Following up on yesterday’s post on sparkling holiday attire is a round-up of ornate necklaces that can instantly make any outfit fit for a party. Click or scroll below to see the local selection of beaded bibs and dramatic chain necklaces from Peridot in Cooper-Young, CrazyBeautiful and The Attic in Overton Square, and Muse downtown.
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For the occasions that calls for a bit of festive wear, these pieces sparkle and shimmer with sophistication. Here are a few items from local shops such as CrazyBeautiful, Peridot, and Addison/Langford Market that appeal to a variety of different body types and styles.
From embellished skirts to dresses to a daring jumpsuit, scroll through to find your favorite.
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I’m counting down the hours till I can slip into something more comfortable. Even more so if my weekend meant lounging in this silk kimono by Johnny Was. The kimono is available in various combinations of patterns at Muse in downtown Memphis.
Hope you have a lovely weekend.
Fans of The Ivory Closet in Harbor Town might already know that its brother store The Cedar Room is up and running — they are right next door to each other, after all. Owner Alexandra Nicole took advantage of the available retail space and opened up the men’s store at the beginning of the summer.
The Cedar Room boasts a collection of quality men’s basics such as dress shirts, t-shirts, jeans, bow ties, shoes, and even socks. True to its name, the store is built with a room walled with cedar. The image and smell of cedar speaks to the care in their clothes, but for Alexandra it also references to her grandfather’s love for cigars. In honor of him, she made sure cigars are stocked there as a staple and signature part of The Cedar Room.
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They currently have new fall items in, and, ladies, if you are there today, step over to the Ivory Closet for their special 2nd birthday sale.
The Cedar Room
107 Harbor Town Square
Memphis, TN 38103
901-527-9538
Open Monday – Friday 11am – 7pm, Saturday 10am-6pm, Sunday 12pm – 5pm
Among the participating mobile retail trucks at the last MEMFix in the Edge District was Body Decor Boutique, a women’s clothing and accessories boutique founded by designer and stylist Tara Seals. Bold colors and patterns beamed from inside the mobile truck along with Tara’s welcoming smile. Many of the clutches and jewelry were designed and hand-made by Tara. Earrings were crocheted for texture or took on spectacular lengths when cut from leather. The variety of designs were impressive.
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Though her boutique does much of its business online, Tara enjoys interacting with her clients and customers. Events like MEMFix allow her to take her art to the streets. With the truck, she’s able to travel to trunk shows, private parties, fashion shows, and various events around the country.
Tara offers one-on-one styling consultations, helping customers find the “body decor” that will help them “love the skin they are in.” With this service plus unique and affordable products, it’s not a surprise she was the winner of the Emerging Designer Buyer’s Choice Award at the Atlanta market where her business began.
Today, Tara is a member of the Memphis Arts Collective and Junior League, where she volunteers. Her custom pieces can be found in some local stores such as Social Memphis, Diane’s Gifts, and Maggie’s Pharm. As part of Memphis Arts Collective, Tara will also participate in their Holiday Market from November 28th to December 23rd at 1501 Union Avenue. Until then, you can book her mobile boutique for your own private party.
At the latest MEMFix, the Edge in partnership with Livable Memphis and the Mayor’s Innovation Delivery Team welcomed Memphians and tourists alike to experience the potential of a fully active district. The visionary event just amped up the already existing qualities unique to this area. Artists, designers, chefs, musicians, and dancers energized the spaces, making the passion for each craft very tangible.
The street style was represented by a fun, casual style suitable to the street festival atmosphere. Sneakers, boots, plaid, polka dots, and an overall ease — clothes made for dancing.
And channeling the iconic “Dancing Lady” sign in the Edge District was Ellen Roberds of Livable Memphis, also that day’s ambassador of fun.
Ellen Roberds of Livable Memphis as the Edge’s iconic ‘Dancing Lady’
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Cristina wears a knit stone necklace from her jewelry collection Lyuli
More from the Lyuli jewelry collection
Stylish team spirit – Bama fan Jennifer rocks the houndstooth and crimson with glamour.
Newcomers and annual attendees of the Curb Coutour Trashion Show shared the same eagerness as they awaited what outrageous fashion the runway had in store this year. Some had the audience guessing what material was used, and others wittily incorporated obvious curbside trash.
Watching how beautifully that shipping paper swayed with every step or admiring the pattern of the toilet paper rolls (with the toilet paper remnants adding to the pattern) or wishing to wear that bird seed bag dress pointed to the underlying purpose of such an event – seeing trash in a whole new perspective.
Here are some of the highlights including Best of Show winners from this year’s Curb Couture Trashion show at Overton Square Garage. A comprehensive look at all the runway participants are in the slideshow below.
Best of Show Winners
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Last year, against a backdrop of loading docks in the industrial portion of Broad Avenue, the ordinary became extraordinary as plastic bags, old furniture, and even potato sacks were transformed into completely wearable garments and accessories. Winning Curb Couture Trashion Show‘s Best of Show prize was a dramatic gown weaved from dry cleaning bags and blue newspaper sleeves by Bruce Bui, costume designer for Ballet Memphis.
“The work was outrageously creative,” says Eldra Tarpley White, executive director of Memphis City Beautiful, which puts on the Curb Couture Trashion Show. The show, being held Sunday at the Overton Square parking garage, is a fund-raiser to benefit beautification projects around the community and raise awareness about waste reduction.
Bruce has been invited back to participate in the “Green Finale,” along with Ballet Memphis, New Ballet Ensemble, Opera Memphis, and Theatre Memphis. The Green Finale — everything is green — is new this year and is sure to be a theatrical display.
