We stumbled across Cathie Hong’s etsy shop Ampersandity, and fell in love with her calligraphy. Her hand-lettering is crafty, elegant and classic. We think her calligraphy adds that special touch to any thank you card, thinking of you note, holiday card and really anything she writes on for that matter. Her blog and Pinterest (recently named one of the most powerful pinners in the world!) has some of the most beautiful photos to look at too. I guess you can say we are definitely digging Cathie’s style!

Now that it is officially fall, many of us will be pulling out our good ole’ cords! Over the years, corduroys have come and gone and come back again as fashion favorites. This fall, they are definitely on trend.  We created our Angelina Cigarette Corduroy in Passion Flower with the perfect amount of stretch to fit perfectly on any shape or size.  Our design team chose to create the cords in a deep purple adding a warmth and a richness that will pop against the corduroy’s texture.  Not only is deep purple a great alternative to the usual neutral colors,  it also adds a little edge.  Here are a few images that inspired the beautiful color, and don’t forget to take a look at our color inspiration board on Pinterest here. Happy Fall!

We finally had the chance to take a look back at more of the amazing lines from New York Fashion Week, and Duro Olowu’s line is another complete stand out. Duro Olowu has been mixing colors and prints long before prints became cool again and his distinct style and language sticks to that – no matter what other trends he might address. We love when Style.com wrote, “Seriously: There is no earthly reason why a trim jacket made with contrasting pieces of toile de Jouy should work, but…Olowu makes the look convincing.” And, it’s true – he makes it work every time.

We are on the road! This week, we are in New York for Fashion Coterie at the Javits Center. If you stop by, we are on Level 3 Booth #7815. Here’s a sneak peek at some of our new patterned coated denim and new styles! What do you think of them?

Stumbled across this photo of people overlooking the city of Chicago on the 103rd floor of a building. It almost looks like they are floating in the air!

Blue is almost synonymous with denim. And for our Alice Skinny in Nostalgia, we wanted to do something different with the color. It’s not your typical blue jean denim – it’s a blue grey that reminds us of a vintage blue that is a little ‘greyed out,’ and more muted unlike the many bright modern representations of the color. Designer Jennifer Wojinski said the blue we used for Nostalgia “gave her a calming feeling, unlike how most people associate it with ‘having the blues,’ and reminded her of happy times in the past; therefore the name ‘Nostalgia’.”

Like all of our washes and styles, our Alice Skinny in Nostalgia is inspired by a mood board and below are a few images that are included on the board. Take a look at our Pinterest Color Inspiration: Blue board for more of an inside look and when you put on your Alice Skinny’s in Nostalgia, remember all the happy times.

Where to find your own pair:

SCOOP NYC SOHO
473 – 475 Broadway
(Between Broome and Grand Streets)
New York, NY 10013

Simple reminders. Have a great weekend, all!

Designed by Katie Canada.

There are so many lines we are drooling over from New York Fashion Week, but Proenza Schouler’s the first stand out. The Proenza Schouler boys, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, have taken patchwork to a new level. The sophisticated patchwork leather and the boxy jacket silhouettes are just exquisite. We are obsessed with their use of varied greens (from soft bright acid yellow, green python, minty aquas) and of course our favorite red and black color combination.

Where did they get their new inspiration from? Style.com reports that with fashion now being in the digital age, McCollough and Hernandez has used Tumblr as their use of inspiration (we do that too!). And with the opening of their first ever store last week on Madison Avenue and the reveal of their Spring 2013 RTW collection, we are applauding Proenza Schouler on a job well-done.

In Beirut, Lebanon, there is a group of designers and artists, called Dihzahyners, that are dedicated to making their streets brighter and more beautiful with the use of color – literally. The initiative is called “Paint Up” and they color the city step by step. The design above of 73 Steps took 7 hours and a dozen designers. We can’t get enough of the vibrants steps that add such a burst of liveliness to the city.

We absolutely adore Portland painter and illustrator Betsy Walton’s work because it reminds us of modern visual fairy tales with her amazing color palettes.  In her work, you’ll notice how her style is influenced by Byzantine icon paintings, American folk art, geometric abstraction, and other contemporary artists.  We especially love seeing these inspirations so vividly in her “Snowmelt” piece. Her spontaneous approach to her work is admirable, while she creates the images during the painting process (not after any sketches!) and she never knows what the specific results will be. We can’t wait until Betsy has her Etsy shop up and running again (she’s on hiatus as she just had twins!) to get our hands on some of her work.