Phillip Lim Collage Video

It's amazing how much work goes into producing an intricately constructed dress. I love Phillip Lim's clothes and regularly haunt the Mercer Street store, but after watching this video, I've developed a deeper appreciation for his design process - he is ridiculously talented.



www.31philliplim.com

J.Crew Bridal Boutique

Hooray! Finally! The J.Crew Bridal Boutique opens on Madison today. Read all about it and see some interior shots on Racked NY.

Florisity Floral Gallery

I'm happy to report that the floral designer formally at Utowa is still making gorgeous arrangements at his new shop, Florisity. The staff there is so accommodating and the quality of the flowers is top-notch. It's definitely one of my go-to places for flowers and gift-worthy plants.

Florisity
1 West 19th Street (btw 5th & 6th Avenues)
212.366.0891 | www.florisity.com

alexis bittar Spring 2010

The newest addition to my collection (Thank you M.!)

I have been collecting Alexis Bittar's jewelry for couple of years now and I am completely obsessed with this Spring's offerings. Most editors favor the chunky sculptural pieces from the Miss Havisham Collection, but I almost always go for designs from the Lucite and Elements Collections. Below are some of my favorites from the new collection:

GOLD IMM. CORAL CHRYSOPRASE ABALONE EARRING IN WARM GREY

LARGE GOLD CORAL & CHRYSTO. METAL MESH HINGE BANGLE

SHORT GOLD SQUARE SECRET GARDEN NECKLACE

If you have the opportunity, definitely visit one of the stores. There are always pieces available from the current collection that are not shown on the website and there is usually a mix of one-of-a-kind editorial pieces and vintage pieces for sale as well. Plus, the staff has an amazing flair for accessorizing and I'm always impressed by how creatively they wear Alexis's designs.

www.alexisbittar.com

Alexis Bittar - Soho
465 Broome St. (between Mercer and Greene)

Alexis Bittar - West Village
353 Bleecker St. (between W10th and Charles)

Alexis Bittar - UES
1100 Madison Ave (between 82nd and 83rd Streets)

San Francisco Eye Candy

Earlier this week I was in San Francisco for a short visit with friends, eating my way through some of the city's best bakeries, admiring the city's Victorian and Beaux-Arts architecture, and visiting as many charming boutiques as time would allow. Here are some of the highlights:

On an early morning walk to Coit Tower I stopped to admire the window display at I Dream of Cake (1351 Grant Avenue, 415-918-CAKE). They have an amazing wedding cake gallery on their website (www.idreamofcake.com) - check it out - you will not be dissapointed! The walk back to Union Square yielded some delightful decorative ironwork, such as the entryway doors below:

And then it was off to the Ferry Building to enjoy the sites and smells of the Farmer's Market and lunch at The Slanted Door.

After a quick pick me up from Blue Bottle Coffee Co. it was off to Hayes Valley for some macarons. First up: Paulette Macarons (437 Hayes St., 415-864-2400).

The slick white interior is the perfect backdrop for Paulette's exquisite vibrantly colored macarons. These are some of the best I have tasted outside of France and standout flavors include sweet wedding almond, violet cassis, coconut, passion fruit, and jasmine tea. Then we strolled over to Miette (449 Octavia St., 415-626-6221) where we sampled their hazelnut and vanilla macarons and gushed over the precious displays.

Then it was back to my friend's flat in Pacific Heights for a walking tour of the neighborhood's immaculate mansions and visits to a few of her favorite shops.

On our way out we passed these enigmatic window displays for mixed media artist Julie Salles's intensely elaborate and whimsical story boxes (www.juliesallesartist.com). The delicacy and precision of her cut paper work is stunning. My friend, who an authority on all things floral, took me to one of her favorite florists, Bloomers, which was completely packed with gorgeous spring flowers including lilacs, peonies, and lily of the valley, not to mention a lovely selection vessels, ribbons, and letterpress note cards. Unfortunately, we did not have time to visit her other neighborhood favorite, birch - I guess I now have a reason to go back!

J.Crew Wedding Collection

Last weekend I went with a friend to check out the J.Crew Wedding Collection at the Rockefeller Center store here in New York. It was so nice to finally see all the dresses in person! The silhouettes are simple and elegant, the gowns are nicely made, and the prices are gentle on the pocketbook (most designs cost between $695 and $1500). A few standouts were (from top right) the Gracie Gown ($395), Penelope Gown ($695), Confetti Gown ($995), and Mimi T-Shirt Gown ($795) :

In addition to the bridal gowns they had a selection of dresses from the bridesmaids collection and samples of flower girl and ring bearer outfits from crewcuts - the flower girl dresses were especially cute. I also found out that J.Crew offers a monogramming service where they will embroider your initials and wedding date onto a piece of grosgrain ribbon that you can then sew into your gown - very sweet.

