Lots of changes and new beginnings happening: I moved! I have a new office too! (I didn’t love painting it!) I’ve been teaching a class every weekend! I’ve started a new collaboration with a very cool brand…details and perks for you, soon to be released!

Re: the training classes, we’ve been adding to our team at J.Hilburn, and bringing on a bunch of talented/entrepreneurial minded individuals to handle the rapid increase in customers nationwide (thanks Esquire!). Because of this, I’ve gotten to experience (non-wildly exotic) places like Pittsburg and Charlotte…you know, cities that I might not have made it to otherwise.

Since I always like to mix business with pleasure, I’ve been scoping out the local scenes and seeing what their independent shops have to offer—sort of like what a foodie would do while visiting a new area.

Today, I’m going to highlight my old stomping grounds, a true favorite spot of mine for independent businesses: Abbott Kinney (blvd) in Venice (CA).

I stumbled upon Made in Earth—can’t remember what shop it replaced, but it seems to fit in nicely. If you’ve ever been to a gem & jewelry show, then you’ll appreciate how these skilled artisans create jewelry out of raw materials.

The concept behind MIE is summed up by their tagline, Nature Creates, We Enhance… They use amazing gems and stones, some of which look like they were just yanked out of the ground. (I mean that in a good way.) Superman’s kryptonite also came to mind…

mieusa.com

You can also have their in-house design team develop a work of art specifically for you! (I’m always a sucker for custom…)

I am so intrigued by this:

mieusa.com

It’s earthy and (literally) has an edge to it. I can picture it being worn alone (standout!) or mixed in with other accessories. The only ‘minus’ I felt here was that some of their pieces were just way too large of scale for me. I like accessories that allow me to get through the day…some of these seemed a bit ‘stand there and pose’ versus ‘look at my fun new accessory that compliments my clothes and I can actually wear longer than 10 minutes!’

* Made In Earth is expecting to have their online store up soon. In the meantime, gather up any info and send your jewelry requests here or check out their Venice gallery.

Even though these magazine tears are several years old, the descriptions of WHY these styles of clothing work will ALWAYS be true.

(Also, try to ignore that fact that when I am note taking, I write really fast and tend to forget how to spell. ha.)

A peek into my old class assignments. Thanks Carla—your lessons are invaluable!

Not ideal for an inverted triangle because the shirt broadens the already broad top. Instead you want to add volume to the hips to create balance.

Widens the visual appearance of the shoulders/chest

Narrows the (visual) frame of the shoulders

If the neck is long, you have the space for a high collar.

Volume on sleeves helps

totally spelled epaulet wrong

How terrible are these jeans by the way?

The "like girls jeans" note is referring to how women need several pairs of jeans: some to wear w. flats, heels, tuck into boots, cropped etc

While watching a movie on Christmas night (yes, National Lampoons Christmas Vacation…on TV = lots of commercials), I for some reason became enamored with the Tigers on the World Wildlife Foundation and instantly wanted to donate to their preservation. Well, actually, I wanted to adopt one. But then I realized that the picture they send to each ‘adopter’ is the same cat. (Yes, I really did think I would get to name it and follow its progression through life. Hmm-maybe I need a pet?!)

I’ve always had a love for tigers, leopards, cheetahs, panthers—any big cat really. Look at this face! Don’t you just want to wrap your arms around and give it a big hug?

I’m also drawn to animal prints—mostly in accessories, but as shown, you can find a pattern mimicking just about any animal on just about any article of clothing.

Photo: whowhatwear.com

Two major take away points from this post (before I digress any further):

1. If you adore these gorgeous animals and the thought of them no longer existing sounds crazy to you, then DONATE to keep these creatures alive (all 3,200 of them in the world) or at best, increase their population.

2. If you find animal prints fun and want to incorporate a pattern into your wardrobe, remember this: it’s an attention grabber. So think about how loud you want to get and with what amount of print you are comfortable.

A small dose: a clutch

A big does: skinny jeans/leggings

A sophisticated look: flats

A sassy look: stilettos

A creative/trendy look: wedges

An attention grabber: animal print in an usual color (i.e. blue cheetah)

A dabble with the print: shorts with a solid counterpart

Photo: colehaan.com

Photo: madewell.com

Photo: pixiemarket.com

Photo: pixiemarket.com

Here is the link to adopt an animal:

http://www.worldwildlife.org/gift-center/gifts/Species-Adoptions/

A quick screen shot shows you a small sampling of the endangered species—just about every cool animal you ever wanted to see when you were little.

