Posts Tagged ‘fashion’

Planning and style: An interview with Lani

Posted July 30, 2010 by
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Lani Rosenstock Inlander is a professional style consultant and occasional guest blogger. Here, she talks about how she got started, what inspires her, and tips for summer dressing.

Please introduce yourself! Where are you from, where do you live, and what do you do for a living?

My name is Lani Rosenstock Inlander. I am the owner and chief stylist of Real Life Style, a style consulting firm in NY and DC.

How did you get interested in fashion?

The best I’ve ever been able to explain it is that I suddenly started reading fashion magazines incessantly in the 8th grade. I would memorize all of the designers’ lines to the point where if you opened up a page in Vogue I could tell you who designed the outfit.

What inspires you these days?

I would say travel is a big inspiration for me. I’m going to Argentina in October and I can’t wait to see the style in Buenos Aires. I’m told the leather goods are amazing and there are a ton of adorable boutiques just waiting to be discovered.

Any tips for looking good in the wilting heat of summer?

It is all about a dress and a stylish, comfortable sandal. Lipstick and mascara help too. Who can tell that the rest of your face has melted off if you have a long-wearing lipstick and waterproof mascara on?

I understand you use a Daily Pocket Diary to keep track of your schedule… Can you tell us how you use it? Do you write down lists and ideas or just record your appointments?

I am obsessed with my Daily Pocket Diary! I use the monthly planner in the front to keep track of which days I’m in NY or DC so that I can schedule with clients most efficiently. My schedule changes almost hourly so a paper diary and a sharp pencil (with an eraser!) are essential for me. I also use the daily pages for my to do list that day.

What other creative outlets do you have, aside from fashion?

I don’t sew but I like to make jewelry for myself and my clients.

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Susan and the sitar

Posted September 17, 2009 by
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Fashion Week’s back in New York, which means I got to check in with Susan Cianciolo, an eco-friendly artist and designer whose shows we’ve sponsored once before. (This time, each guest got an Equology planner.)

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As before, the “show” was just a presentation in a big loft in SoHo, with live sitar music and flowers strewn across the floor. The designs were light and ethereal, and I absolutely fell in love with the artistry of this hand-painted, multi-tiered dress…

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Click through to see some pictures taken by Susan’s team of attendees examining their planners…

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Spring styles

Posted April 7, 2009 by
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Lani Rosenstock is a New York based style consultant whose philosophy is that fashion is about being confident in your own unique look. Here, she’s back with some advice about spring trends—and how a couple new pieces can help refresh what you already own.

Everyone is watching their wallets these days, shopping more out of necessity and less for entertainment. Even if you have a closet full of clothes, most women want just a few new things each season to make them feel as if their old wardrobe is new again.

I’m here to tell you which items will refresh your Spring wardrobe without looking oh so last season, next season. Some are things everyone should already have in their wardrobe as a basic and some are fun and trendy.

1. The Trenchcoat – Go all out here. This is something you’ll have for years, so spend the most that you can. If your coat is fabulous enough, it won’t even matter that you have last season’s clothes underneath!

2. The Nude Pump – Nothing, and I mean nothing, will make your legs look as long and lean as a nude pump. Go with the highest heel you can manage or try a wedge or platform style for easier height.

3. The Slouch Bag – Aren’t we all sick of super-heavy bags with lots of hardware? Find something in the thinnest of leathers that will still fit everything but the kitchen sink, without feeling as if you are carrying around the kitchen sink.

4. The Big Necklace – This trend has been gaining momentum for a few years and has now reached critical mass. Another easy way to make last year’s outfit new again.

5. A Touch of Python – An easy seasonal update, plain or in color, a high heel, flat or a clutch, it’s your choice. One thing I know, it won’t be hard to find!

