Category Archives: Best of Fashion, Style & Aesthetics

Style Direction 2013: Just My Type

January 22, 2013

Nubby Twiglet Just My Type Style Direction

About twice a year, I come up with a new style direction to get myself excited and to encourage myself to expand beyond the all too easy default of black skinny jeans, a black leather jacket and black boots (great as a uniform but very boring). In the past year, I’ve embraced the future in Ladylike Urban Warrior and then gone mad for plaid in School’s Out Forever.

This time around, I’m embracing my obsessive love for typography in Just My Type. Luckily, I’ve been noticing designers offering up a bountiful number of type-covered sartorial choices.

This set of photos was shot in my back yard in Portland before I left for London and though you can’t tell, it was about 31 degrees out there! In between chattering teeth, it was worth it in the spirit of showing off my newest wardrobe addition, this amazing newsprint skirt by Carrie Hammer.

I Wore:

Sweater, H&M
Skirt, ℅ Carrie Hammer
Heels, Kate Spade (sold out)
Tights, H&M

I fell in love with these Kate Spade heels awhile back after seeing Bri rock them in another color. I love that they’re way more ladylike than anything else I own and that they don’t have a platform. There are those times when you need a classic shaped heel and these are low enough to be super comfy.

If you’re looking for some type-covered goodness of your own, here are a few items on my wish list that you may enjoy:

1. Sonia Rykiel Graphic Print Dress, 2. Topshop Love Tube Skirt, 3. Alphabet Bags A Wash Bag and 4. Topshop Burnout Letter Tee.

Rocky looks like such a grumpy little gremlin here! Any time we try to take a photo of him, he won’t sit still but the second the camera is aimed at me, he pops up in every shot. Someone likes to be the center of attention at all times.

What about you? Do you ever come up with a mood or a theme to pull yourself out of a style rut?

The Shoe Closet

January 30, 2012

Late last year, one of my dreams came true when Joey built me a shoe closet. It’s one of my favorite parts of the house now and here’s how it came to be:

Like most older homes, Wolfgang Manor has some major quirks. There are four full-sized doors just in our small-ish bedroom alone. FOUR! When we moved in, two of those doors led to attic spaces, bare rafters and all. Joey transformed the larger of the two into an all-white art studio last year but that still left another free. I’d been wanting a designated place to store all my shoes because I ain’t gonna lie, I have a lot of them. They’d slowly started taking over my home office, filling up a book shelf and creeping across the floor. In my world, a cluttered space equals a cluttered mind and the shoes needed a new home.

The soon-to-be shoe closet was a dead space with exposed rafters, doing nothing but storing a pile of miscellaneous clutter. I wish we had some good ‘before’ photos because it was really dark and creepy. Since it was upstairs, it peaked with the angles of the roof and was an odd shape. Joey had to first frame and drywall the space, then tape, spackle and sand, then prime and paint. Once the space was complete, we found these great ornate, oversized brackets at Home Depot along with a slab of pine that Joey cut for the shelf and painted white.

All in all, the transformation cost only $150.00 at most from beginning to end, mostly because the labor was free (thanks, Joey!) and we had the flooring left over from his studio remodel. The back wall was wallpapered with a scrap of Cole & Son Woods, which we had left from our dining room.

Shoes have always been my ‘thing.’ I’m big on only collecting objects that I can use all the time. When I was really young, my mom had stilettos in every color of the rainbow (this was the mid-80s) and she’d pay me a few dollars every once in awhile to arrange them in her closet. I think even back then, I was doing it by color. As I got older, my first few retail jobs in college were at shoe stores. I guess I’ve always viewed footwear differently than most people. Shoes to me are like wearable art. What can I say? I love shoes.

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This Halloween, I Wore A Potato Sack

October 31, 2011

This Halloween, I figured that there could be nothing more ironic than wearing a potato sack. But, this isn’t any old potato sack because it’s emblazoned with big, bold red and black type!

I hadn’t planned on dressing up this year but that quickly changed as I was wandering through the never-ending maze of booths at an antique show over the weekend with my brother. I spotted this amazing 60s era costume resting on a rack and with a little bartering, I walked away with it for 20 dollars (which might be pricy for a standard-issue potato sack but this one was very, very special!)

