THE ECO STYLIST

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Shoes, my love....

I'll go ahead and admit, I have too many pairs of shoes. So many, I'm not sure how many there are exactly? Under 100? My brother, my boyfriend and the guys who last helped us move, frown upon my museum of shoes. I get it, they are heavy, I won't lift them, no one needs that many shoes and they take up a lot of closet real estate. I consider myself frugal, as we all must be in these times, but I do love a nice pair of shoes to dress up and old outfit, preferably something made in Italy that I can wear for at least 8 years.

Some might say I have what's commonly referred to as a "shoe fetish". I call it more of a deep, passionate, ever lasting, love affair. Someday I hope to have just a fraction of a shoe closet to

keep my museum all lined up and pretty. They are too beautiful not to be displayed.

For now, I've decided to do a blog series on shoes. What are the best shoes for all occasions, who are the best designers, just an overall homage to shoes? This will take several posts obviously but let's start with a new evolution in shoe design, the car company Jeep owns J-41, an exciting new brand that I have worn! Then, we'll move on to one of my favorite designers ever, Minna Parikka.

Photo of Christina Aguilera by Douglas Friedman

My love of shoes began at an early age, with ballet slippers. I started dancing when I was around three. Of course one of my favorite things about ballet was the part where we wore special shoes and costumes. My Mom would pack us up and tote us down to Nordstrom to pick out the tiny, pink Capezio slippers. Later, I could hardly wait to graduate to satin pointe shoes.

These days, I've hung up the twinkle toes for some of my favorite designers. I keep a few pairs of what my friend Terry's Mom used to call "sit down shoes", for special occasions. Mainly my closet is full of two types of shoes, everyday shoes and fancy shoes. I don't look at price, so much as quality. How long will they last, as far as fashion and wear and there are so many places to find great shoes discount these days? I consider it a great investment. Will they go with my wardrobe? Are they comfortable? That is key, I refuse to look ridiculous trotting around in super high heels that I'm limping in by the end of the night. After all those years of squeezing my toes into point shoes, I'm done torturing myself. It used to be that the word"comfort", when you put next to the word shoes, was a licence to be arrested by the fashion police. Now there are so many awesome comfort brands, we will take a look at the best later. First, these beauties, have so many qualities I look for in a shoe. I think I'm in love...

Recently Jeep, yes the car company, launched a line of shoesies that are insanely comfortable and often cute called J-41. I found a pair of low, rouched ankle boots on sale this winter and have hardly taken them off since. The sole is even made of recycled tires and they use all kinds of vegan and other modern materials to construct the shoes. They are so comfortable and look nothing like a Jeep. You can still find them on sale on zappos.com,

We'll review some other favorite comfort brands, in later blogs. Now, let me introduce

you to my one of my favorite contemporary designers of all time, here name is Minna Parikka. Her company is based out of Helsinki Finland, like so many cool things these days. Her eye for design is impeccable. She's sold shoes and accessories at Anthropologie and specialty store around the world. She is truly amazing, here she is wearing one of her own bag designs.

Minna Parikka

I'm now looking at inspiration and design for Spring 2011 and I find so much whimsy and character in her design. Here are some of my favorites, of all time,

A little eccentric, yes but somehow still fabulous?

I love a black and white bag, the details are wonderful

I heart orange this fall!

If I could put a ring on these gloves, I would marry them!

Bisous Bisous!

Minna Parikka Knit Dress

These corset boots remind me of pointe shoes

Needless to say, I'm completly swept off of my feet by these

modern marvels.

View the whole collection on the official website at,

http://www.minnaparikka.com/

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Hello Friends,

After a long hiatus in the blogging world, due to an overwhelmingly busy season, I am finally back! It's long overdue but here are the latest updates and the new collection, now available in Portland at Icon Tattoo, Flutter, Narcisse and Idom, and in Phoenix at Bunky Boutique. Also, I'm so excited to announce an expansion to include Brehan Todd jewelry in South Africa! The lovely owner of Lady Jane Vintage in Durban South Africa has invited us to have quite a presence in her new shop, which opens in late August. I can't wait to see and post the photos of the opening.

