30 March 2012

Ulla Johnson Lookbook

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Here are some of my favorite shots from the Ulla Johnson lookbook I mentioned in my last post.  I recently watched a documentary on Gloria Steinem so I'm sort of newly obsessed.  Doesn't that photo above really capture something about the essence of Gloria?  Maybe it's just the sunglasses.  I dunno. 

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29 March 2012

Ulla Johnson Spring 2012

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I was so excited to discover Ulla Johnson's spring collection, it made me wish I'd known about this Brooklyn based designer years ago.  I don't know how she flew under my radar for so long, but I'm happy to have lots of new things to ogle and put on my wishlist.  There are also some really pretty lookbook shots on the website with a Gloria Steinem-esque model to check out as well.  

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28 March 2012

Etsy Update: Swingin' Sixties

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Today's Etsy shop update was inspired by this week's premiere of Mad Men.  All those swingin' sixties ladies at Don's birthday party!  I think these dresses are perfect for sunny spring days and I hope there are lots of those in our near futures. There are lots more brand new (old) dresses and blouses in the shop, so hop on over and check out your favorites!  Thanks so much for stoppin' by!

27 March 2012

Sessun

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The spring collection from Sessun has lots of cute stripes and plaids and florals.  I love the way the prints are mixed together in the lookbook shots.  The red, white and blue pieces just scream summer to me.  I think because I relate them to the 4th of July and therefore picnics and summer nights and fireworks all the other wonderful things that come along with it. 

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26 March 2012

Zou Bisou Bisou

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- 90s Gap sweater
 - 60s wool skirt
 - Rachel Comey boots
 - J.Crew hat
 - listening to:  Gillian Hills - Zou Bisou Bisou

Did you watch the premiere of Mad Med season 5 last night?   Tom and I went out to dinner beforehand for Thai food and tried to make predictions about what we thought each character might be up to.  Would Don really be married again?  Would Roger still be?  Would Joan still be working since she had her baby?  It was nice, after nearly two years, to finally get some answers to those questions.  I don't want to give anything away to those who haven't yet seen the episode.  While the episode wasn't at all plot driven, it was just a glimpse into each character's (except Betty) life at the moment.  Now that we're all caught up with our old friends, now it's time to see where this season will take all of them. 

23 March 2012

Travel Wardrobe

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As soon as I saw these photos from the Madewell spring lookbook, all shot in Paris, I instantly thought about our upcoming trip and the fact that I'm going to be packing two weeks worth of clothes into one small bag.  Doesn't this looks like the perfect mix-n-match wardrobe?  Lots of easy layers, neutral colors and flat shoes for walking.  Now if only I could figure out how to braid my hair like that!

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22 March 2012

Make a wish on a silver sun, a day like this can't be wasted...

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 - American Apparel dress (worn as a top)
 - 60s skirt
 - Rachel Comey boots
 - barrette from Lawrence
 - listening to:  South - With the Tides "Silver Sun"

20 March 2012

The Locals

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In my collection of street style photos I recently noticed a trend that several of the photos came from The Locals, formerly Copenhagen Streetstyle. So many street style sites feature a lot of, I don't know what you would call it... edgy looks?  You know, all black, lots of studded everything, sky high heels, that sort of thing.  That's all well and good, just not my thing per se.  So it's nice to find a site that features looks that I relate to and can feel inspired by.  What are your favorite street style sites? 

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19 March 2012

Casual Weekend

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photos by Tom b.

 - 30s blazer
 - APC top
 - H&M jeans
 - J.Crew flats
 - vintage Aigner bag
 - vintage silk scarf
 - Garnet Jewelry necklace

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18 March 2012

Still Corners - Endless Summer

16 March 2012

The Esprit Quilt Collection

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photos by Tom b.

