Since splitting from Pugachev, Tolstoy has been rediscovering not only her sense of adventure, but her true style. [5] Originally given permission to stay for six months to study schools,[6] she ultimately stayed in the country for 18 months. Influenced by Alexandra's Russian heritage and many years of travel on horse across Central Asia, The Tolstoy Edit embraces folk traditions and craftsmanship with their love of colour, pattern and texture. Someone who worked for us stole my jewellery and at first I was devastated because it was jewellery that I could sell to look after my children, I just thought this is the end, but actually you know Ive managed to survive and its fine. Sunday February 09 2020, 12.01am GMT, The Sunday Times. I went to Yasnaya Polyana (which means clear glade) Tolstoys former home, which is 125 miles south of Moscow. It felt great to be giving something back to Russia and also like I was shedding a skin and really embarking back on my old and true path through life.. | Our privacy policy, Website design and operation by Nelson Fernandes Serrao. ", Having featured Alexandra Tolstoy's Chelsea house in House & Garden two years ago, we now look back at the contents of the house as they go up for sale at Christie's, Everything we know about Frogmore Cottage, Harry and Meghan's former UK home, A light and calm Victorian flat in Belsize Park by Alice Davies, The 7 cringiest home decor trends, according to Youtubers and Tiktokers, An interior designer's Welsh cottage, inventively furnished with second-hand finds, An elegant house in Chelsea layered with soft colour and thoughtfully curated art, Divine inspiration: what churches can teach us about interiors, A Cotswold farmhouse mixes a calm colour palette with flourishes of pattern. ", "The long rug woven by Colefax - the most timeless pattern with colours that work with anything and it was the most fabulous setting for all the colourful furniture and textiles in our home. I never failed to fill one. After the Silk Road journey, he, a friend and I went to Mongolia with only packhorses. Once old enough to do his bidding, she served as the right hand of her father, adoring him and making the logistics of his life work. Wed been educated in very different ways. Contestant shares behind the scenes secrets from the hit quiz show - revealing there's NO studio audience and how the Chaser's identity is kept secret, The ultimate pre-lockdown to-do list! So we went to Chanel and bought a dress. Tolstoy was educated at Downe House, [2] and then studied for a Master of Arts degree in Russian at the University of Edinburgh, during the course of which she spent a year in Russia. Indeed, she has attracted such a sartorial following that last year, when she decided to sell some of the pieces from her former life, the interest was sizeable, prompting the Countess to launch a new online pre-loved fashion business, Preloved by Alexandra Tolstoy. Access the best of Getty Images with our simple subscription plan. By 2015, he was dividing his time between France and the family home in London and claimed to be number 3 on Kremlin's hitlist. He voiced the crocodile in my childrens favourite Soviet cartoon, Cheburashka, so its like hes in our home. Its the colours, the texture, the natural ageing of it, she enthuses. [7], In 1931 she left Japan and settled in the United States, where she gave lectures and worked as a chicken farmer. Says Slowik of their relationship, "My first contact with Alexandra was supplying a few antiques but such was our connection that it soon turned to furnishing the whole house at speed to prepare for her return with her first baby. We have noticed that there is an issue with your subscription billing details. I think whats prepared me has been all those adventures I did, like riding the silk road, riding through Mongolia; I went for months when it was pre-mobile phone we had no connection with the world outside When I was eighteen I lived in Moscow for six months and really did nothing but read books and learn Russian. But an experience like that opens your mind. I went to the Plaza Athenee hotel and I thought, oh my gosh I dont fit in, she tells me over the phone from her parents beautiful Oxfordshire home where she is seeing out the lockdown, and where five star hotels and all the other trappings of her time with Pugachev are now a distant memory. I went quite street. I gave 20% of what I made to a charity in St Petersburg for children with autism. Until then, dressing up for Tolstoy had been more about style and craftsmanship than touring designer boutiques. You may change or cancel your subscription or trial at any time online. For her almost 50,000 Instagram followers (@alexandratolstoy), these memories of oligarch-style trophy buys will be impossible to conflate with the idyllic look she now encapsulates. They had three children together - Alexei, known as Aliosha, Ivan and Maria. Following the success of the sale, Tolstoy decided to develop it further, and now sells not only her own wardrobe, but also pieces for other people, curating an edit on her new website, prelovedbyalexandratolstoy.com. Countess Alexandra Tolstoy's Colefax and Fowler interiors are up for sale at Christie's, for Tatler 3rd November 2020 The writer, equestrian and socialite talks to Tatler about the decision to auction off the pieces that made her Chelsea home impossibly chic. Though Alexandra Tolstoy hadn't her own family she had many relatives in Sweden, France, Soviet Russia and in the United States. He enjoyed a close relatinship with Vladimir Putin, andin 2008 when Sergei's bank hit problems, the Russian state bailed it out with $1 billion