free people is looking for an in-house hair/make-up artist to join our web team!
a candidate for this position should understand the free people aesthetic inside and out, and have creativity and technical skills to back them up. this person should have extensive experience in both hair and make-up for commercial and fashion photography. he or she should be able to produce fresh, innovative hair and make-up styles in a timely fashion. he or she should be experienced and prepared to groom one model daily for the FP.com and FPwholesale.com websites, and stand on set to ensure that the model looks her best in photographs throughout the day.
-have extensive knowledge of various hair/make-up tools/tricks of the trade
-should be able to stand on his/her feet for 8 hours.
-have experience working with all hair and skin types.
-be highly creative, keep a book of tears for inspiration.
-experience working in a studio setting.
-a hair and make-up kit will be provided.
-please come prepared with your portfolio.
if this sounds like you, please apply online here!
another trend we’re excited about right now is shoes in all different shades of brown…whether they’re hazel, chestnut, chocolate, tan or caramel, brown shoes look good with any fall look!
i was inspired to search for brown shoes around the office and found quite a few…so here’s a look at office style, brown shoe edition…
check out the brown shoe selection on our website!
introducing another new feature on the fp blog...employee profiles! tune in to meet fp girls who work in the home office and hear about some of their own personal passions.
as mentioned last week, our image team went to prague to shoot photos for an upcoming catalog. they have returned with some amazing images and today they laid them out on the floor for everyone to mark the ones that moved them the most with post-its.
as you can see, people found several of the images quite moving.
did a scavenger hunt of sorts around the office recently, trying to find hot pink things. it wasn't really all that hard, but...maybe a fun project for you? just pick a random color/object, and spend a day trying to find it.
if you're in philadelphia today, stop by the navy yard and our communal building 543. the urban gogreen committee - with terrain at styer's - is hosting a harvest bazaar!
and for our fans/readers in the northeast...doub and lauren will be stopping by our boston store next friday, the 18th, to offer up styling tips/advice!!! don't miss it.
today is our visual display intern julie's last day...
during her stay, she worked on developing some holiday in-store displays! here's a sneak peek of what you may see...
and she took the time to write this little note, which i'll transcribe for you in a sec.
"hi, my name is julie and i have been working with the free people visual team since june. today is my last day and i have had so much fun here! my favorite part of my internship was helping to make prototypes for upcoming displays. also being able to witness how creative and hard-working everyone is has been really exciting. one thing i will take with me is to keep working hard and let others inspire you and that is will impact the quality of your work. thanks for having me, free people family! thanks!"
today is our friend stephanie's last day...she's in the middle. coincidentally (or not), she and 2 other co-workers wore our deep v boyfriend tee.
heather made some amazing good-bye cupcakes for us all, donned with the state of ohio (which is from where she hails) and dachsunds (her family loves 'em).
our president meg shared some of her famous zucchini bread with the folks here at the home office and left copies of the recipe for all of us, too.
this one was made with zucchinis from her husband's garden. look at those things...
delicious.
make one at home for your friends and fam!
don't worry...it's transcribed for you below. :)
zucchini (nut bread)
blend together:
1 cup shredded zucchini
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
mix in: 1/2 cup vegetable oil
mix together all dry ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
mix all wet and dry ingredients together.
place in greased loaf pan.
bake in 325-degree oven for 55-60 min.
cool in pan 10 min. remove from pan, cool thoroughly.
wrap in foil.
note: tastes better after sitting a day. may be frozen for later consumption.
we've had 7 interns with us at the home office this summer...most of them are heading back to school now.
allie worked on our planning team. see below...she learned so much while she was here!
things i have learned this summer:
• contrary to my suspicions, ap physics actually DOES come in handy in the real world. understanding “velocity” is crucial to becoming an accomplished planner or allocator.
• WTF does not stand for “what the ****!”…it stands for We The Free
• i have learned to proficiently read without vowels. for example, “hey jamie. how are you allocating that L/S SLD VNK XTRM BTTNDWN MNSWR B/D PCKT TNK? i really like it”
• planners like numbers so much that they have made a numerical equivalent for almost every word used in the retail world.
• IT is your best friend
• ProClarity is your worst
• make mistakes, it's how you learn. however, make the same mistake twice, shame on you.
• be open to new opportunities. don’t turn your nose up at something until you are fully educated about it.
• incorporate design into all aspects of your life. be creative, be influential, and let yourself be open to influence.
• have energy and stay inspired.
• never settle for anything less than your dream job because…
• success and happiness are interchangeable.
here's a fun, fun job for you...in-house hair/makeup artist!!
our candidate should understand the free people aesthetic inside and out, and possess creativity as well as technical skills.. this person should have extensive experience in both hair and makeup for commercial and fashion photography. he/she should be able to produce fresh, innovative hair and makeup styles in a timely fashion. he/she should be experienced and prepared to groom one model daily for the fp.com and fpwholesale.com websites, while attending to the set to ensure that our model looks fresh.
requirements
* extensive knowledge of various hair/make-up tools/tricks of the trade
* ability to stand on his/her feet for 8 hours
* experience working with all hair and skin types.
* highly creative...in possession of an inspiration book
* experience working in a studio setting
a hair and make-up kit will be provided.
please come prepared with your portfolio.
we're looking for a visual display creative assistant!
objective: to create, present, and manage the production of all
concepts for visual display
responsibilities:
• source and create new ideas and concepts for visual display
• create proto samples of all display ideas that will go into
production
• track and manage the production process of all visual display with
vendor; clearly communicte with vendor through email, telephone, and
package
• meet all calander dates for visual display installs in store or
event
• keep all display on budget for each season or event
requirements:
• knowledge of photoshop, microsoft illustrator and publisher
• knowledge of textiles
• internet sourcing experience
if you're in ny, go visit fuse gallery. our awesome knits designer chau - who has
graced our blog many-a-time - is showing some of her work there.
in the form of flowerpots...
and ink on paper...
show runs from august 15 through september 12.
she's the best. watch our interview with her from may 2008.
Do you have a voracious appetite for what’s unique and interesting? Are you constantly stumbling upon treasures that exude creativity? Do you love sharing it with your friends? Then we want to talk to you!
Free People is looking for two experienced bloggers – 1 Lifestyle Blogger and 1 Fashion Blogger – to identify and report on fun and relevant topics/trends for the Free People community.
Your role will be to create a place for the Free People community to discover and share cool styles, trends, artists, musicians, photography, travel, and do-it-yourself home and style projects… to name a few. The positions are based at our home office in Philadelphia.
For more information and job descriptions, check out the links below!
What is your job here at FP?
Intimates [+ WTF sometimes] Design Intern.
What is your current state of mind?
Excited.
Who are your heroes?
Harry Potter.
If you could choose what to come back to life as, what would you be?
Easy: a mermaid.
What or who is your greatest love?
What: Mexican food
Who: my dogs Garth + Cole.
Name one thing necessary to your happiness.
A disposable camera
What do you hate the most?
Mustard.
What would the name of your band be, and what genre? What instrument do you play in this band?
"Woah Sally" it would be FUN to dance to and I would sing and play the guitar.
Free People is looking for a Graphic Design Assistant to work in our home office here in Philadelphia Pennsylvania.
Here's a little bit of information about the job-
Free People is looking for someone who:
-possesses a magically illustrative hand and discerning eye
-exudes creativity
- dreams of creating compelling layouts with our Free People photography
-appreciates typography – typeset and handwritten
-follows up-and-coming trends in graphic design
The primary focus will be to create – in collaboration with our graphic design team - striking, visually unique, interactive marketing messages for both our freepeople.com and freepeoplewholesale.com audiences.
Opportunities may also exist in catalog layout and design, flash pieces, interactive video, and store design elements among others, and partnerships will extend into merchandising, e-commerce, catalog, wholesale and other teams.
Please include a link to where we can view your portfolio - or pdf of your work - with your application.
Required Skills:
• full adobe software suite (photoshop, illustrator, indesign)
Recently our Web Operations Manager, Heather, helped to organize a really fun event here in Philly, the Independance Day Scooter Rally! It lasts for a whole weekend, and this year was very successful, with over 150 people who showed up from all over- two ladies even came all the way from Oklahoma! Heather kindly shared a few really cool pictures from the rally, check them out!
Scooters under the El By Damon.
What is your job here at FP?
I am an intern with the visuals team
What is your current state of mind?
Happy and excited
Who are your heroes?
Hugh Laurie, my Dad, and Allen Ginsberg
If you could choose what to come back to life as, what would you be?
A whale
What or who is your greatest love?
I love french fries
Name one thing necessary to your happiness.
Time to watch mystery movies with my Dad
What do you hate the most?
When people don't use their turn signals
What would the name of your band be and what genre? What instrument do you play in this band?
My band would be called Sports and we would be Indie noise rock. I would play the keyboards & sing
Remember when we had our open-model casting in New York a couple of weeks ago? Well our Assistant Art Director Carrie has put together this really cool video montage of the casting! Check it out!
I was really intrigued when I saw Jessica's new shoes! Personally, I'd never seen any like them before, so I figured I'd share them with you! She tells me she got them right here in Philly, and they're by FLY London. On top of that, they are eco-friendly and really comfortable! I think the soles are my favorite part!
Hey everyone! We have two internships currently available, one in our buying department and one in our planning department - right here at the home office! Either of the internships offer a great opportunity to grow and learn about the inner workings of a fashion company!
The Retail/Direct Buying team intern will be assisting the Buyer and Assistant Buyers on day to day projects. This includes tracking samples, creating reports, and imputing PO's. They may be called upon to be a liaison between the Buying, Production and Design departments. Click here to learn more about this position and apply!
