In Memory of a True Princess, Jasmina

For those of you who have been following our blog a while, we introduced you to Jasmina back in November, when Camilla and I designed, made and were selling Tee Shirts to raise money for her. Jasmina was diagnosed with NK leukemia January 20th of 2009. During the year of battling the disease she captured the hearts of anyone who crossed her path. On January 27 at 10:55 pm Jasmina lost her battle. She was six years old.

We have know Jasmina since she was 4 months old and every time we visited NY she would make us fall in love all over again. I had always pictured Jasmina to grow up and become a diva fashion model, one who would rival Naomi Campbell. She loved putting on fashion shows and was so good at it too. I remember when her mom Thea was teaching her the fashion Alphabet  A- Alaia , B- Balenciaga, 

C- Chanel, D - Dior etc...

In December she was given the chance to meet President Obama through the make a wish foundation. "Jasmina showed tremendous bravery in the face of adversity, and her ability to stay positive throughout her battle was an inspiration to me and to all those she touched," 

Obama said in a statement released yesterday. 

Even with of all the bouts of chemotherapy, Radiation, losing her beautiful long hair, shingles, sores in her mouth and tubes in her tummy, Jasmina was always optimistic and hopeful. Even when she found out she had cancer she told her mommy  "mama, no reason to cry, think of something beautiful."

We are taking a break from blogging for a while to go be with Jasmina's mom, Thea. But maybe we can all learn from Jasmina, that even against all odds if you just "think of something beautiful" maybe it will pull you through.

 

The last time we saw Jasmina she was in the hospital and didn't have her wig so she didn't want her picture taken with anyone. But she drew this for Camilla, she loved Mermaids.
 

IN LOVING MEMORY

XOXO

Valerie and Camilla

Romeo and Juliet

This is a quick sketch of what we are thinking about for our next shoot. Mixing vintage designer Romeo Gigli with other vintage pieces and various brands from today.  We plan on shooting this weekend if all goes well and have a few ideas of where to shoot if the beautiful weather holds out. Here's the rest of the inspiration behind the shoot and how the outfit and colors of it were put together.

 

 

Romeo Gigli 1988

 

Culture Clash

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow, finally a new post! Thank you all for the sweet comments on Camilla's photography, we loved reading each and every one. It has been a very long week so far. Tuesday, I finally under went my eye surgery for that blocked tear duct and the recovery time has been a bit longer than planned. Lets just say I'm a lightweight and anesthesia mixed with pain meds don't work well for me. Thank god for my loving family.

Last Sunday Camilla and I headed up to Chinatown to do a shoot we've been talking about for a while. The Asian culture has always been a fascination for us and with the Chinese New Year approaching on February 14th, we thought it would be good timing.  We talked about mixing colors, patterns and layering, and then shooting in the middle of bustling Chinatown as a celebration to the new year of the Tiger.

So much of Asian culture we find inspiring, from the vibrant colors, intricate textiles to the fine arts. But of all our reasons, their love of nature and family has to be the top of the list. I have always been a follower of the Japanese designers since my introduction to them in the 80's and have collected many pieces from Comme des Garcon, Matsuda and Yohji Yamamoto. 

Here is some visual imagery from some beautiful movies where the costume design and scenery is awe inspiring.

 

"She paints her face to hide her face. Her eyes are deep water. It is not for Geisha to want. It is not for Geisha to feel. Geisha is an artist of the floating world. She dances, she sings, she entertains you, whatever you want. The rest is shadows, the rest is secret."

Sayuri- Memoirs of a Geisha

The Last Emperor  1987

Camilla is wearing a Vintage skirt, Virgin Mary tee shirt from Lucky Brand, Fuchsia silk wrap blouse from Calypso, Vintage boys school blazer, Vintage scarf from Hermes, Gladiator Heels from Forever 21, Various necklaces from Anthropologie and cuff from India. Fuji Polaroid Camera. All Polaroids are shot by Camilla.

XX Valerie and Camilla

Drift Away

 

 

 

  

"I think I'll just drift away to that island of my dreams. 

Live in total fantasy

Closes my eyes and drift away."

The Kinks

The Other day My mom and I went down to the beach so I could shoot photos of her for my portfolio. She had recently gotten this Jimmy Choo dress from the H&M collection and I have been wanting to take pictures of her in it. The dress was actually a return at our local H&M so it was a great find, considering the store near us never carried the line. I haven't shot fashion that much before and figuring out the lighting was a little hard because the sun was going down fast so the light sometimes was a little blinding for our eyes. But I am really excited about these few shots I did get. Looking at the pictures now I feel like shooting the dress in this location was perfect. I like that the structure of the dress and the boldness of the shoes are set against the unpredictable waves and tiny particles of sand. The softness of the beach itself makes the dress stand out. I like the contrast the setting creates with the outfit. The pictures to me tell a story and give me a mysterious, magical, dreamy and romantic feeling. My favorite is the first one because it reminds me of the ending scene of "The Little Mermaid" where she is in the sparkly dress coming out of the ocean except softer and a bit more elegant.  These are my first real attempts at fashion photography but I plan on doing more in the future because it was so much fun. I hope you like them.

We also received this award from the blogger Strawberry fields forever

 

Thank you so much Lia and we would like to pass it on to some of our favorite bloggers for being such talented, stylish girls and who continue to inspire us.

 Refuses to Label 

Style bird

Cosmicaroline

Ostyle

My Floor is Red

Fascinationdrop

Clothes, Cameras and Coffee

Hope you have a wonderful weekend

XX Camilla and Valerie