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)

Digital Valentines I'd Actually Like to Receive

A super-cute collection of e-Valentines via the super-creative people at kate spade:

Special Delivery

Hooray! At last, my very own copy of FLAIR Annual has arrived!

Look at this fantastic hand lettering on the bird's tail! I can't wait to see what other visual delights are inside...

Inspiration: Paper Pursuits

I'm a magazine addict and there is nothing I like better than to browse through vintage magazines on Paper Pursuits. The site has tons of images from fashion magazines like Vogue and Harper's Bazaar (I especially love the issues from the 1950s), interior design magazines (be sure to check out House Beautiful and House & Garden), old advertisements, and even sewing patterns. These publications are a wonderful source of interesting colorways, graphics and period details. Many of the fashion magazines also produced special bridal issues that have gorgeous photos of gowns, veils and bouquets - who knows, maybe it will inspire you to add a vintage touch to your own ensemble!


All the images of vintage Vogue magazines are from Paper Pursuits. From top left: February 1956; March 1956; February 1956 (interior); July 1956; March 15, 1956; July 1956 (interior); October 15 1955, November 15 1955, October 1955 (interior).

Inspiration: Wine Labels

I got married at a vineyard, so I have a soft-spot for wine country weddings. Regardless of whether or not your wedding takes place amongst the vines, wine labels can be a great source for interesting layouts, graphics and typefaces.

I love the calligraphic swirls and crests on old-fashioned and vintage-style labels. If you are after a more modern look, the packaging blog, The Dieline, has photos of some great contemporary labels, like the ones created by Duffy & Parnters (left) and ilustrator Yiying Lu (right).


Images:Wine bottle table numbers and wine favors (upper left), marthastewartweddings.com; Table numbers, save the dates, wine favors, and invitations by Blue Ribbon; Misc. Wine labels from mmdusa.net, Wolffer Estate, Laurent-Perrier, Bonny Doon, St. Supery, Polaner Selections, R. López de Heredia, and theartistslabel.com; Duffy & Partners and ASDA California labels via The Dieline.

Bonnard, Calder & Saint Laurent

Looking for a little visual inspiration? There are two great exhibitions at the Met right now and if you don't feel like leaving home, you can browse the Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé auction catalogues online.

Pierre Bonnard: The Late Interiors (through April 19, 2009)

The White Interior, 1932, Photo: Musée de Grenoble, Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADADGP, Paris (via nytimes.com).

Calder Jewelry (through March 1, 2009)

Caged Crockery, ca. 1945, Silver wire and ceramic; Loop: 18 3/4 in.; element: 5 x 2 3/4 in., Collection Harold and Emily Starr © 2008 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York (via metmuseum.org); Anjelica Huston wearing The Jealous Husband (c. 1940), by Alexander Calder, in a 1976 photograph by Evelyn Hofer (via Art + Auction, artinfo.com/artandauction).

Collection Yves Saint Laurent et Pierre Bergé (the three-day sale begins Monday, February 23rd).

Paper Flowers at Chanel

Look at these unbelievable cut paper headpieces and runway decorations from the Chanel Spring 2009 Couture show. According to style.com, Japanese hairdresser Katsuyo Kamo (and team) "...scored and scissored out...the incredible constructs of paper roses, camellias, leaf fronds, and feathers that adorned each girl." Photos of the complete collection can be found on the Chanel website and style.com.

From style.com

From chanel.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)

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

La Belle France

I love the formal gardens of France; there's something about the symmetry and order of a well designed (and meticulously maintained) landscape that makes me feel balanced and inspired. One of my new favorites is the garden of the Hôtel Biron at the Musée Rodin. The contrast of Rodin's raw and emotionally wrought figures and the restrained elegance of the surrounding gardens made iconic works such as The Gates of Hell and The Burghers of Calais seem much more alive and interesting (to me at least!).


Musée Rodin
www.musee-rodin.fr
77, Rue Varenne
75007 Paris, France
+33 1 44 18 61 10

(The image at top is from the Musée Rodin Website. After Jean-François Blondel, Plan of the courts and gardens of the Hôtel Biron, after 1752, Pen and water colour with traces of graphite.)

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.

Since I've been obsessed with early twentieth-century art recently -- if you are having a wedding at an art gallery or museum, I think this abstract rose petal design would be a lovely choice:


("Cote d'Azur" offset-printed invitation ©2008 Blue Ribbon Design; contact Blue Ribbon for ordering information and pricing.)

