Lessons in Lace
Diane Loesch Jones returned from Europe with packed bags and a plan.
After living in London for 10 years, Diane Loesch Jones arrived back in the States with more than English teas and a slew of Harrods purchases. Her bags were filled with piles of antique fabrics, linens and laces that she’d bought for “literally pennies.” To share those finds with her fellow Bostonians, she opened London Lace (now in the South End), a treasure trove of antique linens, colorful textiles, delicate laces and other souvenirs from her globe-circling travels. Jones is bringing lace back into the design limelight, outfitting windows across the country with her Scottish-imported lace curtains, and proving that the fabric is anything but stodgy.
“There’s an image of lace that’s incorrect—that it’s for old people,” she says. “Lace curtains have this image of grandmotherly lace, and they’re not like that at all. They’re not dowdy and stuffy.” The intricate patterns and sheer, translucent quality of her laces make them ideal for window treatments that let in light without losing privacy. Even windows in a contemporary room can benefit from a little lace, Jones says. “You just use one strip of this fabric and that’s all you need.”
Move over, heavy drapes and vinyl blinds—it’s time to reconsider your perception of the age-old fabric and lace up.
LONDON LACE, Boston 617-267-3506, 800-926-LACE (800-926-5223), www.londonlace.com