stylealchemy™

Dietch PR Fall 2010 Showroom

thealchemist — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 14:23:24 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I was able to attend the Dietch PR Fall 2010 Press Day Event at the Launch Pad Showroom in Lower Manhattan. First of all, it was an honor to be able to view some of these incredible, up and coming talent coming out of the West Coast. One of the collections I was excited to see was Le Sang des Betes which I had written about before. On top of that there were all of these amazing designers that I hadn’t heard about before.

I was blown away by the talent of the designers showcased, i.e. Gabby Applegate, who is completely self-taught but you wouldn’t be able to tell by some of the designs. I think I need the backstabber coat in my closet like now. Leather and mohair jackets - yes please!

Moving on, I once again loved Le Sang des Betes’ latest collection which was both architectural and romantic. This dress was my favorite with a 1930’s feel to it.

The real gem of the afternoon was discovering Funktional! How could I have not known about a completely affordable line (most items are under $100) with designs that I would actually wear? I don’t know but now that I do know, I’m trying to track down places where I can buy some of the items that I saw.

I’m dreaming of this dress. These pictures DO NOT do it justice. It is the most perfect dress ever. This little lightweight floral number has the best cutout back.

Leather and lace jacket from Gabby Applegate.

Loving these tops from The Battalion!

Up close and personal look at Rich & Skinny Jeans.

Once again, thanks to the whole Dietch PR crew including, Roberta, Allison and David for giving us access to these great designers.

♥ the alchemist

stylealchemy Spring Mix Playlist

thealchemist — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 15:32:14 +0000

Aloha Lovelies!

To welcome in this glorious season, I am leaving you with a Spring Mix Playlist for you to entertain your ears with.

A little Kate Bush, Steely Dan (blame my Dad for my love of the song Peg), Dirty Projectors and Solange to get your foot tapping.

I will probably be listening to this, sprawled out in the green, green meadow at the park, sipping on raspberry lemonade.

Source

Word…

♥ the alchemist

Manic Monday

thealchemist — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 18:42:46 +0000

On this Monday, I would encourage you all to start doing what you love so you can start loving what you do.

Sometimes all you need to know is that someone will catch you if you decide to take that leap. I truly believe that you can’t feel fulfilled in life if you are unhappy with how you occupy your time. What gets you going in the morning? Think about the things that excite you. Start thinking about feasible ways to make a living from it.

Don’t think that it can’t be done. Everywhere there are real life examples of people who have made it work for them. Define your own personal level of success and then figure out how to bring more joy to your life.

Go for it. Do what feels right. It always works out in the end. Don’t sleepwalk through life. I try to live by these ideas.

Some background information on this photo: Shot in 1937 for a Dutch Magazine on the Seaside Life. More historic photos can be found here.

♥ the alchemist

Cinema Aesthetic :: Stand By Me

thealchemist — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 17:17:14 +0000

Okay, I have a quick confession to make. I’ve never seen the complete version of the movie Stand By Me. I thought I had because I know what the movie is about. I can recall watching it a couple of times and seeing enough of it to have been convinced for all these years that I saw the whole movie. I just assumed I couldn’t remember all of it because it had been forever since I’d seen it.

However, this past weekend the boy and I went to a midnight movie screening of Stand By Me in the Lower East Side. It was then during the film that I realized that the main reason I couldn’t remember all of it is because basically I hadn’t seen the whole movie. Granted, it was only a few scenes that I couldn’t remember. Oh well, that didn’t stop me from being inspired by the costumes and settings.

Set in the 1950’s the four boys: Gordie, Chris, Vern and Teddy go on an adventure to see a dead body of another young boy in the woods. As a result, a classic coming-of-age story unfolds. I found myself nodding my head and tapping my feet to the soundtrack all the while admiring the classic t-shirt and jean combination. Plus, I couldn’t help but marvel at how young and adorable River Phoenix and all the other actors were.

I’ve never wanted to wear stripes more than ever.

I’ve seen enough hipster boys wandering around Williamsburg wearing something very similar to what Teddy had on. I’m actually considering going thrifting to find an Hawaiian shirt to wear with some jean shorts this spring.

From left to right: Vern, Chris, Gordie, Teddy

Other funny standouts from that night: at the beginning of the movie when Richard Dreyfuss comes onto the screen, the boy asks loudly: What’s Mr. Holland doing there?

Then when Kiefer Sutherland enters the scene for the first time, someone else in the crowd exclaimed: Hey, there’s Jack!

Now because I appreciate all you lovelies so much. I compiled a mini Stand By Me mixtape for you to rock out to.

♥ the alchemist

Digby & Iona

thealchemist — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 12:31:51 +0000

How is it that I still don’t have any jewelry from Digby & Iona???

I first wrote about them back in 2007 because of this awesome stag ring.

I still covet it.

Now, I’m mesmerized by another one of their pieces. The stump ring.

