Over the past few weeks, I have had the pleasure of seeing many of your love letters come through via email and snail mail – they have brought a smile to my face every day and we’re so grateful you shared them with us!
Yesterday I left work around 5pm to head to our brand new store on Walnut Street in Philadelphia. We were having a private celebration for home office employees, family and friends before the doors officially opened this morning. From the moment I walked through the carved wooden door, I felt like I was in a very special place. If you live in the area, I definitely recommend making the trip to see the store in person – but if not, I hope these photos can do it some justice!
Bracelet heaven!
The view from the upstairs loft.
The upstairs fitting room area is cozy and tranquil – I literally could live here. The fitting rooms were painted by five of our amazing fp girls, who made them truly special and unique.
Intimates hang delicately on subtly sparkling walls.
How amazing are the patchwork rugs?! A great DIY project, perhaps…
Yummy food from Steven Starr Restaurants and Root, Snap & Rhuby drinks from Art in the Age – the Root and ginger beer was to die for!
I adore the brick wall and necklaces hanging from nails – I bought one of these zodiac necklaces – you can only find them in our stores! I also love the falling whistles.
Former Belle put on an awesome show!
It was such a magical night. Stay tuned for another post, on two of my favorite parts of the store!
Photos by Julia.
Psst… there are some April catalog sneak peeks in there! Can you guess the location??
We’re getting sick of pants. All winter long its pants, pants, pants. Now, in the name of fashion, we’re rebelling. We’re pulling on tights for an extra layer, and getting out stowed away women’s shorts, skirts and dresses. For the last week in January “vs.” office style, I want to know – which winter rebellion look do you like best? It’s the shorts vs. the dresses….
Shorts
You can never go wrong with a good thermal.
Dresses
Get the look with our Tiza Floral Tights and the Worn in Original Docs.
The Cropped Stripes Pullover looks great with this sparkly maxi skirt!
So in love with the Costas Striped Maxi Dress Look!
The day is finally here! We will be heading over to our brand new Philly store in a little bit for a private celebration, and the doors officially open tomorrow morning at 10am! The store is full of special touches – one thing I’m excited to see, is some of our incredibly talented fp girls painted the walls of the dressing rooms. From what I’ve seen in photos (above right), they look incredible. I also can’t wait to see the Love Letters installation, made up of all the amazing letters you guys sent us! And the necklaces pictured above were made by local jewelry designer and friend of fp, Sarah Lewis, who specially designed them to represent our Candy, Lou, Meadow and Ginger fp girls! I’ll take some photos of the store tonight so stay tuned for a peek at the store tomorrow :)
Also opening tomorrow is Free People Boulder! Doors open at 10am, so if you’re in the area, stop by and check it out :) The photo above is one of our fp girls hand painting the storefront window!
Fore more info and to RSVP visit their facebook page.
This January, we traveled to Palm Springs, CA to shoot our lookbook with Alexandra Spencer of 4th and Bleeker. In the book, she takes on the look of a domesticated 70’s wild child as she hangs by the pool and goes about her day in a 70’s ranch style home. The looks are filled with stacked sandals, flowing bohemian prints and ditzy patterns elevated with hard-edged suede, sequins, and funky shades. There’s no doubt this woman is beautifully Free People. Which look is your favorite?
Look 1
Look 2
Look 3
Look 4
Look 5
Look 6
Look 7
Look 8
[polldaddy poll=5879308]
The other day I mentioned that Jemma, Naomi and I hit up some of our favorite spots in Philadelphia to shoot a mini “Ode to Philly” lookbook in celebration of our store opening on Walnut St! We had so much fun shooting these photos, and we hope you love them too :)
Julia
My location was the street I grew up on. I felt it was symbolic in many ways, as our Philly store opening definitely feels like a homecoming for Free People. Despite a brief time in San Francisco, I’ve lived in Philly my entire life – from the Fairmount neighborhood pictured below, to the suburbs just outside the city, to West Philadelphia, Manayunk, Center City, and now Old City. Home is where the heart is, and my heart will always be in Philly.
