I've been trying to schedule a photo session with Bill Gallo to use as a template for a portrait for some time now. We wanted a venue that could provide a little Jazz Age panache, so we thought we'd try the nearby Greenwood Gardens in Short Hills, New Jersey. The property's heyday was during the 1920s and 1930s, when Joseph P. Day sank a million dollars into the 26 acres and named his palatial estate "Pleasant Days."
There are quite a few lovely places on the grounds that make for an ideal setting for a photo shoot - my favorite was the Garden of the Zodiac. The original estate featured two terraces below the Reflecting Pool Terrace: the Croquet Terrace and the Garden of the Zodiac, where twelve pairs of classical columns were arranged in a demilune around a reflecting pool, with a bronze sculpture of a boy holding two geese by Emilio Angela at the pool's center.
We came away with quite a few lovely pictures and Bill and I settled on one for the portrait. It will be interesting to see the finished product in a few months!
[Pictured: Vintage straw boater made in Italy for Brooks Brothers; straw fedora by Borsalino; light blue shirt with white stripes by Turnbull & Asser for Bergdorf Goodman; Navy jacket by Ralph Lauren Purple Label; linen trousers by Brooks Brothers; brown and white captoe spectators by Edward Green for Ralph Lauren Purple Label; navy tie with creme polka dots by Drake's; navy and red wool unicorn pocket-square by Drake's; vintage 1949 Longines watch; vintage sterling silver cufflinks by Hickey Freeman,]
