N Magazine Photo Shoot Sneak Preview!!

I've been packing up what feels like the entire Union Textiles studio for our first ever photo shoot held on location in the "Serengeti"* of Nantucket Island for N Magazine. While the shoot is mostly going to use pieces from my Fall 2011 isobel and cleo collection, there will also be a couple Seaweaver pieces and one collaborative Union Textiles garment in the shoot. I personally would have liked to get some more Seaweaver and Union Textiles pieces in the line up but unfortunately a good chunk of our collection is stuck in Charleston awaiting the announcement of the new date for the Music Loves Fashion event. I hope that it comes soon and that all our friends down South weren't badly affected by the hurricane. Here on Nantucket, it was just very windy with slight drizzles here and there that lasted all of 5 minutes. Everyone abandoned the island in fear and those who stayed boarded up their property. In the end it was way safer here than the rest of the East Coast. Several of my friends even went to the beach, where the waves to be fair, were massive and awe-mazing. Forgive me, I'm babbling! I have a cold in AUGUST and I'm a bit verbally discombobulated right now.

Anyway, I've totally gone off topic. N Magazine. Right. Check out some of the styling and looks that are inspiring the editor and photographer Nathan Coe:

Hot right?! It's going to be a sizzling photo shoot tomorrow morning, but I better get some sleep as our call time is 7am and I have to pick up Cara and the make up artist! Make sure to follow all the action tomorrow on Facebook and Twitter!

x

charlotte

*will explain that later

It's a small world after all...

I've decided it must be National Small World Week. On Sunday morning a friend of a friend that I let couch surf with me in Scotland 3 YEARS AGO and haven't seen since was on Nantucket Island. Of all the places he could have eaten breakfast at on his one day on island, he ate at my restaurant. Then today at dinner, I got to talking to a girl who ended up working for Teach of America. When I told her my college roommate also worked for them, we unearthed that she is good friends with my ex-roommate's current roommate, a TFA star. But that's not all. Before meeting the TFA teacher, I was in the Union Textiles Studio. I had received a package of clothing that I'm showing at the Music Loves Fashion event next Saturday in Charleston, SC. Well, I couldn't put the looks together without trying it on a model so my friend and neighbor across the hall, Ben from Lucky Dog Vodka suggested I go grab a girl off the street. Which I did. And who would've guessed the first girl I grabbed was the girlfriend of one of my old Nantucket friends from three summers ago, who haven't seen since and who had been on the island for days but was leaving in a few hours! Small world right?!

While I marvel at the small world moments that have occurred this week (there were TWO others I'm not mentioning), here is a (**makeshift**) glimpse at the isobel and cleo collection for Music Loves Fashion, modeled at the spur of the moment by the lovely Skylar:

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charlotte

My pants, Cara's cashmere top.

Whole lotta hand knitting going on!

New colors of our Massive Plait Necklaces are in store now!

Concrete Jungle Where Dreams are Made...

Yes, that's right, New York. Everyone sings about it, from Jay Z to Frank Sinatra. So with such illustrious figures paying homage to the city that apparently never sleeps, who are we NOT to go there and see what it has to offer?

We arrived in New York on 28th and 7th Ave, right smack in the Fashion District, on the steps of FIT. Has there ever been another sign so telling and appropriate? Immediately upon our arrival we set off to work. A wee bit of shopping in Soho. Now this isn't fun, regular shopping, no it was work shopping, an entirely different breed of monster. Our task was to gather ideas and get inspired by what we saw in the stores. We hit Free People, Top Shop, and All Saints (one of my favorite British stores that has now crossed over to the US). Needless to say Cara loved my favorite store, All Saints (not sure if you knew this but we've come to realize in the past couple of months that we are indeed, the same person), and we got some great ideas to build on for our own collection.

The next day we hit the Met to see the Alexander McQueen exhibit, Savage Beauty. The lines were hellish and after waiting outside of the museum before it opened and waiting again inside in the admissions line, the entry into the exhibit itself was still another 2 and 1/2 hour line. We ended buying a Met membership to skip the queue! Mr. McQueen never one to disappoint, was amazing. It sounds like such an understatement to say that, but I've been sitting here for l5 minutes trying to think of a word to describe it other than, awesome, amazing, fantastic, etc. The rest of the day consisted of Cara and I running around the city to our various yarn appointments. But let me stop yapping and let the pictures below do the talking!

To see all our pictures check out charlotte's label's page at facebook.com/isobelandcleo.

Shopping List:
Free People
All Saints
Top Shop
The Met: Savage Beauty Exhibit
The Yarn Company
Tender Buttons
Silk City Fibers
Karabella
Habu Textiles
Lion Brand Studio
Shareen Vintage

Downtown Yarns
String
Beads of Paradise

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charlotte

a piece from the McQueen exhibit

a piece from the McQueen exhibit

the Yarn Co, on the upper west side. this was a favorite new yarn store discovery

Tender Buttons. Amazing store, there is also one in Chicago across from Barneys

silk city fibers, a yarn company that we use alot

Cara pontificating over yarns in Habu

yarn at habu. I love how they package it!

Charlotte became so overwhelmed she just had to lay over all the yarns

at lion brand yarns

Knitwear Designers and the Pursuit of Happiness

There was a really awesome blog post from a few days ago by Design Catwalk. It was entitled, Are Knitwear Designers Happier than Others? Now, I love that question especially because it's one that I've joked about in the past. I guess it really depends on the person, but in my case I LOVE TO KNIT, even though I am consistently stressed out because it takes so much longer than you think to make anything! Or maybe that's just me. Anyway, I love yarn, I love buying yarn, I love putting tons of yarn into my cart at Yarn.com, and then taking it all out again, I love texture, I love sculpting texture with yarn, I love knitting with my hands, I love knitting with my machines. I love traveling to see knits in muesems, in stores, in NYC, in Paris, in New Zealand, in Scotland. I love that you're still here reading this love fest. And now you shall be rewarded with pictures. For more pics and to read the article yourselves visit Design Catwalk.

x
charlotte