Festival Fashion Trend Illustrations – Chic Sketch

Each sketch (below) is hand-drawn by Fashion Illustrator Emily Brickel Edelson, the Co-Founder of the mobile application, Chic Sketch.

Chic Sketch is a fashion-forward mobile app that transforms images into Instagrammable fashion sketches within minutes. Users simply upload an image and in turn they receive a hand-drawn illustration made-to-order, allowing for a unique experience with each sketch!

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Elevate Your Cocktail Bar For Summer – Santa Margherita Wine

Elevate Your Cocktails: Rather than serving up traditional mimosas and bellinis, put a new spin on the classics by serving Santa Margherita Prosecco Superiore with seasonal fruit purees. Allow your guests to mix their own cocktails and set up a DIY cocktail bar with various purees, such as honeydew, nectarine, raspberries, watermelon and strawberry, which are seasonal and pair perfectly with Santa Margherita Prosecco Superiore. Provide options for garnishes, such as simple mint sprigs, raspberries and sliced strawberries. The additional fruits can make for great décor as well; cut a small groove into citrus fruit to hold place-cards for table if you are hosting a sit down meal at your party.

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Revamp Your Ice Cubes: Warmer weather is here, meaning your favorite cocktail won’t stay chilled for long anymore. To keep your glass chilled without diluting the cocktail and add an extra dash of flavor, fill your ice cube trays with seasonal fruits like strawberries and kiwi and top with Santa Margherita Prosecco Superiore.

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Go For Bold Garnishes: Upgrade your classic wine cocktail by rimming the glass in the juice or peel of your citrus of choice (e.g. lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit) and dip into citrus infused sugar. To make this, just grate your favorite citrus into granulated sugar and mix to combine. The same can be done with shaved coconut or minced fresh herbs. For a quick rimming trick, you can opt traditional sugar for gold or colored sugar for rimming your wine cocktail.

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Turn To Your Garden: Impress your guests with your garden’s summer harvest and appeal to the senses of smell and taste by pairing fresh herbs with Santa Margherita Prosecco Superiore. Adding fragrant herbs like springs of thyme and lavender or muddling some fresh mint leaves into the bottom of your wine glass will brighten up your traditional wine. You can even tie a small bundle of herbs around the stem of a wine glass and utensils for an added rustic flare – the aromatics also hit your nose as you’re drinking the wine!

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Former NFL Player Keion Carpenter and The Carpenter House – Building Blocks Awards Gala

The Carpenter House will be celebrating its 10 year anniversary with the Building Blocks Awards (BBA) Gala black-tie fundraiser on Sunday May 1. Created with the mission to create affordable housing, funds raised at the annual BBA Gala will help provide adequate shelter for families in need. The BBA Gala will be hosted by Q Parker of the R&B sensation 112, with a live performance by Stellar Award Winner Jason Nelson.

In addition to the special awards presentation, the BBA Gala, which will be held at the Lower Level of the Mondawmin Mall, will also include dinner and dancing. Tickets for the event are available to the general public at $100 per person. Table sales and sponsorship options are also available.

When asked about the annual Gala Chief Executive Officer and Founder of The Carpenter House, Keion Carpenter said “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care. Giving back to the city that has giving me so much, is a dream come true. The city will never be same after Sunday night May 1st!”

Since 2006, the Carpenter House has been committed to delivering services that rebuild communities through education, mentorship, physical activity and promoting a healthy lifestyle. The Carpenter House aims to strengthen and empower families from disadvantaged backgrounds by providing access to resources, activities, and environments that enable them to reach their highest social and economic potential. Recognizing that creating safe and affordable housing is the center for strengthening families, the Carpenter House addresses the issue through the Carpenter House Communities (CHC) program.

Working in partnership with local government agencies and community/civic organizations, CHC purchases and accepts donated homes within Baltimore City. CHC then rehabilitates the homes making them available to qualified low-income and single-parent families that would otherwise not be able to experience the dream of homeownership. Through a partnership with the Wells Fargo Community & Urban Stabilization Program and M&T Bank, The Carpenter House purchased its first home in 2015. Since its purchase, the home has been completely rehabilitated and currently has a single-parent family living in the home.

