A Night Out with Fashion

     

  After a week of stormy weather and flooded streets, as of 10am yesterday, it was still unclear whether this years  Fashion Night Out was going to be a rocking sucess or a dismal failure. Luckily, right around noon, the sun started to come out as the Fashion Gods smiled down upon New York. With the sun, antipication began to build for the night that lay ahead.

     

   Fashion Night Out is one of my favorite nights of the year. The brainchild of Vogue Editor in Chief Anna Wintour, it was created to stir up excitment for the fashion industry in the midst of an economy that was knee deep in recession. No one anticipiated what a sucess it would turn out to be. Three years later, it has evolved into a truly world wide event. On September 8, from Paris to Pittsbourgh, shoppers got dolled up and celebrated the world of fashion. FNO kicks off Fashion Week here in New York, and while I have yet to celebrate in any other city, I cannot imagine anywhere else in the world throws a party with quite the same style.

      The most difficult part is deciding where you will go to get down and party hard. Do you go see Drake DJ with super model Brooklyn Decker at Versace on the Upper East Side? Do you fight the crowds and try to sneak a peak at Rachel Zoe at Inermix in Soho? Or maybe you just want to go to dance the night away at Lanvin. Decisions Decisions!! Any place you pick, you know that the streets will be filled with electric energy as New Yorkers come together to celebrate in style!



Anna Wintour checks out an IPAD at Dolce and Gabanna, SJP signs shoes at Manolo and Micheal Kors celebrates his birthday and his 30th anniversary in style!
photos curtosy of TheDailyBeast.com



This year I decided to start my evening at Lord and Taylor (at the request of my boss), and I was pleasantly suprised by the choice of cocktails, snacks and fun. Each floor had something going on, from Wheel of Fortune to fashion shows, it was a great start to the evening.

Hoda Kotb outside Lord and Taylor with the NY Jets cheerleaders kicking off the evening

Solange Knowls as she gets ready to DJ at Lord and Taylor

 

After enjoying as much champagne as a girl can, I popped over to Alice and Olivia, which had turned their boutique into a colorful carnival, complete with face painting, giant lolly pops and spiked cherry punch.

     Then it was time to head down town to the Meatpacking district where the streets were filled with electricity. Daniel Radcliff (HARRY POTTER!) made an appearance at the posh store Jeffrey, Rebecca Taylor had a killer band and Alexander McQueen was bursting at the seams with fashionistas teetering in their heels and uber short skirts.

The band kept the party going at Rebecca Taylor

Large screens in the middle of the street projected instant photos, sponsered by the new Armani Glasses collection

A moulin Rouge trailor took over with dancers and costumes on Gansevoort St

 Overall, I would say it was a terrific Fashion Night Out. I cant wait to see what next year brings!

Downton's Darlings

      This morning I discovered fashion illustrator David Downton, and nothing gets a fashion designers blood moving in the morning then some fabulous inspriation. David Downton was born in Kent, England in 1959 where he freelanced on various projects as an illustrator. It was not until 1996 when the Financial Times asked him to do illustrations of the couture collections that his career as a fashion illustrator began.

      I came across his work upon seeing his beautiful illustration for the new Oscar De la Renta perfum campagn.  Mr. De la Renta was bored with the many celebrities that blur together for the hundreds of various fashion and beauty campaigns, and he wanted to take a step back in time when advertising was entirely done by hand. Anyone who is a fan of Mad Men will surely appreciate this as well.

I love his lose hand and line quality, each illustration oozes glamour and sophistication.

His use of vivid color and saturated black marker is bold and eye catching, I am dying to try this on my next project!

I love the simplicity of this illustration, the way he can say so much with so little

This is another favorite of mine. I love his use of color, it is so modern, and so fresh yet with a dash of retro all at the same time.

     

A little bit of Heaven

     Every year since I was a little girl, my family packs up the car and heads down to my favorite place in the world, to the sleepy beach town of Charlestown, Rhode Island. Our house is on an special little street known as Hoxie Ave, and it stands across the street from the house my dad grew up in as a kid. Its the kind of place where everyone knows each other, and time never seems to pass.

  Rhode Island is one of the best kept secrets of the east coast, and it is a place filled with little treasures. Next June, I will be wearing a big white dress and celebrating my wedding on one of the local beaches and I wanted to share with everyone why it is so special

The week began with stormy weather, and I love the beach on an overcast day, the sky is alive with marbelized clouds and the ocean is angry and full of life

The best part of a cloudy day is having the beach all to yourself

My Yellow Umbrella 

Me and my Dad

The Ocean House is one of my absolute favorite places in Rhode Island, located in the elegant coastal town of Watch Hill. At one time, the Ocean House was the oldest hotel still standing on the East Coast, it took you back to another era, another world. It is the place where my father proposed to my mother and we have celebrated many birthday's and other special occasions. A few years ago, the old Ocean House was knocked down and rebuilt, restored to its original beauty, and few things in life would be more lovely then a cool glass of wine on its huge porches overlooking one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. 

