With Help from Gramdma, Liv Tyler Minds Her Modern Manners
Style.com| December 2013
Rules were meant to be broken. At least they were last night at Liv Tyler and her grandmother Dorothea Johnson’s holiday fête at Stella McCartney’s New York flagship, where they celebrated their new book on manners. “This blasts through any etiquette whatsoever!” exclaimed Tyler, pointing to her own late arrival and last-minute primping as the ultimate party “don’t.” However, handling life’s hiccups with grace is one tip offered in Modern Manners: Tools to Take You to the Top, which Johnson, etiquette expert extraordinaire, aptly called “a pick up and put down book.”
Holiday revelers including Alexandra Richards, Craig McDean, and Charlotte Ronson turned out to toast the tome. Noticeably absent was McCartney herself. (She’s in London gearing up for her annual Christmas lighting this evening.) But given the designer’s “impeccable manners,” attested Tyler, and the pair’s long-standing friendship, the choice in venue was not a surprising one.
On hand were delightful butternut squash bites and vodka rosemary cocktails, served by waiters in reindeer antlers and flashing Santa pins. Singing a range of holiday classics, an a cappella group later serenaded Tyler with “I Only Have Eyes for You,” only to have the McCartney-clad star join in.
Hoping to sample some cotton candy from the “Dos and Don’ts” sweets table at the back of the store was Hanneli Mustaparta. “I can’t reach; my skirt’s too short!” she exclaimed while leaning over some “Don’t raise your voice” cookies. While keeping her thigh-grazing frock modestly at bay, the rule breaker eventually managed to pluck some cotton candy from the jar.
Modern Manners: Tools to Take You to the Top is published by Random House and available at select bookstores as well as at Stella McCartney’s Greene Street store.