About a year ago we wrote this post about our favorite fashion couple, Isabel and Ruben Toledo, swoon and sigh!

Well, the lovely Ms. Toledo (with illustrations by husband Ruben)  has just released a memoir:

‘Roots of Style; weaving together life, love and fashion’, which looks beautifully moving and inspired -  particularly the underlying themes of  success coming in many wonderful guises and that creative ‘fermentation’ is a really important process to be savoured and enjoyed!

Available after April 1st at your local book shop, can’t wait!

amazingly 65 today!?!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOWIE XXX

Welcome to the inspired ,  visionary,  madcap world of Isabel and Ruben Toledo, a fashion/art love combo from NYC.

They met in high school in New Jersey,  both originaly from Cuba they shared a love of art,  fashion and the underground dance club scene of eighties New York.   Known as the fashion designer’s designer,  Isabel became more widely known after  Michelle Obama wore one of her creations to Obama’s inauguration.  Her designs are known for their detailed construction, in part due to her training as a repair seamstress at the Metropolitan Museum of Art,  where she learned the intricacies of vintage costume design.

Ruben is extremely vocal about Isabel being his ultimate muse,  she inspires everything he does,  his fashion illustrations and paintings are magical and appear regularly in Vogue and other high end magazines.   Often collaborating together,  Ruben and Isabel are both highly revered in their fields.

We love them for their incredible talent, passion,  collaborative lives and careers,  and the fact that they are so, so in love with each other after more than 30 years together!

xxxx

hello & happy 2011 to you!!

so happy to be back after serious computer meltdown issues as well as some much needed r&r!

as well as gearing up for the year ahead, way too much of january has been spent devouring fantastic art books bought off amazon.com while the yankie dollar is pretty much en par with ours…

…like this beautiful summery moment-in-time photographic book by Hugh Holland – ‘Locals Only’ -  hazy, glorious sun-filled shots taken from 1975 – 1978 as the skating scene unfolds in California.

how beautiful are whales?

gorgeous!

…and that beautiful little boy!

Last week we listened to Philip Hoare on Radio National talk about his fantastic book ‘Leviathon or, The Whale’ – among many enchanting whale watching tales he spoke of a sperm whale that was found beached a decade ago with a harpoon embedded deep in it’s side – the harpoon was then scientifically dated and was found to be more than 230 years old! gosh – pretty amazing and quite devastating when you think about the potential true age of some of the whales hunted today…

majesty and mystery

with our own whale we loved the idea of the creature plowing  through ocean waves with a brave little boy astride, searching through his telescope for the awaiting adventure – his best bird  friend at hand!

and thank you to the lovelies at TLWood who have set up a colourful wintery window display full of our whales amongst all their beautiful clothes and art…

whale photos from ffffound and national geographic

happy birthday bowie.

stevie et al playing tonight in melbsie town

here

always does the trick!