The Planning Intern will help maximize sales and profit by helping to develop and execute sound merchandise plans that support Company goals for sales, turn and margin. This candidate will possess strong computer skills, and be able to work independently both ongoing and ad-hoc projects related to reporting and analysis. Click here to learn more about this position and apply!
What is your job here at FP?
Intern for Wovens & Knits (Design)
What is your current state of mind?
Is silly a state of mind? hehe...
Who are your heroes?
My parents -for sure
If you could choose what to come back to life as, what would you be?
Definitely a cat -sleep all day & easily entertained :)
What or who is your greatest love?
Clothes are my greatest love to a point that it is deeply affecting my credit HA!
Name one thing necessary to your happiness.
Good Company
What do you hate the most?
DRAMA!
What would the name of your band be and what genre? What instrument do you play in this band?
Well... I'm working on the name but it would definitely be a "Jackson 5" cover band where I'd be the lead singer (or some sort of tambourine player)
What color are you? yellow
What is your motto?
...life's too short to live unhappy...
Remember Carrie's cool time-lapse video from yesterday? She videotaped the lobby from down the hallway for quite a few hours to create a time-lapse view of the creation of our lobby garden!
However, leaving the camera recording the hallways for so long meant she caught some other interesting goings-on as well. You guys will love this clip of one of our production designers hamming it up! I wish I could dance like that...
For a very long time, we had a funny little patched round bench in the center of our lobby, with an umbrella over the top of it! At the end of last week though, we were all very interested to see a giant sea-green box sitting in the center of our lobby instead! You can see the lonely umbrella awaiting its fate in the background. (Don't worry, its fate is probably just to get used somewhere else.)
We had an idea of what might be next when we noticed that they were filling the box with dirt! You can see I've been spotted by the cute dirt shovelers...
They came up with a better idea of how to move the dirt - a golf cart!
Next came the plants!
Wow! Look at that vibrant little garden! Practically a forest!
Ah! I love having this new green around! It's soo relaxing! Now, what's way cooler than the pictures I took is the video Carrie took! She set up a camera in the hallway and made a time-lapse video of everyone putting the garden together! It is really funny to watch it all sped up! Check it out!
Are you the queen or king of Facebook and Twitter? Do you read all of the coolest blogs? Or do you write your own? Do you love fashion? Are you super passionate about Free People? Are you an amazing communicator?
If you answered "yes" to these questions, then we have the job for you!
Free People is looking for a Social Media and Communications Coordinator to work in our Philadelphia based home office.
A little bit about the job:
Overview: Conceptualize and execute innovative social media campaigns to better engage our online customer with the Free People brand. Drive internal communication improvements between home office departments, stores, and showrooms to streamline brand efforts and keep everyone working as a team. This is an interesting new position at Free People that will require tremendous energy and excitement, and an ability to organize diverse groups of people and align them towards a common goal.
Sound good? Are you interested? Click here for all the details!
Last night our Free People kickball team had it's final game of the season. Though we lost to Urban Outfitters with a score of 8 to 7, the FP team competed admirably, and had a lot of fun!
Some members of the team get psyched for the game!
You may remember a bit more than a week ago when these shorts appeared in one of the Office Style posts. They are vintage by Steel Jeans, and quite of a few of you asked about them - I really liked them too! As you can see above, Courtney, the owner of the shorts, lent them to me for a day so that I could look them over and prepare to make my own pair! I did, and it was super easy! Here's how I did it!
First I color-copied Courtney's shorts, so that I could have a real-sized pattern of the patches on the front. It also really helped to have a guide for placement! I have posted the pictures I used on Flickr so you can use them too! Click on the picture, then original size to get the whole huge picture! Print them out and you have the patterns too!
Next I went home and picked out a pair of shorts I wanted to alter, and some pretty fabric for the patches!
You might notice that my fabric is very wrinkly! I highly recommend ironing any fabric you use for this project, but I don't have an iron, so as for me, I just had to wing it! I folded the fabric I chose for the patches in half, and then drew an outline of one of the patterns on it. You could also use each pattern and draw each side separately.
My shorts are quite a bit bigger than Courtney's, so I drew my outline out a bit from the outline of the pattern to compensate.
Next, I sewed them down! I used a sewing machine for this part, but I think it would also be very easy to sew this by hand. With the sewing machine I had to be very careful not to sew down the pockets of my shorts!
Halfway finished!
Ta Da! Finished!
They turned out pretty good, right? I love them!
If any of you make shorts too, send us a picture of you wearing them at blog.freepeople@gmail.com! I would love to see how yours turn out!
Many of us who work at URBN Inc. have little brothers or sisters through the local Big Brothers Big Sisters organization. They have a wonderful program where they even bus the children to our office from their school, twice a month to eat lunch with us! After lunch, Bigs and Littles just hang out together and do their own thing, or they can do whatever the fun scheduled activity is for that day.
At the end of last week, our Littles came, and the activity was so fun! It was a newspaper fashion show! Bigs and Littles made outfits out of newspaper and then walked the runway! There are so many adorable and funny pictures from it, I couldn't resist sharing them with you! I'm sure you'll get a kick out of them too!
These two pictures are some candids taken at a shoot we did for next week's freepeople.com homepage. In the second picture they were trying to avoid getting her tights in the shot so she just pulled them below her knees. Looks more like she couldn't wait for the bathroom!
And this is some fun our graphic designer Lizzie made a while back and we just held onto becuase it is amazing!
Kevin and Danielle both happened to come into work today rocking pairs of pink jeans! Of course now I want a pair - they look so awesome! Kevin and Danielle make a cute pair of twins too!
What is your job here at FP?
Associate Designer of Prints & Colors
What is your current state of mind?
Scattered
Who are your heroes?
Teela
If you could choose what to come back to life as, what would you be?
a seahorse
What or who is your greatest love?
Sunshine
Name one thing necessary to your happiness.
Indiana Jones (my dog)
What do you hate the most?
Slow walkers!
What would the name of your band be and what genre? What instrument do you play in this band?
I have an astonishing lack of musical talent. It is much more likely that I would join a traveling circus.
Happy Earth Day everyone! I hope you're all having fun today, even if you're working, and it's raining, like it is here! We are having a blast and enjoying the Go Green Bazaar going on in 543 today! There are all kinds of Earth Day booths and some green vendors too of course! Some people are selling some green body lotions and similar wares, and it smells so good!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on April 22, 2009 12:28 PM
What is your job here at FP?
Retail allocations + planning
What is your current state of mind?
I'm a teeny bit of a flibberti jibbet today. Thanks FULL MOON!
Who are your heroes?
The hulk and super gonzo.
If you could chose what to come back to life as, what would you be?
A flower fairy or just someone less clutzy. things like to hit me in the head. maybe someone with better handwriting... or just less thirsty?
What or who is your greatest love?
this is a very tricky question... my mom
Name one thing necessary to your happiness.
The Kitty. (and yoga.)
What do you hate the most?
malevolence
What would the name of your band be and what genre? What instrument do you play in this band?
*Theremin Fight* Electroclash and Rock and Roll. I'd play hand claps.
What color are you?
Periwinkle (it's what my mother calls me)
What is your motto?
You regret things that you don't do more than those you do.
Above is a picture of Meredith's beloved kitty, The Kitty. She is super cute, cross-eyed, and six-toed! Also, don't miss Meredith's blog, it's really good!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on April 10, 2009 12:20 PM
Today the sweater designers are using some of their color scrap bins, and they have them laying out and looking very tempting! They are sorted by color, and have the feel of a very pretty mess! I'm quite inspired...
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on March 30, 2009 11:44 AM
Nicole, Pruitt and I made this video as we played with all of the different ways to wear the Free People chain vests. I love that just one piece can be worn as a necklace, a belt, a bracelet, a vest, or even to embellish your favorite boots!
What is your favorite way to style them?
Pick out your own from the four different styles on freepeople.com
What is your job here at FP?
Junior Website Designer
What is your current state of mind?
Trippin' Dawg!
Who are your heroes?
Mom + Dad, Bob Dylan, That Missy Elliot album, Dave Hickey, Robert Irwin, I have a lot more I think
If you could choose what to come back to life as, what would you be?
Cesar Milan, that guy is a miracle!
What or who is your greatest love?
I'm really into Ekta right now. (Indian Cuisine)
Name on thing necessary to your happiness
Sweaty Dance Parties
What do you hate the most?
People clipping their fingernails in public places.
What would the name of your band be and what genre? What instrument do you play in this band?
The BoyFriends. We would sound like Gang Gang Dance + The Ramones. I would play the drum machine and Jump-Kick.
What color are you?
Very Berry Blue
What is your motto?
"Whatever, It's a free country." <----How obnoxious is that!?
You may remember a while ago when we first got our pet-camera, and Trixie tried it out for us. The camera clips to your pet's collar and takes a picture once a minute so that you can see their view of the world! Well, today we had a new photographer try out the pet-cam for us! Meet Pilgrim, the sweet dog of Carrie, our Assistant Art Director.
Pilgrim wore the pet-cam for a while today and showed us the home office from a doggy point of view! His pictures are pretty fun, check them out below!
Welcome to the desk of Alex, one of our designers for We The Free knits and Free People pants!
I really like this composition here, so inspiring!
How awesome is that little tool box? Alex found it at a salvage warehouse in northern Philadelphia. The cool string of leather mini-pennants are from a Tokyo vintage store that specializes in classic men's workwear and collegiate athletic wear. More than likely they traveled from the USA to the store in Tokyo, and then back to the USA again when Alex bought them! A well traveled knick-knack!
These wooden postcards are really fun, though they didn't actually come from Anchorage Alaska! Rather, they are from a bookstore in New York City!
I love this deer flask! It's another Philly find, this time in West Philadelphia.
