Cool Stuff - Shoe design for dummies

Being a fashion designer is a dream of many. But there is one specific industry that is the true holy grail - and that, my friend, is the shoe industry. Shoes are often the most expensive piece on a lady's outfit, a lady's shoes are almost like her baby - they deserve love an attention.

But if we love our shoes, how much more do we love our shoe designer? I have heard women state the Manolo is the only man in the world that really understands a woman's soul (sorry Christian!). Now what if I told you you can be your own shoe designer? No, I don't expect you to be as good as the big designer names out there, but you can have a voice and design something that you would love to wear. Fantasy? Dream come true? Now it's a reality! Shoes of Prey is a website that will allow you to pick from colors to materials, to the height of the heels desired!

There are some pre-set models and we can customize them to our liking and for those who don't feel too inspired, there are some examples of designs other customers came up with.

Shipping is free worldwide and the price point is what you'd expect for a good pair of leather shoes at a retail store.

You can go crazy and design your own statement shoes for the season. Or even design the perfect pair to match that crazy bridesmaid outfit with that weird color your friend picked! If you can't find a specific design/color at a retail store, now you can create it!

As for me, I am still playing with the website, design is something really important to me (hey, I majored in it!) so I am coming up with just the perfect pair for the summer!

Where to find: http://shoesofprey.com/

Thank you so much for reading!

A photo shoot - how fun is that?

As I've mentioned on my previous post, Saturday was a sunny and bright day here in San Francisco, ideal for ... A PHOTO SHOOT! I decided to come along in this adventure and help with the styling and whatever else was need from me.
So I put some comfy shoes on and headed to Baker Beach. We played with different outfits, hair styles, backgrounds and obviously light: from very bright at 3 pm to soft light after sunset at 7 pm. Edna, our model looked great (she always does) in very natural make-up.
I even challenged myself to take some pictures while Chloe was shooting, so I sneaked up behind her and shot some photos as well. Here is one of them:

Edna is the type of girl that doesn't need any Photoshop, her skin just glows naturally!

Here you can see Chloe playing with the light and the beautiful view behind the trees.

Fixing Edna's hair - just a fun experience overall!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you've enjoyed being a part of my photo shoot!

A taste of Valentine's

Happy Friday! I am so glad this week is coming to an end, specially given the fact that I do need some rest from all the eating and celebrating of last night.
My Valentine's day was quite low-key, intimate and supposedly relaxing. We decided to avoid the restaurant crowds (bad service, packed, hard to get - call 2 months ahead reservations) and to do something at home that we would both enjoy.
First, we thought about doing a dinner box, just like last year. For those of you who don't know, there are certain restaurant and catering businesses that offer a pre-prepared dinner (appetizers, entrees and desert) all wrapped up with a pretty pink or red bow, oh the joy of a lazy Valentine!
However, the fondue idea was far more appealing this year. So it was settled! Cheese fondue, cold cuts and cornichons paired with cider and colored macaroons for dessert. Flowers and candles spiced up the atmosphere (who care that I was wearing PJ'S?).

Yummy, isn't it? Thank you very much for reading and have a great weekend!

NYFW - Ralph Rucci (Chado)

New York Fashion Week is almost over. I did see quite a few collections I liked and I was pleased that the snow and snow storm did not take away from this special event (I'm sending you guys my love from San Fran - where it's currently around 60 degrees - please don't hate me!).

A collection that I've particularly liked from this season was Chado Ralph Rucci. For those who don't know, Ralph Rucci aka the American couturier is a world-known high fashion designer and artist. His collections and paintings are absolutely magnificent.

For his Spring 2013 collection, Ralph showed his savoir-faire through an array of beautifully made garments. The mix of materials, plisse, color blocking and embroidery techniques made this season very special. The transparent shoes are a must and the clean, elegant hair and make-up compliment the looks perfectly.

Here are some of my favorite looks:

What do you guys think? Amazing, no?

Thank you for reading and I really hope you've enjoyed it!

New Years eve - The party

I have very high hopes for 2013, as I've said on my previous post: I am fully convinced that it will be the best year I've experienced so far and I wish the same to all of you.