The Mondawmin Mall is located at 2800 Liberty Road, Baltimore MD and the event begins at 7:00 PM. For tickets and or sponsorship information for the Building Blocks Awards Gala visit www.blocksgala.org.

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alice + olivia’s LA Runway – Debuts Grateful Dead collection

NEIMAN MARCUS PARTNERS WITH ALICE + OLIVIA BY STACEY BENDET ON A SEE-NOW BUY-NOW RUNWAY SHOW TO KICKOFF MUSIC FESTIVAL SEASON

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The Show, Held The Wednesday Before Coachella, Will Feature The Highly Anticipated Alice + Olivia X Grateful Dead Capsule Collection Paired With Limited Edition Items From The Spring 2016 Collection.

Tuesday, March 29, 2016 (Los Angeles, CA): alice + olivia by Stacey Bendet is pleased to announce that the brand, in partnership with Neiman Marcus, will hold their first ever See-Now-Buy-Now runway show on Wednesday, April 13 at Neuehouse Hollywood in Los Angeles, California. The show, held the Wednesday before Coachella, will feature the highly anticipated alice + olivia x Grateful Dead capsule collection paired with limited edition items from the Spring 2016 collection. Twelve exclusive items will be available at www.aliceandolivia.com and www.neimanmarcus.com.

Ken Downing, Senior Vice President and Fashion Director of Neiman Marcus, will co-style the runway show with Stacey Bendet, CEO and Creative Director of alice + olivia. The runway show will be streamed live from Los Angeles on both alice + olivia’s and Neiman Marcus’ social channels, including Periscope and Facebook Live; both www.aliceandolivia.com and www.neimanmarcus.com will host videos of the runway show beginning Friday, April 15, 2016.

The official announcement of Bendet’s foray into the See-Now-Buy-Now runway follows on the heels of the CFDA’s release of the results of the Boston Consulting Group’s study of the future of New York Fashion Week on its website, www.CFDA.com, earlier this month.

Among the findings, the study revealed that there is unanimous consensus around the need for change to the decades-old Fashion Week system and the call for designers to deliver collections to consumers in a format that is rooted in in-season relevancy, both of which alice + olivia directly cites as reasoning behind the conception of the idea to host the alice + olivia See-Now-Buy-Now runway show next month.

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“It is exciting to be involved in the forefront of a new fashion phenomenon with Stacey,” said Ken Downing, Senior Vice President and Fashion Director, Neiman Marcus. “She has always been wildly intuitive, with the ability to anticipate her fashionable customers’ wants and desires. Creating a highly curated, creative, clever, and in-season fashion show, as only Stacey can do, with a Buy-Now-Wear-Now mantra, makes sense for her fashion followers that love and adore what she designs!”

As alice + olivia embarks on the journey to modernizing their brand to match the consumer needs with a festival-themed See-Now-Buy-Now runway show in Los Angeles immediately prior to the first weekend of the Coachella Valley Music Festival, the brand embodies the CFDA’s call out of the study, “that deliveries must better match the actual, physical season and our consumers’ behaviors and needs.”

Stacey Bendet, CEO & Creative Director of the New York based contemporary clothing company, has spent months working to assemble a curated offering of Buy-Now items to send down the runway that would indeed meet her consumers’ behaviors and needs.

Emily Ratajkowski, Kourtney Kardashian
Emily Ratajkowski, Kourtney Kardashian

“I hope to inspire consumers worldwide to kick off their festival season with alice + olivia,” said Bendet, “a See-Now-Buy-Now runway show is something I have been wanting to do for a few seasons but it took time to feel out when and where felt right…I wanted what I showed on that runway to be relevant to what consumers actually want to wear, now. I came up with the idea to have the show around Coachella and have the runway looks be based upon things that every girl would want to wear to a music festival.”

Twelve exclusive styles will be available on www.aliceandolivia.com, www.neimanmarcus.com and www.cusp.com once the runway show begins at 7PM PT on Wednesday, April 13, 2016. Neiman Marcus Beverly Hills will also have a selection of the runway styles, along with several exclusive items, which include two alice + olivia X Grateful Dead pieces.

A special thank you to our partners: China Glaze, Joico, Le Métier de Beaute.

