Mara Hoffman

Subsequent to my last post whereby I shared my affinity for all things Mexican, it only makes sense that I feature Mara Hoffman's Spring/Summer 2012 ready-to-wear collection, which was heavily influenced by Mexican culture.

Hoffman is a New York based designer renowned for her eccentric and kaleidoscopic prints said to be inspired by mythology, nature, magic and world travel. Her S/S 2012 RTW collection features serape textiles, Otomi embroidery, dia de los meurtos (day of the dead) designs and bold tribal patterns. The Mexican influence is also apparent in the model's hairstyles, which are very "Frida Kahlo". I am drawn to bohemian-feel of the entire collection, which includes jumpsuits, airy dresses and caftans, statement necklaces and big bold wedges. Given a choice, I'll take one of each please. 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

:: Designer Mara Hoffman & her little bambino ::

images via nymag

  

Let's Go Shopping

The Vintage Pink Treasures Etsy Shop is open for business!

The shop includes a curated selection of necklaces, earrings and bracelets inspired by classic gold and silver elements, oceanic hues, candy colours and pink sunsets. 

All of the pieces were designed for both everyday wear and dress-up occasions. My favorites include the triple-layer bangles (which are chunky and perfect for stacking with other bracelets) and the classic gold and silver necklaces (which go with everything - I wear mine constantly). 

Note: these items are also available at the Halifax Seaport Farmers Market on Saturdays. Check out the market map for the Vintage Pink Treasures Jewellery table location. 

Here's a peek at what's in store:

all images by me via Instagram

Thoughts and Inspiration

The wonderful thing about most of my jewellery designs is that they are one-of-a-kind: created from vintage, one-off and limited quantity elements such as charms, beads and chains that I come across almost everywhere. It's great to offer my customers truly unique pieces, while at the same time it makes creating them that much more fun as a Designer because I'm always working on something new and different. 

When I first started by business I had items listed on Etsy, which is a fantastic forum for artisans selling handmade creations. Shortly thereafter I began selling my jewellery at the Halifax Seaport Farmers Market. The challenge I encountered from selling via both platforms simultaneously was that the jewellery I had previously spent time listing online would then end up selling at the Market that weekend, making my online work redundant.

The Market has been a fantastic and worthwhile venue for selling Vintage Pink Treasures and I endeavor to continue selling there for the foreseeable future. As a self-described newcomer in the jewellery business, it has provided me with invaluable experience in allowing me to interact directly with my target customers and tailor my business accordingly. 

Concurrently, I frequently receive inquiries about selling my jewellery online and have maintained in my mind that I would once again reunite with that platform. In order to make it work with my current business model, I needed to create a curated selection of pieces that I could maintain and recreate on an ongoing basis. 

In saying that, one of my latest projects has been putting together a collection of jewellery for the Etsy shop. The idea is to have a specific collection of pieces that can be recreated, while maintaining their individuality. So although the design will remain the same, the elements used (such as beads, chains, etc.) will vary slightly from one piece to the next. 

My goal is to have the shop up-and-running over the next couple of weeks, at which time I'll obviously write a blog post about it. 

In the meantime, here is some of my inspiration for the upcoming collection:

:: classic gold elements ::

:: classic silver elements ::

:: oceanic hues ::

:: candy colours ::

:: pink sunsets ::

images via Pinterest

Spring Dreaming

To get straight to the point, I find Winter to be a very uninspiring time of year (hence perhaps the lack of Winter blog posts, ahem). I find the cold weather, dark skies and muted surroundings are more conducive to hibernation than creation. If you've tapped into my blog in the past, you know that I am a huge fan of colour, which is obviously much more prevalent in the Spring/Summer months. The good thing about the retail fashion world is that it is always one season ahead, so my creative mind is is already fluttering about in Spring/Summer jewellery designs. The world of candy-coloured floral patterns is where I belong. In looking ahead I can't help but admire the Spring 2012 ready-to-wear collection of Alice + Olivia designed by Stacey Bendet. Similar to the Resort 2012 collection, it is bright, wearable and makes you want to jump on the Spring bandwagon stat. Ps: I am in love with those floral bell-bottoms... I don't know exactly where I would sport them, but given the opportunity I would wear them to the grocery store if I had to.

Here are some of my favs:

photos via style.com