This is my workspace at Home Office; I love to decorate my surroundings and put things around me that inspire. Polaroid’s, vintage photo frames and postcards, found feathers and gems. I have a little habit of collecting post it’s that people leave me too, I don’t why but I can’t throw messages that people leave me away!
Our studio has been shooting looks for holiday this week for our web. Here’s a couple of snapshots; we invited Natalie from Natalie off duty here… she’s like a giant pixie being, so beautiful!
The looks are very exciting and are going to make for some must have outfits ready for holiday!
Our Holiday Catalog launches very soon, can’t wait for you guys to see. It’s very nice!
this year’s holiday book is incredible- not only is it twice the length of our usual catalogs but it is put together beautifully. the book is split into six sections, each with a different focus, setting, photographer and models. here is a sneak peek at the book, which drops tuesday november 2nd.
chapter one: be the belle of the ball
chapter two: treasures
chapter three: the sketchbook
chapter four: wee people
chapter five: grab a bag
chapter six: wrap me in a sweater
stay tuned for lots more info on where the book was shot, the amazing photographers and models, and behind the scenes coverage!
i am so excited to introduce wee people… a line for our tiniest muses!
the collection captures the spirit of the free people girl in her earliest stages, when fairy tales are real and imagination knows no boundaries. whimsical party dresses to release her inner princess, cozy sweaters and items with free people’s unique details and elements to make her feel as special as she is.
the line is the baby of our managing director of design and image, who drew her inspiration from her daughter and the desire to create a wardrobe for her that had the same uniqueness as free people. the focus of the first collection, which falls during holiday season, are girly party dresses countered with cozy, comfy items made to be played in all winter long.
the size range for wee people is 2t – 6t. the collection will debut online and in our november catalog on november 2nd.
here are some outtakes from our wee people photo shoot, featuring some of the cutest little models you’ll ever see!
Soft and Silky
There’s a new rule in town for delicate slips: Wear your sheerest of fabrics with soft and cozy knits
Sounds a little intimidating but looks very sweet. Layer lace over thermals and wear under your favorite sweaters.
A sensual and soft look we can’t get enough of.
Why we love it…
What’s not to love? I love being cozy, and I love soft fabrics on my skin.
How we’ll be wearing it?
Lacey slips and long maxi sheer skirts with biker boots and chunky socks, super soft knitwear, and thermals.
I’m completely seduced by this trend!
click here to go to the shop
we loved working with natalie suarez on our october catalog so much, we asked her to come back and model in our studio! here she is off duty in our office this week- look for her on our website soon!
you may have noticed these lanterns hanging in our new university village store…they were made by one of our fp girls who works for our west coast display team, and she was kind enough to write up a little tutorial for the blog!
what you need: wire framed lantern, fabric scraps, trims, needle, straight pins, and thread.
lantern: the lantern we use is custom made in india. it is a simple wire frame with a mylar cylinder in the middle for good light diffusion (these lanterns are more about style than a good light source :)). with this raw form, fabric is attached.
i suggest going to a thrift store and looking for lamp shades with a wire frame and taking off the pre-existing fabric – the lamp shades you will find in a thrift store will be a more common kind of shade but the following sewing/ fabric assembling treatment will make it look much more enchanting and wild!
fabric selection: having great fabrics is the key to a great lantern! i had a lot of amazing fabrics and trims to choose from. i choose to mix sheer, vinyl, cotton, and decorative trims. you can find these trims and fabrics from any fabric district or thrift store, but the fancier more elaborate trims we got from India.
i suggest going to a large fabric wholesaler and digging through their bins of scraps. if you happen to be in los angeles, there is only ONE place to find trims: shana-tex!!! they have sooooooo many trims stacked in high piles which you have to dig through…but so worth it because you can get huge spools of lace, sequins, and bright colored trims for pennies.
if you aren’t in los angeles, look up your neighborhood fabric wholesaler or thrift store for great rare finds. i have used thrift store table clothes, eyelet linens, etc.
sewing/ aesthetic: i just pick out the scraps of fabric and trims that i like and begin placing them on the lantern. i prefer to start in the middle at the widest part and work out from there.
fold the fabric over a part of the wire form and do a whip stitch to hold fabric to frame and itself. from the FIRST piece of fabric, i placed another piece of trim or fabric. to keep it in place I used the straight pins and then sewed the piece of fabric. repeat this process and soon it grows into a solid lantern.
sometimes i worked in different areas of the lan-tern, but always made sure that the composition felt right and was well balanced. the look i was going for was a loose, organic assemblage of fabrics and trims….so, i just mixed sewing and tying ends in knots. the pictures tell this story. you will see sewn edges and knotted pieces. i even left holes in places to maintain the “loose” aesthetic :)
electrical hook-up: this is the easy part! i just bought a cord socket combo from home depot and threaded it through a hole (part of wire frame) and screwed in a light bulb.
so beautiful and creative!
heading out west to celebrate the birthday of my favorite person in the world! been way too long since i’ve seen the pacific ocean and palm trees… i can’t wait.
i’m going to try and visit some free people stores while i’m out there and i’ll take lots of pictures for the blog! and don’t worry there will still be posts while i’m gone :)
click on images for sources.
we love you :)
the kings of leon released a new album last week called come around sundown. i have to be honest, i didn’t love their last album – as someone who really appreciated their older music, i felt like they were changing their sound just to appeal to a wider audience. i have no problem with bands changing up their sound, i’m just not a fan of the new music. that being said, there are a couple of songs on the new album that give me hope that the old kings of leon are still in there somewhere. for example, the song “mary,” which they played at bonnaroo this year, is pretty good. unfortunately the playlist function i usually use isn’t working today so here is a video of them playing the song live.
ingredients:
1/2 cup vegan butter
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
egg replacer for 2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk* mixed with 1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
*make vegan buttermilk by placing one tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup. add enough milk (soy or replacement milk of choice) to bring the liquid up to the one-cup line and let stand for 5 minutes.
preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
beat the butter and sugars on medium speed until fluffy (about 5 minutes.) while that is mixing, sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, baking powder, ginger, cloves and pepper in a medium sized bowl.
add “eggs” to the butter and sugar and mix thoroughly. alternate adding the flour and milk mixtures, beginning and ending with the flour. mix thoroughly again. now add in the pumpkin puree and mix until smooth.
bake 23-25 minutes. let cool completely and frost with your favorite buttercream frosting! makes approximately 22 cupcakes.
YUM!
