Follow Graey on Facebook or Twitter for a chance to win this purse!

I've spent the past couple of months slowly redesigning a new shopping cart for Graey.  Previously I used ZenCart, but I decided to switch to Magento.  I do web design freelance but this took it to another level.  I've been painstakingly wading through CSS, PHP, HTML, Javascript.  My friends Ferris and Rachel took photos for me as well.

Here's a screenshot:

There are still some things I want to work on, but I decided that it's complete enough to take the store live.  I'm planning to do some big sales to clear out some inventory I have.

I decided to make a video of my flask purse, which is an item that's hard to appreciate without seeing it in person because of the way it opens up.  The mouth expands to fit in different objects.  You can check out the video above to see me demonstrate it.  Also, if you follow us on Facebook or Twitter, you will have the chance to win this purse!  We will announce a winner next week.

In the meantime, if you want to shop, you can use the discount code JULY25OFF to receive 25% off your purchases at graeyny.com/shop

Jazz Age Lawn Party

My friends and I went to the Jazz Age Lawn Party on Governor's Island last Saturday.  If you haven't heard of the event, basically everyone dresses up like they're from the 1920s, and there is a cute little live orchestra and a small dance floor and people sit on the lawn and picnic (and wait for hours on the booze line).  My friend Jon took this photo of me, which I really liked, so I wanted to post it here.

I got this dress at a Goodwill in Pasadena or somewhere around there, for $20.  I love the dress but it is falling apart.  The black bugle beads on the body of the dress keep falling off.  I've tried half-heartedly to repair it but haven't been diligent to reinforce every single strand.  So whenever I wear it, I leave a trail of beads behind me.  The gold and black sequins on the shoulder/sleeves are pretty secure though.

Graey/Rye Rye in NYLON

As I mentioned in an earlier post, here is the shot of Rye Rye wearing my coral (it should be that brighter coral color but the lighting makes it look washed out) rashguard top and spacer bra.  It looks pretty fantastic so I was psyched to see it.  You can check it out in the current (June/July) issue of NYLON, which has Florence Welch on the cover, and is all about musicians.  I've been emailing a little with Rye Rye so hopefully she will be wearing more Graey in the future!

Rye Rye has been blowing up lately -- you can see some videos here:




You can view the text of the NYLON article on RyeRye's website: http://www.ryeryemusic.com/blog/default.aspx?nid=35630

What Makes Love True

This video was released a few weeks ago but I'm just writing about it today.  My friend Kellan is a producer at Harbor Film Company, and a while ago, she asked me if I wanted to be the wardrobe stylist for a video.  It was a video for Tiffany's about engagements and love, and would be directed by Ed Burns.  It sounded like fun so I agreed, and a few months ago, the video (you can click on the image above to go to the site to view it) was shot in a photo studio in Chelsea.

Styling can be more creative, but my job was to work with the clothes the couples who were cast in the video had brought to the studio.  They were all real life couples, and all except one of the nine were already married (the remaining couple was engaged).  Some of them were actors or models, but their stories were real.  They all brought different options.  Firstly, I had to make sure that their clothes matched the couch that they would be sitting on.  Secondly, I had to make sure to avoid white and prints, since they would create visual noise on camera.  Thirdly, since it was Tiffany's and the set was simple, they had to be dressed simply.  Basically, they had to look nice, but without the viewer really noticing or thinking about what they were wearing.

When they came in, I hung up their clothes on a rack and tried to make them feel comfortable, and examined what they had brought, and put aside a few options.  Then I showed one of the producers the options and we would confer about which would look best.  I steamed the clothes and had them change into their outfits.  Then I would hand them over to hair and makeup.  After they were done there, I helped the sound guy put lav mics on them.  Once they were ready, we would stand by and I would roll lint off them as necessary.  There were also little adjustments to be made, such as arranging the fabric to remove wrinkles or move the wrinkles around so they were less noticeable, jumping in to hide chest hair that popped out, rearranging a necklace, etc.  Nothing too exciting but it was fun to watch the shoot.

The director would ask the couples questions about how they met and the evolution of their relationship, as well as the story of their engagement.  The first couple that came in was an elderly couple that had been together for a while, and their story ended up being the anchor for the other stories.  They got hours of footage of each couple, so it must have been tough to whittle it down to minutes.  One of the couples that made it into the video are my friends, (the interracial couple) whose wedding I played at.  You can watch the video here.

Check out these amazing animated gifs

You can see more here: http://fromme-toyou.tumblr.com/tagged/gif