Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Metallica in Toronto

Oscar and I are on the plane heading to New York. He's reading Bone and I'm...blogging, iChatting, er, working!!
 These pics of the special order metallic messenger bags we made for Gee Beauty store in Toronto popped out at me while looking through my pictures. I love them but we only got to see them for about a minute before we had to send them to Canada. Gee Beauty appears on the website to be only a "beauty" store, but they also have a very chic boutique next door. I've never been to Toronto, but my lovely friend Jessica, who grew up down the street from the store assures me it is tops.
I think they turned out fantastic. If you're in Toronto, stop by Gee and pick one up for summer!
More from New York in the next couple of days. xoxC

New York You Nork

If you live in La Pomme Grande, that's New York to you, please stop by and see me and my table of sample sale goods at Tucker studio at 413 W. 14th Street. Wed and Thurs 9-7. Good Deals!! xox

Friday, June 24, 2011

Au revoir Matilde

Today is Matilde Pamela Riccardi's last day of collaborating with us  at Clare Vivier. So to honor her, here are some of my favorite pics from her year here:
 She leaves for her home country Belgium on Monday.
She has been such a huge part of our growing company this last year, it is really hard to see her go.
 A year and a half ago, when my friends asked me if I could use their friends' daughter as an intern, I had no idea how much she would turn out to be such a good and necessary fit: As a really hard worker, 
 for comedy relief,
 for fashion inspiration,
 as a dear dear friend,
 as part of the family,
and part of our team!
J'adore ma Matilde!!
Message to Mat: Adieu and godspeed (look it up:) ) You're destined for greatness. And come back whenever you want, you've always got a job with the company you helped build! xoxoxc

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

LA in Bloom CV giveaway madness

Heather Taylor at LA in Bloom, has started many a frenzy for our clutches with her chic pics of her exclusive CV clutches, like this one below. No, it is not available. It was 1 of maybe 6 that were ever produced from a fantastic remnant leather we found. After she posted this photo on her blog we got a flurry of requests, only to regretfully say, "No, I'm sorry it is no longer available." 
Today, Heather has announced that she won't be the only one with the summer's newest hot clutch - aqua blue with neon zip. You could have it too! For free. Here's how:

Just leave a comment on her site saying which is your favorite style in our collection. 
Like Clare Vivier on Facebook.

You can also increase you odds of winning and gain extra entries if you:
Follow Heather on Twitter 
Follow me on Twitter
Spread the word by tweeting about this giveaway (make sure you tag it with @heatherbethtay!)

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Step Right Up Ladies and Gents

Here's a little photo shoot Mat and I did the other day did of a new bag in the line. The bags were in our possession exactly 2 hours, during which they had to be photographed, before they left us to go to the Steven Alan showroom. I thought the contact sheet looked cool so I screen captured it. These bags are majorly lovely and they are suede. 
A take off of our Simple Tote, it is slightly larger, with a shoulder strap, magnetic closure, and, did I mention it's made of suede? It'll come in killer colors - camel, tobacco, grey, royal, and purple. Boy do I wish we could have had them for longer at the studio.  They are available for Spring '12, crazy, I know, seems like forever away. I want one now.
Here's what it looks like on. This was after I was interviewed for a Singapore-based lifestyle blog. I'm wearing my Pour La Victoire shoes which apparently the journalist who interviewed me, Samantha, on left side of pic, bought as soon as she left.  Maybe she's buying them right at this instant on her phone. :)
The dress is Isabel Marant.
Also Isabel Marant are my striped, denim, cropped trousers.
While shopping for a HBT wedding outfit at Barney's, DKap and I had no luck finding outfits for the nuptials but we did find a few Isabel pieces. Including these pants and I had one of those experiences where when you're shopping at Barney's trying on Lanvin, Marc Jacobs, Celine, getting used to those prices in and around the 1 to 2 grand range, that when you finally end up on the COOP floor and see prices like Isabel's you have the delusional feeling like, 'what a deal!' So I ended up with these pants and while I love them, I kinda feel like I have fashion victim written all over my face when I wear them. It doesn't help that when I asked Oscar, my seven year old son, whether he liked my new pants or not, he responded with all innocence and sweetness, "I do like your pants, mama. They look like you work in the circus." Oooh, Ouch. Circus Chic. Not. The Look. I was. Going. For...


Thursday, June 9, 2011

Triage Team

I call them when I'm approaching the studio from our production. The situation is that my car is full with heavy bags full of bags, and there's a San Francisco-like parking scenario in our hood. So I call and I say to Matilde, Jocelyn or Scott: Can you send someone out?
 I did this today after spending a long afternoon at our production. And, like an episode of any hospital drama where the doctors are waiting for the ambulance to arrive and the triage to begin, this is who was waiting for me when I pulled up: Jocelyn and Matilde. Dressed like this and beyond ready to run to my car and snatch the heavy bags from the trunk with the swiftness of foxes.  
 I see these two everyday. In fact, I'd already spent the morning with them. But when I saw the two of them running to the car with such vigor and dedication, looking more like fashion models then heavy-lifters, my heart skipped a beat and I said, I've got to photograph you. I wanted to remember this vision. The vision of my small beautiful, hardworking, and committed team.
 Matilde wore a bright purple, silk jumpsuit to work today. Oh bonjour. The bar is set high.
Like another member of triage team, Scott was inside preparing the operating table for the massive delivery of bags full o bags, this is where we attach the logo tags, gold stamp every piece, stuff them, pack them and then very quickly Get. The Bags. Out. The. Door. again to our waiting customers.

