The Chloe Showroom is My Kindred Spirit And Other Random Lovely Bits

Chloé showroom via Porter Magazine's instagram

I've been a (very) bad blogger of late. So bad, in fact, that I've actually pondered stepping away from this space in a more formal way for a while. But every time I'm ready to pull the trigger, farewell post composed in my mind, I chicken out. Blog, I just can't quit you. Sure I'm unreliable and half-assed, but I'm still here. And that's what I'm going with for now...

So no excuses, no long-winded laments about the things that have kept me from this space... Instead let's just go with some lovely things, shall we?

First there's the fun fact that the top of my television cabinet in the den is looking an awful lot like a corner of the Chloé showroom. Oh groovy, wonky, drippy pottery. My love for you knows no bounds.

I'm also smitten with Appointed's canvas notebooks. In fact, Suann's just killed it with the entire Appointed enterprise. She's making the Chicest. Work. Supplies. Ever. The whole thing is just total and complete perfection.

Another obsession: the shoulder baring frocks that went down the runway at Litkovskaya Tbilisi and  Nino Babukhadia. I somehow feel like this is an age-appropriate, smart girl way to do sexy, yes?

And while we're talking perfection, there's the matter of this bedroom situation at Swedish hotel Ett Hem via the genius Ilse Crawford. (Really the entire hotel is just crazy gorgeous.)

And because I'm all about coming full circle, how about we close out this bad boy where we started with some pottery action. Feeling like one of these Clam Lab beauties needs to join the television cabinet line up. Just sayin'.

Less Is (Most Definitely) More...

photos via Anne-Claire Rohe via the NYT

I loved this piece in T Magazine about designer Elizabeth Suzann's small collection of clean-lined, sculptural basics... I'm especially smitten with this quote from the article:

“Our brand isn’t about minimalism, although I do love minimal aesthetics,” she says. “It’s about not cluttering your life with things you won’t use.”

Truth be told, I'm a little smitten with the whole Elizabeth Suzann situation: the gorgeous, moody lookbook; the small studio in Nashville where each item is sewn by hand; the 20th-century artist muses (Eva Hesse and Louise Bourgeois) that inspire her designs; the desire to create lasting things so women will be compelled to buy fewer (but better) things -- all of it.

Well played Elizabeth. Well played.

A Simplified Summer

image via the line...

"Hot as hell" and "summer in Texas" might as well be interchangeable, so you'd think my go-to summer uniform would be one of those barely-there sundresses below... And yet, my daily get up veers decidedly more in the direction of that dress over jeans action above.

See, in my line of work, a typical day can involve a fancy client meeting (add a blazer and some wedges), a muddy site visit (ditch the blazer and swap the wedges for some rubber flip flops that I can rinse off), and some serious schlepping and hauling (keep the flip flops, sweat my ass off, and hope for the best). It's pretty much foolproof friends.

Inspired by a Q&A over on the Anaise blog in which designer Mary Chan of Studio Bartleby shares her summer essentials (rose water and tea tree oil, cotton dresses, sandals, straw hat, sparkling water, orange juice, pesto), I thought I'd go beyond the dress over jeans and share a few other things that are currently helping me get me through the hot as hell, ahem summer in Texas.

Herewith the survival kit...

cherries. holy kombucha. dr. hauschka clarifying day oil. milky chance. a big stack of turkish beach towels (they dry fast, and we spend a lot of time in the pool). lime topo chico. elta md uv clear spf. my library card. toasted sesame seeds. air conditioning(!)

(Did I mention it's as hot as hell?)

What's on your list?

New Necklaces Over On Vee Caravan

Hope you are having a lovely Father's Day friends.

If, after the celebrating of your hubby and/or pops, you happen to be in the mood for a bit of retail therapy this fine weekend, I have new batch of tassel necklaces, a smattering of beaded tassel bracelets, and a few new black ceramic and brass bead necklaces available over on Vee Caravan.

Lise Silva (i.e. the maker of our current obsession)

We have a tendency to fall into group obsessions at the studio. Recent objects of our collective fixation have included Topo Chico,  staghorn ferns, Raquel Allegra, the Evan with chicken at Taco Joint, and Le Labo Santal 33 (we're all about the high/low).

Of late, Lise Silva's knotted necklaces have joined the list.

It started with that ivory "vibration knot" action above. I almost bought it at Christine's pop up shop a few weeks ago, but in a rare moment of responsibility and frugality, I decided to abstain from purchasing. Sam showed up at the same pop up a couple of hours later and snapped it up. Catie also coveted the "vibration knot" but ended up ordering the "entrance knot" online.  She and Sam eventually traded necklaces and currently have them in heavy rotation. Watching the two of them sport their Silva's has made me totally regret my initial decision. (Who am I kidding... I'm jealous every time I see one of them donning that groovy fiber goodness.)

I may have just purchased my own Silva.

Photos forthcoming.

Lise Silva's Double Coin Knot Blue Moon and Trio of Double Coin Knots at Vee Caravan.

If Money Were No Object...

It would be all about the Céline.

Just sayin'.

Some Scenes From Round Top (Or That One Time I Embraced *Extremely* Practical Footwear)

I think it's safe to say, when it comes to shoes, I am decidedly a form over function girl...

