That memory is in the book, as are those of her legendary grandmother Estée Lauder. The author recalls how she carried a bouquet of calla lilies on her wedding day in January 1930, something that was decidedly modern at the time; to this day, the Lauder family puts lilies in the entryway of her old Upper East Side townhome. In another chapter, she recalls how roses inspired her work. “My grandmother Estée particularly loved the scent of Bulgarian rose. It is also known as Damask or Damascene rose and is revered for its luxuriant scent. It is a keynote in Beautiful—the perfume she worked on for six years.” (Estée, her granddaughter goes on, is just one of countless creatives inspired by flowers: she interviews fashion designers Giambattista Valli and Erdem, who are famous for their floral prints, ceramicist Clare Potter, and more.)
There’s another page that dives into the symbolic meaning of florals, or as Lauder describes to me, “their language.” Stephanotis, she explains, represents marital bliss whereas lavenders mean devotion. Baby’s breath, meanwhile, is a symbol of everlasting love.
Photo: By Mark Lund
Much of the book is dedicated to blooms in their literal living sense. Yet Lauder also dives into their use in the decorative arts, from china to wallpaper. “It allows the reader to dream and realize that flowers are more than just a fresh real flower,” she says.
All of this is tucked within over a hundred images of arrangements styled by Lauder, from the dahlia and berries she puts in her New York apartment for Christmas, to the birds of paradise that adorn her Panama retreat, to the wicker baskets overflowing with blooms at her East Hampton home. Though she stresses to Vogue that happiness can stem from a single one: “Flowers are beautiful—it’s one of the simple pleasures in life. One beautiful flower in a vase on your desk is all you need just to kind of brighten your day,” she says.
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