the lanvin woman

photo by kevin tyler muncy

yes, I am surprised too by the fact that I am a wearing a yellow dress. or rather, that I have bought my second yellow dress in the course of one year. perhaps, I should start a new blog called sisters in yellow frocks. that is only a joke, but I must say, my new lanvin silk yellow dress is really something special. about a month ago, my mom and I were walking on melrose and happened to wander into a vintage store called decades. if you live in los angeles, chances are, you know of this store and even if you don't live in california I am sure you have probably heard of it. I think there was even a bravo reality show about this store and how they get their vintage clothes. either way, its always an experience going into the shop because you never know what you might find. on my last visit, I found a beautiful tom ford leather coat from one of his early gucci collections and I even bought my mom a comfy chic rick owens black sweater jacket for her birthday a couple of years ago, which she still loves, but I must get back to this yellow dress. I have always been a huge fan of lanvin and their grecian style dresses so to find this was quite a surprise. I didn't know at first if the color would work with my pale skin, but when I put it on, I changed my mind. I also love how the yellow silk drapes. heavenly is the word that comes to mind and perhaps the best part is that the dress was only $280 I am not sure what the original price was, but I do feel like that is quite the deal. at any rate, it was such a sweet and spontaneous birthday gift from my mom, but I think she knew right away when she saw me in it that it had to be mine. I must thank her for the lovely lanvin and for the fun day we had together at decades. we don't get to shop that much together because of our busy schedules, but I think she would be proud to know that I have been making good use of the dress.....I guess mother does know best!

feel the flow

photo by steven meisel

I am not quite sure what season my lanvin dress is from....I believe at decades they said fall 2011, but I think it looks like it could come from the spring/summer 2008 collection. I always like to look back on this season, just because I think some of those dresses are quite ethereal and I think many of the looks exemplify what grecian dressing should all be about. case in point, with this yellow dress you can see all that lovely drapery and the way it undulates and flows. this model almost looks like she is caught in a wind storm and I love that texture and shape of that dress. I also do like that color as well, it seems a bit similar in shade to my dress so that is probably why I thought of this particular lanvin dress. its very strange how I like yellow dresses now, but I have always felt that I like to wear color in the same way that I like to wear black....just refined and minimal. I have no idea if that makes any sense, but I think when you find a dress that matches your style you just have to go for it.....no matter what color it is. at any rate, this lanvin dress will always be one of my favorites and if you don't remember this particular season, definitely go back and reminisce, its grecian dressing with a modern madame grès twist, at its finest!

descanso garden

a missoni kaftan and parasol moment in the rose garden....


a dramatic kaftan shadow moment is always necessary....

even though I got to have an early birthday celebration in new york city this year. my family planned another special day for me on my actual birthday. I am really not the type of person to plan a huge celebration and to be honest I just like to keep it simple and we did just that by spending the day in the descanso garden. if you are from los angeles, it is actually located in la cañada flintridge, just outside pasadena. it almost seems like a secret spot. I was not very familiar with the area, but I was magically inspired by our time in the garden and to top it off I felt like I dressed rather appropriate with the setting so I thought why not take some photos. I must admit this year in new york city I didn't get too see any spring flowers, so this really made it up for it. I haven't worn my missoni kaftan in awhile so I was glad to sport it around the garden with my new pink parasol. I thought the orange print blended so well with all the flowers and while I loved all the spring colors I felt like I had to noir chic some moments in the garden....especially with my kaftan and that shadow. for some reason, I think that moment made my day. at any rate, I had such a inspiring time there and I was so glad to spend it with my family. sometimes, I think its the simple moments in nature, that can be the most inspiring!


my sister smelling the flowers....incognito chic style!


I was drawn to this walkway leading into the rose garden....just had to noir chic the moment!

garden party

while wandering through the descanso garden I couldn't help but be reminded of one of my favorite floral editorials from the february 1993 issue of harper's bazaar. the layout is entitled garden party and I love how fluid and feminine the entire layout is with all the floral dresses, dramatic hats, and floral crowns. this will probably be one of my favorite patrick demarchelier layouts, just because I think its a beautiful homage to spring and its all done so simply. I also like how the layout is both colorful and also quite dramatic in black and white. I totally tried to do my own version of this when I was in the descanso garden. not sure if you can see the style and visual connection, but whenever I find myself in a beautiful garden, these photos will always come to mind. I love how the models look modern, but still old fashioned in their gowns. I truly miss these days of harper's bazaar magazine with liz tilberis as editor-in-chief, her vision was impeccable and I think that's why I still hold on to these issues. they are too good to throw away. at any rate, if you have never seen this editorial definitely google it. personally, I think its a spring time classic!




