Nina Leen's beach babes

Nina Leen's photos of 1950s-era beach babes would be enough to convince a gal to move to California (where the beach and short shorts are always an option), I think. I love the stripes these girls are rocking so so much. Crop tops too? Yes please. What's more, Leen is a bit of a fascinating subject herself...

"Nobody knows how old the Russian-born photographer Nina Leen was when she died, in 1995. Judging from her obituary, information about Leen is scarce. She lived in Germany, Italy, and Switzerland before moving to the U.S., where she became one of Life magazine’s first female photographers, in the nineteen-forties... Her photos wouldn’t look out of place next to Cindy Sherman’s on a gallery wall. But, unlike Lynch or Sherman, Leen found tension in the real world, and her subjects weren’t actors—they were just everyday people living out their lives" (The New Yorker).

Love!

lyn devon

Another favorite from NYFW, Lyn Devon simply killed it in the aspirational dressing department - now, wouldn't you like to be the type of lady to wear these outfits on the weekends, with that hat, strictly? My favorites are the two middle looks - I mean, if that outfit doesn't convince you to try a cropped high waisted trouser + boxy oxford combo, I don't know that anything ever will...

mimmi staaf

You know that emoji with the hearts for eyes? That's how I feel when I look at this incredible space styled by the owner of Stockholm-based interiors shop Mimmi Staaf. This whole look really hits the nail on the head for me - clean, lots of light, still bright and lively. Is it weird that my favorite detail is the stacking desk boxes? The colors! I so hope it makes up for my absence yesterday - I was traveling to New Jersey and chose a bag of 479° caramel popcorn (the best) over in-air internet.

Ashley Helvey

Monday, again! Hope you all had a nice weekend. It's finally cooled off a bit here in L.A., major hoorays, and I'm looking forward to a trip to see my family on the east coast this week. 

Another Instagram tumble that led me to someone whose work is both amazing, and familiar to me... Ashley Helvey is an artist who also runs the EPIC blog Hunter Gatherer.

delpozo spring 2014

Some fancy fashion for your Friday! I've been keeping up somewhat lackadaisically with the fashion shows happening these days (it's a task to really stay in there!), and am planning a nice roundup soon - lots of eye candy for sure - but for now, one of the collections that really ran away with my heart - Madrid-based label Delpozo. 

I really find that my favorite shows are of the less-wearable, completely aspirational, storybook sensational type. It makes it that much easier to appreciate the artistry and imaginativeness without the ache of wanting a piece to wear today, tomorrow, all next month (though I would not mind...!). 

ps - Also worth drooling over: Miss Moss's fantastic art/fashion mashups featuring Delpozo's runway looks alongside Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot's paintings.

Campbell Sibthorpe

Artist Campbell Sibthorpe, according to his Cargo Collective portfolio, was born in 1993. That both totally wigs me out and makes me so happy. I am really loving his interest in ordinary (but are they ordinary, really? I'm not so sure) living objects transformed into something a bit strange and sculptural, and his attention to and use of calm, but brightly invigorating color against bare backdrops.

mt. fuji architects studio

Don't mind me, I'll just be drifting off to daydreams of spending an afternoon in this gorgeous, airy space created by the Mt. Fuji Architects Studio in Kanagawa, Japan. The modestly sized two-bedroom home is given a crispness and breath by the extremely open style and the use of glass throughout. It looks like fall there, too, and that gets me even more excited because oh, I do think I miss it! More on that later...

source.

Tom Raffield

Cornwall, UK-based furniture designer and sculptor Tom Raffield creates objects with soul. Using traditional steam bending techniques, Raffield's creations are dually refined and wild, an aesthetic apparently inspired by the "extreme wilderness, tranquility and natural beauty" of Exmoor, England, where he grew up. His pieces are adventurous and surprising, but still respectful to their original forms and energy. In a beautiful video that brings us into his workspace, Raffield shares his philosophy:

"It's not for us just about making a really beautiful product, but it's also about understanding where that product [has] come from; about understanding the process that made that product, the trees that created the wood to make that product. The things we produce can't be mass-produced" (This is Paper).

Welp, I think I'm in love. Watch the video (below) and feel the same, swear.