I’m loving the wood grain element to it but the best part is that you can customize the heart on the side with whatever initials you want! Instead of engraving some tree in the park you can have a constant reminder on your finger.

Love. it. lots.

Here is a stop motion film about the stump ring. Enjoy!

♥ the alchemist

Manic Monday

thealchemist — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 19:41:00 +0000

Hello!

This Monday is a little damp and dreary. Perusing the interwebs I found the perfect dress to beat those Monday blues. If I Only Had a Heart dress by Alexandra Grecco on Etsy.

♥ the alchemist

GIF Party

thealchemist — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:09:21 +0000

It’s Friday, y’all. It’s GIF Party time!

For those who don’t know what that means, it’s where a bunch of moving images come together in one spot for both yours and mine entertainment.

I found myself in plenty of eye-rolling situations this past week.

1) Listen, stranger on the train, I really don’t want to hear you discuss your latest sexual conquest with your friend. Can’t you see that I’m trying to be intellectual over here reading my book? I don’t care that you finally got some last night and what exactly you did to her.

This is the face I made when I realized what was being talked about. I quickly turned on my iPod to drown out the noise. Unfortunately, I couldn’t drown out the ick factor for at least five mins though.

2) Hey, you guy in the bar, talking to me with your hot vodka soda breath.

I’m not interested in what you have to say. Thank you for the compliments but really your cheesy lines are killing me.

Also, have you met my boyfriend? No, well he’s right over there. From the look on Simon Cowell’s face, he knows how exasperating it can all be.

3) I rolled my eyes so hard when I heard about Vajazzaling. No, that’s not a typo.

Apparently, vajazzaling is the process of bedazzling your vagina or like some women like to say vajayjay. Oh please. Listen, it never looks good when you bedazzle that old denim jacket, right? Right??

I really don’t care if this is what someone wants to do but please if this becomes a trend I will continue to roll my eyes like Pam from True Blood. Somehow society convinced women to remove all of their hair down there and now you have to replace it with a bunch of Swavorski crystals. Give. me. a. break.

Alright sweets, time for the weekend. Have a great one.

I’m gonna get my dance on like Kenneth from 30 Rock. What about you?? Muah!

♥ the alchemist

Swoon-O-Rama

thealchemist — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:29:12 +0000

Well, well, it’s been a long time since I’ve made one of these lists.

That’s not to say that I haven’t been swooning over anything, I just haven’t been documenting it here.

So without further ado, here’s a quick list of what’s been making me weak at the knees.

♥ Old episodes of Jacques Pepin & Julia Child’s Cooking At Home Show on public access television. Okay, okay. Laugh all you want but I watched it one night after a long day and really enjoyed watching the cooking antics of these old kooks. They hardly agreed on anything but it was kind of cute and charming. Julia with her distinctive, warbly voice and Jacques with his thick French accent, sometimes I didn’t know what the hell they were talking about but it was fun nevertheless.

♥ RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 2. Good Lord, drama, drag queens, lipsynching, it’s a television extravaganza. I’m hooked. Fierce, fierce and then some more fierceness. “The time has come for you to lipsynch for your life.” - is one of my new catchphrases.

♥ Want. this. necklace. so. much. It’s made from old numbers of a vintage flip clock and what a steal at $22.oo. Get in my jewelry collection. NOW.

♥My photography class is ah. maze. ing. I look forward to it every week and I think I have found my newest hobby. For the last class we had to photograph one thing in six different compositions. I used my vintage Justin Roper boots and got some pretty interesting results. I’m really loving the fact that I now understand the technical side to something I’ve been interested in for so long.

♥ I have been DEVOURING these.

Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Almond Ice Cream Bars make me think about warmer weather and as soon as the temperature soared above 50 degrees, I started craving these. Somehow the snack bar size makes me think that I’m not being gluttonous. Which would be true if I ate only one instead of three!

♥ Wendy Bevan is one of my favorite photographers, who’ve I written about a few times. Her latest editorial for Italian Marie Claire made me swoon.

Circus themed, old school glamoured vintage and the debut of her short film.

What’s making you guys swoon? Let me know…

♥ the alchemist

Style Muse: Karen

thealchemist — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:46:25 +0000

Karen of Where Did U Get That blog is a girl after my own fashion heart. Long, flowing dresses with tough accessories, sequins, sequins and more sequins. Plus, her footwear collection is on point. I’m really loving her style.

♥ the alchemist

Vanessa Bruno S/S 2010

thealchemist — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:26:12 +0000

I love that design houses are releasing little videos to accompany their latest collections. Making a visual 3-5min representation of your work is an added bonus that just watching models saunter down catwalks wearing the clothes.

One of the first mini-videos I ever fell in love with was Erin Fetherston’s Wendybird directed by acclaimed Ellen Von Unwerth. Here is Vanessa Bruno’s Printemps 2010 collection starring Lou Doillon.

vanessa bruno- printemps été 2010 from maggieontherocks on Vimeo.

♥ the alchemist