Building the Boutique

I’m quite happy to have the “By the Riverbed” shoot I styled back in January published in W25 magazine this month.  I discovered this digital mag through a couple of fashion photographers I follow, and they publish some great work, so it’s an honor.  Check it out here starting on page 46.

More tears to come in the new year!

Sadly, it doesn’t look like the candy themed shoot I styled back in the summer will be picked up by any magazines anytime soon. It happens sometimes with test shoots; you learn and you move on from it.  Although I think a few great shots came out of this one, I can pin point a handful of things that could’ve been executed better (and will be next time!). Here are a few of my favorite shots from the shoot:

You can barely see it in this photo, but the necklace is 3 strands worth of color coordinated gummi worms (and his cigarette is candy).

This is my favorite shot by far .  I bought a cheapie eye patch from party works (so glad we did this around Halloween!) and covered it with random hot pink candies. She looked fierce and uber-girlie at the same time — always a great combo!

Oh what a day! I just wrapped up an 8 hour shoot in Santa Barbara for the cover and editorial off the bridal mag — I’ve been up since 2am and still going on only a couple hours of sleep…how I don’t know! This was the biggest shoot I’ve done to date — I pulled from a dozen or more lines and shops, which included about 10 gowns, tons of jewelry, mens clothing, head pieces, shoes — the works! This shoot was one of those situations where just about everything that could go wrong does; worst of all being that NONE of the grooms outfits fit properly, which is pretty much as stylists worst nightmare.

Since we were shooting outdoors at multiple locations it was such a challenge to keep things organized; you’re working with sooo many items and out of a car (no table space, and no assistant). But despite all the problems we went through (which also included having to delay the shoot twice and booking a model at the 11th hour) the looks the crew put together came out AMAZING, I seriously couldn’t be more excited to see the final results. The fact that we had the most prominent photographer in our region shooting for us makes me extremely confident of the outcome.

We shot 7 looks, and generally us stylists try to make editorial spreads cohesive, but each look ended up having a completely different feel. Considering the fact that it’s our first issue and we didn’t have a solid theme, I’m not too concerned about this — it’s definitely inspiration for brides of all different tastes. We started with elegant and feminine styles and ended with dark, edgy and fashion forward looks.

ETA: I’ve seen 4 or 5 preview images and they’re looking AMAZING so far — it totally embodies the upscale, jetset type of feel the editor wanted — yay!  Can’t wait to do this again early next year.

My updates have been slow around here for the past month, but work has not been! For the past couple of weeks I’ve been either shooting, preparing for shoots, or working on the Bridal magazine, which launches in a few months.

The first was a bridal hair inspiration shoot with photographer Bryan Toh, who always does a fab job. We shot for 9 hours and did 3 looks, so needless to say it was a long day for everyone. I pulled four amazing gowns from a local bridal store and a couple of cocktail dresses from a local boutique — the model looked amazing, but I’m afraid the outcome of the shoot is going to end up a little too much on the “commercial side”.

The following weekend I styled a shoot for First for Women magazine with a very well known local photographer. This was my first professional freelance gig, my first shoot for a national newsstand publication, and the first time I was specifically asked by an editor to style for them — three birds with one stone! This is pretty much the moment every creative freelancer waits for, and at only a year into this career it’s pretty motivating. Look for the issue on newsstands January 2nd!

Mind you, all this time I’ve been prepping for the cover and editorial shoot of the bridal magazine ….which has been rescheduled twice at this point. As of right now, it’s scheduled for Tuesday which gives me tomorrow to put all the finishing touches in place. My entire living room is FILLED with bridal gowns, jewelry, shoes and suits. It’s amazing that I can pull what seems like too much, then it gets here and it’s not even enough!

Hoping the weather is good in Santa Barbara this Tuesday! Check back later this weekend for all the deets!

