Dedicated Follower of Fashion

Inspired? Huntington Desert Garden

As mentioned yesterday, I've taken a litle RnR this week with Mr Styles' Mom being in town...of course my version of RnR is to run around town doing all the things I never get to do...I'm not much of a sit still kind of gal...

On Monday we spent the afternoon walking around the L.A wonder that is the Huntington Gardens. I managed to take, literally, hundreds of photographs. Whilst it sounds utterly corny, there's nothing more inspiring than the colour, texture and vibrancy that is found in nature - and it's even more exciting when you can find it in your own backyard (or at least someone elses backyard that you paid $15 to visit...!)

As I said there are a TON of photographs, and I've made a valiant attempt to narrow them down, and will be sharing them in three parts. I know this isn't strictly a fashion post, and honestly, I'm not strictly a fashion person, but please find inspiration in them...for your designs, your outfits, your art (but please - credit where credit is due - these are not for commercial use)

All the many pictures are after the jump! Enjoy!

Kelsi x

In Residence - Store Opening

I cannot believe how horribly behind I am in my fashion week coverage! As many of you know by now, this week was a whirlwhind, as we produced a last minute fashion week event (in 48 hours!) for the designers displaced by the WCM fiasco - there'll be a lot more on that later - so I lost a couple of days of writing, but I'm ready to type..so I'll be caught up in no time!

Last Thursday (14th) we headed to the In Residence store opening, in Culver City, hosted by Julia Stiles and Vanessa Carlton.

The store was developed by Rachel Salzman and Tracey Moulton who were brought together by their mutual appreciation for a simple and classic aesthetic. The store itself reflects this, alongside the art work of local, emerging artists, they're currently featuring the work of photographer Tyler Udall.

The store itself features some beautiful items for both men and women, including their in house line 'In Residence' to include four classic staples, the sweatshirt, the henley, the softie and the perfect tee - all made of 100% cotton and all made in Los Angeles.

Other gorgeous brands currently for sale in store include, Electric Feathers, a line featuring gorgeous silk dresses and jumpers, vintage clothing, Boy Bags' fantastic line of bags and my absolute favourite Odylyne offerring some gorgeous, super girly pieces, including a peach maxi dress that caught my wandering eye and the eyes of many of the stylish Westsiders present.

Jennifer Margolin, Myself, Natalie Osterling

(I'm wearing a vintage dress, Lena Erziak purse and Nana Bijou necklace)

The store is a lovely space with a great selection of emerging designers, and it was definitely a change of pace to my usual Eastside haunts, ah, those laidback Westsiders....!

Visit: In Residence: 2051 Sawtelle Blvd, LA, 90025.

Kelsi Smith.

BKYN - Aquarium of the Pacific - Long Beach

I'm still playing the blogging catch up game! Life is extremely busy, so it's been quite nice to sit back and pore over the remaining pictures to be posted from my baby sister's visit.

The following pictures are from our trip to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA with darling Miranda Valentine of Better in French. Fish and fashion? Yeah. Really I'm going there. If these colours and textures don't inspire you...what's wrong?!

Enjoy :)

Kelsi x

a leafy sea dragon ~ crazy little things!

These giant crabs are more than a little creepy

Josie & Miranda playing with starfish & sea anenomes

Miranda was impressed to see that the rays were on trend for fall with their leopard print ;)

The Aquarium has a great aviary where you can feed the birds..I'm quite the bird whisperer!


and apparently I'm a child whisperer also!

To learn more about the Aquarium of the Pacific, visit their site here.

Better Know Your Neighborhood: Vacation Edition: San Francisco

Now I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on San Francisco here, this was my third trip ever, and three trips to any city, does not an expert make. However I do want to share with you some of my shopping recommendations from this fine city. I spent the bulk of my weekend between Haight Ashbury and Hayes Valley, so I'm going to concentrate on those areas..perhaps on another trip I shall cover other areas..!

Ambiance, a cute boutique at Haight Ashbury, is filled to the brim with eclectic fancies, from well known labels to lesser known, independent designers. 

The store is very well stocked, meaning you  can hours and hours going through the racks and racks of clothing, and with items priced for any price ranges there is certainly something for everyone in this store.

The atmosphere was welcoming and the staff were lovely, immediately complimenting my outfit upon entering the store. and as you saw on Friday, in our 'ShopGirl' series, where I interviewed Katie from the store, the staff were not only  knowledgeable but cute themselves!

1458 Haight St.
San Francisco
415.552.5095

AmbianceSF.com

Ver Unica, as featured in Friday's 'ShopGirl' video was one of my favourite finds. A beautifully curated vintage store in the heart of Hayes Valley, the store features an amazing range of vintage clothing, shoes and accessories. The prices ranged from affordable to completely worth it, but it should be noted this is not a bargain basement vintage store - but a high quality, hand picked, vintage store. Not your average San Francisco thrift store by any means.

Definitely worth a visit, to both the bank and the store!

437 Hayes St
Ste B
(between Gough St & Octavia St)
San Francisco, CA 94102

Goorin Bros Hat Shop was first established in Pittsburgh in 1895, and the company moved to San Francisco in 1949. I actually knew very little about the store until I visited this particular one on Haight St in San Francisco. Amusingly enough I have since discovered we have one of our very own in Los Angeles on Melrose...! Not only that but they have stores across the states (and even one in Vancouver) So maybe not as special as I'd first thought..but definitely a great store to visit if you aren't privileged to have one in your home town.

The store had a beautiful range of classic fedora's all with interesting details, and fine trimmings. What's more, priced at around $45 a hat, these were affordable. 

