Prop Closet

Obsessed with this little hat: Leah C. Couture Millinery

Today I went to the wondrous showroom of Leah C. Couture Millinery and fell in love with this tiny hat. Made from a vintage silk flower and the loveliest green straw cap, it perches on the front of one's head in such a sophisticated way. I am not a hat person (meaning I don't think I look good in hats) nor do I have the wardrobe to go along with this look, but I know a photogenic piece when I see one. I chose several pieces for an upcoming bridal fashion shoot.

Leah is such an inspiration! Her showroom is filled with feathers and flowers and each of her creations is more beautiful than the next. We had a great time chatting about her background working for a very famous hat designer and studying at FIT. Her pieces have been featured in fashion mags all over the world and I'm always excited to have some of her gems with me on photo shoots. Her deco style feather comb made the cover of Weddings by the Ritz Carlton that I styled a year ago which you can see here. Check out her website, LeahC.com for more of her gorgeous work!

Found this Lovely Wedding Crown

I've had this lovely wedding crown for a while and I just rediscovered it. Photo and styling by Robin Zachary

Great Finds at Elephant Props Closing Sale

So happy to have scored some beautiful ceramic styling pieces from Elephant Ceramics * Elephant Props during their prop house closing sale. I love the textures and shapes and will use these with love! I will miss stopping by this wonderful little place but glad that many of Michele's rental items will be at Prop Workshop.

It Wasn't a White Christmas Here

I'm not a fan of snow, yet it goes along with the holiday. Here in New York City the beauty of pure white snow is lost if you don't catch a glimpse of it before it quickly turns to slush. However, I love the snowflake motif and luckily stumbled onto this box of laser-cut wooden snowflake ornaments by Roost at Anthropologie. Looks like they might be all sold out by now, but found a larger set for sale at Amazon and a site called Home Remedy. You could paint and decorate them or hang them on your tree as is. I enclosed a single snowflake in each of my holiday cards. Photography and styling by Robin Zachary.

Birdcage Tablescape

I'm in love with this table because it reflects a side of my personality that connects with my mother, grandmother and aunt, 3 beautiful women that are all gone. My grandmother had a collection of tea cups and saucers, each one different and more beautiful than the next. I imagined her having an afternoon tea with her table set with mix and match patterns of delicate china. Keeping in the spirit of Grandma, my philosophy is that one should make a table fun to look at by filling it with surprises, props like little birds and non-matching glasses and flatware. The color story here is pink and ivory with a pop of green, tarnished silver and glass. This table has a girly, modern-day vintage vibe and would be perfect for a bridal shower brunch. The items I used here: pink dinnerware from MUD Australia, mix and match glassware and vintage flatware all available at ABC Home. The pearl metallic linen tablecloth and the textured floral napkins are from Nuage Designs. Denise Fasanello filled the white bird cage with gorgeous Clematis and garden roses. Laser cut place mats and place cards are from Ceci New York. Look at the original inspiration photo behind this design in my previous post here and see how the idea has evolved! 

Table designed and styled by Robin Zachary for the Ceci New York Paper Art Party on August 4th. Photos by Fiona Osborne.

 

Obsessed with Ribbon

Every so often I get a call from a nice saleswoman at Hyman Hendler Ribbon in NYC telling me that she has some "stuff" for me. I get a little tingle of excitement and plan a time to drop by. Today I was looking for something to keep me from working on my taxes, so the call came just in time! I made it to the store within the hour to get my goodies. Now don't get all excited. What I'm looking for may be garbage to some but to me is a treasure. New ribbon is wound on plastic or cardboard rolls but back in the day ribbon came on beautifully crafted wooden spools with typographic labels and paper wound between the layers. Whenever a vintage ribbon is exhausted, sold out, gone forever she is so kind to save me the spools and paper left behind. Look at how pretty they are!

Of course I can't help myself around vintage ribbons, especially if they're French, so I always come home at least $30 or $40 poorer but with a yard or two of beautiful trimmings. As Elegant Thrifter tells me, these ribbons can be found for pennies at garage sales in KC, but where's a garage sale on the island of Manhattan? There's no such thing as a garage let alone a garage sale here! I know what he means and when I get out of the city I score some wonderful finds. But sometimes you just have to fork over the big bucks for things you really want.

Photography by Robin Zachary for Prop Closet.

Valentine's Day Treats at Bis.co.latte

Today I stopped by my favorite Hell's Kitchen cafe, Bis.co.latte and found these adorable (and tasty!) Valentine's Day treats. The heart-shaped brownie is on the left and on the right are the cutest little pink scones.

Stop by and pick some up for your sweetheart and say hello to friendly owners Holly, Antone and Julian. Bis.co.latte is famous for their handmade biscotti in creative flavors, delicious soups, hearty oatmeal and risotto that gets me excited every time I think about it. They are located at 667 Tenth Ave at 47th St. 212-581-3900. Photos by Prop Closet.

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?

Inspiration box - Vintage Ballerina Pink

This just might be my favorite box so far. Inspired by a vintage ballerina theme, I started with pleated tulle from M&J Trimming, vintage silk and grosgrain ribbons from Hyman Hendler. I added Sarah Jessica Parker's Twilight fragrance and a bottle top from another fragrance, a mini ballet slipper that I've had for so long and a tiny gold hinged box. I love how the shades of pale champagne pink merge with vintage weathered gold, glass, ballet pink, mauve and brown. A perfect wedding palette. Let me know what you think! Photo by Prop Closet. For more information on my inspiration boxes, click here.

Inspiration box - Ivory

I'm on a roll with my inspiration boxes lately. This box features a vintage sugar sack, a japanese cloth purchased at abc home, japanese yarns from Habu Textiles, a knitwear fabric swatch from Mood, some letterpress book cards found at a Chelsea apartment sale, a scrolled hardware hook and a beautiful dried leaf. Little craft brown tag is from Gap 1969 jeans I bought for my son. I worked with a natural palette of papers, fibers and organic materials in white, creams and browns. Photo by Prop Closet.