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"Shoots & Styling"
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!
One of my latest, and favorite, shoots that I’ve done is the color story, shot with photographer/friend Vanessa Cabrillas. The idea came from a single photo:
Styled by one of my favorite stylists Karl Lempar, I loved the way this one look focused on a solid color and a lot of clean, minimalist lines. So my idea was to do something that focused mix and match solid colors, a little bit brighter and with lines a bit softer. I pulled the wardrobe, and the photog found the perfect location — a rundown, graffiti-ridden abandoned property her family owns about 40 minutes North of here. But even more importantly, we scouted two new models — Carly and here awesome little sister Kira, who is 5’9″, absolutely tiny, and only 14 years old. For those of you who don’t speak modelling industry, that translates into JACKPOT. Seriously, this girl is going places; if she keeps at it I’m expecting her to be signed to a very good agency.
The results:
This first look is probably my favorite outfit I’ve put together so far. It’s a pretty inexpensive party dress, but as soon as I saw that draped fabric I just KNEW I had to puff it out with tissue paper to give it a more unique shape. On top of that, I simply accessorized it with shoes, stockings and a belt from my own closet.
We also worked with make up artist Carrie Morales, who did the girls up in an awesome clean pallette, complete with nude lips. The MUA did hair as well — clean, sleek and modern high pony tails that came out perfectly.
Ultimately, I ended up not including a few of the pictures in my portfolio, mainly because I didn’t care for the way the wardrobe was hanging. I really, really wish photographers would listen when you try to give them tips about casting a shoot; sometimes the stylist has a better understanding of body lines. For the most part, though, it was a positive experience that produced some rockin’ additions to all of our ports.
Here it is! I can finally post the bridal magazine cover I styled late last year, after it’s official launch this weekend at the expo. Let me just tell you, this shoot almost fell apart several times — we changed photographers two days before, almost lost our model, couldn’t find a venue, and then thought we wouldn’t even be able to print our poster at the last minute. But thankfully everything came together, and we had a 3ft tall version of the cover in our booth at the expo (plus our gorgeous cover girl Sammy was there in our booth wearing an Ooh La Luxe dress!)
More on the shoot and the bridal expo coming soon!
Photography by Vanessa Cabrillas Make Up by Victoria Yap of Blushing
Hair by Carleen Forsythe-MurphyArt Direction by Kimberly LawsonDresses c/o Little White Dress Bridal
I’m currently pulling looks for men and women for two upcoming shoots:
Bridal Shoot
Looking for statement jewelry, gloves and headpieces.
Outdoor “Where the Wild Things Are” Inspired Shoot
Looking for fur pieces, army-inspired details, boots, russian hats, leather shorts, feathered jewelery, fingerless gloves, anything bohemian or tribal inspired, and everything in between. Women’s AND men’s clothing.
If interested please send look books or sample images to kimberly@oohlaluxe.com and I’ll get back to you if interested.
Remember that big photoshoot I mentioned last week? Well, it all went down yesterday. We shot a lookbook for OohLaLuxe and also took some shots for the new online magazine I work for. Since it was a TFCD the photos will be used in a lot of other places as well, such as the models blog & chictopia page, the designers websites and everyone’s portfolios. I have LOTS of details to tell, and hopefully I’ll have time to post about it this weekend. But in the meantime, check out a preview of some of the shoots and some behind the scenes pics too!
Styled by Kimberly Lawson
Modeled by Nicole Maramo Palisoc
Make up by Victoria Yap of Stacy K Salon
Photographed by Ellen Bryant of Baby Love Photography
Shoes by KM2shoes.com
Headband by KM2shoes.com
Ring by AtelierMinyon.com
Dress by Voom by Joy Han (OohLaLuxe.com)
Bag by Linea Pelle (OohLaluxe.com)
Earrings by Faso (ShopFaso.com)
Bracelet by Zeira Black (Zeira.com)
Shooting with real models is something I’ve been wanting to do for quite a while now, but I’ve never exactly had the means to accomplish it. At one point, I knew a girl who did makeup and had reasonable rates, so I contacted the local modelling agency about hiring a model — as it turned out there were a lot of extra fees to using agency repped models that I didn’t know about, on top of the fact that their day rates start at $150. But now, things have changed and, to make a long story short, I’ll be doing my first big fashion shoot next week. And, as I’ve learned, just planning a shoot is half of the work.
Here’s how everything got started — about a month and a half ago I got an email from a personal style blogger named Niki, who also happened to live in Bakersfield. Seriously, what are the odds? Slim to NONE, trust me! But it was true, she not only had great style and an interest in the industry, but also an aspiring model to boot. So suddenly, a model was in place, and the model was key.
Or at least that’s what I thought.
It wasn’t long before I realized it would take more than a model and a photographer — what about make up? Who would do her hair? I don’t carry many accessories, let alone any shoes, so where would I get them? Where would we even do the shoot, and where would we prep? *sigh* I’ve been planning this thing for two weeks and the full details aren’t sorted out yet, but I’m getting there!
My photographer, Ellen, who does all my product photography, suggested a great, woodsy location here in town; perfect for a fall transitions shoot. So we had our location. Then came the hard part — finding a MUA and hairstylist (who would be interested in doing a TF, at that!). It’s looking like we’re going to have to forgo a hairstylist all together — since it’s an outside shoot there wouldn’t be any place for prep. But I figured a make up artist can work standing up, right?
This brings me to my first experience using Model Mayhem. Usually I’m put off by that site because of all the trashy, half naked portfolio photos plastered all over it, but it’s actually been extremely helpful — there are actually locals of all facets (except maybe stylists; I really haven’t checked yet). I was lucky to get in to begin with; they usually only accept stylists who have portfolio pics featuring actual models, and I had to submit were photos on mannequins. But as of right now, I’m talking things over with a couple of MUA’s for next week.
The most fun, and the most confusing, thing so far has been pulling clothes and accessories for the shoot. I’m lucky enough to know Joseph of JosephStephen PR, who is shipping me a ton of AMAZING jewelry and clutches from 4-5 of his lines. I was also able to use LupRocks to find giant cocktail rings, and (believe it or not) Twitter to find a great shoe designer.
So, my next immediate thing to do is confirm the exact date of the shoot with the photographer, and wait for the samples to come in. Next week will be our fitting, and as well as a meeting between the whole creative team. And I’m not even going to pretend like this is such “awful, hard work”; confusing, yes. Frustrating? Sometimes. But I’m loving every minute of it! I just hope the photos come out as amazing and ethereal as possible, and that we can continue on doing shoots like this in the future!
Definitely stay tuned! I can’t wait to show all of you how the shoot comes out!
First Things First
My name is Kim, I'm the owner of OohLaLuxe.com boutique and an fashion jack of all trades, so to speak. I started this blog as a guide for aspiring buyers on how to start a fashion boutique, and from there, it merged into a hybrid of a personal blog, guidebook, and a place for me to share my recent work.
