Faded velvet ribbons, Edwardian lace, the beaded applique of a 1920’s dress, aurora borealis rhinestone buttons. Holly’s one-of-a-kind designs begin with her favored raw materials: salvaged antique fabrics and trims. With a career that began by reconstructing vintage garments into wearable pieces, Stalder (along with partner Kate Towers) opened a boutique called Seaplane in 2000, that became a Portland mainstay until it closed in 2008. Since then she moved on to focus on her own eponymous line, opening a new boutique called Haunt with fellow Portland designers Laura Irwin and Rachael Donaldson. The shop is both a retail store and a studio, offering the three designers’ collections and curated picks from other brands.
Welcome to the first installment of my brand-new series, called “One Piece, Three Girls!” and Happy Memorial Day!
In this series I feature a single article of clothing, jewelry, or an accessory, styled into 3 different looks for 3 different ladies.
For the first post in the series, I’ve partnered up with the amazing Portland boutique Mabel & Zora, to feature a dress from owner Tiffany Bean‘s Spring 2013 collection.
Mabel and Zora opened in June of 2006, headed by husband and wife team Corey and Tiffany Bean. The vision for the store was inspired by Doris Day movies and Tiffany’s grandmother’s boutique from the 1950’s. Known for amazing customer service and a personalized shopping experience, the boutique offers dressy lines such as Lilly Pulitzer, Michael Stars, Three Dots, V. Fish, and Butter by Nadia.Tiffany started designing her own clothing line Tiffany Bean Designs in 2010, also inspired by 1960s movies and fashions. “I love mid-century styling; it is a perfect mix of functionality and design. I romanticize about the jet-set lifestyle of movie stars from Los Angeles to Palm Springs and have designed our home, the shop, and line around this love affair of mine!” The line features a number of easy-to-wear, flattering dresses and skirts that can be dressed up for the office or worn on one’s day off- including colorblocking, fun prints, and signature wrap-style dresses.
For this feature, we have chose the Tiffany Bean Frances dress, a gorgeous contrast black-and-white stripe tube top dress. It’s made of stretchy, medium-weight material so it smooths over the body, and is a flattering knee-length (which happens to be a great length on anyone, no matter their body type). Due to its inherent versatility, this dress is the perfect dress for One Piece, Three Girls – and an on-trend must-have for your Summer wardrobe.
First up, we have Brooke. You might know her as Brooke Morse, the wonderful photographer who takes my outfitphotos from time to time. Besides being a photographer, she is also a talented makeup artist, currently expanding her online portfolio. For Brooke, we went with a bohemian casual look, covering up the skirt portion of the Frances dress with a sheer lace DIY maxi-skirt, and pairing it with earthy brown leather accessories and gold jewelry.
Next we have Kristin. Kristin Rosario has been assisting part-time with the marketing of Chic Steals since the Fall, and is a marketing guru with a great eye for business opportunities and ideas. Given that she’s often in meetings or an office environment, she needs to look polished and professional every day – hence, a structured blazer grounding the jersey dress. To play up Kristin’s femininity, we layered a couple colorful necklaces and added a ladylike touch with a ruffled bag and a pretty polka dot scarf.
Finally it’s my turn. For me, I decided to go with a vintage eclectic look, utilizing a thrifted vintage belt and a chiffon overlay for a softer feel. By belting the top it gives it a little more coverage and dresses it up for an evening out, or for a barbecue with friends from work.
(Enter code CHICSTEALS at checkout in the Mabel & Zora online shop to take advantage of this offer – expires 6/21/13.)
Plus, right now Mabel & Zora is having an enormous Memorial Day Sale in-store, with sale pieces marked down from 30-75% off (including Yosi Samra ballet flats, pieces from the Tiffany Bean Spring Line, Ms. Wood) If you are local to Portland, definitely drop by the shop today take advantage!
