Picture of the Day

I'm in love with photographer Sivan Lewin's work. Below, some of his editorials.

First group: Travel and Leisure.



















Second group: House and Garden.



































Third group: W.


































All images, Sivan Lewin.

coral, Coral, CORAL!

The latest from my coral addiction issues, which the home design and fashion industries have apparently conspired to support. My new favorite online shop is Z Gallerie. Because...

Tired of red? Try it in blue!

P.S. Does the coral pillow look familiar? The illustration is from Albertus Seba's book,  Cabinet of Natural Curiosities.

Images: Z Gallerie. Book cover: Amazon.com.

The New Old COACH

COACH's Spring 2009 collection features a very fun new line of bags and accessories celebrating legendary designer Bonnie Cashin. Cashin began designing at COACH in the 1960s - she introduced designs like the hobo and the use of bright candy colors, looks the line still carries today. However, her influence on the fashion industry far surpassed handbags. She designed a coat worn by the Duchess of Windsor, costumed Hollywood stars, created elegant but comfortable dress styles for women, and always, always, from her trademark paper bags used as purses, to her complex fabric patterns for Ballantyne, did it differently.  Cashin was "one of the foremost American fashion designers in the second half of the twentieth century. At the vanguard of her field for nearly forty years, it is impossible to overstate the enormity of her influence on twentieth-century design. Best known for modular, layered clothes for Sills and Co. and accessories for Coach, fashion design was but one medium of expression for a woman whose work and life was a seamless continuum and madcap adventure." - UCLA Bonnie Cashin Exhibit.

Here is a leather coat she designed. Note the turnlock clasps. It was a favorite touch of hers that later became a signature for COACH. Beside, her sketch for a similar coat.

One of her purses, the hobo. Among her many innovations were exterior coin purses, introduced to make things easier for pick pockets.

The lining of one of her bags. Seem familiar? Here's the 2009 COACH Legacy Stripe Lady bag. Cashin lives on.














COACH brochures by Cashin. She was a true designer, involved and inspired in every step of the creative process.
















A few items from the new Bonnie Cashin inspired line for COACH.

Cashin's fabulous style wasn't just for clothes and bags - some images below from her home. The grafetti wall was an element she recreated in most places she lived. She copied quotes she found inspiring, from Einstein to Picasso.

Fabulous! Cashin's ready-to-shop closet, as featured in House and Garden, 1969. I LOVE this closet. How easy and inexpensive would this be to recreate in a spare bedroom? A little industrial shelving, colorful placement, and a few garden stools will set you on your way.

A Cashin joke - it really is a coat tree.

Label: vintagefashionguild.org. Cashin coat: www.violetvillevintage.com. Cashin sketch: UCLA Library Cashin Collection. Cream hobo: BagBorroworSteal.com. Fabric lining: www.dorotheasclosetvintage.com. COACH lady bag and current collection: COACH.com. Cashin home images and sketches: UCLA Library Cashin Collection. 

Friday Fix: Steals and Deals!

I have long been a secret fan of Chadwicks, the discount clothing magazine.  They require patience and a good eye (there is absolutely no point in saving money on something that looks cheap).  But every now and then, I'll find something fabulous.  And when I do, I wear it like it's from Bergdorf's.  True story: I once wore a Chadwicks dress that cost me $34 to a meeting with the President of the United States.  And it looked fantastic with a pair of Oscar de la Renta suede heels. 

Here are some of my favorite spring picks:

Audrey Sheath Dress, $49.99.  This is the cutest.  The green and white is going to give Lilly Pulitzer a run for her money! Also available in cantaloupe, black and white, and pink.

I'm head-over for this yellow ruffle "Charlotte" dress at $49. Also comes in blue, apricot, green, and black and white polka dot - would probably look very parisian, no?

This skirt-suit will be making its way into my closet shortly. Very chic little number - I can't decide if I want the yellow or the navy. Maybe both at $59? Also in apricot, white, and green.

This Preppy Blazer has a future at $39, and the blue Belted Jacket at $49 would be adorable with a pair of pink capris and an Hermès scarf tied over the hair.

Really cute skirt at $29 - the styling reminds me a bit of J.Crew.

A final word: I know you've heard it before, but the adage is tried and true: invest more in your accessories than your clothes if you have to choose. Cotton looks like cotton whether you spent $100 or $1,000, but you can rarely pass off pleather as the real thing (or have it last more than a season). Quality bags and shoes raise everything else you're wearing to the same standard.

P.S. Chadwicks usually has some sort of email deal running, so be sure to sign up - you can almost always get 10% to 20% off your order! 

All images, Chadwicks.com.

Amanda Nisbet

One of the blogs on the top of my daily reading list, All The Best, has an interview today with designer Amanda Nisbet - an instant addition to the All The Designers You Want To Meet list. Click to read the interview and see even more great pictures!

I have to say, my favorite of her designs is her own apartment! Done up in jewel tones, it's simply lovely. Here's a sampling:


Images: House Beautiful; final bedroom image, All The Best.

Crabtree and Evelyn

When I was a little girl, our house used to receive Crabtree and Evelyn catalogues in the mail. That was back before postage was as expensive, and catalogues and magazines tended to come in more irregular shapes (and larger sizes). The C&E ones were very wide, with lovely pictures of flowers and ribbons, and occasionally, an elegantly robed woman scenting a bath or cutting some flowers. I was always particularly enraptured with their best-selling fragrance, Evelyn, because the famed rosier David Austin had bred the Evelyn rose especially for the perfume (picture, left). It came in a cut glass bottle with a silver stopper, and was the shade of dawn pink. Years later, while living in England, I visited my first Crabtree and Evelyn store in Oxford, on Queens Street, and delighted in the wonderful scents of Lily of the Valley, Peony, and Lavender. Ironically, when I actually had a chance to smell the Evelyn perfume, I didn't like it, but by then, the full romance of Crabtree and Evelyn was well established for me.

So, at times like these (by which I mean: times when I have been suffering from the flu for three days, and wonder if life is ever going to get less wretched) I like to reach for a few C&E favorites. They revive the senses and smell marvelous. And, if you're under the weather, they'll cheer you up a bit too.

A friend of mine gave me a wonderfully scented candle by India Hicks for Crabtree (you know who you are, MM!) and I just love it. This is the fragrance diffuser of the same scent. The smell is of orchid, palms, jasmine, and orange blossom, and it is DIVINE. If you're a sucker for packaging like me, you'll also love the faux shagreen oval box it comes in. 
These beautiful shelf papers are scented with Lavender. Very cute woven short kimono robe. The Wakaya scented candle is meant to evoke a South Seas island.

Crabtree's Gardner's Cream is well known for being restorative to the hands - whether or not you've been using them to garden. Tote included. Beautiful Wisteria Eau De Toilette.

Images: Rose, http://www.flickr.com/photos/34226483@N00/544172215/; Products, Crabtree and Evelyn.