Aunt Carrie's is a Rhode Island institution. Established in 1920 and located on the tip of Point Judith, they serve the best clam cakes, seafood and chowder around. It is a beloved place and it just wouldn't be a vacation without a visit to Aunt Carrie's

The town where I will be having the wedding is known as Narragansett, and upon entering you pass through the icon of the town, the Towers. Built in the 1880's as a resort and casino, it lights up the evenings over Narragansett Bay giving a magical atmosphere to this beach community

As you walk down the beach from the Towers, you come upon the North Beach Clubhouse where I will be having my wedding. A simple building with an AMAZING deck, you are right on the beach and steps from the ocean. There are few other places with a location like this, and I hope it will make for a memorable evening. 

The Sheltor Harbor Inn is a charming inn located in Charlestown. The food is fantastic and the rooms are filled with New England warmth and charecter, it is home to beautiful gardens and croquet courts and a short shuttle to the private beach. It is a lovely way to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life and relax in Rhode Island. 

  

Just Kids

Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorp at the Chelsea Hotel

  I recently finished reading the biography Just Kids bye Patti Smith and was completely blown away. Just Kids is a memoir of the friendship and inseparable bond between Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorp, taking place primarily in New York during the late 60's and 70's. Patti writes with the same clarity and strength with which she writes her music, taking you through her humble beginnings with Robert and their steady rise to success.

Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorp, Coney Island

Reading this book has made me think of what it was like to live in New York during a different time. New York in the 70's was a very different place then it is today. Times Square was a place for prostitutes and drugs, the Chelsea Hotel was a haven for artists and musicians, and the Factory was home to Andy Warhol, Edie Sedgwick , and Jim Morrison.  It was all about music, art and inspiration. It was a time full of grit and glamour.

Bryan Adams at the Chelsea Hotel

I have become enamoured with the 70's in NY, and it has made me wonder where I would have fit into this bohemian world. As much as I love the idea of being part of this free spirited culture, I wonder if I would have felt like an outsider, although I don't know if that is my personality, or the effect that today's environment has had on me. Fashion and music in the 70's were a movement, today they are reality t.v. empires, it was a complete revolution that no longer exists in our organized online world.

Max's Kansas City

For now, I just want to be inspired by all of these amazing people, and imagine what it would have been like to have a shot of tequila at Max's with Patti Smith.

Janis Joplin

Janis Joplin, Jimmi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrision and now Amy Weinhouse, all young artists who have lost their lives at 27, a heartbreaking club of incredible talent and troubled lives. May they forever be remembered

Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick

The beautiful Edie Sedgwick

 The CBGB, the birth place of punk rock and a New York Institution. 

Chic C'est le Vie!

Simone d'Allencourt for Arachnee 

        I recently discovered the photographer Georges Dambier upon receiving an invitation to attend the gallery opening at the Bonnie Benrubi Gallery here in New York City. I only needed to look at one photo to know that I completely loved his style and his work. The 1950's and 60's are my favorite decades, I love how women put themselves together so flawlessly. It was an era filled with a certain kind of glamour and style that has long been lost along the way.

Marie Helene Arnaud, for Elle 

Georges Dambier was born in Paris in 1925, and it was here that he made his mark in the photography world. In the 1950's, he joined the team at Elle Magazine where he worked with the most beautiful women in the world: Suzie Parker, Dorian Leigh and and Bridgette Bardot. In every photo, he manages to capture the complete sensuality and charm of being a woman.  

Suzy Parker, Paris for Elle, in Givenchy. 

 Now this is GLAMOUR! 

Suzy Parker with Hydrangeas, for Elle. 

I love that she is in her own world, lost in thought on this charming Parisian street 

The Bikini Girl on the Boardwalk 

The original girl with a yellow umbrella

Karen with Matadors, for Palma de Majorique

I love the colors and the angle that this photograph captures, its so intense and striking 

Suzy Parker with Tulips, for Elle 

This is my favorite photograph, I have found it so inspiring. I love the pop of red in the flowers and in her hat, she is so effortlessly chic, so perfectly put together, I dream of being this girl! 

Jaques Fath in his Atelier

La Librairie, Jaques Fath