David Downton’s fashion illustration and celebrity portraiture is truly stunning.. Lovely painterly style is gracefully loose yet is able to capture fine detail. Gorgeous stuff… wish his prints weren’t all sold out.

A mini-issue is now up at Nirali Magazine featuring a few home-related South Asian home designers. Among them, Ankasa was one of my favorites. Founded by husband and wife team, Sachin and Babi Ahluwalia, Ankasa features contemporary décor using the traditional weaving and embroidery techniques of India. Love the textures of these accessories.

Saw the Lover Spring/Summer 2007 collection via Joy and loved it all. I’m really loving the idea of super short dresses for the spring. So adorable with short stacked wedges or flats. Going through the site is a treat, as always. See my post on last Spring’s collection here.

Spied this vintage advertisement for Yardley of London Lip Slickers on Gatochy’s Flickr stream and loved it. Favorite line in the ad copy: “Caution: She carries her ammunition in a secret Lip Lighter, a small ingenious little case for kissing. One end holds a Slicker… the other end a London Look lipstick in one of 6 man-trapping colors: Chelsea Pink, Pinkadilly, Dicey Peach, Poppycock, Nippy Beige, Peacherino.” (Man-Trapping?? Hilarity.) Thought I’d share. She has tons of vintage ads from the 1850s to the 1980s scanned and ready for perusing. Lovely for inspiration.

Been constantly thinking about these flats for awhile… I keep seeing them on chic women while walking up and down Madison Ave. Saw the post today on FabSugar about new colors for spring and immediately clicked over to view and fell in love with a few. The Lime Green as well as the Masaai Red (above) stood out for me. Such cute flats.

Um guys? Can we talk about Bottega Veneta for a minute? Like about how awesome they are? Seriously, people. I flipped through their latest catalog and wanted one of everything. (Yes, I am aware the prices are very much reflecting an extremely luxe product but please let me freak out about them right now.) The current ad campaign is absolutely gorgeous (featuring one of my favorite models, Inguna Butane.) with muted color and gorgeous photography. The spring collection is absolutely heavenly, lots of dresses, great fabrics, great drape, great textures. The handbags are, as usual phenomenal. Such soft looking leathers and other exotic skins, great form. Plus, amazing jewelry featuring some really beautiful materials. I love the stained glass-looking necklaces. In total love right now.

Peeped these alphabet blocks over at House Industries and immediately fell in love with them. There’s something lovely about tactile, carved childrens’ toys. These are exceptionally beautiful with different suns, letters, words and a puzzle piece on each side. (The puzzle forms a cute picture of a factory inspired by the work of famed Herman Miller textile designer Alexander Girard.) Fab stuff.

I love looking at Kate Spade’s website. So many great things to look at aside from the pretty accessories including her new section Behind The Curtain which showcases various projects she’s working on and things she loves. Great section to have for any brand, in my opinion. I love the typography on that particular section as well. I also love the section that shows the latest advertising campaigns. Such genius. Ohhhh Kate!

Noticed that Steven Harrington updated his site with new work. Lovely as usual. Great color sense here. Love the peacocks. Check out the Etc. section for photos of his installations.

Rachel Roy’s Spring 2007 collection is so delightful. I noticed all the lovely yellows and just had to post it. Lots of ladylike details, beautiful pleating and ruffling. I love this designer so much more with every new collection she does.

New journals from Five and a Half… this new collection is made from sugarcane fiber and postconsumer paper. Love the illustrations that adorn these, the muted color is stunning as well. Also available is a limited-edition journal featuring a photograph of Martin Luther King Jr. to commemorate the upcoming 40th anniversary of his assassination.

How amazing is Rosa Loves? Inspired by real people in financial need, t-shirts are designed to directly benefit them. Each t-shirt is accompanied with it’s own personal story. An Indonesian seaweed farmer. An American family who lost their home in a fire. I absolutely love this concept. Beautifully designed shirts, beautiful stories, such worthy causes. From Rosa Loves: “We hope to encourage individual people to get involved in the community around them on a somewhat tangible scale… Everyone has a story. Everyone has a need. By using art and creativity, we hope to foster hope and encouragement through the aid of apparel. Each story will be told through stimulating graphics and actual text that will appear on the inverse of the shirt directly in line with the heart, where the Rosa Loves movement stems from.”