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Fashion and ecology: an interview with Susan Cianciolo

Posted March 23, 2009 by
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susanciancioloSusan Cianciolo is an artist and designer–and a fan of Quo Vadis planners–who treated us to a night of eco-friendly fashion a couple of weeks ago. I caught up with her via email to learn more about her work…

I understand you’ve been working with recycled, organic, and eco-friendly fabrics since 1995. What prompted you to seek these materials out—ecological principle or simply aesthetics?
I seek out these types of fabric because it was what I found and what was available, damaged materials I could make special with silk screening and natural overdyes, also going into the woods and finding materials that we untreated and turning them into prints by hammering onto organic fabric that was always very simple and fun to make it your own, as well as using yarn and wools from local mills and farms in New England where I am from.

Does each piece of fabric inspire its own design, or do you first come up with a design and then look for fabrics that will help you realize it?
Both the fabric and the sketch come at the same time, i have just now begun next season and i am sketching my ideas from recent inspiration, and i have already received organic hand dyed hand woven fabric from japan -kyoto from hinaya who i collaborated with this season and the last six years, so inspired by them is happening while being inspired by new ideas for shapes and patterns, forms and conceptual development.

It was great to see your drawings at the fashion show last month. Do your drawings often translate into actual items of clothing, or do you see them as a separate endeavor?
Yes, my drawings are the first step, for all aspects that follow, meaning the clothes and the set design.

What materials do you use to sketch?
I use recycled paper to sketch my drawings.

Any particular kind?
Whatever I have in my house: blank pages from old notebooks, blank pages in books, the backs of old documents, etc.

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A night of eco-friendly fashion

Posted February 16, 2009 by
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I can’t say I usually pay much attention to New York’s Fashion Week, but last night I had the pleasure of attending my very first show, for eco-friendly artist and designer Susan Cianciolo. It seems Susan is a fan of our own eco-friendly planners, so Karen agreed to donate a bunch of Notors for the goody bags, and I got to go to the show.

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It was held in a big, lofty gallery-type space downtown, and the models simply walked around in circles in one corner while the rest of us stood, looked on, and chatted. They weren’t all sixteen, six feet tall, and praying-mantis skinny, either; I was happy to observe some real women in the bunch. Susan’s sketches hung on the walls, but it was crowded, so I couldn’t get a very good look at them.

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The clothes were cool–very colorful, with lots of different fabrics and textures, and sort of hippy-ish. I gather Susan works mostly with recycled and organic materials, which means it’s probably hard for her to make stuff on a large scale… though I did notice there were some t-shirts available on her website. I tried to take pictures, but the best way to see the designs is probably to check out her look book (which appears to have been shot in a much warmer, sunnier place than New York is these days).

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The Daily Pocket Diary

Posted October 27, 2008 by
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Lani Rosenstock is a New York based style consultant whose philosophy is that fashion is about being confident in your own unique look. Today, she reviews a few of her favorite Quo Vadis planners.

As a Style Consultant and small business owner with a schedule that changes as quickly as she walks the streets of Manhattan everyday, my planner is my lifeblood. I need something practical yet stylish enough to pull out in front of clients who rely on my taste level and personal shopping abilities. It also has to be in a fabulous color.

At first glance, the Business Weekly Planner and the Daily Pocket Diary both fit my needs. They have an extraordinary Aqua Blue club cover with a contrasting saddle stitch, are light enough to carry around, and are refillable. I make use of my planners not just for appointments but also to write in my endless to do lists. Some days the “to-dos” get done on the day they are listed. On the days that they don’t, I have to remember to go back in my planner.

The Business Weekly planner not only enables me to see all of my appointments for a given week in one glance, but it’s separate sections on the right-hand side of the page have specific categories for my “to-dos”: phone, fax, email, see-do, and notes. With this multi-tasking planner, my “to do” lists can be done by week, not by day, eliminating the need to remember to look back in my planner for unfinished items. And since I never go anywhere without my planner, it is nice that its trim size (not even a half inch high, 4″x6″ around) guarantees that it will fit into the slimmest purse.

