lou would be in her element at a ski resort where she can snowboard to her heart’s content, and one of the best places for winter activities is lake tahoe. we love squaw valley – which is also where the wanderlust yoga and music festival takes place. lou could stay at the squaw valley lodge where she can ski right out onto the mountain. when she gets tired, she can relax in the outdoor hot tub and then cozy up by the fire in an armchair with a cup of hot chocolate and a good book… even lou needs to indulge herself every once in a while, and for that there’s a fireside indoor spa!
other activities that lou will love can be found at high camp. a scenic ride up the mountain in the squaw valley cable car and she can enjoy ice skating, snow tubing and moonlit snowshoe tours, all with panoramic views of lake tahoe and the high sierra.
for more info on squaw valley click here. the website is referring to this past month as “snowvember” because they’ve already gotten eleven feet of snow – and counting!
one of our most inspiring fp girls, our creative director, has started a twitter! follow her to get the updates on her day’s activities from lunch to xmas tree decorating :) i’m so excited, i always wanna know what she’s up to!
the website arch daily posted an article on the urban outfitters campus, featuring some gorgeous photos and a really interesting video about the project. as you may know, urban purchased a group of buildings down at the navy yard, which had been abandoned back in 1996. the transformation of the buildings was really astonishing, shifting from factory-like spaces meant for the construction and repair of naval vessels to beautiful office buildings where creativity flourishes.
i’ve posted a lot of photos of the campus and our new building on the blog, but these photos by lara swimmer photography give you a much more expansive picture of the campus as a whole and the size and scope of these beautiful buildings where we work.
our old building
our new building
building 543, where the cafe and cafeteria are located.
read the article and see more photos and the video here.
this is actually pretty wild – these are our two web merchandisers, who maaayyyy be spending a little too much time working together, because they came in today wearing almost identical outfits! printed maxi skirts, boots, black sweatshirt/sweater and vest, one fur, the other with fur trim on the hood… and while you can’t see it in this photo, they are both wearing sarah lewis bullet shell necklaces! great fashion minds think alike :)
i’m slightly obsessed with these booties we have right now by gypsy 05. gypsy 05 is a southern california company started in 2005 by israeli brother and sister duo osi and dotan. their line is largely inspired by culture and colors – these booties are inspired by south american handmade booties that have been reinvented with modern life and fashion in mind. we have two styles, the gretta over the knee sock and the chevron tall sock boot. they’re a hybrid of knit slippers and boots, so you can wear them whether you’re lounging around at home or running errands in the city – for someone like me who would love to wear my slippers outside, they’re perfect :) the sock portion is made of 100% organic knit cotton and the soles are biodegradable rubber, keeping true to gypsy 05’s green state of mind.
these would be an amazing gift – hint hint ;) i also think it would be a really cute idea to double their purpose and use them as stockings, filling them with little trinkets on christmas morning!
these shots of jenny lopez for our boudoir shop are so beautiful and dreamy…she looks like a ballerina lost in thought with mystery in her eyes. in the boudoir we have some beautiful slips that i’d love to wear while floating around my apartment and daydreaming on a sunday morning. which of these is your favorite?
i’m sure some of you remember these adorable stockings we sold a few years back. i’ve been kicking myself ever since for not buying one – so i finally decided to take matters into my own hands and make my own free people stocking inspired by the ones above!
i went over to a.c. moore during my lunch break in search of a stocking and embellishments. they didn’t have the plain old red stockings i had in mind, but this knit one worked just as well. i also got some fake fur trim, ribbon, feathers, sequin trim, and some tassels and pom poms i didn’t end up using.
the only items i used from here at the office were a free people bag (which many of you may have!) and some strips of fabric from our display team.
the only other things you need for this project are scissors and fabric glue! your stocking might come out a little bit prettier if you sew things onto it but the glue worked just fine and was quicker :)
i started out by gluing the fur trim to the top and then worked my way down by adding different embellishments at random. it only took a little over an hour, and here’s the end result!
i’m really happy with it and it will look lovely hanging by my desk. now i want to make more!
if any of you are inspired to make your own stockings i would love to see photos! you can send them to blog@freepeople.com :)
it’s a gray, rainy start to december here in philly but at least i can put this pretty new calendar on my desktop! click on the image to go to our flickr page and download the large size. happy december :)
it was only a matter of time before the christmas decorations popped up down in our customer service area! i love the lights…i’m thinking we might need some of those down here on our end of the office.
even bob’s ticket made it onto the tree! apparently he’s a big eagles fan, or something… ;)
lou’s tomboy spirit comes alive during the holidays when she ventures out to cut down her own christmas tree. she thrives in the outdoor elements – for her, winter is all about sledding and snowball fights and roasting marshmallows around a bonfire. she’s not always the sentimental type but if you give the lou in your life any of these gifts you’ll melt her heart for sure…
mittens, winter hats and cozy socks are right up her alley as they’ll keep her warm while she’s out playing in the snow – and a soft blanket to wrap up in when she comes inside is always a perfect gift. a backpack is the only bag for a girl who’s always moving, and you can’t go wrong with some basic skinny jeans and our vneck beheaded tee or jersey raglan top- they’re the type of items that lou will live in! accessories with a hard edge like our vintage belts or the jennifer elizabeth ella cuff are perfect stocking stuffers and lou will definitely appreciate the classic vintage skateboard from our vintage loves collection! finally, throw in some peppermint bark bubble bath (by philosophy) because after roughhousing in the snow all day even lou could use some relaxation :)
Our accessories buyers are currently in love with jewelry designer Vanessa Mooney. Her ethnic treasures are one of a kind… full of character and worldly charm.
We loved her designs so much that we featured the Egyptian Ornament Pendant that is handmade in Nepal in our November catalog.
Here are some photos of Vanessa and her staff working at her studio in downtown LA.
Vanessa grew up in a family of artists: filmmakers, writers, painters and actors. As the great-granddaughter of Harry Warner, one of the Warner Bros., she was always listening to, meeting and watching the history of what her family had created through motion pictures and their art.
Inspired by what they were able to accomplish she knew there was something for her to achieve with the creativity she felt. Her mother, a free and bohemian influence, taught her to look for and see beauty in those things around her and to create it if it wasn’t there. She would keep her busy with the arts: painting, plays, stories or her favorite… dress up from the full trunk of costumes and accessories they would collect from different travels. After school she would put on a classic movie from her family’s library and think how beautiful theses woman could be with just a simple hat, a pair of gloves or a rhinestone necklace. This began her love for fashion.
We adore her designs and feel they are the perfect items to dress up your knit wear.