The twenties

Hi!

This outfit was inspired by the great fashions of the 1920's that have been popping up everywhere (and also here). I have always had a crush to this era: the rich fabrics, the prints, the embroideries. It looks feminine and daring!

So I have made this crushed velvet t-shirt. It is very basic and it can be styled in a multitude of ways.

 I used an old dress that no longer fitted my style (or body for that matter) and for a pattern, I used  regular t-shirt and added some ease.

The good thing about starting from a finished dress is that I was able to keep it simple and use the hem of the dress as the hem of the top, so one less step to do.

Jeans: Banana Republic
Sandals: Nine West
Hair pin: BCBG
Necklace: BCBG

I love it, because it took me one hour to do the whole thing!

I hope you enjoy the final look!

Love,

Sam

Lace top

Lace top by samantha-grimm featuring vintage tees

Vintage tee
£110 - minna.co.uk

7 For All Mankind skinny leg jeans
$210 - stylebop.com

Pretty Ballerinas ballet flat
$209 - forzieri.com

Clutch handbag
£18 - bankfashion.co.uk

Ted Rossi bracelet
145 CAD - eluxe.ca

Juicy Couture pave jewelry
$58 - lordandtaylor.com

Jane Norman set of bangle
£15 - janenorman.co.uk

Finding inspiration

Hi,

I was hoping to write a post every week, but unfortunately, my latest projects were not working as I expected, I was very unhappy with the pictures I was taking, nothing seemed worthy of a post. I was feeling completely uninspired and a little upset.

Then like magic I stumbled upon a marvelous book and I feel like inspiration is starting to come back. The book is called "In Pursuit of Elegance" - by Matthew E. May. It talks about what makes certain designs so elegant and desirable. The author brings in aspects from film, painting (from Da Vinci to Pollock), fractals, and even some interesting concepts in business and urban planning. Amazing!

Maybe what I thought was really striking, breaking a paradigm of mine, was the concept of "less is more" as it applies to rules. I was always a sucker for structure and clear rules, clear expectations, planning, tracking... So much so, it stops me in my tracks sometimes.

As May says: "The counterintuitive dynamic at work is this: the more we try to control and regulate our risk, the more exposed and at risk we are, because the more protected from hazards we think we are, the less conscious of potential dangers we become. We actually disengage our brains and disconnect from what’s happening around us. That can be disastrous." May, Matthew E. (2009-05-09). In Pursuit of Elegance: Why the Best Ideas Have Something Missing (p. 67). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

As I was reading that and thinking about all the (unachievable) expectations we set for ourselves, the to-do lists, the calendars, the protocols. With that, it seems we are just stopping life from flowing freely. It brought me back to Dr. McDaniel's classes, in which he asked us: "how do we get people to do what they know how to do?" Managers are always putting so many rules, controls, and metrics in place that the employee is more concerned in following than actually doing what they know how to do.

Coincidently enough, I chose a very clean and simple outfit for work today.

Shirt and pants: Banana Republic
Shoes: Aerosoles
Broche: unknown (Thanks, Mom!)

 I added the bright lipstick for a little bit of fun...

I hope you like it!

Love,

Sam

In Memorian

Hi!

This is a very emotional post for me. On September 13th 2011, my grandfather Plinio passed away. He was 85 years old and lived a great, very fruitful life.
When I was growing up, visiting him was one of my favorite adventures. I got to visit the big city, hear his stories, and be creative! As I grew older, I went to see him when I needed to advice or when I wanted to escape from my angry world. He would always see me, lend a shoulder, pour some wine or some mate.

In my memory, he was always very elegant, charming, and an amazing storyteller - a mix of Don Draper and Big Fish. So, when we were trying to figure out what to do with his clothes as a family, I asked to keep one of his tweed jackets, which I intended to fix.

The process was pretty interesting! I had never seen the insides of menswear before and, boy, is it complicated!

I manage to really only open the lining and work in a few darts and tightened some seams, to keep a pretty boxy, menswear look. I think he would have approved.