Portrait of a Lady

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Doing a beauty video for Elle and Clarins had me thinking a lot about French beauty. In particular, how effortless and tasteful they are when it comes to skincare and how you makeup your face for the world to see. Every time I am in Paris I feel so inspired about the celebrated form of beauty French women have. To me, they are the most beautiful women in the world which I like to think goes beyond lucky genetics and has something to do with yummy french beauty products.

Kelly and I wanted to do a shoot for her sister Erin Framel on her birthday to mark this time in her life and celebrate all our collaborations. Many people go into behind the scenes to make a photo-shoot happen and Erin has produced, styled, and even modeled in many of our editorials and commercial shoots as a way to say thanks. With French beauty and one of my favorite fashion photography books, Woman in the Mirror, as inspiration we capture Erin in this timeless moment.

We let Elle & Clarins on set to see how we work and play together and here are the final images from this day of beauty….

Cover images~ Pamella Roland Gown || As29 Earrings

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The Romantic world of Michelle Hébert

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Recently I was at an Everlane dinner with my friend Caroline {pictured here} to launch their new very cute boatneck shirts. Caroline and I were talking about our next shoot together and that we should do something totally different from the Everlane campaign photos she’s all over the web in.

I’ve been photographing her for years now, there is just something about her face I love. Plus she is an amazing jewelry designer, an all around great human being, and a really fun time.  At that same time my friend Bess, who is an incredible floral designer {she does the Vanity Fair Oscar Party!} was coming in from L.A. and wanted to collaborate on something like our previous shoots. She recently met this L.A. based fashion designer Michelle Hébert and sent me some images of her dresses which I found insanely dark and romantic. So Bess brought the gowns and flowers, Caroline brought her beautiful face, makeup artist Eddie Hernandez used all rose scented Chantecaille products and together we brought the gowns to life.

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Once the pieces were on the body we could really see the creativity of the designs. What’s crazy is that this designer is 24 and self taught! Obviously one day she will be winning Oscars for costume design or working for one of her favorite fashion houses such as Alexander McQueen.  I had to know more about this girl out in L.A. hand sewing fantasies in her parents garage so I interviewed her to see what is in her mind that makes these moments.

Describe the idea behind this flower, lace and tulle designed dress:

Michelle Hébert: One of my early pieces and a design created to pay homage to the late Alexander McQueen. It almost felt collaborative as I set out to use symbols we both admired such as flowers, but to take that and design something that was my own. Materials: Lace, Flower Appliqués, Chiffon, Beads, and Tulle. 

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Marchesa

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The Marchesa show is always one of opulent fantasy and this season was no exception. Hosted at the glamorous St. Regis New York, models cascaded down the runway under swaths of sparking chandeliers, mirrored walls and classic molding. Tucked away in this grandeur of an intimate ballroom we floated into designers Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig’s inspiration of Opium Dreams translated into gowns of billowing smoke, 3-D floral embroideries, fiery explosions of poppy red, a dance of seduction in barely there crystal embroidery and an ocean of waltzing fringe reminiscent of far away parties from jazz era opulence.

Now this is a dream I could dream forever…

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Lady Argyle

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Lady Argyle, the matriarch of the House, possesses the kind of confident elegance only one of experience may possess…it gives her the ability to glide instead of walk, and glow as vibrantly as the royally violet jewels that cast a spell on those who glance her way. She waits on the terrace for her Lord Byron, sipping champagne, lost in the memories of so many summers ago. She knows the emotions the young ones will be looking for tonight, but at this moment she’s happy living in her memories, or at least, being the gracious host she is, that might be just what she wants us to believe.

No matter what #ChopardSecrets may be whispered across these halls, rest assured…Lady Argyle knows them all…

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 In the Manor & on the Terrace, Lady Argyle wears Chopard’s Imperiale Ring, Pendant and Watch // Zac Posen Gown

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Lady Argyle played by Elodie // Shot on location at Old Westbury Gardens by Ann Street Studio // Styled by Kelly Framel // Props by Zio & Sons // Makeup by Ashlee Glazer // Hair by Justin Woods // Manicurist Katie Hughes for Butter London // All watches and high jewelry provided by Chopard

Miss Amy Keller

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With her porcelain skin and manicured lip, Miss Amy Keller is such a lady to me. One of my favorite secrets about Amy is that she doesn’t have Internet service at her apartment, opting to actually disconnect from work and the world when she goes home at night, choosing instead to read books of poetry. How lovely is that?!

When prepping for this shoot, I began by referencing paintings from the Edwardian era with its nods to society, social standings, fashion and luxury, taking inspiration from works like Giovanni Boldini’s “Portrait of Princess Marthe Bibesco” and John Singer Sargent’s “Lady Agnew of Lochnaw“. Amy reminds me of King Edward VII, a leader of the fashionable elite and style-setter across Europe – as director of digital strategy at Linda Gaunt Communications in fashion public relations, she has her hand in creating the image and vibes of fashion brands like Hunter, LL BEAN, Trina Turk, Talbot Runhof, & Stila Cosmetics. She’s often emailing with ManRepeller or Into the Gloss, pitching story ideas or helping them with product information. Amy has dressed me for unforgettable events and took us up to Maine to learn about the iconic American brand L.L. Bean Signature. Aside from fashion and beauty, she even influences language trends – I learn all of my “fashion girl lingo” from her… “Totes”, “That’s my jam”, “Break it down”, and “Obvi” to name a few.

So here is my portrait of a lady, floating on a painter’s canvas, poised and beautiful, lovely as ever, just the way I imagine her in those Madison Avenue power meetings.

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Perfect day in New York?
Open the curtains, matcha, run through Prospect Park, head to my City + walk North, bump into friends I love, take pictures of things I’ll post nowhere and window shop everything!

