Analogue Chic

Posts Tagged ‘danbury ct’

Head on over to Danbury’s indie news magazine, The Mercurial, for my reporting on the Mother Earth Fashion Show that took place in Bethel, CT on April 12.

As a local designer and fashion blogger, I looked forward to an injection of style and conscience into the closets of my fellow Danbury-metro dwellers.  I dressed for the evening in my usual mix of high and low style, new and vintage, mass market and indie designer.  My hair was newly trimmed by Tiffany of Tease Salon at Martin’s in Danbury, and colored, incidentally, by Jackie at A New Beginning.  My eyelids were enshrouded in brown shadow by Ecco Bella plant based cosmetics, available at Chamomile on Newtown Road.  I layered a black tuxedo jacket over my pink wrap sweater by Grace Napoleon, a featured designer for the event, and dark jeans.  Gray spectator-mary jane-hybrid oxfords finished the look.

This tree-hugging fashionista went the extra eco mile and rode the number 2 HART bus from Main Street, Danbury to the front door of the Stony Hill Inn, with time to spare.

Read my review, over here!

Hooray!  Grace Napoleon, whom I profiled a while ago on this blog, will be showing her upcycled apparel in a runway show to benefit Clean Ocean Action, sponsored by A New Beginning Salon in Bethel, CT on Monday, April 12.  Tickets are still available!

I will also be reporting on the event for The Mercurial, Danbury’s online news magazine.

A New Beginning Salon & Spa is an Aveda Wellness spa. Every year the Aveda company encourages their spas throughout the country to participate in fundraising efforts to benefit an earth-friendly organization. For the second year, Clean Ocean Action will receive 100% of the net proceeds of this event.

There is also an opportunity for tickets to be purchased and donated to The Women’s Center of Greater Danbury. All ticket donations will be distributed to clients of the Center.

[...]

According to Clean Ocean Action’s advocacy team, as a result of years of ocean dumping, a legacy of pollution remains in the ocean off the Atlantic coast from New Jersey to New York and Connecticut’s shores of Long Island Sound.

[...]

Clean Ocean Action leads informed campaigns against these sources of pollution and advocates for environmentally sound solutions.

The organization was recently instrumental in lending its voice to help defeat the installation of an LP gas pumping platform off the Branford coast that would have measured three football fields in length, and compromised recreational and commercial boating throughout much of Connecticut’s coastal waterway.

Quotes via The Newtown Bee.

Ohhh, this is like finally catching that elusive, big, beautiful fish after trying, season after season…

Introducing Faith, server extraordinaire of Marcus Dairy.

I saw Faith in this very uniform the first time I went to Marcus Dairy, last year, and of course I didn’t have my camera, and I wasn’t even sitting in her section, but I vowed I would document her style for Danbury fashion posterity.

Today, I was finally successful.

I just adore her fantastic (she called it ‘cheerful’–indeed!) plaid bowtie, and coordinating red apron.  I noticed she also always has this sparkly, dangly pin on her collar.

I have several of just this type of apron in offwhite, that belonged to my great-grandmother, I guess from her days of operating the family hotdog stand/diner.

And of course, I didn’t have my camera, so these are phone-photos that are not doing her justice.  But Faith was so charming, and gracious in letting me take her picture.  And she told me about her mother, who ran a farm stand, but was a bit of a fashionista, and was a pioneer of mismatched, multicolor accessories.

Yes, there is a story there, and hopefully Faith will call me so I can give you a full report.

Still don’t have your look down for the Hord Foundation Gala next Saturday?

I will help you look your Roaring ’20s best.  I am a local designer and stylist who specializes in vintage and retro looks.  From the hair to the shoes, I can help you get on the Best Dressed List.

And I will teach you how to dance the Charleston!

• Free consultation. 
• Hourly fee. 
• WesConn students, I will assist you for free!

Whether you still need a dress, or just need help with accessories, I will be your personal shopper or your complete event stylist.

Email Allie {at} AnalogueChic {dot} com to set up your free consultation!

Looking for the usual Analogue Chic news?  Just scroll down a bit!

