Prop Closet

Beach House Shoot Inspiration

I'm working on styling a tabletop shoot for Bridal Guide next week and here's my inspiration.

Tangerine Wedding for Indira Collection

I'm so pleased that the Indira Collection has finally launched and I can tell you all about designing the wedding reception decor for their fashion shoot. You may have read my original post from right after the shoot. See it here. Indira is a new concept in bridal party attire and decor planning. See their feature on Style Me Pretty. Carrie called me less than one week before the shoot and a day before Bridal Market was about to begin. She said something about 12 models and kids and group shots and single shots and I thought, "wow! That's adventurous!" I found myself agreeing to do it and I'm so glad I did. She wanted a candy table feel with the color tangerine. I went to work planning and sourcing all the containers, candy, cupcakes and even made the little orange flags and napkins in literally 4 days with help of some trusty assistants and Carrie and Ajay too.

A monochromatic wedding really makes an impact and I love how it turned out. See Indira Collection's website with 111 color options for all the attire, accessories and details (like ring bearer pillows and flower girl baskets) you see in these photos. The items on the tables are not part of the offerings and were designed and styled by me (Robin Zachary). Photography by Terry Doyle. 

Greenhouse Bridal Fashion Shoot - behind the scenes

Greenhouse shots styled by Robin Zachary. Photography by Luciana Pampalone.
Greenhouse shots styled by Robin Zachary. Photography by Luciana Pampalone.

We painted and propped a forgotton sunroom on a friend's property transforming it into a greenhouse location for a bridal fashion shoot. All of the plants and flowers were brought in and repotted into the containers you see here. Can you guess which flowers pictured are fake? Here's four pages of the story from Bridal Guide Magazine so you can see how the environment inside the greenhouse and outside on the property work together to create a backdrop for the floral gowns.

Art direction and prop styling by Robin Zachary. Photography Luciana Pampalone.

Fun Times at FIT Styling Class

Here I am with Gabriella, from BMG Models during my FIT class fashion shoot in December. I made her wear my glasses for a Nerd Chic look. She couldn't see out of them, and I couldn't see a thing but we had a lot of fun! Class starts again tonight and I can't wait to meet my new group. Photo by Keri Shean.

Prop Styling for Wine Spectator Magazine Photo Shoot

The September issue of Wine Spectator has hit the newsstand! Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this shoot by photographer Jennifer Lévy at her stunning Brooklyn home. Photo editor Alex De Toth allowed me some freedom with the color palette. She wanted it to look Fall appropriate yet modern and clean. She indicated she liked some of the handmade ceramics I used in another shoot. Lately I had been exploring palettes of grays, blues and white with a pop of tangerine so that is what I went with. Not classically "Fall", but I like a twist on stereotypical seasonal colors. First I selected a wooden tabletop surface from Surface Archive. Todd has a great selection and I couldn't decide! I chose the one pictured in the front but really liked the hue of the one in the back so I planned on using that shade in the linens.

Here are some of the props I rented from Good Light Props.

Here's some vintage flatware and props I rented from Prophaus.

Some props waiting to be used on the side of the set.

A pulled back shot of one of the sets. See how the final shot was taken and used in the actual story shown above.

And my favorite prop of the day, a little tiny vintage spoon paired with a tiny glass bowl for salt.

Here's the final story from Wine Spectator.The shoot ended up sans orange, and as things often go, you think on your feet and new ideas emerge on the set. The food itself had orange tones, so all contrasted nicely off the blues, grays and white. The wine was fantastic and when we wrapped we had a toast to a successful shoot! Editorial photos by Jennifer Lévy, food styling by Jamie King, prop styling by Robin Zachary. All behind the scenes photos by Robin Zachary for Prop Closet.

A Great Assistant is Hard to Find - My 5 Tips

Someone must have been looking down on me from above when I needed assistance in producing Ceci's Paper Art Party tablescapes earlier this month. They sent me Fiona Osborne, a photography student from the UK who had just landed in NYC for a 5 week "experience" vacation. She had contacted me weeks before, looking to assist me and the timing was just right. My favorite assistant, Anna was going to be away and I was stressing over who was going to help me style 4 fully dressed tables each with a different theme. It's hard to find the right person who is going to be the perfect right hand and really follow instructions, be polite around clients and just be all around upbeat and do whatever is needed, like Anna. Fiona was just that person. Kind, friendly and helpful in every way—from hiking around a city she's never been to looking for chopsticks and rice, (luckily she was living in Chinatown!)—to packing and unpacking tons of glass and ceramic pieces with care. She's also a super photographer and you can see her amazing photos of the event in my posts and on her blog, Looking is Not Seeing. Thanks again Fiona!

Now let me talk about Anna. She's the best. So crafty and fun, just the right mix of ready-for-anything attitude and confident yet humble. She always has my back. She was in my FIT styling class last spring. Here she is. 

She painstakingly looked through 20 or so varieties of fake butterflies with me, looking for just the right wing shape for my Divine Damask tablescape for the Ceci Art Party. She has that kind of attention span. Love her!
Here are my 5 tips on how to be a great stylist's assistant, in case you are thinking of doing it.

1) Be very detail oriented. Keep track of where everything came from so you can ensure it gets returned to the proper place. I once spent several days fielding calls from prop houses that said something returned was not theirs. This was due to carelessness on the part of the assistant.