Matisse & Picasso

The lithographs downstairs have me dreaming of the South of France and revisiting some of my visual memories from the 2005 exhibition, Matisse: The Fabric of Dreams - His Art and His Textiles. Matisse's palette seems extremely fresh right now and I'm entranced by the artist's ability to capture the essence of both form and pattern in an elegant and idiosyncratic way. Funny how certain things take a while to resonate.


Images above via Adrian Searle's review of the exhibition while at London's Royal Academy for The Guardian: Odalisque with a Screen, oil on canvas, 1923, Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, © Succession H Matisse/DACS 2004; Odalisque with Yellow Persian Robe and Anemones, oil on canvas, 1937, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, © Succession H Matisse/DACS 2004.

Along the same line, this iconic Robert Capa photograph of Picasso and Françoise Gilot in the South of France recently popped into my head. Despite what we know about Picasso as a companion, isn't it a lovely image; so glamorous in a truly bohemian way. I wonder what type of stationery they wrote to each other on during during their romance...


Above image via the New York Times ("A 1948 gelatin silver print of Pablo Picasso and Françoise Gilot in France by Robert Capa, a part of the I.C.P.'s collection.")

New Inspiration

Philip Williams Posters is a vintage poster dealer two doors down from our new space and there is always an eye catching assortment on display in the windows facing Chambers street. Right now I'm drawn to these small format exhibition posters for the work of Miró, Picasso, and others.

(Photo of the current window display at Phillip Williams Posters, located at 122 Chambers Street.)

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)

Les Parfums de Rosine

This tiny boutique is tucked away in the corridors of the Palais Royal - the gardens providing the perfect backdrop for a parfumerie dedicated to exploring the essence of the Rose. The perfumes are delightfully feminine and (of course) I am in love with the packaging.


LES PARFUMS DE ROSINE
Jardin du Palais Royal
105, Galerie de Valois – 75001 PARIS
Tel : 01 42 60 11 51
www.les-parfums-de-rosine.com

(Logo and boutique storefront images from the Parfums de Rosine website. Photos of samples and shopping bag from Blue Ribbon Design)

Decorative Details

Just a few pretty details. From top left: Wall covering from the Grand Trianon, detail of a painted frame in the Louvre, a striking color combination (yellow, salmon pink, black, and gold!), and a close up of de La Tour's pastel of Mme de Pompadour at the Louvre (love the shoes).

Ladurée

One of my favorite places to visit in Paris is Ladurée on rue Royal. Their macarons are known to be amongst the best in Paris and after having eaten here twice during my visit, I can confirm that they are indeed worth a special trip.

The shop's fabled displays of pastel pastries are visually inspiring and the flavors on offer are enchanting: cassis-violette, praliné, framboise, pistache, pétales de rose, caramel à la fleur de sel, fleur d’oranger, citron, pain d’épice...

As a paper person, I especially appreciate Ladurée's flair for packaging and printed details. Wouldn't the initialed tea handle cover above (which is made of a very soft paper, by the way) make a fantastic addition to service at a bridal tea or during dessert at a wedding reception?

And speaking of wedding receptions, if you are having a French-themed celebration, macarons or chocolates from Ladurée would be a wonderfully extravagant wedding favor, especially since Ladurée's sweets are not available yet in the United States and must be ordered directly through the shops in Europe.

Ladurée Royale
16, rue Royale - 75008 Paris
Tel : 01 42 60 21 79 - Fax : 01 49 27 01 95
www.laduree.com

(All photos by Blue Ribbon Design)

Poiret: King of Fashion

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York • on view through August 5, 2007 • www.metmuseum.org

New York, NY • I have always loved the Iribe and Lepape renderings of Poiret's ensembles, so it was a treat to see the actual gowns - with all their beautiful draping - in person. Many of the dresses on display were designed for Poiret's wife, Denise, and the exhibition explores her role as muse. Additionally, the exhibition makes the case for Poiret as a "prophet of modernity" not only because of his revolutionary approach to dressmaking, but his ability to successfully market his brand simultaneously across the realms of fashion, interior design and fragrance. The hand-painted perfume flasks for his Parfums de Rosine were a delightful surprise.



Left: to right Georges Lepape (French, 1887-1971), Hand-Colored Pochoir from Les choses de Paul Poiret, 1911; Georges Lepape (French, 1887–1971)"Serais-je en avance?" from Gazette du bon ton, 1912, gouache on paper (images from metmuseum.org).

On a related note, the Poiret inspired spread photographed by Steven Meisel in the May 2007 issue of American Vogue was utterly stunning.




Above: Steven Meisel, "Vogue: Fashioning the Century," Vogue (May 2007).