Bon Dimanche: 22 June 2025

What to watch, see, do, try, and buy this week.

Please enjoy this Bon Dimanche version of our usual Bon Weekend post. An early series on my original Habitually Chic blog was a Friday Bon Weekend post filled with things happening that weekend. In recent years, they morphed into a long monthly New and Noteworthy post. I brought the weekly Bon Weekend post to Substack so you don’t miss anything worth seeing, doing, or trying.

If there is one thing that unites all New Yorkers, it’s complaining about the weather. First, we were mad because it was cold and rainy. Now, we are upset and miserable because it’s hot and humid. Perfect time to head inside and watch one of the new shows airing now or pick up a good book.

“Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative.” - Oscar Wilde

New Store and Restaurant Openings

Swifty’s - Swifty’s was a favorite of the ladies who lunch set in NYC until it closed but now it’s back at The Hedges Inn in East Hampton. I hope they still serve the curried chicken salad.

Westmoreland - The second floor cafe at The Frick Collection is finally open and it’s named after Henry Clay Frick’s private railway car. The car itself was named after where he grew up in Southwestern Pennsylvania, Westmoreland County. I know this because it’s also where I grew up as an Overholt descendant. It will be open during museum hours.

Ritz Le Compoir - My friends and I love the Ritz Le Comptoir in Paris but not traversing the city to get to it on the right bank so it’s an exciting development to have one on the left bank now. It’s located across the street from Le Bon Marché at 45 rue de Sèvres and their famous madeleines are the perfect pick me up after you’ve shopped till you dropped.

Julia Amory Southampton - I cancelled my trip to Sag Harbor last week because of the rain so I’m bummed that I missed seeing the new Julia Amory store in Southampton. Make sure you stop by to pick up her perfect pieces for summer and resort trips.

"The customer is never wrong." - César Ritz

New Museum Exhibitions

I haven’t booked any museums yet for my London trip so I need to get busy.

Jenny Saville: The Anatomy of Painting - This show at The National Portrait Gallery in London is the largest major museum exhibition in the UK dedicated to one of the world’s foremost contemporary painters and was created in close collaboration with the artist. It brings together 45 works made throughout the artist's career and traces the development of her practice, spotlighting key artworks, and exploring her connection to art history. It runs through 7 September 2025.

The Edwardians: Age of Elegance - The museum at Buckingham Palace known now as the King’s Gallery is one of the best museums due to the exquisite quality of the works on their collection. The Edwardians: Age of Elegance “explores the opulence and glamour of the Edwardian age through the lives and tastes of two of Britain’s most fashionable royal couples – King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, and King George V and Queen Mary – from their family lives and personal collecting to their glittering social circles and spectacular royal events”. The King’s Gallery also has air conditioning and a great gift shop which are big pluses in my book.

The Honest Eye: Camille Pissarro's Impressionism - With the seven paintings by Pissarro in the Hasso Plattner Collection as the point of departure, augmented by over 100 works from fifty international collections, the exhibition The Honest Eye: Camille Pissarro’s Impressionism at the Museum Barberini offers a well-grounded overview of Pissarro’s entire oeuvre while also revealing the social-utopian ideas that informed his art. It runs through through 28 September 2025. The show is presented in cooperation with the Denver Art Museum where the exhibition will be shown from October 26, 2025 to February 8, 2026.

Wolfgang Tillmans - The Centre Pompidou in Paris presents Wolfgang Tillmans: Nothing could have prepared us – Everything could have prepared us until 22 September 2025. The museum gave the German artist free rein to create a unique project to mark the end of the exhibition program at the centre in Paris. This installation creates a dialogue between his work and the library space, questioning it both as an architectural structure and as a place for the dissemination of knowledge. The museum will be closing after for renovations that will last until 2030 and will exhibition during this time at the Grand Palais which is now completely open after its own renovation.

“Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing”
― Camille Pissarro

What to Watch

If you love a period piece, you’re in luck this week.

Outrageous - Someone reminded me that most Americans aren’t versed in British aristocracy so the Mitford sisters might not mean anything to them. The scandalous six young women who defied convention in 1930s are the subject of the new BritBox series Outrageous based on the book, The Mitford Girls, by Mary Lovell. The first two episodes are available to watch now and one per week will be released on Wednesdays.

