Behind the Scenes: Styling a Shoot

Our gorgeous model Halley working hard with the very talented Jamie.

Yesterday Cath and I spent all morning styling a photoshoot at the Wren's Nest (home of Joel Chandler Harris, author of the Brer Rabbit stories). We had an awesome team of talented people to help us (including our model in the above pics and the lovely people below):

Lar, Cath, Amy (the make-up artist), Jamie (the photographer), Lain (executive director of the Wren's Nest) and Amelia (program director of the Wren's Nest).

I got in touch with the lovely ladies at a few local boutiques to borrow some clothes for the shoot. We borrowed playful, but elegant dresses and blouses from both Jac and Kaleidoscope.

This sparkly tunic ended up on our model in the bathtub with sparkly fairy lights. The yellow blouse looked great against all the green in the backyard of the Nest.

Amy's hand looking all professional and make-up artisty.

For the "sets" I wanted to take advantage of the fact that we were using a historic home. Amelia and Lain let us pile up old books and do-dads, blow up balloons, place fairy lights in an old claw-footed bathtub, scatter cupcakes around the rooms- essentially do whatever Tim Walker would have done with an old Victorian/Queen Anne interior and no budget.

A few Joel Chandler Harris books piled amongst dictionaries and other stories of the South. 

In Joel Chandler Harris' daughter's room I scattered the fairy lights (I'm a big fan of those if you can't tell), and Cath and I batted some balloons around as Jamie took photos of Halley in a sweet magenta frock.

We can't wait to see the final product, and will definitely show you guys the photos once Jamie has put her final magic touch on them.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend too!

p.s. We'll be moderating comments for a bit, only because we are being spammed like crazy. Has anyone else been attacked by this asian spammer and come up with any remedies?

LL

Fashion Stylists for a Day

Lar and I are super excited about this weekend. We'll be acting as stylists for a photoshoot with talented, Portfolio Center-educated, local photographer Jamie Hopper.

A few months ago Jamie found us through this blog and asked us to help style a fashion shoot for her porfolio. Of course we jumped at the chance. Playing around with clothes? Dressing someone for fun? Having someone who knows what they're doing with a camera take photos? We're in!

Stay tuned. We'll be posting some behind-the-scenes photos followed by a post with the actual photos Jamie takes. In the meantime, check out some of her fantastic work:







See more of Jamie's photos on her website: www.jamiehopper.com.

CL

Painted Walls

tunic/dress from AA, shoes Jeffery Campbell via Free People, bag from Mingei

Cath and I wandered into Little Five Points the other day (non-locals, that's an Atlanta neighborhood that used to be a bit indie/avant garde and now is comfortably mainstream, but still a sweet place to stroll) and ran into some great graffiti.

I'm being scooped up into an AIG cup- I think those greedy execs would have been disappointed if I ended up as their bonus, but tax payers could have rested easier.

Cath is standing on a crime scene. It appears Chalk Victim was shot once in the head, and fatally wounded. Tough way to go, Chalk Man.


shoes by Seychelles via Eviva, shirt from Evolve Boutique, skirt from Asos, bag from a boutique in Kentucky, sunnies are Cassius via Moxsie.

Happy Friday, you wonderful people! Hope you have a great weekend!

LL

The Same But Different

Middle of the week workwear. 

On Cath: dress from Banana Republic, bandeau from AA, shoes are Vera Wang for Kohl's, necklace is June Shin

On Lar: oversized tee from Tarjay, skirt from AA, shoes from Jeffery Campbell via Free People, necklace from Snoozer Looser. 

LL

Three Lovely Bloggers

These beautiful bloggers below, all honored us with awards or mentions in the past few weeks, and we wanted to return the favor.

Trains and Sewing Machines is one crafty and creative lady. Check our her inspiring blog and Etsy store.


Ana B from On Dressing Up is the fashionista poster girl for New Zealand in our opinion. She wears gorgeous get-ups whilst rambling around her beautiful homeland.


Haute World is your ticket on where to go to shop and experience culture in Paris, London, Amsterdamn, Glasgow, Hamburg, Warsaw, etc. This brilliant Parisian gives you a peak into shops, exhibitions and less well-known designers around the world with delightful and thorough description of all she experiences.



Thank you, lovely ladies! You made our day!

