Ever wonder what Padma Laxmi’s boudoir looks like? Well, stop your fevered imaginings and take a look at this recent issue of Harper’s Bazaar (how apposite) which showcases the 38 year old model/actress/author/jewelry designer/TV personality’s East Village apartment. (Courtesy of limeduck, who reads apartment therapy so that I don’t have to)
The decoration that has received the most attention is the giant painting of Padma herself right above her bed:
(The portrait was painted by her friend Francesco Clemente, an Italian painter who splits his time between New York, Italy, and Madras.)
It’s not just the painting though. It also looks like Padma uses her own picture as either screen saver or background image on her computer.
While I would never decorate with enlarged pictures of myself, Padma’s work product is her image, and so she’s simply surrounding herself with her professional output, like a movie producer decorating with posters from films that they made. On the other hand …
Sorry, I totally forgot what I was saying. Have you noticed how hot it is in here? I think I’ll go open a window …
If I looked that good, I wouldn’t even bother working. I’d be staring at myself in the mirror all day. Also, if I had a super amazing portrait in beautiful colors done of myself, I wouldn’t put it in storage! Like that unnamed rug, it really brings the room together!
Ennis, very good insights.
I didn’t really read anything that you wrote to accompany the pictures, sorry. I’m sure that it was interesting!
she has a nice apartment
Yours as well, Khoofia.
That’s a pretty shitty painting. Being anatomically incorrect is soo cliched.
the author is obsessed with that swing:
padma on swinging:
that bloody article is full of silly double entendres.
yes, i dislike that painting too. you know, ennis, i’m surprised that you would know what is in the latest harper’s bazaar. i’m impressed by your blogger instincts (or dedication to padma lakshmi news alerts). or is it the monkeys’ assiduous research?
I like to swing in the dark.
A mirror on the ceiling would have been a practical choice…
she’s a hottie for sure but having a monster-sized portrait of herself overlooking her bed is a bit over the top.
The painting is pretty good for that scale (weird legs though) I have some other ideas after looking at the second image but I dont think they’re appropriate for the public domain.
Does it involve swinging in the dark?
She’s hot….I personally think it’s fabulous. At least Padma Laxmi put up a stylized artistic painting of her. If I was Padma Laxmi I’d put up a stylized semi nude up like Samantha did in Sex and the City!
OK I’m a woman and the thing that I thought was undesirable was her kitchen. She’s supposed to be a “cook” and she has a gally kitchen???? What?
That’s a modest abode. I thought her taste would run something like this. Little more CK, little less Traditional Home.
Why is everybody about swinging in the dark? Wouldn’t it be much more fun in the light?
Sorry, linky in previous comment is NSFW. But it has an awesome Tamil refrain.
16 · Rahul said
At night, with a candle placed where the sun is coming from in the picture. perfect lighting. I’d be compelled to paint her first though. She’d look awesome in that light. Then, swinging in candle light.
Please. Who finger paints by candlelight?
19 · bess said
mentally challenged, thats who. We’ve got our own set of laws; The first law of physics state anything that’s fun costs at least eight dollars.
Is an indoor swing really a COMMON indian furnishing?
21 · TheGoriWife said
Yes, in old style South Indian homes at least. Usually overlooking the inner courtyard.
We at the bovine liberation front are appalled at the skin of our dead sister lining padma’s moodoir. how would you like to see the skin of a salmon lining our corral, eh Paddi?
19 · bess said
Who needs paint when one can wax eloquent with candles?
Ennis was right. It is getting hot in here.
yes – very common in older south indian homes. Not as much in Kerala. It is often a very safe place – occassionally fights erupt but it is more the norm. It is also common in newer homes especially of the rich and the famous. I wish I could have one here in melbourne but the ceiling height and the strength of the gyprock is iffy
A while back she was interviewed in GQ magazine and the editor put a note in the article to the effect of “she wanted to be photographed for the article wearing only chocolate, and we thought about it (trust us we did) but couldn’t figure out how to do it.” That always struck me as odd. How can you not figure out how to melt some chocolate, pour it on her, and take pictures, but then I realized that the unspoken part of that sentence was “without us breaking a ton of obscenity laws or the magazine spontaneously combusting from the sheer hotness of the images.”
the indian swing–the mahogany cut to accommodate two–is romantic. The difference between the jhoola and padma’s single seater is the difference between lovemaking and masturbation.
8 · portmanteau said
I’m that assiduous monkey, thank you very much.