1446 Haight Street

San Francisco, CA, 94117

415-436-9450

Goorin.com

I was going to skip any restaurant reviews, mostly because I didn't really have any favourable experiences, from a garlic overdose that had me vomiting to hard boiled poached eggs I somehow hit the jackpot of bad food..quite a feat considering the many wonderful restaurants in San Francisco. But our last full day was different. We had breakfast at Stacks in the morning which was very very good, in fact it was our only good food day, we followed up by a ridiculously good veggie burger in Berkeley, but the highlight of the day was a sweet treat...

Macaron's from Paulette, whilst not the best Macarons I'd ever tasted, were delicious, and what was extremely impressive was the sheer volume of flavours to choose from, all arranged in a beautiful colour palette. Absolutely worth a stop for some of the best macarons you'll taste stateside.

(Again it appears I traveled to San Francisco to find we not only have one of these on our doorstep..but two. Paulette is also is Little Tokyo and Beverly Hills - haha... perhaps I should have Better Known MY Neighborhood...!)

437 Hayes St, (Cross Street: Gough St)
San Francisco, CA 94102

PauletteMacarons.com

With two stores in Vegas, one in Hollywood and this new one at Haight Ashbury in San Francisco, as well as their e-commerce, chances are you've heard of Bettie Page Clothing already. In case you haven't, this is the one stop shop for all things sartorially retro. Amazing fifties dresses, pin-up and rockabilly style fill the store. Admittedly it does feel a little costumey..but pair a dress with the right accessories and you can have a modern, vintage inspired look as opposed to a flash back in time. With dresses priced on average at $100, it's not cheap as chips..but you're getting great value for money.

www.bettiepageclothing.com

Residents Apparel Gallery aka RAG, in Hayes Valley (also featured in our ShopGirl series) is a gem of a store. A perfect haven for those of us who love hipster craft fairs and, well, Etsy. A uniquely wonderful store, RAG is a collaboration of locally based designers and artisans all selling their wares. It's effectively like Etsy except on a local level and you don't need internet access.

The store was welcoming, though much smaller than I expected, tucked away down a little street, inside is filled with art work, clothing, jewelry and other crafty ephemera all handmade locally. Fantabulous.

541 Octavia Street
San Francisco, CA 94102-4317
(415) 621-7718

RAGSF.com

I couldn't really mention shopping on Haight Ashbury without mentioning the mahussive Wasteland that sleeps bang smack in the middle of the street. The go to place for buying and selling vintage and used clothing has five stores in California, four of which are in and around Los Angeles, but my favourite of which is in San Francisco - go figure?

They have a great selection (an ENORMOUS selection of shoes!) the space is huge and the staff are awesome (they were dressed so well I was almost intimidated) and as per usual the price's are great.

1660 Haight Street,
San Francisco, CA 94117

wastelandclothing.com

What are your favourite stores in San Francisco? I'd love to know, so I'm ready for my next trip!

Kelsi Smith.

San Francisco - Hotel Diva

When Hotel Diva discovered I was visiting San Francisco for a long weekend they came up with an offer we couldn't refuse, stay in one of their beautiful suites for a mere $75 a night...yes please? Of course. (For the record this was a press rate - these rooms usually run at around $269!)

Hotel Diva was first established in 1982 as part of Personality Hotels, renamed so in 1995 after CEO Yvonne Lembi-Detert was repeatedly told how much personality her hotels had by her guests. This boutique collection of hotels also includes Kensington Park Hotel, Hotel Union Square and Steinhart Hotel.

The hotel was redesigned in 2000 by architect T. Olle Lundberg, and features a sleek and modern aesthetic. Industrial but still comfortable and welcoming.

After driving for over 6 hours...well, after Mr. Style driving for 6 hours anyhow, entering our huge suite and being greeted not only by ample space and a huge comfortable bed, but a bottle of wine, we were exceedingly happy campers. Additionally an interesting and certainly original touch was the branded faux tattoo sitting on our pillow where one might normally find a chocolate, it was completely irreverent and made me chuckle.

Our room featured all the mod cons, fridge, filing cabinet, alarm clock complete with i-pod deck, awesome industrial style desk, full bath and a gorgeous living area. But my absolute favourite feature, as I'm sure my fellow fashionista's will appreciate, was the awesome walk in wardrobe complete with huge mirrors and vanity sink...can I haz one please?

One of Hotel Diva's unique features are their four internet suites open 24 hours a day, perfect for the blogger who chose not to bring her laptop, despite the free wi-fi, on one of the busiest work vacations ever - yes I'm an idiot....

Each suite has been designed by a San Franciscan artist and each has it's own theme. The Skateboard themed DLX Lounge, features wall mounted skateboards and is designed by Lisa Compagno and her skateboarder husband Pete Colpitts (aka Pete the OX.) The Design Within Reach Lounge, also designed by Lisa Compagno in conjunction with Design Within Reach's Eric Hildebrandt is a highly stylized modern lounge featuring classics from Design Within Reach.

My favourite suite, however, was the LeeQuen suite, pictured above, designed by furniture designer Rick Lee and his wife, couturière, Colleen Quen. The centre piece of the suite is Quen's signature Madame Butterfly gown cascading from the ceiling as a truly unique light fixture.

Our stay at Hotel Diva was thoroughly enjoyable, the staff were more than welcoming, the rooms were not only beautiful, but comforting (Mr Style did not want to leave what he called our 'new home') and the location could not have been more practical (a mere stones throw from Union Square.) I highly recommend a stay at Hotel Diva to anyone, and can't wait to try the other Personality Hotels on our next visits to one of my favourite cities.

Hotel Diva, 440 Geary Street, San Francisco, CA 94102.

hoteldiva.com

By Kelsi Smith