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“There are no grades of vanity,” Mark Twain once wrote, “there are only grades of ability in concealing it.”  I find it entirely amusing that we choose to call the work center where we make the best of our physical imperfections a bathroom vanity. I would guess that the first bathroom vanity was created when Ruke, a hairy cave dweller, dragged a stone next to a water basin where he could cut fat to smear on his face. The Encyclopedia Britannica poses the theory that it wasn’t until the middle 19^th century that people had bathrooms in private homes. You can bet that by then, people in palaces had mirrors and vanities galore.

Today’s vanities range from the outrageous to the historical—from gaudy to simple. There are even diminutive, battery-powered vanities created for camping! Here are a few design ideas for us vain folk:

Spies R Us

Alape’s “Metaphor” vanity looks as if it was designed by the weapons team for James Bond. Love the chrome-plated towel holder!

Shape Up

The Shape Vanity by  Villeroy & Boch is “understated” and a warm combo of wood and metal. I love when the bowl is installed atop the unit. (Pretty vain of me to think wood is earthy and therefore superior.)  See other cool examples at Architonic.

Ye Olde Style Vanity

For those who prefer their vanity served up in classic style, this Chelsea Sink Cabinet  combines a cream granite surface with a porcelain bowl, finished with a solid wood or hardwood veneer.  Home Decorators has an extensive collection for those who want to go old school.

Ye New Whatever School

China-based Dameson Sanitaryware Co. sells this medium-density fiberboard/solid wood combo set with a glass top and ceramic basin–available in white and black.

Hypervanity

Nova Linea pops completely out of the box with this dual-sink model combining classic and fusion ideas. The original Italian creation may simply change your own personal notions of vanity.

I’ll stop here with these examples.  As Michel de Montaigne once remarked, “There is perhaps no more obvious vanity than to write of it so vainly.”

I’m not a TV junkie, but I have to admit to a certain sudden attachment to the Mad Men series, where advertising executives in 1960s America flaunt their demons. What I love most about the show are the sets and costuming that recall the America of my childhood.  The era, as characterized by the Oakland Museum of California, celebrated the “Birth of the Cool.”

Mad Enough for Me

It’s the narrow ties and the short haircuts and the cocktail dresses that get to me. Plus, everyone smokes as if it’s good for you!

Birth of the Cool

If there’s a single chronicler of the decade to remember, it’s certainly photographer Julius Shulman, who caught the Bauhaus and jazz inspired homes of mad men and Southern California hipsters. Take a good look at these cool cats! That, friends, is a Hi-Fi!

Decked Out

When they weren’t jousting in the board room, Los Angelino trendsetters cut deals and chased each other around the pool. This Shulman photo reveals the So-Cal beamed architecture of the era.

Darkness Falls

In May 1960, Shulman captured architect Pierre Koenig’s vision of a hip LA pad nested over the lights of Sunset Boulevard. Read more about Shulman in LA Magazine.

Valley of Dreams

I grew up in the San Fernando Valley and had friends with parents in the entertainment business. (Didn’t everybody?) This Shulman photo shows where they cooled out with martinis after their commute over the Sepulveda Pass.

Blue Horizons

The Oakland Museum’s “Birth of the Cool: California Art, Design, and Culture at Midcentury” celebrates Miles Davis, Van Keppel Green furniture, hard-edge abstract paintings, and this photo taken by Shulman during the era. Read more about the Oakland exhibit.