I’m wearing the FP Light Weight Stretch Skinny Jeans, California Love Tee, Studded Plaid Buttondown, Vegan Leather Jacket, Wingtip Boot, Sam Feather Trim Fedora and Mari Flap Bag. This is pretty much the type of thing I wear every day – I’m definitely a jeans and tee girl, and I am currently in love with the studded plaid shirt and wingtip boots!
Naomi
My favorite spot in Philadelphia is the train station. I first discovered it when I came to the city for college. On breaks, I would often travel by Amtrak to get home. The first time that I walked into the giant hall, my breath sort of leapt from my body. It feels exactly how you’d imagine a train station should feel. Sounds echo off of the huge high ceilings and passengers await their trains on long wooden benches. The elegance takes me back to days when people traveled on trains everywhere. The station also reminds me of my dad (he has a bit of a train fascination/hobby) which was a very comforting feeling when I first left home for college. I’ve now lived in Philly for about five years, and I’ve spent a lot of time in that train station. For six months I was commuting to NYC three days a week to intern, and that place became my best friend.
I wanted to wear my favorite new Free People item there for this shoot. I fell in love with the Thrifty Eyes Dress the minute I saw photos come back of Karlie Kloss in our January book. I just got it this week, and I can’t wear it all different ways. This time around I paired it with our new Denim Button-Down and these awesome platforms which we’ll have on the site soon!
Jemma
My favorite place in Philly is Johnny Brenda’s, a bar in Fishtown, but yesterday I wanted to go to a place that I’ve been itching to go to for a while – I’m still kinda exploring Philly having moved here from the UK so… Franklin Fountain was the place I wanted to feast my eyes upon. I’m a girl who loves sweet things and things that are pretty to look, and during the summer months ice cream is my No1. Franklin Fountain apparently has the best ice cream so I went to try and it didn’t disappoint – I was like a young girl in a candy store.
Wearing the Retro Sleeve Dress, Lace Up Leather Jacket and Marrakesh Floppy Hat.
One of the things I’m most looking forward to when our Philly store opens on Friday is seeing our new spring store displays! Our display team has transformed the entire atmosphere of our store from rich, sparkling winter to a light and airy spring.
These could be your feet!
We have a bunch of job openings in our stores – click on the links below for more info and to apply!
Assistant Store Manager – Las Vegas
Store Manager- Kansas City (opening March 2012)
Store Manager, Rockefeller Center (Opening March 2012)
All positions- Toronto, ON Canada (Opening Summer 2012)
Yes, that’s right, we’re comin’ to Canada!!
Lately I have come across a few pretty stellar examples of “glamping.” This is not something I was familiar with until recently, but glamping is, basically, glamorous camping. Ideal for those who love the great outdoors, but don’t exactly love roughing it. I for one would definitely be down for some glamping – especially in either of these amazing spots.
Whitepod Resort, in the heart of the Swiss Alps, Switzerland
Treehotel, Sweden
In my memory of the night it was raining – although – I’m pretty sure that it wasn’t. I left work late at night with a boat load of stuff: clothes, a dog carrier, backpack, camera bag… quickly stopping at home to pop a pita in my mouth and twirl my hair into a bun. Read More
As you guys may have heard by now, we are opening our very first Free People store in Philadelphia this Friday! It is definitely a homecoming of sorts, as we open our doors on Walnut Street in Center City, not far from where the company began. You’ll hear much more about all the special touches we’re putting into the store over the next few days, but today Jemma, Naomi and I decided to take a field trip and head to some spots in the city that are nearest and dearest to our hearts, to shoot our own little Philly lookbook.
I knew right away what my location would be – the street where I grew up. A three story brick townhouse in the Fairmount neighborhood, walking distance from the Art Museum and just a few blocks from the stone walls of the penitentiary. A quiet, tree lined street, where the same construction truck still parks in the spot across from my old house, and marble steps climb up towards doors painted varying shades of blue, red and green.
It was a magical time in my childhood, full of block parties, neighborhood cleanups (when we’d all go out and rake leaves and clean up together), bike rides, scraped knees, and water ice from the park grocery across the street that has since closed its doors for good. Sometimes its nice to take a little trip down memory lane.
After wearing the wingtip boots today I became slightly attached.
Stay tuned for our photos, they’ll be up later this week!
Photos by Julia.