Top Crop

I think we've seen that all my favorite trends are inspired by all things retro and this one is no exception.  Crop tops first became popular in the 1960s during the Free Love movement and again during the 1990s with, I guess, the Baywatch movement? As of recently I've been attracted to almost any and all crop tops I set my eyes on, just like I tend to fall in love with a good pair of short shorts.  But I digress. I've picked out, as always my favorite crop tops for this summer.

 From top to bottom: Sleeveless Scoop Neck Polka Dot Printed Scalloped Tiered Tank by American Rag, $39; Georgie Cotton Top by French Connection, $138; Sweater Crop Top by RACHEL Rachel Roy, $59.

A City Made Prominent By This Medieval University

WHAT IS OXFORD?! And you know what Alex Trebek would say? Chelsea, that is correct.

There is something both feminine and masculine about oxfords that I adore. The shoes that is. Now, I have no idea what the difference between oxfords and saddle shoes are but I, personally, think they're all the same so please bare with me shoe aficionados, this is just a fashion blog.

My obsession with oxfords began a few days after I moved to New York City when my friend Olivia's sister Amanda took me with her to Garden State Plaza in New Jersey and we walked into an Aldo. I had always thought Aldo was kind of a joke but they really do have amazing shoes and their ad campaign is shot by Terry Richardson, who is by far my favorite fashion photographer.

Basically I bought myself a pair of simple black matte oxfords that I wore until the heels and soles were falling off. In April, my Mom came to visit and bought me a brand new pair of shiny black oxfords from Nine West which I have already worn out in the three months I've owned them. The time has come for me to purchase new oxfords and while I feel like I should just go to Soho and get a crappy $25 pair since I know how fast I'll tear through them, I can't help but fall in love with the Bass Loves Rachel Antonoff collaboration. Here are my favorites for you to enjoy as much as I did!

From top to bottom: Lady in Cream/ Black, $109; Alice in Navy, $129; and Odette in Cream/ Red, $109.

It's Not Cuffing Season Anymore!

Which means that us girls have to look cute everyday because of all the dates we're going on! (As a side note I've learned a couple things since moving to New York: 1) East Coast slang is about 1 year ahead of West Coast slang and 2) women need to look cute everyday, in my opinion, because the women to men ratio here is about 2:1, meaning twice as much competition!) Cuffing season can be defined as the period of time during the Fall and Winter months when one is in a relationship and/or "handcuffed," just so you know.

One good thing about working at Macy's is that I am constantly surrounded by fashion. It's not uncommon to catch me on a twenty minute break shopping the second floor women's section with my partner in crime, Norah (visit her website while you're at it, she's an enormously talented graphic designer who will have a major hand in revamping this blog and my professional website). Here are just a handful of my favorite summer dresses from RACHEL Rachel Roy, BCBGeneration, and French Connection.

From left to right: Sleeveless Sashed Dress by RACHEL Rachel Roy, $109;
Ruffled Neckline Polka Dot Dress by BCBGeneration, $128; and Fast Anna Lace Dress by French Connection, $188.

Band of Outsiders Spring Lookbook

Before the holidays, my Mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas. It took me a few days to come up with exactly what I wanted aside from her mailing me some of my stuff from home and then it came to me: a Polaroid camera. Since then I've been taking it with me every time I explore a new place in New York or go to one of my favorite places. But anyway, my obsession with Polaroids goes on and when I saw that the new Band of Outsiders lookbook, featuring Kirsten Dunst, was taken in Polaroids I got very excited. Two of my favorite things: fashion and film!

BLACK FRIDAY

My shift started at 5:45 this morning and there was always someone waiting in line to pay. Good for my paycheck, but bad for my sanity. And afterward, I headed to the Toys R Us in Time Square to pick up a gift, which also proved to be bad for my sanity. HOWEVER, I have never been happier to be in bed. 

With this post comes yet more belated pictures. But one of the more exciting moments of my life is presented below:

Picture it: Nordstrom. Downtown Seattle. October 15th, 2010. I had just finished interning at Crescent Down Works on Capitol Hill when I took the bus to meet my dear friend Alex, because we had plans to meet one of my very favorite designers, Betsey Johnson. We laughed, I cried (almost) and ended up getting her work phone number on the back of my business card.

BEST DAY EVER.

Farewell!

Hello faithful followers!

You may have noticed that I fell off the blogging radar for a hot second. Well, rest assured I'm back and ready to share my fashion favorites. The reason of my prolonged absence came for a number of reasons:

1) After graduation in September, I took a trip with my alma mater to New York City for a week in October.

