A happy day to all you lovers out there
{it's also the 153rd anniversary of Oregon's statehood, if you'd like an alternative holiday to celebrate}

A happy day to all you lovers out there
{it's also the 153rd anniversary of Oregon's statehood, if you'd like an alternative holiday to celebrate}

A dress, a dream, a designer:

When I first met her (8...9 years ago?) Phaedra was my server at a candlelit restaurant in Portland's Pearl District. But really she was (and is!) a budding bridal dress designer, with a penchant for gamine necklines and billows of tulle. She has long since flown to New York to try her fortunes there, but we keep in touch, as sisters in bridal design should (the dear girl has even rummaged through the Garment District for a very particular olive-gold velvet ribbon I needed). Now, after years of honing her skills with custom and one-of-a-kind design, she's preparing to produce her very own bridal gown collection! I couldn't be more excited, and I urge you to join me in supporting her venture on Kickstarter. If her backers' support amounts to $5000 by the time the pledge period ends, she'll receive matching funds to produce her line and lookbook. Special benefits are conferred at each pledge level (I can't wait to find out what dress is named after me).

A dress, a dream, a designer:

When I first met her (8...9 years ago?) Phaedra was my server at a candlelit restaurant in Portland's Pearl District. But really she was (and is!) a budding bridal dress designer, with a penchant for gamine necklines and billows of tulle. She has long since flown to New York to try her fortunes there, but we keep in touch, as sisters in bridal design should (the dear girl has even rummaged through the Garment District for a very particular olive-gold velvet ribbon I needed). Now, after years of honing her skills with custom and one-of-a-kind design, she's preparing to produce her very own bridal gown collection! I couldn't be more excited, and I urge you to join me in supporting her venture on Kickstarter. If her backers' support amounts to $5000 by the time the pledge period ends, she'll receive matching funds to produce her line and lookbook. Special benefits are conferred at each pledge level (I can't wait to find out what dress is named after me).

As a secret gardener myself, I love–love–this romantic inspiration board on Style Me Pretty…featuring my Honeychurch gown.

As a secret gardener myself, I love–love–this romantic inspiration board on Style Me Pretty…featuring my Honeychurch gown.

Tx, NYC...

I just got back from a heavenly week in New York, bookended by my fall trunk show at Lovely (thanks, ladies!) and 2012 Bridal Market (lots of gorgeous new dresses coming for Spring). I walked and walked--sourcing, shopping, researching and just taking it all in. Although I'm a West Coast girl at heart, I'm always gobsmacked by the sights, spirits, tastes and textures of this amazing city.

Tulle of all colors in the Garment District

More silk flowers than you can shake a stick at

Steve Jobs memorial at the Soho Apple Store

Palimpsests on the High Line

Now, a bit footsore but dizzy with inspiration, it's time to get back to work. I have big (exciting!) plans in the works, which I'll announce later this week!

Tx, NYC...

I just got back from a heavenly week in New York, bookended by my fall trunk show at Lovely (thanks, ladies!) and 2012 Bridal Market (lots of gorgeous new dresses coming for Spring). I walked and walked--sourcing, shopping, researching and just taking it all in. Although I'm a West Coast girl at heart, I'm always gobsmacked by the sights, spirits, tastes and textures of this amazing city.

Tulle of all colors in the Garment District

More silk flowers than you can shake a stick at

Steve Jobs memorial at the Soho Apple Store

Palimpsests on the High Line

Now, a bit footsore but dizzy with inspiration, it's time to get back to work. I have big (exciting!) plans in the works, which I'll announce later this week!

If loving you is wrong, I don't want to be right.

Valentino.

If loving you is wrong, I don't want to be right.

Valentino.

Thanks...

...for all your supportive comments re: BHLDN and their well-known "design" practices. As a former law student, I do know that there's very little legal protection for clothing designers. I've studied the arguments on both sides regarding whether fashion design deserves such protection, and there's merit to both arguments (although I'm sure you can guess where I stand). I don't usually get in a lather over copying incidents--designers (like all creative people) draw inspiration from many sources, and that inspiration flows in all directions. What bothers me is a very studied practice of ripping off smaller designers' work as a business model. Consumers need to know that Anthro's cute "designs" come straight from uncredited, uncompensated sources. That's how they roll.

Besides being unethical and exploitive, it's just so boring! Way to take the creativity out of fashion. So I did that post. For that reason, and to show solidarity with my good friend Myra, who is wearing herself out trying to protect her work.

Luckily, we small designers have what big companies can never fake, no matter how they try--the urge to create for its own sake, the honest joy of new ideas.

A paper bride.

 I've just learned about the work of Jum Nakao.

 The Brazilian artist makes these intricate gowns entirely out of paper.

 At the end of one of his runway shows, his models were instructed to tear up the dresses on their bodies, to remind the audience that fashion is a medium and not an end in itself.

 I've always thought of the wedding dress as a performance, a moment, as much as it can also be a garment for all time. So what about it, ladies? Anyone up for a paper wedding dress?

Amaranth, a love {color} story.

Amaranth in bloom

Matta wool gauze dress from Una

vintage felt flowers from Bernadette Breu

Every year at this time, when I'm bicycling around my neighborhood, I see it--like a blood-red bolt of lightning--amaranth! The smart people who plant it in their gardens {I forget every year} are rewarded each October by the most luscious, vivid magenta plumage amid the nodding stalks and drooping leaves of autumn. What a lovely last hurrah of the season. I decided to dig into my closet for a fast fix of that gorgeous color and am dressed in honor of amaranth today. I may look a bit funny, but I feel flowerlike.

The quiet time (sort of).

I've been working a bit more slowly these days, enjoy the slanting, golden light of fall and trying to take a few deep breaths! I still have a few 2010 dresses to finish, but I'm also starting to think about next year's collection. I started by making a scrapbook of everything that's caught my eye over the last season. There are many messy photo files stashed every which way on my computer (all uncredited*). Here's what I've been thinking about...

*All apologies to the Image Attribution League of Justice. If one of these photos belongs to you and you'd like it taken down, just say the word.

So good it hurts.

A few pieces from two upcoming exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum and the Met. Obviously, I am still deep in my apricot-and-gold obsession. That first one is Lanvin--there's a lady who knew how to make a dress. Sigh.

A little fresh air.

Photo: Lisa Warninger

I was honored to contribute wardrobe styling to a recent editorial for Project Wedding. The lovely and talented Chelsea (of Frolic! blog fame) orchestrated the photo shoot beautifully--who else could find a gorgeous English-style glasshouse within reach of Portland? I can only take credit for the bride's dress and pinafore--so many talented people participated. Full story and credits here.

Alexander McQueen oyster dress, Spring 2003.

Getting inspired.

I'm pulling long hours at the studio this week and next, getting ready for our annual fashion show. I usually take early mornings and late nights to page through my scrapbooks, so that by the time I sit down at the machine I am fueled by fresh energy and ideas. Love the unusual shoulder on this vintage beaded gown.

Storyville dress.

The first creation in my new studio! A bit racy, a bit demure. Black and gold stripes look very smart, don't you think? I named it Storyville because the fabric reminds me of this haunting Bellocq photo:

What am I going to do with it? I don't know and I don't care.

Have you ever had to have something, just for the aching, heartbreaking beauty of it? This beautiful (but tattered) dress embellishment from the 1920s is past using, but the craftmanship and materials just leave me breathless. I found it tucked away in an antique shop, and had to take it home.

Silver metal lace, handmade silk satin rosettes, silver lamé leaves, and pearls. Sigh!