2) Wear clothing to the shoot that shows you are here to work. Don't show up in a party dress and heels. Look to your boss to set the tone of what is appropriate to wear. If she wears jeans, jeans are ok. If a shoot takes place in a formal environment a more dressed up look might be necessary.

3) Take directions well even if you think you have a better way to accomplish something. No one likes to have their methods challenged!

4) Don't promote yourself to your boss's clients while you are on a job. Or after the job for that matter. Trying to talk to and poach clients is crossing the line and a big no no!

5) Always remain upbeat even if the task seems mundane. Unpacking and repacking 50 glasses can be tedious!

Sounds easy enough, but believe it or not many do not work out. Thank goodness for my two gems!

Carefully Coordinated: Cakes, Flowers, Invitations, Accessories

Just released in For The Bride Magazine!! Palettes of black and white with one accent color tie all your wedding day elements together. My challenge was to pull in great talent and have them collaborate for this six page story. I introduced florists, cake designers and invitation designers and here are the results.

The opening spread is based on an invitation suite by Ceci New York. Ceci and I selected the robin's egg blue as our accent color. Jay from Lulu Cake Boutique was jazzed about working with the monogram and scrollwork design for his square 3-tiered cake. I searched far and wide for the square black cake stand which was sent from Sweet and Saucy Supply Co. in California. The scrumptious cupckakes and sandwich cookies filled out the dessert table.  

The color of green viburnum flower was the inspiration for the next spread. Flowers of the World and Elegantly Iced collaborated on their bouquet and cake with anemones, white spray roses and black jewels. Lindsay hand stenciled the black flowers on the 3-tier white cake.

The black lace shoe from Aruna Seth was the inspiration for the fashion accessory spread. Penny from Sugar Couture fashioned the lace in icing from a tiny photo of the shoe. Honeysuckle, Pantone's color of 2011 was the obvious choice for the accent. The pink fossil jasper necklace with vintage clasp from Elva Fields and floral hair band from Sara Gabriel round out the page. Shoe and hair band are available at Gabriella New York. I loved working with everyone involved and hope you follow the links to all their sites to view more of their gorgeous work! 

All photos in the magazine are by Anastassios Mentis. Produced and styled by Robin Zachary for For The Bride Magazine.

Here's a couple of behind the scenes shots from the shoot:

Behind the scenes shots are by Robin Zachary for Prop Closet.

Pink Elephant Jewelry Website - The Making Of

Penny Lee Wang describes Pink Elephant Jewelry as a niche boutique website offering high fashion, well made diamond pieces at affordable price points. Born out of the idea that shopping online for diamond jewelry can be a personal experience, she launched Pink Elephant in October 2010. Unlike the larger jewelry websites, her unique designs can often be custom tailored to suit her client's needs. Penny is no stranger to fashion—she's been in the jewelry business for 12 years—and thoroughly knows her market. When she was ready to bring her concept to the web she knew who to call (yours truly!). We met years ago at the Fragrance Foundation. It was her first job out of college and I was their freelance graphic designer. 

 We talked for countless hours about the look for Pink Elephant's home page for the site plus the main pages for necklaces, rings, bracelets, earrings and bridal sections. Penny wanted the photography to have a very feminine, elegant feel. Pink was a given, but we decided to go with varying shades using fabrics and a polished wood surface for a timeless look. I brought tons of props to the shoot with Photographer David Lewis Taylor, including ribbons, tiny pillows, small dishes, fabric cocktail napkins, love letters, a bridal bouquet from Spina de Fiori, wedding invitations and vintage vanity items. It was fun shopping the trimmings district of NYC for this project! It is interesting to note that even for a small scale shoot, I brought three tables full of items which whittled down to a few select pieces. So you can never bring too much. Better to have more than be without something crucial. I introduced Penny to Kristin Sewell, web designer extraordinaire, who brought the whole vision to fruition graphically. Visit Pink Elephant Jewelry to see the whole site and indulge in her precious pieces! Photography by David Lewis Taylor. 

Pink Inspiration

Getting ready for Valentine's day and playing with some shades of pink, red and orange. I'm thinking about how many names there are for shades and ways to describe the color pink: candy, salmon, ballet, hot, fuschia, magenta, lipstick, bright, soft, pale...can you name some more?

Keeping Styling Credits Organized - Part I

I can't stress enough the importance of keeping yourself organized at photo shoots. You're probably going to borrow merchandise from so many different vendors and if you're styling for a magazine that runs merchandise credits or a shopping guide, you have to make sure you keep track of every item used, where it came from and how the vendor wants their credit to read in the magazine. Each magazine has a copy style too, so you must ask which information they need and in what order.

Here's an example of a merchandise sheet that I use. For each store or vendor I borrow from, I keep a separate sheet and list each item that I requested, a brief description (including the color and any other relevant info) and the price. At the shoot I can check off what actually was used, so I can contact the vendor for more details afterwards. Here's the sheet I use:

 I use this sheet for every shoot whether I'm doing props, accessories, clothing, or anything that involves borrowing or renting. I list major things I am borrowing from my own PROP CLOSET on a separate sheet just so I know what I'm bringing. Sometimes I show up with a carload or truck full of things so it can get really confusing if I don't use this sheet as a checklist. (This is where a responsible assistant comes in...but that's another post entirely!) Nothing has ever gotten lost yet (knock on wood), so it pays to be organized!