Monogram Etiquette and just being fancy.

I've always wanted to be fancy enough to have monogrammed stationary. And to speak well, ride dressage and have people think me "a lady".
My love of the F-word kinda holds me back though...

"...I believe in plenty of optimism and white paint." -Elsie de Wolfe

"...Every age can be enchanting, provided you live within it."

"What  could  be  more  beautiful  than  a  dear  old  lady  growning  wise  with  age?  Every  age  can  be  enchanting,  provided  you  live  within  it."
-Brigitte Bardot

Diary of an Interior Design Intern

So after finishing up my course in Interior Architecture and Design for the summer, I was lucky enough to be offered a place interning with Martin-Hudson & Gibson Ltd. in Dublin's sandy, covey, and aptly named, Sandycove. I could not have asked for a better location to work. Not gonna lie, eating lunch by the sea with ma amie francais, and fellow intern, Julie makes be feel like I'm well on my way to the good life.

So what does one do as an interior design intern? A lot of different stuff. The little element of unpredictability in the bizz means no two days are alike. And for maybe the first time in a job, I really look forward to going to work, and know I won't be bored. At every turn there's a new little discovery, and no matter how insignificant something might seem, I take comfort on knowing that little-by-little I'm building up a knowledge of the industry that unfortunately college can't teach you. And being 55 years in business, it's good to know that I'm working with a company that's obviously doing something right.

 

The other day I was asked to write a blog entry on the company website based on a collection of company documents dating back to the early 1960's. http://vintagewednesdays.blogspot.ie/2013/06/old-company-documents.html?m=1 

And I did the shop window display. (Not a great picture, but this at least this snap documents my window display AND a rare glimpse of sun in Ireland.)

And on my train ride home, I made some lists in my forever-to-keep "This is what I did as an intern, so this is probably what I should do as a designer when I grow up and become a designer." notebook. I'm hoping this notebooks serves me well. :)

Lily Ashwell fashion collection

Well, hello there! It's been a while... Although this blog has kind of taken a backseat this past year while I've been studying Interior Architecture and Design in Dublin, my fascination with all things creative, design-y and lovely has only grown stronger. And as I see some more things to inspire me, I make a mental note to one day blog about them. One day, when I can afford a working laptop and I'm not spending 12 hours in a studio working on an upcoming college assignment...

Daughter of an ol' favourite Rachel, Lily Ashwell definitely seems to have inherited her mother's flair for making shabby chic. It's very vintage, very pastel, and as nothing is overly trend-driven, it's the kind of collection that would suit any age, in any age. The Lily Ashwell fashion line launched in 2012, and prides itself on printing on rare vintage materials, and keeping pieces American-made. This, in turn, makes the collections pricey, yes, but doesn't it also make them more like.. art?
 
Rather than taking advantage of her big-name parents (Lily's father is painter is British painter David Ashwell), Lily seems to have approached her career the old-fashioned way; spending four years at London's Central Saint Martins, a prestigious arts school, where Lily explains they "they did teach us to sew and all of the other technical aspects of clothing design, but they seemed more fixed on the storytelling aspect of creating a collection". And her collection is getting some serious recognition, with the likes of Elle and Teen Vogue taking note. 
 
I was so interested to learn about the design process. Isn't that always interesting? It's just one of those personal quirks that make you understand something. "I think in a very cinematic way, so I usually start with a landscape of the setting where I see the collection, and the holiday collection was in Wales. I was feeling coastal towns meeting pastures and farmland, so I start with an image like that. Then I make journals, where I create an illustrated story of who this girl is. I'll go as far as designing her house and creating an all-encompassing story around her.", the designer explains.

This video to accompany her Holiday 2012 collection kinda captures the mood perfectly. It kinda captures a really lovely mood perfectly. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NHF7avkNvY