The awesome horse painting is from a whole collection of paint-by-number horse paintings that Alex found in her house!
These old children's encyclopedias, besides looking gorgeous on the outside, have really cool pictures on the inside that the We The Free girls frequently use for inspiration! I think those might be the makings of another post...
What is your job here at FP?
Design Assistant - Coordinator for Knits and Beachwear
What is your current state of mind?
all over the place - lots to do
Who are your heroes?
Anyone who goes out of their way to make a difference or change in the world for the better.
If you could choose what to come back to life as, what would you be?
The most adorable puppy with an awesome owner OR a hippie. I was supposed to be a flower child but I came out high-strung!
What or who is your greatest love?
My bed (it is the most comfortable thing in the world I don't know how I get up every day!) And my dog Ariel & cat Mister Mookie.
Name one thing necessary to your happiness.
Food! Especially Kugel.
And good friends.
What do you hate the most?
Popping gum, mean people, and bad drivers.
What would the name of your band be and what genre? What instrument do you play in this band?
I would be the lead singer because that would be awesome. It's too bad I'm tone-deaf.
What color are you? bright orange
What is your motto? What you don't know can't hurt you and If it's meant to be, it will be.
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on February 24, 2009 1:48 PM
Today I discovered a really cool room in 543 that I had no idea existed before! I am so excited to share it with you! I was very lucky that I happened to wander into the sweater designers' room with my camera when I did, because I bumped into Lindsey, one of our designers, who asked me, "Have you ever seen the yarn room? I'm heading that way." Heck no! I hadn't even heard of it, and it is filled with things of interest!
Welcome to the yarn room!
Natasha is already working hard on one of the knitting machines! This particular machine is a domestic knitting machine. There are also industrial types, one of which you can see a little bit, behind Natasha. Both types are used in our factories. They are amazingly faster than hand knitting! Our sweater designers use them to create prototype designs right here at the home office!
I can't wait to see what Natasha makes with this cool sweater cloth she's created!
Meanwhile, Lindsey is quickly threading another machine and beginning her work!
In this picture, Lindsey is getting ready to pull the handle toward us - this will create a row of stitches.
...Tinkering with a couple of the stitches.
After just a few minutes, she has knitted quite a bit!
It's lucky Natasha and Lindsey know what they're doing, because these cool instructions posted on the wall might be hard for some of us to read!
Free People and Anthropologie share the yarn room, and one of our friends Hani from Anthro here too! She is working with another cool machine, which winds loose yarn onto a bobbin really really fast!
Perfect!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on February 20, 2009 1:53 PM
As many of you have already picked up from reading this blog, Urban Outfitters Inc. owns quite a few buildings in the Navy Yard, one that houses Free People, another that houses Anthropologie, one for Urban, and others that I don't really even know what we use them for or which buildings they are.
One of the most important buildings we have is Building 543, which is shared by the three brands, and is also open to the public. 543 houses our restaurant/cafeteria, gym, yoga studio, coffee shop, mail room, I.T. Department, Production Department and the list goes on and on!
Many of us eat lunch at Shop 543, the cafeteria restaurant, almost every day! (Myself included!) So today I thought it would be fun to take you on a little tour of Shop 543 and show you where we eat lunch!
Welcome to Shop 543! Building 543 is very big and very open, so these pretty curtains act as sort of walls for the cafeteria. To the right you can see someone reading the very large menu board.
Here is our giant menu board! The Shop 543 employees carefully write down the specials for us on here each day.
I am immediately side-tracked by the dessert table - look at these delicious vegan red cupcakes! Our dessert chefs make the prettiest little tasty desserts ever!
Here is some sushi doing a very good job of advertising itself! Yum!
My friend Sara scopes out the soups to see if anything catches her interest...
I have finally settled into the sandwich line, after much consideration. Everything looks so yummy!
Some people we know are in the sandwich line too! Hey Ryanne, Lauren and Kris! See the little cup in Lauren's hand? Those are there so that we can try some soup and see if we like it before we buy it! I wonder if she liked it?
Chef John prepares my sandwich with the ultimate care and attention to detail.
Hooray! He did such a good job! It looks great! (It tasted great too!)
My friends Caroline and Sara waited very patiently for me. Notice all the official-looking business-people behind them? There are quite a few other companies based in the Navy Yard, and many people that work for those companies like to eat here too! I can't blame them! :)
This picture is not so great - I was attempting to show you how great our view is! We can see the mighty Delaware river right out the cafeteria windows, and lots of huge neat ships too! Unfortunately today is a bit rainy, and so the river didn't lend itself to photography so much... Believe it or not, this was the best shot!
And now we're leaving Shop 543! At least in this shot you can see how huge the windows are! Thanks for coming to lunch with me! ;)
And don't forget, Building 543 is open to the public - so if you are ever in Philadelphia and you want to see some awesome ships and eat yummy food from Shop 543, come on down to the Navy Yard!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on February 18, 2009 1:56 PM
You met Bob and Nate in our Free People Guys video. Well they were such nice guys to the Free People family and gave all of the girls flowers and sweets for Valentine's Day!
Hooray for Pattra! She made the absolutely adorable little shirt that Trixie is wearing below! You may remember Pattra from previous posts, as she is a grower of Shitake mushrooms, and a creator of things, like this cute ring, Free People wovens, and of course, awesome dog shirts! Thank you Pattra! You really made my day, and Trixie's day especially!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on February 9, 2009 5:06 PM
Remember the cute Jindo puppy that visited our office the other day? I just got a hold of these shots from when she visited the web studio that same day! She and Jenny posed together, and the pictures are so so cute! I had to share!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on February 6, 2009 5:01 PM
I can't believe Valentine's Day is in just a little more than a week! It seems like New Year's and the inauguration were so recently!
We have put together three different playlists for Valentine's Day, and today I bring you the first: the Falling in Love playlist! We asked everyone in the company to tell us their favorite falling in love songs, and here they are! Enjoy! And click here if you want to see it on Playlist.com!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on February 6, 2009 1:52 PM
You've met a lot of the Free People Girls here at the home office - well get ready to meet the Free People Guys! They are very sweet, and a bit camera-shy, but we managed to catch them just long enough to introduce them to you! Enjoy!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on February 6, 2009 10:25 AM
This cute little gal is a Jindo Dog! She is visiting the office today with one of our employees - she is going to be a gift for the employee's dad! I don't want to say who of course, since I don't want to ruin the surprise! Boy don't you just wish she was a surprise for you!?
Needless to say, being as cute as she is, she is very popular, and has made the rounds all around the building. Last I saw her she was as in the last picture - tuckered out after all the fun!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on February 4, 2009 4:03 PM
What is your job here at FP?
assistant in soft woven
What is your current state of mind?
fast + furiously designing
Who are your heroes?
Tina Fey (I love nerdy gone chic) + Kathy Griffin (grade A trash talking)
If you could choose what to come back to life as, what would you be?
the Obama daughters new puppy
What or who is your greatest love?
Titus Welliver in Deadwood (my sexy 19th century cowboy)
Name one thing necessary to your happiness.
paycheck advances + eating out with girlfriends
What do you hate the most?
"Debbie Downers"
What would the name of your band be and what genre? What instrument do you play in this band?
name: trans-fatty
genre:poppy
role: fly girls w/ occasional cowbell
What color are you?
purple
What is your motto?
"ya never know" ;)
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on February 2, 2009 1:56 PM
The new BLDG15 Threads is out today, and this month it's all about Home Office Style! We asked six different Home Office employees to go the racks and pick out a Free People outfit for spring, and to tell us a little bit about their own personal style! We made a really sweet little video of our endeavors, and got really inspired to keep making up fun outfits! To watch the video and get inspired yourself, head over to BLDG 15 Threads!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on January 29, 2009 5:04 PM
Shown above are a few Free People nail files and hair clips. Want us to send you a hair clip and nail file for free? We want to give some away! All you have to do is leave a comment on this post, and tell us, what is your favorite silhouette these days? Are you a fan of tight tops with baggy pants? Do you prefer a butt-hugging mini-skirt? Or how about big tops with little skinny pants? Tunics worn as dresses? You tell us! Tomorrow afternoon we will pick 3 comments at random - if one of the comments is yours, we'll send you a hair clip and a nail file!
Make sure to leave your email address when you comment, so that if your comment is picked, we can contact you!
Hooray!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on January 27, 2009 2:39 PM
Our graphic designers have created a new desktop wallpaper for you! I love how it hints at spring to come! The days are getting longer, after all! Click here to download it! I already have it set as my desktop background! :) Enjoy!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on January 26, 2009 5:13 PM
Give our newest playlist a spin! We think you'll really like it!
We are trying another playlist program, Playlist.com, and so far we really like it a lot! The playlists are for you though, so please tell us what you guys think!
Also, you should check out our Playlist.com profile. You can follow us and our playlists there, kind of like on Twitter!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on January 26, 2009 10:50 AM
What is your job here at FP?
assistant art director - which means doing a little of a lot... but a lot of video & a lot of listening.
What is your current state of mind?
contemplative. peaceful. hopeful.
Who are your heroes?
my mom & dad. underdogs... olivier dahan for making "la vie en rose."
If you could choose what to come back to life as, what would you be?
a suitcase, so i could travel the world for free. actually, i'd have to pay $15 now, huh? maybe i'd come back as a wolf.
What or who is your greatest love?
I ♥ my dog & cats. but my greatest ♥ is love itself.
Name one thing necessary to your happiness.
laughter.
What do you hate most?
i don't hate anything. maybe double-negatives... bad grammar... bad drivers... tarantulas...
What would the name of your band be and what genre? What instrument do you play in this band?
i've got several... though we never actually write songs or anything. i am usually the drummer in all, however.
What color are you?
today? very blue.
