Fashion Illustration // Garance Doré

I have a secret obsession. I love fashion illustration. I suppose I hate to admit it because the figures are so distorted, nothing like "real women" in the least bit. Then there's the fashion industry as a whole with the eating disorders, "air brushing"/photoshopping... the negative psychological affect that it's had on such a huge percentage of our population and beyond... the over all facade can be rather sickening... that's not even starting to talk about the sweatshops & 3rd world labor prices... & these are just the humanitarian concerns. The guilt goes on an on... (well, I'll get off my soap box now, my apologies. & I do realize that this is not every person or company in fashion, there are some good-guys out there too!)


What I was really meaning to say is that I've been keeping some of Granace Doré's illustrations (& beautiful photos!) in my favorites for months. Ms. Doré has just released some of her writing and illustrations for Gap's 40th Anniversary series. Beautiful. I stopped buying "graphic tees" awhile back (except for this one that I recieved as a Christmas gift from J!) in an attempt to appear a bit more professional. That said, I would pick any of these up in a heartbeat!

This last image is just because I love that tattoo. I've been itching for another for quite sometime now and fell in love with this image!

*all illustrations & photos by Granace Doré.

Jazz-Age Lawn Party

We went. It was so much fun to see everyone dressed up & dancing! Ah, New York in the summer...

Packed and ready!

I'm hitting the road this evening. Off to DC (I've never been!) to see the lovely twins, Beth & Abbey. Looking forward to a girly weekend of cupcakes, wine & art museums. (not that those things are particularly girly...)

Have a beautiful weekend. (J, I miss you already! xo.)

*my favorite over-night bag (above). I can't remember exactly what shop I got it from in downtown Fredericksburg but I have had it for years now & I love it! It was made by women in Guatemala that repourposed their old dresses.

*ouch

My pants got stuck in my chainring on my bike this morning. (yes, they were rolled up to avoid this...) The crossing guard for the school had to come over to rip my pants free because I was sorta trapped.

I'm totally fine, just some scraps and a bruised knee. O, and my pants are shredded now, I guess I'll have to turn them into shorts.

*Due to this morning's events I'm reconsidering any long-ish or flowing dresses/skirts + the bike for the summer (even though I'm not much of a short skirt girl.) This note from The Sartorialist, however, is encouraging.

my new TOMS

At long last, I am so thrilled about my new TOMS. & they're even more comfortable than I could have imagined! Spring, here I come!

*TOMS is doing an incredible thing for the world. Click here to read more about the TOMS Movement.

Antler Mag

Yes, I prefer to hold a magazine in my hand. Yes, I want to touch the pretty paper and cut things out of it. But I also understand why we shouldn't always have this luxury all the time (and the environment is a cause I can get behind!).

It's true that designers have a responsibility & when your options are: 1. an expensive, beautifully perfect bound book that can only reach a small audience because of the small run or geography or 2. NO wasted paper or ink or energy (on the press at least) making a beautiful book that reaches audiences immediately all over the world. WOW. It's kind of a no-brainer! Take a break this friday afternoon and enjoy Antler.

pretties!

I did a little off-beat wedding dress hunting for my sister online this weekend. But what if I want one of these pretties for myself!!!

dresses by Sarah Seven & on etsy & her beautiful blog.

Flea Market Finds

We've scored a few rad new items at flea markets lately. The first is an electric clock circa 1970. Even if it's a little slow, it's so much cooler than the blegh ones I've seen at Linens N Things.

And a pair of amazing horn-rimmed glasses that I actually plan to have some new lenses put into.(yes, Mom, just like the ones you used to wear!) J even got the seller to throw in the awesome granny style glasses case for free...(but the guy called J a "prejudice bast***"!) ah, New York!


Happy New Year to you all, I hope to resume some sort of regular posting soon-ish.

new work clothes? (for a new job!)

Love. love. love it.
Maybe I got a new job. Maybe it's pretty casual (but no longer coffee-shop casual which requires tying a bandana around my head) & maybe I want this rad shirt...perfect to dress up a bit with a nice cardigan or blazer.

I swore off buying t-shirts, especially ones with crazy graphics on them, about a year ago. Maybe santa will make an exception...?

