Showing posts with label the glamour den. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the glamour den. Show all posts

{ christmas is here }

you all have probably seen my apartment by now, so this post will be nothing groundbreaking. nevertheless, i had so much fun dressing the place up for friday's tree-trimming festivities, that i couldn't help but share a few photos. here's the calm before the soirée:







{ see the tree above AFTER being decorated, in this post from yesterday! }

{ wrappin n' happenin }


when i was growing up, my mom used to attend an annual 'wrappin n' happenin' party ~ wherein friends would convene with wine, wrapping paper, and ribbons. they'd gab and wrap til every last prezzie was beautifully boxed. i always thought it was such a cute idea, and certainly could have used such an occasion prior to this weekend, when i realized too late that the paper i'd bought for a friend's gift was not spotted silver (as i'd assumed in the store), but spotted cellophane instead!

minutes before rushing out the door for her soirée, i attempted to improvise by lining the package with white tissue. still, even with the help of tons of tape (and lots of licks from a well-intentioned puppy), the end result was a dizzying mess. ah well, at least my erin fetherston dress was elegantly wrapped, with its pretty bow tied to perfection!

{ kelly framel pleated leather earrings, nina wrap dress courtesy of erin fetherston (lots more photos on HER BLOG!), kenzo for wolford lace tights }

in keeping with the season's perfectly-imperfect theme, i had a few friends over friday night to help decorate my vintage tinsel tree. every one of my loved ones brought an ornament or memento to add ~ and i couldn't be more excited by the results!! it's packed with playing cards, pine cones, feather boas, glitzy garlands, and a million memories. i think i've finally founded my own annual holiday happenin!

{ before + after } bedroom furniture

i've always been a compulsive improver, a serious DIY addict. i can't look at anything without thinking how i can make it better! this trait came in handy while decorating the apartment (on a budget!), as so many things can be transformed with a little patience and a few swathes of paint. here are two of my favorite makeovers:

this bedside stool was a surprise score. i'd been looking for a chic step stool for a while, but they are surprisingly hard to come by. when my guy texted a photo of this one to me (from a yard sale in the hamptons), i knew it had incredible potential. only problem was, the seller didn't want to let it go without the matching (ginormous) bed frame. i insisted that he be persistent, threatening: "don't you dare come home without it!!" in the end, it took four trips to the woman's house over the course of two days, plus a whopping $30 to wear her down. the day he returned home victorious, i set to work painting our prize!

as you may have gathered from this photo, it serves a vital function to my pampered pup. while i'll be the first to admit that pooch is spoiled rotten, installing steps for her to get into bed was more about my convenience than hers ~ i hated being woken up every time she got the urge to cuddle! i also use it as a perch while putting on shoes, and as a way to reach the purses at the tippy-top of my closet.

this dresser came from craigslist. it was pretty banged up (as you can see) ~ but it was cheap, and its architecture (especially the quietly curved lines) reminded me slightly of the step stool above. i really liked that it had lots of little drawers on top to store my sunnies and accessories. luckily, a bit of wood glue (for that taped-together leg), some sanding, and a couple coats of paint went a long way; this project took only a day!
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i hope this inspires you to look at that next yard sale find with a more open mind ~ or even to rethink something already in your own home!!

{ home sweet home }



















i spent the weekend on a spur-of-the-moment trip to miami, soaking in some sun and tons of inspiration via art basel. as amazing as the trip was, it was equally wonderful to return home to the cozy embrace of my nyc nest. see the whole thing today over on apartment therapy!!

{ bunny } canine catnip & art aficionado

on tuesday, one of my favorite design sites came in to shoot some snaps of the apartment. i'm excited to share the results with you all next week ~ but in the meantime, how about a little outtake featuring BUNNY?!

this teeny-tiny pup of mine was recently attacked by a much bigger cat. when i mentioned it on twitter, we were overwhelmed by the sweet outpouring of well-wishes. thank you for all your kind words ~ she's a much-loved dog! things got a bit dicey, but i'm happy to report that she's healing rapidly and well (yet funnily unamused by yesterday's kitty-print shirt / i may have to shelve that one for a while).

{ glamourai giveaway } playing paper dolls


{ above ~ hanging at home in: forever21 beanie, gifted elizabeth & james kimono (+ beaded blouse, below), lanvin silk t-shirt, vintage belt & jewels, gifted hudson signature bootcut jeans, manolo blahnik shoes }

the holiday giveaways continue!! and this one's really exciting: i've teamed up with hudson jeans to gift one of you with my four favorite denim styles of the season ~ all of which are available now in my own hudson shop-in-shop:
#1: devon bootcut in st. martins blue // #2: milman flare in west hill dark blue // #3: signature bootcut in black ice // #4: may skinny in devonshire dark blue
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here's how it works: let me know in the comments which style (1, 2, 3, or 4) you'd most like to see me wear, to help complete the holiday ensemble above. on december 3rd, i'll post the finished, winning look ~ and choose one reader* (at random) to win the entire suite of styles! thanks for voting ~ and bonne chance!!
* only one vote per entrant, please // PHOTOS BY GREG.
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PS! check out my guest post for the hudson jeans blog HERE.

