A Girl Can't Help It

While cleaning up my work area, I came across these items: a Miu Miu sunglasses box with a velvet sleeve, a piece of Fresh soap wrapping (for Freesia) and one of my business cards.  Together they made a very pretty story.  With all of these things I saw, I have very specific and predictable taste, and a girl can't help it; she likes pink, she likes pink.

Merry Christmas Everyone

My Shoes...

These are shoes that I designed and I'd love to actually have this Fall!  I designed them to go with a Swedish Folk inspired collection.  I'm sure you can see a bit of the folksiness in the design.

Hello Fall

Just a "hello" to Fall, my favorite season. 

Boy-iness. Let's Borrow! (Part 2)

I have to continue talking about the boy trend because it is continuing to show up.  

 At Chloe (thank you Clare Waight Keller for bringing a truly stand up show to this House....I've been WAITING for something this good, and want to wear every look IMMEDIATELY), the boy ease of wear was supremely done in a feminine and tailored way.  

 At Stella Mcartney, we saw lots of boy elements too with slouchy pants and over-sized shirts.

Sacai may be my favorite rendition of the boy wear for girls.   Abe really captured all that I am loving about this trend, namely relating to attitude.  There were button downs, buttoned all the way up. Sweaters layered over those button downs.  Slouchy pants paired with lace tops.  And dresses of the girliest blue and white that inhabited the spirit of boy/girl wear with their fully buttoned collars and drop waist full skirts.

What to talk about next...maybe layering...?

How Much? About the Cropped Top...

I love the idea of the cropped top.  When putting together collections in school, I was obsessed with them (see some of my old sketches below).

A couple of summers ago, I decided to make myself a super sweet little strapless white Swiss Dot cropped top (you can see me in it below!).  The problem with it, was that I couldn't wear it that often.  I wore it on hot days, bumming around the city, but I often found it inappropriate for lots of situations, maybe it was just that I was uncomfortable showing so much skin.

 I'm bringing up my history with the cropped top because it seems to be here in a big way.  All over the runways (see below: Balenciaga, Marc Jacobs, Balmain, Rochas...and these are just a few) they are here for Spring.  Their presence seems to be so strong and I wonder, how the average girl plans on wearing them.  I think they look so great in theory, but in my experience they're challenging.  Will we all start wearing them so they aren't so noticeable...will I be able to go to brunch or to a bar in one?  I'm not asking to wear them under a suit to work (I don't think that one will ever work, unfortunately) but I'm hoping to be able to wear it out-and-about with a little less attention.

Boy-iness. Let's Borrow!

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5)

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One of my favorite things coming out of Spring 2013 shows is a boyishness for girls that is so sexy.  I love it, maybe because I've been doing it for awhile.  The word, Androgynous, sounds so harsh, but it really doesn't have to be.  There is an easy cool that happens when we borrow from the boys.

Pringle of Scotland (Looks 1-3)- Look 1 has all the ease and cool of boy dressing in a feminine way.  Looks 2-3, bring out the man trouser but keeps it very feminine with a stiletto.

Preen (Look 4)- Brings out the man trouser again, but paired with a strapless top (beautiful side sheer detailing); there isn't any sensuality lost.

Simone Rocha (Look 5)- She has captured the boyish punk attitude of ease and 'we don't care'.  With the look in lace, without lining (figure out how to do it appropriately for the streets and the un-fashion world), it remains interesting.  The cropped top and the low-slung skirt is effortlessly sexy...it is a silhouette combo that I want to wear all the time.

Finally....

Thomas Tait (Look 6) - He has girls dressing like boys with all kinds of architectural shapes and we love it. I think a confident women with the right attitude can pull his looks off and be so chic.

The 'boys for girls' look isn't for all girls.  You have to have the attitude and not be afraid that a guy may not find you sexy in it.  It's all about integration of boy-wear  into your feminine wardrobe and the attitude of the 'boy' into your personal style that will make it a success.

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something I recently wore...totally not afraid of boy dressing

Fall Accessories

I made the Head Scarf a couple of years ago, originally as a Christmas present.  I seem to keep seeing them in one form or another on all the runways now.  Done well, they are very cool and functional.

(you can buy mine on etsy! http://www.etsy.com/shop/aworldofprettythings?ref=seller_info)

Seeing Spots this Summer

 All summer, Yayoki Kusama's spots have been popping up all over the city.  I've been noticing them everywhere and last weekend I finally got to visit her exhibit at The Whitney.  If you have a chance to go, definitely go, it's worth seeing.

Love of Making Things. Love of My New Backpack.

I'm always needing to make something.  Maybe some of you (readers) can relate.  It's a favorite pastime for me.  Creating things fulfills my need for something new, while not making me feel like I'm ONLY a consumer; I feel like I'm a creator of something that wasn't there before.  I also like making things because the process is therapeutic... turn on the TV and let the shows run back to back,  I'll be nailing 100 studs into super thin lambskin leather.  This backpack was the product of one of my weekend days (that I rarely get working retail).  I love the bag!  Couldn't be happier with it.  But I very importantly recognized how much fun I had making it, and that, even though it took a long time to make, everything about the process was gratifying...there was no other way I would've wanted to spend my time. 

BOW BRACELETS...for the girls

a fun little art project.  work, play, work, play, play, work....  :)

SUMMER IN THE CITY....

Summer in the city can be so HOT.  We sometimes go to the beach, and it's great.  But other times, laying out in the Hudson River Park is just perfect. 

MY SUMMER FRAGRANCE

OYEDO by diptyque 34 boulevard st germaine, parise

Why is a fragrance inspiring a drawing and a post?  Maybe because a scent can be meaningful.  A scent that fits your person, speaks of who you are, and the spirit you're in.  For me, summer is captured in dyptique's OYEDO. This fragrance is unexpected with its lightness, sweetness, spice, citrus, and bit of woodsy greenness.  The fragrance has a sense of whimsy. Completely delightful - it reminds me of candy...that I want to wear.

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT

I made this dress for a wedding about a year ago and still enjoy it so much. I receive compliments from EVERYONE whenever I wear it. The trapeze shape makes it comfortable, and the light silk makes it so breath-able.  Seriously, the dress is very fun to wear with it's fluid movement and bright yellow mitered stripes; it's very butterfly.

SUMMER RULE

"...be careful, be careless, be careful, be what you want to be."

-Carl Sandburg. Little Girl, Be Careful What You Say

As I feel summer settling in, these words ring true to me - I hear them as my motto for enjoying the summer.  Have fun.  Be a little careful.  Live the way you want to live.

MY PRETTY NEW SUMMER SKIRT

I had to have a new summer skirt; made of cotton, something easy.  After a few hours of hard work, the idea manifested!  And then, we took it to Chelsea.  We love summer dressing, Chelsea, and our oh-so-perfect Current/Elliott denim jacket.

JUST A WHITE SHIRT

 

It was a magazine shot that inspired this drawing.  I didn't know what about it I found inspiring when I first drew it, I only knew that I was drawn to it.  A conversation with a wonderful girl-friend, who shares a similar sensibility of girly-ness and love of pretty, revealed to me why we love it.  We love it because it depicts what our free selves want to feel and be like: simple, pure, and lovely.