p.s. This picture should be called: Matty loves Scottie

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Superextremities

"Superextremities" It's a real word. It means the terminus point of a something. On my arm, that is my clutch. And here is my new one -  the Grande Pochette. Or it used to be my clutch. Someone bought it off me as soon as it came into the store. So it is mine no more...until we get more made. 
It started with a call from a magazine editor. She wanted La Pochette for a shoot she was working on, but I had the feeling that she wanted something bigger, so I said, how about we make a larger one for you? It'd been on our mind already, so this was the kick  in our pants we needed. Above is the mock-up I cut of the leather to test the size.  
Then we turned it into this. I love it. It was purchased before I could even shoot it with a real camera. But this picture, aside from making me impatient for more of these Grande Pochettes to get back to us, made me look at my other superextremities - the rings, the bracelets, the watch I wear everyday.
On the left side: my wedding rings; the "Je t'aime" silver bracelet I purchased years ago which has literally been floating around our house for ages - kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, you name it, I've seen this bracelet there - found it's way to my wrist; the neon pink string (with wooden bead unseen) bracelet by Oli & Me; and my odd diamond Rolex Datejust which was a gift from my dad. I say "odd" because I never thought I'd be wearing a diamond watch. It's just a bit, I don't know, ladies-who-lunch for my taste. But there's a funny story* behind it and I've grown to love it so much, probably because it was a gift from my dad, that I am naked without it.
On the right side: Here's a closer look at Grace's Lion ring I spoke about in my last post. I'm becoming very attached.
*Here's the funny/odd story: My dad has a thing for watches. When he was in town visiting me a few years ago, we decided to go to some of the vintage watch places in Beverly Hills. He had wanted to get me a gift so we were looking at 1980s stainless Rolexes, which I thought would be understated but cool. As we were in one store ogling the gorgeous pieces, a young, beautiful woman came in with her watch she wanted to sell. I happened to be standing right at the counter as the dealer examined her watch, determined its authenticity, and then told her he'd give her X amount for it. She responded that so-and-so-BevHills-watch-dealer down the street said he'd give her a couple hundred more. He said he couldn't do it, because he already had the same watch in a case. So lovely young woman and her watch left the shop en route back to the previous dealer. Out on the street, the l.y.w. happened to be parked behind us, so we struck up a conversation with her. To make a longer story shorter than even longer: We ended up buying the diamond Datejust from her - right there on the street - for the wholesale price instead of the price the dealer would have turned around and sold it for. She was an actress, who at that moment was about to have her first film come out - a Wes Craven number. She told us she was getting out of a terrible relationship - selling off all the gifts the ex had given her, the watch being one of them. And that the story of Why I Wear a Diamond Rolex. Not the understated-cool I'd hoped for, but cool schmool! It's a diamond Rolex, sister. I. Cannot. Complain. Thank you for reading. It was longer than I thought. :)









Monday, June 6, 2011

Orange Crush

I was about to post a mega blog, but my pictures aren't loading. After these 3 pics, blogger just decided to stop accepting my uploads. 
So I'll just go with these three. I LOVE my nails. I have a serious crush on them it is true. I don't care if I'm too old for this color as was uttered last night (not towards me but a friend of mine said her manicurist dissuaded her from this color because it was too young for her. She's my age.) Moving on. 
Jeana Sohn took these pics of my hands texting yesterday at our photoshoot for an exciting new little venture which I cannot write about yet, but Jeana shot it for us. (No, I'm not talking about the Closet Visit film which she is also shooting right now. She is the busiest woman on earth.) I also think my Oli & Me jewelry looks stunning.  That's the lion ring (which is my newest piece of Grace Lee's, the woman behind Oli & Me, and is part of her new collection not yet available on the site), along with her black diamond bracelet and the gold cuff bracelet. Gorgeousness. I'm a lucky girl to know these talented people.
Another talented person I know is Jasmin Shokrian. She made this bright green, silk circle dress pictured above. I was going to wear it to HBT's wedding yesterday, which you can read about here. But I put it on, approximately 10 min before I was to leave the house and I realized it was too casual for the elegant wedding I was attending. I freaked out because I didn't have a back up outfit and I was reading a poem at the wedding which meant that all eyes would be on me for a solid 3 minutes for sure. Aye! So I called my go-to fashion rescue friend Deb Kaplan and said, "Help!" I sent her these snaps from my phone and she agreed it was too casual with the nude shoes/belt combo (picture 1). She told me to try and dress it up, which I tried with my vintage YSL jacket (picture 2), it wasn't quite right. Then I tried my own wedding day dress - the one I changed into after the ceremony. I hadn't tried it on since 2002 when we got married. It was good, DKap said but I definitely couldn't wear the white jacket with it (picture 3), or I'd look too bridal. So I wore the white lace dress over a black slip with a black blazer and it worked. If I find a pic of myself with final outfit, I'll post it. But I was in such a hurry that when I found something that worked, I flew out the door instead of snapping another pic.
P.S. how gross is my mirror? That's from Oscar brushing his teeth in the hallway mirror, I was in a rush to get fashion advice, I didn't have time to clean it. Sorry.

Change of Scenery

I'm so tired of looking at the cut-off jeans post - here's a change of image: from our Mem Day weekend at El Capitan.