Plaid is totally in right now (okay, it’s pretty much always in), and we have tons of it on our site. It’s the perfect print as we’re moving into fall since it has a warmer, cozy feel. Which plaid piece will you be getting for your wardrobe?
The Savana Printed Maxi Skirt
Oversized Motorcycle Jacket
Fit N Flare Circle Dress
Flannel Button Down Tunic
FP One Plaid Crop Top
Looking through our September catalog you can feel Fall emanating from its pages. Cozy knits and texture, plaid and lots of layers – all things that I can’t wait to wrap myself up in as the temperature drops. Shot at a beautiful old mill in New Tripoli PA by Yelena Yemchuk, the book features models Bambi Northwood-Blyth and Martha Hunt. Here’s a sneak peek…I can almost smell the crisp chilly air and hear the crunch of leaves beneath my feet…
Guess who else makes a special appearance?!
…Toby!!
The September catalog drops Tuesday September 6th.
Behind the scenes photos by Thomas Northcut except last two, by Jemma.
Happy first day of September! Go to our flickr page to download the large size of the calendar in regular or widescreen.
I have been wanting to experiment with natural dyes for a while now, and with all the great new fall colors that have been popping up on our website (and featured in our monochromatic trend) I decided that it was time. This is such a fun, environmentally friendly project that takes a little time, but very little cash.
For today’s DIY I’ll tell you about what natural ingredients you can use to make natural dyes, and what shades of color they will yield.
What I got: red cabbage, lemons, oranges, beets, yellow onions, blackberries, blueberries, spinach.
For bluish/purple dyes:
Blackberries and red cabbage can be used to make bluish/purple dyes. It’s important to remember when working with natural dyes that experimentation is key – depending on the amount of ingredients you use and how long you leave a garment in the dye, the color you get can vary.
For pinkish/red dyes:
Beets and blueberries can make a really lovely dusty rose color.
For copper/orange dyes:
I never realized what a beautiful color yellow onions can have! Their skins can make an alluring mustard yellow, coppery color.
For yellow dyes:
Orange and lemon peels can be used to make a soft pale yellow dye.
For green dyes:
Finally, spinach can be used to make a beautiful shade of green.
Now what?
To make the dye, chop up your ingredients and put them in a pot with twice as much water as ingredients. Bring the water to a boil and let simmer for an hour. For deeper colors, you can leave the ingredients in the water (without heat) overnight.
Remove the hard materials from the mixture with a strainer, leaving you with the liquid dye.
Before dyeing, you will also need to create a fixative, which will help your fabric hold the dye.
When working with berries, use a salt fixative – put 1/2 cup of salt in 8 cups of water, put the fabric in and boil for one hour.
When working with vegetables, use a vinegar fixative – mix one part vinegar and four parts water, add your fabric and boil for one hour.
When you remove the fabric, rinse in cold water.
The fabric is now ready to dye! Just drop it in the desired color, let sit until it reaches the shade you want, remove and hang to dry.
I am going to make my dyes and start experimenting this weekend – I’ll share my results next week!
A few ideas that have sparked my imagination lately… Read More
Tomorrow is the first day of September! I can’t believe fall is almost upon us. But don’t put away your favorite summer shorts, skirts or tanks just yet! You can still layer with these items going into fall and create some really cute silhouettes that are right on trend. Jemma and I worked with our videographer to make this little video showing how to style your favorite summer outfit into fall!
Song is Jonathan Fire Eater “I’ve Changed Hotels”
Look One: Layering with Maxi Skirts
Start with a skirt or similar style like the floral gauchos, one of your favorite dressy tops and heels. Add a thermal, tall boots, leather jacket and scarf to transition to fall.
Look Two: Layering with Pants
Start with any style of bottoms and a tank top and ankle boots. Add a hat, light weight cardigan and jacket to transition to fall.
Look Three: Layering with Shorts
Start with your favorite pair of shorts, summery blouse and boots. Add tights, a loose knit and hat to transition to fall.