As I mentioned yesterday Tom and I were invited to the set up of an exhibit at a museum downtown. Now I can tell you that the museum is the Lancaster Quilt & Textile Museum and the exhibit is the Amish quilt collection of Doug Tompkins, co-founder of the ESPRIT de corps clothing company.  When I first heard "Amish quilts" and "ESPRIT" in the same sentence I wasn't quite sure what to make of it.  For those who may not remember, ESPRIT was just about the biggest thing going in the late 80s and early 90s.  I had one hand-me-down yellow ESPRIT sweatshirt that I wore about every other day in the seventh grade.  But I never would've made a connection between ESPRIT and Amish quilts.

It all started with an exhibit of Amish quilts at the Whitney Museum of American Art in NYC in 1971.  The exhibit changed the way Amish quilts were viewed.  Shown on stark white walls and removed from their cultural context the quilts took on the look of modern abstract art.  The geometry of the quilts and their bold colors echoed what was going on in the modern art world at the time.

Doug Tompkins attended this exhibition and thus began his love affair and collection of quilts.  Through his career at ESPRIT the Amish quilts had a great influence on the aesthetics and design of the company.  While at the Quilt Museum I was given a large book published by Tompkins that included the entire history of the company including copies of the advertising run in magazines during the 80s and 90s.  I must admit that some of those ads took me right back to sitting in my room flipping through Seventeen magazines circa 1989.  And suddenly, looking at those ads while surrounded by those quilts, I could see the connection.  The geometry of the ESPRIT logo, the color palette of the collections... it was all right there.

It was such a treat to have an opportunity to see these quilts up close;  to examine each hand stitch, to see the initials lovingly cross stitched on the back, to appreciate the intricate design of each unique quilt.  The quilts included in the current exhibit date from the 1880s to the 1950s, or the "pre-tourist" era of Lancaster as I learned on Friday.  This was long before the general public took an interest in the Amish way of life and so the quilts were made for family use and not as souvenirs for tourists.  The quilts will be on display through this weekend only if you're in the area and would like to stop in and see them. 

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15 March 2012

Sweet Treats

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 - 60s mini dress
 - 60s cotton blouse
 - vintage cardigan
 - 60s girl's coat
 - UO hat
 - thrifted 90s boots

Last Friday Tom and I were invited to the set up of a special exhibit at a museum downtown (more on that tomorrow).  Looking back at this photo it's hard to believe I had to wear so many layers just a week ago.  And I was cold the whole time!  After our time at the museum, we stopped at Central Market to buy fresh veggies and on the way home made a last second detour into La Petite Patisserie.  Tom treated us to a fresh baked lemon cupcake and a butterscotch blondie with pecans and chocolate chips.  Yum!  

14 March 2012

13 March 2012

Orla Kiely S/S 2012

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The pre-spring collection from Orla Kiely was pretty great, but I think I'm loving this even more.  The spring/ summer collection is full of pastel candy hues (which I rarely ever wear) but also lots of navy and white and khaki which is more my speed.  This, combined with the feels-like-spring-already temperatures we're having this week makes it seem like summer really is right around the corner. 

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12 March 2012

Cars passin' by but none of them seem to go my way...

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 - 60s velveteen dress from Lawrence
 - Gap sweater
 - Rachel Comey boots
 - vintage barrette from Lawrence
 - listening to: Rancid - And Out Come the Wolves  "Olympia, WA"

11 March 2012

The Staves - Mexico



Beautiful sisters.  Beautiful voices.  Beautiful harmonies.  What more could you want?

09 March 2012

Family Affairs

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Family Affairs has released their latest collection, Les Vecances, for spring/summer 2012 and as usual, there are plenty of things that have caught my eye.  With March in full force, I'm really ready for the days when I can wear simple dresses and sandals and not think about layers and sweaters and how I'm going to keep my legs warm.  There are some really lovely vintage inspired silhouettes in this collection and I'm always a fan of nautical stripes.  I'm happy to say that the striped wrap dress is all packed up and on its way to me all the way from Switzerland.  I feel like its going to be my go-to dress this summer. 

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06 March 2012

Let's Talk About...


The Take Home Series- Let's Talk About Pony Tails by: Trish from The Panic Room Videos on Vimeo.