Very excited to see the editorial I styled earlier this month up on Austrian digital fashion mag  C-Heads This particular shoot was quite an adventure because it was my first time pulling looks from PR houses, and also my first time driving around LA!  (Shocking, I know!)  I ended up renting an SUV and staying overnight in LA the day before the shoot to get it all done.  Crazy and tiring day, but fun overall.  It took about 6.5 hours just to pull the full wardrobe (for this shoot and another shoot) from three different showrooms and it really opened my eyes as to how much work the big name stylists must put into their job, and why they can command as much as they do.

Tolani top; American Apparel belt; Boulee skirt; Skinny by Jessica Elliott rings; Evil Pawn necklace; WeLoveColors.com knee highs

Work Custom jeans; T-Bags top; H&M belt; Little Rooms cuff

Finders Keepers romper; Skinny by Jessica Elliott earrings; Zara belt; H&M belt
Boulee dress; Poparazzi earrings

Cameo dress; Skinny by Jessica Elliott earrings; Dalita bracelet; Judy Klimek necklace;

Blaque Label skirt; Cameo top; Skinny by Jessica Elliott earrings and rings
American Apparel belt; Poparazzi earrings; Boulee dress

LoveMode dress; Skinny by Jessica Elliott rings; WeLoveColors.com socks;

Outtake:

Photographed by Vanessa Cabrillas
MUA Kristee Liu
Hairstylist Jenn Taniguchi
Wardrobe stylist Kimberly Lawson
Stylists asst.  Jessica Sunshine Harding
Model Erika Davidson @ Next

My favorite shot: the 5th picture with the cut-out back.  That particular outfit went form being my favorite, to my least favorite, and then back to my favorite again.  I loved it at first but when I put it on the model, initially, she kinda looked like a fashionable Wonder Woman (it is red and blue and all).  But once I saw the angle of the photo and the cutouts on the back I fell in love with it again.

This was the shortest shoot I’ve ever done; I have no idea how we managed to  shoot 8 looks in 5.5 hours, and finish 30minutes ahead of schedule, when we usually end up running over by 2 hours, but I think a lot of that is testament to working with a professional model who didn’t need a lot of time to warm up.  However, I don’t think I’ve ever been challenged so much about some of my styling decisions on set!  The model is actually wearing the dress backwards in the 6th photo, and it almost took the jaws of life just to get her in the dressing room to even try it. I’m glad I knixed the tights at the photographers suggestion before the shoot though.  I’m ultimately happy with the outcome of the styling of this shoot,  I wish I had used a few more accessories in a couple of images, but overall I’m happy to have something more mis-matched and unexpected in my portfolio!

Check it out on C-Heads.com!

Another test shoot this week, this time with photographer Bryan Toh.  This was my second time working with Bryan, and on top of being a great photographer he has a serious knack when it comes to set design and prop styling.  The last shoot I did with him was featured in the post My Dark Twisted Fairytale, which featured an outdoor tea party and a teepee.  This time it was an indoor fort and floating blocks that he constructed himself — needless to say, the sets were pretty rad.  And I can’t wait to see the finished product!

Well, here it is folks. This is something I’ve been waiting, hoping and working for since last summer when I first started — my first tears in a fashion magazine.  Our Love Story editorial (check it out here) is featured in the September fashion themed issue of Bunker Hill, a downtown LA based magazine. We actually shot the story at a historic hotel in DTLA earlier this year.  And while there are a million online fashion magazines (and great ones at that!) we’re all pretty proud that an actual print magazine was the first to pick us up — check out their distribution list and pick up a copy if you’re in town!

Be sure to browse through the issue, especially pages 43-51!

Here is the latest shoot I styled, and actually the last shoot I’ve done this year (so far).  We shot this back in February at Hotel Figueroa in Los Angeles.  That hotel in particular is really interesting — I used to live a block away from it when I was attending FIDM, and I passed it every single day yet never knew much about it.  It’s very old, it was built in the 20s I believe, and the entire hotel has a Moroccan theme to it, so it was a great backdrop and an excellent muse.