This season, with all of the downer news about the environmental disasters, political disasters and seemingly any other disaster that will gain some press, I thought it might be time to cheer up a little? I was thinking of one of my favorite places that I consider a Happy Place, where I go in my head on a vacation from time to time. Coney Island New York is one of my favorite places in the world. While been somewhat revived today, it's nothing like the fabulous fantasy Iv'e been dreaming of. I dream of being there in a different time when the city and the world was just beginning to become overpopulated and problems other than the environment were of concern. The park was created to provide a place for local residence and tourists to visit for amusement and the beach. The area began to peak as a resort full of carnivals and rides in the early 20th century. After World War II the popularity of the island declined and Coney Island amusement park endured years of neglect. The history of this national treasure is very interesting. Like all things wonderful, usually an Megalomaniac politician ends up ruining it. In this case, it's the man responsible for carving New York into a hideous structure of highways intertwined. Today there is a further movement to revive the park and the housing in the area. Here is a small bit for your reading pleasure. (There a lot of great resources on the subject if you would like to read further).

"Luna Park closed in 1946 after a series of fires and the street gang problems of the 1950s spilled into Coney Island.In 1944, Robert Moses actively opposed the "tawdry" entertainment at Coney and discouraged the building of new amusements. By 1949, Moses moved the boardwalk back from the beach several yards, demolishing many structures, including the city's municipal bath house. He would later demolish several blocks of amusements to clear land for both the New York Aquarium, where Dreamland once stood, and the Abe Stark ice skating rink. In 1953, Moses had the entire island rezoned for residential use only and announced plans to demolish the amusements to make room for low income housing. After public complaints, the Estimate Board reinstated some areas as protected for amusement use only, leading to many public land battles."^{[wikepdia.com)}

I found inspiration in the films and photos from the 1930's and 40's, here are some favorites,

Coney Island

Weegee 1939

The Coney Island Elephant Hotel and Brothel was the first site for immigrants arriving in New York

Here is one of my favorite modern interpretations,

Coney Island

Artist: Mina Georgescu

   + minagraphy.com

   This is a tambourine hand painted by my boyfriend, David Paglia's Uncle Vic in the 1940's

Now, here is a selection of some of my favorite designs for Spring Summer 2010

Available at Idom, Portland Oregon

http://www.idomdesigns.com/designers.html

Spring Fuschia Dangles, avialable at Narcisse, Idom, Flutter and at www.brehanclaire.etsy.com

www.brehanclaire.etsy.com

Available at Idom

Icon Tattoo

Flutter

www.flutterclutter.com

Up, Up and Away Pendant

Flutter

Icon Pendant

Icon Tattoo

Brehan Todd enjoying the summer sun!

Following this post I will include some amazing short films from Coney Island!

This is one of my favorite short films of all time. It's really captures the time at Coney Island.

Thursday, February 04, 2010

Hello Friends,

I just wanted to thank everyone who has supported my Etsy shop during this last couple of weeks. I've raised almost $200.00 so far and I will continue to donate 20% until Valentine's Day! I've posted tons of new items for Spring and will be updating all week! Please stop by my shop at this link,

http://www.brehanclaire.etsy.com/

Here are a few of my favorite things from the line so far,

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Dear Friends,

As you all know Haiti needs a lot of help. The January 12, magnitude-7 quake killed up to 200,000 people, Haitian authorities said, and left up to 3 million people hurt or homeless and clamoring for medical assistance, food and water in the Western Hemisphere's poorest country.

I'm extending a hand with 20% of all internet sales on Etsy going to my favorite Haiti charity organizations, Yele Haiti and Partners in Health, extended until Valentine's Day. Haitian born artist Wyclef Jean founded this organization as a non-government charity. I don't know about you, but I trust someone from that country to know how to handle a situation of this magnitude? Despite some current negative propaganda against the organization, they have helped and donated millions, even before this disaster. They continue to raise money but they need more help.

Please visit my shop, or one of the many other talented artists helping out with the cause.

For Etsy, just type in Haiti and loads of titles come up to help you donate. Also, donate directly to your favorite charity, for a comprehensive, up to day list, visit Huffingtonpost.com.

here is the link,

http://yele.org/

http://www.standwithhaiti.org/haiti

www.brehanclaire.etsy.com

Here are some of my favorite (many local), artists work available on Etsy,

Portland Charm Necklace by Wanderlustre