Slice of Paradise

Oven fresh style at Zeppy's pizza.

Finally we can show you some more of the Lookbook we shot for Lori's shoes. 
We were informed that the Lookbook will be debuting in mid April but Lori's loved the photos and said they couldn't wait, so they put some Favorites up on their Blog already as a preview.

They sent us boxes of clothes, shoes and accessories to shoot. After some conversations with Lori's wonderful staff, we decided to style the shoot incorporating some of our own pieces to show how we'd actually wear them. The fun hot pink patent pumps made us want to style the shoot with a colorful, playful vibe and the cute striped skirt with a little gold quilted bag, just felt very Cher from the movie Clueless but with a bit of Blair Waldorf of Gossip Girl as well. 

It was a spring lookbook, so we decided the feeling needed even more color and a bit of real West Coast charm, and because of that heading down to the  Pier and Arcade seemed fittingly appropriate.

pink patent pumps Chinese Laundry
Striped skirt BB Dakota
Gold bag High Fashion
Floral anklets French Curve
School boy Blazer Vintage
Ruffle top Marc Jacobs
 Green patent leather belt J Crew
Headband Anthropologie

We also wanted to share with you that the Online Magazine

The Frisky asked us to give them a list of some of our favorite things. For most of you that read our blog often you probably know some of our list already but if you want to go see the post you can view it here.

XX Valerie and Camilla

What if we all just loved who we are

k

I woke up this morning with a coffee and reading the news on Huffington Post.  Like most days  I start at the front page news but after reading about all the crazy tumultuous things happening in our world and feeling slightly helpless, I cruised over to the style section with hopes dropping out with a bit of mindless fashion news.  

Although that was not the case, right there in Black and white were stories of a Beauty Queen being too fat, she lost her crown and had to fight to get it back and young models reduced to eating cotton balls drenched in Orange juice just to stay thin. Believe it or not there was also a story (fact or Fiction who knows) of a mom who is giving her 8 year old Botox. 

Raising a daughter and being a woman myself, I am all too aware that so many girls and woman hate most parts to all of their bodies. This is nothing new, we woman have fought this battle all our lives, since the beginning of time. Anyone who has studied art or fashion history knows what woman have done to manipulate themselves into what society views as beautiful.  I know first hand, since I have struggled with this myself growing up and still do at times. But  raising a daughter has made me look at how we treat ourselves and each other and it's not good. 

Starting this style and fashion blog, as well as working with woman everyday in my job has made me realize it's out of control. It's not just our daughters either it's adult woman too.  I have woman who are well into there 30's and 40's, who are thin and attractive tell me they look fat or ugly all too often. It literally freaks me out because they look great but they don't feel like they do. Something is not right with their body or perfect with their appearance and instead of seeing all they have, they dwell on the things they seemingly think they don't.  I have to say for me, turning forty was a blessing because I started to accept myself and actually like parts of my body. Also raising Camilla who has always had a strong mind of her own and never cared much about what people thought of her, taught me a lot as well. I have to say her strength of character in who she is made me reevaluate myself worth. 

I came across this video and site 

ENDANGERED SPECIES

It's about making a change and loving who you are.

We woman need to stop hating our bodies and for me I can't blame the fashion industry or media because I think it starts at home and every woman can be and have everything if we believe we can. 

To me it's about stopping the comparisons and have acceptance of each other.

We can place blame all we want but it does no good and really it's within all of us to change the  perceptions of what is.

These photos of the beautiful plus size model Lizzi Miller that was featured in Glamour mag back in September 2009 was a great step in the right direction to show woman beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. 

To me she is not really plus size but more like real size and I wish woman could see that she is not only beautiful but looks perfect and comfortable in her own skin.

Naturally Critical from Stephanie Ifill on Vimeo.

This last bit is a snippet of a video where young woman were asked two questions.

1. What do you like about your natural appearance?

and

2.What you don't like about your natural appearance?

Just watch the difference you may or may not be shocked.

Now go have a wonderful weekend full of love and happiness

XX Valerie and Camilla

Wandering Road

"Where are you going I don't mind"

"So we will share this road we walk

And mind our mouths and beware our talk"

"Till peace we find tell you what I'll do

All the things I own I will share with you"

"If i feel tomorrow like I feel today 

We'll take what we want and give the rest away" 

"Strangers on this road we are on

We are not two we are one"

The Kinks 

 

Ah Finally! 

This past weekend Camilla and I were able to get together again and shoot another post. 

Inspired by a chiffon skirt from Free People and the most awesome pair of Jeffery Campbell wedges we just received from Loris Shoes, we went to our favorite spot in the woods to capture the feeling we were looking for.  The forecast said rain but it held off and left a wonderful cloudy morning for just the vibe we were hoping to achieve.

