On the Radar -- Icy Eco Glam

Bernhardt Furniture

Icy Eco Glam.  OK, that's what I'm calling it, so get over it. 

That was the biggest trend of what I saw at the International Home Furnishings Market in High Point last week.  HP Market is undoubtedly one of my most favorite things in the world.  I've been telling my students for weeks that it's, "MAGICAL!  MAGICAL, I tell you!"  And they rolled their eyes at me-- until they got there.  Even just waiting for our program to begin, sitting at the check-in desk in Market Square, seeing all the buyers from all over the world and having their first glimpses of showrooms, had them wanting more.  They were busting at the seams to see EVERYTHING.  And so was I.

Alas, I had a limited time frame to visit market.  I didn't get to see even 1/20th of what I wanted to see.  But as we bustled through hallways and down corridors, moving from one part of our WithIt tour to another, I saw a trend emerge through the blur.

Icy Eco Glam.  Let me break this down for you. 

CR Laine daybed, from apartment therapy, here.

The "Icy" part comes from all the blue and white I saw, most specifically all the cool, wintery aquas and ice blues and blue-whites, as well as some deeper turquoises and teals.  If a showroom had a pop color, 8 times out of 10 it was an aqua.  And to up the odds, if they had a cream or white or ivory vignette (which they did), it was highlighted with pale blue or blue-white.  In other words, white/ivory/cream is the neutral hue du jour, darling, and to make it au courant, add icy aqua.

Casablanca cocktail table, Currey and Company

Now on to the "Eco" part.  I like to think of this part as the maturing of organic and natural design.  It's like all those crazy hippies with their hemp and reclaimed wood have moved past their artsy-fartsy-let's-save-the-world-with-ugly-furniture phase and have embraced their more "designed" and classy coming of age.  No more patchwork, recycled junk for us -- no, sir!  We understand the importance of an ogee foot!  Eco can be beautiful!  Let's use natural woods and concrete and handwoven textiles that cost more than a small car!  Let's embrace craft, but not arts and crafts! 

(Disclaimer -- this does not really reflect my personal stance -- I am quite the hippie, and I love craft time.  This is just what I imagine the conversation was in the boardrooms of all these furniture companies.  However, I do appreciate good design, and would happily accept any of the pieces I saw at Market into my fantasy house where nothing ever gets puked on by the cat and there is an additional 10,000 square feet.  And, I do confess, some of the early eco designs were not done well -- they were organic for organic's sake.  Much better to make something beautiful and eco-friendly.)

Ankasa beaded textile art from Trowbridge

Now to finish -- the "Glam" part.  I saw metallic finishes everywhere.  To be more specific, I saw gold everywhere.  Lighting, occasional tables, mirrors, art, objets d'art, accessories, furniture legs, textiles, rugs.  Nourison had a hide patchwork rug with a speckled metallic finish.  What???  Crazy!  And it wasn't super shiny metallic everyone was doing -- it was a brushed finish.  Now, the other side of that glam coin is the simplification of shapes.  Everything was very classic and clean.  Designed well; not over designed (or under designed).  It was balanced, and interesting, and...soft and subtle, and very, very pretty.  The furniture will make you feel like a modern-day Norma Shearer or Barbara Stanwyck.

Overall, it felt like Hollywood Glam, Midcentury Modern, and Eco-Friendly decided to join forces and make a new style.  And so now, Icy Eco Glam has been born.  Hmmm, maybe I should trademark that name...

Studio A, a Global Views company

Now, to finish, I'll share with you my two favorite parts of market:  one, I got to go back to Red Egg.  It's one of my favorite showrooms.  I've loved the furniture since I was in design school, and the owner/designer Carol Gregg is a sweet, talented, fantastic woman.  Her pieces are fun, and timeless, and amazingly beautiful.  I fell head over heels for a bright yellow bar this market, but here's a lovely example of their style:

Double Happiness Shanghai bookcase, Red Egg

And two, I lurve Taracea's signage outside their showroom.  Their sign consisted of large letters made from furniture pallets.  So awesome!  I couldn't go into the showroom (no time! sob!), and I have never heard of them, but they seem to fit with the "Eco" part of my post.  Their cool sign definitely put them on my radar...

On the Radar -- Furry Balls

Fendi's furry ball keychains

So, we Blackbird girls love balls.  It's no secret.  We say it proudly.  Then we giggle.

I say it's no secret because we have talked about balls before on the blog.  More specifically, our favorite type of balls -- blue balls.  (If you need a refresher course, then check out that post, here.)  But this week, we move on to our second favorite type of balls -- furry balls.  I collect furry balls.  I have furry ball poodle pins, and hats with furry balls.  And today, I felt the urge to wear my furry ball hedgehog sweater clips with my cardigan.  Maybe, it's because I knew, somehow, that the rest of the world is in love with furry balls, too!

I was flipping through my Bazaar today, and what did I see?  A Jimmy Choo purse and shoes with furry balls!!

They remind me of the fuzzy puffs we use to wear on our roller skates -- you know, the ones with the bells?

And if that's not kiddie enough for you, then how about Fendi's Fur Monster charm?

