off the record

what’s everyone up to this weekend? i am seeing one of my favorite bands, my morning jacket, at penn’s landing on sunday and i can’t wait!!! i have loved them for years and seeing them at this venue (which is pretty small) should be amazing. i haven’t seen them since bonnaroo ’08, when they released their last album evil urges,  so i’m curious to see what songs they play.

i’m trying to get there early to get good seats so i can take pics!

if i wasn’t doing that, i would probably take a day trip to bethel, new york, for their harvest festival. our vintage buyer told me about it – it takes place on sunday at the site of the original woodstock festival and there’s a farmers market,crafts, live music and more. sounds like so much fun!

more info here.

happy friday!

Free People Office Style

 

 

We get inspired daily here at our office by the style of the people who work here. Everyone has a unique sense of dress that is quite captivating and gives our office environment a great personality.

Here’s a glimpse at one of our stylists :)

The music is by Real Estate — “Alantic City”

dream catching

sadly, it is time to say farewell to our concept intern, stacey, who is leaving us to go to college.  please enjoy one last post from her!

I feel as if everywhere I turn I see dreamcatchers. Suspended from rearview mirrors, splashed across blogs, discreetly tucked into editorial images, they are difficult to ignore…not that I would want to. While a trend beloved by too many tires easily, its ubiquity stripping away the element of novelty too soon, the recent overwhelming amount of dreamcatchers has yet to repel me; it just leaves me wanting to know more. It is easy to lose the story in a profusion of images so I looked for it in the legend. These words from Core Designs convince me that a dreamcatcher definitely warrants a warm place above my pillow—

“The dreamcatcher legend originated from the Ojibway and Lakota Elders. They tell us that dreams do hold great power and drift about at night before coming to the sleeping ones. To keep the dreamer safe, the Old Ones created a special web, The Dreamcatcher, to hang above their sleeping places. The ancient story told by the Native Elders is that the Dreamcatcher’s hoop, with the intricate webbing at it’s center, ensures a sleep undisturbed by bad dreams. The good dreams would take the path of the web with great ease to its center and would float gently down the trail of beads, and like the feather, drift down into the minds of the sleepers below.
The bad dreams would struggle with the web and become entangled as the night would pass, leaving them to perish in the rays of the new day sun in the morning.”

The word “dreams” itself is so airy — wispy and elfin when written and rolls cheerfully off the tongue when spoken. The “d” stretches wildly in a yawn before guiding the remaining letters into a calm lethargy. Just hearing and reading and speaking the word throws my imagination into overdrive. Admiring the word and its shape-shifting quality got me thinking about the other meaning of dreams, the even less tangible one that consumes the mind long after the sun has risen and the darkness melted away. A recent dream of mine came true this summer and comes to a close today and I can’t help but feel a melancholy, like I am groping in vain at a fleeting something that has came and passed and can no longer be recovered. I recognize that interning at Free People this summer has been a gift in many forms. Meeting so many wonderful people and being able to observe them and learn from them has enriched not only my understanding of how a corporate setting works, but educated me in the intricate way that a group of creative and hard-working people come together to create something that makes people feel good about themselves. I am very lucky to have had this experience and would not trade this summer for any other.

Thank you, Free People, for having me. :)

in case you missed any of her lovely posts, click on these links:

meet the concept intern!

through our concept intern’s eyes

intern-al affairs

a-dressing nirvana

if you blur your eyes…

be kind to animals and birds, and read all you can

hot and cold

cruel summer

some morning inspiration

home

thank you stacey, keep in touch!

introducing fp collections!

i’m so excited to tell you about a fun new website feature we launched today! you can now go on our website and create your own collections- as you’re shopping just click the button that says “add to collections,” and then you can edit and rearrange your collections according to theme, style, whatever your heart desires! here are the collections jemma and i made featuring our favorites for fall :)

fall picks by fp julia:

for fall i am loving basic items that i will LIVE in – skinny cords, thermals, maxi skirts or dresses and a cozy scarf and beanie.  i am also longing for those shearling-lined boots and an amazing leather jacket!

bewitch my fall by fp jemma:

for fall i’m into dark colours, lightened up a little by silver jewelry. I like to be comfy when its cold so no heels… it’s all about the boots and sneakers adding a little sensual factor with peeps of lace to my outfit.

now go start creating your collections right here! have fun!

thursday poll – edition 107

good morning! let’s get right to the thursday poll… this week we’ve been telling you about some of the trends we love for fall, so i thought i’d ask which of these trends you all are most excited about!

sports utility:

70’s groupie:
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or underwear as outerwear:
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the winner of last week’s thermal poll was by far and away the motorcuff thermal with 50% of the vote!