What is your motto? regret nothing.
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on January 23, 2009 1:19 PM
Hooray! This time on DogTALK, learn to make dog-friendly brownies with Jasmine, Kevin, and of course Brownie! Yummy! You and your doggies are sure to enjoy these delicious treats and this fun DogTALK!
Be sure to tune in next time!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on January 22, 2009 5:30 PM
Our office twins today are kind of an odd couple...
We had a little trouble getting Fritz to pose at first...
He kept looking longingly at Mom.
Ta da! Nicole and Fritz show off their matching coats, with many kisses in the process. Fritz is so sweet!
We had another set of dog/human twins a couple of months ago.
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on January 19, 2009 11:57 AM
As occasionally happens, we have a pair of unintentional twins at the home office today! Jasmine and Kristin came in wearing the same fun Free People top! Even sweeter, they are both Intimates Designers, and sit right across from one another! Cute!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on January 15, 2009 1:04 PM
Today we visit the desk of Katie, our Web Production Assistant! Among Katie's duties are helping organize web-shoots, hiring models, and selecting pictures to go up on our website! She also has some pretty fun stuff on her desk - I should know because I have the pleasure of being her desk neighbor! She is a very good neighbor, too!
This crazy cat came from an A.C. Moore craft store! T-shirt not included...
The bear in this picture just appeared on Katie's desk one day - she honestly has no idea where it came from! She tells us this: "I think the important things on my desk are my pictures and the little bottle of Tabasco sauce- I love Tabasco sauce, and I love small things!"
These are Katie's two kitties, Queenie on the left, and Ghost Hoagie on the right. She found Ghost Hoagie in a pizza box in an alley when he was a kitten! They live with Katie and a turtle named Bunson, some fish, sea-monkies, a worm farm, and two hamsters!
Katie found this picture on the street when she lived in San Francisco! Check out the back of the picture below.
These are a few more of Katie's treasured pictures - the top left picture is from when she lived in Vermont, the next one with the bridge is in San Francisco, and the bottom picture is from a beach in California. The wheels of the little cars spun in the wind!
Thanks for sharing your desk with us Katie!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on January 14, 2009 1:11 PM
Today we received something very exciting in the mail! It was a little pet-camera, which you can clip to your pet's collar so that you can see their view of the world! It takes a picture once a minute, and we had a blast today trying it out with Trixie, my chihuahua. She wore the camera for about an hour total and showed us the extremely large and low to the ground world of the chihuahua. Check out some of the pictures below!
Hehe! Next we plan to try the camera out on a larger doggy, we're not sure who yet though! I will post the results!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on January 12, 2009 5:11 PM
One of our mannequin heads was having a bit of a static-hair day...
Can you believe Pattra's shitake mushroom plant? When she first got it 4 days ago, it just looked like a loaf! I am amazed at how much it has grown in such a short time! Plus, shitake mushrooms are super delicious, and the plant should last 6 months! That's a lot of good eating!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on January 9, 2009 5:48 PM
Many cute and stylish pairs of shoes came in to work today! I wandered around and snapped a few pictures of them. Which ones do you like best? I think my favorites might be the spiky heeled boots at the very bottom.
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on January 9, 2009 4:19 PM
What is your job here at FP?
Visual Display Coordinator
What is your current state of mind?
optimistic
Who are your heroes?
frontiersmen, explorers, etc...
If you could choose what to come back to life as, what would you be?
recluse wild cat!
What or who is your greatest love?
Miranda (my cat when I was little)
Name one thing necessary to your happiness.
good books
What do you hate the most?
ego-centric greed and selfishness
What would the name of your band be and what genre? What instrument do you play in this band?
mellow country singer with tight leopard print jeans---> called TALONS
What color are you?
RED
What is your motto?
"One sure sign of a bear... is a group of nervous hogs."
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on January 5, 2009 2:15 PM
Remember a while back when we featured our blogger friend Rubyellen? She writes the fabulous blog Cakies, where she documents many things, in particular her extremely cute sewing machine creations! If you didn't see our post about her, you should check it out, and her blog too!
At any rate, yesterday we received a little package from Rubyellen - and to our delight, inside were a pair of pretty little felt flower hairclips, handmade by Rubyellen! There was one for myself, and one for Heather, our Direct Operations Manager! We love them so much! Here we are modeling our flowers...
Aren't they adorable? I just can't get over them! Thank you so much Rubyellen! The clips totally made our day!
Yay!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on December 31, 2008 5:27 PM
As the holidays are starting to draw to a close, people are trickling back into the office. So today, I asked around, what did you do over the holidays? Here's what a few people had to say!
Jessica: I shopped sales! I also got a massage! I played with my dog, saw old friends, and generally schmoozed!
Katie: Well, I had a cold, but I made curtains with my mom, which was fun!
Heather: I ended up driving about 1200 miles! I was finishing my big move from Columbus Ohio to here in Philly! I drove from here to Columbus, from Columbus to Indiana, then back to Columbus and back to Philly again! Whew! It's good to be through moving!
Lindsay: I went to Mass for the first time in years, with my boyfriend's family! Then I spent Christmas day with my mom and uncle! One of my favorite gifts I received this year was a silver necklace from my boyfriend, which I'm wearing right now!
Morgan: I spent the holidays in southern Indiana, and I ate a lot of great food that my mom cooked! Yum!
Luren: I went home to Texas and spent the whole time helping my dad with this painting experiment he's working on. He's trying to recreate Vermeer's optical painting tools, as well as his room. I spent a lot of time going around to thrift stores and trying to make old Dutch costumes, finding props and such. It was fun and interesting!
So what did you guys do over the holidays?
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on December 30, 2008 11:47 AM
Recently, Urban Outfitters Inc, which includes Free People and all our sister-brands, had a winter coat drive here at the home office. Aside from all the coats people brought in, we had a lot of coats laying around the office, seeing as we are an apparel company! In the end we turned in all our coats to the Boys and Girls Club of America here in Philadelphia.
Today, I noticed a bunch of cards posted up on the wall by our coffee shop. Upon closer inspection, I saw they were thank you notes from a bunch of the kids in the Boys and Girls Club! They cheered me so much! There is something about stuff made by kids - and the thank you notes are so awesome and cute! I had to share...
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on December 18, 2008 3:24 PM
I couldn't resist sharing this adorable picture of baby Ruby with you! Ruby's mother is Julie, our Email Support Supervisor at our customer service center in South Carolina. Ruby just turned 3 months old on Tuesday, and is all dressed up for the holidays! So cute!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on December 18, 2008 1:27 PM
Today we visit the interesting desk of Lizzy, our senior graphic designer! The awesome book about the Fauves was a gift from Lizzy's boss, Carrie.
Lizzy loves kitties, so they are very prominent in her desk decor. The girl in the picture with Elvis is Lizzy's friend! They went to Memphis together and got an E-Cam, or Elvis Camera! Elvis is already on the film so all the pictures you take have Elvis in them with you!
On this little shelf is Lizzy's favorite item on her desk - a teeny snowglobe with a (plastic) beetle in it! It even lights up! As for me, I'm partial to the doll dress.
Though most of us think the kitty in the corner is a little scary, Lizzy loves him! She tells me he is very happy, and is therefore screeching with joy!
Thanks for sharing Lizzy!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on December 17, 2008 11:41 AM
I couldn't resist sharing this photo of our "pet wall" with you! One of our accessories designers got the idea to put pictures of all the pets belonging to girls in the accessories room up on the wall in the hallway, and soon it spread to include pictures of everyone's pets! It's especially fun to see pictures of everyone's kitties, since they don't get to come to work like the doggies do!
You might remember when we put up our FP Community Tree a while back. It includes a picture of each FP home office employee. Recently, it got updated for the holidays, and it now has a picture of each FP home office employee as a child! It is so much fun to see how everyone looked as a little one!
Our lobby has recently been updated for more holiday fun too! I am crazy about all the hanging lights and garlands! They are such eye-candy- our Visual Display Team did a great job! (Thank you!)
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on December 15, 2008 5:20 PM
At the start of the season, Free People and Urban Outfitters donated a bunch of hats, mittens, and scarves to Georgetown University Hospital Department of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology and to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. We received really sweet thank you notes from both hospitals. Georgetown shared a story with us that made us so happy!
On Halloween the clinic hosted a party and provided costumes for all the kids to wear. A fifteen-year-old girl with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia wanted to particpate, but wasn't comfortable with any of the costumes. She picked out one of our hat and scarf sets that was bright purple with sequins and wore this during the party. She said she felt like a fashion model!
What is your job here at FP?
Designer for We The Free Knit & FP Pants
What is your current state of mind?
Contemplative... as I answer these questions. In general, future-oriented, optimistic and a tad bit scattered.
Who are your heroes?
I can't say that I have any conventional heroes. I think I take most inspiration from friends and family members who are challenging themselves and me to think deeper and act with greater conviction.
If you could choose what to come back to life as, what would you be?
A second-wave feminist? I would have to participate in both reincarnation and time travel. Powerful!
Who or what is your greatest love?
That's too personal for the blog.
Name one thing necessary to your happiness.
Change.
What do you hate most?
When people eat greasy food on the bus.
What would the name of your band be and what genre? What instrument do you play in the band?
My friend and I have been planning to start a video band called Crimes of the Heart. I might play my flute at key moments during the video performances, but mostly we would just try to have fun while tapping into some melancholic experience.
What color are you?
Indigo
What is your motto?
Fake it 'til you make it!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on December 10, 2008 12:16 PM
This coming Monday, December 8th through Wednesday, December 10th, Urban Outfitters Incorporated (that's us!) will be hosting a special holiday sale, featuring artwork, handmade crafts, jewelry, and all sorts of other goodies! The sale will showcase the work of numerous different artists and have something for everyone! It will definitely be worth checking out!
