Back to black

When I was working in an office, around August I would tire of my colorful summer frocks and bring the occasional black dress or skirt into the mix.  Now that the weather has cooled, I am falling back into what has become my winter default.

While I love the changing leaves and harvest hues (I am an earth sign, you know) I have an aversion to anything "heathered" short of Jack's old grey Pringle v-neck:

(Ours is similar to this one, though lighter, with a hole in the elbow)

and, of course, these mean girls:

(fun trivia!)

Sooo... when Jack Frost approaches, this ice queen turns to black.  At least to start.

As we all know there is one key to staying warm: layering.

I am a skirt girl and relished in the comeback of black opaque tight that enabled me to wear my skirts well into the dead of winter.  

image via Pinterest

I quite like this version by L'eggs.  They are available at any drug store and inexpensive so you don't have to feel guilty when you throw them in the dryer.  Though you shouldn't.  Though I do.

(Bring back the egg!)

(Edie rocked the black)

I would usually pair these with a black turtleneck.  

These are my favorites- perfect combo of stretch, softness and length.  Though sometimes the cut varies.  Be advised.

Quite tempted by this Bag-O-Turtlenecks...

(Who wore it better?)

This being the basis of my outfit, I would then pair them with anything from a colorful skirt to an ivory sheath dress to one of my many pairs of tartan pants.

And, of course, black patent heels.

Kate does it right with Karolina.

But for that brief time in the morning, in nothing but my tights and turtleneck, scrambling through the apartment in search of shoes or phones or coffee, I did feel a bit like Audrey, leaping and dancing about in Funny Face.

What better way to start the day?

Xox,

Jenny

Jenny Brown asks... Samantha Thompson

Sam Thompson and I go way back.  When we met as teenagers she was designing dresses and skirts with her father's old ties.  Now she has her own line of cool/comfy/chic clothes that is making quite the splash around the globe.  I am so happy that she has seen her vision through and excited to see what she comes up with next.

 

What is your sign?

Leo.  Glaringly, obviously Leo.

Sibling? Sexes and birth order please...

Only child!  Also totally obvious.

What time do you set your alarm for in the morning?

8:30. 9 seemed too indulgent.

How do you take your caffeine?

Sinful Delight from Irving Farm Coffee Company around the corner from my apartment.  

Tiny bit of half and half and sugar in the raw.  Whatever happened to real cream?

What do you do?

I design and manufacture my own lounge wear line for women, LoungeLux.

(The pockets!  The sleeves!  The hood!  I'll take two, please.)

When did you know you wanted to do it?

My 8th grade yearbook lists my career aspirations as "either fashion designer or commodities trader"  That last part is SUCH a Chicago answer.  But really KNEW, knew?  Senior year of high school when I was sketching evening gowns in my European Civ textbooks.  The teachers were not happy.

What was your first job in your chosen field?

I did a summer internship for an old school Roman couturier named Fausto Sarli.  

Like Valentino, Sr. Sarli is one of the last "dolce vita" designers.  He used to walk around the workroom smoking and ashing in all the pin trays.  No one spoke English.  I knew about four word of Italian, one of which was “pin”.  Another important word was “wait”--it was an incredible education in taking your time and doing things the right way.  Mr. Sarli is one of the most talented designers of the 20th century and it was an honor to work with a legend.

What advice would you give to someone starting out?

Make your mistakes on someone else's dime.  Work for other people as long as you can possibly stand it.  And realize that sometimes the worst bosses are the ones that teach you the most.  Even if all you learn is what NOT to do.

Where do you find your inspiration?

I try to take elements of haute couture and the designer runway and incorporate them into what are basically very elegant tracksuits.  So, high fashion for sure, but also random things, like an old Three's Company

(Chrissy got to have all the fun)

and Golden Girl episodes.

(Blanche Devereaux would kill for this outfit.)

  There was a great article in Vanity Fair about Liz Taylor at a slimming spa that had photos of her in a red velour tracksuit.  

I want to blow them up and hang them all over my office. 

