purple haze

photo by my sister

florals? for spring? groundbreaking.....yes, those were the infamous words from miranda priestly in the devils wears prada that always make me laugh. I mean in a way I can very much understand what she means by that, but I also think there is a way to play with floral patterns to make it look not so generic and since today is the actual first day of spring I thought I would attempt something floral inspired. for awhile now, I have been noticing these beautiful purple flowers near my office and I always pass by it on my lunch break. for some reason, I thought one day I would do something with it. in my closet, I have a vintage pucci dress from the 80's that my mom's cousin gave to me, so I thought I would wear it and lay in this field of purple flowers. I am not sure what kind of flowers they are, but I think collectively they look rather remarkable almost like those purple flowers in provence, france that I would love to go see. that is certainly on my list of places too visit, but since I can't right now, I thought I would create my own provence. I am all about playing with prints and textures and I thought between my pucci dress and the flowers in the ground, it somehow blended so well, together. plus, with my prada sunnies and my jcrew sandals I thought it added a little something extra. visually, I think there is something very heavenly about this photo maybe a little jurgen teller and when I think about the idea of spring this is what comes to mind. whether or not you agree with miranda priestly's line, sometimes you just have to play with florals for spring and perhaps then you can create something groundbreaking.....that's what at least I was attempting to do.

provence style

photo by ryan mcginley

the inspiration for my purple haze image came loosely from this photo of marion cotillard from the winter 2015 issue of porter magazine. I featured another image of the french actress, from this layout, a couple of months ago and I must admit I still love looking through this issue. as I have stated before, this is by far, one of the best fashion magazines and I love that it is so easy to find...just go to any supermarket and you are bound to find a copy. at any rate, what I love about this photo is the way her dior haute couture dress contrasts with those purple flowers. this editorial was shot in provence, france and I just think there is a stunning ethereal quality to this photo. you can see the purple flowers flowing in one direction and how her dress goes in another. I definitely see some line quality going on and now when I think about the beauty of provence, france this is what always comes to mind. if you have never seen this layout do check it out. these days I get bored by celebrity fashion editorials, but this really was something magical and different. bravo to photographer ryan mcginley and porter magazine for putting together such an eye catching editorial. I love how its spring and I am still dreaming of this editorial....such style and elegance on each page!

poison girl

coleman dobson

in january, I was skimming through vogue.it after a friend I have in italy suggested I enter the new vogue italia photo contest. I am always into the themes that franca sozzani comes up with and I like how she felt inspired by the last dior haute couture show and their latest fragrance entitled poison girl created by françois demachy. in franca sozzani's blog she suggested that the viewer sends in photos of girls that exemplify the idea of youth, rebelliousness, and an unconventional sense of style. I didn't really put that much thought into this contest, but I definitely had some photographs of friends of mine who had an individual way of dressing. I have featured my friend coleman before on sisters in black with her 1920's rochas inspired sense of style and thought this moment seemed perfect for the idea of the poison girl. in october of last year she accompanied me to a photo gallery of photographer miles aldrige. interestingly, he photographs a lot for vogue italia. at any rate, that night she wore a vintage balenciaga skirt and a knit tank top and I knew her look would make for some eye catching photos. we took so many that night, but this one was my favorite. we came upon a miles aldrige photo of model anja rubik and a close up of her red glitter lips, which was actually featured in an issue of vogue italia. I remember really quickly coleman put her hands up to this photograph and I just liked her body language and how she looked like a porcelain doll with a tim burton sensibility, next to this image. her style is definitely not like other girls and I think that's why this image pops out. I can't say I planned too much with this image because I really didn't it was just a moment and I happened to catch it and see something unique with it. I am so surprised that it got selected, but I am so honored to be included with all these other amazing photographers. I guess you could say its a vogue italia moment that was actually featured in vogue italia. not sure if that makes any sense, but check out my photo as well as the other lovely ones, included, as well!

here is the link:
http://www.vogue.it/en/beauty-look/news/2016/03/14/christian-dior-poison-girl-fragrance-instagram-photos-vogue-italia/

illustrated

photo by danny feser

last week, I decided to go to the latest art opening at the gagosian gallery, which featured the work of contemporary artist alex israel and writer bret easton ellis. this was an unusual collaboration and I must say I didn't quite understand the message behind the art work. even though I didn't feel that inspired by the show I still took the time to observe and try and make sense of it. nonetheless, I didn't quite know what to wear that night so I decided to wear my vintage hermès black butterfly dress that I found at a vintage store in san francisco a couple of years ago. its been awhile since I last wore it and I thought with my sky high manolo blahniks it would make for an interesting combination. little did I know that when I was at the show there was a man taking some photos of me. at art shows its normal to take photos of everyone, so I didn't really mind, as I like to take sartorial shots, myself, of inspiring style when I attend. at any rate, the next day, I posted this photo of myself at the gagosian gallery on instagram and the photographer found me and told me he made a sketch of me. he sent it to me and I was very impressed and quite taken that he took the time to draw this. first of all, I just think the animated version of me, is so similar to the real me. the oversized sunnies, the black dress, the colorful bag, and even my body language are so representative to my style. it almost makes me laugh too see this, but I must thank the artist sascha ciezata, for doing this. I was totally caught off guard, but I think its wonderful to know that my style was appreciated enough to be turned into a cartoon. I would by no means call myself a style icon, but I think its always an honor when someone takes the time to compliment your style whether in real life, with a photograph, or through a drawing. this was truly an unexpected surprise and its quite lovely too see noir chic represented so impeccably through an illustration.....I guess it translates through all mediums, when its done, properly!


illustration by sascha ciezata