Calliope

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10 Questions with Calliope store co-owner and creator Caroline Ventura

What’s in the name Calliope?

CV: She was a Greek muse of eloquence and poetry. Supposedly she was the muse Homer looked to when he wrote The Iliad. It’s also a weird ass looking pipe organ on wheels, so that’s fun.

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What was the concept behind the space?

CV: We have a multi-use building in which both our studios (Michael’s design practice Sub Rosa, and Caroline’s gold smithing project BRVTVS) reside, as well as a gallery space next to Calliope, and also our home. We wanted to create a welcoming space where people could come and shop without the “seriousness” of other stores. We sell home goods, it shouldn’t be some stuffy place that you’re afraid to walk into and are scared to touch things.

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Swarovski Sparkles at Bergdorf Goodman

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With great anticipation every year New Yorkers and tourists alike flock to the sidewalks of 5th ave to see the dazzling window displays that leave you believing in holiday magic. These little boxes of wonder are always a true testament to imagination, creativity and a childlike wonderment hidden in us all.

This year Bergdorf Goodman and Swarovski collaborated in their holiday storytelling by incorporating millions of Swarovski crystals into their dazzling display. However! It’s not limited to just the windows. Inside the aspirational fashion dreamland of Bergdorf Goodman more enchantment awaits. Have you ever seen a crystal Christmas tree and a gown to match? Swarovski sparkle is all over the store from the crystal wall curtain to magical hanging bespoke sculptures so brilliant you believe you are living inside a snowflake.

The collaboration between the iconic department store overlooking Central Park and Swarovski, the world-renowned crystal company who is celebrating their 120th anniversary, is not limited to display fantasies only! They also partnered with designers to create an exclusive selection of gifts, including couture gowns with crystal embellishment by Badgley Mischka, Naeem Khan and Alexandra Vidal, crystal dress by Tanya Taylor, crystal jumpsuit by Alice + Olivia, crystallized clutches from Atelier Swarovski by Edie Parker, Atelier Swarovski by Arik Levy rock formations and Swarovski covered accessories, ornaments and home décor items from some of the top names in contemporary fashion and design.

I love going to Bergdorfs and I had to see it all for myself, to bring the special edition fashion pieces to life with a gorgeous muse and wander around one of the most beautiful stores in the world with everything glittering around me, filling my soul with that special feeling you only find during the holiday season…magic.

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Above~ Placing the star atop the Swarovski Crystal Tree in a Swarovski crystal CD Greene Dress & Jimmy Choo Shoes

Below~Wrapped in bespoke crystal sculptures in a Swarovski covered CD Greene Dress on Bergdorf’s 3rd floor

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shopSCAD Lacoste

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In the midst of this tranquil medieval village exists a little shop bursting with color and excitement, filled to the brim with artists’ supplies and the works created with them…welcome to shopSCAD Lacoste.

At first SCAD Lacoste used the building, called La Galerie Pfriem, as a gallery for visiting artists as well as a small shop for students to buy art supplies. However, President Paula Wallace began to dream of a full-fledged shopSCAD in Lacoste. And this July, after months of shopping for furniture and decor from nearby markets and after taking a week to hang up and style everything in the store, that dream became a reality.

Amy Zurcher, the co-founder of the original shopSCAD eleven years ago, said that she chose pieces that represented a variety of mediums and price points. As we walked through the store, we found a stuffed and decorated monkey by alumni Marcus Kenney, gorgeous mixed-media pieces by Katie Runnels, paintings, jewelry, home goods, all of it beautiful and all of it created by students and alumni from SCAD.

It’s exciting to walk through and see so many different, beautiful pieces, and then to wander into the back room filled with artists’ supplies and blank canvases…perhaps the inspiration I take from here will move me to make art of my own…

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Hampden Clothing

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Being in New York City, especially now that the studio is so close to SoHo, we are very aware of all the amazing boutiques the city has to offer…almost to the point of being overwhelmed!

I’d been putting off buying a garden wedding dress for months. I didn’t want to spend a day going from store to store, but I also wanted to have more of an experience buying such a special piece than sitting all alone in my PJ’s on a Saturday morning and ordering online. I think there is a time to buy something quickly online and then there is a time to make it an experience.

When I was down in Charleston with Tibi for their pre-fall runway show, we stopped in to the boutique Hampden Clothing where creator and owner Stacy Smallwood has turned an historic King Street storefront into a little curated slice of SoHo heaven. I walked in, I said I was looking for a garden party wedding dress, and in 15mins it was done. It felt like I was finding something insanely special without having to do all the work. They carried everything from Alexander Wang to Rag & Bone, Tibi to KENZO and more. It was fabulous.

So what’s the point of covering a store? The point is, Stacy brought New York fashion -avant garde silhouettes, crazy patterns and pieces so chic they look like something a princess would wear – into Charleston South Carolina, a town of 400,000 people, and never looked back. She doesn’t sell beach flip flops or mass-produced product that’s here today, gone tomorrow; she respects her customer’s intelligence, sophistication and style. She created a space where you can love fashion but not have to know anything about it and still be taken care of. She has wound back the clock to an era of shopping where the store was specially curated for you, where shopkeepers knew your name and what you liked, pulled for you from designers when she is on buying trips to New York or Paris, and makes sure you feel as good as you look. In a time where the Internet makes us all so anonymous, it’s a modern day luxury to have someone like Stacy who KNOWS you.

