Since we’ve been so excited about Paisley lately, today we rounded up the best of the best in Paisley décor on Pinterest. We think Paisley can look just as great on a throw pillow or a wall as it does on a dress. Should you want to venture beyond-the-blouse and do a little decorating of your own, we have a few quick tips. While multi-hued, complex Paislies can look great on a top, they can be overpowering in the home. To help avoid this, ground colorful Paislies with white. If you love color, stick to one color family at a time when choosing Paislies for interiors. Or for a more crisp and preppy look, hunt for Paislies that mix a pop color with white or ivory.
Some great examples from our favorite oh-so-addictive image pinning site, Pinterest, below. (Psst…we have our own Pinterest now too!)
Clockwise from top left: // wallpaper // wall stencil // chair // bedding // melamine platter // wastebasket //
It’s no secret around here that we LOVE paisley. Traditionally an Indian or Persian motif, it has been around for centuries, eventually making its way through trade routes to the weaving town of… Paisley, Scotland, its namesake. In the early 1800s the mills in Paisley were the foremost producers of shawls bearing this teardrop, or mango shaped motif. In the 1960’s, Paisley again had a surge in popularity, and became even more fashionable after The Beatles returned from their pilgrimage to India. It’s quite a storied little print, but we love it most because it’s so versatile. It can look light and whimsical, (like our paisley-floral mix tunic below) or proper and traditional, like many men’s tie Paislies.
If you like this Paisley popover, we have several more styles of Paisley prints, in tops, crops, and light summer sweaters.
Two of our favorite colors this Summer are Orangeade and Pink Flambe. Put them together, and it’s an instant party!
They’re bright, cheerful, feminine and fun. And as a duo, they make a great color story for any party planning or entertaining you may be doing this summer. Just look at some of the beautiful examples I found…
//1 & 2//
Clockwise from top left // 1&2, 3, 4 //
// 1, 2, 3 //
Pairing two colors like these is a really easy way to make your next dinner or shower or bbq feel both modern and pulled-together, without getting too matchy-matchy. We’ve found some entertaining supplies and accessories in our favorite summer hues, below, to get you started…
placemat, napkins and tray set // lantern strings // travel backgammon // candy buffet (you can built your own- in any colors you like!) // our cabochon earrings // party straws
Earlier this week I posted this photo to my ‘LIKES’ list from Cape Cod Collegiate’s great Tumblr:
And I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s beautiful! I just love those bits of color. I want to sit under a big bright beach umbrella and munch on this while I dig into a new summer novel. So I tracked it down! And it sounds even better than I had imagined. Thankfully, it’s a simple recipe and just needs four things:
1) Yellow cake mix
2) Sprinkles
3) Popcorn (no butter, no salt)
4) White chocolate
You just melt your chocolate, add some cake mix, toss with the popcorn, and add some rainbow sprinkles. Ta-da! The Tasty Kitchen Blog has a great tutorial here if you want to give it a try. Apparently it tastes like birthday cake!! An awesome summer snack!
Finished product photo by Jenna, at the Tasty Kitchen Blog.
Ingredient image credits: 1, 2, 3, 4
Ah, the nautical stripe. It’s crisp and fresh and looks as good with rolled up jeans as it does under a tailored jacket. But I ran into one of our designers, Lauren, the other day and she had just taken stripes to a whole new level! Stripes on Stripes! Even the shoes were big wide stripes! I loved it and begged her to let me take a snap for the blog. A little about Lauren and her super-stripe styling ability, below…
Can you tell me a little about this look?
Well, the seersucker pants were a recent purchase from my trip to Baltimore with my mom. You caught me on my first day back, so by wearing them, I’d like to think I was bringing a little breeze from the Inner Harbor to the office that day.
So why stripes on stripes? Do you like mixing prints and patterns?
I have a strong fine arts background and it influnces how I get dressed in the morning. I love the work of Roy Lichtenstein and subconsciously I think that played into my ‘stripes on stripes’ choice that day!
I’m a huge proponent of mixing prints and patterns because it’s an easy way to breathe new life into clothes/trends that have grown tired.
Tell us a little bit about what you do? How did you get interested in it?
I design Talbots’ seasonal belt line (ed: i like this one!) in addition to assisting the senior handbag designer with our handbags program. I love what I do because it allows me to engage in the spirit of “making” something everyday.
I pursued accessory design because it merged my fine arts background with my affinity for fashion. I approach every design season with the thought that hopefully I’ll be working on something that will (fingers crossed!) be special to someone else.
What’s inspiring you at the moment?
This past weekend I paid a visit to the Brooklyn Museum to see the Keith Haring exhibit. It was fasntastic! But even more fantastic was the mid-century furniture that was found in the “visible storage” area. There you can see museum aquisitions that are not in rotation. It’s like Night at the Museum but without that ancient curse stuff!
I’ve long been a champion of the bright lip. In fact, a lot of us here at the office share that affection. When we started putting together Spring 12, we even tacked this image up on the wall as color inspiration (that’s Lindsey Wixon in Vogue).
But it can be difficult to find a product you really love in such a bright shade, so I asked some of our most stylish staffers what their absolute favorite ‘bright lip’ product is. And they rose to the challenge beautifully. Here, the results:
Wing: MAC Lipstick- So Chaud
Sally (& Me!): Lip Ink Smearproof Liquid Lipcolor- Hot Pink or Fire Red
Melissa: Lime Crime Opaque Lipstick- Retro Futurist
Kate: Milani- Fuscia Freeze with Lancome La Laque Fever- Electric Pink on top
