Happy Halloween!

I've had a very important visitor staying with me this week and have, as a result, not had much time to spend online poking around the blog world. I promise to be back soon starting with an introduction to my beloved guest later today. In the meantime check out this site for a peek at frightening costumes of Halloweens past. Have a scary and tiny chocolate bar-filled night!

she's a dream come true

i have a treat for you friends today! despite accusations of being both "lazy" and "lame" for not updating (or responding to emails) both of which i vehemently deny on account that i am neither lazy for not updating (internet is my lazy time) nor am i physically impaired at this time (unless of course you are considering my bad toe) i am still sharing with you my very favourite jewel of the fashion blog world.

Blog, meet Nicole Eymard! I've been following her for quite some time online and am delighted at every update she makes. Here she shares with us some of her inspiration for her upcoming collection and a brief history lesson. This lady knows the way to my heart is paved in vintage hats and history lessons.

Full name: Nicole Eymard (maiden name Mackey) Married 5 years to a French man

Hometown: Walnut Creek California Lived in Paris, France when I was younger for 3 years

Presently living in: San Francisco California

Mother of: A Pomeranian named Clementine. She looks and acts like a feisty little fox www.flickr.com/photos/ldv/3756278339/in/set-72157621831944578/

What was your first sewing project? Do you still have it?

My first hand sewn project was this little red doll with a flat head that I made out of my moms scraps. The poor doll was tortured because I stitched her dress to her body. I don't have it because it was a gift I made for my sister when I was 7. The first machine project was a terrifying felt panda...lets not even talk about that!!

Favourite pre-20th century fashion moment?

1790-1802 I know this is a long period of time, but they bounce off eachother, one part is the cause and the other effect.

At the end of of Marie Antoinette's life 1790, "the people" were revolting against everything, for example fashion and the political powers. The colors they wore and prints all signifies who they were for in politics. The "Sans Culottes" wore old and country clothing with the with France's colors and stripes and the "Incroyables" (men) and the "Merveilleuses" (women) wore ridiculous proportions , such as giant hats for the men and for the women they wetted their dresses with water to make their garments see through to see the flesh colored knit undergarments. Sans cullote means without pants and Incroyables means the incredibles.

Incroyables/Merveilleuses:
www.flickr.com/photos/ldv/4041483372/sizes/o/
www.flickr.com/photos/ldv/4040737257/sizes/o/
www.flickr.com/photos/ldv/4040737301/sizes/o/
www.flickr.com/photos/ldv/4041483310/sizes/o/

Sans Culotte:
www.flickr.com/photos/ldv/4040737353/sizes/o/in/set-72157622526493868/
www.flickr.com/photos/ldv/4040737339/

After Marie Antoinette's beheading, and people setteled down. Napoleon attempted to put things back together by looking at ancient Greece, and creating an empire. So everyone dressed like their portrayal of the classical statues.

Empire:
www.flickr.com/photos/ldv/4041501016/sizes/o/in/set-72157622526493868/
www.flickr.com/photos/ldv/4040755087/sizes/o/in/set-72157622526493868/
www.flickr.com/photos/ldv/4040755071/sizes/o/in/set-72157622526493868/
www.flickr.com/photos/ldv/4041501006/sizes/o/in/set-72157622526493868/
www.flickr.com/photos/ldv/4041500994/sizes/o/in/set-72157622526493868/

Favourite 20th century fashion moment?