I'm pretty much completely useless when it comes to doing any sort of real hairstyle with my hair. I can use hot rollers, pull it back into a ponytail or a bun and well, that's about it. When I saw these tutorials posted on Pacing the Panic Room, I thought, "Hey, it looks like I might actually be able to pull that off."  These were the two that I'd like to try, but there are several more tutorials that deal with common issues like trying to grow out layers and pesky cowlicks in your bangs. You can check them out on the Pacing the Panic Room blog (a really lovely, thoughtful blog if you've never heard of it).  Perhaps you'll see me sportin' a new hairstyle soon!


The Take Home Series - Messy Ballerina Bun by: Tali Lev from The Panic Room Videos on Vimeo.

05 March 2012

Faint dreams creeping, endless...

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 - vintage blouse
 - 50s wool skirt
 - Rachel Comey boots
 - vintage barrette from Lawrence
 - listening to: Chelsea Wolfe - Apokalypsis "Mer"

I'm finally getting around to experimenting a bit with my new camera.  I'm quite clumsy and have dropped and broken more than one little point and shoot camera so I'm super paranoid every time I pick the new one up that I'm going to somehow manage to break it.  I was also hesitant to put in on my tripod for outfit photos since a strong wind once knocked over one of my smaller cameras that was attached to the tripod and it was never the same.  But I ended up taking the chance and so far, so good (fingers crossed). Now I just have to learn a bit more about metering the photos since all of the ones I took ended up a bit overexposed.  I was able to salvage this one.  Yes, I'm super pale, but I'm not a ghost!

04 March 2012

Father John Misty - Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings



I can't seem to get this song out of my head. It's playing on repeat in our house right now.

02 March 2012

Photography: Randy Fox

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Last week I ran across a couple of photographs that caught my eye.  A little digging led me to discover the photographer's name is Randy Fox.  At first I thought that the photos were taken down south because I'm used to seeing this sort of abandonment spread across the southern states.  But in reality, Fox is based in western Pennsylvania and the photographs are taken across the Rust Belt. 

The Rust Belt is an area in the northeastern US that runs from Michigan, down through Illinois and Indiana, across Ohio and into Pennsylvania.  At one time the area was known for its manufacturing but in recent decades has experienced a change in the economy and a population decline that has left the region dotted with abandoned factories that now sit empty and rusting. 

Fox, in his own words, "concentrates on the decaying beauty and loneliness of the changing American landscape".  He also runs a photography based website called American Elegy  that is dedicated to photographers and artists who capture the spirit of the aforementioned abandonment and writes a Rust Belt photography blog for the Huffington Post.  His writing about the coal mining towns of central PA has be seriously jonesing for a roadtrip. 

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01 March 2012

I stood too long in the way of the door...

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 - Madewell dress
 - vintage blazer
 - Rachel Comey boots
 - sunglasses c/o BonLook
 - listening to: Fiona Apple - When the Pawn "Love Ridden"

I have been a huge Fiona Apple fan since her first album in 1996.  I was 20 years old, living on my own for the first time and the sound of Tidal takes me back to that moment in time whenever I hear it.  I was lucky enough to see her play at the Alabama Theater after When the Pawn... came out.  Unfortunately that's the one and only time I've managed to see her live.  She used to play small shows in Los Angeles from time to time but getting tickets to those was pretty much impossible unless you had an inside industry connection. 

So... I was ridiculously excited to learn that she has several shows planned in the northeast during March.  I thought, what a perfect birthday present!  Now, here is where the rant begins.  The tickets for the shows were all "sold out" and marked up at least four times face value on StubHub before they even went on sale to the public.  Argh!  I still don't understand how that is even legal.  It's called scalping, people!  Yes, I've read the legal mumbo-jumbo that they aren't scalpers, they're ticket brokers, blah, blah, blah.  So, unless I want to shell out several hundred dollars to see the show (which I don't) I guess I'll be finding something else to do for my birthday.  Did anybody manage to score themselves tickets?