TWELVE & THE RED DRESS COLLECTION / MSPFW AW 2012

minneapolis-st. paul fashion week has just begun, but with big changes this year. this year's restructured MSPFW was bumped up to february in order to align with the fashion industry. instead of premiering spring/summer lines for the year, MSPFW shows will debut fall/winter collections at its events. two runway events in the past few days have helped kicked off the new MSPFW - "twelve," the university of minnesota's 44th annual senior fashion show and the red dress collection.



the university of minnesota senior fashion show also made some big changes, and i can say that this is the best one i've attended. huge thumbs up to the production coordinator, dustin dorris. without a raised runway like in previous years, the runway was more open and bright and allowed a better view of the designs for the audience. anthem heart's ken hannigan djed the event, providing a more streamlined soundtrack for the show. my favorite looks came from senior designer sara lopez. for all runway photos from "twelve," take a look at my gallery on flickr.




(sara lopez)

the red dress collection brought together fashion and heart health awareness. designers created red dresses for local celebrities to wear for the runway: emma berg for landyn hutchinson, tim navarro for alexus koch, danielle everine for kaela humphries, laura fulk for ann carroll, arielsimone for sandy simmons, sarah m. holm for allison kaplan, thom navarro for dr. jennifer dankle, max lohrbach for jennifer kline, maritza ramirez for amy james, rachel blomgren for robyne robinson, and christopher straub for laura schara. proceeds from ticket sales, silent auction, and donations benefit the Women's Heart Clinic at the University of Minnesota Physicians Heart: Women's Heart Program at Fairview. more photos can be found on flickr.



(max lohrbach)


(emma berg)


(danielle everine)

BLOG CRUSH: THE IMAGINIST

the imaginist truly encapsulates the type of minimalism that i long for in terms of style and photography. she's only been blogging since july, but i'm dying for more posts. i feel like i need to find myself a pair of docs now.

DIANA, A CELEBRATION

last saturday, the "diana: a celebration" exhibit opened at the mall of america. on thursday, i was invited to a VIP preview of the exhibit, which also served as a benefit gala for the woman's club of minneapolis and open arms of minnesota. the exhibit celebrates the life and work of princess diana: items included in the exhibit ranged from her childhood report cards to designer outfits she wore to celebrated events. most importantly, princess diana's wedding dress is on display. royal art handlers nick grossmark and graeme murton, who are in charge of handling the royal wedding gown, were in attendance at the event and spoke briefly about the princess and her family. as pictured, there was a replica of princess diana's wedding cake, which towered at least 3 feet above me. the event was spectacular, as was the exhibit. this is the last time the exhibit will show in north america, so if you're even considering visiting the exhibit, i'd recommend it. the exhibit is open now until june 10. more information can be found here.

JAPAN

even though i flew back to the states a week ago, i still feel a little jetlagged. i had the most amazing time in tokyo, and i know i have to go back: one week isn't enough. we stayed at a hostel in asakusa, which is a beautiful district of tokyo that has a more traditional japanese feel in comparison to other districts. we did visit harajuku street, and i was surprised that i didn't see many people dressed up. we even went on the most popular day, sunday. my favorite area was shibuya - lots of hustle and bustle. and surprise - shibuya is known for its fashion and shopping, as well as its nightlife. unfortunately, i got sick the last night we were in tokyo, so i couldn't join my friends when they went out to shibuya. aside from the one night of illness, the food in japan was phenomenal. we ate plenty of noodles, sushi, and my new personal favorite, tempura. out of the four of us, no one knew japanese. we were very fortunate that most japanese menus have photos of their dishes. we simply pointed to pictures and nodded. the best thing i could do was say "arigato gozaimasu." my japanese could definitely use some work.

i took so many photos while in japan, but i've only chosen a few of my favorites to post on the blog. if you'd like to see more, i've posted all of the photos on my flickr.

MSP ✈ SRT

apologies for a quiet blog this month. but i promise to you, my readers, that there'll be much more content soon. tomorrow morning, i'm boarding a flight to japan for a week. i've got 3 cameras packed and i'm sure i'm going to find tons of sweet stuff while i'm there. see you in a week.

MARITZA RAMIREZ' LITTLE BLACK DRESS

remember last fall's "little black dress"? i photographed maritza ramirez' LBD a few weeks ago with kara. huge thanks to la belle vie for letting us shoot in their lobby. more photos can be found at my website.

NASTY GAL SPRING 2012

i'm totally into the spring lookbook from nasty gal - perfect ensembles for the "city girl," aka me. so good. kudos to the photographer because it's beautiful.

SHEER

dress, h&m. shoes, charles jourdan.

it's finally snowing today, and it makes me think of where i was a year ago - physically and mentally. the weather reminds me of being in dallas last year, warmish 30s and no snow. where's the minnesota that i used to know? i picked up this dress for a holiday party last week. i like it because it's simple enough to be worn more than once for other occasions.

FOR SALE: ZARA LEOPARD PLATFORM HEEL

prepping for my trip to japan means i'm purging my closet. these zara pony hair platforms are beautiful and i wish they weren't just a little too big... size 9, $100. send me an email if you're interested!

FOR SALE: VINTAGE LEATHER FRINGE JACKET

as seen on ruby aldridge during PFW, i'm letting go of this vintage berman's leather fringe jacket. marked size 10, medium fit. $75 or best offer. email me if you're interested!