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How to throw a patriotic party without looking MAGA: Entertaining tips for our semiquincentennial
Howdy, fashion fans! Welcome back to AND ANOTHER THING.
My birthday was in the spring, and with it came my annual bout of crippling indecision about whether to celebrate. Part of me wanted to close my eyes and pretend I wasn't getting another year olderâthe other part wanted my own float in a ticker-tape parade down Fifth Avenue.
This year, as with most years, the latter won. My friend Lauren Santo Domingo offered to host a last-minute, informal party at her home, and it was fabulous.
(One of these days, Iâll ask my therapist what happened in my childhood to create such a pathological fear of being overlooked on my birthday. But not today!)
The unofficial theme? Americanaâbut make it chic.
As a born-and-bred Midwesterner, I have a deep affection for classic American cuisine: hot dogs and potato chips, vodka shots and Jell-O molds. But LSDâonce dubbed âthe next Mrs. Astorâ in a 2011 cover story of Town & Countryâis physically incapable of doing anything unchic.
Thus, my hot dog request became a dignified wiener tower, which she christened the âSt. Louis croquemboucheâ in my honor. Instead of serving potato chips on a plate, she filled individual bags of fried potatoes with a dollop of crème fraĂŽche and caviar, rolling down the metallic packaging to create perfect individual servings.
For dessert? Jell-O molds. The same kind my grandma and auntees used to bring to family cookouts in Missouriâonly these were served alongside Tiffany & Co. by Elsa Peretti silver trays, tongs, and candle holders.
Todayâs newsletter answers a question I often ask myself, and LSD answered: How do you do something fabulous and patrioticâwithout looking tacky and Trumpy?
For the record, I love being an American. I love where I grew up. I love how I grew up. (Mostly.)
This is the country that gave usâoff the top of my head and in no particular orderâjazz, James Dean, Broadway, baseball, Leviâs blue jeans, the Apollo space program, diners, drive-in movies, Thanksgiving leftovers, the moon landing, BBQ sauce, public libraries, Dolly Parton, Ella Fitzgerald, the Eames chair, the cheeseburger, The Golden Girls, Martha Stewart.
To borrow a line from Walt Whitman: America is large, it contains multitudes.
But after seeing what the current administration has done to the Oval Office, itâs abundantly clear that this is not a president we can trust with aesthetics and patriotic dĂŠcor.
To borrow a line from Dolly: It costs a lot of money to look that cheap.
While the American flag has felt less like Jackie Kennedyâs 1962 CBS tour of the White House and more like a monster truck rally in recent years, Iâm not willing to surrender cheeseburgers, fireworks, optimism, and the Stars and Stripes to the loudest people in the room yet. America is turning 250 years oldâand thatâs worth celebrating!
I wish there were an official alternative Fourth of July celebration to the mess unfolding this weekend, which, absurdly, isnât even happening on the Fourth of July.
Wouldnât it be cool if there were another official party? Like an inverse version of what MAGA world did with the Super Bowl halftime showâremember when Kid Rock lip-synced on a livestream as an act of defiance to Bad Bunnyâs incredible official halftime show? (Wow! 145 million views on that video and counting.)
But there isnât. So, I guess weâll have to do our own.
How do we honor Americaâs semiquincentennialâyes, that was a new word for me, tooâwithout looking like weâre hosting a MAGA rally?
In pursuit of answers, I consulted some of historyâs greatest hostesses, stole a few ideas from LSD, and called my decorator friend extraordinaire, Rebecca Gardner, the founder of Houses & Parties.