Femmegems

Have you ever wanted to make your own jewelry, but didn't quite know where to start? Then you should make an appointment at Femmegems new studio in Chelsea.

Femmegems stocks all the raw materials (clasps, wires, beads, etc.) and shows you how to assemble everything into a unique piece of jewelry. You can make necklaces, earrings, or bracelets and if you don't want to start from scratch, they even do jewelry makeovers, where they take your old jewelry (an old string of pearls, charm bracelets, etc.) and update it by restringing, embellishing, or simply changing the clasp. They also do parties which could make for a fun night out with your bridal party. Imagine, sipping wine and snacking on crudités while you and your bridesmaids make something beautiful to wear to the wedding. Sounds lovely...

CHELSEA STUDIO
134 West 26th Street, #400
New York, NY 10001
212.625.1611
www.Femmegems.com

By Appointment Hours:
Tuesday – Thursday 8:30am – 1:00pm

New York Cake & Baking Supplies

My six-year-old niece received an Easy-Bake oven for her birthday so I thought she would enjoy some fun decorating supplies to embellish her mini cakes with. This was a great excuse to visit New York Cake & Baking Supplies. If you are planning to make your own cake, cupcakes, candies, or cookies for your wedding this store is a fantastic resource.

They have just about every size cake pan, cookie cutter and pastry tip you could possible want, as well as sprinkles, nonpareils, icing dyes, and pre-made sugar paste flowers. They also sell packaging and display items like cake stands, cupcake wrappers, baker's twine, and cellophane bags. Plus they have an impressive selection of candles including those tall skinny ones - I love those.

Be forewarned though - the store is cluttered and a little dingy (this is not Williams-Sonoma!) and the clerks are not exactly known for their customer service. But if you are serious about baking and planning to make your own sweets, this is the place to go.

New York Cake & Baking Supplies
56 W 22nd St (between 5th Ave & Avenue Of The Americas)
New York, NY 10001
(212) 675-2253
www.nycake.com

Fran's Chocolates

Valentine's Day is almost here and if you like to give the traditional gift of chocolate, Fran's offers some of the best in the country. My personal favorite is the gray salt caramels (pictured below), but they have lots of other delicious offerings including chocolate stuffed figs and single malt whiskey truffles. Unless you live in Seattle, Fran's delicacies can be difficult to find (I've only seen them consistently at one specialty food store in Great Barrington) so it is best to order directly from the company's website, www.franschocolates.com.

Gray Salt Caramels (image from franschocolates.com)

Paulette Macarons

I was just reading about this in the new Spring/Summer issue of Town & Country Weddings: "Beverly Hills pastry shop Paulette will bake macarons in your wedding colors..." ($4 for a box of 2 cookies).

Imagine the (delicious) possibilities! Yellow lemon, mint chocolate, pink grapefruit, dark brown Caribbean chocolate... well, you get the idea.




(All the stationery is by Blue Ribbon; All the photos of macarons are from the Paulette Macarons website, www.paulettemacarons.com)

Pronovias Bridal & Prudence Designs

Last night, I made a quick stop at the BRIDES Magazine Bitten by Love event at the Pronovias showroom in midtown. Pronovias has a stunning selection of ultra-feminine and glamorous gowns and I was particularly taken with all the stylized rosettes incorporated into the dresses and accessories, like the amazing veil/headpiece below:

There were also a select group of vendors showing their work throughout the showroom's five floors, so I took the opportunity to check out the work of New York City florist Prudence Designs.

I had first noticed their arrangements in domino. They use the loveliest vessels and I think their work is perfect for a classic bride who appreciates sleek simplicity. Their work is just as charming in person as it is on the website and the floral designers couldn't be nicer - they are definitely worth adding to your list if you are researching city florists.

Images: "Valdemar" gown from the Manuel Mota Costura Collection at Provonias (photo via www.provonias.com); A screen shot of the Prudence Designs website, www.prudencedesigns.net.