The sale will take place in Building 543 from 11am to 3pm each day, and while you're there you can stop and get lunch at Shop 543, which is where many of us get our lunch each day while we're at work! It has a really pretty view of the Delaware River too!
Below are a couple of pictures of work by artists who will have work in the sale! To see a list of more (but not all) of the artists who will have work in the sale, check out this page. It also has a map to help you get down to the Navy Yard!
We have a new feature on our website that we are really excited to share with you - the Home Office Wishlist! Everyone at the home office has reviewed some of their favorite FP items, ones they would like to give and ones they would like to receive! We have collected them all onto one place on our site, so now you can shop our favorites with ease! Plus, nearly all the products on the list have been reviewed by both customers and Free People employees! Click here to check it out!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on December 3, 2008 4:59 PM
In preparation for Thanksgiving tomorrow, we passed around a couple sheets of paper and drew or wrote down what we are thankful for, just for fun! The papers ended up looking really cool, and it was neat to see what everyone put!
What are you thankful for?
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on November 26, 2008 2:23 PM
What is your job here at FP?
web producer/nerd/sarcastic jerk
What is your current state of mind?
I sort of feel like crawling under a rock today, but also I'm excited about Thanksgiving.
Who are your heroes?
Conan O'Brian. Bob Dylan. I know I have plenty, but my mind is blanking.
If you could choose what to come back to life as, what would you be?
I might be a hawk, so I could fly but not be afraid of being eaten. Or maybe a gibbon. So I could sing all day and swing through the trees.
What or who is your greatest love?
My mom.
Name one thing necessary to your happiness.
Animals, hugs, pizza - oh crap, that's 3 things - oh, and laughing, sleeping... I need a lot of things.
What do you hate the most?
People who are unable to see the world though other people's eyes. Also, people on cellphones.
What would the name of your band be and what genre? What instrument do you play in this band?
"expired medicine" - I don't remember why, but I remember deciding that. I'd play the drums, even though I don't know how to play...
What color are you?
Green.
What is your motto?
It might sound hackneyed, but really I believe deeply in The Golden Rule. Although "Get Over It" is a close second.
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on November 25, 2008 3:29 PM
I was starting to wonder when the first real snow would ever get to Philly, and this morning, it was here! It even stuck a little bit, as you can see here on our dog yard!
Below is some snow falling on the mighty Delaware River. Very pretty!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on November 21, 2008 11:31 AM
One of our designers just got home from Hong Kong, and with her came these incredible shoes! She got them at a store there called IT, and said she noticed that "teddy-bear fur" like this is popping up on all kinds of clothing over there! You can bet all of us at the office are just dying to get a pair of furry sneakers like hers- they look so cool and fun!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on November 19, 2008 12:52 PM
Aren't these masks so fun?! One of our designers just got back from the Netherlands, and she brought home enough masks for the knits team and the image team! A lot of the masks are reproductions of old Victorian-era masks. What awesome little gifts!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on November 11, 2008 3:41 PM
A little late for Halloween posts, but we left our cameras at home!
The whole buying team and some of Free People Direct dressed up as coke cans on Halloween! One of the buyers made all of the red tube dresses and everyone stenciled their own, added their own Americana accessories (denim jackets and Converse) and wore can tabs on chains around their necks.
The Gallery at 543 will be exhibiting Robert's painting for another two weeks, so please feel free to come down to the Philadelphia Naval Yard (at the south end of Broad Street) and see it for yourself!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on November 5, 2008 2:10 PM
Today Philadelphia is having a huge party to celebrate the Phillies winning the World Series, which started earlier today with an extremely long parade beginning at the square and going south down Broad Street to the stadiums. I was lucky enough to have the chance to watch the parade, and the amount of people who participated was absolutely astounding. As the parade passed people, they would just join in, and it became a huge mass of people walking to the stadiums. It was one of the coolest things I've seen!
Here comes the beginning of the huge crowd!
They're here!
This went on for hours. Just amazing! It's a day for parades!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on October 31, 2008 3:42 PM
Happy Halloween! I hope everyone has a fun way to celebrate and have a big hurrah before winter arrives!
Here at the home office, we are happily enjoying a number of festivities, including an adorable doggy costume parade thrown by our sister brand, Anthropologie! I went over and had a look, and there were so many cute little costumes! I snapped a few pictures; check them out!
Here comes the parade, led by a cute lobster and a football star!
A cute little bat!
Detective Pug is looking for clues...
Meanwhile Hula Dancer Pug gets ready to dance!
Here we have a great big bumble bee!
...And a little tiny bumble bee!
Last but not least, my personal favorite doggy costume, the Phillies Phanatic! So cute!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on October 31, 2008 11:47 AM
Meet Porter! He is the doggy of our Web Production Manager, Kate, and a very popular guy around the office!
Name: Porter
Nicknames: Porter Pie, Porter Pup, Puppy Love, Porty, Little Dog, Little Man, Al Jowlson, The Most Tragic Dog in the World, Mister Dog
Breed: Lab with a smidge of either pointer, border collie, or something spotted
Likes: Every dog he sees, chasing his feline roommate Franny, stretching after a nap, making his mom feel guilty with that sad puppy face, grandma & granpa's house, sleeping in bed with his humans, carrying and eating sticks
Dislikes: Walking past the dog park without actually going in, going somewhere he doesn't want to, watching his mom walk away, having to be inside the office and not out with his buddies in the play yard
Favorite friends:Agnes the dog, Guaya the dog, his ladies at work, Casey the person, his grandpa Ken
How did you meet? We've wanted a dog forever and after buying a house we finally had the space we needed. We met Porter on the first official day of our search and went back to the shelter three times that week to make sure he was really "the one." The minute we got him home I felt 100% certain he was.
Anything else you want to share? Although I haven't quite figured out how to live my normal life with a dog around, he really is such a good little boy. Everyone tells me they can't believe how calm he is, and he's so sweet with everyone - kids, elderly people, tiny dogs, everyone! Sometimes it's really hard to resist the temptation to just cuddle him all day, I just love him so much!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on October 30, 2008 10:39 AM
Check out this fun horsey that showed up outside of Building 543 today! He is so festive and perfect for the season! The horse was bought at a charity pumpkin auction!
Those googly eyes crack me up!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on October 29, 2008 5:13 PM
Meet Alissa, one of our Assistant Wovens Designers! I wandered over to her desk today, and was thoroughly entertained by all the cool stuff she has there!
The little matchbox with the "3" on it says "Fosforus" across the top. I don't know why, but I think that is neat! :)
One the left of the nail polishes is a little tiny cake! It's so cute! It was a birthday gift to Alissa from another of our Wovens girls, Pattra! Alissa also really loves the envelope in the back because it was made for her by her boyfriend.
Do you see the cute little birdies sitting along the top edge of her desk?! So cute!!
The woodcarving was made by Alissa and her boyfriend.
These are crazy computer speakers! I love them! They were a gift from her mother.
You might recognize the picture in the middle from our Halloween video- it's Alissa and her little brother dressed up for Halloween!
Hooray! Thanks for sharing Alissa!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on October 28, 2008 1:00 PM
As many of you may already know, the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team has gone to the World Series! They have now won four games, and need only one more win to be the World Series champions! Tonight, they play at home here in Philadelphia, and tonight could be the night! Excitement is at a fever pitch, and everyone around the home office has been showing off their Phillies spirit! They all look really cute too!
Yes, that is her ticket to the game tonight! She is one lucky girl! Go Phightin' Phils!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on October 27, 2008 12:20 PM
As you might have noticed, we are really getting in the mood for the Halloween Season here at Free People! It's so much fun!
We went around the home office and asked people to tell us about their most memorable Halloweens. There were so many cute and hilarious stories - have a look at our video and see for yourself!
Don't forget to check out our latest B15 Threads as well! Luren from our Visual Display Team shows us how to make the cutest tutus!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on October 24, 2008 1:41 PM
I went around the office today and asked "What is your favorite song right now?"
Here are the answers I got, with links to Youtube or Myspace where you can hear the song. I learned about a lot of artists I had never heard before, as well as re-listening to some old favorites!
It's getting very autumnal outside, and here at the home office, that means it's time to paint pumpkins! People from all the brands got together this afternoon and painted pumpkins which will be auctioned off to raise money for the Children’s Scholarship Fund of Philadelphia. The fund provides tuition assistance to help Philadelphia children, in K- 8th grades gain access to safe, high quality schools. We had such a blast painting pumpkins! Some of them turned out to be real works of art!
Yay autumn!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on October 20, 2008 4:13 PM
Today at the home office we had our booking meeting, and to go along with the trends we were featuring, we got some adorable (and very tasty) mushroom-shaped cookies!
Looks like everyone enjoyed them very much!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on October 2, 2008 2:11 PM
Anna works at the front desk in our wholesale showroom in New York. She takes care of all the details, and likes to add her own special handtouch to everything that she does.
When our wholesale buyers come in, we always offer them a beverage. Anna made these Free People labels to make the water bottles a little more special!
Meet Brownie! Brownie is the dog of one of our Intimates designers, Jasmine! We just adore Brownie, and he comes to work every day!
Nicknames: Brown-town, Buddy, Charlie Brown, Brown-eye
Breed: Boston Terrier
Likes: EVERYONE!!! Playing fetch with his little tennis ball, he keeps going and going and going...he's like the energizer bunny, runs like a bunny too. A soft and cushy bed for him to stretch out on. Carrot sticks. Sunbathing, he's from California. ;)
Dislikes: Loud vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers. People ignoring him.
How did you meet? He was a birthday present. Needless to say, one of most special birthday presents ever. Flew to Philly all the way from California and I went to go meet him at the airport. He was the cutest thing I ever saw! He introduced himself by going potty in my car.