loan. Alexandra is cheerfully conversational, and I congratulate her on the release of the recent BBC documentary about her and her husbands complex relationship (The Countess and the Russian Billionaire); its hard not to be compelled by the remarkable situation of her marriage to one of the worlds richest men, and we soon discuss the astonishing details: While living in London with Sergei, the couple became aware of surveillance placed upon them by the Russian state; Sergeis security company found GPS trackers planted under their cars (which were initially suspected to be explosive devices), including the car used exclusively by Alexandra and the children. Talking about her pursuit of an exquisitely domestic lifestyle, Alexandra says that its not just aesthetic, it does also go with a kind of freedom of thought, doesnt it? 1,514 posts. I was living at Claridges, which is just around the corner from where Colefax & Fowler used to have their antiques shop. I thought I had to be someone else, I thought I had to be like those girls. Shes a pin-up for authentic prairie chic. Within a year of meeting, they had a baby and another on the way, and were living a life of luxury in London, Moscow and Paris. We had an oligarchic lifestyle, and even had a suite on standby at Claridges. She tells me that Sergei did have really good taste, but, I was surprised to learn, collected artwork for its style, rather than for the sake of them being expensive pieces., Alexandra seems to be regaining her confidence since the ending of her relationship and peak surveillance a few years ago in the documentary, theres recent footage of her and her children riding scooters to school in the morning, something she never could have done a few years ago. She says that every day is difficult, and I often dont sleep at night its that philosophy of dust yourself down, and carry on trying I dont ever stop putting myself out there and trying., In the past year, Alexandras rebuilt her travel company, which she founded before the marriage, built a fashion business, which Im told is going well, and been writing for lots of magazines; shes even made amicable progress with the Russian state, and has since returned without threat But it seems to me that her greatest solace in the idyll shes struggled to provide for her children: theyve got this big pond, and a rowing boat, and a little caravan, and a wigwam, and is rescued by the stillness of the country. Grow your brand authentically by sharing brand content with the internets creators. I've never felt such a connection to someone ever.'. Alexandra on horseback in Kyrgyzstan. Back then, people heard about the trips by word of mouth. FILTER Showing 23 products Cashmere Folk Fair Isle Jumper 495 259 Offered in Alexandra Tolstoy: An Interior by Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, 4-25 November, Online. It was lecturing about this trip at the Royal Geographical Society in London that first got me into leading tours. It was definitely not an extravagant mentality, she says. The couple met in 2008 after Sergei hired Alexandra to help improve his English while they were both living in Russia, where Sergei was once-close friends with Putin. Estimate: 2,000-2,500. Alexandra spoke to Jenny Coad. Tolstoy first met Sergei, then a Russian senator and trusted friend of Putin who had separated from his wife, when asked to give him English lessons while she was living in Moscow with Galimzyanov. She died in 1979 at age 96. They were symbols of a bad time so it doesnt matter.. Alexandra Tolstoy published many books (" I worked for the Soviets", 1934; " Father. ", The house, though small, was designed to work well for entertaining, but also as a space where Alexandra's children could play and be comfortable. I think those prepared me more than anything, really., But, when Alexandra had first met Sergei, shed recently ended an unhappy marriage and fell very much in love with the oligarch, despite the potential risk involved with someone so closely linked to the elite levels of Communist politics: I was obviously a thrill-seeker; I loved an adventure and I loved the feeling of adrenaline and excitement. I felt like Bridget Jones, so awkward. 894646. Showing Editorial results for alexandra tolstoy. Now, I can be creative in a totally different way., Alexandra Tolstoy: An Interior by Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler runs 4-25 November, Online, Get the best stories from Christies.com in a weekly email, *We will never sell or rent your information. Alexandra said: 'It was incredible, he would give me his credit card and I would go shopping, I had a private jet. Discover Alexandra Tolstoy's favourite pieces and collaboration designs. Influenced by Alexandra's Russian heritage and many years of travel on horse across Central Asia, The Tolstoy Edit embraces folk traditions and craftsmanship with their love of colour, pattern and texture. Follow Alexandra Tolstoy and explore their bibliography from Amazon.com's Alexandra Tolstoy Author Page. Alexandra Tolstoy is leading a riding trip through Kyrgyzstan in June; from 3,598pp, full-board (ampersandtravel.com). It was so enriching and fabulous.. Estimate: 3,000-5,000. Countess Alexandra Tolstoy is selling furniture, rugs and personal treasures that decorated the 12million London home she once shared with her Russian billionaire ex. Other pieces currently available on the site include an Oscar de la Renta scallop-edged dress (200), a tweed Celine mini dress (390) and Alaa wool dress (450). Compare Standard and Premium Digital here. Id only been to France on holiday, I didnt speak Russian and all my friends were on gap years in Thailand and India. The next year, I took a trip to Kyrgyzstan, which is better suited to riding because its mountainous and beautiful, and the horses are wonderful. I think its difficult for anybody in those circumstances to be creative; how can you be original? The auction house expects the lots to make in the region of 250,000. Where I would usually be wearing some sort of boho embroidered dress before, it just wasnt formal enough, you needed couture. . After the war, she worked on an edition of her father's writings. A highlight is a 19th-century Russian painted pine model, below, of the Trinity Monastery of St. Sergius outside Moscow. ", "The pair of white sofas with cushions. Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your trial by visiting the Settings & Account section. But in 2008, Sergei's bank hit problems and the Russian bank bailed it out with $1 billion loan. I speak fluent Russian now, but growing up in the UK my mother is very English and we lived in the countryside I didnt feel at all Russian. Biographies of Teymuraz K. Bagration :::: Tatiana Schaufuss. State creditors in Moscow pursued him in the British courts, claiming he embezzled hundreds of millions. She has also added a section dedicated to her favourite brands - including Pink City Prints, Pioneers and Alex Gore Browne - offering discounts on each with a special code. My mother was amazing, she made me all these Laura Ashley things which were very special and my aunts knitted Fair Isle jumpers. The Russian authorities froze his assets, put him on Interpol's wanted list and obtained a court order in Britain forcing him to hand over his passports. Soon after, Tolstoy a distant relative of the novelist Leo Tolstoy called on Slowik, who was then head of the firms antiques department, to transform what she describes as a white shell into an incredible home. This house is a family home, says Alexandra Tolstoy of the beautiful six-bedroom Chelsea residence she converted from two adjacent artists studios. I suppose that I was not very confident anyway, and I felt I needed to live-up to these very shiny, perfect girls and I was a bit Bridget Jones-like in comparison to them, so felt probably a bit inadequate I shouldve just carried on the way I was I didnt realise, but it accentuated how lost Id become, and it also made me much more dependent on him, so I think he liked it, because it isolated me from my family., She now considers the trappings of her private-jet-chic vulgar, and has since sold almost all that which shes kept, realising bogged down the luxurious tokens of her billionaire lifestyle: The really cathartic moment was last summer I thought I have to sell these ridiculous handbags, I have to sell them because theyre actually quite liquid its money that I can use to pay school fees and I can educate the children I suddenly managed to make myself look at them and think its not really me anyway.. But I like nice things and comforts, and I find nothing difficult about camping. offers FT membership to read for free. Since then Tolstoy has launched a number of projects, among them an online pre-loved fashion business and The Tolstoy Edit, an online platform where she shares her style secrets for the worlds of fashion, interiors and travel. 2023 - All Rights Reserved Estimate: 2,000-2,500. I think its very important that your house reflects who you are., The Drawing Room at Glebe Place, with interior created by Alexandra Tolstoy and Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler. Many of them met at the "Aunt Sasha" 90th anniversary in 1974. After nearly 11 years, however, Tolstoy is moving on from the home she has so lovingly put together, and is now offering some of its contents for sale at Christie's. [8], In the summer of 1948, Tolstaya met 18 year old future United States Senator Mike Gravel, who had intended to volunteer for the Israeli forces in a fight to defend the state of Israel, and she allegedly told him to instead "go on back home and finish school", to which he complied. Xander Haveron-Jones talks with Countess Alexandra on cultivating an aesthetic, the liberation of stylistic reinvention, and her infamous billionaire marriage. Student journalism does not come cheap. She picks up the telephone, and I can hear the excited chatter of the children who are going into the sitting room to be read a Just William story by their grandfather. I telephone Alexandra on a sunny afternoon during lockdown, which she is spending at her parents house with the children; suffering from asthma, she thinks it safer to be with other adults, just in case. Everything was at her disposal: Private yachts, clothes, no-limit titanium credit cards. The broadcaster, author and businesswoman Alexandra Tolstoy has beautiful taste in interiors - here at House & Garden we've featured her fairytale cottage in Oxfordshire as well as her Chelsea house.This week, the contents of the latter are on sale at Christie's as she moves out into a new home (the progress of which we've been avidly following on Instagram). When I was with Sergei, I stopped reading so much of that 19th-century literature which Im so passionate about With the life I live now, emotionally and mentally I can romantically dream and escape whereas then, it was so stultifying., I wonder if, like her fashion sense, her interior design interests were affected during her time with Sergei, as one might imagine they would be, but she says that they werent: Weirdly, the interior decorating never changed I could afford more things, but [Sergei] didnt really give me the opportunity to do very much the taste never changed there at all. 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