Profile: Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo (Part Two)

Who are your style icons?
All around: Isabella Rossellini, Linda Dresner - she is the one responsible for bringing Jil Sander to the US. Linda is a true fashionista. I love how she combines various designers to create an amazing look. Something is always slightly "off" when she creates a look. It's an edge that has which sets her apart from the rest. Part of my feeling about perfection being in imperfection.

Fashion: Liliana Casabal (Morgane Le Fay) Her use of fabric, wool, silk, the layers. The saturation of color. Catherine Malandrino

Interiors/Fashion: Martin Margiela Interiors: Elsie de Wolfe, Vincente Wolf

Favorite Eye: Paula Rubenstein. Her mix of masculine and industrial antiques are to die for! I could park myself in a corner of her shop and never leave. John Derian - I love his look. Amazing.

Architect: Richard Meier Someday I hope to own the Douglas house that he designed on Lake Michigan. I have been staring at it from a far since I was a little girl!


Who would you most like to collaborate with on a project?
I hesitate to answer this knowing you have a close relationship with him. Vincente Wolf's scope of work blows my mind. What I wouldn't do to be a fly on the wall at his studio. Books, interiors, photography, CRYSTAL for Baccarat!?! Just to have a creative relationship with such a historic company. I am truly in awe.

What books are currently on your bedside table?
I don't read in bed. There are however two balls of yarn, a set of knitting needles a red uniball pen (love them!) and my note/collage book. I like to have it close at hand. I make interior design collages in various color or design schemes, write down dreams or random thoughts.


What is your favorite luxury in life?
Being able to travel the world with my husband, Scott. In our year and a half courtship we traveled to 26 different places around the world together. Our travel has not slowed down since our wedding! From Helsinki, to Troncones and Deia to the Napa Valley to the South of France - you name it, experiencing the sites, the culture and the cuisine with my life partner is truly a luxury I feel blessed to have.

What is your idea of earthly happiness?
Good health, warm sun on my face, fresh simple food, good wine and above all else my relationship with my family.

Past or present who has most influenced your direction in life?
When I was a girl we used to rent a cabin on Lake Michigan each Summer. The home that the owner had created was a wonderful representation of her personal style. I think I have always aspired to live a well-lived-life like hers. I have always worked to hone my style and make my home a direct reflection of my personality. I live my life surrounded by nostalgic pieces I love, that I find beautiful and truly inspiring.

"Sally" (the owner of the cabin) was a buyer for Dayton Hudson. I never met Sally, but the cabin and the decor was incredibly influential on my taste as an adult. She collected goods from all over the world on her buying trips. The kitchen was made entirely of reclaimed barn wood as were the beams that ran along the ceiling of the tiny cabin. The cabinets were stocked with mismatched antique china. She collected heart shaped rocks on the shores of Lake Michigan and displayed them as a collection on the fireplace hearth in the master bedroom. She collected shipping crates and used one as a cocktail table. Other crates were stacked under an open stairway for additional storage.

The architecture of the house was modern, but the interiors had a rustic feel and many of the furniture pieces were antique. The front door was a reclaimed apartment door complete with the original metal apartment number on it. The entire house was splattered with stained glass windows. The most amazing of which was on the landing of the stairway. It was grand in scale (no less than 9 ft high and 5 ft wide) and had red, gold, green and blue accents - it allowed for wonderful colored light to spill into the house - not unlike the fantastically colored vintage posters that I collect as an adult. She collected everything from antique quilts to wood duck decoys and Peruvian embroidery pieces that were framed and hung on the wall of the yellow bathroom, salon style - of course!

Profile by Ronda Carman

Profile: Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo (Part One)

I have a confession. Several months back I posted about my love hate relationship with Twitter. What a difference a few months (and a grasp of the concept) can do for your perception.

If you are not a Twitter user, it’s difficult to fully understand the relationships you can forge with likeminded companies and individuals. Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo (ABCD) is a perfect example. Amy and I first became Twitter ‘friends’ in March and were finally able to meet in person at the All the Best and Vicente Wolf launch party—I liked her instantly!

Artist, designer and stylist, Amy is a true Renaissance woman. ABCD first studied fine art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She completed a six-month chef-training program in NYC and earned a Certificate in Floral Design from Parsons School of Art and Design.

During her 2007 nuptial planning ABCD was inspired to design her wedding stationery. Having experience in event styling she knew exactly the look she was going for. All the vendors for her New York City wedding quickly fell into place. When it came time to order the invitations, ABCD realized she was not happy with the service, style or designs on offer. True to character she took things in her own hands and created their entire wedding suite.

The accolades on their wedding stationery came rolling in. It wasn’t long before guests from her wedding were asking ABCD to design stationery for their special events. Thus ABCD Designs Bespoke Stationery was born.

Amy is a collector of vintage advertising posters, china cups, yarn and images. In her free time she makes collages, knits, loves homemaking and adores spending her time with her husband, Mr. D. Part Two on Monday...


Which talent would you most like to possess?
Math skills -HA! In all seriousness, the only thing I intended when I left to start art school was to become a fashion photographer. What gets better than working with incredible cutting edge fashion, beautiful women, amazing lighting and creating an iconic image for the masses? At that time - the internet was nothing like it is now. It was all about the glossy pages of Elle, you know? At SAIC (School of the Art Institute of Chicago) they were just introducing this "fly-by-night" thing called "digital" photography. *Aaaack - had I known digital would actually stick!* But I couldn't get into the process. I LOVED being in the darkroom. I completely backlashed and left the photography program. To this day I regret not following that photography passion. I guess there is still time to learn...

Instead I took weaving courses, painted and printed fabric design ... I often tease that I should have lived in another era, been born in 1875 not 1975! I am so drawn to turn of the century processes from letter press to the architecture. Old New York fashion, hats, gloves and accessories ... the quality of everything produced was made to last. They built it like they meant it - nothing was disposable. I love that.


What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Out of necessity I have reinvented my career several times. My first real job in New York was in event planning and management. After 9/11 there were no corporate events and I started taking floral design classes and styling jobs as I could get them.

When I married Scott and the option was there for me to travel abroad with him two weeks out of every six. It made it incredibly hard to keep up with my weekly floral clients and last minute styling jobs. I reinvented again applying the same design theory to paper!

I am a huge believer no matter what design medium you are working with – a painting or sculpture, design of an interior space, an arrangement of flowers or styling a beautiful plate of food – one must always follow the same elements of design. In order to create a beautiful product there must be unity, flow, texture, harmonizing color, balance and a focal point to please the eye. This is the philosophy that I apply to anything I create.


What is your most prized possession?
My collection of original vintage posters. I was completely smitten when I bought my first vintage poster in college. I loved her rosy cheeks, wings and steaming cup of coffee so much that I started to collect more posters to decorate the walls of my apartment. I followed a theme of sorts when building on the collection. All the rosy cheek gals have wings, are doing housework or sometimes they are wearing wings WHILE homemaking. I love the fonts and the color from the late 1800's and early 1900's. So inspiring!

It is a really fun collection to build on. It took me eight years of searching to get my hands on 'Lane Borgosesia.' I first saw the poster in the hallway of Joan Vass's knitwear studio and knew I had to start the hunt for my very own. It's a Leonetto Cappiello poster where there is an all white drawing of woman who is knitting in a pile of colorful wool.

What is the one thing in life you cannot live without?
Can't live without? That's a tough question. I think I could live without all of it if that was put to me. But I must confess my theory has always been "Life is short, eat off the good china!" My mother in law is mortified that we eat dinner every night off the "good china" and sip water from the crystal that you're only supposed to use on "special occasions."

Profile by Ronda Carman