Anything else you want to share?
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on September 30, 2008 10:08 AM
To my delight, last night there appeared this little camper in our lobby! It was created by our display team to go along with our current outdoorsy-themed trends. The frame is made out of bamboo, and they enlisted the help of a local girl out of West Philly to create it! The binding for the joints of the frame is made from old bicycle tires! Other than the frame, everything else on or in the camper is made from paper or cardboard! It's incredible, and totally adorable! It makes me want to climb right in.... :)
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on September 17, 2008 12:27 PM
Lately around the home office I've been noticing a new trend - everyone's wearing menswear lately! It looks really great, and people are wearing it a number of different ways - check it out! (On the far left in the first picture is our other lovable blogger, fpgirl!)
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on September 16, 2008 10:15 AM
The latest edition of BLDG15 Threads is here!
Lately at Free People, we have been really into braids - you might have noticed them on many of our models!
In our latest BLDG15 Threads, we show you (with the help of our hairstylist) how to make three different types of braids - a knot braid, fishtail, and twist-rope braid!
Check out this video below, in which our hairstylist makes a fishtail braid on one of our models while showing us how! You can find a video for the knot braid on BLDG15 Threads, as well as step-by-step instructions and drawings for each braid. Be sure to have a look!
Just for fun, here are a few shots of some girls around the office today, sporting their braids!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on August 29, 2008 10:38 AM
This morning I wandered into the Display Team's room, and found them working on this sweet little project!
Turns out they are thinking of creating big rugs to hang on the walls in the stores. (Which would be awesome.)
So today they have been creating lots of little mini-rugs, to try out different techniques and see what looks best and allows for the most detail.
They are so cute! Next time I wander into that room, you can bet I'm going to be asking for rug-making lessons... ;)
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on August 25, 2008 11:05 AM
Free People dogs, Porter and Agnes, are shown above enjoying the shade at the Employee Appreciation party last week! You may remember Agnes (right) from when she was featured in a Free People doggy profile a while back. She and Porter were tied to a tree together at the party and they just loved it! They are best friends!
I also really wanted to show you this awesome cake that Magnolia Bakery in New York City made for our catalog shoot last week! It was so cute, I couldn't resist sharing!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on August 24, 2008 5:13 PM
As I'm sure you all recall, currently Carrie and Doub's eagle is on display here in Building 543, which is where our cafeteria, gallery, and mailroom are, among other things. With the eagle they also put up a very long blank wall, where everyone has been invited to write their thoughts, on the eagle or anything else. After almost two weeks, the wall has really developed into something fun! It's almost like Urban Outfitters Incorporated's huge bathroom wall - in the best possible sense!
I am really intrigued by all the crazy things people have written and drawn on this wall, and I've taken quite a few pictures of it!
If you are in the Philadelphia area, come down to the Naval Yard, Building 543, and check out the incredible eagle and write on his graffiti wall!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on August 14, 2008 12:48 PM
Please tell us about your job.
I am the Store Manager at store the Suburban Square store in Ardmore, PA. I love the atmosphere. I work with the most amazing group of girls and have met some of my closest friends through FP. I love styling up our customers! It’s a great feeling knowing you helped a person find that perfect outfit they are going to look and feel awesome in!!!
What do you like best about working for FP?
Kickin it with my girls in my heady little store! :)
What do you like to do when you're not at work?
I do a lot of Yoga. Spend time with family and friends. Go out to different little restaurants around the city. When I can get a few days, I love taking road trips to go see live music and dance the night away! :)
Please tell us about some of your favorite things!
I love the small boutiques around Philly; my favorite is a small conscious clothing boutique in Queen Village called Revelations. They carry some great brands, super cute and comfy, and the people that work there are really chill. And they carry Free People!!!
I'd have to say my favorite movie is Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken. It's about a girl who runs away to follow her dream to be a horse diver. She overcomes all the hardships life decides to throw at her. Really it’s just a heartfelt good old-fashioned movie that I used to watch as a little girl, because I was obsessed with horses. I recently re-discovered it and it’s just as good as I remembered!!!
Oh and of course Almost Famous…gotta love it!!!
I love Colorado!!! I was born and have family out there. I love to visit, but I never seem to get out there enough. It is such a beautiful state- fresh air, mountains, trees, hiking and SNOWBOARDING!!!! I love to snowboard! The best feeling is standing on top of the Rockies, taking in a big breath of fresh mountain air, looking down at an untouched run of powder you’re about to shred…. and then shredding it!!!
I love discovering new music!!! I actually get a lot from our store mixes. Like I said above, I love going to live shows. I have met so many amazing people going to see music throughout the years, and I love to go to visit them whenever a favorite band is playing in their area!
My favorites to see live are The Disco Biscuits, Brothers Past, Lotus, Sound Tribe, The New Deal… really anyone who can make me dance.
I love everything though, from Madonna, Erykah Badu, Zap Mamma, The Blow, Brazilian Girls, Feist, Laurnen Hill… To old school rap like A Tribe Called Quest, Fugees, Outcast, Gangstarr, Bone, TuPac, Biggie, Jay-Z, Snoop. Classic hippie stuff like The Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, the Doors (I have the same birthday as Jim Morrison!) I'm really into down tempo electronic stuff like Kruder and Dorfmeister, Theviory Corporation, Shpongle, The Bays, Air, Bonobo, Explosions In The Sky. Also some Indie bands, Postal Service, Hot Chip, LCD Soundsystem, Of Montreal, Architecture in Helsinki. Of course reggae, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Easy Star Allstars, Matisyahu, Dub Specialist, Israel Vibrations... I could go on and on but you get the idea... I'm obsessed with music!!!
What did you want to be when you were a kid?
I just wanted to be able to ride horses all day, every day. Now it’s evolved into riding horses and doing yoga!!!
What inspires you?
More like who...My dad!!! He is the most caring, funny, intelligent, supportive, kind hearted, hard working, understanding, genuine, and just AMAZING guy ever... he inspires, motivates and supports me! I just hope one day I can be as much to someone as he is to me.
Is there a current trend you wish would go away?
What isn’t right for one person may be perfect for someone else! If you love it rock it!!! Who cares what anyone else thinks! :)
Is there a current trend you wish would stay forever?
Tie-dye will never die!!!
What superpower would you most like to have?
Funny you should ask, because we were just discussing who everyone in our store would be if we were to be super heroes. Then my MIT Jamie drew me a little character... check it out!!!
What do you like best about where you live?
I just moved into an amazing little apartment in an up-and-coming area in Philadelphia- Fishtown. I love coming home at the end of a night, sitting on my couch, looking out the window at the skyline or up at the stars through my skylight, listening to some chill music, eating dove chocolate caramels… just taking a little time to myself. :)
What are some of your favorite places to hang out?
The farmer's market is my favorite place to go on my break. It's right up the block from the store and you can get anything from fresh produce to pastries to Chinese and sushi, coffee, candy, these little hotdogs wrapped in pretzels, a.k.a. smokey cheesers... a store favorite (among the non-vegetarians) along with the chocolate covered strawberries. (vegetarian friendly) :)
Have you any favorite places to travel?
I studied at the London College of Fashion for a semester back in school and loved it! I traveled to Paris, Ireland, Rome, and Amsterdam. It was amazing. If could travel anywhere though, I would have to say the moon... I would love to see the world from up there. It would certainly put into perspective how insignificant we are in the whole grand scheme of things. Just thinking about it makes me appreciate how beautiful life is and how lucky we are... also floating around weightless would be saweeeeet!!!!
We heard that you really love Yoga! Tell us more!
What type of yoga do you practice?
I do Bikram Yoga. It’s a type of Hatha Yoga, a series of 26 postures including 2 breathing exercises, over the span of 90 minutes, in a room heated from 90-105 degrees. It’s amazing, unlike any other type of exercise. You leave feeling more energetic, confident, positive, motivated and with more strength to deal with anything your day decides to throw at you.
Where do you practice?
I practice at Bikram’s Yoga College of India, located at 1520 Sansom St in Center City Philadelphia. It’s an amazing studio with caring, dedicated, motivating instructors and students!!! If you can, check it out! It's only $20 for your first week and you can go as many times as you want!!!
What is your favorite yoga position?
It’s so hard to pick a favorite- I love them all for different reasons. If I had to choose one I would say Dandayamana-Dhanurasana, or Standing Bow Pulling Pose. It’s a lot of fun once you get your balance and start kicking your foot higher then you ever imagined you could. It’s extremely challenging to keep your balance while focusing on staying in alignment, deepening into the posture and holding it for a minute. It’s really an inner struggle with your mind, telling yourself you can do it and not getting too frustrated when you fall out. In this practice you constantly want to push your edge- it helps develop concentration, patience, and determination while firming the abs, upper thighs, upper arms, hips and buttocks. It also increases the size and elasticity of the rib cage and lungs and improves the flexibility and strength of the lower spine and most of the body’s muscles.
Another favorite is The Toe Stand. I won’t go into as much detail, but basically I like the mental challenge of the balancing series. It has taught me to accept where I am in my practice and in life. Some days you can balance all day long others hardly for a second. Accepting that, letting it go and giving it another shot tomorrow is when you’re really doing yoga/living.
What position kicks your butt?
OMG! Tuladandasana or Balancing Stick has been kicking my butt lately. It may not look like much but to do it right is ridiculously difficult. There are so many things to be concentrating on all at once. Standing on one leg while trying to get the stretch where you know you should be. Look forward, chin up, hip down, point your toe, heel out, reach your arms, and squeeze your palms. It seems once you get one aspect you loose another so this is definitely my personal posture of perseverance, for now. It strengthens the heart muscles and gets your heart rate going!!!
