Fall 2011 Fashion: Sass and Bide

The combination of orange and pink has been a favorite of mine since Hermes' 2008 advertising campaign shot in India. Sass and Bide's fall 2011 line is reminiscent of this with their with richly concentrated brights- oranges, fuschias and yellows. Loving this trend.

*images via style.com

Stella McCartney Kids: Spring/Summer 2011

Loving Stella McCartney's Spring/Summer 2011 kids collection. I wish these pieces came in my size! Shop here.

Object of Desire: Billy Kirk

Loving this Billy Kirk bag found over at Need Supply. Perfect for a holding your laptop on your way to work, and then into the night for after work drinks.

*image via notcot

Ursus Books and Prints - A Manhattan Landmark

After twenty-three years in the Carlyle Hotel on the Upper East Side, Ursus Books has moved to a new location on Madison Avenue.

Established in 1972, the comprehensive selection of fine antique decorative prints, art reference books and superb copies of rare books in all fields attracts readers, writers and shoppers around the world. Located nine blocks from MOMA, Ursus’ new location occupies the third floor of the a landmark building, originally built to house Fortnum and Mason in New York.

Just walking into this store is inspiring. I'll always remember my first visit when I lived just around the corner. I picked up my signed copy of Irving Penn's 'Passage'- it's still my favorite coffee table book on view in my apartment!

Just for Peek of Perfection readers, Ursus Books is offering a 10% discount on all items. Just call the shop and mention you read it here!

Ursus Books and Prints

699 Madison Avenue, 3rd Floor
212.772.8787

Stella McCartney : Spring 2011

vanilla wickerweave dewberry dress

eco cotton tye and dye lucy shoulder bag

tie white dry doublecloth carnatio dress

Shop here.

Amongst Type

In Baile Átha Cliath, typography influences and informs every day lives. This typography led mini-film was shot in and around central Dublin last week. Love the Warpaint music track!

My Favourite Things

It's been a whirlwind of a week since I've been back- I have lots to catch up on. In the meantime, this video made my heart smile on this blustery Saturday morning.

San Francisco

I'm off to San Francisco for a long weekend. See you next week!

*image via katespade

Tara Donovan Installations

These insanely meticulous installations are by artist Tara Donovan based in Brooklyn, New York. Here's what they're made of: 1. styrofoam cups 2. buttons 3. paper plates 4. scotch tape

*images via curbs and stoops

Calypso Home Runners

Hand loomed in India, these zig-zag Jaipuri runners would work great in a front hallway. Shop here.

*images via calypso

Pìcame

Pìcame is an editorial project born and developed on the web in a digital format. An e-magazine and a blog since 2008, Pìcame looks at the world of illustration, design and photography far from the mainstream system of the current market. Catch up on the issues here.

Il Buco Italian Restaurant - Athens, Greece

An Italian restaurant, Il Buco, opened recently in Psirri, Athens’s up-and-coming district (described as the 'Soho') of Athens. Restaurants, bars and nightclubs cover the tiny neighborhood, but entrepreneur Lucas Papaspirou doesn't think his new venture will have any problems prospering.

Designed by the Athens-based Sotovikis and located on the third floor of a neo-classical building, Il Buco has views of the Acropolis, and the restaurant has three separate rooms surrounding the cocktail bar.

Pure white walls, floors and ceilings are all against the black door frames and Droog and Danish light fixtures. The Greek atmosphere is enhanced by the addition of mismatched wood-frame chairs collected from the antique shops of the neighboring town of Monastirak. Wish I was having dinner here tonight!

*images via cool hunter

Vintage Perrier Ads

Have you ever seen an advertisement so chic? These vintage Perrier ads by French artist Bernard Villemot would look great over a bar (or your bar cart!).

BVLGARI for Pellegrino

To mark Bulgari’s 125th Anniversary, the luxury jeweler teamed up with San Pellegrino and have temporarily transformed the sparkling water bottle’s label to one covered in luscious jewels. My personal favorite was the Missoni collaboration. I still have them lining the top of the fridge in my kitchen!

