WEDNESDAY BAG ♥ SO SO MUCH RESORT

Two things:

One...Everyone on the wire is talking about Anna Wintour dishing the order for all these Resort shows. Does she get that everyone these days knows everything she does? No more secret plots to stir things up. 

Two...I was surprised at the number of designers who didn't even show any bags?! I grew up a 20-minute drive to the beach. I have one tattoo of a sun (yes) because I was always at the beach. I also grew up a 3-hour drive to Mexico. And we went there quite a bit growing up. I've been all over the world (and vacationed in Hawaii four times). My point is...where were the bags? I think most of what  people wear as "resort wear" is a few pieces and a bag you throw it all in. If it was me, I would have had all the models wearing black bathing suits with a dozen bags. I managed to find some really fun pieces. ♡

Moschino Cheap & Chic

 Chanel granny

Balenciaga's Mod

 Cynthia Rowley hearts resort

 Pucci hippy (love)

so feminine Nina Ricci

Gucci beach bag anyone?

Erin Fetherston (is this a bag?)

Marc by Marc Jacobs birdy bag (love)

Lanvin camouflaged reptile jetset!

Dior petite

Marc Jacobs' ladies who lunch

I love this Pucci sac and the oufit attached to it

 

Louis Vuitton garden party

Chanel Picnic 

cropped images from style.com

TUESDAY TAILOR ♥ SUNO (A GIRL'S BFF)

I have so much respect for Max Osterweis and Erin Beatty. I absolutely fell in love with their Resort collection for Suno, which was fun and fresh and full of flavor. And, though it might sound strange if you have never lived in New York, it also reminds me of the flavor of the Downtown girls there. Where, on any given corner, you see an eclectic chic culture-rich ballsy take on personal style. (Can anyone tell how much I'm missing New York these days?) 

I love the styling and the art direction and the model casting. And all the confetti charm. I'd love to have any of these girls as a BFF...a vivacious fun-loving girl that shows us how fun life is. ♡ 

So hot she needs to cool off...

Don't tell me you wouldn't see this girl and wonder:

"Who's that girl?"

A career in fashion...or art.

Hot summer nights.

I love this jumpsuit. Sooo much.

The most amazing little jacket that would look good 

with almost everything.

Such a great little dress. So Nancy Girl. 

I'd love to have this in my collection.

images from style.com

MAKEUP MONDAY ♥ HENNA HANDS

When I was little, my mom sometimes colored her hair with henna. And, if she had some time, she'd draw a star or a heart or a flower on the palms of my hands, which I loved loved. It was like having a tattoo, but cooler because it was this rad natural rusty color. And no one else in 2nd grade had a flower on the palms of their hands that lasted for weeks.

Henna is used for decorative reasons. But the primary use back in the motherland is for brides-to-be on the night before their wedding. It's a tradition with the girls. Shabeh Henna Ban-doon which is the night before the wedding when all the women sit and paint henna "drawings" on the bride's hands (palms and outer hands and arms) and feet (bottom and top and ankles and sometimes calves and shins). It's done where I was born, The Kingdom of Bahrain (where Michael Jackson lived for a while), to this day. It takes a skilled hand to draw these. Henna is thick, like slushy mud. And then they have to sit for HOURS to get the dark dark color and sharp lines. 

 I know it got trendy here in the States to do "henna tattoos"...but it looked pretty weak compared the things the women overseas could and do do. It's done in Arab countries and India, for the most part. But we're Persian. And my mom says some Persians in Iran might do henna on their hands before the wedding, but it's mostly the Persians in Bahrain that keep this tradition alive.

If I was styling a story with these henna hands, my vision would be 1920s Bohemian maxi dresses, geisha-esque hair that's a bit messed up like she slept in her wig and just woke up, girls with caramel skin and these henna-ed hands. 

The woman who did the henna drawings is called Um Mahmood (Ooom Mah-moood). Her phone number is in the photos in case anyone wants to hire her to do this! She's in Bahrain! It's one of the beautiful traditions I've loved about my culture since childhood. And I'm stoked to share it with you. I'll be sharing more Persian and Middle Eastern things in the future. Stay tuned. PS I especially love the peacock at the bottom.♡

 

more makeup monday ♥ biba's dudu bird

SUNDAY MATINEE ♥ SMASHING TIME!

"I'll have the correspondent shoes..." LOVE IT!

This is the cover of the soundtrack for the film!

These are what dreams are made of. I LOVE LOVE this film. I have it on VHS because I couldn't find it on dvd.  Lynn Redgrave RIP. ♡

images from freerepublic.com

SATURDAY SHOPPING ♥ THE FOREVER 21 BRANDED PUBLICATION

I LOVE branded publications...IF they're done well. Well, the cool thing about a branded publication is a) if you already love the brand AND their publication is amazing, your loyalty to them cements, flourishes, ie they've got you forever. OR b) IF their publication is amazing and you haven't been a fan of the brand prior to seeing the magazine, and you like what you see, the brand may have won you over. I mean, it's really a great idea for brands to do. IF THEY DO IT RIGHT. I discussed this a little with Alexandra Suhner Isenberg on her blog Searching for Style. 