What we are loving right now is the mixing up soft neutral colors, textures and layering, layering and layering!

Long maxi skirts made of chiffon or light airy fabrics are the must haves for us this spring, but wearing them with wedges or a platform is even better.  Then to top it off with a pop of vibrant color by using Camilla's red leather jacket made it complete. Our Turquoise jewelry, a Navajo inspired backpack and vintage jean shirt worked perfectly into the story, although I think we were both wishing we were actually traveling down real roaming road to some place elsewhere.

 

 Wes Andersons movie Darjeeling Limited captures the adventure of traveling down a road to elsewhere and seemed a fitting way to end our post.  Because of our love for Jason Schwartzman's geeky demeanor and an amazing soundtrack that includes The Kinks, it just sums it all up. 

 

 Hope you have the most wonderful week!

xx

Valerie and Camilla

 

GOTTA GET AWAY

Ever have one of those days where you just can't deal with all the bullshit anymore and you start combing through travel sites and airlines trying to imagine yourself anywhere but where you are at the moment? Well that's me a lot lately!
My favorite site to drop out for a while is airbnb  that's where I found this most awesome place to get away from it all, but still not too far from home. Great for a weekend away to recharge.

Just check it out a modern dream in the middle of nowhere. Off the Grid as they call it.

To wake up without people or buildings seems like heaven at the moment.

I know I shouldn't complain I am aware I live in sunny California and just a trip down to a (not so local) beach should do the trick and usually does. But, I just need to get away. 

A few weeks ago Emmett took a trip back in time down Route 66. Where He stopped at the famous Roy's and brought back pictures making us all want to take a little road trip of our own.

We are hoping to head out and do some shooting in April if our schedules allow. The hotel is abandoned and from what he said not one car passed by the whole time he was exploring the grounds. The Cafe is up and running and so is the gas station but it's still a ghost town and we can't wait to go explore and shoot for ourselves.

Now in need of some Comic Relief.
Red nose day is March 18th if you don't know what that is go see you still have time to save Misery!

  Misery Bear with Kate Moss.

 Well TGIF and Enjoy your weekend!

XX

On the Street with Bill

 Bill has been the man about town, for about the last 40 years maybe more.

I have memories seeing him on his bike while I walked the streets of Manhattan in the late 80's.

He was already an Icon, everyone in the fashion industry knew who he was. 

Whenever we'd see him out on the street or at some new club opening or fashion party, we would always say "Hello Bill!" It really didn't matter to any of us that we actually knew him because if you worked in any part of the fashion industry in NYC you would see him everywhere. He was always on hand with his camera ready to shoot. I personally think he liked us greeting him with a "Hey Bill" he would always smile and say Hi, sometimes he'd take a picture of me or my friends. I have always wondered if he had me in his vast files of photos. But from what I have heard his files are deep and big and really who knows.

 For as long as I remember he was this white haired guy with a smile on his face, and to tell you the truth I think riding that same bike.

Bill is the first true street style photographer, he forged the path that many follow today.

A quote from Bill on Bill in the New York Times tells how it all started.

'One night, in about 1966, the illustrator Antonio Lopez took me to dinner in London with a photographer named David Montgomery. I told him I wanted to take some pictures. When David came to New York a few months later, he brought a little camera, an Olympus Pen-D half-frame. It cost about $35. He said, ''Here, use it like a notebook.'' And that was the real beginning.'

I heard about this documentary a while back but it's opening so very soon now and I can't wait to see it.

The final quote from Bill on Bill you might just want to hop over and read it yourself.

'The main thing I love about street photography is that you find the answers you don't see at the fashion shows. You find information for readers so they can visualize themselves. This was something I realized early on: If you just cover the designers in the shows, that's only one facet. You also need the street and the evening hours. If you cover the three things, you have the full picture of what people are wearing.' 

Just take a look at the trailer I guarantee if you have never heard of him before you'll love him and his Genius. 

Bill Cunningham New York Trailer from Gavin McWait on Vimeo.

 Enjoy!

 

She comes in Colors everywhere...

 She comes in colors everywhere;

She combs her hair

 She's like a rainbow

Coming colors in the air

Oh, everywhere

she comes in colors

Thank god for all the color on the streets!

How tired I am of seeing all black.

I find that I tend to wear the most black when I don't feel like getting dressed in the morning.

 Either I wake up late or just plain lazy, throwing together an outfit of all to mostly black is easy, almost like a uniform.

BUT!

Just look at beautiful Giovanna and how she stands out against the colorless crowd.

 Out of all the photos I have seen of her in this outfit this one is the most brilliant and telling.

follow the read more to see the rest of the rainbow