Favorite trait of New Yorkers?
Resilience.

Favorite NYC secret?
Does this city still have secrets?

*above Amy wears Lela Rose // below in Talbot Runhof*

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Fashion is…
Costumes.

Women are…
beautiful works of art.

Favorite poem?
“He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy;
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity’s sun rise.”
– William Blake

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Top 20 Met Gala Moments

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Oh what a night! Here are my favorite red carpet arrivals from my Instagram takeover for  the Met Museum. It was gowns galore, celebrities, designers and muses, musicians at their best and anything / everything I could capture all from an iPhone 5s… isn’t technology wonderful? Here is what I saw, some of my favorite outtakes and intimate moments…life is glittery and magical when you are attending the one and only Met Gala…

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Jenny Packham

Jenny Packham's fall/winter 2014 collection at NYFW

Jenny Packham‘s Fall 2014 collection was inspired by Bianca Jagger, the dark-haired beauty and 1970s fashion muse. The show was full of sleek silhouettes, full-length skirts, and intricate beading all with a laid back attitude and hands-in-your-gown-pockets-ease. If last season Jenny took us frolicking through the countryside fields, this time our muse has gone to the city and she is looking for a great night out on the town…

Jenny Packham's fall/winter 2014 collection at NYFW

Jenny Packham's fall/winter 2014 collection at NYFW

Jenny Packham's fall/winter 2014 collection at NYFW

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Carolina Herrera

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Carolina Herrera 

Though the runway was filled with geometric shapes, funky prints, and fez-like headpieces, the feel was still of simple opulence. Fur-lined sleeves and delicate beaded embellishments took certain pieces to a whole new level of luxury. Carolina always has this amazing way of bringing classic, ladylike silhouettes into our modern day world. With this collection, which I loved so much, I felt as if I was transported into the world of a film heroine, a glamorous adventure where we ride in convertibles in Monaco and take private planes from work in Manhattan to our country estates…

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Jason Wu

New York fashion designer Jason Wu shows his fall / winter 2014 collection

Powerful and sleek, the Jason Wu woman doesn’t walk down the runway – she owns it.

In a muted palette of blacks, beiges, and burgundies, she is Katharine Hepburn meets Sharon Stone, she is 90s heroin chic meets CEOs. You watch as luxury is visually defined via the ripple of plum velvet over her legs as she walks right by you. She borrows her husband’s oversize coat and pairs it with her slinky, sexy second skin of a gown. You watch in awe as she passes by, head held high.

Whoever this woman is, you can’t afford her…because she’s above your paygrade.

New York fashion designer Jason Wu shows his fall / winter 2014 collection New York fashion designer Jason Wu shows his fall / winter 2014 collection  New York fashion designer Jason Wu shows his fall / winter 2014 collection New York fashion designer Jason Wu shows his fall / winter 2014 collection New York fashion designer Jason Wu shows his fall / winter 2014 collection New York fashion designer Jason Wu shows his fall / winter 2014 collection

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Tadashi Shoji

New York designer Tadashi Shoji fall winter 2014 collection shown at NYFW.

Together we roam through the enchanted halls of a moonlit Moorish palace…

Tadashi Shoji is well known for his gowns which seem to flatter women of all ages, shapes and sizes (making him quite the popular fixture on the red carpet). We even had the chance to shoot one of his glorious pieces last year, so I could not wait to see what he would send down the runway this season which brought to mind gorgeous desert palaces, brightly colored mosaics, and romantic moonlit nights. I felt as though I were miles away on a brand new adventure as I watched the models drift by in the luxuriously embroidered creations of Mr. Tadashi Shoji…

New York designer Tadashi Shoji fall winter 2014 collection shown at NYFW. New York designer Tadashi Shoji fall winter 2014 collection shown at NYFW. New York designer Tadashi Shoji fall winter 2014 collection shown at NYFW.

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Winter Whites

We are all flowers in the garden of the world, but she –

she is an orchid, pure and white and lovely,

a small blossom on willowy stem.

she blooms, and I am lost

in her delicate lines.

She breathes life into me –

I was adrift in winter;

she gives me the promise of spring.

Youthful yet wise,

elegant and profound,

I dream of the day I may see her again.

For what other flower can there be?

What other love?

None but my orchid.

above and below:  Zuhair Murad gown, Chopard bracelet

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La Vie En Rose…

The gorgeous Shiva Rose has led a full life – raised in Iran to bohemian parents, her family fled post-revolution to Paris, and then to Los Angeles. Shiva found comfort in books and old films, which inspired her to become an actress, starring in such films as David and Layla, which won her a “Best Breakthrough Actress” award.

Following the birth of her first daughter, Shiva was diagnosed with an auto-immune condition. Fueled by a desire to become healthier and create a better planet for her children, she became a naturalist and an activist for holistic, authentic lifestyles.

Her blog, The Local Rose, celebrates this and is filled with inspiring stories and tips for living healthfully. One feature of her lovely site is her focus is on improving skin – our largest organ, she points out – without using products filled with chemicals. She includes recipes for creams and masks, as well as featuring and interviewing the creators of all-natural beauty products.

Shot at Shiva’s home in Santa Monica, California, February 24, 2013. Styled by Kelly Framel, Shiva wears all Tadashi Shoji and Chopard Precious Temptations Earrings.

 

Some Kind of Romance

Evening gowns floated down the runway as if they had just emerged from an eighteenth-century painting…and in a way, they did. Francisco de Goya’s painting, “Portrait of Maria Teresa Vallabriga on Horseback” helped inspire the combination of structure and softness that appeared through the entire Marchesa collection.

With awards season just around the corner, it’s clear this kind of romance will make a return to the red carpet…

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