 This is the inside of above Spring issue of Forever 21 magazine. 

What's a branded publication? I guess you might not know if you don't come from the industry. It's just a magazine that a brand puts out. And it primarily focuses on their own vision, culture, message, styling, customer. Think Colors (Benetton), Acne Paper (Acne Jeans), H&M magazine and Uniqlo Paper.

Benetton's Colors...forever controversial

I just love Acne Jeans' branded publication Acne Paper. 

The paper they print on is fantastic, too. I'd love to work

for this gorgeous publication. And I don't even wear anything Acne.

H&M magazine. Not as yummy as Acne Paper, but still a good read.

I'd be happy working with them, too. 

Uniqlo Paper... Cashmere monsters! God I want to totally work with them!!! Some brands just know how to do it right. Right?

Forever 21 released their spring issue this March. Their Forever 21 magazine is a quarterly publication. I was super excited to hear they were doing one. Anyone that knows me knows how much I love F21. I truly feel like I'm at TopShop in London when I shop there...sometimes. So I was excited about the magazine. But, thus far, it's been a bit of a snooze. It reads sort of like a catalog meets Nylon. It reads 12. Or, not even. These days I should say it reads 10. I know Nylon used to be the IT mag when it first came out, because there weren't any other magazines like it at the time. With fashions we didn't see anywhere else. But now, it's a bit passé. Crotch shots and disheveled-hair covers. I don't like to hate on things, and I'm not going to on here. But you get what I'm saying. Well, Forever 21 magazine looks a lot like that. And the problem is that the people in charge of the magazine...are marketing people. Not magazine people. The reason why H&M's magazine is so fantastic, so fresh, has great stories, is really addictive and has amazing styling is because they have magazine people working on their magazine. I also don't get the age thing with Forever's magazine. Do they not look at the customers in the stores? Since the recession took over, there are plenty of regular ladies, business ladies, moms and all the others roaming the floors. I take notice to all of these things. It's what I do. 

I think this was their first issue. Um...

Maybe they'll consider hiring me, even as a consultant. Because, with their brand, we could really really have a lot of fun.♡

images of Forever 21 magazine from  http://blog.forever21.com/blog
all other images from my own files that I collect all the time

GIRL FRIDAY ♥ PATTIE BOYD'S WEDDING MINK RULES! ♥

I am totally obsessed and in love with everything Pattie Boyd, the muse of all muses, at least to me. And of course I obsess over her relationship with George Harrison and scandalous marriage to Eric Clapton, who stole her away from his dear friend George. 

 If I had been her age back then (or even alive), I would have definitely looked the part. I absolutely LOVE everything about her style back in the 60s. And 70s, too. (Including her bunny teeth...no plastic surgery here.) But especially the mink she wore at her wedding. Even George donned a fur!  Plus, the bow. And the mini. And and and and...marrying a Beatle isn't half bad.

Here's the amazing thing...I found a vintage mink in Portland, Oregon that is the exact same era and style!!! You'll see posts from time-to-time where I share some favorite vintage finds, and a lot of them were from Portland about 4 years ago. A lot of the kids there were only interested in 80s dress, so that left all the amazing pieces from the 60s (20s and 30s) for me! For dirt cheap! I bought this coat for less than 50 bucks!  $49.00, to be exact, because in Portland there is no sales tax. 

It's kind of a bad pic, sorry, but it does look like the real deal in person. And it's lined in black silk with initials embroidered on the inside. Totally old school hand-done. A very good vintage dealer friend told me that whenever you see initials embroidered in a coat like that, it means it was custom made for that person. I LOVE this coat. It's totally rockstar girlfriend. Now I just need to find me a rockstar. :)

Here's a page from a story I wrote and styled for Oyster magazine with the kids from Gus Van Sant's Paranoid Park. This awesome kid Dillon Hines (he played Alex's little brother Henry) is wearing my fur (before I had it repaired and refreshed). I hadn't intended to shoot him in the mink. He was so cold in my loft (Portland winters), and we had him wearing it in between shots. But the photographer took some pics while I was dressing the other kids, and it ended up leading the story.

Actually a really amazing blog I came across and will visit frequently is Beatle Girls, which has pics of all the women The Beatles dated, married, etc. etc. etc. ;)  LOVE it!♡

photo of Dillon Hines for Oyster magazine by Marissa Kaiser

images from http://beatle-girls.blogspot.com , http://dietcokeandsympathy.blogspot.com , http://pinballmachineandaqueen.blogspot.com