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"  &amp;quot;You&amp;#039;ll have to excuse me if I&amp;#039;m moving a little bit slowly today,&amp;quot; says Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman as she walks gingerly across a glowing white sheepskin rug in her townhouse in New York City&amp;#039;s West Village. Chapman is back from a bachelorette weekend at the Price Canyon cattle ranch south of Tucson, Arizona. &amp;quot;I thought I was in good shape, but the riding killed me,&amp;quot; she says with a laugh. SEE LOOKBOOK:  GEORGINA CHAPMAN The groom, of course, is legendary Hollywood honcho Harvey Weinstein, 55, whom the 31-year-old Chapman married just before Christmas. But back to the ranch: &amp;quot;They put me in a pink cowgirl outfit and taught me how to lasso, which is a good thing when you&amp;#039;re getting married,&amp;quot; quips Chapman, flashing her whopping three-diamond engagement ring. &amp;quot;It teaches you how to keep your man.&amp;quot; When she&amp;#039;s not busy lassoing, Chapman \u2014 a fine-boned, catlike beauty with startlingly high cheekbones and eyes the color of fresh green grapes \u2014 has her hands full decorating the couple&amp;#039;s new home and dreaming up the next Marchesa collection for Fall 2008. &amp;quot;I like escapism,&amp;quot; says the London-born Chapman, who studied costume design before launching Marchesa with textile designer Keren Craig in 2004, and whose dresses are about as high drama as they come. Painstakingly constructed \u2014 many feature built-in corsets and elaborate beading or hand-placed feathers \u2014 they are the kind of sumptuous fantasy frocks you might see in a film like Gigi or Moulin Rouge. Not surprisingly, red-carpet regulars like Jennifer Lopez, Cate Blanchett, Jessica Alba, and Ren\u00E9e Zellweger have become passionate fans.  &amp;quot;I love imagining being someone else in another time,&amp;quot; says Chapman. Nowhere is this more apparent than in her opulent dressing suite. With its hand-painted chinoiserie wall coverings from de Gournay, etched Venetian mirrors, antique gilt chairs, and closets frothing with dresses, it is a glowing, \u00FCberfeminine haven. &amp;quot;I wanted it to be tranquil and soft,&amp;quot; she continues, &amp;quot;a place where I could enjoy getting dressed.&amp;quot;  But if Chapman&amp;#039;s dressing room is a step back in time, her three closets are more like an extravagant romp through fashion history. &amp;quot;I love vintage and prints,&amp;quot; says Chapman. In one closet, a big 1960s Bill Blass ostrich-feather coat brushes shoulders with an embroidered red-and-gold Pierre Cardin kimono coat. In another, long, floral Thea Porter dresses share space with vintage silk Herm\u00E8s blouses and Gucci caftans, as well as dozens of ladylike little Chanel jackets.  Chapman&amp;#039;s main style inspiration is Marchesa Luisa Casati, the belle-epoque Italian aristocrat known for walking the streets of Venice naked beneath her furs, with her pair of pet cheetahs on diamond leashes. &amp;quot;She lived such a fantastic life,&amp;quot; continues Chapman, who named her company after Casati. &amp;quot;She literally saw herself as a living work of art.&amp;quot; To some extent, Chapman seems to see herself the same way. She recalls, blushing, her recent rejection of a classic candy-apple-red Mercedes 280SL convertible a dealer found for her because she thought, This doesn&amp;#039;t go with a lot of my clothes. (The dealer found a silver-blue model that met with her approval.) And while other women collect Lanvin&amp;#039;s dainty satin ballet flats, Chapman hoards gold ankle-breaking eight-inch-high Vivienne Westwood platforms and thigh-high, spike-studded Christian Louboutin dominatrix boots.  &amp;quot;I look for anything that&amp;#039;s unusual, that I feel like I&amp;#039;m never going to see again,&amp;quot; she says, cheerfully acknowledging her own &amp;quot;tendency to overdress&amp;quot; at night. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m like a magpie: I love anything that sparkles,&amp;quot; she continues, citing a fuchsia silk-organza strapless gown with tiers hemmed in gold-beaded embroidery from Marchesa&amp;#039;s spring collection, which was inspired by the British raj. &amp;quot;My great-grandfather was in the army in India,&amp;quot; explains Chapman, &amp;quot;and we have photographs of my family there in full Victorian dress. They&amp;#039;re incredibly romantic.&amp;quot; (When asked if she looks to Weinstein for business advice, Chapman says, &amp;quot;Of course. I&amp;#039;m a designer, not a businesswoman. Harvey reminds me to think outside the box. He&amp;#039;s not about rules.&amp;quot;)  Chapman&amp;#039;s daytime wardrobe is slightly more moderate. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m obsessed with John Galliano, and Alexander McQueen is a gee-nee-us,&amp;quot; she says. &amp;quot;I like to wear a vintage dress with a Topshop biker jacket and high-heel boots. Or a pair of jeans with a Pucci blouse, or a Chanel jacket and a T-shirt. I like Acne or 7 for All Mankind jeans the best. For T-shirts, I love James Perse.&amp;quot;  For all her careful clothes collecting, when it comes to jewelry, Chapman laughingly declares herself a hopeless case. &amp;quot;I love it, but I&amp;#039;m not very good at keeping it,&amp;quot; she says. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m always leaving things in hotels.&amp;quot; She declares a passion for Boucheron and all kinds of costume jewelry, but the most exciting addition, of course, is Chapman&amp;#039;s dazzling engagement ring. &amp;quot;Harvey did it himself,&amp;quot; she says. &amp;quot;His father was a diamond cutter.&amp;quot; Chapman wears it with a Bulgari pav\u00E9 diamond ring, another gift from Weinstein, which she&amp;#039;s already lost once. &amp;quot;This is the replacement,&amp;quot; she says ruefully. But then, with a sly grin, she says, &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m trying to hold on to it.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.harpersbazaar.com/fashion/trends/a223/georgina-chapman-0208/>