I just can’t get over the beautifully designed dresses and lookbooks from Nadia Tarr ever since I saw them on Miss Moss. The silhouettes of her design are stunning and timeless. The first thing you’d want to do in her clothing is twirl, which makes sense given her background as a dancer and choreographer.
I’m lusting over the lookbooks just as much as I am the clothing.
If I were to become a filmmaker, I imagine that my work would look something a bit like Sofia Coppola’s. Though I’ve not seen all of her films, I hold a deep reverence for three in particular: The Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette, and now The Bling Ring. They make up a perfect trifecta that represent the limited and liberating prison of feminine youth. Dressed in shiny pretty things, all of Coppola’s main characters are archetypes that we see and recognize as ourselves and therefore both love and hate.
In terms of simply “liking” to “disliking”, my preferential order of the three would be parallel to the linear order of the historical settings – Antoinette, Suicides, then Bling. Perhaps this is because the farther removed I am from the context, the more willing I am to buy into the romantic or poetic notion of the characters’ stories. Marie Antoinette is a visual feast for my eyes which makes me completely oblivious and almost ignorant of the actual truth of the history behind the character. On the flip side Bling Ring is similarly attractive to my material desires, but completely sickening for me to indulge in. The disparity in pure viewing pleasure is inversely related to how easily I can envision myself in their respective conflicts. For the purpose of staying focused I will try to remain on the topic of the Bling Ring.
The reason you want to go see The Bling Ring is two-fold; the first being that you love Emma Watson and you want to see her embody what you think is hopefully the antithesis of her real personality. The second being that you still have that teenage (20-something, middle-aged, whatever) girl inside of you who wants to just surround yourself with pretty and luxurious things in order to feel valuable and admired. Add these two together with the fact that I love Sofia Coppola and there was really no way I wasn’t going to see this movie.
Sometimes I fall into the delusional trap of thinking I’ve seen it all. Seen all the places, eaten all the food, roamed all the markets. As much as I try to convince myself that sitting at home on the weekends is the best course of action, it just isn’t true. There is just too much to be found out there in our wonderful city and even the things you think you know can surprise you. Case in point: Paris On Ponce.
I used to go to Paris on Ponce pretty frequently when I first moved here to ogle the mass amount of antiques (not gonna lie, also because they so adorably laid out cookies and lemonade too), but had fallen off the wagon due to the fact that I could never take home the secondhand furniture I coveted. A chance whim took me back there recently and I was stunned at all the changes that had taken place, in a very good way.
Paris on Ponce is now Paris on Ponce & POP Marché. Still housing a crazy amount of antique treasures, but now also home to unique vignette boutiques filled with home goods from various vendors and curators from around the city. And here I was, thinking it couldn’t get any better! Every booth is like a miniature world with a landscape abundant with patterns, texture, and color.
Despite my best efforts, I didn’t manage to make it out empty-handed.
MEHR. Here I go again, trying to act like I’m comfortable throwing my visage out into the interwebz. I finally caved and bought some basic color crop tops to wear for the rest of summer and here was my attempt at mastering the art of the color block outfit.
Willingly putting pictures out like this makes me feel so incredibly vain. It’s really weird and I hope you don’t think that I think that I’m super amazing or comfortable dressing like this every day. The thought running through my head over and over again was “do they think I’m trying to hard,” knowing full well that I DID indeed try hard. Props to all you style bloggers out there who post your outfits every day, every other day, or even once a week. I do not know how you manage looking so cool, well-curated, and yet unpretentious. Someday I will be able to join your league of awesomeness.
Self-image is a weird concept. It suggests that we have an idea of our identity that was/is self-created or self-manifested. What always confounds me about this is how greatly our self-image is actually propagated and influenced by those who surround us. Whether it is loved ones or strangers, it’s often in their eyes that we see our reflections in. Of course as soon as I say that I am also reminded how often I actually don’t see myself the way others do. I almost always see myself lesser than how others see me – uglier, more judgmental, not as talented, and so on.
So while I stand behind the idea of ignoring what other people think, I find that I personally need to do the opposite and listen to what other people think. As I’m navigating through my quarter-life crisis, I am constantly facing the fact that the only person doubting my abilities and holding me back is myself.
Like with any other personality fault, this is not something I can easily overcome. I’m 100% sure that it is equal parts nature and nurture that bring me to this crucial point in my life.
Thanks to the flourishing film industry in Atlanta, I’ve gotten the chance to make a few bucks on the side by doing extra work on tv shows and films. It’s not as exciting as it sounds, but all the sitting around gives me a chance to play with some pen and paper. Perhaps someday soon I’ll get to see these come to life! Do you like this pattern? What would you like to see it on?
Iman works at the art gallery where I first began my journey here in Atlanta. She wasn’t hired immediately after we interviewed her, but she was always lingering in the back of our heads. She exudes a quiet and graceful beauty that sneaks up on you and stays. I try to visit the gallery for every opening night and at the last one, Iman looked completely stunning (in that subtle way she has). Her pairing of white jeans with this sheer shirt-dress is just the best.
Completely elegant casual. It’s no surprise that she not only dresses beautifully, but creates beautifully as well. Her sculptures and drawings are as delicate and earthly as her fashion style reflects. These are some of my favorite pieces of hers:
Thanks to a doodle-a-day challenge from Ello Lovey, I have some little drawings from my sketchbook to share. The prompt for this was “your home”. First time I’ve drawn a portrait in I don’t know how long. His head is not really this misshapen.
I’ve lived in Atlanta for about three years now so you can imagine how many art festivals and markets I’ve been to. After a while, everything starts to look the same to me. Not in a bad way – just in the fact that I’ve seen all the local vendors already. Thankfully, I was recently and pleasantly proven wrong when I stumbled upon MDC Interiors at ARTlantis.
In their sweet and humble booth full of tiny treasures, I met the warm and ever-so-lovely Mona Patel. She and her partner, Mike, began MDC Interiors to craft custom objects that are visually striking as well as beneficial for the environment. While I didn’t get to see their furniture pieces (due to the limited amount of space), I absolutely fell in love