LL

L'uomo

I found my new favorite magazine: L'uomo Vogue. Men's Italian Vogue, but it sounds so much better in Italian (like everything). Say it luu-ohh-mo. Try it. Nice, eh? I'd been eying it (okay, ogling it) for a few months on the newstand, but $15- mama mia (the italian version, not the swedish)!

But this month they got me. Front cover reads, "Richard Prince" (that's him on the cover) in big letters and "A unique journey into the artists' studios." I covertly flip through and Cindy Sherman (Cindy Sherman!!!!) has a spread in the middle. As a fashionista I too love seeing into the lives of models and designers, but I'd shove those over in a second to "visit" an artist's studio or read... hey, wait a freakin' second here... it's all in Italiano!

I'm really not that dense, but I got caught up in the moment. And during that moment, in front of the newstand, the photos satiated my voyeuristic appetite. But now I want to know more! And the entire magazine (not just the cover) teases you with its showy bilingual talents: nearly all the article titles are in English. My one semester of Italian gets me about three words in the first paragraph.

In all honesty though, I would still shell out $15 in a few more months for this magazine. For one, I can convince myself this is how I'll teach myself those other (thousands of) words in Italian. For another, the photographs are always stunning and not overly airbrushed. It makes the entire magazine a lot more powerful visually than all the other fashion magazines rolled into one.

Also, is anyone else getting tired of bandage dresses, spikes, shoulder pads, and leather in the women's fashion magazines? I feel like we've been bludgeoned over the head with those trends. Don't get me wrong, I still have a black purse I'm studding, but it isn't exactly inspirational anymore. L'uomo is a different perspective. It's not even the women's Vogue Italia. But I think there are worse things than taking a few cues from some stylish Italian men folk.

LL

Pocket/Necklace Change

So I got this beauty last week from my oh-so-awesome boyfriend. A necklace that holds quarters: practicality and beauty rolled into one- I love it! It comes from a delightful online shop called Snoozer Looser, often highlighted on the wonderful blog, Getting Beat Like You Stole Something.

I had eyed it a few weeks before and left subtle hints for my boyfriend. It went something like "{cough, cough} I want this for my birthday." Sometimes the magic works.

I apologize for the excessive posing above. I also got/bought myself a remote clicker thingy for my camera, as any serious amateur, amateur photographer should have. So I took about 50 photos of myself with the clicker and now feel like I could successfully give any narcissist a run for their money. 

You would think as a twin (living with her twin), I wouldn't need a remote shutter release. Unfortunately Cath and I hardly see each other during the week because of our separate schedules (boo) and separate boyfriends (good!). It's a good thing my face resembles hers or I would forget what she looked like. 

LL

Neon

I know this is a little bit kid-ish, but I still pick out my birthday outfits (not be confused with birthday suit- why aren't we allowed to pick those?). So this year I wore my new neon (sear- your-retinas neon) crop top from American Apparel and a black zip-up dress from H&M. I'm a big fan of the comfort of crop tops, but I'm not much for showing my belly to the world. I think it has something to do with exposing a belly-button which feels a little too Britney circa what? 2002? That said, I know things like neon and crop tops (regardless of how they are worn) are big no-nos on most people's wardrobe list. Would you wear either?

ps- Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Even if you weren't stateside for fireworks, I hope you were swamped with massive quantities of delicious food. Good times, noodle salad.

LL

The Little Black Dress, 365 Ways

Did you guys hear about this on Daily Candy today? If so, we're sorry for the repetition, but if not, do read on.

Sheena Matheiken is wearing the same dress/uniform for the rest of the year: a classic A-line, little black dress. But not only is she styling them and accessorizing her seven black dresses in a different way every day using donated or thrifted goods, she is doing it for a great cause.

Every day she donates $1 to the Akanksha Foundation, devoted to bringing education to children living in slums. One year of styling from Sheena matches the amount the Indian government spends on a child's schooling (about $360).

You can donate money to Akanksha Foundation or you can donate your own accessories and designs directly to Sheena's daily outfits. Fashionistas out there, does that not sounds like a brilliant thing to do? Cath and I hope to get in touch with her to style one of her outfits.

If you aren't the philanthropic type- just visit The Uniform Project to check out Sheena's creativity with a scarf and socks. A very creative do-gooder fashionista. Inspiration indeed.

To find out more, visit The Uniform Project site here.