In full, the ‘dress’ reads:

Be beautiful in a POTATO SACK
Looks like a sack
Feels like a sack
IS A SACK
Fill with 100 lbs. or more of charm, and save money on new French inspired creations
Guaranteed to loose [sic] shape without ironing
For evening wear, add Mink trimmings

So, there you go. This Halloween, I went all out…wearing a glorious vintage potato sack with DKNY nude fishnets and All Caps Dahlias. I won’t lie…I wanted to belt it and accessorize so badly but I realized that would defeat the purpose! Have a fun and safe Halloween!

How I Stay Organized On A Daily Basis

August 15, 2011

My collection Moleskine planners including monthly and yearly formats

For the last few years, I’ve relied heavily on Moleskine planners to keep me organized. Let’s face it — staying on track can be especially difficult when you’re forgetting half of what needs to get done. Every day, I make a to-do list and cross it out as I go. If something doesn’t get finished, it gets carried over until I complete it. This method is super basic but I find that it keeps me accountable. Having a hard copy of my list to carry around makes it much more real compared to an online list that I can turn off and forget about. I know that there are fancier planner solutions out there but having everything compiled in one list in one place is foolproof. My Moleskine planners have been a security blanket of sorts since I was in college and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

What’s your preferred method for keeping track of daily tasks? Any tips or tricks that you’d like to share?

Organization Methods: Tips And Tricks From A Virgo

August 8, 2011

Over the years, so many of you have asked me about my methods for organization. You want specifics. You want photos. You want me to reveal the nitty-gritty. Well, I’ve finally sat down and transcribed some of my simple everyday strategies for keeping belongings easy to locate and visually pleasing in the process!

This article is meant to touch on a variety of areas in my life and how I keep them organized. This is what works for me and hopefully it can be a starting point to help you to discover some methods that work for you. Perhaps it’s second nature for Virgos to be supremely organized. Orderly surroundings give me a sense of calmness and as laughable as this might sound, my surroundings are a reflection of how I feel on the inside. Yep, a cluttered space to me equals a cluttered mind! You’ll notice that overall, I try to keep it simple — depending on what I’m doing, I sort belongings by color (clothing, shoes and books), title and date (magazines), and subject (client files and digital inspiration). I’ve found that the more difficult you make the solution, the harder it becomes to keep it up.

Hand-me-down bookshelf I use for shoe storage

01. Shoes

I like the look of organizing shoes by color because what’s more cheery than having a mini rainbow nearby?! If organizing a collection by looks makes you happy, then so be it.

02. Clothing

I have a fair amount of clothing but I do my best to clean out my closets regularly and to keep the selection as edited as possible. For bizarre finds, items I might just use for a themed shoot or clothing that has sentimental meaning that I just can’t part with, I use the small extra closet in my office for storage which I’ve dubbed my ‘Costume Closet.’ This keeps my regular closet much easier to navigate and appropriate for everyday wear.

Our house was built in 1928 and like most older houses, closet space is very minimal. For this reason, I have two large IKEA PAX Wardrobes that are set up in our oversized upstairs bathroom (it could easily fit 15 people; there’s just a toilet and sink). These closets allow for plenty of room for everything and a huge selection of customizable fixtures can be added.

My left closet is comprised of jackets, skirts and dresses (hanging) and pants, shorts and basic t-shirts (stacked on the lower shelves). The right closet is mostly made up of shirts, blouses, sweaters, cardigans and generally casual layers. Everything is arranged by color.

Below the hanging items, I have a color-coded drawer for socks and below that is an identical drawer for tights (also by color). The clear plastic organizers are from Target. The bottom of the closet contains a shoe rack which has a few odds and ends that I wouldn’t want to display — athletic shoes, flats, etc. And finally, the top of the closet contains a row of IKEA KASSETT Storage Boxes which house everything from extra shoe bags and scarves to childhood costumes and keepsakes. My system isn’t perfect but it makes sense to me and allows me to quickly find whatever I need.

03. Books

I jumped on the bandwagon a few years back when this style of organization for books became trendy and couldn’t be happier with the outcome. The bookshelf is from West Elm and conveniently enough, it’s on wheels which makes cleaning super easy.

04. Magazines

I’ve invested in quite a few packs of IKEA FLYT Magazine Files and choose to group my magazines by title and then date. I also have separate ones for reference materials and catalogs that I’ve saved for inspiration. These magazine files are great because they’re cardboard — when you’re finished with them, simply break them down and recycle!

The Container Store has a great selection of makeup storage solutions

05. Makeup

A small cabinet in my office holds all of my makeup but I tend to keep the items I use on a daily basis all in one area. The Container Store has some fantastic makeup storage organizers and I found this acrylic option among their selection.

