Its high Spring. Very high. Almost summer…The wardrobes in NYC have gone through a decided shift. People are already breaking out the shorts (something I don’t do often in NYC and if I do they are loose and at least mid-thigh), but skinny jeans feel like straight jacket. That peel your jeans off at night feeling is NOT fun. So I’ve turned to baggier stuff, some good basics and a few fun pieces thrown in. Im one of those people that can’t buy clothes in advance like we did in the 80′s… I buy it right when I need to wear it and if I don’t wear it immediately, I know I don’t like it that much. (And why do I need to buy so much stuff, last year I was 20 lbs overweight from the baby and the summer before I was pregnant.)

Last time I did a roundup I had to disclaim that I don’t actually own all this stuff. This time I want to give my personal recommendation of awesomeness on a few products. The first: Club Monaco V neck T-shirts with a pocket. They are awesome. I just bought these again(this is like my third batch) in every color. So slinky and I buy a medium so they can be a bit oversized.  The next personal recommendation is for the black All Saints Pilot pants. They look like nothing special on the computer but in person they fit so well. They don’t have a drop crotch but they do have elastic around the ankles with a zipper, and whatever material they are (I can’t figure it out, really) they just don’t look like pajamas. They look great with heels and flats. They are glorified sweatpants and they get the Sketch42 stamp of approval.

I just bought these tropical shorts and the Jamaica dress from Topshop, but I have yet to wear them so I can only tell you they are really cute, but not how well they will work. Everything else is speculation/lust. I just became aware of these Cynthia Rowley for Roxy wetsuits, and WOW are they cool. I think I need to take up surfing just so I can own one of these. Amazing.  The Lomo camera is something I want to play with, white distressed shorts are a new staple and the four finger knuckle dusters are amazing. We all need at least one crazy shoe in our wardrobes and the Charolotte Olympia walk the line between crazy and prim.

Club Monaco T shirts: $39

Lomo Camera: $109

Jamaica Dress: $72

Cynthia Rowley for Roxy Wetsuit: $195

Maison Martin Margiela Rose Gold Knuckleduster ring: $495

Distressed white shorts: $158

Sunglasses: $160

All Saints Pilot Pants: $195

TopShop Peplum Top: $48

Chloe Wedges: $945

Tropical Shorts: $120

In addition to all this, ShopBop is having a MEGA SALE! Basically the entire site is 20% off for the next 3 days, and you can use the code BIGEVENT to get the discount at checkout. HERE.

Have a great day everyone!

If you haven’t already seen this, I think its pretty interesting and funny… Apparently the subversive street artist known for tagging extremely high end fashion houses, Kidult, tagged the Marc Jacob store earlier this week… as the Marc Jacobs team cleaned up the graffiti, they snapped a photo and tweeted it, calling it “Art by Art Jacobs”.  Kidult was apparently watching them scrub the store clean and was also tweeting photos of it and I guess trying to make his presence known and claim ownership… I guess he didn’t really dig the spin that the Marc Jacobs team was putting on his supposedly subversive graffiti.

He then accused Marc Jacobs of being a capitalist “thieve” and copying him.  Then Marc Jacobs’ group released this T-shirt, which they are apparently selling at their boutique:

For $689 dollars.”$680 if its signed by the artist.” And it’s actually for sale.

I think this whole thing is hilarious and I love the T-shirt. Not $689 dollars worth of love. But still, I’ll laugh if I see anyone wearing it. It’s super badass and so clever. Lesson learned: Don’t F with Marc Jacobs.

Then this showed up on Tumblr:

Hahah… Love it.

My friend Leandra, of Man Repeller fame came to me with a little project idea… A pair of never hit production Chloe pumps crossed her path, and she had the Eureka! moment all of us crafters have had at one point at another: The “I COULD DO THAT” moment. So we had a little DIY for Duh-mmies date at my apartment and made a project!

The results are pretty stunning and their goodness is twofold: 1. They were the easiest things in the world to make and 2. They look SO LEGIT.

And no it’s not lost on me that she is wearing a pair of elegant Louboutin DIY’ed pumps and I’m in my painted Tom’s.  We are who we are. She’s one of the few friend’s I have that inspires me to wear heels to lunch. (And I gotta tell you, I think it works… Dress for who you want to be?)

Hit up Leandra’s blog to see more of the project… The inspiration, the fun with glue guns…etc… We used red leather tape from M&J, but we used the suede side.

And thats the money shot…

They are just too good. I must admit, I was skeptical about those Acne jeans when they first hit the internet and Leandra told me about them, but now I must say: MAJOR. I think I need to DIY those next.  And also, my photos look awesome, too… I wish I had the foresight to be in some!

