HTSI editor’s letter: it’s the most wonderful issue of the year

The holiday issue, which we start to work on in August, remains one of my favourite editions of the year. The gift guide pages, with their tiny cut-outs and recommendations, are so compelling; I just love poring over each person’s choices and then making judgements about their taste. 

And yes, I realise I am putting myself in the hot seat for your criticism, since my list is as greedy as it is long. But if it gets me any closer to a painting by Jockum Nordström, you may be as mean about me as you wish. 

This is the season when resembling a bauble is the point

We’ve also found other gift inspiration – from power trikes to rough diamonds, and from super-scents to sexy underwear. Apparently, after the pandemic shift to ginormous knickers, there’s been a swing back to G-strings and basques. I’ll be sticking to my Tekla pyjamas; my sexy knicker era was at least 20 years ago. That said, I’m taken by our fashion story “Party looks to shine in”, in which our stylist Benjamin Canares and photographer Lara Angelil make a case for maxed-out, seductive party style. I’m in love with the gold Chanel tuxedo jacket, especially when worn with a throng of golden chains about the throat. Party style should be bold, shiny and metallic; this is the season when resembling a bauble is the point. Those who shrink from too much tinsel, however, should consider our made-in-Scotland feature. The least you can do is don a festive Argyle and a kilt. 

Meanwhile, HTSI spends a night at the museum on the eve of the National Gallery’s bicentennial. The celebrations will kick off in 2024 with a total rehang of the institution and a grand tour of its greatest works. Beatrice Hodgkin meets the gallery’s leaders as they try to raise the final funds to underpin the project, while photographer Laurence Ellis and stylist Louise Ford are given entry after hours to capture the magic behind the scenes.  

There’s magic also at the Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay, a Cistercian abbey visited by kings and queens, and former home of the Rothschilds, now reconceived by Laurent de Gourcuff as a French country escape. The CEO of the hospitality group Paris Society, de Gourcuff first set eyes on the Abbaye in winter 2019. Now, after a long, careful renovation, he is revealing the hotel for the first time. In the UK, such country excursions have been a burgeoning business for some time. Part Hogwarts, part Soho Farmhouse, the Abbaye will mark a departure for Parisians seeking boating lakes, plein air and promenades.

Lastly, my favourite story in this issue celebrates Diwali, which more than a billion people will mark this weekend. For Ajesh Patalay, the occasion is a moment to champion the Indian restaurants frequented by his family and other migrants; finding pockets of a city where one can eat the dishes of one’s childhood is a beautiful and nostalgic thing. Sadly many of these establishments, often set up by first- or second-generation immigrants, are being forced to close owing to increasing costs and higher rents. Ajesh takes us to Drummond Street, in London, where his parents would visit in the late 1960s, to “eat whole feasts for less than £2 and stock up on pickle from Patak’s and gulab jamun from Ambala Sweets”. His family still goes to Drummond Street for special occasions – and it’s still a treat. The piece is a tribute to those places where a newcomer to a city might feel welcomed, put down roots, and sometimes find their one true love… 

@jellison22

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