Which look is your favorite?
Well, it’s almost September now. Aside from cooler air, I’ve been looking forward to this month because tons of great bands are set to play in Philadelphia. I’m really excited to see Grace Potter and the Nocturnals who I’ve listened to for a long time now, but have never gotten the chance to check out live. Read More
Did you feel it? I felt it…
The chill in the air this morning. No, summer is not over just yet, but fall is definitely creeping in. And that means time to break out the thermals.
FP thermals are my favorite – they always fit perfectly, come in the best colors, and best of all they always have something unique either in the shape or the detailing, that sets them apart and makes them interesting. We have several thermal styles right now so we thought we’d have a little fun and make a video showing different ways to style thermals! They can be worn with shorts (and tights in fall!), skinny jeans, widelegs, tea-length skirts, you name it. Check out the video, which features some of our lovely home office gals!
Outfit One: we the free lou flannel cuff thermal worn with quilted leather pant, levon platform and jenoah floppy brim hat.
Outfit Two: crafted cuff thermal worn with rangers high rise wideleg jean,cara pocket hip belt and tapestry tote.
Outfit Three: stripe love bug thermal worn with fp vegan leather shorts.
Outfit Four: solid love bug thermal worn with high waisted zippered wideleg jean and trimmed tapestry duffel.
Outfit Five: lou flannel cuff thermal worn with the floral print sheer gaucho, jeanoah floppy brim hat and tapestry tote.
Under the thermals each girl is wearing one of our seamless intimates.
Shop all fp thermals!
From what I hear the opening event for our Atlanta store was a ton of fun! And from the looks of it, quite stylish as well :) I love seeing all these ladies rocking Free People!
The vivaldi voile and lace slip is such a great layering piece.
A favorite from May – the cantina wrap maxi skirt.
Love the extreme vintage flares! I’m wearing mine today :)
Pretty maxi dress from our February catalog.
The lovely gypsy lace dress.
Another vivaldi voile and lace slip, worn under the adorable reversible faux fur vest!
Looks like a great event! Thanks so much to everyone who came out :)
Fp Naomi, our resident chef, is away in Hong Kong right now so for today’s recipe I thought I’d share this video I came across recently. The recipe is for a cake made with beets, and although yes that does sound interesting and potentially delicious, what I love about it is the beauty of this video – it’s magically done, focusing on the physical act of making something as an art form. I couldn’t take my eyes away!
beet cake from tiger in a jar on Vimeo.
Check out their blog, Tiger in a Jar – I’m in love with pretty much everything they do.
DO: write something.
I didn’t always want to be a writer. First it was an astronaut, then archeologist, and then about a hundred other things. But I started keeping a journal in middle school and I never stopped – I have boxes of them stored away, a somewhat haunting record of everything I’ve been through.
It wasn’t until a few years ago that I started to seriously consider writing as a profession, and it was something Charles Bukowski wrote that actually had a huge impact on me. In “Tales of Ordinary Madness,” he wrote that you don’t choose to be a writer, it chooses you. As simple as that may sound, it rang so true… all my life I had been compelled to put my thoughts down on paper and subconsciously I was drawn to it as a profession. It wasn’t a decision that I made, it was a natural evolution that led me to where I am today.
Everyday life tends to create clutter in my head, hundreds of thoughts and emotions swirling around, bumping into each other and the only way to clear my head is put them down on paper. Try it today and see if it works for you too – write something. It doesn’t have to be long, it can be about anything you want – it can even be something you just made up. Write it down – put it on paper, and see how it makes you feel.
“If you’re going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don’t even start. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives and maybe even your mind. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean jail. It could mean derision. It could mean mockery–isolation. Isolation is the gift. All the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it. And, you’ll do it, despite rejection and the worst odds. And it will be better than anything else you can imagine. If you’re going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It’s the only good fight there is.”
– Charles Bukowski
