NYFW Post-script: Marissa Webb Spring/Summer 2013
29/10/2012 § Leave a comment
Just a short post-script on a lovely collection I missed seeing during NYFW. Marissa Webb, the eponymous line by the former head of womenswear design at J.Crew, takes the best of the iconic classics she perfected over 11 years at the helm of the national brand and adds just the right amount of maturity and edge. Her premier collection is tailored without sacrificing femininity, and best of all, features more than a few ties. She has some beautiful prints, but I really find myself drawn to the monochrome suits and the solid contrast looks — the red suit and the black and white dress are definitely the high notes. See the full lookbook here.
I’m still unaware of the stockists at this point, but definitely watch this space.
Marissa Webb is showing all signs of being a longtime favorite.
All images via Marissa Webb.
Oh Sandy
29/10/2012 § Leave a comment
A very sandy kitty dealing with Hurricane Hazel.
Taken in Wilmington, North Carolina, 1954 by Hank Walker.
So this hurricane stuff is getting to be a yearly thing, it seems — me, having to scamper from my home in Lower Manhattan, for higher and drier ground elsewhere in the city. Such is the life of a Zone A resident. In any event, please rest assured that I am safe and sound and will be riding out Hurricane Sandy with good friends in a more favorable Zone. To earn my keep I’ve brought an armful of glossy magazines and Auntie Mame, and have been on round-the-clock hot toddy duty. One must have priorities, clearly.
Please do your best to be safe in the storm, East Coasters.
All best,
M.
Some helpful links:
NYC Office of Emergency Management Evacuation Zone Finder
National Weather Service
Downtown Alliance – Lower Manhattan
Red Cross Go Bag Checklist
Your theme song, courtesy of Danny Zuko:
Throwback Thursday || There Will Be Breweries (and Beards)
24/10/2012 § 6 Comments
From the family archives: an amazing group portrait — which you must click to enlarge — featuring my great, great-grandfather Peter Joseph in New Orleans, sometime after the Civil War. A veteran, a civic leader and a policeman, he somehow also had the time to serve as foreman for a brewery built on Canal Street, and here he is pictured with his crew. You can find him either by the arrow penciled in on the photo, or you could just search for a masterful beard…
Quite Continental Mix IV: Daddy’s Girl
23/10/2012 § Leave a comment
As long as I can remember, my father has always had a guitar in the house. A member of a garage band when he met my mother, he’d frequently pick at his pretty Guild with its sunburst finish while we watched television that he wasn’t all that interested in, giving our TGIF sitcoms a folksy soundtrack (which we loudly complained about). But when I was about 13, I decided that I wanted to learn how to play the guitar, too. My father, delighted, promptly bought me a classical guitar of my own, showed me a few chords and then gave me all of the dog-eared songbooks he had: Crosby, Stills and Nash, The Eagles, Simon & Garfunkel, etc.
Ultimately, the guitar didn’t take, but the music definitely did. And this fall, I’ve been surrounding myself with the kind of music that reminds me of my Dad — rock with notes of folk and country, singer-songwriters with distinctively smoky voices, and more than a little melancholy. I’ve even included the first song that my Dad tried to teach me on my guitar: “Helplessly Hoping” by Crosby, Stills and Nash. Also featuring Dan Auerbach, The Allman Brothers Band, Ray LeMontagne, Ryan Bingham, The Avett Brothers, and The Head And The Heart, among others, it’s just as good for pensive drives in the country to look at the turning foliage, as it is for Sunday mornings with a steaming hot cup of coffee and a big fat newspaper or two. I hope you enjoy it.
You can find it via the player embedded above or via this link.
Image via the US National Archives.
La Bombe Dior
19/10/2012 § 3 Comments
Tourbillon dress and bolero in black crepe wool,
Haute Couture collection Fall-Winter 1957-1958. Ligne Fuseau
Aventure outfit, jacket with black and white houndstooth, pencil skirt in black wool.