Twins: A Leeettle Creepy

I stumbled onto this artist (Lessa Leva) while doing my daily design inspiration search (sitting in front of my Mac all day leads to a wee bit of boredom/procrastination).

I think if Cath and I ever wanted a Siamese portrait of ourselves, we would go with something like this. I agree that it's a little creepy, but I think Lessa Leva (and Mary Kate and Ashley) make celebrity a little more intriguing and less airbrushed. Go check out her shop. I think one of these needs to end up on my wall.

LL

AsianCajun Birthday Time!

Lar and I are turning 26 today - that's a quarter of a century plus one year. And it's that "plus one year" that makes me think I can get away with adding some photoshopped cheesiness to a photo:


Nate took this photo of us on the pier in Charleston last weekend. Lar is wearing a navy blue maxi dress from Walmart ($15!). I'm wearing a hat from Tarjay, Alternative Apparel t-shirt, Cassius sunnies and an AA skirt.

Hope you all have a happy July 1 (my favorite day of the year/Canada Day/start of the fiscal year for many businesses)!

Edit 9:10 am: Thank you for all the sweet, sweet birthday wishes! You guys make this blogging thing so much fun- thanks for making our day/years!

And the Winner is. . .

Drum roll please. . .



Congratulations Ariel! You are the lucky winner of a gorgeous June Shin necklace!


A couple of happy coincidences about this winner:
1.) She's a friend that we've actually met in person (as opposed to all our blog friends who we also love) because she lives right by us.
2.) As noted in her comment, she has the same EXACT birthday as us (day, month and year). So it is quite possible that she is our long lost triplet.

Thank you to everyone who entered. We had so much fun reading all of your dream birthdays and aren't a bit surprised that our readers are so imaginative. And don't forget, through tomorrow you can still get 10% off at June's Etsy shop if you left a comment in the original contest post.

CL

Into the Wild (2 minutes from downtown)

We made it to Charleston yesterday afternoon to hang with our dearest friend Nate.

While I decided to take a nap, Lar and Nate took a quick trip over to Nature Island. Charleston is made up of a number of islands and places called islands that aren't really islands. It's all very confusing, but beautiful. 

Lar doing a little dance under some palm frawns.

Nate at home in the wild.

Greetings from Nature Island!

More Charleston photos on the way. . . we're heading off to the beach today.

CL

Greetings from Charleston!

Cath and I are taking a long weekend up to Charleston, and we're bringing you with us! We'll both bring our mac babies and set them up on the beach and blog from under a palm tree. See you on the other side of our five hour car ride- woohoo!

Happy Friday!

xoxo,

Cath and Lar (aka The AsianCajuns)

p.s. We'll be back Sunday and post the June Shin contest winner. We've loved reading all your birthday wishes.

p.p.s. Locals, make it out to Eviva this weekend for the closing sale if you can. Cath just got a pair of Seychelles for $60, and I got a pair of Frye's (ooo lalalaaaa) for $109 (over 50% off). Go, make good.

Walk Like A Man*

New York Times

For Father's Day, Cath and I took our dad to see The Jersey Boys. I had no idea who they were. I assumed it was an old musical group from the days of yore that my dad had enjoyed. Turns out (pardon my ignorance on current popular musicals) The Jersey Boys is a musical based on the lives of a band from the days when my dad was a swinging bachelor.

Me (in a dress from Walmart- the devil, I know) and my very dapper dad.

The Four Seasons (Frankie Valli and his falsetto voice singing "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Walk like a Man," and "Oh What a Night" should ring a bell- for me it was a very distant, quiet bell- more of a tinkle), Jersey Boys was a full on biopic of all the music my mom avoided when she was a swinging bachelorette. Whilst my dad listened to Frankie Valli and Olivia Newton John, my mom dated jazz musicians and liked George Harrison.

I have to say, using my parents' musical inclinations as an indication, I'm much more my mother's daughter. That said, I would probably swoon just a little bit (okay, a lot bit) if a man sang "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You"- even in a falsetto. But then again, that would be easily trounced by "Lay Lady Lay" in any sort of voice- and neither of my parents liked Dylan. Yeah, I know.

George from Salon.com and Franki from Entertainment Weekly.

What song would make you weak-kneed if your significant other could croon?

LL

*Has there ever been a less masculine sounding song? Didn't help that the Jersey Boys did a feminine little hop while singing the song. According to my dad, the real Four Seasons would never have done that.