Big Screen Time
Feeding Mister Baldwin, the black comedy for which I did costume design, wrapped more than a year ago and you probably haven’t heard much from me about it since that time. It takes so long to make a movie, but I’m proud to bring you some very exciting updates! Last month we not only were accepted into New York’s Friar’s Club Film Festival, but we also won an Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature! And now I’m happy to say Los Angeles will be getting to see the film very soon! It was recently announced that FMB will participate in this year’s Dances With Films which occurs May 30th through June 9th at Hollywood’s Chinese 6 Theater’s. FMB will be part of a special midnight screening series, showing at 11:45pm on Friday, June 7th. Get your tickets HERE!
That said, it’s the perfect time to revisit the amazing time I had on set and some of the ridiculous things I dressed the kooky characters in! Below I’ve posted the trailer for the movie as well as some more images I took during filming. Can’t wait to see all the amazing people I worked with and REALLY can’t wait for you all to see all our hard work at the screening. Let’s sell it out!!
Get to Know Him: Gordon Matta Clark & Food
Nowadays restaurants that serve experimental, seasonal, local fare are becoming more and more commonplace. But in 1971, that wasn’t exactly the case. Therefore it’s extra cool that during that time artist Gordon Matta Clark, known for his “building cuts,” opened his restaurant Food, a progressive, artist owned-and-operated dining space that specialized in exotic (raw fish and bone marrow were among common menu items — hardly the foodie staples they are now) and locally-sourced foods in the Soho neighborhood of New York City, which was then only beginning to become gentrified. Clark and his then-girlfriend, Carol Goodden staffed the restaurant with like-minded creative types (Robert Rauschenberg’s assistant Hisachika Takahashi was the first to serve sushi there) and served bone-themed prixe fixe menus ($4!!!) after which you were given jewelry fashioned from the bones. You know in Midnight In Paris, how Owen Wilson’s character wants to go back to Paris in the 1920′s? Well, now I know where I’d want to go.
Below are some vintage shots of Food as well as an interview with a former employee and a link to a Clark-directed, full-length feature about the restaurant. And in case you weren’t familiar with how amazing Clark’s site-specific, “anarchitecture” works are, I’ve included some images of those as well.
Easy Does It
Summertime and the livin’ is easy…and so are all the clothes I want to wear. Okay, so it’s not technically summer quite yet but in Los Angeles our lovely weather has already got me thinking about a new wardrobe. In May I will have lived here 6 years now, and the city has had a remarkable impact on my style. Now I want all my pieces to be easy and breezy, classic and casual but with some edge. Here are some of the things I am most desiring right now, and some ladies who do it oh so well (just Google Diane Kruger at Coachella. What a babe).
Vintage Babe: Penelope Tree
Let’s start by saying that fashion icon Penelope Tree is still totally a babe (I can attest to this because I saw her in person the other day). That said, I’m particularly focusing on some of the amazing vintage images of her taken by masterful photographers like Richard Avedon, Cecil Beaton, and Richard Bailey. Much of the collaborations with Avedon were also masterminded by heralded Vogue editor Diana Vreeland. With her lanky frame, wide, far-set eyes, high forehead, and heart-shaped face, Tree had the kind of unique beauty that paved the way for modern supermodels like Lily Cole and Gemma Ward. Looking as some of these photos, it’s no wonder that Tree was a muse to so many! She carries both minimalist and extravagant avant garde fashion with ease and glamour. Check out her many looks below and get to know this incredibly inspirational woman. 
Oh Hi, Ojai!
After years of stressing to plan epic birthday ordeals, I decided to scale back this year and opted for a much simpler celebration. This past weekend, one of my best girlfriends and I drove to Ojai, CA for a mini vacay. If you don’t know Ojai, it is a destination for the artsy and spiritual, and also draws people in for its geography and agriculture. Lucky for us, Ojai is only about an hour and a half hour trip from LA so it was the perfect getaway.
There are plenty of things you could consider “vintage” (I might be fishing here…) but best old thing we took part in was the Matilija hot springs, naturally occurring hot baths among the sulfuric rock. Yes, it smelled terrible and there was certainly an eclectic group of inhabitants (ie: the bunny man below) but we were still happy to smear clay on our faces and soak up the stinky, black water with a bunch of weird strangers! When in Rome! We also visited one of the best farmer’s markets I’ve ever been to and I bought a beautiful basket made by women in a co-op in Ghana. We had breakfast at an adorable bakery called Knead, dinner at a perfect little pizzeria called Boccali’s (the BEST strawberry shortcake), went wine tasting at the Ojai Vineyard Tasting Room, and stayed in an impressive suite Blue Iguana Inn (highly recommended).
Below is the trip in pictures. Enjoy, and visit Ojai if you get the chance! And thank you, Ojai, for a beautiful birthday!
Making Movies…Again
Hi guys! I’ve been keeping myself busy with styling work lately, and wanted to show you some fruits of my recent labors. One such project was a short film. We shot on location in Acton, California, which is about 45 minutes northeast of LA. One aspect of California living that is so great is being able to drive less than an hour and yet feel like you’re in a completely different world. As you can tell from the above picture, the setting was rural, autumnal, rugged, and blue collar, and obviously this lent itself to the wardrobe I chose as well. Taking cues from movies like Winter’s Bone, Brokeback Mountain, Badlands, etc, I wanted rough fabrics like canvas, denim, wool and other knits and looked for weathered looking pieces like old Justin work boots, cowboys boots with flimsy dresses and denim jackets, heavy cardigans, henleys, and flannels. I wanted to share a few shots from the costume house, as well as behind the scene shots from the set (including adorable live rabbits!). Once again, I was so lucky to work with a talented and friendly cast and crew! Be on the lookout for more from Camille Giuffre, Nell Teare, and Zac Titus…and of course more from the fantastic director Merlin Camozzi!
Baby Love
I know Christmas seems like ages ago already, but I’ve yet to catch you up on details of my holiday. I went to Ontario, Canada to visit my nephew, Miles, who turned 1 last month! Happy Birthday, Miles! As a Christmas gift to my sister and her husband, I brought along my trusty Minolta x-700 to shoot a few rolls of film of the little cutie. Of course, halfway through the roll of film, my camera decided to stop advancing so I was only able to take a few. When I got home I learned that it was just dirty batteries! Note to everyone shooting analog: take your batteries out and clean them! Then I finished off the roll (Kodak Portra, my fave for shooting color) with images from my lovely neighborhood. I thought I’d share the results with all of you! And I’m proud to say these images are totally unedited. Film is so much more magical than any Instagram filter! Also, isn’t my nephew the sweetest?!
