When was the last time you went out to grab a coffee in a lazy Saturday afternoon and you suddenly saw an amazingly quiet oasis with the most beautiful magnolia trees and you knew you HAD to stop and take a couple of photos? Well, it happens to us all the time:)). And just like spoiled kids, we didn't miss the opportunity to play a bit in front of the camera. The truth is that, what we love most when spending time with each other, is the genuine fun and laughters that brighten up our days. After all, isn't this what friendship is all about?
Meanwhile, May is lining up as a busy month for the two of us. It's gonna be packed up with new beginnings (especially for the brunette half of the blog), with traveling and nonetheless with a lot of work. Soon you'll be able to see us in a blog post dedicated to Alchimie, in which we'll be wearing pieces from the collection. So stay tuned!
Love,
Laura&Elena
PS: Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway! by Earl Nightingale
A few posts ago, when making our big "entrance" after the break, we mentioned we had some news but didn't disclose much at the time. The time has come to let you know about the little project that the blonde half of the blog, with the help of the brunette half, of course, has put in place. It's called Alchimie, and it's a clothing line using genuine leather as main material for creating fashionable, timeless pieces. You know how best ideas arise from a lack of something that determines you to find your own solution? Well, Laura was searching for quite some time for a perfectly fitted pair of genuine leather pants with a decent price, when the idea to design them herself arose.
A trip to Istanbul and a couple of months later (and a serious amount of work) and you can finally see the result. Of course, there are many things to add, like for example that each piece is named after a famous street in Paris and the name of the line itself, Alchimie, is the french word for the philosophical tradition who's practitioners claimed to have found the elixir of youth. Or the fact that all garments are designed with utmost care and adapted to current bodyshapes so that they fit impeccable.
The Alchimie line is available to shop online here, via the Facebook Shop, and here.
We would be more than happy to hear what you think about the line so don't hesitate to write us!
Elsa Peretti Editorial Image by Kacper Kasprzyk for CR Fashion Book
Photo by Jill Krementz
When we started this blog we wanted to write about people who made an impression on us either because they achieved great things in their lives either because they are simply unique, speak their minds and live each day doing what they love the most. And so we came up with a series called Inspired by… We would like to continue this series with another remarkable women, a true legend of our times in the person of Elsa Peretti, jewelry designer for Tiffany&Co .
Elsa Peretti is such a source of inspiration that we had to write about her lifestory. She has been working as a designer for Tiffany&Co since 1974 and since then she revolutionized the jewelry design and enchanted the whole world with her timeless masterpieces.
Photo by Tiffany&Co
She designed the famous "bottle necklace" as she, herself recalls walking around the magnificent allies of Portofino, Italy with a single gardenia in her hands and wearing a small bottle on a string around her neck just to keep her flower alive.
She created the well known "Sevillana", a motive inspired by the earring of a Flamenco dancer that delighted her in Spain, the magnificent "bone cuff", inspired by the shape and form of the human bone, the "empty heart" inspired by the void in a sculpture of Henry Moore and the stunning "mesh", an idea that crossed her mind while traveling in India. She even designed a necklace in the shape of a snake and of a scorpion which soon became iconic jewelry. By far, one of her best creations was the diamond necklace, named " Diamonds by the yard", worn by Elsa in the second photo above, when she genuinely reinvented the diamond jewelry.
In one of her recent interviews Elsa Peretti Essentials of Style she says she takes her inspiration from traveling which is why she spent most of her lifetime discovering new places that keep her mind full of joy and passion for beauty. She has several homes, in Italy, in Spain, in New York but she admits that one of her favorite places is Spain, where she gathers her thoughts.
All her life she was surrounded by talented and inspiring people like Salvador Dali, Liza Mineli, Andy Warhol, Oscar de la Renta, Halston, Helmut Newton, Giorgio di Sant'Angelo and many others. She has been a model, a muse and ultimately a designer.
Her story is meant to remind us but also to remind you how important is to keep our mind full of beautiful thoughts, love that can fuel our imagination and that can make us dream. Nevertheless, being in the right place with the right people has an important role in our self-development. We hope we will always be surrounded by talented people, that inspire us to be nice and kind, that teach us and guide us on our chosen path. We wish to have always close to us people who are happy to share their knowledge and to give a chance to a young dreamer. And above all we wish to be always surrounded by our friends, the old ones and the new ones and of course by our beloved families.
