Husband Coat

This new Rachel Comey coat just arrived yesterday and it actually made me gasp. Out loud. I am so in love with the 20's silhouette and oversized fit, but the best is the surprise inside. See the last photo. I think I'm gonna crawl inside this coat and not come out until Winter is over. See you in June...

Box and Flea

I love a brown parcel wrapped in twine

The Un Dress wears the Calabash Bag and new Plaid Floral Bandana

Me And My Camera Bag

Move over Holga, Lomo, and Polaroid, I have a new camera in my bag. I am a longtime fan of toy cameras and vintage cameras--I have 8 of them and most of my alltime favorite photos have come out of my trusty Holga. I usually shoot digital when I'm shooting the online catalog for Le Train Bleu using vintage photoshop actions to subtly approximate a vintage look. But let me tell you about my NEW love: the Camera Bag iPhone App. It allows you to use transform your iPhone photos with a number of different arty filters.

The cameras:
Helga - A square-format toy camera with washed-out highlights and old-school vignetting.
1974 - This is your father's camera. Faded, tinted, and hip.
Lolo - Shoot from the hip and take life as it comes with vibrant, colorful shots.
Cinema - Dramatic, moody, wide-screen stills from the movie of your life.
1962 - Dynamic black and whites from the photojournalists of a bygone era.
Mono - Smooth gradation from black to white.
Infrared - Simulation of the popular landscape photography technique.
Fisheye - Popular fish eye lens effect - try it in combination with other filters.
Magazine-Emulates a common photographic effect used in fashion photo shoots.


Here are some of my Camera Bag photos. The first batch below shows some views of the Le Train Bleu studio.

Magazine Filter--This filter just came out and is amazing and magical. My new favorite. I love the contrast and desaturation.

Magazine Filter--the view from my desk
Magazine Filter showing the new Un dress from Church+State

A "Helga" shot of Mugsy. Doesn't he look like somebody pushed him on stage and he doesn't know his lines?

A Helga of the new Dix dress that I posted to Twitter yesterday. That's the other great thing about Camera Bag--when you're on the go you can use it to include photos with your tweets.

A "Lolo" shot of the giant Jessie Whipple poster. This is printed on gold paper and the eyes glow in the dark.

I think this is a "Helga" but I know it is the Mug of Mugsy.

A Lolo (check out the wild, vivid colors) and view of the Foxy Wall which was wallpapered with leftover Fox Masks from the Pattern People designed Flora and Fauna show we did with Kimberly Baker.

This next group if from a Sunday drive to Sauvie Island where I was scouting locations for a personal photoshoot.

A "Magazine" shot of an old train.

Another Magazine shot. Creepy roadside restaurant on the old highway. Peeling paint. Beautiful old door hardware.

This is a Magazine shot of a loop trail on the island that takes you through some fields, trees, and past a couple ponds. Prime bird watching, if you're into that, which I am.

Magazine shot of an old gnarled tree on the beach.

Matty being walked by Dutch. Another Magazine.

I really love the convenience of my iPhone camera and have been using it to record my garden through it's stages of growth.

A Lolo of my garden this morning including my newly planted ebay Brugmansia in the terracotta. Grow Brug, grow!

And a Helga of my prized Steroidal Giant which is just getting started. It already has 6 leaves to the 3 you see here.

An "Instant" of the first bouquet of roses of the season.
Another instant of the Lula top that Julia of Manisse made for me. Thank you Julia, you're the sweetest and I love the top.

Okay, just a few more random ones just to show you how spontaneous and fun this app can be.

It was Jen's birthday and she made up a new drink to commemorate the occasion: the Gummy Bear Sunrise. The gummy bears at the bottom get the weirdest crunchy, bubbly texture. A Lolo, but you probably guessed that.

And while we're on gummies, I took this shot today using Lolo. They are gummy eggs and the label isn't in Englsih but thankfully they translated the important info for us in big bold letters: "NATURAL IS BEST"

And in closing a couple shots of the very cinematic Dutch, the Boston Terrier. La Nouvelle Vague.

1962

1962 Again

Pile up!

These days we're into armloads of bracelets ala Nancy Cunard. Pile em high with the Confetti Wood Bangle which comes in a wide and thin version, as well as the Tile Bangles which come in Ivory, Ebony, and Mahogany.