Discussion of narcissism aside, does anybody else find it odd she seems to sort her books by color? (in the shelf in the swing room if you can move your eyes a bit to the right for a moment) Well, at least she doesn’t seem to be putting books on the floor.
chocolate? way to play the race card padma
Actually, I’ve been following Clemente for a long time he’s been doing “anatomically incorrect” portraits since the late 70s. I think work was pretty interesting from the late 70s thru the late 80s and it’s a little more interesting that just distorting bodies.
limeduck asked:
i guess padma is a very visual person. visual and visually pleasing. speaking of odd libraries, the pepys library is organized according to height. short books here tall books there. no additions or deletions allowed.
Jesus! Does that gown have a built-in underwired bra or is that how she looks? She’d give Salma Hayek a good run for her money.
Re: The indoor swings. Traditionally, they were part of the marriage ceremony of Kerala Iyers (which Padma Lakshmi is) and I’m assuming for Tamils in general, so it is considered very romantic. You see it used in Malayalam films in a lot of songs about Palakkad Iyers.
And, a lot of the houses built in Kerala (esp. by Gulf returnees) in the last 10-15 years have indoor swings. They’re really a gorgeous addition to a house.
I’d never heard of or seen indoor swings, so I assumed she was blowing smoke. I’m very surprised to find out it’s a real tradition in South India. Good thing I didn’t snark on her description of it being a tradition …
Let me clarify – I’d seen an indoor two person swing once, but I’d never seen a single person swing like that. Is that also traditional?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aadhiarts/2791934588/ – swing like this is common in our ‘South Indian’ households either in the living room or in the verandah.
28 · my_dog_jagat said
Thats my man, where skill comes in handy. Sorry, couldnt resist making that cheesy remark.
36 · Ennis said
This doesn’t count as tradition and it’s not desi-specific, but I’ve seen a lot of families that don’t have a swing built into the house put up a single person swing person for kids to play inside the house.
Oonjalattam(swinging) is also something Malayalee women do during the Thiruvathira festival.
I agree they are beautiful. we must move in different circles – dont have a single acquaintance who has a swing inside the home – but that does not mean tis not true. In fact it may be a religious thing in Kerala with hindus more likely to have it than christians.
37 · hari ohm said
I’ve actually wondered about why our counterparts in the desh always have stone or tile floors of some kind. I have rarely seen carpeted floors and I don’t think I have ever seen hardwood. Carpet I guess I sort of understand. The fibers tend to hold odors and will guarantee that the house always smells of masala. Hardwood, though, is nice. Does it not work in the tropics? Is wood just too expensive there?
41 · melbourne desi said
My family’s half Hindu and half Christian, and I’ve seen them with the same frequency on both sides. From what I’ve seen, wealth is more of a factor than religion. The most beautiful one I’ve seen is in the home of a very rich nasrani uncle.
yes it is nice but mostly used in older houses and yu’ll see them painted over with a lot of paint to prevent damage by water or bugs [at least the older houses i’ve been in, in cochin and the poonjab (my cuz says that in a simpering way and i want to beat his fat head in when he does so ..erm but i dont)]. i was visiting a relative in an older part of town and they were telling me about the demolition of a house on their street. looked like a tiny enough place by the frontage but they told me they hauled Rs 2 crores worth of wood away from that. i havent seen hardwoods in newer construction pro’ly because of cost. it is interesting though that stones that would be considered an expensive feature in northam homes – such as granite or marble – are very very common.
That is hilariously Elizabeth Taylor level over-the-top. I’m envisioning many husbands, diamonds, and, eventually, some sort of breakdown followed by a ghost-written biography.
(Oddly enough, it puts me in mind of Merle Oberon, although she’s embraced her heritage, not hidden it).
I do appreciate that the furnishings are not the sort of modern that seems to be everywhere these days, even in my Crate and Barrel catalogue. Don’t get me wrong, like the modern, I’m just ready for something else, maybe a return to that sort of romantic, early 90s look with all the distressed, painted furniture. Okay, maybe not.
Damn, PL’s swing has become all the rage now, it seems.
36 · Ennis said
What? Are you saying you’ve never seen a South Indian drape themselves in a body-huggingsarong like dress before perching on a piece of wood?
Of course, you haven’t seen a single person swing like ‘dat till you’ve seen this.
45 · onparkstreet said
I too have always thought that PL was a more attractive version of Bobby Jindal myself.
touche, rahul 🙂
(well, MO did a bit more than be less than be full on multi-culti desi, she pretended she was Tasmanian).