Sunday, October 18, 2009

So that's the jazz



Should I be embarrassed to admit that during the last year of graduate school my fingernails were perpetually painted red, and not just any red—a particular shade of crimson? It only took about twenty minutes to repaint them each week, and this task was undertaken either by myself or by a manicurist from one of the many nail salons along Westwood Boulevard. The reason? I just liked the way that the nail color completed my outfits and added glamour to my everyday existence.





It was during one of these nail salon visits that I came across a very smart Teen Vogue photography spread. "My Funny Valentine" in the February 2008 issue was the catalyst for starting this “My Sky-Blue Portfolio.” When my polish had dried, I found that I could not leave the sweet photos behind—I wanted to show my sister—so I went back and asked the attendant if I could please take the magazine with me?



And before I could take the issue home, I kept bringing it out and showing the pictures to friends. “Doesn’t this look like my sister?” I said. “I should start a fashion blog with her—I read them all the time, anyway.”





So, here’s our photo shoot inspired by “My Funny Valentine.” Autumn wears a dress that’s very rouge, like my favorite nail polish, and stands by our favorite boy model, our trusty brother James. If you like, here’s some ambiance music.











By the way, we lately learned that “My Funny Valentine” is the work of photographer Arthur Elgort, who’s clearly a favorite of ours: He also photographed the spreads that inspired this blog post, as well as this one.

9 comments:

Cafe Pasadena said...

You should start a fashion blog for your sista! Hohoho!!

Wunderfully electric blog posting as per the norm.

shopgirl said...

Ashley,
I really like your style!

Radio Flyer said...

"My Funny Valentine"...you make me smile in my heart.

Ashley said...

I was thinking, doesn't a little jazz just suit a cloudy autumn day?

Many thanks for the kind comments already received!

Oleg K. said...

I like the photo where the boy is floating in the air with flowers.

Metrically, that sounds similar to Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.

grannybabs said...

You are as good as Vogue!

rose said...

The pictures in this post are so cute,and so fun! I also enjoyed getting to see the old blog's. Bernard is adorable and I have missed some of the past post's of Autumn's outfits. Arthur Elgort is very talented, thanks for pointing his work out.

Laurie Allee said...

TOOOOOOO fabulous!

I wore bright red nail polish for years. For all the reasons you did. (Did you do your toes to match?)

Ashley said...

Cafe Pasadena: Well, you know...

shopgirl: How nice. Thank you!

Radio Flyer: That line makes me melt!

Oleg K.: *smile*

grannybabs: Why, thank you! Thank you very much!

rose: It's nice to discover new/old things.

Laurie: Ah, you understand! I think that I am very vain about my (beautiful) feet, but no, my toes didn't match... I don't think that it ever occurred to me!

Thank you, everybody!