Diaghilev and the Ballet Russes

I was in London recently and got to see an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum about Diaghilev and the Ballet Russes. Admittedly, I did not know much about him and mostly only knew about the Ballet Russes as an inspiration for Yves Saint Laurent's groundbreaking 1976 collection. This was a truly fascinating exhibition that explored the Ballet Russes influence on modern art, fashion, music, and culture. The costumes, reflecting the surrealist and art nouveau movements that were happening at the time, were the highlight for me, as well as the fashion illustrations by George Barbier.

Pieces from YSL's collection

I totally forgot to post this shoot that I did with Katie Coleslaw for her and Georgina Bacchus's magazine Nothing Bad this summer. We did the shoot in Coney Island and the designers are all local and mostly Brooklyn-based.

I turned 30

I know this blog is boringsville lately... winter is aiming to be long so hopefully shall pick up a bit.

I turned 30 last weekend. I was so scared of it for some reason and not looking forward to it, but then it happened and I was into it... the majority of my friends have reached this milestone already and say that life is so much better in your 30's... so I'm looking forward to what this shall bring.

Fashion week Sept. 2010

I had a whirlwind week for S/S '11 Fashion week and clocked in somewhere around 15 presentations. Lots of stuff to look forward to this spring. Here are some of my favs of stuff that I actually saw in person.

Samantha Pleet (obvs)

Jonathan Simkhai (up and comer, totally different from last season, one to watch for sure)

Timo Weiland, loving the print

Katie Gallagher (really want her to get big this season! Has got to be more commercial though)

Rachel Antonoff, want this whole collection!!

More on my flickr

Vintage re-selling

I have mixed feelings about vintage re-selling. In one sense, it is something I do myself, scouring flea markets and thrift stores for good finds to sell on my Etsy site.

But then, you get people who buy stuff from your Etsy, complain about shipping price, and then turn around and sell it for more on Ebay?

I am always so happy when I make a vintage sale because I expect it to go to someone that is gong to love and cherish that item. It kind of makes my heart sink to see this happen.

My original item:



It's new ebay listing:

How does everyone else feel about this?

Current Style Inspiration: Fried Green Tomatoes

Totally into that hole rural down south 30's floral summer dress look right now. I know this movie was totally cheeseball chick flick (though they TOTALLY downplayed the lesbian angle, which was very forthright in the book), but stylistically it was total eye candy.

Swimsuits

A shoot I styled is up on Refinery 29! Photography by James Ryang and art direction by Keren Richter.

Bling!

I'm styling another shoot (last one will be up shortly), this time for my friends Katie and Georgina's web magazine Nothing Bad, and I've been pulling some great local designers for it. I just wanted to share a couple of the great local jewelry designers that I've discovered and am using in the shoot:

Kiel Mead

I am dying over Kiel Meade and his awesome hand-cast jewelry. I mean, a retainer necklace, are you kidding me? Definitely on my must-own list. Also, he's a babe. Just saying.

All for the Mountain

One look at these guys website and I KNEW I had to pull their jewelry. Its super raw and modern and a little bit masculine. Go visit just for their illustrations, they are killer.

American High Style

I recently visited the Brooklyn Museum for some vintage eye candy. My favs? The Schiaparelli stuff and the unreal Steven Arpad shoes, totally surreal! Seeing as how these are from the 30's I would call Alexander McQueens Spring 2010 shoes pretty tame.

I don't have time to type up much stuff so I'll just post some photos. Go visit for yourself if you're in the area, its on through the summer.

Charles James Butterfly Dress

Charles James 4 leaf clover dress

Schiaparelli ensemble

Steven Arpad shoes

more Steven Arpad

Scaasi

Much more on my Flickr

New listings at Etsy!

Finally got a chance to update my Etsy site with some recent vintage finds. More handmade stuff coming soon when I get the time... but for now we've got some lovely summer goodies. Particularly excited about the Renee Marciel dress and the vintage 50's swimsuit!

Bi-coastal

I've been spending a lot of time back and forth between California and New York lately, more than I have in the past 8 years really... was there in September, then March, and will be going back again in June for a wedding. I love NYC but lately Cali has been making me nostalgic for my youth which seemed infinitely less complicated. I'm totally feeling this bi-coastal necklace by Maya Brenner.