During all her lifetime Elsa received several awards: Coty Award for Jewelry in 1971, Rhode Island School of Design President's Fellow Award in 1981 and in 1996 she was named Accessory Designer of the year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
In December 2012 Peretti signed a new 20-years contract with Tiffany therefore she will continue to design and delight the world with her priceless creations under the label of Tiffany. And we are so looking forward to see her next pieces of jewelry because as Elisabeth Taylor said, "diamonds are a girl's best friend".
We've been absent lately, but it's not without a reason. You've probably noticed the Facebook Box on the right side of the page and you're wondering who and what is it for. More about it in a further post, but if you decide to enter the Facebook page and you like what you see, don't hesitate to press the Like button!
While busy with our projects we almost missed the return of Spring in our city. So while heading this Saturday to the Yves Saint Laurent Visionnaire expo (more details in a further post, of course) and crossing our favorite park, it suddenly struck us: it's here!!! The grass is green, the swans are back on the lake, (almost) no clouds in the sky....it must be HER. So we took a moment to enjoy our coffees and breathe in the grass & soft soil spring-ish aroma before continuing our passage.
Stay tuned for a couple of exciting posts about two iconic names in fashion the following days!
An art fair based on a simple principle of exchange between the artist and "the buyer" where no money is involved? It sounded pretty interesting to us, therefore we spent a couple of hours in the Bozar galleries this Saturday. Art*Truc*Troc's history goes back to 1971 when a couple of artists willing both to be better known by the public and receive a certain material support decided to lay the foundation of this art fair. After two successful editions in 1975 and 1976, the art fair entered a cone of shadow only to be revitalized in 2004.
The basic principle is that the interested party leaves a note with a written offer for the piece of artwork exhibited and, if the artist is interested, he/she contacts the "the buyer" to make the exchange. Needless to say that many of the offers are quite cheeky, but among them, interesting ones can be found. For example, last year, an artist exchanged an engraving for a balloon ride. An oil on plexiglass for an iPad2 (practical one!). A photo for a week holiday in a house for 8 people in Portugal. An artwork for auto-hypnose sessions with a neuropsychiatrist (mmmmhhhmm...).
We, of course, placed a couple of bids for a few artworks that we liked and now we're waiting to see if successful. And no matter the result of our bids, at least we spent a couple of hours in an art-friendly atmosphere surrounded by people sharing the sweet tooth for contemporary art. In the meantime we enjoy our coffees and teas waiting for spring in the rainy city. Because there is nothing like the wave of good mood and happiness brought by a decent amount of sun rays.
Photos 1&2 the Golden Horn behind me
Photo 3 night view over the Blue Mosque
Photo 4 interior of the Blue Mosque
Photo 5 plane view over Istanbul
While in Istanbul for a personal project, the blonde half of the blog took advantage to get acquainted with the culture. This is her diary.
"I guess no trip ends up being exactly as you thought it would and probably this is the beauty of life. You meet people that amaze you with their disinterested kindness, others with whom you don't need to change more than a couple of words to disappoint you, you see places in which you never think you will find magic and you realize surprising facts about yourself. Such as actually enjoying being woken up every morning by the call to prayer from the nearest minaret.
What I haven't yet managed to enjoy is rain. Pouring rain, torrential rain, any type of rain was constantly present in Istanbul and kinda ruined most of my incentives to discover the city walking. Even though, it didn't alter in any way the archaic beauty of old city Sultanahmet, with its Blue Mosque and narghilé cafés. Deal of the day? The transparent umbrellas that we're sold at every corner by a noisy guy, the tourists' uniform regardless their origin or destination. Quite a view the army of white, blue and yellow umbrellas wondering through the square like bees circling the nest, certainly worth captured by the brush of a modern Manet.
All in all, Istanbul is definitely a city where I can picture myself getting lost on paved narrow streets pointing towards the deep blue sea. So maybe I'll be back when the sun decides to lay it's friendly rays more generously on us. Until then..."
Happy New Year everybody! May 2013 bring you a lot of peace and love in your hearts and the fulfillment of all wishes. May it make you wiser, happier and ready to face life's challenges. Don't forget to dream, to put faith in people and never give up on them because they just might be the ones to change your life.
P.S. As Eleanor Roosevelt used to say, remember that "the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams"!
