Stacia Loves Jello

Several of my online customers recently told me they found Stacia through a Jello ad. A Jello ad? I was completely clueless. I had not idea what they were talking about. But sure enough, in this month's More magazine there's a lovely triple-fold ad-itorial displaying the Style Doctor, Gina La Morte's Summer slimming picks inspired by Jello's new Acai and Goji flavors. Once again, my favorite dress has been chosen - the pomegranate flutter wrap dress (most recently featured on Instyle.com!) The perfect "cherry-licious" curvy dress for Summer.

P.S. The dress is on sale now for $154 - woohoo!

May Deals & Steals - Instyle.com

Check out Instyle.com this month for their Deals & Steals for a special discount code off Stacia at www.shopstacia.com. The good news is most of Spring is already on sale on shopstacia.com, so add in an extra 15% off and you're surely getting a steal! Just between you, me, and Instyle, the secret code is STYL09. Enter at checkout and you'll receive 15% off your purchases and free shipping. One of my favorite Spring dresses is featured on Instyle.com - the pomegranate flutter wrap dress - to die for! The perfect sexy, colorful frock to brighten up your day. And many more great dresses to entice you at shopstacia.com...

Baby Stella in Stacia

I didn't think there could be a cuter baby girl than mine wearing Stacia. Baby Stella has one-up'd my baby Kaiulani sporting her Mesa bamboo swing dress in People magazine this week. For those of you who do not know the baby stars by first name, Ms. Stella is Tori Spelling's latest creation. Unfortunately, this cute little frock is no longer available - sold out at Kitson and online at shopstacia.com. But don't fret, you can get a similar look for yourself online now. We've got several great bamboo knit dresses in an array of happy space-dyed colors that will suit you this Summer. And they're on sale now. Shop while supplies last!

Earth Day 2009 in Temescal Canyon

Earth Day is around the corner and what better way to celebrate than outdoors in the sunshine amongst friends and nature. Come join the festivities in Temescal Canyon in the Pacific Palisades at Beeplanet's Community-style Spring festival on Saturday, April 25th from 10am - 2pm.

Beeplanet is a multi-sensory, play program based in Temescal Canyon that allows parents and their little ones explore, play, and learn about nature, music, movement, and art. Beyond these fabulous interactive classes (go online for class schedules,) Beeplanet showcases special events that help create a sense of wonderment, entertainment, and enrichment for all ages and to support local parks and the Earth.

Beeplanet's Earth Day celebration includes live music, dancing, arts and crafts for kids, interactive eco-tips, animal awareness, and of course simply relaxing in the beauty of nature. It's a great way to enjoy nature on Earth Day and to burn some stink off your kids.

Yours truly will be there selling Stacia Ecoknit bamboo scarves in vibrant nature colors, as well as raffling off a scarf for the event. And my good friend, artist Ria Ray, will be on hand to introduce her new mantra tie series "I take the vow" - her collaboration with Deepak Chopra.

Buy tickets online at www.beeplanet.com/events and spread the word!

Style Icon - Chloe Sevigny

My husband loves to come home from Ralphs and ask me to close my eyes and hold out my hands. This is where I roll my eyes, grin, and happily accept my guilty pleasure, usually a celebrity rag mag. But this time, it was the latest issue of C Magazine. Boy, does Chloe Sevigny rock the cover! Chloe has always been sort of an underground fashion icon with her quirky avant-garde style, but with the success of Big Love, her stardom has come mainstream and her fashion wit is ever brilliant.

It's not just being swathed in a gorgeous Rodarte gown, but her sultry pose puts her one-up on any fashion model (Okay, can I ask? Did Rodarte get a free ad in C magazine for dressing Chloe for the cover or did they just win the lottery?) And in the pages of the mag, the true New Yorker shines and struts her stuff in all kinds of ruched, draped, zipped, and fringed black clothing. Stellar.

