perhaps we need more mirrors

FINISHING TOUCH The giant charm bracelet by Nicola Malkin, a designer and ceramicist, is typically displayed on chairs, large tables or bedposts, as at the J. Roaman furnishings store in East Hampton, N.Y.

I don't think anything could better express the empty hideous aesthetic which is companion to our new age of robber baronry than this image of monied, store-bought style which succeeds so perfectly in evoking the late Victorian, Philistine monstrosities of the last one.

The NYTimes article in yesterday's "Home & Garden" section begins:

At J. Roaman, a home furnishings store in East Hampton, N.Y., a painted white iron bed wears a giant charm bracelet over its left head post. The bracelet isn’t there because the bed wants for visual interest; it’s already enveloped in a brightly colored quilt by Lisa Corti, a Milanese designer, and topped with four pillows, five throw pillows and a bolster. The reason for the jewelry, according to Judi Roaman, a former fashion retailer who opened the store in May, is that furniture, like any carefully curated outfit, should express its owner’s personality. “Accessories make the bed into who you want her to be,” she explained.

I thought at first it must certainly be a satire. While it certainly is, it's not intentional.

I can only hope this is the beginning of the end.

[image and unexpurgated caption from the Times]