{ inside my studio } scents + spaces

to follow up on yesterday's perfect place post, i thought it would be fun to share a teeny peek into my own perfect-for-me place: my studio! specifically, the wall in that room where i store my favorite art books and other assorted necessities. like my closet, it's not nearly as big as i'd like it to be (oh, the things one gives up to live in new york!!), but it has lots of happy little corners:

as a workroom (where anything from sewing to soldering to computing occurs), my studio is a lot more casually adorned than my living/entertaining space. because i've got to be able to stash some not-so-lovely stuff in there, i need lots of nooks for books & odd objects (gadget cords, things i use for jewelry still lifes, file storage, etc). of course, it's also a room where i need to be inspired, so i try to keep things well-organized and pleasant to look at!

right now, its shelves are strewn with fun, numbered bottles from ralph lauren's big pony collection of colognes ~ i love the way they complement my color-coordinated book collection:

in the coming weeks, i'll be regularly partnering with ralph lauren to debut (and host giveaways of!) these fragrances. i was attracted to the project for two reasons:

1. i almost exclusively wear men's scents (which these ostensibly are, though i think they would appeal to almost anyone!)
2. i love spritzing scents to subliminally enrich a room's decor ~ and thus like keeping a melange of bottles around different parts of the house, to complement the mood & use of disparate spaces.

during the years that i worked as a clothing designer, we would pick a scent every season to spritz the tent with ~ so when guests began to arrive for a show, they would subconsciously start to settle into the spirit of the collection that was about to debut. that's one runway trick i love to apply to my everyday life!

every one of them instills a new mood. the first fragrance (which i'll be giving away tomorrow!) is sporty and dynamic, with fresh hits of lime and oak; the second is more seductive and musky (the sort of scent i like wearing best), with dark chocolate undertones. these two bottles flank a flea-market-found plastic giraffe ~ my absolute favorite animal:

number three is geared for adventure, a woody aroma enriched with ginger and mint. it sits above a beloved box of andy warhol's 'red books' ~ a collection of polaroid flipbooks from his factory days:

number four is the collection's most stylized: a mix of kyara wood and grapefruit. it sits just above a 'glamour monster' doll i made several years ago from a no-longer-worn toile de jouy skirt:


scattered about the surrounding shelves, prada, miu miu and alaia shoes boxes are used to store old documents/receipts, and my twitter followers may recognize a certain ebay-binge-begotten porcelain unicorn:


as always, my trusty sidekick/mascot/assistant/troublemaker is never far from the action:

{ top story }

recently, i told you i'd soon have fun news from the erin fetherston front. now that i'm finally ready to share, where to begin?! well for starters, i'm especially excited to announce that i'll be contributing my own costumery to her site every wednesday ~ beginning right now!

for the last few weeks, i've had a hard time NOT wearing her dylan blouses (in both solid & printed form). seriously, they work for any occasion ~ so today's post is a tribute to them, and all the places we've been! read it HERE.

{ above: scarf-turned-turban, bird print dylan blouse courtesy of erin fetherston, vintage palazzo pants, adorable papillon puppy // below: tom ford sunnies, self-designed necklace, ivory dylan blouse courtesy of erin fetherston // more photos of them both HERE }

also very exciting? erin's currently running a contest on facebook ~ everyone who 'likes' her page before november 10th will be entered to win a $1000 gift certificate to her store!! (be sure to show some love to my page too, while you're there ~ i've begun posting extra photos of every costume!).

what's more, on fridays from here out (as of this week), the first ten people to tweet the hashtag #fetherfridays + a link to their favorite item on erinfetherston.com will receive 10% off their next order.

finally, if you have a question for the designer herself, post it on her fan page or tweet it at her (using the hashtag #EFQandA) ~ she'll be answering every one of them this weekend!

{ sneakery peekery } inside my living room

you guys sort of suffered with me through the torturous waiting-for-a-white-couch epic, and i'm so happy it finally arrived! since it did, i feel like the apartment is starting to come together (at last!), so here's a little sneak peek:



{ couch from HERE, rug from HERE / all else is vintage }



there's an oddly-angled nook behind the couch; i'm having a table made to wedge back there, to become a home for books & things. i'll post proper pictures of the space when that's ready!

{ tales of endearment }

i'm a HUGE fan of natalie joos's vintage-centric site, tales of endearment (i've blogged about it before), and as such was massively flattered when she emailed me, expressing an interest in scoping out my own humble vintage collection. what ensued was a truly delightful morning, spent playing dress-up around the house. natalie, please pop by again any time!!





{ vintage sunnies from brimfield flea market, paola mendoza necklace (i'm obsessed with it!) courtesy of boticca, vintage 1960's gown (made from 1930's fabric) via shrimpton couture (i also wore it HERE) }







{ vintage hat from pittsburgh, elizabeth & james 'monroe' sunnies, vintage bill blass dress from shrimpton couture (i also wore it HERE), gifted kendra scott earrings & ring, vintage bag from angel street thrift shop, prada shoes }





{ house of harlow sunnies, vintage beaded collar from a textiles vendor in austin, vintage victor costa dress found in florida, alberta ferretti shoes }



{ reworked vintage sunnies, kelly framel necklace, vintage dress passed down from my mother }



~ all photos by natalie joos // many more pictures and interviews to be seen on style.com and talesofendearment.com ~

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