The social event of the year for Danbury took place this past Saturday night, the annual Mayor’s Ball.  Politics aside, I was not in a position to shell out $100 (the reduced price, allegedly to allow more people to attend) for a ticket, plus an outfit and hair (yes, the ball is a charity benefit).  But, I’m still more than ready to share with you my evaluation of the best and worse dressed.

You know it’s going to be rough when the entertainment is dressed better than the people who paid to get in… Lovely singers.

Read the rest of this entry »

There is a formal dress shop on Main Street in Danbury, and while the dresses aren’t my taste, I enjoy the prop styling in their windows.  Earlier this week, I walked by on my way home and the sun was hitting the scroll decals on the windows, and casting a shadow on the white dresses they have out, creating this big, graphic pattern.  I didn’t have my camera with me that day, and then had to wait another day for clear skies, and today I tried some shots.  My timing wasn’t exactly the same, so the scroll patterns aren’t in the same placement as when I first framed the shots, but I think I got a couple of not-too-shabby pictures, and the black & white filter helps a lot.

Clockwise: George takes a turn on the accordion; Erika Askin of Bee Askin‘s awesome booties; Bethel vintage dealer Nadine of mossimol.etsy.com [Nadine requested she be removed:( ]; Upscale Downtown’s Suzanne in verdant holiday garb; Darla provides the entertainment; Barbara and friend sing in the last night of Chanukah; Auste’s amazing jewelry display; Allie of Analogue Chic tries a toasty fur coat; Mary takes a turn; Joel and his amazing smoking jacket; local fashion matriarch, Zella Hall; a musical interlude .

Last night was the holiday event/ trunk show at Upscale Downtown Consignments on Main Street in Danbury.  I reunited with some local fashion acquaintances, friends and neighbors.  Darla, a friend of the owner, Barbara, serenaded us on her accordion… and in some enchanting coincidence, 2 more guests charmed us with their accordion skills!  Ms. Zella Hall, consigner of several decades worth of gorgeous vintage clothes, graced us with her stylish black-clad presence.  Barbara’s husband, Joel, managed the raffle table in his fabulous red, vintage smoking jacket.  Auste put the finishing touches on her glittering jewelry display, and we all imbibed wine, cider, and kosher cookies. Magnificent!

image via DevPunk Studios

You can meet me and see my wares at these upcoming events:

Jewish Summer Festival

Sunday, August 23, 2009,12:00 – 6:00 pm

Congregation B’nai Israel, 193 Clapboard Ridge Road, Danbury, CT

Taste of Danbury

Saturday, Sept. 12 and Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009

12:00 – 7:00 pm both days

On the Green (Ives St.), downtown, Danbury, CT

Hope to see you!

{UPDATE: This post is now an entry in the Blog Off at What Designers. Vote for me!}

The standing joke among we handmade artists is that any  money we make from selling our crafts goes into feeding our addiction for pretty supplies and cute things made by friends.  In that spirit, a few months ago I treated myself to a Grace Napoleon original, a pink, ruffly wrap sweater.  But seriously, these purchases and the bonds we make in our raucous real-life meetings and in online forums are an important conduit for exchanging ideas and business advice.  In an effort to record this movement of self-employed women artists, and to preserve the lessons and inspiration I glean from them, I am beginning a project of interviewing women who have inspired me as an independent fashion designer. 

I met Grace at a meeting of our local new-wave craft club, and watched with admiration and curiosity as she handstitched her woolly holiday projects.  I finally sat with her on a recent evening for tea and dessert to talk about her evolution as a textile artist.

Grace is a Danbury, CT-area artist who designs and creates women’s clothing made from clothing– that is, she deconstructs secondhand clothes and re-assembles them in unexpected and charming ways.  Every new seam is stitched by hand.  She offers her clothes and other fabric crafts, along with vintage housewares, in her online store at Etsy.com and at regional craft shows and flea markets.

Read the rest of this entry »

My loyal readers may recall my local street art discovery a couple of months ago.  One of my correspondents gave me what background information she had, and put me on the trail of a companion piece located nearby.

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You can see this in front of the Women’s Center on West Street, Danbury, facing west.

Apparently, a group of young art students painted a whole series of these in the area, and all but the two I have documented here were removed by the Police. Quel dommage.

This one is a little spooky, but not scary.  The figures remind me of the forest "fairies" in Princess Mononoke.

Image via Ananka’s Diary