It’s 12 p.m. in a west London lodge and Luann de Lesseps, in any other case referred to as the Countess, is carrying a Jovani blazer smothered in glinting, multicolored jewels. She smells like candy fragrance, with faint undertones of champagne, and on her head balances a towering and barely jaunty Philip Treacy hat that makes her look even taller than her common 5’ 10”. She will get out her telephone, looking for a photograph of the man she’s been courting, her manicured nails faucet tapping on the display screen, earlier than her assistant gently interjects. We’ve solely obtained a lot time, he says. After which she has to attend different engagements—together with a “rebirth” ceremony, which is difficult to grasp as an idea however from which she is going to apparently emerge feeling model new.
To any Actual Housewives fanatics, Luann wants no introduction. The Countess was an OG solid member on Bravo’s The Actual Housewives of New York Metropolis from Season 1 by way of 12, and has develop into one thing of a cabaret star and a homosexual icon within the course of. Throughout her 12 years on RHONY, she turned recognized for just a few issues: extremely quotable one-liners (“Even Louis Vuitton makes errors”), a kind of thick-skinned resilience (one second she’s navigating an affair, the subsequent she’s clinking wine glasses at a luncheon), and a narrative arc that not even the best TV writers may have provide you with (two very completely different marriages, one guide on etiquette and one escape from handcuffs after being arrested in Palm Seashore carrying nothing however a floral sundress). If this newer wave of housewives tries very exhausting to carry the drama for the cameras, Luann all the time tried—and failed spectacularly—to include it, which has solely labored to bolster her camp enchantment.
She’s additionally recognized for being a deft hand relating to assembly males (“Am I the Kim Cattrall of the household, or what?”). Whether or not she’s seducing 20-something pirates on Caribbean islands (a Season 5 storyline that she nonetheless kind of denies), or marrying after which divorcing a New York bachelor throughout the area of seven months, Luann’s romantic life has consisted of many chapters, every another fascinating and colourful than the final. To that finish—and following the information that the truth star is quickly set to seem on Bravo’s first-ever courting present, Love Resort—I caught up with Luann in order that she may break down her final courting suggestions for Vogue. Right here’s what she needed to say:
You possibly can meet somebody anyplace
“I used to get love notes on the fuel station. You would get an espresso, a panini… or a lover. [But also] at any five-star restaurant, particularly if there’s a phenomenal bar. Or the house items sections—we now have Mattress, Tub & Past. There are guys in there shopping for toasters. Embassy events are additionally an awesome place as a result of you might have overseas males. I married Tom [D’Agostino], who was American, however that was uncommon… and he was uncommon!”
After the interview, we depart the lodge room and there’s a younger man sitting within the hall. “What are you doing down there?” she asks, towering over him. “Good-looking!” She turns to me: “See? I informed you you may meet somebody anyplace.”
Don’t be a wallflower
“It’s all about flirting. It’s all about letting anyone know that you simply’re interested in them, proper? Say you’re out along with your girlfriends and there’s a man on the bar who’s handsome and also you fancy him, and so on. He’s not going to stroll as much as the desk the place there are three girls—he gained’t do this. A girl invitations males, just like the queen—relaxation in peace, darling—and the identical goes for males, if you happen to like him. You give a word to the waiter [to pass along]: Come be part of us for a drink. How stylish is that? Do we now have time to waste, actually? In the event you like anyone, [let] them know. Give them a Valentine’s Day card.”
