VOYAGE • east london guide
Fathom has been wonderful enough to publish my travels on their amazing travel site. It’s so fun to collect and write about all the wonderful people and places that I came across. Check out their site and the story.
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Archive for the 'STYLE' category
HERITAGE • Pringle of Scotland gets busy with the archive project
I have long collected Pringle Vintage Sweaters, and now It seems that due to the many amazing programs and special product ranges they’re diving into that I need to start collecting their new sweaters as well. The site has lots of great content on their many programs to check out. It doesn’t hurt that one of my favorites of all time Tilda Swinton is the face of the Archive Project. She has been a source of inspiration from the moment that I stumbled into a theater in the early 90′s on my first jaunt to London with my high school boyfriend. Orlando was screening, and It impacted me creatively in a very big way. Good Stuff all around at Pringle a heritage brand with an eye toward the future and their community! Click on the photos to check out their stories and shop their wares.
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STYLE • fashion trunk
If you’re lucky enough to stay at The Berkeley in london ring ahead and request the fashion trunk. it’s full of vintage designer treasure, and yes you get to actually wear the treasure.
NOSH • Hamptons in Manhattan? St. Barths in Tribeca? YES!
NOSH • 9/8/11
Yes Sir. Cafe Clementine delivers. This is one of my new favorite go-to lunch spots in NYC to snag food on the quick. Check it out.
VOYAGE • OJAI 90 mins = two days in paradise…
how to get there,
where to stay,
what to eat,
and what to do.
Ojai charmed me this weekend.
The landscape combined with the people makes it one of the most enchanting places I’ve been.
It’s the best of America’s small towns combined with the beauty of being connected to a larger world.
I’d go back next weekend if I could.
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TRANSPORT
Ojai is a very beautiful and easy 90 min drive from LA.
2 days is enough to feel like you’ve truly had a holiday.
I’m distraught that I didn’t figure this out 10 years ago!
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STAY
There are 2 great places to stay in Ojai,
Ojai Valley Inn & Spa or The Lavander Inn
We chose the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa and it was as close to perfection as any hotel I’ve stayed at. It’s not cheap but it’s worth it. They’re extremely pet friendly as well, which made Quinn very happy!
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EAT
Day 1
Lunch – Knead
The mother and daughter that run this lovely spot take great pride in their thoughtful treats. We saw them both days and quite possibly spent more time and money with them than anyone else. 5 packs of handmade crackers are a must, right? Now I’ve got to throw a cocktail party now just to use them!
Dinner – Azu
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Day 2
Breakfast – Ojai Farmers Market
Lunch – Boccali’s
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DO
Day 1
Muffler Art
This is on the side of the road and isn’t really a site, but it did provide a first Ojai smile at the idea of art meeting small town America. It was perfection.
Ron is amazing; he walked us through the entire process of importing, grafting, and growing the trees. Then sorted through the process of picking, packing, processing, finishing, and bottling. It was a treat to hear about his adventures with Olives. The oil itself is wonderful and worthy of the best from Italy and Spain.
Vista Point
Normally I find these corny, and living off Mulholland in the Hollywood Hills leaves me navigating tourists on a daily basis. You should stop here, climb onto the stone pillar holding the explanatory plaque and you’ll see the whole valley laid out in front of you. It’s magical.
6 weeks a year you can go harvest your own lavender. I chose the cooking variety. In the coming days will attempt to re-create the only pudding on the planet that I can’t get enough of. The chocolate pudding at Perry Street, with crystallized lavender on top…wish me luck!
Visit Larry Carnes – Master Potter
We were headed to lunch when we saw the sign, “the pottery studio” and a quick u-turn later we were back spending the good part of an hour with Larry Carnes. He’s a master potter who knows more about clay than I’m going to guess just about anyone on the planet. His work is entertaining and the vessels are addictive, I walked away with 5. If you’re lucky enough to get to spend 8 weeks in Ojai you can have Larry teach you his secrets.
Bike
There are wonderful trails in Ojai, and bikes can be rented. It’s well worth it!
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Day 2
Hike
The trails in Ojai are many and fine. This is a great way to start your morning.
