heysusy

THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT { tucker resort/holiday }

Like, whoa. I can't believe the weekend is already almost here. This week has just flown by...

A while ago back in Feb 2009, I posted about Tucker, and it has been quite a while since I've been back to Gaby Basora's excellent collection. Which makes looking at the newest available items even more exciting.

Things I want to note about her line- I love that her collection offers not only playful and chic patterns, but also more basic palettes. There are such a broad array of ideas to choose from, even though the actual structure of the clothing is really simplified. I love the focus, and the total commitment to a great fit. (There are a few core pieces, like the blouse, the dress, the cami that are cornerstones). I really enjoy the confidence that implies.

The second thing is, I like the art direction on the Tucker site. I like seeing a variety of model types, and a variety of ideas of beauty. Usually, that feels really contrived-- especially when a brand is veering towards a more comfort-inspired design direction--it can feel token, and catalog-y, especially if the makeup is overpronounced. But here, you get the sense that a diverse approach is honestly integral to what this designer is trying to do. What she is trying to bring to her audience-- and who she would like her audience to be.

Anyway, I really enjoyed taking another look.

View more HERE

USED, LIKE NEW { sally and mark bailey }

Hey Ducks. Yes, yes... apologies for being absent from my blog for a few days. Things are just very busy, and as I often say, when nothing has popped out at me that seems to be of note, I usually choose not to post. I know you are picky. And, ducks, THAT is what I love about you! You would have none of it if I just posted pabulum here for the sake of looking prolific. Right? Ehhh...

Anyway. THIS is postworthy. Promise. Something I've been thinking about lots lately as a business owner is branding. Not just the look of a company-- but the actual energy of a brand. Branding is much more than a logo, and it doesn't have to be as icky and slicky as it sounds. It's actually your entire outward facing side...and hopefully a good deal of the inward workings, too. Everything from customer service, to invoice formatting, to your hold music, to how you treat your staff and collaborators. It is finding out what can work FOR you, and then, making it work for you, in a thoughtful way.

So, I wanted to post about a design duo I just found out about...Mark and Sally Bailey. Not only do I love their asthetic, but it is exciting to see how they have developed it into a store/home concept, and a design and lifestyle attitude, which is present in a delightful variety through many elements of their brand. (See the map of their store below, in which each building has become a part of their store).

Anyway, the idea here is for you to go and check this out yourselves-- so I will stop posting and start linking in a moment. But not before I tell you that they also have a book, and a place to buy CHOCOLATE AND BISCUITS.

Baileys Home and Garden Site Here
Baileys Recycled Home Book Here
Curious Chocolate Here
Quote above from The Independent

DARKEST GREEN { standout hue }

I just had to stop when I saw this gorgeous pant-suit...what a color! Really, one just doesn't see that much compellingly sophisticated dark green around these days. Perhaps it's an expensive color to really make happen...or, maybe it's just not popular.

Which is why I'm celebrating it today. Whenever I see something that makes me stop, I always like to make a note of it. I love the presence of this lustrous, jewel-tone green. It's understated, quiet, yet makes such a memorable and confident statement. I'm not talking about plain old dark green, or moss green, or bright green, kelly, or malachite. I'm talking about this green...that green.

Here are some links!
Suit: Apiece Apart Spring 2010 (love this whole line)
Jewelry: Elva Fields
Bag (not green, but I thought it was relevant to the suit!): Marni
Photo: Tom Fowlks

I AM CONVINCED { day and a mysterious visitor }

So...I ended up not posting a weekender "jewelry to go with your gray sweatshirts" post because I got so absorbed in this website and their compelling asthetic that I completely forgot. I'm sorry! It happens.

I make it up to you, hopefully, with this link. Seriously, click on everything available and get lost in Day Birger et Mikkelsen's excellent wild meets urban meets quiet style sense. Wonderful!

In other tangentially related news this weekend, I'd like to share what happened outside our window on Saturday Night....K. spotted a HUGE bird quietly perched across the way on the opposite fire escape. When I say huge, I mean...like...about as tall and wide as a skateboard, maybe taller and wider. It was tucked just out of sight, with it's face in the shadows. It stayed there all night, sleeping, I imagine. When I woke up at 4 AM, it was still there...but it was still too dark to see many details. I saw it take in a big breath, and the shape expanded. The feathers on it's breast blew in the wind, just slightly...it perched completely still...and stayed.

When I woke up and it was light out, it was gone.

This was truly magical for me-- I often feel something magical has happened when I see a large animal in the "wild"...like when I saw that huge fish swim up to the dock at Lake George... It was a moment when I forgot about myself, completely. What it's like to be completely, surprisingly, selflessly, absorbed into something else...something beyond your own world.

Wherever you are, mysterious bird, I hope you are well.

SOMETHING DIFFERENT { a shorter, sweeter schedule }

 
Hi Everyone!

So, as the holidays are approaching, and things are getting busier and busier for my paper goods business, I've been giving some thought to trying to work out my posting schedule in a different way. While I love doing such involved posts each day, it takes a really long time-- and so I think I might try doing more frequent posts, that are a little shorter.