Which websites do you visit every day?

wwd, 

businessoffashion.com

jennybrowndesigns

confashionsfromkuwait

(Kuwait is one of my biggest markets and they are super fashion forward)

Also Lonny to get ideas for my new apartment.  

Am still in mourning for Domino and its resource filled website.

Page Six is a dirty little secret

I don't leave home without...

Tide wipes.  Am a DISASTER.

Blackberry (am on number 5, number four is on the bottom of the Panama Canal.  This one I got unlocked in Korea Town.  It used to add the Chinese country code to every number)

Goyard day planner.  I find the more obnoxious the accessory, the more I want to use it.  This keeps me on track.

Tiny little hair clips (clipped to bags, key rings, the edges of clothing and hiding in the bottom of bags.  What breadcrumbs were to Hansel and Grethel, these are to me.)  I believe you covered this.

My favorite places to shop, eat, travel:  

NEW YORK (home)

Shop:  Pixie Market on the lower east side has great un-discovered designers and tons of new stock.  It is super inspiring. 

Eat:  7th street between 1st and A has anything you could possibly be craving:

Caracas Arepa Bar 

Luke's Lobster

Pylos for Greek food like you would find in a chic neighborhood in Athens, without the rioting 

Butter Lane Cupcakes (way better than Magnolia and they even have classes.) 

For unparalleled swankiness, I love Casa Lever with its enormous Warhols.

Bemelman’s Bar for the murals

JAIPUR

The Gem Palace for jewelry.  They were court jewelers to the maharajahs and Viceroy Mountbatten.  It’s an 8^th generation family business.

Hot Pink for European designers working in local techniques.  Great tote bags, scarves and clothing. 

NAPLES

Ciro Ricci on Vico Belledone a Chiaia was Jackie O’s favorite sandal store, they have all of the skins hanging on the wall and will custom make any design),

LONDON

Liberty, especially the fabric and home department.  They just did a sick Nike collaboration.

The Churchill War Rooms is my favorite museum- small and intimate and timeless. They also have a fabulous gift shop. 

 My boyfriend got me this Ration Card Apron.  I think it was a hint . . . 

Also, you can’t miss Persephone Books. They feature wonderful out of print writers, especially women, and all of their books have endpapers and bookmarks done in vintage wallpaper prints.  Sign up for their catalogue, it’s the most charming thing to get in the mail since J. Peterman was at its height.

(Them's fightin' words)

MEMPHIS

Graceland—very Kelly Wearstler, a must for every interior design buff.   

Elvis and his entire family are buried in the back yard.

A. Schwab’s Dry Goods on Beale Street is a 5 and 10 on acid.  They have the best $2 tank tops, I stock up whenever I’m in town.

Possibly the best bar in America (with apologies to Chicago’s Zebra Lounge) 

has got to be Ernestine & Hazel's which serves late night “soul burgers” and is in an old brothel that they basically haven’t even repainted since it was shut down.  There’s an old claw-foot bathtub in the bathroom.  You get the idea. 

Shameless plug- go for it!

LoungeLux's loungewear is for anyone looking for a down-time option a little more pulled together than old yoga pants and a tank top.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that.  It happens.

We are going to be featured in the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book, which launches in October, and online here and here. 

We are also available at the Julian Gold stores in Texas.  

(And how could I not include this?  A lifelong lover of tracksuits- Ms. Thompson knows her velours)

.........

Thank you Sam!  May need to schedule a trip to NY just to check out all of those places... not to mention Jaipur.  How have I not been to Graceland?  A crime, I tell you!

Add it to the list...

Xox,

Jenny

Footsie

A bit of a rainy weekend here in the windy city.  En route to the park on Saturday I noticed a sign for an estate sale and had to pop in to take a look.

I actually did not buy anything that day- we have no room and I know Vivi would not be pleased- but had to double back on Sunday because if certain things were still available, and possibly half off, then surely they were meant to be mine.  

Such as this charming footed pitcher I picked up for $4.

I am a sucker for footed pitchers- actually, I quite like anything with its own built-in perch.

Hence my small collection of cake plates:

Doily Cake Stand, from Anthro, c. 2007ish

Tiffany's Cake Plate. 