We've entered 2013 in style drinking champagne and eating delicious French food. We've celebrated with close friends and had a blast till 6 am! Wow! It had been a long time since I've party-ed that late.

Cheers!!

This is the family of friends that had as over: a lovely couple and their two beautiful little girls

On the menu foie gras feuillete: simply delicious.

The preferred drink of the night was Billecart- Salmon champagne (brut for the appetizer and rose for the dessert).

And the heavenly dessert I brought: buche de noel. Believe it or not, it was purchase right on the boulangerie next door. Yes, some things only exist in France!

Again, Bonne Annee to all of you!

Santa came this Xmas with pleasant surprises!

I really enjoy this time of the year. The chilly weather, the non-stop Christmas marathon in the radio, the candy, the family and obviously the gifts!
Giving and receiving gifts is such a pleasant experience. Seeing how creative people can get to please us and finding just that perfect little something for that special person always cheers me up.
Christmas is all about giving. We celebrate our Lord Jesus Christ that was sent to this world to give himself for us. We also celebrate all the blessings that we have in our life.
This Christmas I was particularly spoiled by my husband and his family. So here are some of the material gifts I got:

Displayed above:

Savon Soyeux J'adore - Dior

Huile Seche Satinee J'adore - Dior

Coffret Eau des Merveilles - Hermes

Carre Tigre du Bengale - Hermes

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you also had a wonderful Christmas!

Alexander Wang chez Balenciaga

It came to me as a surprise that designer Nicolas Ghesquiere would leave Balenciaga after 15 successful years leading the brand. It came to me as a further surprise that the new head designer of this amazing fashion house is the American Alexander Wang.
I am delighted. I am also full of expectations and curiosity to see his first collection for Balenciaga. Will he reach the same level of success of his predecessor? Will he continue on the same aesthetic lines of what we now know as the Balenciaga look? Or will he input his own signature in the collections to come?
Furthermore, will this be his permanent position from now on? Or is this another test drive/ disposable experience by the Spanish Fashion house in search of a designer? I guess time will tell us.

L'Occitane

This past summer I had the opportunity to travel to the South of France for the very first time. I have been to France many times and have lived in the city of Lyon as well, but for some reason I had never been to the famous Cote d'azur.

So this summer I gave my husband and ultimatum, we have to, have to go. So we got a rental car and drove from Lyon all the way to Monaco and back. Since I've heard of the beautiful Provence and of the spectacular Couvent des Minimes (aka the L'Occitane's Hotel and Spa in their home region of Provence), I've decided to book a night and a couple of treatments there.

We drove from Lyon to Mane en Provence and I was in heaven! The hotel is simply amazing, the staff, the facilities and the spa, oh the spa! I had a treatment entirely using L'Occitane products and my husband pampered himself with a massage also using L'Occitane oils.

After the relaxing treatments, chilling by the pool and having an outstanding lunch, we headed to L'Occitane - the factory! I have to confess we did get lost while trying to get there and ended up in this isolated Lavender field (I know, I know, there are worst places to get lost).

We did end up finding the factory and the museum and the factory store. I was mind blown to know that this company started during the 70's with a man that sold soap in one of Provence's local markets (does this sound crazy to anyone else?). Here are some pictures of me enjoying the museum and ultimately the store, which gives you a heavy discount since you are shopping within the region.

Thank you so much for reading and hope you've enjoyed this little travel tip. I do strongly advise anyone that wishes to go to the Cote d'Azur, do take a detour and enjoy this amazing place called Mane en Provence.