Also, have you checked out the ampersand blog? You really should, I love it so.

Made with hands.

I have approximately one million projects that I want to do before Christmas. Things ranging from making stockings to handmade Christmas cards...ornaments, gifts...the list goes on. It's December 3rd and we will have family or friends in town (or we will be out of town) basically until January. No time for all of that. So for the things that I can't make as gifts etc, I will do my best to buy handmade. Did you take the pledge?

Just to get your brain thinking handmade this morning I'm going to share some of the work by the fine folks at Wonder Thunder.

I love Wonder Thunder's new pillows & the octopus accident baby t-shirt has always been one of my favorites!

I've also had my eye on a set of these practical little veggie bags for a long time...I would be the raddest girl at the co-op if with these bags for sure! (they "out-lawed" grocery bags awhile back but we buy almost everything in bulk so the small bags are still a real problem!)

You can find all of Wonder Thunder's wares here, on etsy.

Check out Lindsey's handmade suggestions here.

Fashion + Chocolate = Love

So maybe a friend of mine is a stylist, & maybe she got a friend & me in backstage at a fashion show. But not just any old fashion show in NYC, the Chocolate Show. The costumes had to be 40% chocolate. It was amazing to watch the models with a stylist, designer & chocolatier(s) getting ready!

Pretty much 100% of Xena & Lara Croft's costumes (above) were chocolate, including their weapons & parts of their boots. The Xena model said the animal medallions on her belt were made of pure sugar but were as heavy as metal!

Some of you may recognize Jaslene from America's Next Top Model (Wonder Woman). The annual event had a super hero theme this year...

*thanks Brandi! We had too much fun!

I hate that I love this...

I know. Not typical for me. ever. I'm not a celebrity-stalker kind of girl. I swear. But I can't help but love these (now famous) photos of Angelina Jolie shot by Brad Pitt. wow.


There's something about their multi-cultural family that really hits a chord with me. I know Whitney is with me when I say I would love to adopt (many) children from all over the world some day...(if only I could secure a salary that would make that possible!)

photos by Brad Pitt via W magazine.

a pretty dress for a special day!

As mentioned previously, 1 week from today I will be in sunny San Antonio, Texas for a very important day in the lives of a very beautiful little family! I will wear this pretty dress (the fancy lace one) on request of the bride (one of my oldest, and dearest friends) and these very snazzy shoes (they are American Eagle, possibly from their winter 2007 collection?) that I found in mint condition at the Salvation Army for $6 (which I love). I know this post is a bit pre-mature but I'm getting excited because I haven't seen any of my girl friends in over 2 months and it will be a very fun-filled weekend. (ahhh, the river walk in the fall!) Besides, it's getting rather cold here in Brooklyn (I'm shivering in a scarf in my apartment) and some Texas sun would do me some good!

(p.s. Collee, God-bless-you for picking such pretty dresses that we can actually wear again (I'm already thinking holiday parties!) and not something like this...I'm just sayin'...)

*Is that model in the Nordstrom dress the same model as the one (in the adjacent photograph) that models for Free People? I'm just wondering...I spend too much time looking a pretty clothes on Free People...apparently.

images from nordstom.com & freepeople.com, respectively.

Scarf lust!

My friend Hillary at Hillary Anne Photography just posted some great portraits on her blog. (you may remember her work from our wedding.) I'm obsessed with the scarf that Candace is wearing! I love scarfs and I've been dreaming of one with some exciting colors...I may have to go searching for one this afternoon!

Great shots Hillary, love the train cars!

*photos by Hillary at Hillary Anne Photography
*NOTE: Hillary just informed me that the scarf is Candace's Grandmother's...double jealous!

Mustachio!

J usually wears a beard. I like it.
Every once in awhile he gets a wild hair and shaves it down to a mustache. Usually in stages that last a few days, starting with a horribly scary trucker-handlebar-stache. (I requested that he skip that stage on this go-round.) Saturday afternoon, with one quick swipe of his switchblade he shaved the beard down to the mustachio. So here it is friends, J's new look. He can twizzle the ends into little curls. One of his students laughed so hard when J walked into the room he fell out of his desk!