Folders of image-related inspiration stored on my computer

06. Digital Files

This is the most important area of my life to stay organized in (and I’m not exaggerating). When clients hire me for a design job, it’s important to keep their assets organized and if they need a file a few years down the line, it’s my job to locate it. For this reason, I apply a job number to each new project that comes into my studio. For instance, #NT151 would be for job 151 (NT = Nubby Twiglet). This job number also directly correlates to the invoice number when I’m billing a client. Once a job is complete and final files have been sent, I move it to an Archives folder so that my Clients folder doesn’t get overly cluttered with closed jobs.

For digital inspiration, my system is much more easy-going. I have a folder on my desktop titled 2011 Pix and drop everything I’ve gathered online into it. Every week or so, I drop all the strays into labeled folders that make sense to me. They can be as open-ended as food, cars, cameras, fashion and so on. Any way you can think of to break up a few thousand inspirational images should work just fine!

I also keep a folder on my desktop labeled Blog 2011. Every time I make a post, I drop all the final web-ready JPEGS in there so that I have a clean backup of every image I’ve posted for that year.

07. Digital Storage

I cannot stress this enough — keep your really important files backed up on TWO separate drives! I’ve heard horror stories of friends losing years’ worth of work when their external drive failed. I have two LaCie drives, (my favorite being the LaCie Starck 1 TB Drive) and I diligently back up my client files, photos and music from my main computer every few weeks.

Design Inspiration folder on Flickr

08. Online Digital Inspiration

Ever since I was in college, I’ve gathered up design-related inspirational images and uploaded them to a private Flickr folder. Now bursting at over 5,000 images, it’s a digital library at my fingertips that I use to gather research from for every new job that I start. The importance of having this inspiration saved online is that I can access it from anywhere — whether I’m freelancing, on vacation or in a meeting.

09. Loose Inspiration and Reference Materials

I have a set of IKEA flat files in the corner of my office that house all my clippings, notebooks and printed inspiration. The drawers hold everything from silkscreened posters to old journals. Having all these items clearly separated yet all housed together has been a lifesaver!

Fashion Notebook

10. Collage Notebooks

I’ve been clipping visual inspiration from magazines since I was a teenager and those clippings can really pile up after awhile! I keep everything tidy by keeping notebooks for three specific categories: fashion, typography and interior design & home. As the clippings pile up, I collage them in, often categorized my theme and color. To see my collages, which I often scan for the blog, check out the Fashion Notebook, Decor Notebook and Typofiles sets on Flickr.

In Closing: Being Organized Makes Life Feel Less Chaotic

I hope that these examples will inspire you to get your life organized in your own, unique way. Because I have a lot going on, having some basic organizational systems in place means that I’m rarely wasting time digging for items that I think I may have lost. Remember, there is no right or wrong way to organize your belongings; your system just has to make sense to YOU. If you have questions or want me to cover another area of organization in a follow-up article, let me know in the comments. Happy organizing!

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Parisian Fashion

March 23, 2011

Ah, Parisian fashion. Admired from afar, constantly imitated in American Fashion magazines and revered for its understated elegance. How do they do it?

My Paris Fashion Inspiration: Wolford Bondage tights, Loewe campaign complete with chunky gray knits, sexy sheer black plus leather via Reed Krakoff, Dolce & Gabbana Miss Rose satchel, bold basics, ModCloth jacket & dress finally, adding an element of surprise to a basic outfit.

Parisians strike me as being quite sensible.

Their wardrobes are much more edited than their American counterparts with color schemes mostly limited to black and gray. Every day basics are of very high quality. If you want to fit in while in Paris, basic clothing that can be easily layered in dark colors, a great coat and nice quality, walkable shoes will serve you well. The French mastered the art of the basic long ago. When thinking of Paris-appropriate clothing, an equation should come to mind: well-styled + sensible = smart. And, a bright colored scarf in a fun pattern or solid color like red will add some visual interest to any dark ensemble.

My initial interpretation of French fashion…unfortunately, I had hit fast-forward and arrived a little too far into the future. Photo by Juliane Berry.

What I admire most about the French is that they are very well put together but never overdone. Americans have a tendency feel that more is more when it comes to getting dressed and pile on a little too much of everything — I am sure they come across as gaudy to the sleek and refined Parisians.

