Delta of Venus

(above 3 photos behind-the-scenes from my instagram)

I recently had a chance to style my first shoot where I got to direct everything: the mood, the model, the poses, the lighting, the wardrobe and the photographers. My own imagination is so active and I love to tell stories - through little things, like getting dressed every day, and through bigger projects, whether it be writing, creating a book or shadow box, or putting together a series of photos. While I do love working as a stylist alongside photographers to realize their specific visions, I find myself truly at my most creatively happy when I get to dream up and execute my own concept from beginning to end. I suppose this falls more under the title of "creative director" than mere "stylist" either way it's something I plan to do plenty more of in the near future. Knowing so many beautiful people to model and talented photographers who i trust to capture my vision definitely helps! I love art that is created through a communal process and effort - the combination of so many different minds always creates something greater than the sum of its parts.

The inspiration for this shoot really started with my model, Kerri Lebon - who in my mind evoked the dark elegance of Luisa Casati (particularly Man Ray's portraits of her), portraits of Anais Nin, and the  shadows and mystery of 1930's Berlin. Dark and mysterious, soft yet strong - sumptuous and haunting. These portraits of women who were burning with madness, energy and life. They were yearning, passionate, and always shot on deep, velvety black and white film.

Amy Harrity set up lights for the shoot and also took a few gorgeous digital photos in color. 

digital color photos by Amy Harrity
styled and directed by Ashley Pamela Miller
model: Kerri LeBon

Dirty Blonde

I don't know why it took me so long to realize that Debbie Harry is my Personal Style Spirit Animal. She's always been on my radar of Very Important Style Icons but i recently realized she's not just one, i think she's the one. She has pretty much every base in my style arsenal covered - vintage vixen, cutie pie, classy glamour girl, femme-femme girly girl, rock n roll babe. She's like Courtney Love meets Marilyn Monroe meets Barbie meets Gwen Stefani. I think it all came together for me when I found a photo of her wearing a striped t shirt with a flippy floral skirt and big sunglasses and i was like, WHOA. THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I WEAR LIKE EVERY DAY. And don't even get me started on her apparent collection of perfect vintage tee's.

women who don't cry

You may remember a post from December about a shoot I styled for grainy-dreamy-film-photographer Hana Haley - and about a week ago I got another opportunity to work with her. Remember when I was watching all those French films and obsessing over Anna Karina? That was all research for a shoot Hana and I started planning after the success of our first. And last week our Francophile vision became a reality when we met up at Palace of the Fine Arts early on a cloudy morning. The model, Alyssa, is a 60's gamine starlet come to life (imagine a young Audrey Hepburn). The grey skies cast a perfect pallor on the wardrobe i had pulled, a wardrobe full of reds, blues, whites and grays - chic, simple and oh so french. A couple vintage umbrellas, a great tweed swing coat and my prized 1950's nurse's cape were highlights of my day as a stylist. Once again the photos turned out like a dream and i think it's safe to say, this is the start of something beautiful between Miss Hana and I...

see the rest of this shoot and more ON HANA'S SITE

TL;DR

There is a reason it's been so long since my last post, and it's not that i've been "too busy" (i haven't) or up to more interesting things (also not the case) - the truth is, it's kind of difficult to make a blog post without photos. Let me clarify: it's difficult to make a post that people will read without photos. We are the TL;DR Generation - we want our information dispersed in @singlesentences, 2"x2" photos and 6 second gifs. 

WELL, I am a writer, and while i know plenty of photographers, i don't have one at my disposal to take daily outfit pics. So from here on out, there may be *gasp* MORE WORDS on this blog. and maybe not always accompanied by photos. Although I will do my best to include photos when there are photos to be had, because trust me, I am a victim of the same tendencies to stray without visual stimulation. But my challenge to you, lovely readers, is to be just that - readers - and bear with me when i may have more to say than to show. 

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The psychology and sociology behind clothing choices has always really interested me. Why we wear the clothes we wear - why we wear clothes at all. It's something i think about and talk about at length. It is the reason clothing is more to me than just fashion, but rather a socio-economic-political-and-psychological indicator about the wearer. 

which brings me to the topic of the day: CLOTHING AS ARMOR

I was talking with some friends recently about how different it is to curate a wardrobe depending on my location. I grew up in Orange County and now live in San Francisco - in the 6 years i have lived here I have noticed a pretty drastic difference in the outfits I put together in this city versus the one where I grew up. My personal style hasn't changed, but the way I get dressed certainly has. And when I go back to OC to visit, I have to put myself in a Southern California mindset when packing my suitcase. 