I sat down with Stacy in her store to hear how she created her own fashion universe in the middle of the South.

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How did you get into fashion?

I was recruited by Neiman Marcus at Vanderbilt to go straight into their buying program, and it was the best decision I ever made. I moved to Dallas and I was with Neiman Marcus for five years as an assistant buyer and designer in sportswear, and department manager in ladies shoes at the flagship store.

Why do you say it’s the best thing that ever happened to you?

It taught me a work ethic and gave me a bigger picture of the fashion industry that I wouldn’t have gotten. My buyer taught me to – she worked equally as hard if not harder, and she taught me to never ask anybody to do anything you wouldn’t do.

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Banana Republic

When I was growing up in Texas I loved to go to the Banana Republic store. All my dreams were ahead of me: being a New York woman, going on a safari, and working as a photographer; all things I felt closer to when I walked around their store. Fast forward some years and not only do I have the wonderful joy of working with Banana Republic from time to time but I can also swing by their flagship store at Rockefeller Center because I did become that woman I dreamed of. It’s so fitting that Banana Republic, a brand built on classic style (and you know I love classic), would find its way into such a historical part of New York City. It is to no surprise that they took great care and artistry into the recent renovation of the space.

Most beautifully, I was beyond thrilled to see the tribute to the city that Banana Republic has crafted: a 360-degree black-and-white photo shot from the top of the Rockefeller Center, 70 stories high, capturing an iconic view of New York City at twilight. Shot by Susan Wides, the city sparkles with life and light and is truly at her most beautiful. The photograph spans one horizon line, displayed on customized light boxes in the rotunda of the store, giving everyone the experience of seeing the “top of the Rock” at ground level. Susan says about her work, “I wish to convey the experience not merely of being in a place, but of connecting to that place on many levels of consciousness.

And of course, there is no place more appropriate for such an installation than Rockefeller Center, one of the last major buildings in the United States to incorporate public art, with the stunning Atlas Statue on the center’s Palazzo D’Italia. The Banana Republic store is mere steps away from the statue, welcoming us in the way only New York City can.

Won’t you join me inside?

On Friday November 15th at 5pm, Banana Republic will be celebrating the grand re-opening at this Fifth Ave Flagship store (626 5th Ave)  with wine provided by Cameron Hughes and a performance by St. Lucia at 7pm. I’ll be there hanging out and taking over the @bananarepublic instagram and I’d love for you to join the party with me!

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Ralph Lauren

There are those really special moments in life where you find yourself in a place that you have only dreamed of. If you have been following along on Instagram you know we are in Paris, and Paris in the fall is one of the greatest experiences in life…the beauty, the light, the smells, how the leaves crackle under your feet on the old cobblestones. I am always looking for new Paris recommendations to keep discovering this beautiful city each time we return.

I had heard about Ralph’s, Ralph Lauren’s restaurant on the famous Boulevard Saint German in the Latin Quarter of Paris, and when I walked through the archway I knew this was the place I had been dreaming of…an old Parisian mansion built in 1683, saved and renovated to the highest detail and quality by Mr. Lauren. We arrived to dine in the courtyard, surrounded by beautiful landscaping, massive windows slightly ajar allowing you to hear the clinking of champagne glasses from inside. Ella Fitzgerald, Edith Piaf, and other old jazz standards echoed off the stone walls and dissipated up into the night sky. I laid back on a sea of Ralph Lauren linen pillows with a glass of Chateau de Tracy with its mesmerizing floral bouquet and said to Kevin, I feel like I’m living in Jay Gatsby’s world, if he were in Paris to visit Hemingway.

Surrounding the restaurant is the complete world of Ralph Lauren. Room by room, positioned around gilded mirrors and enchanting fireplaces are the collections of this iconic American designer, but the view of Boulevard Saint Germain from the old mansion’s windows leaves no question in your mind, you are in Paris and what a city she is…

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With Love, Bon Ton Vintage

Places like these I usually keep to myself like a dirty little secret, but this past trip to Texas my Dad pointed out that one day I might drive out to Forreston, Texas (pop. 200) and find my beloved vintage shop, Bon Ton Vintage, gone! HORROR! I’ve been making the pilgrimage here for almost 10 years so with the words of my father ringing in my head I decided to photograph in detail my favorite, most magical… like I wish I could live here… store, Bon Ton Vintage

If you ever find yourself in Texas, stop by and you must MUST sit down up stairs & talk to the closest thing to an old hollywood starlet you’d ever meet: shop owner Barbara Kauffman. From the south, lived in New York, once engaged to a MAD MAN, retired musician (with her husband who works the downstairs), with the most glamerous stories you’d ever hear. I adore and admire her and spend as much time chatting away about the days gone by as I do shopping- and that says a lot.

*photographer note: she would not let me take her picture but you can see HERE how glamorous she is.