Ph 3 Hyde Park in December / Ph 4 Winter Wonderland Hyde Park
Ph 5 friendly squirrel in Hyde Park / Ph 6&7 random in Winter Wonderland
Ph 8 Harrods / Ph 9 window at Harrods
We hope you spent a wonderful Christmas surrounded by your loved ones. Ours was in London and somehow, this city never fails to work its magic on us. Even though it rained constantly, during the Christmas day it was truly a challenge to find a restaurant open and on Boxing Day there was a general strike, we managed to have some memorable moments. Such as being part of the Christmas procession at St. Paul's Cathedral and listening to the magnificent choir. Or entering by chance the smallest and most intimate church on Christmas Eve at midnight and feel the unique spirit of Christmas . And, of course, the endless suite of hot coffees and teas served at windowed cafés when juicy conversations stalled just to admire the eclectic crowd that strolled the streets relentlessly. Sometimes a city break is all we need to get over the daily routine and to feel that life is actually wonderful as long as we surround ourselves with the right people and we get to be in the right place.And if it happens to be during Christmas time... then it's just perfect :) Now that we are heading into a new year and before preparing our Wish lists for 2013, let's try to be grateful for all good things that 2012 brought in our lives, for all the interesting people that we have met, for all the amazing places we have seen and for all the life experiences that brought us here and now and above all for having all possible means to fulfill our dreams in the year to come. Love, Laura&Elena
Christmas is around the corner and everyone is buying presents for their beloved ones. And because we still believe in the Christmas spirit and we still find joy in giving rather than receiving, we decided to organize a giveaway for you, our readers. And since it is our first giveaway it had to be a special one. So we have chosen a meaningful gift for you, a timeless friendship necklace " Wish upon a star" from Fossil.
Why a friendship necklace?? Well..it's simple.
Because we are best friends and because we genuinely believe in true friendship that stands for support, respect, attention, understanding, love and above all trust. Friends are those people who cheer you up when you feel like giving up, who encourage you to step forward when all the rest are pulling you back, who make you smile when you feel like crying and most important those whom you feel very close to you, even though they are far away from you.
With this giveaway we would like to make you and your best friend happy by offering you something that you can share and that will always be a reminder of your friendship.
And why " Wish Upon a Star"? Because at Christmas time everyone has to make a wish.
Elena's wish this Christmas is to cherish the present together with all the significant people in her life and for the future she wishes to be somewhere in the world where she can make a change..., in her life and in the life of others. And above all, she wishes to be always surrounded by good people, always inspiring and kind, spreading a positive vibe around them.
Laura's wish this Christmas is to have all her loved ones close, to be happy and good and to be able to take advantage of all the good opportunities that arise in her life.
Now, after all these confessions, which are your wishes for this Christmas??
Share your wishes with us by commenting on this post, become a follower of this blog via Google Friend Connect and you may win the friendship necklace" Wish upon a star". The giveaway is open till 26th December 2012.
Good luck and we are looking forward to read about your wishes!
Love,
Elena and Laura
PS: We believe that an inspiring song is needed for this post so we are leaving you with "Imagine" by John Lenon.
On Sunday we attended the Second Life Festival Christmas Market in the exquisite Le Berger boutique hotel in Brussels and discovered an unique and interesting concept. In each of the rooms of the hotel, all different and distinguished by women names such as Chloé or Antoinette, jewelry and clothing designers, vintage collectors, make-up artists and photographers awaited the crowd.
One of our finds was a collection of collars entirely made by hand. We were particularly attracted by those imposing golden studded collars enriched with pearls.
In another room, we met the astonishing lady from Lolly Wish which impressed us with some vintage hair accessories that we had to purchase. It was love at first sight :) You will see them soon on the blog.
We also run into two very pin up designers from Miss Chickadee Hats. It seems that, when it comes to fabulous mini hats and pillboxes, a Canadian and a Dutch are a perfect match. Elena tried on the bird headpiece while Laura fell in love with the military one. You can check out their Facebook page here!
After falling in love with the hotel rooms and after trying some lovely vintage pieces, we ended our tour in the lobby situated at the ground floor with some green tea flavored cupcakes and a cup of coffee dreaming about our future projects. It was relaxing, inspiring and nevertheless, the vintage market made our Sunday perfect!
Love,
Laura & Elena
P.S. Stay tuned this week for a Christmas giveaway!