This was my 3rd time working with an agency repped model, and doing so is always exciting because you really feel like you’re making a bit of traction in the industry.  This gorgeous red head in particular is Sarra from Otto Models.  Hair and make up was done by the fabulous Dari  A. So, who also worked on menswear shoot at the Getty museum just a few weeks before this.  My photographer Vanessa Cabrillas wanted to do something sexier this time around — everything we did beforehand was so very demure and we definitely needed some variety in or portfolios.  I always try to keep things tasteful though; no denim thongs or pasties.

I’ll admit, this one is a bit racy!!

Absolutely LOVE this Ghita dress we pulled from Chic Little Devil!

I’m MAJORLY looking forward to styling again later this summer – - since I started last summer, I think this is the longest I’ve gone without doing a shoot, but I’ve had enough on my plate with the boutique, starting the dessert tables business and working on the bridal magazine.  Now I’m bursting with millions of ideas for the magazine cover.  Can’t wait, so stay tuned!

Time for an announcement! I’m currently in the process of expanding my styling services to include event styling! Event design has always been something that has interested me, but for the most part I was inspired to do this after I started working for the bridal magazine late last year. To start, my focus will be on dessert tables and down the road I’ll transition into doing full event design.

In order to get any gigs, of course I would need to be able to show off my skills to potential clients. So I figured, if one can test models, why not test food as well? This past week I teamed up with confections artist Mai Giffard, who is also launching her own catering service, for a mock food shoot. We planned two dessert tables (not to mention another shoot w/ models a few days later — crazy weekend), and the night before the two of us and photographer Vanessa Cabrillas got together to do some cookin’!

Well, actually it was mainly Mai who did the cookin’ — I can’t cook to save my life. But we did pitch in with the fruit tarts and the macarons — mmm, macarons. Mai makes some really yummy ones with preserve flavored gaunache filling. It’s to die for!

Come back next week for the finished result!

A couple of weeks ago I styled what is probably my favorite shoot to date. I worked with photographer Bryan Toh and photog/videographer David for the first time. I was initially contacted by Bryan who sent me a few photos as inspiration for this test, with the idea being high fashion clothing with a girlish/childish background. I absolutely LOVED the idea, especially the backdrop and the idea of working with props, but I knew I didn’t want to copy any of the inspiration material — that’s not my style. So I went a different way with the wardrobe, and my vision was simple: if Tim Burton had a doll house (lets pretend boys actually play with dolls), what would his dolls look like? Probably a little bit whimsical, and a little bit gothic, like a tainted fairy tale, which is a theme I’d love to explore even more in the future. The girls on set said the wardrobe looked like a “twisted Alice in Wonderland” so I guess in a way that means I got it right!

I chose to work with a pallette of peach, light pink, black and white. I absolutely adore the way all of the looks came out (except for the 6th look, which luckily we ended up cutting due to time restraints), but I especially love the one above. I paired a pink a-line skirt with lingerie shapewear for that sleek, seamless look. And as a corsage I used a tulle flower made by the hair stylist for a previous shoot. I was kind of bummed that the top fishnet garters didn’t really show in most of the pictures though.

I also played a lot with lace and rosette textures, and puff sleeves for a touch of drama. The big poofy headband was such a great find; I actually snagged it at Claire’s, of all places!

I also got to work with my go to hair and make up girls, Carleen Forsythe-Murphy and Victoria Yap, who made the girls look amazing. Carleen bought inexpensive hair pieces to style into buns for the last two looks — it ended up looking like a million bucks!

What ultimately brought the whole shoot together was, of course, the photography. I knew Bryan was a good photographer based on his portfolio but I had no idea just how amazing he is until I saw this finished product. His eye for composition is just insane! He and his cinematographer/assistant David did such a fantastic job finding this location, styling all of the props, and taking care of everyone on set. It was ridiculously cold that day but it was totally worth it for the end result!