Perfect for the 9" 3-layer jobby I bought for Pierce's Birthday from Sweet Mandy B's.  Vanilla and vanilla- the only way to go.  Especially when being consumed by hand...

Our trifle bowl:

A wedding gift I registered for, from Tiffany's, c. 2006

I have never made a trifle, or used this bowl.  Though a few summers ago we decided to bring a seven layer dip to a friends deck party.   I got the idea to put it in a trifle bowl from the photos on Allrecipes.com.  Did I really need a recipe for seven layer dip?   I like to cross reference.

I found this trifle bowl on Amazon and we made the dip- so proud of ourselves we even photographed it.

Of course, this is the most absurd way to serve seven layer dip as if you even attempt to get all seven, or even four, layers on a chip your hand ends up covered in a cheesy-salsa-sour-creamy-guaca mess.  We ended up scooping it into smaller bowls, though I think they appreciated the presentation- and hopefully the bowl.  It even had a lid.  Bonus!

When registering for our wedding I couldn't resist this little thing-a-ma-bob from Tiffany's that we used for the first time this summer and broke.  Wha wha.  

Also c. 2006, though I couldn't find it on their website, along with anything I have included here.  Curious...

And these pitchers- I have received and given as gifts over the years.  

I love this William Yeoward pitcher- another wedding gift tht we have yet to christen.

This Juliska pitcher is one of my favorite things to give.  You know who you are- I'm getting there...

Fun footed finds featured in Elle Decor!

At the farmers market I picked up some dahlias and euctalyptus for my mom and arranged them in my new pitcher for her.  I am obsessed with Dahlia's after seeing a show of them at the Botanic Garden on Saturday.  

I would love to see a bunch of these in my mom's Lalique Dampierre vase:

Okay, time to get to work!

Xoxo,

Jenny

Jungle boogie

Please forgive the spotty posting- things are especially busy and I don't see them slowing down for the next couple of weeks. 

Onward.

I just hung Pierce's new (old) shower curtain in his bathroom.  

My mom had this made when I was a baby.  She saw the fabric in the window of a design store and instantly fell in love with it.  We grew up with it in our bathroom- the kids' bath- with matching curtains (with wide matching tie-back, of course).

We discovered the shower curtain in a box at storage months ago and then thought of it when deciding what to do for Pierce's new bath.

It is so fresh and happy and works well off of his pale blue bedroom.

The only glitch was some stains on it that I discovered in the lower corner.  I first tried Oxi Clean, to no avail.  

I suspect the stains I was fighting set before this stuff existied.  


I then looked online for at home stain removal tips and was very excited that this could be my first DIY post.  Unfortunately, when I attempted to Do It mYself with the contents of my kitchen cabinets I had less than stellar results and took the shower curtain to the nearest dry cleaner, sopping wet.

(A few years ago CK Bradley came out with a cheery jungle pattern- now only available on eBay.)

He was very discouraging.  I had been warned that this particular cleaner could be a bit of a grump and indeed he was.  Yelling at me when I first walked in because my bag was dripping (sorry!) and then, upon looking at the stains, yelling that I should throw the curtain away, as I could buy the same thing at Target for $15.

He didn't get it. And when I asked how much it would cost for him to wash and press the curtain he said $15, up front.

I left with wet curtain in hand.

Photo by Sang An

(The wallpaper in this room by Jonathan Adler Always reminded me of our shower curtain.  The paper was designed by artist Cary Leibowitz)

I went to another cleaner a block away where the nice woman behind the counter said that they would try to remove the stains and promised to do the best she could without damaging the curtain.

She had a little tea cup poodle who played with Pierce.

When I asked how much it would cost to wash and press the curtain she told me $15.  Sold!

Pressed and clean, with still minor stains barely visible in the corner, the curtain looks so bright and cheery in Pierce's new bath.  I love it.

Not sure what to do with the curtains for the window but may make a roman shade out of them as they do not fit the window properly.

Perhaps that will be my first DIY.

No promises.

Xox,

Jenny

Quickie

I found this list quite inspiring:

More tomorrow...

Xo

Jenny