Mirroring Suzy Bee Sews - Life So Strange It Should Be Fiction

A couple of weeks ago I visited the Hillwood Estate in DC.  The first time I visited was during last year's Seersucker Social , but I was too sick to walk around and enjoy the estate.  This time my aim was to see the Pret a Papier exhibit of the work of Isabelle de Borchgrave . Isn't that a beautiful dress?  Is it made of silk, cotton?  Is the lace Belgian?  Well, the lace is Belgian because the artist is, but it's made entirely of paper.  Amazing.  I didn't know what to expect with the dresses.  Once you know they're paper you can tell (mostly), but without that knowledge I would be a little stumped, I think. The lace was one of the best details, in my opinion.  She uses very very fine transparent paper and the carefully paints the lace design and scallops with scissors.  Close up you can tell it's created with paint, but from a few feet away the likeness is pretty astounding.  The Hillwood commissioned several pieces for the exhi...

Yes, it's that time of year again.  The time of year to try to imagine separates for work that have sleeves.  I don't know why sleeved tops are so different from sleeveless ones.  I don't have too much trouble envisioning, creating, and wearing cute summer tops.  And yet, stick a sleeve in the picture and my mind goes blank and grumpy. So I did some snoop shopping. It appears that I am not alone.  The offerings are SAD.  After going through literally THOUSANDS of long and 3/4 sleeve tops on Saks, Nordstrom, and Bloomingdale's I found a handful of interesting pieces.  There's nothing I want to copy outright, I don't think, but I identified some elements that I like. Source: bloomingdales.com via Trena on Pinterest The best of the bunch is this one (Velvet by Graham & Spencer, $174).  Sequins are having a moment and I do like them, but I think for day I'd go for something a little more matte, lol. But I love the way this drapes from the should...

The Tweed Ride is here! The Tweed Ride is here! I am so excited. Dandies & Quaintrelles will be hosting DC's Tweed Ride this Sunday , November 13. Registration for the ride is free; the party is $15 (may be sold out). You need to register for the ride in order to get route information. Of course, the most important part of a tweed ride is the outfit. There is definitely no formal dress code, it's just vaguely vintagey/old timey. Check out this flickr pool for inspiration. The hat is crucial, and I have several to choose from. I'm pretty sure I'm going with my new green bowler hat from my trip to Ecuador, but how cute is the purple cloche I picked up at the thrift store a couple months ago? But is it as cute as my Japanese pattern fedora ? And then there is the fabulous black hat that I bought on my first trip to London at 17 years old (for 40 pounds--I didn't quite grasp the exchange rate, but it has lasted 20 years and still looks good so I suppose...