Holiday Gift Guides

Clementine Candle

My Dad and I bought some Clementines the other day but then discovered that they had loads of pips, as he calls seeds. They were sitting around looking pretty but uneaten until I discovered this post on Apartment Therapy about making Clementine Candles. It's super easy--I'm going to see if I can come up with some sort of Christmas Dinner centerpiece with these. Wouldn't they look pretty with some mini gardenia bouquets?

Speaking of Clementines we just received a shipment of Clementine Perfume from Melissa Flagg. Growing up I always got clementines in my stocking and I think this would be such a lovely grown-up version. Santa are you reading?

Angling for Aigles

Le Riding

The English have their Wellies and the Germans their Hessian boots. The French have evolved a slightly more elegant, streamlined take on the knee-high riding boot, popular since Napoleon donned them.

Note the signature burgundy-colored cuffs

They were de rigueur for any wind-swept-haired, high-necked scarved, waistcoated French Dandy.
In the 1850's the technology of using rubber in manufacturing was new and exciting: the Aigle boot was born in France and within four years the company was producing, by hand, 14,000 pairs of boots per day. They remain the crème de la crème of rubber boots. They are also the only rubber boots I've seen that can be mistaken for leather--never shiny, very rich looking. The cuffs are lined in leather and the insides are soft and cushy.

Me, I'll be wearing mine with slim trousers and trying my best to channel Tilda Swinton in the above scene from Orlando. You can join me--we will be stocking the boots for the Holidays. Put them on your wishlist now!

Wonderland Secret Sale

Follow the secret link through the rabbit hole where you will enter a magic version of Le Train Bleu where everything is discounted 30% off (discount will appear as things are added to your cart). Shh...for our VIP's only.

Coming to LTB for the Holidays: Kuehn Keramik

Christmas Tree Ball

In time for the holidays we will be stocking the Kuehn Keramik line from Berlin which features both useful and impractical ceramic objects with a tongue in cheek nod to surrealism. Special orders welcome--have a look at the current catalog here: Kuehn Keramik.

• jackson, johnston & roe •

"Though brilliantly sunny, Saturday morning was overcoat weather again, not just topcoat weather, as it had been all week and as everyone hoped it would stay for the big weekend--the weekend of the Yale game."
- J.D. Salinger, Franny and Zooey

Afternoon Match Blouse

I don't know why exactly but jackson, johnston, and roe's collection makes me think of Franny Glass. It might be the fact that they named the above style the "Afternoon Match Blouse" which reminded me of the opening of Franny and Zooey, but I kinda think it's more than that. I think there's something unintentionally youthful in the designs like a precocious young woman who's more serious than her year's warrant, dressed-up, "feminine" but still wearing her hair in the same ponytail she's worn all through highschool. She's a girl who spends a lot of time in libraries but doesn't yet know how to cook anything more elaborate than a grilled cheese sandwich.

Perrine Blouse

Thursday Blouse with Library Skirt

Sara Moffat, Teo Griscom and Riley Salyards assumed their grandfathers’ names for their womenswear line jackson, johnston and roe. The childhood friends draw from each of their distinctive artistic disciplines to create small handsome collections made in New York City. With an emphasis on fine fabrics, construction and detail, the line continues to be classic and versatile.
See more of the jackson, johnston, and roe collection online at Le Train Bleu.

.:RONEN CHEN;.

"I wanted to present a figure that is delicate, urban and rough, all at the same time, " says Ronen Chen.

The name may be new to you but Ronen Chen is an Israeli designer with a refined, minimalist sensibility that has garnered him a huge following around the globe. He now has 9 concept stores under his own name and is sold in over 50 stores worldwide. Incorporating origami-like folds and pleats in his simple paired down garments, his collection is sophisticated and clean, recalling the Japanese designers of the 80's and the Belgians of the 90's. Offering up clothes that are cool but eminently "wearable" which to me just means that you will never look silly in his designs, nor like you're trying to hard. It also means that these are peices that are timeless enough to wear for years and years. People will notice the subtle details and the beautiful natural fabrics, and most importantly you.
His designs are created through draping which lends them their incredibly flattering fit (he even makes his studio employees try everything on so he can examine the fit on real people before settling on any design).
The Fall collection is now in store at Le Train Bleu.