Cool Stuff - Fashion! A highly entertaining trilogy

I am a huge fan of fashion documentaries. I've watched anything from the Canal + bio on Karl Lagerfeld's life, to Diana Vreeland's the eye has to travel which I'll have to write a separate post about. With that being said, I was browsing through one of my favorite stores (both online and the actual physical one at Rue St. Honore) and found this gem!
It's called Fashion! (with an exclamation mark) by Olivier Nicklaus a delightful almost 6 hour documentary that tells the story of the last 3 decades of fashion, the 3-part DVD is composed by:

- The Golden 80's
- Antifashion (aka the 90's)
- Go Global (aka 2000's)

On a whim, I've placed the order through Colette's website and 48 hours later (no joke), the package arrived! My heart was pounding, I was so delighted that I wrote a long email sharing my wonderful experience and sent it to Colette: no response! What is the matter with you FRENCH PEOPLE?
Anyhow, I got home, put on my comfy PJ's, took the Vanilla Hagen Dazs out of the freezer and even made my husband watch it with me (he will never confess, but I am sure he enjoyed it as much as I did or even more - love you, honey!).
So if you are looking for something to do on a stay in Saturday night (pretty sure you don't have those, right?) or a lazy Sunday morning, this is a great suggestion.
Go to Colette and grab yours!

Cool Stuff - Tatiana Sorokko's Lecture

On my previous post I showed you my look at Tatiana Sorokko's lecture, but never got to tell you what the event was all about. The amazing Russian supermodel Tatiana Sorokko accepted the invitation of non-profit Visions of La Moda, where I am the chief sewing and design instructor, to come and do a full lecture for a limited list of guests.

On her lecture, Tatiana talked about her exquisite collection of couture items (over 250 items among clothing and accessories) as well as her career as a supermodel. I was so delighted to finally meet her and more so when I saw how sweet, humble and intelligent she is. Here are some more pictures of this prestigious event.

                

With the gorgeous Barbie Villanueva

Julia Barboza, Traci Peace-Greco, Alika Mailly, the students Cheyenne and Arielle, me and the fabulous journalist Fabiola Kramsky-Gascon

Again, the gorgeous Fabiola Kramsky-Gascon with Traci Peace-Greco

Frank Greco, Traci Peace-Greco, Fabiola Kramsky-Gascon and her husband the district attorney George Gascon

Traci Peace-Greco and Carolyne Zinko from the San Francisco Chronicle

VOLM students Arielle and Cheyenne, Alika Maily, Julia Barbosa, the amazing Tatiana Sorokko and me

Julia Barboza, me and Alika Mailly

Thank you so much for reading and hope you've enjoyed this lecture as much as I did!

Cool stuff - Paleolithic diet

San Franciscans are know for being nit picking about their food. Is this apple organic? Is it fair trade? How many miles did it travel to get to this store and how much carbon dioxide did it produce? What about the beef, is it grass fed? Is it free range? Does it contain any GMOs?
So living here in the past 4.5 years, I have become much more concerned about the food I eat than what I previously have. Anyone can supply me with the full resume for this non-fat, cold pressed almond milk before you put it in my latte?
During this search for perfect nutrition, my Pilates instructor told me about the Paleolithic diet aka Paleo or Primal which is much more of a lifestyle than a diet. Basically is going back to our origins and finding nutrition that respects our DNA. We eat like our ancestors did back in the caveman days.
So what is so different about that diet? To start with, no processed foods are allowed (no shakes, no bars, no magic powder), only real food that looks like food should be consumed, anything artificial did not exist back in the stone era.
Also, if anything cannot be eaten raw, then you should ditch it. That includes all grains - corn, wheat, soy and similar. It also includes all legumes - beans of any kind; also avoid tubers such as potatoes and dairy.
OMG, so what can you eat? Vegetables of any kind, fruits, leafy salads, protein (even the fatty ones such as bacon and eggs) and nuts.
It has been quite a hard process migrating from my cheese and bread current diet to eating Paleo, needless to say my French husband has complained a "little". But I am definitely making progress and doing better today than I was doing yesterday.
The benefits I've noticed so far besides the slight weight lost (2 lbs in one week without eating any less than usual), are my digestive system is working better and I have this overall feeling of wellness.
If you are interested in learning more about the Paleo lifestyle, there is a website which is ideal for beginners called Mark's daily apple.
Below are some images of paleo meals:

For Paleo recipes, you can go to Elana's Pantry 

Thank you so much for reading and hope you guys have enjoyed my perspective on Paleo.