(And if nothing else, remember, you can include your donation on your taxes.)

Photo: wwf.org

Case # 1. I just read an email from a friend in which she sent me links to engagement rings she likes. As I clicked on the first one (with a trailing comment of ‘love this ring’), the biggest smile came across my face. Ah YES, this is the one. I’m thinking, ‘Doesn’t she already own this?’ (and then I asked her that) I mean, this is just SO her, it’s amazing. Yes, buy this. Get this one. Done deal. Close the book. Stop looking. Horray! The rest were all similar attempts, but it almost seemed like they were thrown in the email just to take up space, or to tell herself that there’s others that will work (but not as well).

Case # 2. Today I had a new client pick out his first custom shirt. His brother, who’s been a client for awhile, was sitting at the table too. The brother chimed in about what he thought was best, but it became apparent that his choices were ideal for him not for the one who would be wearing the shirt. As we combed through the swatches, I heard comments about how certain fabrics were so   (insert names of friends)_. And I absolutely agree. I can just look at a swatch of material and see how it lends itself more to one person over another. You really do start to ‘see’ people in these potential clothes and accessories. It’s a very cool realization. It requires extracting yourself and your tastes, out of the picture.

This is something to keep in mind as you do your last minute holiday shopping. It’s not about you. It’s actually about removing YOU from the process. It’s about personalization. It’s bypassing what YOU want him or her to have, because it’s what you like, and instead, thinking about what you see that person enjoying. What makes you say, ‘That is SO _(fill in name of person to whom you are giving a gift)   .’ not, ‘I really like this or have fun doing this, so I want to make that person like this too.’

When you truly start to think about the other person, the gift ideas become more apparent.

And # 3. I have found my wedding dress!! (Well, the main parts of it anyway, the finishing touches still need to be designed.) When my sister saw me in the dress, she said, ‘If people were clothes, you would be this dress.’)

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah!

Lena

Cutting the stitching on suits:

Last weekend a client called me the morning of his wedding. We had J.Hilburn make him a gorgeous suit for his Big Day—black, single-breasted, two-button, hacking pockets, side vents, blue lining—to set him apart from the double breasted suits of his groomsmen. Let me preface by saying that this guy knows his stuff; he’s heard of the legendary Kiton suits, reads up on the latest & greatest and knows what he likes. This makes it all the more adorable when he frantically asks if he can cut the stitching off his left chest pocket—to accommodate a pocket square.

I know how it is, you may be wearing something so nice, or expensive, or custom and you really care about how you look. So the thought of messing that up makes you forget the things that you already know—basic things like: You need to cut the stitching inside your pocket to wear a pocket square and you MUST cut the stitching on the vents of your sport coat (regardless of if you have a side or center vent.)

Photo: Mr.Porter.com

Too tight freight:

I’ve seen both ends of this spectrum: the guy that (intentionally or unintentionally) wears his clothes really really close to his body (tight)…and conversely, the one who is drowning in his trousers, fearful of looking ‘too European.’ Change your shirt IF, you can see ALL of your pecs or ALL of your biceps. Change your pants, IF you can see the outline of your pockets (front or back). Or actually, if you can see anything…Change your shirt IF you can grab a handful of fabric on each side. Change your pants IF we have no idea where is your leg.

Match your belt & shoes, socks don’t matter:

Match your belt to your shoes. So that means owning a tan, black & brown belt (and shoes). Socks can be your little secret, or a conversation starter with that good looking girl sitting across from you at the airport.

brown belt & shoes Photo: JHilburn.com

tan belt & shoes-AG Jeans Photo: JHilburn.com

black belt & shoes Photo: JHilburn.com

P.S. J.Hilburn made the Forbes list of most promising companies!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Lena

P.S. You can buy this print & other holiday fashion sketches, from artist James Nelson, here.

I don’t wear makeup everyday. Unless I have client appointments or an event, I feel as though I can bop around town without ‘my face’ on. Recently, that has been backfiring on me. I’ll run into the Apple store, grab groceries or pick up carryout…be having a less than ideal acne moment, and sure enough, run into everyone from a work contact I recently met to a guy from high school. Awesome. Then I think, I am getting older; I’m a professional, damnit—I really need to grow up and get serious about makeup.

