I call this the “mildew” print because it reminds me of a certain ex-boyfriends shower that would gross me out every time I stepped into it. However, under a blazer and paired with jeans the print is unbelievably fantastic.
This sweater reminds me of my aunt Betsy who lives in Los Alamos, NM with my uncle and cousin, was in the Peace Corps in Chile in the 70s and makes the most amazing meals using organic ingredients. She’s one of the coolest people I know and this sweater definitely belongs in her wardrobe.
I love the cropped jacket! Paired with black opaque tights and a pair of ankle boots and you are good to go! (Warning- not everyone can wear this look. If you have a penchant for wearing “mom jeans” or don’t have legs like a race horse, I would choose something else from the Shipley and Halmos collection. Just sayin’ peeps.
While I was working on doing another Style File Report and research for my book, the rest of The Style File Group (aka Megan and Natalie) spent a few minutes with Sam from Shipley and Halmos talking about the Autumn/Winter 2010 Collection. Certain designers invite the press to see the collection and ask questions before it hits the runway. Here is Megan’s (a senior at Parsons School of Design and my assistant) interview:
The Style File Group: What is the focus of this collection?
Sam:The collection is mainly about outerwear and prints. We have some chunky alpaca knit sweaters that we had made in Peru and some hand designed abstract prints throughout the collection. But our outerwear is the focus especially with leathers, lambs skin and fur coats. Fur is doing well right now, it seems to be in reaction to the past few seasons.
The Style File Group: What is your background in design?
Sam:I went to college in Colorado where I grew up and studied fine arts/painting. There I met my partner, Jeff Halmos. He has a financial background. Together years later, we wanted to develop a brand that was really involved in craft and doing what we loved, which is fashion.
The Style File Group:Did you teach yourself to design, drape and sew?
Sam:Yes, We learned as we came up with the ideas, we are mostly self-taught.
The Style File Group: Was it hard to get your brand started?
Sam:No. Not at all. Easy in fact. You just have to be very driven and devote your time to getting things accomplished. I already had a background in art. Once we got past the hurdle of backing our work financially, it came pretty naturally.
Retail Sector: On Road to Recovery?
YES we are in the midst of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week FW10 prep BUT that doesn’t mean the retail sector or the economy comes to a standstill. On Thursday I was on CNBC to talk about same store sales and whether or not the positive upswing was an indication the economy is recovering. My verdict: definitely not. January is typically the easiest month when it comes to comps and if you are doing a year over year comparison, most retailers reported horrible numbers this time last year therefore any positive numbers being reported will of course seem amazing. Also, retailers notoriously targeted the bottom line over the past months which means stores were closed, jobs were cut and inventories were slashed. This contributed to the incredible turnaround companies like Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) and Saks Fifth Ave (SAKS) experienced. Consumer spending has a direct correlation to jobless claims and the unemployment rate. Once both of those numbers come down significantly, we will see substantial numbers for these retailers. To check out the video click here.
YAY we (team Style File Media) love our new Storm2 as well! I’ve never used a touch screen phone so I might have Emma Goldstein (back to intern with us for FW10) test drive it! PS, we wanted to give a special shout out to the ladies at Harrison and Shriftman for messengering over the BlackBerrys so we didn’t have to send out a poor intern (Natalie or Emma) in the cold to go retrive them! Thank you!
In addition to Flip Video letting us use their awesome devices to document our Mercedes Benz fashion week lives, BlackBerry also lent us a Tour and a Storm2 to blog/Flickr/Facebook/Twitter with. This is the what the new Tour came in. Yes that would be a leather case with compartments for covers, a charger AND a wireless music player. How cool is this phone??
The color isn’t as vibrant as we had hoped but you get the picture. I love how all of our names are on it too. Just in case we get confused or something…
Since I started blogging I’ve tried to come up with new and fun ways to document my life. That’s why when someone put a Flip Mino HD in my hand a year ago I was DYING. My friends and I marveled at the resolution of the picture and the size of the device. Being video journalists we were so used to lugging around huge cameras– this fit right in our handbags! For Mercedes Benz Fashion Week FW10, the nice people at Flip video let us design our own Mino HDs (notice the Style File Group logo on the camera and in Pantone color violet for SS10) to record our lives. To create your own go to www.theflip.com.
