On environment, inspiration, and being a sponge...

Kimberley at Wildfox is killing it. Always. But lately she's upped her game and feathered in more personal posts with her usual photo-heavy/word-light fare. As such, my addiction to her blog has reached a worrisome new level. Nine weeks of bed rest is really just a blog-stalking enabler, and Kimberley is my unwitting prey.

Anyway... she recently posted a fantastic piece on personal inspiration and the response from readers was just as great. I love reading about the big and little things that inspire others in their everyday life- so this post was so so sooooo much fun. I'm going to plagiarize myself a bit now and use my own comment to her as explanation on how inspiration works for me.

For my part, I feel like a big sponge when it comes to inspiration. I tend to soak in a bit of everything that I surround myself with, so I try very hard to curate my life as much as possible surrounding myself with the people and things that make me happy, that I consider beautiful or lovely in some way, and that trigger deeper inspiration in myself. It tends to be like a spiraling train of thought that revolves around fashion but rarely ever starts there.

Architecture, Paumes books, mood boards and collages, biographies, my precious family, my happy little plants and flowers, the things that make me laugh, endless education, squishy-faced animals, shades of pink and cream, Paris and the sandy dirt in the parks there, the gardens at Versailles, the beaches back home, finches and little old birdcages, goldfish, Montana spray paint and home-made stencils, fancy teas, the artwork on our walls, the artwork we find on walls outside, Kokeshi dolls, little tiny taxidermy animals, cherry blossoms, fine pointed Sakura pens, charcoal and watercolors, travelling, music, farmers markets, my lovely little home, creating vignettes, rose oil, coconut lotion, spa days, Mexican hot chocolate, grapefruit Perrier, lemon Pelegrino, dark dark chocolate, origami paper, kissing, photography, heirlooms, cooking, carousels, re-purposing, warm weather, fruit and animal patterns, lychees fresh from the tree, pom poms, tutus, stripes, polka dots, quirks, people watching...

These things (and so much more) make up my life. They occupy the space in my head and (if I'm lucky), allow me to catch glimpses of a collective consciousness that will become a trend two seasons from now. They help me to anticipate as accurately as I'm able. And what is apparel buying if not anticipation? We clear our minds, cross our fingers, and try to see the future... Blogs inspire me too. Growing up in an age of zines in place of blogs, I can say that the blog age is 100x better. It's instant gratification, and comradery. Being someone extremely sensitive to their environment has both its benefits and drawbacks. When my home or work space is not a reflection of my (pathetically) artistic temperament, it's difficult for me to control my moods and impossible for me to be either creative or productive. But when the space around me is balanced with the visuals, sounds and smells that make me happy... oh my gosh, every door is open, the roof floats away to reveal limitless possibility and life is extraordinary.

Thank you Kimberley, for being an inspiration. Thank you for giving us behind-the-scenes glimpses into your life and your collections. You have become an invaluable tool in my trending forecast pocket and I am SO incredibly grateful to you for that. You are as lovely as they come.