I hope this is amenable to you, readers...if there's one thing I hate to think of, it's having you think I'm not delivering the goods. So, let me know what you think...Really, I hope this might lead to better time management for me...with more hours freed up to do more creative work and take care of the details of running SusyJack. Of course, I'll still do the occasional long post about Penny Loafers or Combs or what have you. But, that might be more on a weekly basis than a daily one. Here's to trying something new!

xx s

PS. How adorable is this model's haircut?

THOSE SUMMER NIGHTS { inspiration }

Hi Everyone!
Just a quick post today. I saw the trailer for Where the Wild Things Are over the weekend.While I'm mildly interested...there's a bigger part of me doesn't want to see it. Even if they do have a large part of the trailer devoted to Maurice Sendak Himself calming me down and trying to convince me It Is Okay With Him.

I have my own ideas about the book, and so I'm not sure putting specifics to what I heretofore had been busy IMAGINING is such a good idea. I know...I know...I'm always so contrary. But I'm sick of things from my childhood getting bought and sold back to me. Frankly.

This post is, I guess, about nighttime...and the stillness and starry-ness and wildness of the countryside which I miss a great deal. Night used to seem different. Whether it was that I was younger, that crickets were louder, or simply that there wasn't as much light and noise in the world...I don't  know. Anyway, I'm heading up to the lake this coming weekend...and I am looking forward to those beautiful, cool nights that signal the coming of fall...while it's a melancholy time, it's also a time of richness, depth, mystery, harvest and adventure.

Today's links...
Wing Imagery via Locality (on Flickr)
Necklace by KSpell
The Tiara of Useful Knowledge and Tiara of Invasive Species by Jan Yager

CELLULOID HEROES { jumbo vintage wafer buttons }

Good morning my Fine Feathered Friends!

I guess this is turning into "reference week" here on HS*, with all the lace and Ikat going on in the past couple of days.

Today finds me exploring the wonderful world of vintage celluloid wafer buttons. There is something so crunchily wonderful about the combination of these beautiful textures and shapes. I think these are extremely relevant reference right now, since tribal influences are all the rage in Fall Collections; and I really love the mixture of a rough-hewn (ok, naughty word here-- primative--) etched and carved look with the inherently (okay-- another naughty-- civilized--) button form. The fact that this style was particularly in vogue during the art deco period makes a lot of sense.

Clickable Things:
I like this selection... some of them up to 2.5" wide! > right here
Not to be missed are caloohcallay''s Vintage Button Brooches, which are a great way to add a touch of this fabulous style to a jacket, scarf or bag for fall > here
Also view her flickr page for more button deliciousness. > here

Enjoy!!

THY FEARFUL SYMMETRY { exquisite lace }

Hello Sweet Choux,

So, I mentioned to a friend of mine that I've started working on some new pieces, and she recommended the Lacis Museum's online collection to me as a reference. and so I wanted to share that here today. One thing that I think really makes certain pattern design successful is the designer's attention to detail...really looking at something (a color, a shape, an object) and trying to discern what really makes it what it is.

For me, what makes lace, lace, is the beautiful, organic ebb and flow of condensed thread. The areas that are more populated with thread show up as solids, and the areas with less thread are linear, decorative or seemingly transparent. The process itself creates irregularities in the consistency of the fabric that have the natural gestalt of the nearly perfect. As an artist, I enjoy looking closer at things, not just for their style but to discover HOW they are made. I suppose this post is kind of an offshoot of yesterday's Ikat post, that way. Thinking more about how something is created, for me, yields new discoveries in how to do what I do.

Take a Trip Down Doily Lane > Here
Title of this post (highly recommend reading this!) from > Tyger, Tyger by William Blake

MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKERS { posters }

Hey Kids! 
Doing a speed post today because I have beaucoup to do around here... vrooooooooom! Anyway, as a creative entrepreneur, it is ALWAYS hard to stay motivated. While I love a nice motivational poster now and again, sometimes, I just want something that has a little more oomph. When I need reminding why I'm trying, when I'm in a state of high anxiety, or when my blues get the best of me,  my motivators need to be easy to understand.

I like these posters by Linocutboy on Etsy.
There are lots to choose from, but this is my favorite!
The upside down part...well, that feels right to me today. And this will remind me not to take myself so seriously. Seriously.
Enjoy your Thursdays, all!

STATEMENT PAPER { sneak peek, heads up }

Hi Everybody! See...I have been working! 

The next few weeks here at HS*, and in the studio, are going to be really, really busy. So, an advance apology if I don't post every day-- or even every other day, as usual. There is plenty to do, and a paper business to run. Hopefully, after all that has been happening, I will have lots to share, business-wise. And, I'd rather post thoughtful things of interest to my readers than scrounge at the last minute for a quick fix to slap up here.

...

In the past few months, aside from blogging here, I've been focusing in on cultivating my brand, deciding what should come next, and getting ready to step forward. It takes a lot of thinking...and exploring. And much more is going on here other than just designing new styles.

It has been (and still is) a big challenge to go from a handmade brand, to something more broad-based. And while I am not there yet, there are interesting things in store...new ways of thinking about my business, my products, and how they are presented to the market. I hope to share all of this with you as it evolves, and I hope it will be interesting.