Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Redecorating the Reif Haus



There's been a lot of transition and change in my life lately, most recently regarding my living situation. Right now I live in a house with four other housemates, three of which are moving out in the next couple of months for various reasons, such as going to grad school, pursuing life in the big city, and moving in with a significant other. I'm sad about loosing these housemates and friends, because this is by far the best communal living situation I've had in Portland, but I'm excited for the change and transition its bringing to my own life as well. I've got some rad new roomies lined up to move in, and I am also downsizing to a smaller room in the house, so to offset the cost of the new work studio I'll be moving into next week (so excited about that). Its going to be such a relief to finally be able to separate my home from my work. Maybe I'll come home and actually READ A BOOK or something, instead of having my work in front of me all the time and feeling guilty about all the things I SHOULD be doing. Guilt is probably the only thing I learned in college - you should always be working on something or reading ahead instead of enjoying yourself.

I took some time out last week to redecorate my living room, which after the departure of one of my housemates, was left with nothing but a rug and a bike pump. So depressing. I've been spending too much time in my room and not enough in my living room, and with the new smaller room I hope that will change. Now I feel good about the space and I actually sit in the living room and do computing, rather than hiding upstairs.

I found some really cool decorating items at thrift stores this week. In fact, it was probably the biggest thrifting score I've had in a long time. Ah, retail therapy! I found this cool stained glass pyramid thing, and this myrtle wood bowl and white ceramic twigs.



I also found science beakers, a wooden shoe form, and these cool hot pads (at least thats what i intend to use them for. I also bought my first ever living room furniture - a Barcelona chair and ottoman that I scored at a rad deal from a friend.








Most of the other decor I already had - the air plants, old photographs and wall hangings. I'm so excited to actually use the space, and am looking forward to the distraction of redecorating my new bedroom and studio. I'll post photos. If you thought that fashion blogs were distracting, try decorating blogs. I've been pouring over them for the past week looking for ideas.



Soft Metals



A couple of weeks ago Patricia Hall from the Portland-based electronic duo Soft Metals asked me to help out with wardrobe styling for a promotional photoshoot. I have seen Soft Metals play several times and I knew that some of the pieces I made for the Mercury show would look really great on Patricia and fit well with their music. I haven't made any menswear in a while, however, so for Ian's wardrobe I just went over to his house and went through his closet. It turned out super well, if I do say so myself!

The photography was done by Jamen Lee, whose work I was introduced to for the first time right before the shoot took place. I was super impressed with his work! I love some of the double exposure stuff he does. He did this shoot all in analog, with some black and white and some color film.

I used some of the custom jewelry made by Emily Baker in the shoot as well. We went to several locations around Cathedral Park in Portland, underneath the Saint Johns Bridge, which I must say is my favorite out of all of the twelve bridges in the city.

It was a pleasure to work with all of them, and I hope to do it again soon! I'm talking with Soft Metals about making some custom garb for them to perform in. Speaking of performing, if you're in Portland, check them out on June 11th at Mississippi Studios!





Open Season Video



I found this video from the fashion show. I was hoping that someone had gotten footage, because I didn't get to see the show at all because I was frantically running around.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Open Season Fashion Show

Hey friends!

The fashion show on Friday was a success, and I've been enjoying some free time and much needed rest this week. I just got some photos back from the show - so exciting! Thanks to all the lovely ladies who modeled for me and to Clarity and Anna for helping me out backstage. Everyone looked great, and the only thing that went wrong was a strap popped off of one the dresses, but Nicki worked it anyways. Also thanks to the amazing Emily Baker of Sword + Fern for making some custom jewelry for the show. Maybe I'll post some photos just of the jewelry soon, they are truly amazing.

These photos are courtesy of Roll 35 and Chloe Richard.









Sunday, May 2, 2010

We are the Happy Haus.

We definitely have much to be happy about this week at the Reif Haus. On Friday, May 7th we'll be showing alongside 10 other talented Portland designers at the annual Mercury fashion show.



I'll be showing mostly pieces from our Spring '10 collection, along with a few new garments to round things out, including an evening gown! I want to give the viewer a glimpse of what was inspiring me when designing this collection. For me inspiration is a very general statement, and I'll often start with one direct inspiration and when the collection is finished it that inspiration only is visible on a subtle level. So this time around I'm pulling out all the stops and letting Portland know what's up.

Karen Vitt from the Neat Sheet did a nice write-up of the show which is available here.


Here is a little hint of what is in store:




See you on Friday!