ABOUT ALICE + OLIVIA BY STACEY BENDET
Launched in 2002, alice + olivia by Stacey Bendet is a brand that allows customers to express their personal style. With collections that juxtapose the whimsical and flirty with the sexy and sophisticated, a+o epitomizes the personality and sensibility of its founder, Stacey Bendet. The brand was born from Stacey’s quest to create the perfect pair of pants, and has since grown into a full lifestyle collection including ready-to-wear, gowns, shoes, accessories and handbags. Pulling inspiration from the world around her, Stacey incorporates bold colors, unique prints, and eclectic details to create vibrant and dynamic pieces. The brand is a Hollywood favorite with celebrity fans including Beyoncé, Gwyneth Paltrow, Katy Perry, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michelle Obama and Taylor Swift. alice + olivia by Stacey Bendet is available at aliceandolivia.com, over 30 free-standing boutiques located in major cities around the world including, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore, as well as over 800 of the finest department and specialty stores worldwide. For more information please visit www.aliceandolivia.com

ALICE + OLIVIA ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Instagram:
@ALICEANDOLIVIA
#aliceandolivia

Twitter:
@ALICEANDOLIVIA
#aliceandolivia

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/aliceandoliviabystaceybendet/

ABOUT NEIMAN MARCUS
Neiman Marcus Group LTD LLC is a luxury, multi-branded, omni-channel fashion retailer conducting integrated store and online operations under the Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Last Call, Horchow, CUSP, and mytheresa brand names. For more information, visit www.neimanmarcusgroup.com.

NEIMAN MARCUS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Instagram:
@NeimanMarcus
@CuspbyNM

Twitter:
@NeimanMarcus

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/neimanmarcus

CONTACTS:
alice + olivia
Sydney Reising Creative
Sydney Reising
300 E 2 Street, Suite 8
New York, NY 10009
O: 646.454.1361
M: 917.544.7217
sydney@sydneyreising.com
www.sydneyreising.com
www.instagram.com/sydneyreisingcreative

 

attends the alice + olivia by Stacey Bendet Los Angeles Runway Show at NeueHouse Los Angeles on April 13, 2016 in Hollywood, California.
attends the alice + olivia by Stacey Bendet Los Angeles Runway Show at NeueHouse Los Angeles on April 13, 2016 in Hollywood, California.
Ken Downing, Stacey Bendet
Ken Downing, Stacey Bendet

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Vino 301 Chocolate and Wine Tour – Recap

Vino 301 is a wine concierge, showcasing some of Maryland’s finest vineyards.  This amazing service allows those in the DMV area the opportunity to taste (new) wine pairings and partake in events.  I have previously shared one of their events on this site and was invited to the Chocolate and Wine Tour.

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Leslie Frelow (the Managing Director) greeted tour participants at the Baltimore Visitors Center.  Our luxury van included a complimentary Vino 301 tote bag, wine goblet, bottled water, and snacks.

The tour started with a brief history of local Maryland vineyards.  Leslie shared there’s seventy-two vineyards in the region and Julia Roberts was filmed for the movie Runaway Bride at Boordy Vineyards.

Our first stop was at Parfections, handmade gourmet truffles and chocolates.  During our pairing, we received a delectable array of chocolates, paired with specific types of wine. My favorite from the Chocolate pairing was the Dry Rose 2013 and Raspberry Bark chocolate (dark chocolate blended with dried and freeze dried raspberries.)

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We left Parfections and drove to Boordy Vineyards in Hydes, Maryland.  The historic winery was beautiful and our wine tasting included Pinot Grigio, Dry Rose, Chardonnay, Petit Cabernet, Riesling Baltimore Oriole, Chambourgin Merlot, and Jazz Berry.  We also participated in a guided tour of the vineyard and concluded the afternoon sitting around the outdoor fire pit.

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The Vino 301 Chocolate and Wine Tour was a wonderful experience.  I encourage anyone who’s interested in learning more about wine and pairings to visit their social media page for upcoming events.  I will also continue to share new tours here (on our site) as they come available!

About Chocolate and Wine Tour:

DESCRIPTION

Chocolate and wine is the perfect paring. Vino 301 Wine Concierge and Parfections, Baltimore’s premiere chocolatier, presents chocolate tasting and regional Maryland wine tours. Maryland wine is paired with handmade gourmet truffles and chocolate.

