. What feeds that fertile creativity, inspires his 'point of view' as Billy Baldwin would call it?

This book answers that question. Princess Margaret, as it turns out.

"When I was a boy growing up in Atlanta, Georgia," Redd explains, "my mother had a copy of Cecil Beaton's book THE ROYAL PORTRAITS that I used to flip through for hours on end. The photographs are heady stuff: Princess Elizabeth in ermine coronation robes...Princess Margaret in an immense tulle ball gown splayed across a red damask banquette... my five-year-old eyes had seen what appeared to be the height of chic, and there was no turning back, at least not until I had my own tufted red madness."

Redd's own tufted red madness is included in this book as well as images (the pivotal Princess-Margaret-on-red-banquette-portrait) and words which inspire Redd's design.

"I like interiors that are animated and lively--and party-ready--because isn't that what life should be?" asks Redd.

Ah, what we suspected about his design philosophy. Life=party, life=design, therefore design=party. Design represents a party to him. Who can resist that? That joie-de-vivre emanates from his interiors.

"This is a book about dreams coming true; the curiosities in the rooms I have decorated; and the people, artists and places that have inspired me," says Redd. The book is about 3/4th photos of Redd's rooms, sometimes in close detail, unusual artistic angles or black and white photos. The remaining 1/4th is images and words of others. If you are looking for a rather complete collection of Miles Redd's greatest hits, you will have to wait for the next book. While this volume features a number of his rooms including a few new ones, this book's purpose is to offer a glimpse of what Redd finds chic and stylish to inspire us. It may propel you to start collecting images for your own big book of chic.

What Redd finds stylish are what he describes as his "top hat fantasies" peopled by Henry James, F.Scott Fitzgerald, Nancy Mitford, Flaubert, John Singer Sargent, Chanel, Flaubert, Diana Vreeland, Proust and Cecil Beaton among others. "We all owe a great debt to Cecil for keeping the idea of style alive," is a quote by David Bailey in this book. So style from the 1800's through the 1940's, alive and well and integrated, seems to mesh happily in his work. You sense a 'particular joy' when he works with architect-designer Gil Schafer and photographer Paul Costello in sweet alchemy.

This is a happy book. Redd's opening dedication "for my mother and father, who gave me this wonderful life" to the final quote from WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, "but Charlie, don't forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he always wanted....He lived happily ever after," emphasize wide-eyed, gee-whiz wonder and delight in design.

If you want an infusion of Miles Redd "happily-ever-after chic" always at the ready, you may want to own this book. I'm glad I do.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars All fluff, no detail January 2, 2013

By David M.

Format:Hardcover

I got this book as a gift and was thrilled because I have always loved Miles Redd's style. He oozes the glamour of the 40's and you want to have a cocktail at his place. There are beautiful shots of his glamorous apartment as well as shots of his other projects that are also very good. The reason for the low rating is because of the lack of information. He has a great eye but I wanted to know more about the objects and the design process, for someone who seems to cherish another era we are left in the dark about why he loves it so much.