SCHIAPARELLI!!
www.flickr.com/photos/ldv/3373904426/sizes/o/in/set-72157615731121510/
www.flickr.com/photos/ldv/3373903908/sizes/o/in/set-72157615731121510/
www.flickr.com/photos/ldv/3373903908/sizes/o/in/set-72157615731121510/

But most importantly the relationship she had with all the cool artists of the time. I love how all the cool artist were pals and genuinely "collaborated"

Collab with Dali
www.flickr.com/photos/ldv/4040774619/sizes/o/in/set-72157622526493868/
www.flickr.com/photos/ldv/4041520652/sizes/o/in/set-72157622526493868/

One item that absolutely melted you when you found it?

edwardian beaded black bird 3d appliqué
www.flickr.com/photos/ldv/3161120096/in/set-72157607360064388/

and my 1960s phone purse, that works
farm4.static.flickr.com/3004/2828815765_2b2e2f0572_o.jpg

Favourite brick and mortar shop for treasure hunting?

all local san franciscan/bay are dwellers can only appreciate the following:
thrift town
mission thrift
decades of fashion
bellocchio www.bellocchio.com/
tail of the yak
Gypsy honeymoon
advark

Favourite online shop for treasure hunting?
Ebay
Etsy
Rubylane

Favourite cosmetic counter (your make-up is always impeccable!)?
YSL and a few mac and nars, but YSL has the best and most unusual colors

Any celluloid fashion inspirations?
shhh dont tell, but my final collection for school has something to do with this. My lips are sealed!

When can we expect to see your wonderful designs gracing the covers of magazines/filling our closests?
When I finish school, May 7th 2010, thats my fashion show go see it, everyone is invited!! Unfortunately I need to be famous first to be in magazines etc. I think europe will help me when I get there ;)

october edition

most of these chill-inducing pictures courtesy of Vintage Photo. i have found myself once again in a horizontal state, i blame germy transit system and touching my face all the time. i need one of those cone collars so i can't reach my face while in public. i'm determined to make this a productive sickness and will be attempting my first knit hat (to disastrous results no doubt. one time i made my brother a scarf for christmas which he promptly misplaced and knit himself a new one with two stripes more than the first and in much better condition. out-knitted by my own brother and on something as simple as a scarf. hm.) i hope you are all in better health and are enjoying all fall's glories! pumpkin spiced coffee, wooly coats, leather gloves, stockings, and smokey air. mmm. what are your halloween costume plans? my costumes are never very inspired having gone in the past as a "deer cat", cardboard box with metallica written on it (was beavis and butthead but ended up just being the metallica box set by the end of the night), a pippi longstocking pickle and a nothing - you can see halloween dress-up is not a strong point for me, but this year i'm determined! inspire me with your brilliant costumes!

turkeys in the graveyard

september in pictures. landon and john (one half of our glorious three week house companions) went out to get bread one night for our family dinner and came back with a wolf that had been given to them (on loan) by a very generous artist up the street. he has since been returned (much to my relief - i did not like his menacing red eyes).

clothed in velveto

i'm writing this in hopes that sweet sleep will soon take me into warm arms and out of my restless wakefulness in a hot room with party noises next door and a snoring sofa surfer.

here is all the velvet my closet presently has to offer to share with you. velvet, i have learned in my late night quest for sleep readings, is woven on a special loom that weaves two pieces of velvet at a time and originated around the beginning of the fourteenth century (though some sources argue that it has in fact been around since as early as 2000bc - controversy!). up until the twentieth century it was a luxury reserved solely for the royal and rich but now thanks to the industrial revolution (and synthetic fibers) us common folks get to play dress-up with a runny nose and cough and stuff our closets full of the velutinous fabrics. and there you have it friends, i hope this entry has put you to sleep and me too! (fingers crossed)

and still with a bad toe

landon and i are presently bed-ridden with flu symptoms (not those of the dreaded H1N1 however) after a glorious weekend spent canoeing and eating an early turkey dinner with family in the great north. prior to succumbing to a horizontal state i was tempted with lavender chocolates and black bean and avocado pizza into donning wonderful Alexandra Grecco's fall line for her etsy shop. I cannot praise this wonderful lady's work enough! her fall line is brimming with silks, wools and velvet, clearly she knows the way to my heart (through my tummy and velvet). i promise a more lucid update later this week - on a topic of your choice! my keys are dry!

All photos taken by Alex.