Trikanasana, triangle pose, is what’s up in the butt-kicking poses!!! Straight from Bikram’s Beginning Yoga Class book “the only posture in the world that improves every muscle, joint, tendon, and internal organ in the body. At the same time, it revitalizes nerves, veins, and tissues. It helps cure lumbago and rheumatism of the lower spine by flexing and strengthening the last five vertebrae, and it improves crooked spines. This is the most important pose to increase the strength and flexibility of the hip joint and of the muscles of the side of the torso. It also firms upper thighs and hips, slims the waistline, and improves the deltoids, trapezius, scapula, and latissimus muscles.” Basically, it’s awesome!!!
What are the benefits of your yoga practice?
The benefits of Bikram’s Yoga are tremendous!!! Each and every pose is scientifically thought out and strategically placed within the series to improve your entire body inside and out, fingertips to toes, bones to skin, mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Get a copy of Bikram’s Beginning Yoga Class by Bikram Choudhury for a guide through every pose, all their specific benefits and personal stories from Bikram and his students if you want the complete rundown.
Have you any advice for someone who is interested in yoga but has never tried it before?
My only advice is to do it!!! As one of my favorite instructors puts it, “We have a great deal going on right now. If you practice 5-6 days a week it will change your life!”
Oh, and remember to breathe! :)
Well that’s it. I hope you enjoyed my profile. Let me know if you have any music suggestions, snowboarding spots, decent restaurants, shops, or anything at all you think I might enjoy now that you know me a little. It’s been real!
Namaste.
Dislikes: christmas bells, doorbells (any bells actually), walks in the rain, being yanked away from free food on the sidewalk, the slow drive out to the park (too slow!), any talk of being neutered.
Favorite friends: Sadie (his sister three blocks away in downtown Philly), Maverick (a buddy from the dog park), and any FP office dogs, especially Indie! Also his new cousin Nook, a white retriever puppy (Nook is short for Nanook, which is Inuit for polar bear…he’s Canadian). Also his cousins black lab Banyon and Maple.
He’s also best friends with his sister Adelaide, a six month old human of the feminine variety. Addie’s instinctual response to Barley anytime he gets near is to close her eyes and pull her head back in defense against a big sloppy kiss.
How did you meet: Barley and his Dad met at the breeder’s house, north of Trenton in New Jersey. There were 3 available males in his litter, and he was chosen because he was the biggest and had the most dark yellow in his coat. Barley and his Mom met at the airport later that same day, she was flying home from vacation and was SO surprised to find a scared little puppy waiting for her at the international terminal at PHL.
Anything else you want to share: Barley’s sole purpose in life is to eat. Thankfully, he has never been put in this position, but if he were ever to find himself confronted by an unlimited supply of food, we’re confident he would eat until he could no longer stand up. His most terrifying moment came when his parents thought he swallowed a baby shoe. Turns out he didn’t, but we didn’t realize it until the surgeon didn’t find anything inside. He healed well and was swimming 3 days later, against doctor’s orders. He’s doesn’t care much for authority figures, except his parents when he knows he shouldn’t chew on the rug.
He’s an avid swimmer and has perfected the running leap into swimming pools.
Our latest employee profile features one of our favorite models, Jenny! Frequently Jenny is seen gracing the pages of our catalogs, as well as modeling many, many items on our website! She is a total delight, and so charming! Below, find Jenny's video interview, complete with a quick introduction by Lindsay, one of our photographers, who tells us why she loves working with Jenny!
Many of you may remember Indie from this doggy profile we did of him a while back. Since then, Indie has started a successful modeling career! He now models for a doggy party supply company! The pictures are so cute and hilarious, we had to share them!
There have been a couple of requests to show more pictures of the home office and all pretty things here- well, this may be surprising, or even kind of strange, but these photos are from the Free People home office's restrooms! That is something I really love about working at Free People, that there are so many beautiful and inspring things all around. Even in the restrooms!
I love the paper butterflies, but I am especially impressed with the fancy cloth patchwork flowers. Fantastic!
Meet Ida. Ida belongs to Lily, who is the assistant designer for color and print. This means that Lily and Ida design prints for all Free People clothing and help pick out colors.
Name: Ida
Nickname: Idey-widey
Breed: Boston Terrier and Poodle mix
Likes: fetch, treats, showers, long walks in the woods, and cuddling
Dislikes: Solitude, boredom
Favorite friends: Boys, especially the staff of the mail room.
How did you meet Ida?
Ida was born in a trailer with turkeys living in the yard. I saw an add in the paper on Christmas Eve 2005 and we've been together ever since.
Our Senior Stylist and our Senior Graphic Designer went on a trip to Maine last week, and to our delight and amusement, they brought back a bunch of lobster hats!
Above are a couple pictures of us enjoying our hats! It made the morning a touch more fun and unusual!
Meet Agnes! She is the dog of one of our stylists, Lauren, and she has the pleasure of coming to work almost every day!
Name: Agnes
Nicknames: Wagnes, Waggles, Waggers, Angus, Aggy
Breed: Your guess is as good as mine!
Likes: Everyone in the whole world (not the best watch dog), being dragged on her back down the halls in our building, and skateboards.
Dislikes: Not much aside from being ignored.
Favorite friends: Her two boyfriends: Charlie (the golden retriever puppy from Urban) and Porter (the pointer puppy from Free People), Indy, Brownie, Pilgrim, Mackenzie, Lizzy, Pruitt, Erin and Elsa
How did you meet? My boyfriend and I were at the gym one night, and the SPCA was having an adoption event in the lobby. Agnes and another puppy were chasing each other around (they were both twelve weeks old) and we decided to adopt her. The following evening, we drove to the SPCA to pick her up, we didn't even have a leash! When we brought her back to our apt, she ran in circles for about 2 hours, it was amazing.
Anything else you want to share? If you are thinking about getting a dog…adopt one! There are so many wonderful puppies who need homes.
These cool scenes are from Terrain's first store! Terrain is a sister brand of Free People, as they are both affiliated with Urban Outfitters Inc.
Terrain features a lot of the things a garden nursery would feature, like an array of plants, flowers and trees, and landscaping services. It also has some stunning and eclectic furniture and decorations for the home. Besides all that you can find some really incredible skincare products and even books at Terrain!
The store is located in Glen Mills, PA, a town outside of Philadelphia. This weekend they are having a fun container gardening event, on Saturday at 10am and again at 2pm! Check them out if you are in the area!
Please tell us about your job and duties:
I work on the Free People website, updating it with new product. I also work with the images on the site, and copy on the product pages.
How long have you worked for Free People?
I started March 2008, 3 months.
What do you like best about working for Free People?
I love working with the great merchandise! It is exciting to see what is going to come out next and fun being at a company that has unique products. Also all the great people I get to work with!
Your favorite current Free People item?
The Crosshatch Printed Dress! It is so cute for summer and the print is really eye catching! It is a good piece to layer in creative ways as well.
Do you have a pet?
Yes! I have a cat named Rosie. She is looks like a tiger and has grey and black stripes. She is very fun and has lots of attitude! Some of her favorite things are cheese, hanging out in the bathtub and looking at birds out the window.
What inspires you?
I think traveling and being outdoors are some of the most inspiring things. Traveling always opens my mind to new things and different kinds of people. I love being outside too, enjoying a nice day and watching thunderstorms in the summer time.
What do you enjoy doing when you're not at work?
I like going to yoga and cooking. I love watching the Food Network and the Discovery Channel. I go to concerts as much as I can, and spending time with my friends going to the beach or on trips. I also really love going shopping!
Have you a favorite artist?
I don’t know if I have a favorite but I really love art in general. My favorite kinds are contemporary and modern art.
Is there a current trend you wish would go away?
Well, I’m not sure if this is a trend, but I really hate Crocs. They can be cute on little kids but besides that I think they are awful!
Is there a current trend you wish would stay forever?
Right now I really like wearing summer scarves, which is something I haven’t done much in the past. I also love longer length tops and tunics over skinny jeans. I think dark wash jeans are great too because they are so flattering!
What are your favorite books? Movies? Websites? Music?
My favorite books are 1984 and A Place Called Freedom by Ken Follett.
Right now I am reading The Time Traveler’s Wife, which is really interesting so far.
Movies I have always loved are Empire Records and Spaceballs, which always makes me laugh no matter how many times I have seen it.
I also love gossip websites, like People.com and celebrity gossip blogs.
The music I have been listening to right now includes the new Coldplay album Viva la Vida, and the new Weezer too!
Where did you grow up? Love it or hate it?
I grew up in Verona, New Jersey, which is in North Jersey. It is a suburb of New York and a very small town. I love it there, but I am happier to be living in Philly on my own! Though I do like going home to spend time with my family and friends.
What did you want to be as a child?
I actually wanted to be an author! I would write stories in 4th grade that were a few pages long, and think about when I would grow up and write big novels. The funny thing is I was the worst speller in the class!
What superpower would you most like to have?
Well, sometimes I wish I could read people's minds but that could also be a really bad thing! So I would have to say being able to teleport where ever I wanted to go; it would make traveling a lot easier!
Where are your favorite places to hang out?
I like going to New Deck Tavern with my friends because it is a ten minute walk away and they have the best cheese fries! Also, The Bubble House is near there, and I like getting bubble tea and going for lunch. There is also a café down the street from my apartment called the Green Line Café and I love to go there on the weekends for iced coffees!
Lastly, here's a picture of Rosie to brighten your day!
You may recall these from a post I did a couple of weeks ago:
They were on the wall in the Free People Home Office lobby, and I really enjoyed them and how they looked.
But today when I came into work, there was something new and equally cool in the lobby!
Wow! I couldn't wait to share these sequined floral canvases with you.
