Blogger Inspired...

The newest edition to my 'chic reads' link list is none other than Blair Edie's beautiful blog, Atlantic-Pacific. I love her stunning collection of sunnies and bangles, charming dresses, and signature bouffant. 

Her dress in this post is gorgeous. The detail is amazing, I would snatch one up for myself if I had somewhere fancy to go!

There are so many blogs out there, I'm discovering new favorites everyday. It's a great way to get inspired, I nearly always find something that makes me want to draw. 

I hope everyone has a relaxing weekend. I'm going out for a walk in Central Park with the BF to enjoy this lovely NYC weather and then I'll be working on the studio!

Manolo's Sketchbook...

It's always interesting to discover designer illustrations, whether they be working sketches or works of art. A friend recently bequeathed this fabulous book to me (one less thing for her to move to a new apartment). Lucky me! It is full of Manolo Blahnik's most imaginative shoe drawings paired with insightful commentary from Anna Wintour, Kate Moss, and Sarah Jessica Parker. Needless to say, I'm eager to get drawing... stay tuned!

Inspiration Organization...

I'm a huge fan of fashion magazines. I love them for their glossy pages, beautiful editorials, colorful advertisements, and of course reference images for my illustrations. In design school, we were taught to collect magazine tears religiously, which I thought was great because I already had a massive collection of fashion magazines I had been hanging onto since high school. But magazines are heavy and take up a lot of room (especially 5 years worth of them) so now I go through collective purging when they start to take up too much space in our little NYC apartment. I've been meaning to take all those tears and organize them somehow but the task seemed so daunting. Over the past four weekends, I've been working on this project a little at a time. Over 300 cellophane sleeves later, I have my book and I am so thrilled at how easy and wonderful it is to flip through and get inspired. Here's how to make your own:

Step 1: Gather a collection of your favorite magazines.
Step 2: Flip through and pull tears of your favorite images, products, clothes, editorials-- anything that catches your fancy and makes you happy
Step 3: Trim the edges so that each page will fit nicely in a cellophane plastic sleeve
Step 4: Slide your tears into a protective sleeve and organize them in a binder however best suits your creative method. I like to arrange my images in two page spreads that relate to one another by color, theme, mood, etc.

Once you're finished, you've not only organized that messy notebook/folder/pile of loose pages that's been hanging around, you've created the best magazine ever, curated by you! Now if you're ever feeling uninspired, lost, confused, and unable to find your voice, open this book and it will be full of everything that you find to be beautiful. Think of it as a bible of your personal aesthetic. Enjoy!

p.s. Doesn't Emma Watson look beautiful on Vogue's July cover? I may just have to draw that...
p.p.s. Please feel free to follow my blog with Bloglovin!

Flower Girl...

Yesterday I finally went to the Met and saw the much talked about Alexander McQueen exhibit. It was incredibly inspiring and worth the long wait in line that seemed to wrap around the whole second floor of the museum! There were so many things to look at it was hard to take it all in but I absorbed as much as possible. What really struck a chord -- the fantastical headwear. Here is my own version... it was fun to create and I'm really happy with how it turned out. I guess I just needed to get out of my apartment and take in a dose of New York City to get inspired. 

Paper Fashion...

While flipping through the most recent online issue of Lonny Magazine this morning, I came across an advertisement for a costume exhibition and had to know more. I love all things relating to the 16th and 18th centuries, specifically the royal families of Queen Elizabeth and Marie Antoinette. After following the link to the Legion of Honor website, a fine arts museum in San Francisco (darn!) I learned that each piece is made entirely of paper. Amazing! It's too bad the exhibit isn't here, in NYC. I'd be there in a heartbeat!

Image Credit: Legion of Honor Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

100 Years, 100 Designers...

A couple weeks ago I found myself on 59th and 5th passing by the amazing window displays at Bergdorf Goodman. Snow was literally falling over gorgeous Chanel jackets and skirts. I didn't think they could top themselves. But this week the windows are devoted to WWD's 100 year anniversary: '100 years, 100 designers.'

What caught my eye: the fabulous illustrations! Three entire windows are devoted to this display so if you live in NYC, you should definitely check it out.

Flea Market Finds...

When it's not too hot out and I feel like trekking to Fort Greene on a summer Saturday, I hit up the Brooklyn Flea. It's an exhilarating way to spend the afternoon searching for vintage jewels and antique furniture. I love a good treasure hunt!

Which brings me to my main reason for starting a blog... I've decided to create this space to document my time in New York City and give me a reason to make time for the things I love: fashion, art, design, and creativity. I hope that over the next few months I'll be able to share my adventures, sketches, photos, and all the things that make me happy. I hope you'll join me!