photos by patrick demarchelier

vested in

in marjut uotila

last week, while doing some shopping in brooklyn my sister and I noticed a man wearing a beautiful black handcrafted vest. of course, being who I am I asked him to give me all the details about it, as I am not afraid to tell someone I like what they are wearing. he was very kind and told me that it was designed by a finnish designer named marjut uotila. I was very unfamiliar with her work, but from just looking at the details of his vest, I was very fascinated to learn more about her. I believe he is good friends and perhaps a muse for the designer as he told me he has a lot of her pieces that he likes to mix and match with his wardrobe. I don't think she designs for women, but I believe that this vest that he is wearing could easily work on both men and women. there is something very dark and edgy about it, almost reminding me of those shearling vests from the balenciaga fall/winter 2002 collection.....not sure, if that makes direct sense, but I can see something vaguely similar, there. at any rate, this was one of my favorite sartorial fashion moments that happened while I was in new york city and I loved that he even let me take a picture of him in his vest. for some reason, I didn't get his name, but I loved his noir chic sense of style. so glad to capture this moment and to learn more about marjut uotila....amazing how a small conversation, can turn into a unique design discovery!

thinking back

balenciaga fall/winter 2002

as stated before, after looking at his lovely marjut uotila black vest I automatically thought of balenciaga's fall/winter 2002 collection. I will always have a soft spot for the early years of nicolas ghesquière...especially this collection. I don't know if this season got the greatest reviews, but I loved the all black tough girl chic motorcycle looks and of course the exaggerated knits....especially this one, featured on supermodel carmen kass. I know its not for the everyday woman, but I would easily wear this in a heartbeat and I love the knitted details...you really have to look deeply too see all its beauty. its an obvious statement piece, but I feel it can be worn quite minimally if you pair it with a simple, yet sleek pair of pants. for some reason, when I was in brooklyn and saw that man in his black marjut uotila vest, it made me nostalgic for this collection. if you don't remember this season, or may have forget I highly suggested reminiscing back. we all now seem to just think of nicolas ghesquière for louis vuitton, but I think his early days at balenciaga were really quite magical and so forward thinking.

new york minute

blending into beautiful tile work somewhere on bleecker street....


new york city black is the best....finding noir chic sartorial inspiration in soho


very much inspired by artist kara walker....amazing too see her work in real life, love the noir chic silhouettes!

I know its been awhile since I last wrote on my blog, but don't worry I haven't disappeared. I was away in new york city with my sister. we tend to go every year as I like to celebrate my birthday there. I don't know why we always go back, but every time I visit the big apple, I find myself inspired. yes, you can always find some amazing street style and the shopping is incredible, but its really just about walking on the street and observing all that is around. my sister and I did a lot of exploring one of our first places was the museum of modern art. originally, our plan was too see the björk exhibit, but that was sold out, for some reason. even though I didn't get too see her retrospective, I was very much inspired by the kara walker exhibit. its funny how that became such a surprising source of inspiration, to me. I so love the way she works with silhouettes as well as black and white, it reminded me of some of my silhouette projects that I have been working on. my sister and I also took our first visit to the bronx to visit the new york city botanical garden. we saw a beautiful orchid show, but my favorite moment was when my sister was sitting in the garden outside with her orange parasol and I snapped that moment of her. I was very much inspired by texture and pattern while in new york and I tried to capture moments like that when I was wandering around the city. spring hasn't really sprung on the east coast yet, so my quest to find cherry blossoms didn't exactly happen this year, but I still enjoyed the crisp weather and the beauty that was all around. we also visited brooklyn again, and I must say, I loved all the little boutiques, cool street art, and interesting people that coexist, there....so much culture in brooklyn that I love observing. I have more to share about my time in brooklyn, but for now I hope you will enjoy some of the moments that my sister and I captured. there will be more fashion moments to come.....including a new norma kamali turban and its not black. yes, I know, big surprise! I feel like every year when I visit new york city something new and interesting happens that keeps me feeling inspired...I guess that is the beauty and revelation that comes out of traveling, if only I could do it more often!


my favorite street artist at the moment is the green villain, glad to have this pop of color moment
with this graffiti work that I found of his, in soho...his work is all over manhattan and brooklyn!


my sister brought her orange parasol...she wore it to the new york city botanical garden, I thought
it would be interesting to play with texture, color, and nature with this shot...a stunning blend, nonetheless!


of course, no trip to new york city is complete without a visit to the hat shop in soho....I just had to try
this one on, felt very spring!