What is your favorite type of music?
Anything rap!
Have you anything else to add?
This was fun! Thank you!
Here is a picture of my daughter Makenzie (left) and her cousin Madeline- Future Free People girls, shopping in our Arlington store!
I confess, I am somewhat hesitant to post the following video, for a few reasons. It's not the highest quality video we've taken here at Free People, and also, I don't want to be too self-promoting. However, I have had much encouragement from everyone at the home office to post it up, as everyone here finds it pretty hilarious - and it is kind of funny...
So here it is, me, very nervously getting myself ready for my interview at Free People trying to get the internship I have now. Cutting up one of the shirts I made and putting some finishing touches on it is my big sister Doub.
Georgie is the dog of Doub, who is the Senior Designer for knits and pants and the Creative Director.
Name: Georgie
Nicknames: gorgeous georges, georgie georgie puddin in pie
Breed: frenchie
Likes: to secretly go to web shoot shh! don't tell anyone
Dislikes: the rule about no dogs at web shoots
Favorite friends: Stella her big sis of course and the web team
How did you meet? we met on the internet
Anything else you want to share? georgie likes to do imitations of Yoda. She is very talented and is considering a voiceover career since her web shoot modeling career ended quite abruptly.
"I went home to north Jersey and visited with my parents. I had lots of fun planting flowers outside the house I grew up in, impatiens and begonias!"
"We took a tour of the Philadelphia Magic Gardens, and we were so amazed! We’ve never had the chance to go inside and now we want to live there! After that we went to the Jamaican Jerk Hut for dinner as well as to see a cool local band called Wareika Hill that was playing there. We sat on a blanket out in the yard that the restaurant owns! The food was great and so was the music! We had a blast!"
I threw a barbeque for my friends at my place on Sunday, and then on Monday went to a barbeque at my parents in Stockton, NJ! We swam, played pingpong and played bocce!"
"I found three tiny abandoned and hungry baby kittens in an alleyway by my house! I took them to my friends house and now we are each the proud owners of one!"
"Twice a summer a group of about 20 of my friends and myself meet up in the Glades area of the south shore of Massachusetts to hang out and reunite. One of those meetings for this summer was this weekend! We had a bonfire, collected mussels, played board games, flew kites, played bocce, jumped off rocks, and basically had a good old time. Here are a couple pictures of us, one jumping off rocks and another playing bocce!"
"We also got to stay in the house where the old David Hasselhoff movie ”Witchery” was filmed, so we watched the movie, in the house where it was filmed! Random and cool!"
"I had a romantic picnic with my husband and our doggy! Other than that I spent the weekend making a craft workshop room in my house! It was a lot of work cleaning, organising things, and putting furniture together, but now I can't wait to start crafting!"
"I worked on my new house all weekend! We took down an entire wall, and exposed the brick in another wall!"
A sweet young lady who chose not to be pictured had this to add:
"My cousin graduated from Brown this weekend, so I went to Providence, RI and ate and ate and ate to celebrate! I got mussels and Belgian fries at Red Stripe Restaurant, and they were fantastic! I also had some sensational crabcakes at 3 Steeple Street Restaurant! I would recommend either place to anyone visiting Providence!"
*How long have you worked at Free People? A year and a half
*Tell me about your job: I work on the FP knits team, designing for alternating seasons (Holiday, Spring, Summer 2/ Fall1). I get to sketch and design things for each trend, select fabrics and work with our color team to chose prints for each style. And then we travel to our overseas vendors to check up on the product and help them out.
*What do you like best about working at FP? I love the people I work with! I love having creative freedom, and the ability to design things that are unique and hand crafted. When we get to see our styles for the first time before we show them to the sales team, it's like Christmas. Everyone gets so excited opening the boxes, and looking at the product that we've all worked so hard on.
*Favorite current FP item? I love the Seashore Dropwaist Tank in white because it's great to wear with jeans, and it's a cute stripe which is always fun if you just want something to throw on.. and you can layer it or wear a cute belt. OH And I LOVE the Chubby Change Purses!! They are so tiny and cute and fabulous.
*What do you do when not at work? I hang out with my son Asher, go thrift shopping, sew stuff, bake pies, watch movies in the winter, go camping in the summer, shop ebay like an addict
*Top 5 favorite things (books, movies, websites, music, artists etc)? WOW i have a ton! I just finished the last Harry Potter book - it might be nerdy but I love them! I have also read Watership Down a thousand times, I like the Steven King Gunslinger books and any sort of biography/ autobiography. Some good movies are Moulin Rouge, Footloose, and Urban Cowboy. I heart art by Elizabeth McGrath and Audrey Kawasaki.
*What did you want to me when you were a kid? I wanted to be a ballerina until I was 12, and then I wanted to be a veterinarian until I did a job shadow and realized it wasn't for me.
One of the many benefits of working in an office like Free People's is that a lot of the supplies are fun, crafty and beautiful. Piles of scrap material and an array of yarns take on a beauty all their own. There is just so much to look at and admire! I can't help but feel really inspired just by having them around.
The yarns shown above are lined across the top of the walls that form the hallway...
Roger belongs to Megan, FreePeople.com’s web marketing person. Roger and Megan work on all kinds of fun stuff, like our bi-weekly emails, FP’s myspace and facebook pages, customer surveys, search keywords etc.
Name- Roger
Nickname- Rodge, Roger Duchamp, Professor Pantalones, Stinky
Breed- Chow Corgi Mix, or Chowgi
Likes- The beach (especially the north shore with all of the rocks), Lynch Park , the Harford Dog Park, the Navy Yard "quad", tummy rubs, skateboarding, steak & eggs, monkey in the middle (he is always the monkey), football, snow, and relaxing while the wind blows through his sunkissed chowgi locks
Dislikes- Vegetables, conditioning sprays, cats, people talking about him like he is not there, and being tied up outside Shop 543
Favorite friends- Dexter and his assistant Anthony, Jack, his longtime sheltie love Lucy, and many many more. He usually prefers dogs to people, with the exception of his FP Direct ladies.
How did you meet Rog ? - Roger was rescued from the "streets" of Baltimore and was totally gangster. He was transferred to the Pendragwn Chow Chow Rescue in Lancaster PA. He lived there for a few months before I found him, most people thought he was "funny looking", but I thought he was just right. He came to live with me and we have been best friends ever since.
Anything else you want to share? - Although Roger sheds alot and has major allergies I have to tend to, he is a great dog to have around the house. He does not try to jump on the furniture, never steals food, would never chew on anything, and carefully steps around anything on the floor that is not his. He loves to sleep under the bed, hidden by the bedskirt. It is very cute when I can hear his little snores beneath me.
This cool tree, which has been 'planted' on a wall next to the lobby here in the
Free People Home Office, features a photo of nearly every Free People Home Office employee!
The photos don't quite capture how big and cool it actually is!
(And a big thank you to everyone who helped put it up! It's wonderful!)
This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Kris Chau, Assistant Knit Designer!
Aside from being a very talented designer, she is also a talented illustrator.
And a very charming and fun woman! I'll let the video speak for itself,
and below find just a few of her illustrations. You can see many more of them
at her website.
Also, as promised, a few pictures of her exciting show in Los Angeles!
Floating around the office of late has been an extraordinary old book filled with
even older postcards and snippets, some dating as far back as the 1870's.
The lucky owner of this beautiful book is our Senior Knits Designer, Gianna.
The book had been passed from friend to friend for many years, with each of its
possessors adding to its pages while keeping with the general theme, until it
reached Gianna's uncle. After a time, he gifted the book, now full, to her, seeing
her inclination to art, drawing and the like. At this point, Gianna has had the book
for ten years, and has no plans to give it up! (Who can blame her?) I wanted to
share this wonderful book with you, since we have all enjoyed it so much,
and even gotten some scrapbooking inspiration from its pages!
Posing pensively for us at her desk (and in a Spartan helmet no less) is Erica. Erica is the Assistant Visual Display Designer, which means she gets to help design
the displays that go in all the Free People stores.
It also means that her desk has many interesting objects to look at,
both related to her display work as well as personal items.
This is Erica's favorite area of her desk.
The two young ladies pictured are her best friends hamming it up
on vacation in Daytona Beach. Happy times.
This is my favorite area of Erica's desk.
When asked of the shoes she tells us:
"a wealthy older woman was giving away piles of clothes and such and
apparently didn't realize what a great find these shoes were!"
The shoes are sadly too fragile to be worn. But great to look at!
And the radio? Made of PAPER! It was picked up in Hong Kong.
Paper objects like these are made for funerals, to be burnt up as a means of
allowing the dead to take the objects with them to the afterlife.
Tune in next time for another fun look at an employee desk!
I was actually on the hunt for an English Bulldog, but came upon Rosie and loved her immediately! I wanted a female dog I could name Rosie Ruby, and when I saw her, she looked like a Rosie Ruby to me. She is my first dog and she is a handful! But she's very sweet and good protection since I live alone.
Name: Rosie Ruby
Nick names: Rosie Monster, Rosie Posie, The Beast, Poop face!
Breed: American Bulldog
Likes: Everyone, squeaky toys, digging up the flowers in my yard, taking over the whole bed, and a good belly rub.
Dislikes: People with there hoods up. Boxes, mannequins, and ceiling fans are scary!!
Favorite friends: Indi, Brownie, Baxter and Keegan
Last week was Mill Week. Once a year we invite all of our fabric mills to visit the office so they can get a better sense of what FP is all about, meet with the designers and production team, and take a look at what we are working on. One of our vendors brought a donut tape dispenser, and our designers kind of loved it. Our vendor said she would send one from China, but when the knits team opened the box, she had sent a whole bunch!
So the knits team had a fake donut party. They are easily amused.
