GUTS

I ordered a little something new the other day.

A new Canon 6D came my way and needless to say I'm pretty excited. Although, I wasn't necessarily in the market for a new camera until recently, after my trip to Miami. Unfortunately, in case you haven't heard, there's a lot of shitty people out there. My rental car was broken into, in the last few hours of my trip while I enjoyed one last swim at South Beach. I didn't think it'd be a big deal to leave my car in a parking lot for literally just an hour or so before I ran off to catch my flight. But in that time, all of my luggage and purse, with my old Canon and lenses, were stolen.

Having your stuff taken is such a weird and violating feeling. I won't go into the details of how angry I was or how desperately I wanted to go home after spending way too long speaking with the police and what traffic rules I broke in order to still make my flight. But the point is that although something like this is incredibly disheartening, I would never let it set me back. I obviously need a camera for my line(s) of work. Nothing will ever stop me. No setback small or large will deter me from chasing and accomplishing every last dream on my list.

To be honest, myself and the film crew I work with have pretty strict rules for ourselves and not leaving equipment unattended is one of them. But luckily, some of our other work habits were put into use during the trip, like: dump and back-up all the footage at the end of each day. That's the only reason I was still able to post my trip posts when I got home (my boyfriend's stuff was in the trunk of the rental, so his stuff/computer weren't taken - thank God.) After ANY shoot, I literally transfer the footage and stills from my cards ASAP - whether it's a just a blog outfit shoot or paid client work. AND I back everything up. So for all you camera nerds out there, let my experience be a lesson to you. ALWAYS keep an eye on your gear.

Now, time to break in this new cam.



Anyway, here's a song I have on repeat as I write out this 'Lesson' of a blog post. It's called 'Guts' by Alex Winston.

PENNY LANE

The weekend got away from me.

I'm here at my desk at 1:30 am before Monday brings on a new week and I have no idea where the weekend went. So now I'm left scrambling to complete all the stuff I wanted to do. This week is definitely jam packed with even more "to-do's". Like editing a video for a PR company, interviewing some cool people for Locale Magazine's Spring issue, packing up 16th Colony ponchos and designing my Christmas card (you're getting it late, just fyi - suck it up). I mean, that stuff, along with other glorious things as you can imagine.



But I'm glad that I got to go through some of these photos from my San Francisco birthday trip from a couple weeks ago. It was so much fun - I seriously love exploring that city. For me it's definitely a place that I click with. Not that I want to move out of Southern California but if I had to pick someplace else to live it might be San Fran. Well, it is a little cold there so maybe I'm not so sure about that statement. Hence me bundling up in this amazing Penny Lane inspired jacket. It's lined all the way through, so luckily I wasn't complaining too much about the cold temperatures this particular day.

Anyway, this is always a busy time of year and as we get closer to Christmas I hope all of you guys are getting everything knocked off your list of "to-do's" as well.



Jacket - Nasty Gal, Pants - Waxed Jeans, Necklace - Vanessa Mooney, Paisley Print Scarf - Target

GILLES BENSIMON EXHIBIT

A few weeks back, Riviera 31 at the Sofitel Los Angeles hosted the Gilles Bensimon pop-up Exhibit.

The latest of the French photographer's work was displayed so beautifully and elegantly along various walls throughout the hotel. Through his 30-year career, Bensimon has selectively photographed iconic women, including, Audrey Hepburn, Charlize Theron and Beyonce. I had the opportunity to view his unique style during an exclusive preview session and found myself inspired. How could I not, right?



The tour was really interesting - each photograph with it's own story. The one that stuck with me most was the story behind this Charlize photo. It's a little hard to see, but she's softly crying - Bensimon had sought out a song he knew made her feel sad and played it during their shoot to get this type of reaction. Even before knowing this, this particular photo was my personal favorite from the get-go. There's such an intense dramatic element to it.



Dress, designed by yours truly

UNIQUE LA : STREET STYLE

Over the weekend, I made my way to Downtown Los Angeles and scoured Unique LA.

This is obviously something that I typically do, where I scout out cool up-and-coming brands, chat with them and snap a few photos. But this time I added in a little something else - I ended up stopping a few random groups of people who I felt had really fun senses of style. So I snapped their photos and decided to feature them as well.

I think it's really great when the people attending these types of shows have an obvious charisma about them that almost reflects some of what you see in the products and brands that are being exhibited. A lot of the people walking around Unique LA had a keen sense of style and they seemed to be into the whole movement of local artists 'doing their thing'.



Monica Squitieri Jewelry - Beautiful pieces made by hand in California and inspired by tide pools, desert spires and valleys of gold.



The cute girl on the right actually has a great brand called Garden Head. - I've seen tons of flower crowns recently, but these are actually super unique and different. I really love the elements she uses to create them.



Rais Case - Driven by clean lines and beautiful textiles - designer Julie Rais Ellis uses genuine Pendleton wool fabrics.



Goat and Kettle - Artisan jewelry hand-hammered from antique keys & hardware.



Cherise's Pieces - All handmade by Cherise herself.



Weekend Society - I met the designer and he creates really great graphics for their t-shirt collection.

SNEAK PEEK: WHO'S NEXT?

Who's the subject of the next Hanger Shortage Style Vid?

A lot of people have been asking me when I'll be launching another video. I know that it's been a while since I've posted one on the site but, to be honest, the time has flown by so incredibly fast I seriously can't even begin to explain what that feels like. On top of all of that, I've been working hard to revamp the Hanger Shortage site. Pretty soon you'll see more info/content and even more style vids.

But until then, I'm anxious to get this next video up and running, featuring the amazingly creative entrepreneur Jesse Genet who founded Lumi. This girl is awesome and I'd rather not give too much away but just be prepared to be inspired. A few months ago, I visited her loft/headquarters at The Brewery in LA and she filled me in on everything from the creative side of Lumi to running, growing and maintaining a successful business that she's truly passionate about.

Stay tuned.

LIFE IN IPHONE PHOTOS - NOVEMBER EDITION

Drake Concert