Check out the rest of the collab HERE!

Just a little intro: Liz, my fantastic intern, is an amazing DIY’er. You saw her first project a few weeks ago, the Washi Tape art, and she is going to be sharing projects with us at Sketch42. And now, without further ado, the DIY, written and executed by Liz:

Many of us have free time with summer coming up, and what better way to spend a day with a friend than immersing yourself in a plethora of DIY projects! I myself have quite the extensive list of creative activities I’d like to attempt this summer and why not start with studding a pair of Converse sneakers?? I’ve forever wanted a pair of What Comes Around Goes Around Studded Converse Sneakers, but I just couldn’t bring myself to spend $195 on a pair of Converse kicks. So, on a leisure day with my sister, we decided to get in a dose of M&J style DIY. After a lengthy search for the specific pair of Converse I wanted to stud, we finally found success at a store called Grand Slam in midtown – I chose the AS Light Hi Top – they have a much thinner sole than the standard Converse that I find a bit sleeker. Next came M&J – with so many options, it was hard to decide, but ultimately I chose black, medium sized screw studs.

Supplies:

1 Pair Converse – any style
Multiple packs of studs (quantity depends how you would like to stud the sneakers)
1 Leather hole puncher (available for purchase @ M&J)
1 Ruler
1 Pen or marker

Step 1: Figure out the stud pattern. Though I initially wanted to stud mine similarly to the What Comes Around Goes Around version, I quickly figured out that the size of my leather hole puncher limited me to punch only up to 3 inches from the tops of the shoe, so I needed to come up with a new gameplan. I decided to make 4 straight lines of studs on the top part of the outer side of the sneaker.

Step 2: Using your ruler and marker, carefully make equidistant marks on the shoe, marking where you would like to place the studs. Being that I lacked the handy dandy assistance of a ruler, I used tape to give me a straight line edge.

Step 3: Now that you’ve delineated the exact placement of the studs, it is time to start punching. There are many different sized holes that the leather hole puncher is able to make. I recommend testing on a separate fabric to see which size hole will fit your specific studs. Once you have determined the proper size, using the leather hole puncher, start punching holes in the places you’ve marked. The studs I used were 1/2″ small spike with screw and I set my leather hole puncher on 3.5.

Step 4: Once you’ve punched all the holes, start screwing!!! No tools are necessary – simply screw in the studs through the holes and voilà, you’ve got yourself a brand new pair of kick-ass studded Converse.

There are so many different ways this project can be done. For my next pair, I am going to spraypaint silver studs in multiple neon colors and I’m going to stud the tongue of the Converse. I obviously wore my Converses that night and got so many compliments!!!

Ever since Lana del Rey came on the scene with pounds of fresh flowers on her head, floral crowns have been a thing. Then my friend Leandra, The Man Repeller, was all excited about wearing one at Coachella… And so, now I wanted one. But then I thought, DAMN IT, Coachella is over, and I didn’t go. So am I really going to wear a crown of flowers on my head for no good reason? No. But…. I know someone who would, AND COULD! Cookie! Is there anything cuter than a little girl with flowers in her hair? Of course there isn’t. I originally conceived of this post as a flower girl for a wedding post, Cookie is going to be one in my sister’s wedding in a few months, and a crown of real flowers would be insanely gorgeous. I was going to put her in a dress and take sweet photos. But then, after we made the crown, and put it on her with her regular clothes, I thought it was EVEN CUTER as a little mini-hipster, hippy girl child! She insisted on wearing it to school, and I brought my camera, so lets just say it was an interesting walk!

You need: A few yards of wire, and a yard of ribbon with rosettes attached.

The how to is very easy: Buy some wire, measure the head and twist a few strands of wire into a circle. Take the strand of rosettes, pop one of the rosettes throughout the wires and secure the edge with glue (you don’t even really need the glue), then wrap the ribbon around the wire, I chose to wrap very tightly and have the rosettes be on the inside and outside of the loop, but you could do it so that the rosettes are only on the outside of the crown. When you get to the end of the crown, take the last rosette, pop it through the wires and twist it through a few times so that it doesn’t come loose. You can add glue here too.

And now: Some gratuitous pics of Cookie modeling the crown! I have  billion cute photos from this 5 minute walk. Maybe Ill post them on my Facebook Page?

I know street style for kids exists in the form of Planet Awesome Kid, but I would love it if a serious street photographer made a blog with consistently beautiful photographs of kids being awesome! Someone do it!

And now I think I need my own flower crown too.