There are certain things one can wear in LA without a second thought - cropped tops, short shorts, bare arms or bare legs, certain bright colors and shades - that you absolutely could not get away with in San Francisco without continuous harassment and stares from strangers. To the same end, there are things I wear in SF but would look very out of place wearing in OC. For example - opaque tights with heels, a smart black dress and a full coat is a very common San Francisco look, but would probably earn me strange looks in the casual sunny suburbs of Orange County. In general the outfits I wear in SF would seem overly formal or overdressed in the average LA setting. 

The biggest difference, to me, between the fashion in these two cities is the wardrobe motivators: in LA, people wear clothes out of two primary desires: comfort and style. But in San Franciso, people choose their outfits like armor - based on protection and endurance. Style still enters in, sure - but practicality weighs in heaviest. In SF getting dressed requires a protective layering of sweaters and coats to stay warm during the varying temperatures of the day, tights to cover up bare legs so bums and drunks don't holler and harass on the street, practical shoes in order to travel up and down steep heels or hop on and off public transportation with ease.

Even when I do put together a real peacock show-off of an outfit in SF, it is always covered up until I have arrived at my destination and can shed my protective layers. Sometimes I even go so far as to bring two pairs of shoes - walking shoes and party shoes. What I wear here in San Francisco is always a combination of what i want to wear, tempered with what i can actually safely and practically wear in public. It's still something I'm still getting used to considering when I go shopping for new clothes and find myself with an armload of items that are distinctly more LA than SF. This is a harsh city, where people need to be tough in order to survive - and the clothing choices of its citizens reflect that. 

San Francisco is known to be a pretty radical place, but when it comes to fashion, I feel it is really quite conservative. Especially compared to a place like LA - where style is not generally sacrificed for the sake of functionality or safety.

What do you think? Have you lived in either of these cities? Do you agree? Do you have any experiences on dressing differently in different locations?

bonsoir

i am so, so, SO far delayed on catching this boat, i know...but I have recently been watching a lot of classic 1960's French films and have found myself caught up in the aesthetics and general immaculate perfection of French women in the mid 20th century. Women like Catherine Deneuve in Belle du Jour, Anna Karina in Un Femme Est Un Femme, Jean Seberg in Breathless. They all possess something timeless, charming, elegant and classy, regardless of the fact that many of their characters are of questionable employ or social standing. Something about the way they carry themselves, their perfect eyeliner and well-coiffed hair, the way they wear even the most simple ensemble with a feminine confidence and dignity that makes them irresistible - i guess you could say they have that certain je ne se qua that just seems to be lacking in society and fashion today. 

It makes me feel like all I need in my closet is a well-tailored coat (with a matching hat), sensible Ferragamo heels, and a classic sweater or two. For make-up, just a flick of liquid eyeliner and a perfect pink lip. Now I just need to figure out Catherine Deneuve's secret to her miraculous mane of hair and apparent immunity to aging...

If you haven't seen Godard's Un Femme Est Un Femme (A Woman is A Woman), RUN - don't walk - to your Netflix Streaming queue and do yourself a favor. It is hailed as his most original, unique work - which is certainly saying something. It is also the legendary gamine starlet Anna Karina's film debut. I dare you to watch this movie and not fall entirely in love with her, and her wardrobe. I've included just a couple screenshots of my favorite scenes/ensembles for your sartorial viewing pleasure (the blue dress with the white fur collar, cuffs and matching blue hair ribbon!!)

Do any of you have recommendations for more films along these lines? i can't get enough!

The Suite Life

 

It was a rainy night when I met photographer Hana Haley and her model, Lindsey, in the beautiful Westin St. Francis hotel. I've long admired Hana's beautiful 35mm film photography from afar - whimsical, gritty, feminine and haunting, her aesthetic and concepts lines up so well with my own. So I was immensely pleased and honored when Hana asked me to collaborate and style this shoot with her - I just knew it was a match made in pretty photo heaven. Miss Lindsey (the model) is, quite literally, an absolute doll (that hair! those lips!), wearing the clothes so well I almost just wanted her to take them all home. And there is just something about wandering in fancy hotels that has always held a huge place in my heart and imagination. Needless to say, helping with the creative process of this shoot was an absolute dream. 

The concept was essentially a young girl wandering alone in a fancy hotel - playing dress up, exploring...very 1960's teenage -dream, valley of the dolls, wes-anderson-heroin influences as far as the styling went. And it was such a thrill, once the photos were developed, to see the concept so perfectly realized. There will be plenty more collaborations between miss Hana and I in the near future, and I couldn't be more excited.