My floral designs for Juli + Alex

Congratulations, Juli and Alex! It was a dream designing your flowers for your wedding! Thank you for inviting me to the event, too. I had a blast!
All photos taken by Steve Capps

love, polly

Outfit: Pine & Clover

I came home from work carrying this bouquet of flowers my boss and I designed the other day for a corporate event and created this outfit inspired by the flowers. It's a neat take on fall with the orange Dahlias, Ranunculus and Orchids and red Celosia. I designed a wedding of a friend last weekend and I will post the photos of that bouquet which is very "traditional fall" as soon as I can! :) These boots are from Modern Vice by the way... and I'm totally in love with them and obsessed. I've been following Amy Roiland's fashion blog and that's how I found out about Modern Vice... so dreamy and made in NYC! 

Outfit Details: Boots- Modern Vice 

Tights- American Apparel

Dress/shorts: vintage

Hat: Anthropologie (thanks, Anna!)

Scarf: Made by Maria Mejia ♥

love, polly

Outfit: November in Chicago

Outfit details: Skirt & hat c/o Choies

Copper Cropped Jacket- vintage, Salvation Army
purse: Vintage, Costume & Props Sale, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign

blouse: Street Flea Market in Denver, CO

Boots: Unique Thrift Store

Earrings: c/o Now or Never Jewelry

Tights: c/o We Love Colors

Faux Fur Shawl: c/o Joules

love, polly

Paulie Antiques Fall 2015 Look Book Featuring Rachael Soglin

Meet my new model, Rachael! She lives right in my neighborhood in Chicago and she's adorable! We met one night a few months ago while at a bar. I couldn't stop noticing how cute and fun she looked from across the bar so I went over and asked if she'd like to model for me. There were no ifs, ands, or butts- Rachael was on board! She's down for anything I love that about her! I am excited to hang out, again, Rachael! 

In these photos, she's wearing a yellow dress and bow tie that I designed, patterened, and sewed from scratch! 
*Thank you to Anna Longworth who bought this orange fedora for me :)

Here is Rachael wearing a skirt I made and a sheer dotted -swiss short sleeve top I stitched.

All photos taken & styled by me, Paulie Antiques

Model: Rachael Soglin

love, polly

Katie Pierce for Paulie Antiques Fall 2013 Studio Look Book in Brooklyn, NY

So it turns out that I am just now posting the Paulie Antiques Fall Look Book from 2013 and hey, it happens. I'm not going to beat myself up too much about it. It was a blast working with Sandra Murphy Recollection & Pepa Loves and using their clothing from their amazing companies. Styling my first ever studio shoot was also really fun and required a lot of planning and organization. When I do my look books outdoors.... it seems to be less work. Working in a studio was such a blessing for me because our photographer, Eric Michael Pearson had his own studio at our very own disposal. I met Katie Pierce at a Psychic Twin concert in Brooklyn and thought she was so sweet and beautiful- so I asked her to be our model. When I scout models- it's pretty funny because I am sometimes shy and sometimes I will just walk right up to the person and lay down a proposal to a girl who has never modeled and is absolutely terrified. Luckily, Katie had some previous experience and was so much fun to boot. My friend Christine Hopkins acted as my assistant stylist which was so fun because when we were both stylists for Impulse Magazine two years ago- I assisted her on her spread in the magazine. Thank you to everyone who was involved in this shoot... it was a truly amazing experience. Also, I thought the music for the look book video should also be Psychic Twin since Katie and I met through Erin, the lead singer. We love you, Erin!!

        

Mint sailor blouse with bow c/o Pepa Loves

Mint mini dress with collar c/o Pepa Loves

Mabel skirt c/o Sandra Murphy Recollection

Mrs. Redding Dress c/o Sandra Murphy Recollection

hats, gloves and small purse loaned by Sandry Murphy 

love, polly

New York City and why I left....

After living in New York City for about 2 1/2 months... I started to realize that it wasn't worth it to me. This is not to say that I thought the people I love in that city are not worth staying for- because that is not the case at all. I just honestly thought about how far away I was from my family and how I could not afford to even come home for Christmas this year to see them if I kept living there. I really had a great time at my internship with Lori Goldstein and working in the iLuminate Costume Shop. My living situation started to get stressful- and I didn't have the money to move to another place due to lack of security deposit money. Every person I spoke to on Craigslist wanted a big security deposit or either a year's lease. I decided to come back to my hometown, Taylorville, Illinois, to rest and keep applying to more concrete jobs and opportunities. I am lucky enough to have my parents take me back for a short time while I am trying to get the best opportunity I possibly can. I also really didn't dig the stressed out vibe in NYC- and how dirty it is. I am truly a midwest girl at heart....and I love wide open spaces. This is definitely an adjustment period. I am hoping to visit California in the next year and possibly land a job there... but I might start out in Chicago, first. Who knows where my next adventure will unfold :) Thanks for being here and thank you for being YOU. I like to stay pretty honest to you guys on this blog of mine. I want to tell you everything. I don't even record my thoughts in a paper diary anymore- so, this might be the result- brutal honesty... but in a good way. XO

*all photos taken by me in Taylorville, IL with my canon 50 mm lens mounted on my Lumix GF3.

love, polly

Fall Endeavors

 Roxy.... the most exclusive cat I've met in a very long time (and the softest).

Today was a very long day, indeed... but I met with my choreographer about the dance piece for which I am the costume designer... and we had a very exciting conversation about color and texture. The piece is composed by Erik Satie... a very strange pianist who only ate white food and was deemed, "The Velvet Gentleman" for fact of only wearing grey velvet suits. He also carried a hammer in his pocket. We are definitely going in the same direction and I am SO pleased for that. I always have very colorful designs and I am so blessed to be working with a choreographer who appreciates that. These photos were taken today after I finished class and scrubbing paint buckets all day in the scenic shop (I'm still trying to finish up some practicum hours). I feel so thankful to finally be on Thanksgiving Break. I can't wait to spend it with my best friends and family. Talk to you very soon!

love, polly :)

Fall Flow

Just some photos from a walk with Hannah last week. The leaves around here are making me take long runs almost every morning. The crisp air makes me feel like creating! How does it make you feel?

love, polly :)