I do installs in heels (albeit sturdy platforms), I cut down Christmas trees (well technically Bryan does the cutting) in sandals, I hike in wedge flip flops. Despite the seeming lack of practicality, for me, it's really a comfort thing (hang with me here). I'm not a fan of a closed toe -- too confining; and flats just feel, well, wrong. So I ignore the cajoling and occasional looks of abject horror and don the 3-inch platforms to hang the gallery wall. It's just my thing.

Except when there's acres of mud involved. Mud is an entirely different enterprise. And friends, this year's pilgrimage to the Round Top antiques fair with Sam and Sarah was mud-tastic (mud fest 2015, mod-o-rama). It was all Woodstock meets gilt-encrusted french mirrors and weathered mid-century leather sofas. Flip flops (as Sarah so emphatically pointed out in our frantic, pre-trip shoe-planning text marathon) were not going to cut it.

Ok, now here's the embarrassing confession. I own no close-toe practical shoes. None, zip, nada. I have those damn flip flops and a pair of Teva sandals (with a little wedge, natch), but nothing appropriate for tromping through deep, muddy puddles. Enter the 23rd hour, totally desperate, looking for something out of season, totally rushed shopping trip. (Never a good scene.)

I ended up purchasing that pair of Hunter boots in the first photo above literally minutes before we left town. I was hesitant at best -- they were pricey and flat (sadly the flat part bothered me more than the pricey part), but friends once I slipped on those bad boys and started navigating the flood waters of rural Texas my world was rocked.

Who knew that practical footwear could be so transformative. I was like an antiquing superhero, it was empowering, exhilarating even. I could literally walk through oozing mud holes to get to pretty light fixtures and feel like a massive badass in the process (and let's just say light fixture shopping rarely brings out the badass in a person).

It's official; I am a convert. At least for the Hunters... Tennis shoes, well, that's a whole other story.

Calder...

I'm smitten with Calder,  Amanda Blake's line of artist-inspired (think: Nakashima and Arp) understated, made-to-last cotton basics.

But I'm especially loving her look books. The art direction and styling is perfection... No surprise given that Collection 2 was shot by Blakes's cousin-in-law Sophia Coppola in her elegant, minimal (totally. freaking. perfect.) New York apartment.

And then there's collection 3 shot by Patrick Fraser in Jason Schwartzman and Brady Cunningham's killer mid-century abode. I'm not gonna lie friends, this situation is inducing some serious house envy... it makes me want to rip everything out of my house and totally start over.

Thinking it make more sense to just by the black dress in that second image below.

Thanks Amanda...

Getting My Closet Visit On

All images via Jeana Sohn

We spent the better part of this weekend ripping out my collapsing closet, and I mean literally collapsing, as in I opened the door earlier this week and every blouse/sweater/clutch/pair of jeans/shoes I owned was on a definite downward trajectory.

At first I worried I was seeing things, or perhaps I was dealing with a brain tumor situation (I have a bit of the hypochondria friends), but no, it was just, you know, the hardware (shelves, rods, et al) completely detaching itself from the drywall. Good times. But hey, on the upside, health crisis averted. (Whew.)

So we (and by we I mean Bryan) ripped the whole thing out. And faced with a completely blank slate, I convinced him to not only replace the sad white particleboard shelves with pretty, earthy unfinished wood but to also throw on a new coat of paint and switch out all the rods and hardware. (I have a really good/patient/kind/loving husband.)

Never mind that my clothes are jammed into sundry closets that are not my own, and my handbags are in my bathtub (don't ask) and my shoes... you know I can honestly say I don't know where the hell my shoes are. What matters is that in a week (or three -- B is awesome but slow) my closet will be a blank slate of clean, pristine awesomeness.

You know getting that bad boy in order is one of my goals this year, and the great closet rebuild is inspiring some serious next level action. I'm getting ruthless here people. Only the good stuff is going back in. I'm in take no prisoners mode.

I'm getting inspired by going through all of Jeana Sohn's genius past Closet Visits. I'm fastidiously studying Roxanne and Kayten and Sue and Momo and all the other cool girls with thoughtfully edited, interesting but wearable wardrobes, hoping some of it rubs off on me.

Until then there will be painting and fishing handbags out of the bathtub and trying to find my shoes.

Wish me luck.

Speaking of The Macrame

I spotted this bag made of macrame string when I was checking out the pillows at Calypso today and was instantly smitten. It's a roomy, functional, groovy little work of wearable art.

The perfect foil to all my sensible black leather totes. Hmm...

If It Ain't Broken...

This homage to Jenna Lyon's commitment to the "coat over shoulders"on Style Carrot (spotted via Kelly's pinterest) made me smile this morning. You just gotta respect someone who is staunchly embraces a look -- like, say, a black every. single. day. Hypothetically, of course.

Oh Fashion (Part II)

Photograph by Karim Sadli. Styled by Joe McKenna.

So. Right. On. Especially this:

"Because we are busy. We work. We wipe our children's mouths with the backs of our hands as we rush out the door. We don't have time to consider whether our prints match or our buttons align. "

Yes, yes, yes, and yes. Full stop. (Via T Magazine. Thanks Christine.)


And then there are the three tears below (also in the same issue)... I am seriously digging the fashion ads this season.

 Proenza Schouler

Anya Hindmarch

Bottega Veneta (again)