Thank you so much to Tiffany and the Mabel & Zora team for their hospitality, and to Brooke and Kristin for being my willing models!;-)
Let me know what you think – whose look do you like the best? And how would YOU style the Frances dress?
xo
Carly
P.S. If any of my readers are local to Portland, OR, and between the ages of 25-40, I’d love to feature you in the “One Piece, Three Girls” series. Drop me a line and let’s collaborate!
As some of you may know, I’ve been working part-time at a local video production company and stage rental house. We did a promo video for thePortland Saturday MarketFashion Show (Hustle & Bustle) last month, and I wanted to share the results.
I did all the titling and motion graphics for the piece, so I’m showing off a bit.;-)
Last Friday saw Day 3 of the collections from this year’s Portland Fashion Week – and the crowd was buzzing with anticipation. Local crowd favorites Amai Unmei and Ms Wood were set to show, as well as Vancouver-based Seth Aaron, whose showing at PFW each year has always been met with a great deal of buzz.
I ended up having too much to do this evening and took a day off from attending the shows. Most years I haven’t felt that I’ve seen anything innovative or worth blogging about on the activewear days (sorry, Portland!!), but this year apparently it was a day worth going to. (Mostly because they bundled the eco-friendly collections on the same day as the activewear…not the best move IMHO.)
I’m super-sorry to have missed Anna Cohen‘s collection especially, since it was a collection designed for the customer to actually DIY their own knits utilizing her Imperial Yarn!! Did someone say DIY??! Right up my alley;-) As for the rest of the collections, you guys can be the judge of whether this night was worth attending, after viewing local uber-talented photogs OSI Photography‘s beautiful shots* below: (more…)
Carly J. Cais I am a DIY’er, designer, sewist, maker, and marketer. Chic Creative Life is where I share what I do, and help others bring their unique style into their own lives.
Welcome to the first installment of my brand-new series, called “One Piece, Three Girls!” and Happy Memorial Day!
For the first post in the series, I’ve partnered up with the amazing Portland boutique 
Mabel and Zora opened in June of 2006, headed by husband and wife team Corey and Tiffany Bean. 
The vision for the store was inspired by Doris Day movies and Tiffany’s grandmother’s boutique from the 1950’s. Known for amazing customer service and a personalized shopping experience, the boutique offers dressy lines such as Lilly Pulitzer, Michael Stars, Three Dots, V. Fish, and Butter by Nadia.
Tiffany started designing her own clothing line 
For this feature, we have chose the 
First up, we have Brooke. You might know her as 
Brooke is wearing: 
Next we have Kristin. Kristin Rosario has been assisting part-time with the marketing of Chic Steals since the Fall, and is a marketing guru with a great eye for business opportunities and ideas. Given that she’s often in meetings or an office environment, she needs to look polished and professional every day – hence, a structured blazer grounding the jersey dress. To play up Kristin’s femininity, we layered a couple colorful necklaces and added a ladylike touch with a ruffled bag and a pretty polka dot scarf.
Kristin is wearing: 
Finally it’s my turn. For me, I decided to go with a vintage eclectic look, utilizing a thrifted vintage belt and a chiffon overlay for a softer feel. By belting the top it gives it a little more coverage and dresses it up for an evening out, or for a barbecue with friends from work.
Carly is wearing: 
(I also brought macarons from 
Plus, right now Mabel & Zora is having an enormous Memorial Day Sale in-store, with sale pieces marked down from 30-75% off (including Yosi Samra ballet flats, pieces from the Tiffany Bean Spring Line, Ms. Wood) 
If you are local to Portland, definitely drop by the shop today take advantage!
I ended up having too much to do this evening and took a day off from attending the shows. Most years I haven’t felt that I’ve seen anything innovative or worth blogging about on the activewear days (sorry, Portland!!), but this year apparently it was a day worth going to. (Mostly because they bundled the eco-friendly collections on the same day as the activewear…not the best move IMHO.)
