Slip Sliding Away

A friend who has never lived with slipcovered furniture asked me to share more specifics about the arm covers on my chair above.

They attach underneath the arms with hidden velcro tabs. Since I opted for ultra-long, feminine ties at four points on the chair's seat cover, I wanted to keep things balanced with simple arms.

The previously posted chair below, a Michael Smith-design, has that balance I'm talking about. On the arms the ties are loose and romantic but at all other points on the chair understated hidden closures (I believe zippers and snaps or velcro) are used.

[Michael Smith design; detail view of photograph by Michel Arnaud as seen in Michael Smith Elements of Style.]

The flowy ties on Smith's chair remind me of J.Crew's ribbon necklaces.


Although I was after a dressed-down, warm weather look and happily selected unlined linen which is definitely prone to wrinkling, I don't want the arm covers to become totally undone every time a child sits in the chair. The snug velcro tabs really keep the covers in place. And while there is other seating in the room that is more inviting for guys, on those occasions when a man does use this seat, I don't want him to feel attacked by ribbons. So, I avoided pert bows and used ties in a location where they are unlikely to be in anyone's way. (At least that's what I'm thinking. Laid-back seating for all.)

That said, in the right room, multiple bows can be charming and timeless.

[Photo ©Richard Sexton.]

I also like Mario Villa's unfussy yet airy slipcover, photographed by Richard Sexton and published in New Orleans: Elegance and Decadence by Randolph Delehanty and Richard Sexton (Chronicle Books). Villa's 1991 drawing, Woman Playing on the Beach is propped on the chair. above.


[Intercoastal, Archival pigment print on board with oil and wax medium, 80" X 128", © John Folsom.]

Shown on my chair's seat is the small catalog which accompanies Lure of the Lowcountry, an exhibition of works from contemporary artist John Folsom, currently on view in Charleston, South Carolina at the Gibbes Museum of Art through April 18. The catalog includes an introductory essay by the museum's associate curator, Pamela S. Wall. The chair fabric is Peter Dunham's Kashmir Paisley in peacock.