After seeing my Tom’s, the people at Remi & Emmy asked me to fancy up this little Paulina clutch for them… I obliged! I think it came out pretty cute, huh? The purse is a great size for running around town, and I think the splats are fun! See, now we are back to neon splatter, just needed a little break!

Have a great weekend everyone!

But then I come home, and the house is a place of cool, calm and collected non-color. There are textures, and reflections and wood tones and warm, but the only real color comes from the art I put in it, (FINALLY hung a new piece in my kitchen area! Wait till you see it up, so fab!), so the general vibe is very monochrome.

This post is a little mental break from the excess of neons, floral, pastels and color blocking with abandon. BLECH! Well, not really a full on BLECH, I like all those things, but  sometimes my mind needs a rest! (Or it could just be that I’m still hung over from my friend’s birthday party a few days ago! SHEESH!) So feast your eyes: white tones that feel like the cold of marble, curls and plastic and the feeling of sun on your face, the smell of wet paint, the way a thin cotton shirt grazes your skin, angles, pebbles, leather…

Soothing, isn’t it?

Photos: Tumblr, Artist Reena Spaulings at Sutton Lane, Le Dilema,Vogue Loves Me, An Eddie Cohen photo of one of my paintings, Tumblr, Desire to Inspire, Black and White 5 by Jim Keaton, Prabal Gurung, Tumblr

First let me get this out of the way, since a commenter asked me last time: NO, I don’t actually buy all of this stuff. Some of it I do buy, some of it I want to buy, and most of it I just post cause I think its fun. Anyway, it’s mid April. We aren’t wearing sandals or shorts yet, but its hot and fun in NYC and everyone wants a piece of the current trends: Florals, boho joyfulness, and just generally casual clothes (for daytime). I officially wear white jeans at least 4 times a week now, but I won’t post those again…(HERE – in case you want to buy), and the other days I’m wearing light denim, OR, cargos.

Anyway, my picks for this week, clockwise:

That’s a Proenza camera case. No, I don’t want it. No, Im not even going to tell you how much it costs, but its just cool. To look at. For fun. Not to buy. HERE.

Floral Denim: Why not… super trendy, but just hit the trend hard and get it out of your system already. $95

Stella Minty Avocado round frame sunglasses. Yes, I have these. I look like a fashion freak, and I love it. $225

Bag via Target, $25

Bandage top: I think this is amazingly sexy. Wear with high waisted mom jeans, or high waisted black skinnies for a Grease Lightening look. Roland Mouret $1635

Sweet little Clutch from J Crew. $98

Probably the most hideous shorts I’ve ever posted, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they look great on, hide a multiple of flaws and could be a go-to piece for summer. Isabel Marant $265

Track pants… yea, thats happening now. Alexander Wang $450

Fringed bag, ’nuff said. $198

These Acne boots… so digging em. $550

Nars Coral lipstick, I have this. Love it. $24

Leather wrap bracelet, you could DIY, but this is always super cool . Club Monaco $29

And that wing ring- so cute. Rachel Roy $38

What trends are you guys loving/hating this Spring?

This Spring is apparently all about the execution and finalization of the trends we saw budding last spring… The chickens are coming home to roost. Anyway, last spring I was OBSESSED with the Proenza Schouler necklace above, and equally obsessed with the creations of Holst + Lee:

I even modeled one the day I visited Cut 25! Of course I thought I could, should and would make one of these myself. But it wasn’t until I happened upon the perfect tubular necklace at H&M that I decided to follow through. Sometimes its all about waiting for the right supplies to find you.

Anyway, I made a super simplified version of the above, and now Im thinking perhaps I should jazz mine up with nuts and bolts and more layers…

Here we go:

The basic premise is that you are doing the “Chinese Staircase” stitch around the tube. Do that by first looping a large piece of string around the top of the necklace. That allows you to work with a double strand of floss. In this case, the tube is acting like the second strand, if you were just doing the stitch normally. You put the thread over and around the tube and pull through the loop.

Keep Repeating until you are satisfied with how thick the color is. Then you can bring in other colors by just layering it on top of the thread from the first color. You can bring back old colors by just taking them out of the pile of threads and using it to loop around again.

And there you go! Mine is just OK compared to the original, but it gets the job done for now… I think I may need to add one hundred more of these to get the job done right!

Of course, you can also buy Holst + Lee HERE.

Have a great day everyone, I will, cause it’s my birthday, and I’ve decided to not be a moron about it this year! Have a good one!

Oh! Additionally, I added some new and unsold paintings to my gallery HERE- check them out, and email sketch42blog@gmail.com with inquiries.