Or you can try Brian Atwood's furry ball shoe, if you don't want Jimmy's:

And Eudon Choi had furry balls on the models' heads.  (Hee hee.  She looks soooo happy!)

But me, I just buy vintage.  Literally, I buy vintage.  I was totally looking for things for this post, and I bought this from Sweet Geek Vintage on Etsy.  Only $5!  Hands off -- it's mine now!

I did leave a furry ball for you -- although, you might need to move fast.  It's calling to me:

Available here, from Pink Rhino Vintage on Etsy.

On the Radar -- A Red Handbag

Things have been pretty hectic around the Blackbird World Headquarters lately.  As you learned in the Junk Love post for this week, the other Blackbird deserted me to travel across the ocean and have all kinds of adventures in Ireland.  It was a really boring, long, sad two weeks while she was gone, but I was productive!  Well, I was for the first week.  The second week -- not so much.  All I can say is that I am thankful for my Netflix subscription, and I now have a new appreciation for Gossip Girl. 

(In my defense, I had to watch something.  I tried Antiques Roadshow, but believe me, that just made it worse.)

But since she got back home, we have been junk shopping like mad.  (Boy, have we been finding some really good stuff!)  I've been listing our new finds left and right in the Etsy shop.  We're both getting ready to start teaching again -- she's really the teacher, I just have one class.  And the blog has been suffering.  You know, for example, a Radar post on Friday...

Anyway, in the middle of all this, we sold this bag on Etsy:

It's a super sweet frame handbag by Dover, and it has a lovely new home in Texas.  However, while I was bringing this bag from our storage studio to the house, I got several offers from people wanting to purchase it.  When I told them it was sold, they asked, "Do you have any more?"

Oooooookaaaaayyyyy....What's that about?  And then I checked the stats on Etsy.  This bag's views spiked last Saturday.  A major spike.

And then I remembered what one lady who wanted to buy this bag said -- she said, "I'm all about a red bag right now."  So I looked it up, and lo and behold!  EVERYBODY'S about a red bag this fall!

I feel like I am so behind the curve!  But maybe it's because I'm ALWAYS about a red bag.  Red is my favorite color, and if given the choice, I will always pick it.

So here's my roundup of designer bags to drool over.  Look at these, and then just go to Etsy or your local antique store and buy a vintage one.  I mean, ours was only $18.  That's a steal!

Roberto Cavalli, Fall 2013

Marchesa clutches, Fall 2013

Dolce and Gabbana, Fall 2013

All Valentino, Fall 2013

Alexander McQueen, Fall 2013

On the Radar -- The Mighty...Acorn?

By now I shouldn't have to remind you -- we love Alexander McQueen.  So in looking at his Pre-Fall 2013 collection, we both fell in love with this particular necklace:

Very simple.  A gold acorn on a long chain.  Classic, easy to wear.  $560.

Yeah.  I'll start saving for that while I look around Etsy.

So, here's the first two...we'll say McQueen inspired...necklaces I found:

Available here from Gwen Delicious on Etsy.

Available here from Pinking Edge Designs on Etsy.

And then I thought, "Are there more acorn things out there right now?"  And the answer -- well take a look:

Yoko Ono's new art book

Acorn Pendant Lights from Maija Puoskari, Milan Design Week 2013

Even fonts can be inspired by acorns!

The answer would be yes, then.  There is something nutty going around.  Ah, the mighty acorn...

On the Radar -- Falling for Olive

So we've all heard by now that emerald green is the color of the year.  But -- did you know that olive green is the color of the fall?  

Neither did I.  Until I started looking at the fall collections.

 

It's everywhere.  Every designer seems to have at least a few accents of olive, if not a whole collection of it.  Poor emerald green.

Phillip Lim 3.1, Pre-Fall 2013

Brian Atwood DEA boot, Pre-Fall 2013

Ted Rossi Tribeca Clutch, Fall 2013

Pamella Roland, Fall 2013

And, hell, look at this Gucci lineup!  It's all olive green!

I feel bad for you, emerald green.  Here you thought it was your time to shine, and your dull cousin olive has stolen the spotlight.  Granted, he was in Pantone's color trend list, too, so we shouldn't be all that surprised.  I mean, they called him lichen green, but it's really just old olive with a fancy name.

Maybe next time, emerald.  Just let olive have the glory for now...

Our addition to the lineup, this vintage velvet jacket, available here.

On the Radar -- Cheeky Sweaters

Project Runway is a true Blackbird love.  We live for it -- even when it pisses us off.  Like Patricia's making it to the finale or Layana's irritating, spoiled brat whine.  Grrrr.  But we were thrilled with Michelle Lesniak Franklin's collection, and we're soooooo happy she won.  And I'm certain that there were two standout pieces in her collection that everyone loved -- the two sweaters she designed and made with Joseph Aaron Segal.  I foresee many cheeky graphic sweaters out and about next fall!

Other designers were on the same page, like this Divine-John Waters sweater by James Long:

Or this simpler (i.e. more wearable) Aztec sweater from J.Crew:

You can also go for text, like this DVF version:

And like we always say, go vintage!  Like these finds from Etsy:

Available here.

Available here.