Vino 301 Wine Concierge will transport you to Parfections store where the tour begins. You are lead through a tastings of handmade gourmet truffles and chocolate and wine pairing. You are later taken to one of the Patapsco Valley region’s vineyards where you enjoy a wine tasting and tour of the vineyard. Tour includes:

Parfections gourment truffles and chocolate tasting
Chocolate and wine paring instructional
Visit to a Maryland vineyard
Meet local winemaker
Light snack & beverages on the trip
All tasting fees
Receive a collectible wine glass and tote bag
15% discount on confections purchased at Parfections on tour day

Ann Taylor – Ballgame Style Options

Enjoy America’s favorite pastime in style from Ann Taylor with crisp and simple separates that you can pair with your team’s jersey, t-shirt or cap.

Curvy Kick Crop Jeans

Make getting dressed for the ballgame the easiest part of your day so you can enjoy the game looking relaxed and spirited.

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alice + olivia by Stacey Bendet – LA Runway Show

NEUEHOUSE

Monday, April 4, 2016: alice + olivia by Stacey Bendet is pleased to announce that the brand, in partnership with Neiman Marcus, will hold their first ever See-Now-Buy-Now runway show on Wednesday, April 13 at NeueHouse Hollywood in Los Angeles, California. The show, held the Wednesday before Coachella, will feature the highly anticipated alice + olivia x Grateful Dead capsule collection paired with limited edition items from the Spring 2016 collection. Twelve exclusive items will be available at www.aliceandolivia.com and www.neimanmarcus.com.

Ken Downing, Senior Vice President and Fashion Director of Neiman Marcus, will co-style the runway show with Stacey Bendet, CEO and Creative Director of alice + olivia. The runway show will be streamed live from Los Angeles on both alice + olivia’s and Neiman Marcus’ social channels, including Periscope and Facebook Live. Both www.aliceandolivia.com and www.neimanmarcus.com will host videos of the runway show beginning Friday, April 15, 2016.

The official announcement of Bendet’s foray into the See-Now-Buy-Now runway follows on the heels of the CFDA’s release of the results of the Boston Consulting Group’s study of the future of New York Fashion Week on its website, www.CFDA.com, earlier this year.

alice_and_olivia_SHARIOFFTHESHOULDERDRESS_DAFFODIL_888819240288_PRODUCT_01-1292791612

Among the findings, the study revealed that there is unanimous consensus around the need for change to the decades-old Fashion Week system and the call for designers to deliver collections to consumers in a format that is rooted in in-season relevancy, both of which alice + olivia directly cites as reasoning behind the conception of the idea to host the alice + olivia See-Now-Buy-Now runway show next month.

“It is exciting to be involved in the forefront of a new fashion phenomenon with Stacey,” said Ken Downing, Senior Vice President and Fashion Director, Neiman Marcus. “She has always been wildly intuitive, with the ability to anticipate her fashionable customers’ wants and desires. Creating a highly curated, creative, clever, and in-season fashion show, as only Stacey can do, with a Buy-Now-Wear-Now mantra, makes sense for her fashion followers that love and adore what she designs!”

As alice + olivia embarks on the journey to modernizing their brand to match the consumer needs with a festival-themed See-Now-Buy-Now runway show in Los Angeles immediately prior to the first weekend of the Coachella Valley Music Festival, the brand embodies the CFDA’s call out of the study, “that deliveries must better match the actual, physical season and our consumers’ behaviors and needs.”

alice_and_olivia_LANIEMBROIDEREDBOATNECKSHORTSLEEVEDRSSWITHSLITS_CREAMBLACKTANGERINE_888819285999_PRODUCT_01-692250117

Stacey Bendet, CEO & Creative Director of the New York based contemporary clothing company, has spent months working to assemble a curated offering of Buy-Now items to send down the runway that would indeed meet her consumers’ behaviors and needs.

“I hope to inspire consumers worldwide to kick off their festival season with alice + olivia,” said Bendet, “a See- Now-Buy-Now runway show is something I have been wanting to do for a few seasons but it took time to feel out when and where felt right…I wanted what I showed on that runway to be relevant to what consumers actually want to wear, now. I came up with the idea to have the show around Coachella and have the runway looks be based upon things that every girl would want to wear to a music festival.”