Haute Couture collection Spring-Summer 1948. Ligne Envol
Abandon dress in black wool, Haute Couture Fall-Winter collection 1948-1949. Ligne Ailée
Arizona wool coat in cherry red. Haute couture Fall-Winter collection 1948-1949. Ligne ailée.
Porto Rico dress with black and white polka dot.
Haute Couture Fall-Winter collection 1954-1955. Ligne H
Portugal evening gown in white organdie with cerise embroidery
Haute Couture Spring-Summer collection 1957. Ligne Libre
I suppose that when one is Marion Cotillard, it is practically all in a day’s work to pose in iconic haute couture pieces from the Dior archive — created by Monsieur Dior himself — and transform oneself into the “The Dior Bombshell” for amazing photographs by Jean-Baptiste Mondino as part of the Lady Dior web documentary.
Le sigh. She looks so perfect that it almost difficult to be jealous.*
*Please note I said “almost.”
School Days: Wellesley College, 1949
18/10/2012 § 4 Comments
These great pictures, taken by Nina Leen for Life Magazine, make me wish I could find Doc Brown to fix my flux capacitor so I could pop back to 1949 to either a) hang out with all these rad girls at Wellesley College in 1949 and/or b) abscond back to the present day with all their clothes. Barring that, I suppose you can officially consider me on high alert vintage patrol for one of those double-breasted trench coats with a fur collar. If you happen to find one, be a dear and let a (Seven) Sister know.
Photos taken by Nina Leen on October 10, 1949, via the Life Archive.
Throwback Thursday || Halloweenasaurus Rex
18/10/2012 § 6 Comments
I have always adored Halloween. I think it probably has a lot to do with the fact that during my formative years my mom took the time to make costumes for all three of us (and usually also for herself and my dad) from scratch – and they were always of our own choosing. We’d all make a special trip to the (usually boring) fabric store with renewed interest, ready to pick something amazing from those big floppy pattern books.
In the first grade, the most amazing thing I could think to be was a dinosaur. And my mother, bless her heart, obliged her tomboy with the felt creation you see above. However, you’ll also note that she added two bows and a bit of lipstick.
“If you’re going to be a dinosaur,
at least you’re gonna be a GIRL dinosaur!”
You know, maybe it’s high time for a repeat.
Happy Halloween!
What are you going to be?
Throwback Thursday || Autumn in New York
11/10/2012 § 1 Comment
Holy smokes! Where’ve ya been, kid?
Guilty as charged! I’ve definitely been quiet this week, and I’ve got to chalk it up to autumn in New York, which is quietly unfurling its beautiful self with cool evenings, hot toddys, falling leaves and flannel bathrobes. I’ve slipped down a few rabbit holes these last few days, of the cultural, literary, culinary, musical, and cinematic kind, which I am looking forward to sharing with you very soon. But today, I am forced to beg your forgiveness for being a wayward parent as of late. I’m hoping a gorgeous rendition of Autumn in New York by Sarah Vaughn might help me win you back…
Autumn in New York
Why does it seem so inviting
Autumn in New York
It spells the thrill of first-nighting
Glittering crowds and shimmering clouds
In canyons of steel
They’re making me feel
I’m home
It’s autumn in New York
That brings the promise of new love
Autumn in New York
Is often mingled with pain
Dreamers with empty hands
May sigh for exotic lands
It’s autumn in New York
It’s good to live it again
Whisky Kissed
05/10/2012 § 3 Comments
Spend a day with a handsome, Macallan-drinking Scot in New York?
Where does one sign up?
Adore these photographs of actor Kevin McKidd taken by Annie Leibovitz for The Macallan Masters of Photography Series. The texture and tone combine for a deliciously golden experience, with each scenario intended to evoke the spirit of a distinct Macallan whisky, and were shot in New York City, the Red Dot restaurant and bar in Hudson, and private homes upstate.
All images via The Macallan.
Throwback Thursday || Stormy Weather
04/10/2012 § 1 Comment
Quite Continental 