Date Archives March 2012

American Vintage

My mom and I were walking in Trastevere when we noticed these dapper gentlemen enjoying a drink at a cafe. I asked them if I could take their photograph and they said yes as long as they didn’t have to stand up. I snapped away one as of the gentleman, author Peter Berling, helped his friend light a pipe. I hope to one day have half as much style as these two smartly dressed fellows.

Before went on on our way, my mom remarked that she loved how beautifully they were dressed. The man smoking his pipe replied, “It’s American Vintage.” After we walked away I noticed this gorgeous vintage Fiat. I thought about how the color and design could serve as inspiration for one’s personal style, fashion and industrial design projects.

I am teaching a seminar at IED Roma about Advanced Style this week. Today I gave my class an assignment to find visual inspiration on the streets of Rome. They broke into groups in search of stylish older people, who they photographed and interviewed for blogs which will they present at the end of the week. The goal was to broaden our ideas about style and design and focus on things that might otherwise be taken for granted. We talked about how color and texture, as seen in architecture, clothing, and nature can inspire both fashion and interior design. I wanted the students to think about how and why they chose to focus on certain people or objects,analyze their process of editing, and realize that our individual points of view and perspectives are what make us unique in valued in creative fields. Today was all about seeing and documenting. Tomorrow we will have some great interviews with some well known Italian women. I can’t wait to share everyone’s final projects!

Italians in Tweed



Today was my first day teaching a seminar at IED Roma. My class is wonderful and I can’t wait to see what kind of projects they come up with. While walking around the city, I noticed so many women in beautiful tweed skirts and wonderful shoes. I love this chic combination and can’t wait to go out photo-hunting tomorrow.

Red Accents in Rome


I am in Rome for a seminar that I am teaching at IED Roma. Today my mom and I walked around looking for Advanced Style. Everywhere we turned there were dapper men and elegant women enjoying the beautiful, sunny day. This man looked especially stylish while listening to some live music near Piazza Navona. I love that Italian men aren’t afraid to wear a little color!

Creative Dressing With Debra Rapoport


I paid a visit to my good friend Debra Rapoport yesterday. She helped me plan a seminar that I will be teaching at IED Roma next week. We had a great conversation about creativity, dressing, and aging. I also got to test out my new lense on her. I love the results, do you? ( Some of you have asked about Debra’s hats. If you would like to get in touch with her send  an email to debrathenutritionista@gmail.com )