Twelve exclusive styles will be available on www.aliceandolivia.com, www.neimanmarcus.com and www.cusp.com once the runway show begins at 7PM PT on Wednesday, April 13, 2016. Neiman Marcus Beverly Hills will also have a selection of the runway styles, along with several exclusive items, which include two alice + olivia X Grateful Dead pieces.

alice_and_olivia_NIKOLAFULLMIDLENGTHSKIRT_CARNIVAL_STRIPE_888819285104_PRODUCT_01--800364948

A special thank you to our partners: China Glaze, Joico, Le Métier de Beaute.

———-

ABOUT ALICE + OLIVIA BY STACEY BENDET
Launched in 2002, alice + olivia by Stacey Bendet is a brand that allows customers to express their personal style. With collections that juxtapose the whimsical and flirty with the sexy and sophisticated, a+o epitomizes the personality and sensibility of its founder, Stacey Bendet. The brand was born from Stacey’s quest to create the perfect pair of pants, and has since grown into a full lifestyle collection including ready-to-wear, gowns, shoes, accessories and handbags. Pulling inspiration from the world around her, Stacey incorporates bold colors, unique prints, and eclectic details to create vibrant and dynamic pieces. The brand is a Hollywood favorite with celebrity fans including Beyoncé, Gwyneth Paltrow, Katy Perry, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michelle Obama and Taylor Swift. alice + olivia by Stacey Bendet is available at aliceandolivia.com, over 30 free- standing boutiques located in major cities around the world including, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore, as well as over 800 of the finest department and specialty stores worldwide. For more information please visit www.aliceandolivia.com

ALICE + OLIVIA ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Instagram: @ALICEANDOLIVIA #aliceandolivia
Twitter: @ALICEANDOLIVIA #aliceandolivia
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aliceandoliviabystaceybendet/

ABOUT NEIMAN MARCUS
Neiman Marcus Group LTD LLC is a luxury, multi-branded, omni-channel fashion retailer conducting integrated store and online operations under the Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Last Call, Horchow, CUSP, and mytheresa brand names. For more information, visit www.neimanmarcusgroup.com.

NEIMAN MARCUS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Instagram: @NeimanMarcus @CuspbyNM
Twitter: @NeimanMarcus
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/neimanmarcus

CureDiva – Navigating the Beauty Aisle as a Breast Cancer Fighter

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  1.  Be gentle with your movements and your moisturizers – read the label:
    Use only hypoallergenic products, or those that don’t have harsh ingredients such as acids, emulsifiers, preservatives, fragrances, mineral oils, silicones, dyes or amines. You want happier, more comfortable skin, so scan your products for these ingredients and restock your supplies with organic, chemical-free and sensitive items. CureDiva.com has an entire line of facial natural and organic skin care.
  2.  Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize:
    To prevent dryness and cracked, uncomfortable skin, be sure to moisturize immediately after washing and toweling dry. This means for your body, apply moisturizer after the bath or shower; For your face, apply moisturizer in the morning and at night; For your hands, moisturize after washing many times during the day; For your lips, use a hydrating lip balm throughout the day.

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3.  Acne at our age?  Yes, some chemo treatments can cause acne on the face and scalp. Even if you suffered from acne before, take another look at your old acne ointments. They usually contain salicylic acid, retinol, benzoyl peroxide and other harsh ingredients that further dry and irritate skin. Try more natural solutions like Acne Clarifying Serum by Nurture my Body and a mild, natural soap.

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4.  SPF should become more than just an afterthought:  Although SPF is used in the summer outdoors, it should become a priority when in treatment. Chemo skin is super sensitive, especially to sun exposure which can cause lasting damage even in the winter. Wear sunscreen whenever you go out, and protect your skin with UV-protective clothing (hats, gloves, long sleeves). With skincare and beauty products, choosing an SPF version is best.  While it can be overwhelming to find products that are safe on skin and look and smell great, asking your doctor or a friend who has been through treatment is the best way to receive a referral. Websites like CureDiva.com provide a great amount of information for those going through treatment to get the answers they need.

5.  Fingernail care:  Some chemo drugs can cause finger and toenail damage. They become dry, cracked and may start lifting up. Apply cuticle balm and lots of hand cream. Checking out the label is relevant here. Switch to water-based nail color like CureDiva’s water-based nail polish by Acquarella which is my favorite when I’m dressing up!

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