Wear What When

Bright Ideas Behind the Scenes

Reproduction vintage bulbs: The hottest thing.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Oct 28, 2010 at 09:30AM 0 Comments

Good thing I took this video. I’ve had more than a couple of inquiries regarding Bright Ideas, our holiday gift idea spread, and the artfully tangled, romantically dangling, and perfectly solo warm yellow light bulbs therein. So here we go.

We used reproduction vintage bulbs from Rejuvenation in SoDo. In creating the scene, Seattle Met art director Ben Purvis, photographer Ryan McVay, and I took inspiration from a lighting scheme at the John Varvatos store in New York, an even more intense set-up at the Gramercy Park Hotel, and a gorgeous mini-homage to the aforementioned by the supertalented Steve Moore of Steven Moore Designs.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Home Decor, Gift Guide, Behind the Scenes

Fall Fashion 2010 Behind the Scenes III

Inside our fall fashion editorial shoot location, the historic Bemis Building.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Sep 28, 2010 at 08:00AM 0 Comments

Since 2002 my morning commute has involved passing the Bemis on the way into downtown. So I suppose it’s been about eight years now that I’ve had a crush on building to the east of the viaduct. You can’t not notice it, and when you do, you can’t not feel the history — even if you don’t have any idea what the history entails. Or who’s inside, and what they’re doing there.

I was psyched then, when the super-talented local photographers collectively known as Studio Lucile announced that they had set up shop there. Perfect: I was in. And once I was in, I knew I wanted to shoot a fashion spread there. On the roof. So we did it.

But what’s not captured in our fall fashion editorial is the sense of art and community at the Bemis, which comes directly from its inhabitants. To rent one of the spaces in the building, you have to be endeavoring to create art or craft in some manner or another. Put that together with the structure’s past, and you have a pretty singular place. To stay up to date on the lives of Bemisites and their seasonal open-house art walks and individual shows, you can read the Bemis Art Community blog

Most but not all of the artisans both live and work in their loft. One set of occupants with zero commute is Amanda and Brian of Modern Conscience. The pair of architects started as Eames fiberglass specialists, and now build, restore, and replicate vintage modern chair designs from Arne Jacobsen to Robin Day. They also craft truly handsome kayaks that hang from their studio like art. Their work is gorgeous, their space is too. And they were kind enough to let us in.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Locally Made, Home Decor, Locally Designed, Fall Fashion 2010, Behind the Scenes

Fall Fashion 2010 Behind the Scenes II

A look at locally made jewelry by Maria Carter.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Sep 23, 2010 at 08:00AM 1 Comments

One of my favorite things about doing quarterly fashion is featuring local designers. As I was planning out this year’s fall fashion editorial, I happened to reconnect with local jeweler Maria Carter. I had used some of her pieces in a shoot for Seattle Met Bride & Groom about a hundred years ago. She and I strategized to meet up and look at her new work, which was perfect for our shoot — blocks of color used in sort of geometric and vaguely industrial ways, but overall, her aesthetic has that well-traveled feel (like, geographical travel and maybe time travel, too) that I seem to always respond to.

I made this video so that you could meet the jeweler behind the jewelry. The best place buy Maria’s work is on her Etsy site, and you’ll also find her at the Northwest Art Alliance Art & Fine Craft Show in November as well.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Locally Made, Accessories, Jewelry, Locally Designed, Fall Fashion 2010, Behind the Scenes

Fall Fashion 2010 Behind the Scenes I

Packing up and moving on…

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Sep 17, 2010 at 04:00PM 1 Comments

Interested in knowing what goes on before, after, and during fashion images come together? We’ve put together some video and images of us working on this year’s fall fashion spread, so here’s hoping you are.

To start things off, here’s me in my office (with it’s glorious vista of the soon-to-be-historic viaduct) packing up some pieces to send back to Seattle designer Maria Canada, (who is currently studying at RISD) and some shoes to go back to a company called Delman.

There’s so much borrowing and begging, carting and shipping that goes into getting wardrobe ready to go — and then getting it back again to its rightful owners (where, presumably, you have the opportunity to be the next rightful owner). It’s not necessarily my favorite part, but eh, all of it’s pretty great.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Fall Fashion 2010, Behind the Scenes

Behind the Scenes: Hair and Now

Meet the Gene Juarez crew leader behind Seattle Met’s future-40s fall fashion hair and makeup looks

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Oct 22, 2009 at 05:45AM 1 Comments

Light Years: Seattle Met fall fashion editorial; image by Alex Martinez

View Slideshow » Illustration:

Gene Juarez Salons and Spas Fall Direction; photo by Neil Latham

I know I’m supposed to let it all look really easy, but I’m here to tell you that fashion shoots, like the one we produced for fall at Sound Transit’s brand new Tukwila light rail station for our October issue, are toilsome affairs. They’re challenging and rewarding in the very best ways, but they’re backbreaking. And exhausting. The model is the only one who gets to feel a little glamorous and even that is fleeting. Homegirl valiantly changed in and out of designer clothing in the parking lot, okay? Charged with guarding the gorgeous goods at our makeshift ‘wardrobe staging area’, my intern sat baking in the cab of my black pick-up all day. And the fearless Gene Juarez Team Artistic crew, ran here and there wielding spray cans of hair-stiffening matter and tubes of orange lipstick. In honor of that, this edition of Behind the Scenes brings you a conversation with Gene Juarez Creative Director and Team Artistic co-leader, James Todd.

Wear What When: Our directive to you, on the morning of the shoot, was to go Lady Ga-Ga by way of the Andrew Sisters with the hair. The sexy-future-40s Zac Posen dress that leads the spread kind of guided us …

James Todd: We loved the film noir concept of many of the fall collections! I was lucky enough to work NY Fashion week for the Zac Posen show with famed editorial stylist Odile Gilbert and we did strong, brave updos. For Seattle Met’s shoot, with the amazing set of the transit center, a strong film noir look with an eighties Blade Runner-ala-Shawn- Young vibe felt truly of the moment.

Wear What When: How can this style be reinterpreted as a wearable look for an everyday client at Gene Juarez?

James Todd: Right now in the October issue of Harper’s Bazaar, model Jessica Stam is wearing a variation of our look and its seems elegant and smart with her amazing face.

Wear What When: What’s the key direction for fall hair at Gene Juarez?

Gene Juarez Salons and Spas Fall Direction; photo by Neil Latham

James Todd: Two main looks illustrate the GJ fall trend of texture. The first look from the Gene Juarez fall direction shoot (shown here) is set on the beautiful beaches of West Seattle. We photographed Northwest women – four models living in our region – wearing personalized haircuts, rich colors, and casually sexy wind blown styles timed for everyday. Dressed in layered ensembles, wardrobe styled by our very own Team Artistic.

WWW note: The layers in that last look include those painfully gorgeous leather leggings from Veridis that I blogged about here. Love them!]

Gene Juarez Salons and Spas Fall Direction; photo by Neil Latham

Gene Juarez Salons and Spas Fall Direction; photo by Neil Latham

The second trend (below) is the iconic wave set of the much-celebrated 1940’s. We staged this look on a downtown Seattle roof to in order to pay homage to the Seattle skyline in a way rarely seen. Here the wardrobe trend of smart tailored clothing and chic silhouettes shares the stage beautifully with wavy, bouncing hair timed for an evening out in the bustling action of our city.

Gene Juarez Salons and Spas Fall Direction; photo by Neil Latham

Gene Juarez Salons and Spas Fall Direction; photo by Neil Latham

Wear What When: Any GJ products we should look for to achieve these kinds of looks?

James Todd: Our favorite new addition is Ocean Texture Mist in the Gene Juarez Haircare Collection. It is a spray into wet hair styling product that leaves the hair malleable with the tosseled feel of being at the beach. Another is our super light GJ Illuminating Mist sprayed on top of our finished wave sets for light reflection and maximum color shine.

Wear What When: Switching to makeup; for our Seattle Met fall shoot I was inspired by the orange lips at Dries Van Noten for F/W 09 and that was my main cue to your team. What colors are key for GJ makeup artists this season?

James Todd: We believe lipstick is the key make-up trend for Fall Winter 09/10. The make-up artists at Gene Juarez can custom-blend any lip color imaginable! Our message to women is to ‘just wear it’. The intense color wardrobe trend can feel costly and fleeting but an amazing pop of color on the lip is a reasonable economic investment and can simply be washed away at the end of the day.

Wear What When: How about as we go into the holiday season? What makeup or hair trends are you excited about?

James Todd: Lashes! Lashes! Lashes! Visit the new GJ Lash Bar where every lash imaginable is available with all the tools and tricks provided by our make-up artists and you can feel of the moment and special! Also, for a girls night out, think of taking the hair off the face like the girls seen here (below) getting out of the taxi! (Our GJ team shot this right downtown outside the Hotel Monaco on Seattle’s bustling 4th avenue!) The sleek off-the-face look can feel new, rich, and timelessly chic!

Gene Juarez Fall Direction; photo by Neil Latham

***********************************************************

For another example of a Seattle Met-Gene Juarez Team Artistic collaboration, visit our Spring Fashion feature from April 08 - still feels current to me!

Add a Comment »

Tags: Behind the Scenes