The Daily Pocket Diary, with its smooth ivory paper and big, open, lined pages, presents a clean and clear place for my lists and appointments. Its small measurements (3 1/2” x 5 1/8” around) contradict its one inch thickness, making its inclusion into an evening clutch difficult. It is also absent the Canadian and World Time-zone maps included in the Business Weekly planner I am considering, although it does have one for the US. Outweighing these negatives is the monthly calendar at the beginning of the book, which I have had in previous planners, and have come to rely on. The most important thing: I am inexplicably drawn to this one. I love the weight and thickness of it in my hand, the feel and color of the paper. In short, it is exactly how my clients want me to dress them, practical but always stylish with that extra something. I think I’ve made my decision.

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Fall’s fashion quandary

Posted September 26, 2008 by
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Lani Rosenstock is a New York based style consultant whose philosophy is that fashion is about being confident in your own unique look. Today, she’s back with a trend report on fall styles.

Who do you want to be this season? Huntress, Bohemian Goddess or Sexy Secretary? No recent season has offered us so many characters to play at once. I don’t suggest choosing more than one of these for work or your boss may suspect multiple personality disorder. But feel free to don a feminine blouse and pencil skirt to play the Sexy Secretary by day and a Boho dress after dark to bring out your inner Bohemian. Feeling brave? A Huntress would put a feather in your cap, literally, and swirl around in a plaid cape or menswear inspired vest. All this costumery too much for you? You’ll be happy to know that another look of the season is Minimalism.

Accessories offer another outlet for creativity this season. The most important footwear trend is the bootie. I love it in grey suede, which will let you hit another trend of the season, grey shoes. Last season’s big necklaces have only gotten bigger. If this trend is well, too big for you, create a long and lean tough girl look with a variety of layered chains around your neck. Not one for necklaces? Embrace the costume jewelry trend with a large cuff.

Our style, like our lives, should be constant but always changing. We all have a core style but we should be looking for ways to update and refresh that style each season. I’m hoping that these resources will help you to do just that!

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Springing into fashion

Posted April 15, 2008 by
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Lani Rosenstock is a New York based style consultant whose philosophy is that fashion is about being confident in your own unique look. In that spirit, we figured it’d be fun to get her perspective about planning a spring wardrobe: what’s out there, and what works for you?

“Fashion trends exist to keep us excited about getting dressed every morning and feeling good about ourselves. We all feel excited when we get a new piece of clothing that we think will express our personality or our mood.

This season there are so many contrasting trends, there is something for everyone. Clothes are moving closer to the body again and waists are back to the waist. No more babydoll look! Every decade is referenced this season. There’s neon from the 80′s, hippie chic from the 70′s and shirtdresses from the 50′s.

Some other major trends of the season are Color, Safari and Nautical looks as well as Floral prints. How do you pick which trends to follow, wear some of these looks to work, or know which of these trends are right for you?

Does it make you excited? Is this a color story that works for you? If you don’t look good in brights like hot pink and electric blue, what about tropical colors like turquoise and lemon yellow? Too much for you? Neutrals are in too. And if none of this sounds good, you can always go back to tried and true black and white.

My favorite safari look is this dress by Diane Von Furstenberg. Why not wear it under a black jacket and a peep-toe pump to your day job? Take off the jacket and add metallic sandals for a date after work? If prints aren’t your thing, express your inner tribal spirit with wooden bangles or a tiger’s eye ring.

The Nautical look can be anything with a navy, white and red theme. You can embrace the nautical stripe or mix a navy top with a khaki pencil skirt and red flats.

The floral prints of today are not the same of yesteryear. Witness this in the modern collection from Nicolas Ghesquière for Balenciaga. If large florals are too much, go for the smaller liberty print floral in a bikini.

You don’t have to buy a new wardrobe each season in order to follow the trends. You can simply use what is already in your closet and purchase a few new pieces. Fashion trends are not about changing your style completely each season, they’re about adopting fresh ideas into the style that is already yours.”

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