…but then I came across this special on Barefaced Beauties—Celebrities Without Makeup…and saw that I’m in good company. (Aside from that Pamela Anderson shot-eek.)

Photo by Photo Agency

Here are some photos of my glammed-up old college roommates and me from this past weekend. They don’t look a day over freshman year, right?!

And just for fun…here is a video on how to master the cat eyes look…using Scotch tape! **Disclaimer! I have not personally tried this out, but it does make sense and the result is spot on.

How to Be a Girl: Cat Eyes By Magic! from The Hairpin on Vimeo.

A year and a half ago, I tired on a leather jacket that I absolutely fell in love with. The asymmetrical cut, the grey color, the ribbed inner sleeve—oh I imagined myself wearing it casually—everyday, dressed up—to an event…even to bed? It was that comfortable…the price tag however, was not. I could not spend $800 on the spot. And so, I then categorized it in the back of my mind as something I would get…as a reward, a birthday present to myself…to mark some sort of accomplishment in my life.

Photos: revolveclothing.com

Months after, I saw Kim Kardashian wearing it and I thought (Damnit! Now Bebe is going to design a (cough) similar version next season and it will have lost it’s originality [to me].)

And then of course, that beautiful leather jacket sold out EVERYWHERE. Honestly. And you know what scarce supply does? It increases the demand. Sometimes this does terrible things to a shopper…it’ll make her think she wants something maybe a little more than she really does.

In any case, here’s where it gets creepy. I found the jacket on eBay. Score! I am terrible at eBay as I don’t check it frequently enough and the final moments of bidding give me anxiety. Nonetheless, I put in a bid. On the final day of bidding, I woke up in the morning and a number came to my head. (I know this is sounding ridiculous/long-winded but try to follow me here.) $256.63. Yes, I don’t normally wake up remembering anything from my dreams, but oddly, this number stuck out, so I wrote it down. That afternoon when it came time to bid, I put in some random number. (Again, I am not eBay savvy and never know if you should put your best offer up front.) The madness of the final seconds of bidding ensued and for reasons I cannot explain (maybe I was being cheap?) I didn’t put in ‘my number.’ The bid was over. I had lost. And the note that displayed on my screen read, “This item was sold for $256.63.”

UNBELIEVABLE.

It’s like the shopping gods were trying to help me out and I ignored it. Ha.

You know what else happened? In September, I saw a very similar cut jacket in the window at Bebe. I tried it on. Liked the look. $100? I asked the staff, ‘Is this leather?’ The answer was no.

Photo: trendbite.com

There’s a place for all kinds of clothes in your wardrobe. The inexpensive tee, the designer piece, the mass produced, the vintage and the custom. There comes a time in your life, when you want something that is quality (or at least made better than you are used to buying). I’m not talking about a specific tier of designer, I’m talking about material and workmanship. Why buy pleather if lambskin is a little more?

I left the store throwing in the towel on this (far too long of a) jacket quest.

Until…Refinery29 teamed up with Veda to offer a mega deal. Eureka! Pieces are selling out fast. So if you like what you see, hop on it! The deal ends in 5 days!

(And by the way, I changed my mind on the style I loved…while it is still gorgeous, having it called the ‘it’ jacket turned me off a little…plus the shorter front and elongated back of this style seems more refreshing.)

Photo: Shopbop.com

And what started my entire obsession, is this Rick Owens jacket:

Photo: netaporter.com

Can you tell the difference in the photos? (Well of course you can.)

Photo: jacob.ca

Check it out!

Stylist Tips—Lena Piskorowski Talks Detroit Style & Building a Wardrobe

They were interested to hear about Detroit style and how guys in the ‘D’ compare to those living in the East & West coasts.

I’m learning that anything you say is really fair game to show up in print! I mean, I don’t become real angry when guys where ‘gym shoes’ as ‘real shoes’ but it does bother me…a lot.

P.S. Have you looked inside the September issue of Men’s Journal? I’m pretty proud of our (very handsome) J.Hilburn spread. You too can wear everything you see on him! (sport coat, shirt, sweater, jeans & socks!) See color options here: www.JHilburn.com