We’re celebrating (mourning?) the last few days of summer. Make them count…
Melon Cooler
Melon Cooler Recipe:
2 oz. Momokawa Premium Gold Sake
2 oz. Honeydew melon, cubed
1 0z. O’Free Simple Syrup
2 oz. Pineapple Juice
In a cocktail tin, muddle the melon with sake. Add pineapple juice, simple syrup, ice. “Roll” between the tin and a mixing glass. Strain over ice into a tall Collins’ glass. Garnish with a pineapple skewer. Cheers!
This season technology meets textiles. Prints are made modern with computer-generated graphics devoid of repeating patterns. A few seasons ago, designers Mary Katrantzou and Peter Pilotto bursted onto our fashion radar with their cutting-edge techniques and now, as Ken Downing would say, “If it’s not a digital print, it’s not a print worth talking about.” Below we zoom in on some of Fall’s wearable kaleidoscope-like optical illusions.
Erdem Fall 2012 look 21.
Mary Katrantzou Fall 2012 look 7.
Peter Pilotto Fall 2012 look 19.
Whitney Mayfield, NM site manager for jewelry, in Barcelona, with the Mediterranean on the horizon.
I went to Barcelona with my mother for her “big” birthday. We soaked up the sun, midday siestas and 10 pm dinners!
TO EAT: Even if you show up at 9 pm the restaurants are virtually empty. Tapas restaurants abound; it’s just a matter of finding a favorite. There are a lot of lounges off of La Rambla – a centrally located street featuring many kiosks and street performers. I did some extensive tapas research before I left home, and polled our hotel staff. There was an amazing restaurant right down the street from our hotel. I developed a habit of shoestring potatoes with hot sauce and an egg over-easy. (Good for soaking up the sangria.)
Sangria and olives are a must.
For a quick empanada or to pick up tonight’s dinner locals and tourists alike venture to Mercat de la Boqueria. A massive indoor food market where you can buy anything — fresh fish, candy, empanadas, fruit smoothies…
Mercat de la Boqueria
One of the most thrilling ways to understand Art is to recognize the ways in which it is generated out of the experience of daily life. While some artists rely on theory as the fuel for their visual expression, others are inspired by the thoughts, feelings and perceptions born from the everyday. The exhibition at San Francisco’s Legion of Honor, Man Ray Lee Miller, tracks the creative relationship between two pioneering Surrealist artists. As lovers and later as friends, the relationship inspired their work and helped shape the history of modern art.
The heart of the exhibition lies in the years between 1929-1932 when the artists lived together in Paris. Prior to this time, Lee Miller had been a successful model in New York. She was beautiful, talented, and intellectually aware. Man Ray was already a formidable force in the Surrealist world, combining painting, sculpture and photography.
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A great sense of style is often inherited. Like mother, like daughter, as they say. A growing number of designers are releasing children’s collections that are clearly related to their runway collections – sending a message that coordinating ensembles can be fabulous fun. We take a look at the Fall children’s collections and their parental parallels.
Christian Dior Couture Fall 2012 look 23 and Baby Dior satin dress.
Dolce & Gabbana Fall 2012 look 36 and Dolce & Gabbana children’s Floral Intarsia cardigan.
Ralph Lauren Fall 2012 look 4 and Ralph Lauren childrenswear Pointelle dress.
Milly Fall 2012 look 6 and Milly Minis Hallie bow-neck dress.
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Monique and her daughter Sophia in Harbour Island.
Monique Lhuillier swapped her Los Angeles atelier swirling with lavish gowns for a laid back family-centric getaway to Harbour Island in the Bahamas. Below the designer transports us to her paradise.
To Do: Swim and boogie board in the beautiful ocean, take long walks on the beach, drive around the island in your golf cart, shop at The Sugar Mill & The Blue Rooster and unwind.
To Stay: The Dunmore Hotel, the Dunmore South room.
The Dunmore
Monique's kids Jack & Sophia
Harbour Island life
To Eat: For lunch, Sip Sip Restaurant. Their menu changes daily and features the fresh catch of the day. For dinner, The Landing. The lobster special is delicious paired with a glass of rose.
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Men’s wear has been a consistent source of inspiration for women’s ready-to-wear, appearing in borrowed-from-the-boys fabrics and tailoring. Although, lately it’s the way men style their outfits that I find most inspiring. It’s the creative layering of mixed patterns, and the individualized look they create that is covet-worthy. Naturally Eddie Nunns, NM’s VP of Creative, has an eye for design and it shows in his daily pattern-mixing ensembles.
Nunns’ attributes his keen sense of mixing patterns to his graphic design background. Always being drawn to crisp graphics – stripes, checks, and plaids. “I’ve never been a floral or paisley kind of guy, I love the sense of order that linear patterns lend to fabrics,” says Nunns. He creates interesting looks by playing with the scale of geometrics together.
Nunns describes himself as a classicist. “I love how there is this trend in reinventing the classics.” A repp stripe tie is thinner than it was 10 years ago. Gingham shirts are in unexpected colors now. Brogue wing-tips are chunkier and color is being added to the soles and heels of the shoes. A seersucker suit is trim and fitted, “not baggy like Colonel Sanders,” says Nunns. These are the details that push “old school” into modernity.
To see more of Nunns’ daily looks check out our Facebook page.
NM's Cusp and swimwear buyer Stacy Adams Hicks (L'Space swimsuit and JPG by Jean Paul Gaultier cover-up) in Bora Bora, on her honeymoon.
This month NM buyer and newlywed Stacy Hicks (formerly Stacy Adams) jetted to Bora Bora for her honeymoon. As you can imagine, the buyer who scouts the best in swimwear and contemporary for a living had no shortage of vacation-worthy maxi dresses, rompers and bikinis! Below she transports us to the Polynesian island surrounded by a crystal clear lagoon scattered with floating huts. Piña colada, anyone?
Stacy walks into her villa at the Four Seasons.
To Stay: The Four Seasons.
The villa came equipped with a trampoline.
An artisan crafts handbag decorations by hand.
If you don’t already own one, chances are, a Nancy Gonzalez precious-skin handbag is high on your things-I’d-like-to-have list. Each piece designed by the petite Colombian and crafted by artisans in her native Cali represents the epitome of quality and luxury. With her innovative use of precious skins and unconventional colors, Gonzalez has created a style that’s internationally recognized and coveted.
The Nancy Gonzalez workshop
But there’s more to Gonzalez than gorgeous accessories and a keen business sense. In a culture where successful women, especially entrepreneurs, are a true rarity, she’s a role model for female accomplishment and an agent for social change—dedicated to improving life in her native community by providing employees with the optimism and dignity that comes from a rewarding work place. Her factory employs 400 artisans—90 percent are women. Many are single mothers, whom she seeks out for apprenticeships and provides with on-site daycare.
“If a mother has a job, then her child has a much better chance for a healthy life and a successful future,” Gonzalez asserts. “My way of helping the community is to provide work and encourage women to accomplish their goals.”
Designer Nancy Gonzalez
Nancy Gonzalez handbag
Bourbon Rock
During the Made-to-Measure Event, we opt for a gentleman’s drink and a toast to the old-world beauty of men’s wear. Cheers.
Bourbon Rock:
2 oz. Bulleit Bourbon
Fill a double old-fashioned glass with one large ice cube. Pour over Bulleit Bourbon.