Advertisement, Paris

Since it was my first time visiting Paris, I had arrived with the preconceived notion that people would be swathed in very avant garde, futuristic fashions straight off the Rick Owens runway. I had visions of my Fall / Winter Style Direction, Parisian Cyborg coming to life right before my eyes. Once I’d spent a full day in the city though, it became quite apparent that the reality was much different — I think I’d been absorbed in too many French fashion editorials, wrapped up in a big ol’ fantasy world. You see, most of the French are much too practical for such nonsense — they don’t sashay down the street in the equivalent of a costume!

I, on the other hand, ended up walking around town in what might have been more appropriate for Parisian daily wear in perhaps 2050. Though I got some stares, everyone was still polite. Even though the French tend to dress to blend in, I think they still secretly appreciate the element of surprise.

Photo by Juliane Berry.

This outfit may have been better suited for an 80s movie set in Paris. I’d become an instant caricature of Parisian fashion, thinking that a black dress + patterned legwear + a beret would equal the perfect daily outfit. I’d over-romanticized everything in my head, thanks once again to chic fashion magazines. At least I had a good time in the process! I was wearing an H&M dress, Zana Bayne 4-strap belt, red beret from Juliane, Wolford Bondage tights and Camilla Skovgaard wedges.

If you are on the hunt for cutting edge, avant garde fashion, Colette has some pretty stunning (and expensive) pieces. It feels more like a perfectly curated museum of modern gadgets and attire than a department store, though. The place was brimming with tourists and who could blame them? I fell in love with a selection of white dresses displayed in the front window, reminiscent of the 60s space age fashion of Courreges and Pierre Cardin.

Photo by Juliane Berry.

One of my favorite discoveries in Paris was that women appreciate a nice, short skirt paired with patterned leg wear. While strolling around town, I stumbled upon a huge number of shops specializing in just socks and tights. Much to my delight, Wolford boutiques were plentiful, dotted throughout the city.

Though French men and women do wear denim, it’s clean, hole-free and fits well. Baggy and wrinkle-laden jeans can stay bunched up in America’s closets, thank you. I also appreciated the fact that when we went out to dinner, there wasn’t t-shirt in sight. Men tend to wear button-ups or sweaters instead. What I realized is that it doesn’t take a lot of effort to look good!

When you look around the streets of Paris, what you quickly gather is that not every single person is wearing something amazing; nor are they wearing the latest ‘it’ item. Simply put, they just know how to get dressed and pull a look together from head-to-toe. They skip the fussiness, invest in the best quality possible and dress timelessly.

Nearly every boutique window throughout the city was beautifully curated. If I really was off to Paris to get married on a whim, this dress would have fit the bill. It was so nice and refreshing to not see chain store garbage cluttering every street corner!

What is more chic, French and timeless than Chanel? When I think of Chanel, a black and white palette comes to mind along with classic cuts featuring a modern twist.

Photo by Juliane Berry.

Gala and I pretty much play dress-up wherever we go and Paris was our playground. Our vision of what we’d felt was Parisian-worthy attire left us looking more like a girl pop duo from the 60s than anything else. The concierge at our hotel cracked bemused grins every time we walked out the door. They probably thought that we were nuts…just another influx of crazy Americans!

Parisian chic strikes me as fashionable yet understated. Both classic and timeless. They never look dated — their look is always in style. And isn’t that what makes the Parisian sense of style so alluring?

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For more Paris posts:

Paris in Polaroids
A Look Inside Le Marais, Paris
A Beginner’s Guide to Paris
Magic in Le Marais: Hotel du Petit Moulin
Hello From Paris Part 01: The First Time Experience
Hello From Paris Part 02: Architecture and Grandeur
Bonjour From Paris!

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Magic in Le Marais: Hotel du Petit Moulin

March 4, 2011

Photo: Juliane Berry

When Gala and I began planning our Parisian voyage late last year, one hotel in particular topped our must-stay list: Hotel du Petit Moulin, located in the Le Marais district.

Photo: Juliane Berry

Some things are just meant to be. My attachment to this celebrated boutique hotel has a backstory: many years ago (probably around 2003) an online friend of mine posted a photo of a brilliantly red tiled bathroom featuring a heart mirror. I had no idea where it was from but saved it in a folder. Needless to say, the iconic splendor of that image was permanently burned into my mind. Fast forward to late 2010: That said friend heard of my upcoming Parisian adventures and emailed me a link to the Hotel du Petit Moulin. When I clicked in and saw that very image, everything came together. I knew we had to stay there.

