SHOES! Fashion for you feet!

Fashion for your feet and terrific ideas for trims, appliques, treatments for your home. Have to dedicate this post to my daughter, Erika.... a shoe addict!

I am one of the lucky ones who just LOVES what I do!

I love my job and the creative license I have to design; to interpret and create new ideas for home textiles. Often heard coming out of my mouth "home textiles in not rocket science"

It is challenging to come up with new ideas that will resonate with the end use consumer... something new, a different take on what is currently in stores online and actual stores that you peruse through when you have time. I still love to physically be in a store to touch and feel the merchandise! That being said, it is rare to have the time and then when you do need something, it is more of a chore, so not so much fun.

In January, I was lucky enough to go to the Germany, England and France, looking at what the Europeans had to offer. As all of us in fashion were taught that they are "light years" ahead of us.... not so true anymore with all of the online shopping we do and "speed to market"

My goal is that when everyone is going left, I want to turn right... why offer what everyone else has?

Why shop for inspiration where everyone else is looking - that might be boring and wind up looking like everyone else come time for Market Week. I mean you want to be "on point", and at the same time, offer some new fresh look that no one else thought of, right??

So you might now be asking... why did I title this SHOES?

I will tell you, as much time as I spent looking at home textiles and furniture and decorative accessories in Europe; I spent equal time looking at fashion.... and shoes stood out BIG TIME this trip - take a look at the photos and tell me if you agree.... Amazing techniques, trims, fabrics, treatments, re-designed heel shapes and placements, fur everywhere! From the well know designers including Jimmy Choo, Mui Mui, Prada, United Nude, Dolce.... all the way through every collection! EYE CANDY

I post today, as I search to replace my loved simple black loafers and realize the depth of design in shoes... and I just want classic low heel loafers, lol!

Enjoy!.....

First up..... HEEL ARCHITECTURE!

Here are just FUZZY SHOES!!! Crazy fabrics, poms, fur.... lots of fur and texture!

JEWELS! DRIPPING IN JEWELS AND SEQUINS- some classic... some crazy!

ANIMAL SKIN PATTERNS ... still popular!!

and good, anything but old- fashioned.... COMBAT BOOTS!

What Inspires You?

As I look back at the year past I realize that I have been remiss in blogging, and here I find it so therapeutic... how could I have forgotten to express myself. I am preparing for a new year, with new adventures and new collections for my employer. Part of my job is to do trend research, create designs, new products and exciting new looks to offer our customers. I love to look in unconventional places for my ideas, hoping that I am searching and finding inspiration in places where my competitors might not be looking. The trade shows I visit are well known for home textiles and definitely a must for any designer in the industry. I wanted to share a few images that I felt were so beautiful and definitely made me want to "create" .... for work and for my home and life - to add spark and color! Hope you enjoy!

A cute little shop down by The Louvre... so many patterns on shirts, socks, ties!

Every single genre covered from cars, tape decks, architecture, donuts, sushi and more! Such fun....

Walking the show at Maison and Objet 2017 - more eye candy - these two stood out to me for their saturation of color and light!

Looking forward to 2018 in Frankfurt, London and Paris... will surely start to write again I love sharing these experiences!

Newcomb Pottery Exhibit Inspired Me!

A good percentage of my blog is about inspiration!

Everywhere I look, I am inspired; to mix colors in a new way, to create a piece of artwork, a new pattern or collection, to re-arrange my home for a new feel. I try not to name every blog post "inspiration" but it is difficult because I walk through the streets of NYC or the sidewalks down at the beach and I am always stopping to capture something that catches my eye, something that "inspires" me!

I went with a friend to the Princeton Art Museum, I got side tracked while there and blogged about this trip and Josef Albers in an earlier post about color. We were actually going to attend a guided tour through the Newcomb Pottery Enterprise exhibit, with a wonderful docent; Allegra! Not only was the pottery and artwork inspiring, but the whole idea behind the exhibit itself intrigued me.

The H.Sophie Newcomb Memorial College for Women, a division of Tulane, which at the time was an all male University offered an education to women to prepare them for work in the arts. After the Civil War in New Orleans an experiment to train women as artists, to create original artwork on pottery, to support themselves, during this difficult time was started. There is a fantastic article, by a friend Ilene Dube, about the exhibit you can read here.

I was fascinated by the exhibit and the article is a wonderful summary of all I learned that day. These women created unique works of art; the style and genre were the same, but each piece was unique unto itself... there were no duplicates created. The look of Japanese artistry mixed with the Southern flora and fauna were so creative and you could see how they developed over time. As the years went on, the art created gained much acclaim and won many awards!

The funniest thing about this trip is that on a walk through the campus, headed to the art museum, there were beautiful daffodils; yellow petals with long green stems reaching for the sun - I had to stop to take a photo....little did I know it was a glimpse into what I was about to see! Magnificent works of art, many with yellow daffodils and lilies, all came to life on vases and plates, all unique, all created so many years ago out of necessity to support themselves. I felt the NEED to go home and create my own pattern, so I could feel part of this movement!