Our April Look Book went up today and it’s truly beautiful. The concept is called Modern romance of a beautiful ballerina in decayed, decadent environment. It was shot in a dilapidated house in west Philly with crackled walls and peeling paint. I joined the image team to take some behind the scenes photos and to get to know the model a little bit more. The place was beautiful – the walls were full of texture, and the light was soft. It definitely gave that feeling of something beautiful falling apart to reveal something even more interesting. We had a great time!
last week i gave you the low-down on hair and makeup and the lead-up to shooting, and now it’s time for the action to begin! here’s a behind the scenes look at shooting with sasha pivovarova.
being able to watch a world class model in action was such an awesome experience. sasha blew me away- she was so sweet and soft spoken in person, and had a very graceful, swanlike presence on set. her ability to strike completely unnatural poses and make them seem effortlessly natural is incredible.
sasha’s jewelry and doodle on the makeup table.
in between shots hair and makeup were touched up.
guy reviewing the shots – he’s so good, he could probably take one photo for each outfit and be done, but he seemed to have an idea in his head of what he wanted each shot to look like and wouldn’t stop until it was perfect.
sasha was a natural with the animals – very playful and sweet.
we were all crazy about this outfit – the combination of the long-in-the-back raglan tee and mesh ombre skirt is to die for! i loved that she just wore socks with this look too, giving it a very relaxed loungy feel.
someone on set (i cant remember who) had the idea of using one of the belts in the shoot instead of a leash :)
stylists at work.
i love this photo :)
the light outside started to fade as we neared the end of our allotted shooting time.
sasha loved this necklace – and we all loved this outfit, our favorite of the day!
and that’s a wrap on day one! stay tuned for day two :)
Erika Pena is a dreamer, who started her journey into Fashion design and accessories when she was 18 and attended Parsons school of
Art and design in New York City. Her Accessories draw inspiration from her move to Manhattan from Puerto Rico conveying the rough and edgy city life of NYC to the light and airy free spirited air of the Caribbean. All her work derives inspiration from her travels, the people she meets and the cultures she absorbs herself into – making her pieces extra special!
I played around with her pieces in the studio the other day I feel in love with the unique rings that sit just delicately on the tops of your fingers. The textures of her jewelry make for exquisite accessories perfectly dressed down for a festival and easily adapted for a lovely night out. Sasha wears the rings throughout our April book, they add that extra special to any outfit.
“Our lives are not as limited as we think they are; the world is a wonderfully weird place; consensual reality is significantly flawed; no institution can be trusted, but love does work; all things are possible; and we all could be happy and fulfilled if we only had the guts to be truly free and the wisdom to shrink our egos and quit taking ourselves so damn seriously.” — Tom Robbins
have you ever been asked the question, if you were an animal what kind would you be? i have a friend who is so good at determining that about people… anyway i like to think that these paintings by jen mann are portraits of girls and their inner animal spirit.
another puppy to introduce you guys to! say hello to gus, who lives with our creative director. he’s quite a character- he explored every inch of our office and just wanted to say hello to everyone and help out!
i love his collar!
our vintage team was working on something and gus wanted to help…
but our graphic designer had to take him back upstairs so he wasn’t in the way :)
One trend of the season: Chinos rolled up a little to show sandals and letting your cute little ankles breathe. Our intern has styled her high-waisted chinos with a cropped jumper and a statement necklace, making a sophisticated look playful by adding braids to her hair. This is a perfect look for those mild, breezy days going into spring.
i have been waiting, patiently, ever since our meeting back in january about the april catalog product when i saw them all lined up in a rainbow of colors. birkenstocks definitely carry a strong sense of nostalgia with them… it is hard to look at them and not be reminded of a time in my life when i was too young to know or care about fashion, all that mattered was comfort and ease. i’m not gonna lie, wearing them now i even start to feel like a kid again. the famous photos of kate moss by corinne day capture that carefree feeling perfectly.
if you’re like me and grew up wearing birks, you already know how comfy they are, and that they mold to fit your feet to perfection. but another reason why i love these so much right now is that i’m a big flip flop girl- i like sandals that can slip on and off easily so if you’re at the beach or chilling at a park you can kick them right off. but i’m getting a little tired of the same old rainbows i’ve been wearing for a few years now and i have already decided that they will be replaced with these sunkissed tangerine birks very soon.
sasha pivovarova rocks the birkenstocks in a couple of awesome ways in our april catalog. our shoe buyer loves the look on the left – she says birks are the perfect shoe to pair with girly, feminine skirts and dresses this season to add a touch of laid back cool. the look on the right is one of my favorites in the entire catalog – the pop of color is perfect to complete this fun & funky look.
check out our birkenstocks online here – and tell me, what do you think about their comeback?
our april catalog has dropped and in it are some amaaaaazing maxi dresses – i love how they’re all so different! which of these dresses would you wear?
the theme for the catalog was the elements – contrasting a muted palette and soft colors for earth and air on day one with bold, bright colors and tribal elements for fire and water on day two. keeping with this theme, the makeup on day one was very natural and clean, giving sasha pivovarova the appearance of not wearing any makeup at all. Read More
a couple of weeks ago a package came in the mail for me and i opened it up to find this insanely cute pair of owls that one of our fp girls in denver had made. i immediately had to find out how she made them and she was kind enough to send me photos and instructions!
what you need:
needle & thread
scissors
2-3 fun mismatched fabrics (perfect use for an old free people bag!)
2 buttons
small piece of felt
stuffing
use a paper template like this one to cut out your pieces of fabric – use different fabrics for the top and bottom to give it a fun mis-matched look! you’ll need two pieces of fabric for the top (front and back) and two pieces for the bottom (front and back).
the first thing you want to do when sewing these little guys is sew on the eyes and beak – use buttons or felt for eyes and a felt triangle for the nose. for the smaller owls, add on a little piece of fabric at the top if you want to be able to hang it (these would be awesome christmas tree ornaments!)
get funky with this little project, the more fabrics and different things you use, the better! you can use beads, buttons, felt or embroider them.
next you want to sew the the head to the body, for the front side of the owl and the back. sew on the reverse side of the fabric, which will be on the inside of the owl.
after completing this step, you can add a thin strip of fabric to cover the spot where you sewed the top to the bottom, if you choose – just adds to the mix of patterns and looks super cute!
Finally you get to sew the front and back together! place the right sides of the fabric together and start sewing the little owl together all the way around, leaving a small opening the bottom. turn the owl inside out and stuff the owl – you can even put a little lavender in there to make him smell beautiful!
last but not least, sew up the opening & you are finished!