Farmers Market
The farmers market in Ojai is of very high standards; there are no fakers here. The market is very well thought out and quite diverse, every stall I stopped at was directly farm owned and staffed. I resisted the bounty of beautiful perishable items due to the impending drive back to LA, but still managed to walk away with a good bit of loot….local honey, the best market basket ever from Ghana, more treats from Knead, Sugar Scrub, Organic Herbal Teas and Persimmon Walnut Nougat. Ron is at the farmers market on Sunday’s with his oils, we got the pleasure of sharing a photo with Ron that we’d taken while at Larry’s Pottery studio the day before. It was of some lovely dipping plates that Larry had fashioned for Ron to sell at the olive oil farm. Larry was wickedly proud when he shared his secret. “Ron doesn’t know yet but I’ve got dipping plates for him.” we loved getting to break the surprise to Ron the next day, and hopefully help the venture along with our enthusiastic delivery.
Wander
It’s worth a no destination meander through the downtown area, you won’t get lost and you may just find a wonderful surprise…
This place is fab, it’s an open-air bookstore, how impractical. I love it! There’s a sign on the door about how to pay for the books permanently installed on the outside, yes outside of the building. This is a theme in Ojai, there are produce stands spattered about with the honor system for payment, it’s refreshing to think that this is still possible in America in 2010. Bart’s is the best used bookstore I’ve seen, it’s huge since it covers the whole property including the small house that I am guessing was the original structure on the property. There are rows and rows of books on almost any subject you can imagine, I picked up a book I’d never seen before on hand tufted rugs. Tip…if you go, buy the tote that is pictured below. It’s perfect, and I resisted. I’m still kicking myself! I’ll just have to use it as an excuse to visit again very soon!
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STYLE • FASHIONABLY REAL
We have a passion for fashion documentaries…here are our 10 favorites.
Worth watching over and over and over again.
The movie titles click through to their listings on Netflix, they’re all on there….
Yves Saint Laurent: His Life and Times
Viktor & Rolf: Because We’re worth it!
Ultrasuede: In search for Halston
STYLE • SHARKS CIRCLING THEIR PREY
Yesterday evening we began pulling down the stash to send to the sample sale today, and as you can see below there was a bit of a delay in the process…
Every box was neatly packed and stored away over the last 6 months, 2500 units and no chaos.
Yisbel had a GENIUS idea….sometimes the runt of the litter is the most dangerous.
The crew politely picked thorough a few boxes searching for gems they may have missed over the years…
As the process continued, the polite picking turned into ravaged hunting, the crew began diving and contorting to snag their loot. In the end every box was opened and raided.
It’s wonderful for me to see that the people who work so hard to bring the collections to market in this crazy world of fashion are still this excited about what we do.
We’ve repacked the boxes and are on our way to the sample sale venue now….we expect a repeat performance later today and tomorrow and we’re a little scared…
VOYAGE • PARIS II – Cafe De Flore
Cafe de Flore is a must stop on all trips to Paris, no matter if it’s for breakfast, lunch, dinner, cocktails, coffee with amazing French magazines from the near by newsstand. It’s been a favorite of the creative influencers for generations and is something everyone should experience more than once.
The first photo below was snapped on a recent trip which felt very much like a modern day Herbie the Love Bug, and was shot on actual film with my Contax T3. I had no idea if it had turned out for months and months, the camera ended up on an extended stay in Paris and it was such a wonderful surprise when the camera arrived and the images were useable.
These are images old and new that tell the story of the cafe.
CRAFT • TIE-DYE 101
As we headed toward sending our recent Holiday 2010 collection to market I was compelled to add in an additional layer of craft to one of the GF pieces. I had squirreled away a pillow purchased in Palm Beach, Australia December 2008 for inspirational use someday in the future, and the future was suddenly here. The Geren Ford Los Angeles studio became Tie Dye camp for a few days as we researched the techniques and processes. Jennifer who works with us here in LA really is the master and creator of this project. It was a really fun process to watch come to life. The photos below are of her handiwork and the finished product at the look book shoot! We got our information from Google and You Tube and our supplies from Pearl Paint (minus the gloves – Jennifer had those on her own).
