IS THAT ALL THE FALL THERE IS?

It snowed here in NYC today. And not just a bit of fluff or the occasional frozen droplet floating by. Hefty, hearty, driving flakes. Big ass flakes. Flakes to write home about, or at least all over your facebook wall. And while the forecast is somewhat more optimistic, I fear today may mark the end of that sweet, fleeting season between tank tops and Gore-Tex. Ah fall, I hardly knew ye!

Two of the (many!) highlights of the season: last minute, impromptu visits to the Met. Always at or near 3pm on a weekday, grab a friend, rush to the train, guiltily slide whatever cash you may have in pocket towards the demure looking young lady in gold rimmed glasses behind the entrance desk, and proceed to the roof. Point out the Plaza Hotel in the distance and rest your elbows on the dense shrubbery. Spend what time you have left wandering through the 2nd Floor galleries and come face to face with what may be your favorite painting of all time. Good Goya.

Also: flowers! And how. I had the extreme pleasure of working with a certain Ms. Amy Merrick on two weddings in the last few weeks. One a small Manhattan affair, and the other an over night, upstate, semi-wilderness adventure. Both involved early mornings, cold fingers, heavy lifting and long hours. As well as an immense sense of satisfaction, several different types of cats, enormous cornbread muffins, slumber parties in converted sawmills, takeout Chinese and FUN. Lotta that. I may be a fool, but I'm hungry for more.

FINLAND-->GERMANY-->DIE SCHWEIZ

The last two and a half weeks or so are a blur. Been sick, been on set, been upstate, been hustlin' or as close as I'll ever get. I can't complain about being busy doing things I may actually get paid for, but it has meant that I usually fall asleep, sitting up, in bed, with the lights on, well before I can devote any attention to this particular space. And I still have photos I want to post from August! So let's do the time warp for a moment...

After spending less than 24 hours in beautiful Oslo, we were off to Finland for a festival the next day. Having slept maybe six hours out of 48 at that point, my memories of Helsinki are hazy. But I can recall beautiful old buildings, a harbor, enormous cruise ships like pale amphibious skyscrapers in the distance, and a basket of ripe, red strawberries sparkling in the sun. Then later I passed out at a picnic table with my sunglasses on and my face smooshed into Alex's knee.

Another early morning saw us flying on to Hamburg, which was nothing but mud. The drive to Switzerland the next day was long and green, and Lucerne greeted us with the most amazing venue with a full apartment just upstairs and a caboose depot next door. Our last stop before Copenhagen was Basel, where the chilly Rhine is dotted with bathers riding the strong current downstream, laughing, waving, tossing beach balls and somehow not being run over by passenger ferries. I pet the prettiest little Swiss lady cat in the warm sunshine and we made sandwiches on the bank while someone blasted C+C Music Factory from a boombox in the distance. The Swiss you guys, they have it figured out.

THE CLEMENT GREENBERG COLLECTION

wenvrsleep Fall 2012 Collection Lookbook: Clement Greenberg Collection
Photographer: Dustin Fenstermacher
Stylist: Siri Thorson
Jewelry: wenvrsleep/Sarah Beaver
Model: Laura O. @ Commence Quest
Clothing: Ermie, Ilana Kohn, vintage, stylist's own

Hard to believe that it's already been a week since I had the pleasure of helping out Sarah with the lookbook for her fall 2012 jewelry line. It was a long, roller-coaster ride of a day, but in the end we got the model on the phone, tracked down the space (thanks Frankie!), caught the last of the day's light and pulled it all together. And then we ordered pizza.

If, like me, you fell pretty hard for Sarah's first collection, be forewarned: you are about to have your socks blown clear into next week. The craftmanship, the attention to detail and color and proportion, are all stunning. Combining sheet metal, hand water-colored paper, glass, heavy cord, and meticulously sourced findings, I can honestly say that the Clement Greenberg Collection is quite unlike any jewelry line I have ever seen. "Special" might be a worn-out cliché of a word these days, but there is truly no more fitting a way to describe every last one of the pieces I handled that day.

The line is set to drop imminently, so be sure to keep an eye on Sarah's shop. You can also follow her tumblr for a peek at what influences her designs. Big things are in store for Sarah, I can feel it, and I wish her every success!

I WOULD DYE 4 U

Talking about Upstate reminded me that I still had photos of a few of our own shibori projects from this summer lying around on my computer. Having experimented with the Arashi and Kumo techniques, which are both pretty closely akin to traditional tie-dyeing, Dag and I decided to try and tackle the more complicated Itajime, which involves folding the fabric before dyeing and securing it tightly between two boards. Since we were working with vintage shirts and not full pieces of fabric, figuring out how best to pleat and manipulate our folds was kind of a headache--but our bumbling efforts were, amazingly, rewarded. Dag's first attempt, top, was a miraculous triumph.

Anyone looking for a quick, basic Shibori tutorial should look here. Books can be helpful as well. Really though, the best way to learn is to just buy some dye, find some old silk t-shirts at a thrift store, and start mucking around. And I'm definitely happy to offer what little advice that I can, so don't hesitate to ask!