Photos: Hotel du Petit Moulin

The hotel itself has been constructed inside of a building dating back to the 17th century. Once the location of a bakery in the early 1900s, the original shop sign still resides on the outside! When our cab pulled up outside of the hotel two weeks ago, Gala and I excitedly hopped out and were met by a very courteous concierge as well as Olivier who mans the front desk. Poor poor Olivier! You see, Gala had been mercilessly harassing him for weeks on end in our virgo-driven obsessive quest to locate the perfectly themed hotel room.

Photos: Hotel du Petit Moulin

See, that’s the beauty of the hotel — no two rooms are alike! Of the design, Christian Lacroix explains that “Each of the 17 rooms corresponds to a way of approaching this area of Paris where you don’t go downstairs by chance but rather because you are drawn by the history and the spirit of the times.” Of the decor, he says, “One of the rooms may be decorated with cornices, consoles and mouldings, while others may be more pop in style, or more rustic.”

Photo: Juliane Berry. In between running around Le Marais, Gala and I had a bed jumping championship. I thought I had what it took. I trained, I prayed…but Gala still slayed me.

Our room was definitely pop. And what a gem it was! Featuring a full-length wall mural of original illustrations done by Christian Lacroix behind the bed, the imagery caused instantaneous excitement upon the first glance. The rest of the walls within our room were an intense lime green, as well as the shag (!!) carpet. But perhaps best of all, our windows swung open to a beautiful view of the Le Marais streets.

Photo: Juliane Berry

We were told that this particular room was the most popular because when it was first finished, many interior design magazines clamored to cover it. And, the hotel is always a work in progress — newly themed rooms are created every year, always overseen by Lacroix!

Photo: Juliane Berry

The wall mural was just the icing on the cake — the true appeal of our room came from the attached bathroom: blood red with black accents, spacious and of course, heart mirrored. THAT MIRROR. The bathroom wasn’t all looks and no substance, though. The toiletries, very light and citrusy (in only a way that the French could master) lined the sink. Fluffy white towels, terry robes and embroidered slippers awaited us. And the shower had awesome water pressure (in case you were wondering).

Photos: Hotel du Petit Moulin

Of course, the decor of a hotel room isn’t the only thing that makes a hotel worth staying in. Some other elements that added to the perfection of Hotel du Petit Moulin included the most addicting scent of vanilla every time we entered the front doors. In the lobby, stacks of books and guides populated an array of colorful tables which were surrounded by brightly upholstered chairs. The tiny back bar area was quaint and inviting. If all that wasn’t enough, the glossy black elevator doors opened to hallways covered in the most amazing polka dot carpet.

Photo: Juliane Berry

Last but not least, there was not a room card to be seen. Instead, we were handed an oversized gold key. As you can probably imagine, we felt like we had walked into a grandiose Parisian fairy tale.

Photo: Juliane Berry

The pure whimsy of this boutique hotel isn’t by coincidence. Lacroix says, “When I designed l’Hotel du Petit Moulin in Le Marais, I had the impression of rediscovering an erstwhile childhood dream, left by the wayside. A dream of living in a hotel, building a decor, day after day, in the colors of the times, putting ambiences together into volume and space and not only on paper or through fashion collections.”

Colors and textures collide into brilliant combinations and we have Lacroix to thank for bringing this fashionable yet unfussy masterpiece to life in an unassuming corner of Le Marais.

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What’s In My Bag? 2011 Edition

February 2, 2011

Every year or so, I do an updated version of What’s In My Bag? I don’t know about you but I love taking a voyeuristic peek at what other people find important enough to lug around with them all day, every day!

My everyday bag for the most part over the last few years have been various Miu Miu styles. I first discovered Miu Miu when I was in high school in the late 90s (ah, the memories!), reading Vogue on the down-low during history class. I fell in love with the logos and the ads — the posh, whimsical school girl vibe spoke to me. It’s been true love ever since! For the most part, I only invest in black or white bags since they won’t clash with my wardrobe. Keep it simple…and let the shoes do the talking instead.

So, what’s in my bag in 2011? Moleskine 2011 daily planner, YSL wallet (from 2009), Samsung Blackjack phone, Stabilo black pen, Gelly Roll black pen, Nivea Creme, Keys (car, house, old jobs), H&M coin purse (from 2003?), Flash Drive, Garmin Nüvi GPS, MAC Studiofix in N3, MAC Lipglass in Baby Sparks, MAC lipstick in Faux, Mouth with Pill stickers, dental floss, Business Cards (not shown) and Nikon D40 with 35mm Lens (not shown). That’s it!

P.S. If you’re curious, here are some of my past years’ installments:2009, 2008 and 2007, respectively. Even after all these years, the contents are pretty consistent overall!

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