Pop Art Inspired Packaging at Ladurée

As if their delicious macarons weren't reason enough for a visit, Ladurée always seems to have the most interesting packaging. In addition to the classic "Ladurée green" boxes, they often have limited edition boxes available. The pop art inspired boxes above are their latest offering.

If you enjoy traditional French sweets and their packaging as much as I do, you must check out the blog Paris Breakfasts.

French Stationery

I spotted these lovely pieces while walking past Olivier De Sercey's shop on Rue de Bac. I love the restraint and old-world elegance of engraved invitations and would like to see the return of traditional formats (like the book fold invitations shown below), but in letterpress of course!

Below are some samples of old-school correspondence and calling cards. Aren't these just stunning in their simplicity?

Olivier De Sercey
96 Rue du Bac, 75007 PARIS
www.olivierdesercey.com

Roses from the Union Square Greenmarket

I happened to be in Union Square this morning and since it is a market day, I stopped to buy some roses from one of my favorite vendors. Even though I've been buying roses from them for some time now, I'm embarrassed to admit that I do not know the name of the grower! They are always in the same spot, on the Northwest corner of the park, and their flowers are definitely worth a special trip.

Pretty Window at Fragments

I really like this fanciful window display currently on view at Fragments in SoHo.

This Victorian fairy-fantasy reminds me a bit of fashion photographer Tim Walker's work, which (happily) seems to be everywhere these days...

The TimWalker photo above is from the teNeues website. Visit Thomas Treuhaf for a wonderful slide show of Walker's work.

Window Display at MarieBelle SoHo

I was walking by MarieBelle on Friday and spotted this gorgeous window display. I just love the color combination of the two shades of coral and the turquoise blue. The paper peonies poking out from the tops of MarieBelle's beautifully patterned coffee tins are amongst the most life-like crepe paper flowers I've ever seen.

MarieBelle SoHo
484 Broome Street
New York, NY 10013
212.925.6999
www.mairebelle.com

Flowers from Utowa

Each year I order flowers from Utowa for my booth at the National Stationery Show. The in-store floral display is amazing and I always leave inspired. This year I ordered a giant clutch of pink peonies and I can't wait to pick them up on Saturday!


Utowa
17 West 18th Street (btw 5th & 6th Avenues)
New York, NY 10011
Tel: (212)366-0891

******UPDATE ******

Utowa is no longer open, but the florist has moved into his own space nearby and his shop is now called florisity.

florisity
1 West 19th Street
(between 5th Ave & Avenue Of The Americas)
New York, NY 10011
(212) 336-0891
florisity.com

Busy, Busy

It's finally Spring in New York and between all the May weddings and the upcoming National Stationery Show, things have been very, very busy. This is the time of year I spend a lot of time visiting all of my favorite shops to order trim, paper, flowers, and all the random accessories needed for special print projects and Blue Ribbon's display at the show.

One of my favorite things to shop for is ribbon. I usually buy my ribbons directly from Midori, but if I need something for a special project in a hurry I'll run up to the Garment District and get what I need at M&J Trim, Tinsel Trading Company, or their sister store, The Store Across the Street. While I'm usually shopping for basic grosgrains and silk satins, I'm always tempted by the wide moiré ribbons and Tinsel Trading's vintage metal laces and threads. Maybe someday I'll have the opportunity to incorporate them in to a custom order....

M&J Trimming
1008 Sixth Ave.
New York, NY 10018
1.800.9.MJTRIM
www.m&jtrim.com

Tinsel Trading Company
47 W 38th Street (btw 5th & 6th Avenues)
New York, NY 10018
212.730.1030
www.tinseltrading.com

The Store Across The Street
64 W 38th Street (btw 5th & 6th Avenues)
New York, NY 10018
212.354.1242

(Photo: Cutting ribbon at M&J Trim)

New Store: Thistle & Clover

Last night I attended the opening for a new boutique in Fort Greene named Thistle & Clover. The owners have curated a sophisticated mix of clothing, jewelry and accessories, all displayed in a sleek gallery-like setting that really allows the individual products to shine. They also have a small selection of stationery - including a few designs by yours truly - which they have displayed in an antique case along with some gorgeous earrings and necklaces. The shop is beautiful and owners couldn't be nicer, so if you are in the neighborhood, definitely check it out!


Thistle & Clover
221 DeKalb Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11205
(718) 855 5577 (t)
(718) 855 5533 (f)
www.thistleclover.com

Store Hours:
Monday-Friday 12PM-8PM
Saturday & Sunday 11AM-7PM

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)