*image via notcot

Rosita Missoni

Rosita Missoni, the 79 year old matriarch of the Missoni clan, is still moving full steam ahead in the design world even though she stepped down in 1997 as head of the iconic knitwear line she started with her husband Ottavio over 50 years ago.

In 2004, she launched the Missoni Home Collection, and in 2009 she oversaw the opening of the first Hotel Missoni in Edinburgh. A second property in Kuwait opens in March, and she has three more luxury boutique hotels- in Oman, Brazil and Turkey- in the works. She is responsible for designing the interiors of each, outfitted with furniture by Eero Saarinen, Marcel Wanders and Arne Jacobsen, and featuring Missoni's famous zig-zags, stripes and flowers in her iconic pink, teal and purple hues.

'I realized I had a knack for interior design when I was a child. My favorite game was to create a house or living room in the heath forest of my village, Golasecca,' says Rosita.

A suite at the Missoni Hotel in Edinburgh

Also at the hotel, the doormen sport Missoni-printed kilts

Hans Wegner Wishbone chairs are in each room

'The most treasured item in my home is a coffee table painted by my granddaughters, Margherita and Jennifer, when they were 12 and 10. I had seen a nice table in Paris and had our carpenter recreate it in plywood. My granddaughters asked to paint it—we always have paint around the house. Their little brothers were allowed to paint the underside. One day my son Luca came over and goes, 'God, this is a work of art!' So he took it away, and had someone put some surface on top of it, and it became the most special object in the house.'

*images via the wsj

A Moroccan Jewel

In the latest issue of Elle Decor, you can take a glimpse into fashion designer Liza Bruce and her husband, artist Nicholas Alvis Vega's home and their jet-setting lifestyle. They've amassed a collection of beautiful homes over the years— from a flat in London's Notting Hill, to a palazzo apartment in Jaipur, to a group of beach bungalows in Puglia, Italy. 'We refer to our houses as film sets without the film. We're driven to create the perfect hideaway,' says Bruce.

Out of all of their homes, their 'pleasure palace' is their three-story house in Morocco. Bruce, who made her name in the 19080's with a line of Lycra swimwear, now sells her fashions in her London boutique. In 2003, she began traveling to Marrakech and created a collection of embroidered caftans. After several trips, she and her husband decided to establish a permanent home in Morocco.

From the moment they first saw it, Bruce and Vega knew the exterior had to be white, which is an unusual choice in Morocco, where exteriors are famously pink. 'We wanted the white domes to echo the nearby Atlas Mountains and white floors and walls to fill the house with light and a sense of calm.' The designer, known for her use of color, couldn't resist adding it to their home. She found the hues she loves in the djellaba robes worn by local villagers: magenta and a dark eau de nil green. These appear in the textiles, painted furniture, and color-drenched walls in the riad. 'I've always loved color but I'm very careful in how I use it because it can be lethal in the wrong hands. The essence of Islamic architecture is that it is spare and refined,' she says.

The house serves as their design 'laboratory,' a place where they spend about four months of the year creating fabrics for their clothing and home textiles collections. See more images in the latest issue of Elle Decor.

*images via elle decor

Bathing Suit Style

Old-school bikinis by VPL. Shop here.

Blackman Cruz

After cruising the latest issues of Elle Decor and Architectural Digest this weekend poolside (it was 80 degrees!), I found the same mirror, above, featured once in each issue. In the right room, of course, it could really work. I then realized it's by an interior design shop based here in L.A., Blackman Cruz. I'll be checking this place out soon!

Men's Mocs

Moccasin's are the loafer's cooler, laid back cousin. Check out the styles above for spring! I love the bright suedes.

1. Minnetonka Camp Moc, $50, moccasinhouse.com 2. Quoddy Camp Moccasins, $230, jcrew.com 3. Black Fringed Moccasins, $325, apc.fr 4. Air Grant Camp Moc, $138, colehaan.com 5. Tied My Colors Driving Shoe, $495, tods.com

*image via wsj

Quote Unquote

'every child is an artist.

the problem is staying an artist when you grow up.'

-pablo picasso