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Now in its third year, the Curb Couture Trashion Show exposes beauty in the ordinary — coffee filters, plastic bottles, and various other ordinary materials you’d expect to see by the curb. Over 40 designers will be showing their wearable works of art this Sunday.
Projects like Curb Couture help designers like Bruce experiment. “I’m drawn to work where there is heightened meaning,” he says about creating one-of-a-kind pieces.
After months of gathering plastic milk and green soda bottles for this year’s show, Bruce has painstakingly hand cut the bottles into hundreds of circles. “Oversized sequins,” he says. His approach is to reinterpret the material as something unrecognizable from its original form.
“They’ll catch the light beautifully,” he says while his friend and acting colleague Savannah Bearden shows off the nearly completed gown during a fitting. After three weeks of work, the gown just needs a few more additions of leftover plastic to add volume and texture to the almost 3-foot train. For Savannah, this dress continues to confirm Bruce’s skill in creating what she describes as “timeless yet funky” designs.
For contest judging, garments receive points on first impression/the “wow factor,” creativity/originality, quality of workmanship, and the use of materials. Both Bruce and Eldra agree that the true excitement in the show is just seeing how far the designers have stretched their imagination.
“I really have no idea what anyone else is working on, so I’m looking forward to finding out and seeing the creativity,” says Bruce.
Curb Couture Trashion Show, Sunday, September 28th at Overton Square Garage, First level.
6-8 pm with a silent auction starting at 5:30pm
Food and drinks are included.
Event tickets are $50 each and are available by calling the Memphis City Beautiful office at 522-1135, online, or at the event.
Buy online tickets here. Available until the day of the event.
On Facebook Event Link https://www.facebook.com/events/837690489608596/?ref=22
This past Saturday the Cooper-Young Festival drew in another huge crowd as diverse and unique as the year before. Together with the mild weather, the outdoor festival gave people a chance to bring out some stylish fall gear — jackets, boots, cardigans, scarves, and hats.
Sweater weather, indeed, but in this hip area, leather weather is much more accurate.
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20twelve opened its doors just last month in the Broad Avenue Arts District, an area that reminded owner Chantal Johnson of New York City’s meat packing district, which has been polished into an epicenter of fashion and culture.
“This area of town is so raw, full of self-starters,” Chantal says.
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“I wanted to take this nugget of Memphis and make it high-end and modern,” says Chantal. “I love that we’re already being called Barneys on Broad.”
The name 20twelve signifies the year that her idea of a high-end lifestyle store conceptualized, and from the beginning, she had intended to bring a piece of New York City to Memphis. The boutique’s aesthetic is a “cross between Louis Vuitton and Tom Ford” to properly showcase designer names not heard of in Memphis. Many of the emerging designers are in America and out of Europe. Getting them signed on for the 20twelve concept proved to be less of a challenge than Chantal expected.
Working with the Doneger Group to procure designers, Chantal found that the one major factor that helped enlist these designers, particularly international ones, was location. “’Memphis is the center of the country,’ they would say,” she explains. “They were so excited to hear my story and excited that their designs would be accessible to many major cities — St. Louis, New Orleans, Atlanta.”
As a lifestyle store, 20twelve carries clothing and accessories as well as home décor and furniture. Chantal, a graduate of the University of Memphis interior design program and admirer of designer Tom Ford who himself crossed over from architecture into fashion, discovered the empty storefront on Broad while looking for storage space for an interior design project.
She and her husband Jeff purchased the space knowing it was almost in disrepair and that ownership would allow them to transform the space however they wanted. With ample square footage beyond the storage space she needed, the building underwent a huge renovation to become a jewel box showcasing both her passions of fashion and design.
Chantal teamed up with local designers Graham Reese for the interior design and Ben Fant of Farmhouse Marketing for marketing and branding. Her personal design vision is clear, though, in the overall design and in the details, as she points to the dramatic Tom Dixon light pendants hanging by one of the many sets of mirrors. The sparkling interior bounces light from wall to floor to ceiling.
Other bold design elements include two large screens that show runway shows. Currently, Giambattista Valli, Ter et Bantine, Zero + Maria Cornejo, and behind-the-scenes make-up for fall 2014 shows in Paris are in the loop.
Between these two screens, a chandelier of seed-shaped glass lights by OCHRE are stationed above a long table that Chantal explains might become an afterhours dinner table. Though this idea is still forming, a catering kitchen built in the back of the space is ready for these future intimate dinner parties. As a way to connect with her customers and for Memphians to connect, Chantal hopes to inject as much activity and positivity into Broad Avenue as possible.
See more of the interiors and items they carry in the slideshow below.
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On Chantal
Blumarine silk shirt and 3×1 pony boy denim jeans both available at 20twelve
Brands They Carry
Ter Et Bantine,Hache, M. Patmos , Aeron, Stills, Plein Sud, Thakoon Addition, O2nd, Each x Other, Co, Zero+Maria Cornejo, Nili Lotan, 3×1 denim, Mother denim, Koral denim , Skin, Majestic Paris, Use Unused,Perrin Paris, Giambattista Valli, Carven, Cedric Charlier, Philosophy by Alberta Ferretti, Tom Dixon, Ochre, Jonathan Adler, Antica Farmicista, Pop Up Paris, Reece Hudson, Kelly Wearstler, Assouline, Tenues, MOMA. Brevity-the cuhttps://twitter.com/20twelveDesignstom Memphis necklace.
20twelve
2531 Broad Ave
Open Tuesday to Friday, 11am — 6pm. Saturday, 10am to 4pm.
20twelvedesign.com
www.facebook.com/20TwelveDesign
twitter.com/20twelveDesign