Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays from Blue Ribbon Design! We're closing early this afternoon, but will return after the holidays with a sneak peak of some new designs.

(Photo of Wedgwood Jasperware from www.wedgwoodusa.com)

Tony Duquette Holiday Windows

New York is known for it's holiday displays and once again Bergdorf Goodman designed my favorite. This year's theme is the "natural baroque" style of Tony Duquette, rendered in five magical displays inspired by the natural elements Earth, Air, Fire, Light, and Water.

Fire

Abrams just released a new monograph on Duquette and these holiday windows are a wonderful promotional tie-in. Not only are the main windows staged with Duquette-inspired fantasies, but the tiny niche windows contain whimsical displays Tony Duquette jewelry (check out the fine jewelry category of www.tonyduquette.com for a sampling of his designs).

Air

These windows are just stunning in person, the sheer amount of decorative bric-a-brac artfully crammed into each tableau is absolutely amazing. I was shopping at night and was unable to get a decent photo of any of the details (all the above images are from the store's website). If you can't visit the store, at least take a moment to visit the Bergdorf Goodman site to watch a wonderful video that chronicles the design and production of these windows.

Earth

(All photos from www.bergdorfgoodman.com)

Lipstick Queen

Last night I attended a shopping event at Space NK, a British "apothecary" that recently opened it's first US outpost in SoHo. The space is wonderfully spare and the product selection tightly curated, which makes for a decidedly more relaxed and focused shopping experience unlike the harried beauty departments at Henri Bendel or Saks.


Anyway, I wasn't there for the free champagne or chocolates, my real purpose was to check out Lipstick Queen. I first read about the line's creator, Poppy King, when she was profiled in The New York Times Magazine last year (read the article here), and I was taken with how she described her fascination with the glamour, both real and symbolic, of wearing lipstick. Not only are the lipsticks wonderful (her reds truly are wearable), but the package design is gorgeous. I love the Arts & Crafts inspired packaging for the Sinner and Saint lipsticks and the Beardsley-esque backings for the Oxymoron glosses. Given the current minimalist and clinical look of most luxury cosmetic lines, it's refreshing to see a brand that has unabashedly decorative and saucy packaging - definitely a standout in the beauty department.

(Photos top to bottom: www.spacenk.com; www.lipstickqueen.com)

Everything's coming up roses

A few of my favorite places that stylized roses have popped up recently.

Van Cleef & Arpels Roses de Noël

(photo from www.vancleef-arpels.com)

Liberty of London's Nineva Gold Necklace
Not sure if these are roses or camillas; I like to think they are roses
(image from www.libertyoflondon.co.uk)

Satin Rose slingbacks from Prada's resort collection

(from www.trendora.com Copyright © 2007)

La vie en rose

Ever since visiting the Metropolitan Museum's Poiret show this summer, I can't seem to get early 20th century modernism and the Art Deco aesthetic off my mind. Everywhere I turn I see Deco details that catch my eye and now it's beginning to show up in my initial designs for 2008.

I'm particularly obsessed with stylized roses - a favorite motif of couturiers Paul Poiret and Jeanne Lanvin. Apparently, I'm not the only one, since roses seem to be experiencing a kind of revival as another generation rediscovers this classic symbol of feminine beauty and allure. More on the renaissance of the rose in a bit...

(drawing of rose cascade © Blue Ribbon Design 2007)

More Seating Cards!

More seating cards... of the folded variety.

(Seating card designs & photos by Blue Ribbon Design)