bits and bobbins

i’ve been meaning to start taking street fashion photos for some time now. i carry my nikon d40 with me everyday, everywhere. so it’s about time i get to shooting style on the streets of the city in which i currently live, right? right!

these gals are the receptionists at my new salon, oxenrose, in hayes valley.

the details make the difference:

i’m loving brittany’s fun, oversized hoop earrings and yellow jelly shoes (perfect for a SF summery and warm day) and the fringy white short boots and other indian/western-influenced details in katie’s outfit. afraid of color and fun these girls are not!

i’ve always been a big fan of those zippered sweatshirts emblazoned with the names of european nations…i always mean to pick one up when i am in amsterdam (been too many times already!) but it seems to slip my mind over and over again! seeing katie rocking hers here is a nice reminder.

thanks brittany and katie!

more to come on this note! stay tuned.

a favorite designer of mine for some years has been natalie chanin.

she’s the designer of a new line of clothing, jewelry, and home stuff, entitled alabama chanin.

chanin used to produce a line called project alabama with a partner, but she has since left that particular company to do her own thing.

a momentary reverie, which might spark some memories for those who’ve heard of natalie chanin or project alabama…

some looks from the OLD project alabama line (their spring 2006 collection):

(as an aside: i still subconsciously think about this collection when getting dressed these days…i love the layers, the disparate yet coordinating patterns, the long, full skirts, the fitted, classic shapes that have been made special by the hand-wrought fabrications. when something is that special, when it resonates so hard with who you are and your personal aesthetic, it’s hard to forget!)

but back to the matter at hand, alabama chanin!

chanin’s new line, alabama chanin (which includes both wearables and home decor) stands delightfully and deliberately apart from the usual suspects, in that the items within it are sustainably made. as with the lovely clothing and such in the original project alabama line, the products she creates have a homespun, organic, one-of-a-kind feel. skilled hand-needlework finishes such as quilting, applique, and embroidery often take center stage on many of her garments. as a result, chanin’s designs have an almost back-country, yet couture feeling.

according to the alabama chanin website, in her own words:

“At Alabama Chanin we create limited-edition jewelry, clothing, home furnishings, accessories, furniture and fabrics for interiors. Using a mixture of new, organic and recycled materials our products are constructed with care by artisans who live and work in our local communities. All of the Alabama Chanin products lines are made-by-hand in the USA.”

and crafters and makers who are down with chanin’s aesthetic might want to take note:

natalie chanin is also coming out with a book this coming spring (march 2008, allegedly) called alabama stitch book, which will feature patterns, favored stitching techniques and stencils that will inspire and facilitate those wishing to create a similar look by their own crafty hands.

that tome that is *definitely* going on my amazon.com wish list!

what i’m grooving on/obsessing about at the moment (besides the lovely and inspiring photos by *you* pictured above!):

-fluorescent anything!
-the fact that summer finally appears to be starting here in san francisco (for those not in the know, SF gets warm in late summer and early fall, when other places are getting cooler)! it dawned on me recently that sunshine makes me happy, so i intend to seek out more of it, at all or any cost.
-homemade smoothies made from summer fruits, eaten for breakfast (i particularly love tropical ones, with mango, pineapple, and banana and some type of melon, if any happens to be hanging around).
-BOKEH…it’s that perfect “fuzziness” you see in some great photographs, a certain super shallow depth of field. i have a new nikon d40 camera i’ve been using for a couple months now (and LOVE, oh. my. goodness.), but apparently i need a lens with smaller f-stops. maybe i need to get this lens!?
-i’m probably the last person to hear about or mention this, but polyvore is pretty neat to tool around with. woot, collages!
-the fabric and paper installations and constructions of maine artist karen gelardi. graphic color + fiber + form = loveliness in the eyes of tricia.
-this flat-out AWESOME pad in L.A. (shown/found via AT:LA) has been haunting me for weeks. love the all the modern/resalvaged furniture and details in the home in question (check out this light fixture! *swoon*!). plus those COLORS??!! glory-be! saturated, pure color goodness in the form of a home! can i/we move in, joshua and raphael?

some minor though cool news coming in a couple weeks. stay tuned…same bits time, same bits channel.