2) Upon my arrival in New York City, I went to an interview I had previously set up with Macy's and got a permanent job in Men's Collections, on the spot.

3) After the New York trip, I spent the following two weeks buying suitcases, one-way plane tickets, and black clothing because:

I NOW LIVE IN NEW YORK CITY. 

Well actually, New Jersey for the time being but close enough for the purposes of working in New York.

Just a few highlights from the trip: I met Anna Sui and Robert Savage (Nanette Lepore's husband) and was in a photo in Women's Wear Daily for an article about the rally to Save the Garment Center.

And because I'm so behind on my Spring 2011 coverage, here are my final two favorites that got left behind in the whole picking-up-my-life-and-moving-across-the-country thing.

Betsey Johnson took my favorite theme of all time and went faux luxury with the gold accents and gaudy jewelry.

Christian Dior's John Galliano took that same favorite theme of mine and took it 1940's South Pacific goddess.

Enjoy!

Moschino May Be From Italy...

... But I want to run down the streets of Paris in nearly all the Moschino Spring/Summer 2011 collection! Moschino is known for being fun and flirty and I feel like this collection really represented so many parts of my design aesthetic: primary colors, polka dots, stripes, a-line skirts, and belts; it's like an amazing pin-up dream! Beloved pieces below!

A Sweet Melody

As a person with a lot of respect for "streetwear," Karmaloop is a website I go to often just to take a look around. On one of my many trips to this website I stumbled upon jewelry designer Melody Ehsani's work.  Most of her jewelry is made using laser cut plastic and Swarovski crystals and her inspiration seems to come from some pretty iconic imagery that maybe wasn't iconic, at least to me, until I saw it in jewelry form. As always, here are some of my favorites:

It's Smythe, Not Smith Dear.

Except in reality, or in this case at least, it really IS Smith. Paul Smith. Paul Smith Spring/Summer 2011 to be exact. Personally I'm a big fan of his menswear anyway because the tailoring is always perfect. And surprisingly his womens collection is more of the same. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw a menswear vest tailored romper/leotard combination on the runway (and when I say runway I mean the runway pictures from Style.com). Please, PLEASE enjoy some of my favorite looks below!

Anjelica the Muse

Watching Wes Anderson movies, in this case more specifically The Royal Tennenbaums, always makes me think of Anjelica Huston in her younger days running around modeling, acting as muse for designers Valentino and Halston and being photographed by the most iconic photographers of the seventies. She was discovered by Diana Vreeland and her career rose from there. Not many people knew she was a model before she was an actress and these pictures are too good to not show. Enjoy!

Clockwise from the top left: In Vogue 1972, with Halston in his studio, photographed by Gian Paolo Barbieri in Valentino and for Walter Albini, by Bob Richardson (Terry's Dad), and by Richard Avedon.

Sheer Style

I just finished my last day interning at Sheer Style yesterday and it is very bittersweet for me to leave there! It's a small design business based out of Seattle but we've had and have some high profile clients that we work with. I started there in April of this year and really learned a lot about the whole design and manufacturing process which I feel has given me enough knowledge to enter the fashion industry with confidence. My friend Shannon offered me the position and I am forever grateful because of everything I learned. But while I was there we were working with a brand called Society of LES and a vest that we (Shannon, Alyse and myself) worked on for them is in this month's issue of InStyle, something we were all very excited about and that I had to share with you! It's something I am VERY proud of so please enjoy!

The 3 RRR's

This past Friday was a culminating point in my fashion design existence; I had my very first photo shoot (EVER) and my senior collection was the subject at hand, plus a few garments that had never really been in front of the camera before. My FANTASTIC photographer AJ Ragasa does amazing work so I knew from the start it would be him to shoot my work. I also enlisted my equally talented friends Alexander Aesthetic and Jake Treat to do makeup and hair respectively, and the looks are modeled by Kaylee Petter and Christina Wu-Martin. The shoot took a little over 9 hours and I am so thankful for everyone there to help! This collection is designed for Spring/ Summer 2011 and I hope you enjoy seeing my work! (Please be aware that if you click on the photos below, they will become larger and clearer!)

This is the first delivery called Revelation. There is very little structure, lots of draped fabric and pastel colors.


The next delivery, Reformation, is all about illusions with fabric layering, cut-outs and bright colors matched with muted colors.


Revolution is all about the bright and metallic colors, structured silhouettes to the extreme with a serious Lady Gaga influence.