The Buccaneers - Season two of The Buccaneers on AppleTV, based on the book by Edith Wharton, debuted last week but I couldn’t even get through the first episode. I don’t appreciate shows where something bad happens in every episode and that sums up this series. Leighton Meester has joined the cast so maybe she can help save them.

The Gilded Age - The series that highlights the in-fighting between the old money and nouveau riche residents in New York is back for season three on Sunday nights on HBO beginning on June 22, 2025.

Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything - This gripping documentary premiering on Hulu on June 23, 2025, charts the groundbreaking journey of Barbara Walters, the first woman to break into network evening news and redefine journalism for generations to come. From her early days on The Today Show to co-creating The View, Walters shattered glass ceilings with poise, intellect and relentless curiosity. Known for her fearless interviews with world leaders, celebrities and controversial figures, Walters redefined broadcast journalism with her unique blend of empathy and tenacity that had millions of people watching.

“It would be nice to feel that we are a better world, a world of more compassion and a world of more humanity, and to believe in the basic goodness of man.” - Barbara Walters

What to Read

Talk of the Devil - If you love the original James Bond books and films, you might want to check out Talk of the Devil: The Collected Writings of Ian Fleming―Wartime Experiences, Espionage Reflections, and Travel Narratives from the Creator of James Bond. It’s a fascinating collection of rarely seen journalism and other writings by Ian Fleming.

We Might Just Make It After All - This book is a moving portrait of friendship by Elyce Arons as she reflects on her long relationship with Kate Spade, whom she met in college and with whom she cofounded the multi-billion-dollar fashion company as they came of age in 1990s New York. You can read a feature of the author in The New York Times too.

Among Friends - Lauren Santo Domingo posted this book so I’m interested in reading it when it’s released on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. It takes place “over an autumn weekend at a comfortable New York country house where two deeply intertwined families have gathered to mark the host’s fifty-second birthday. During it, an unforeseen curdling of envy and resentment will erupt in an unspeakable act, the aftermath of which exposes treacherous fault lines upon which they have long dwelt”.

Never say 'no' to adventures. Always say 'yes', otherwise you'll lead a very dull life. - Ian Fleming

More New Books

London Lost Interiors - Delving into the Historic England archive for his fascinating new book, Steven Brindle explores the rooms of notable buildings across the capital that have since been destroyed.

Light, Sand, and Sea: Hamptons Artists and Their Studios - This book is a close-up look at 50 painters, sculptors, printmakers, photographers, and mixed-media artists who are living and working on the famed East End of Long Island, New York. Among the well-known artists are Donald Sultan, April Gornick, Mary Heilmann, Caio Fonseca, Bryan Hunt, Joe Zucker, Frank Wimberley, and Paton Miller.

Fashion, Beauty, Home Bits and Bobs

1stdibs is having a Sensational Summer Sale where you can save up to 40% off furniture, art, fashion, jewelry, watches, and more. The berry colored Kelly Bag would add a great pop of color to all your summer outfits but I also love this yellow Chanel Double Flap Bag.

I bought a D.Porthault sheet set during their sale but I also plan to get some new Lands’ End Supima Cotton Sateen Embroidered Sheets during their sale too. I also like these Canvas Storage Totes for organizing my drycleaning, alterations, and donations in my new apartment closets. I’m also getting tired of my duvet getting tangled in the cover even with the corner ties so I am eyeing this Basketweave Cotton Matelasse Coverlet as an alternative.

This Theory Floral Satin Georgette Slip Dress would be perfect for the heat wave this week. Top it with a white line blazer when you get to your air conditioned office.

Gucci Westman has debuted her new Westman Atelier Eye Activator Serum this week if you want to try something new for your tired eyes.

If bugs are driving you batty this summer, try burning the new Diptyque Citronnelle Candle. Their Summer Essentials Box would make a nice hostess gift too.

If you need a cool graduation gift for someone, I would suggest a Smythson x Thomas Lelu Notebook.

I always say if I had to do it again, I would pursue a career in antiques so I hope the Frame Sotheby's Collector Canvas Tote Bag comes back into stock. You can read the new issue of Sotheby’s Magazine online here too.

"In summer, the song sings itself." – William Carlos Williams

I finally get to walk through my new apartment in person Monday morning and sign the lease. I can’t wait to share my decorating ideas with you in my next post.

Bon dimanche !

XOXO,

HC

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