Rear Window

A couple weeks ago I saw the Alfred Hitchcock movie Rear Window for the first time while madly sewing away on a couple different projects. Basically a man, James Stewart, breaks his leg on a photography assignment and is wheelchair bound for eight weeks and while staring out his rear window he believes the man across the way murdered his wife. In the meantime his girlfriend Lisa, played by Grace Kelly visits him and also becomes obsessed with the happenings in his apartment building.

The film was made during one of my favorite eras for fashion, the fifties. With Grace Kelly as the leading lady, it was the perfect time to showcase a little fashion throughout the movie. Besides having one of the most classic beauties of all time starring in this Alfred Hitchcock movie, the legendary Edith Head did the costumes and judging by Grace Kelly's wardrobe throughout the movie it was a match made in heaven. This is one more piece of inspiration for my forthcoming pin-up inspired line!

Clockwise from the top left: A version of the Rear Window poster, Kelly in the "Paris Dress" designed by Edith Head, Kelly, Hitchcock and Head in discussion, and three more Edith Head creations.

BTW my absence in the blogging world can be blamed on the fact that I a) graduate this quarter and b) just turned 21 last week Wednesday. Just FYI!

"I live for fur. I worship fur!"

Cruella De Vil is probably one of the most fashionable villains out there. Not only was her hair way ahead of that whole two-different-hair-color thing but she also wore big fur coats around all the time with her little cigarette holder completing her fierce look. As I was looking through photos of the Jean Paul Gaultier Fall 2010 Couture show, one picture stuck out to me in particular and SCREAMED Cruella De Vil. The drape of the fabric and the model's cigarette holder made me think of what Cruella might be running around in if I saw her somewhere now.

Above (from left to right): The "Cruella" look from the JPG Fall 2010 Couture show, the animated Cruella De Vil, and Glenn Close as Cruella De Vil in 101 Dalmatians.

Walk Like an Egyptian

Since I was a kid, I've always been fascinated with things about Egypt. From all the archaeology and artifacts to the Mummy movies with Brendan Frasier. The hieroglyphics, jewelry and coffins always show an extreme attention to detail and are ALWAYS visually pleasing. Egyptian influences are sloooowly making a comeback in fashion and I'm feeling pretty inspired by the mosaic techniques and symbolism used throughout ancient Egyptian culture. Expect to see some Egypt inspired fashion from me!

Above (from left to right): A look from the Spring 2004 Christian Dior couture show, Janelle Monae's album art for The Archandroid, and Kanye West wearing Jacob & Co. jewelry at the 2010 BET awards.

Stay tuned...

Gettin' Around Town!

Lately, in many a recent fashion publication, I have seen some adorable Miu Miu dresses that I haven't been able to locate in any of their fashion shows. In any case this collection (which ever it came from) seems very Easter inspired with pastel colors and applique flowers and tons of loveliness!

Above (from left to right): January Jones in C Magazine, Lily Allen for Elle UK, and Carey Mulligan at the Met Costume Gala.

A Pairing for Style Champions

It's amazing the kinds of things you discover as you slowly finish finals and have this weird thing called free time. Like today I had time to go to Style.com and check out more Resort 2011 and fell in love with Proenza Schouler's collection. Later, my browsing brought me to Osborn, a company that makes shoes out of recycled materials. And in a wacky and crazy turn of events, the two go together perfectly! Both include ethnic inspired prints (something included in my senior collection) and remind me of something you could buy in Tijuana... and I mean that in the best way possible.

Gorgeous Givenchy

One of my first looks at the Resort 2011 collections brought me to Givenchy. The limited color palette of black, red, white and leopard really drew me in and I actually think it made the interesting designs stand out more with those few colors. I especially loved the jodphur pants and sheer skirts.

Photos via Style.com

Nautical! Wu!

Hello all 7 of my readers! My posts have been few and far between and I apologize. But for those of you who love pretty nautical inspired clothing here is a treat for you! Jason Wu (you know, THAT GUY I MET LAST POST) designed an ADORABLE Resort 2011 collection and while some of it was part Mississippi riverboat inspired, my favorite was the sailor, red-white-and-blue garments. Here are my favorites for your viewing pleasure:

Nordstrom in April

Apparently, April is a big fashion month for the Nordstrom headquarters in Seattle. Not just on one occasion but on TWO occasions, Nordstrom hosted trunks shows and meet and greets with the designers. Here are the pictures below of who I met:

Above: Me giving Jason Wu my business card.... "Workin' it!"

Above: Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte, me and Olivia.