It's sort of great to see her all glammed up when I'm so used to seeing her in her Amish-wares every Sunday night on Big Love. Although her character's wardrobe is bland and prudish, her manipulative, calculating persona on the show is not. But that's what I love about her character. The clothes are a front and underneath all that Laura Ingalls, she's all sass.

In real life, Ms. Sevigny from as early as '95 has been her own trend-setter, sort of under the radar, but totally in tune to what's cool. As C says, she has that natural "too cool for school" look, but underneath all that style is a genuine, approachable woman, an "it" girl without the attitude. How refreshing!

I'm bummed my Sunday night hour of Big Love is now on hiatus and I have to DVR the reruns. But what a treat to see a familiar face on the cover of C - Chloe, my new favorite style icon.

From the Sketchpad - Part II

It's been quite a few years since I hit the Shore, the Jersey Shore that is. My next vacation in fact will be in Bay Head, NJ. I can't wait to stroll the boardwalk, savor my Hoffman's ice cream, view the colorful seaside cottages, and feel the sugar-white sand between my toes, even if it's only for a quick weekend in July.

There's a collection just dying to come out of this vacation. I'm already thinking nautical stripes in vibrant shades of barn red, aqua blue, sherbert orange, and classic navy, all tipped in white of course. The Jersey Shore is a completely different animal than the beaches of Santa Monica or even Hawaii for that matter. There's something about those East Coast boardwalks, salt-water taffy, Italian hoagies, and hand-scooped ice cream experiences that just can't compare to any other beach lifestyle. Before I grew up in Hawaii and Alaska, and even New York City, I began life in South Jersey, and still remember those idyllic Summers at the Shore. So it be only fitting that I design a collection around those sensory memories and I've got one cooking in me right now.

This will be the perfect backdrop for my sustainable cotton/seaweed yarn, mixing nautical stripes with my signature spacedye patterns and pops of solid trim. I'm can already envision an orange and turquoise blue space-dyed combination with accents of blue and white stripes (as illustrated in my photo above.) I'm sketching braided cord accents in drawstrings hoodies, bandeau bikinis with an oversized grommet for a sexy halter tie, short-sleeved sailor hoodies with nickel grommets and lacing, and the quintessential striped hoodie. By the time I actually take this vacation to Bayhead, this collection will have already come to fruition, but my memories and expectations of the Jersey Shore are inspiration enough.

From the Sketchpad - Part I

Designing Spring is my favorite season and where I can really express my love for color. It's the reason I moved out here to Santa Monica (I ditched all my NYC black threads and hit the West Coast.) Back in my NY days on Smith Street, you'd be hard pressed to find any black or neutrals in my store. Other than the colorful island-themed line Calypso, I was probably the only New York designer churning out colorful Hawaiin printed frocks. But here in sunny Santa Monica, color is expected and I'm happy to deliver.

For Spring 2010, I'm already starting the grueling design process of figuring out my palette and inspiration. It's not that it's hard to come up with the ideas, it's just hard to edit my ideas down to three cohesive collections. I know for sure one group will be a collection of pop colors accented with white - a clean, fresh, island-style palette. I'm inspired by the quintessential beach house that's sun-washed in white with splashes of vibrant color accents. I'm already imagining my space-dye palette of kelly green/white, cobalt blue/white, ocean blue/white, tangerine/white, yellow/white, and even a crisp black/white combination (see a few of my inspirations above.)

With this in my head and almost fully developed, I was pleasantly surprised when I walked into Calypso Home at the Brentwood Country Mart last weekend. Low and behold on white lacquer shelves were brightly displayed pillows, beach blankets, candles, and vases in pop colors of green, yellow, turquoise, and orange, all accented with white. Ahh hah! Yes, that's what I'm thinking! Bold ikat-esque prints will be beautifully translated in my custom space-dyed knitted patterns and will look gorgeous in my bamboo knits. I'm so excited, I can't wait to start sampling these new ikat-spacedye prints in the next couple months so I can see my vision complete. Stay tuned for more "From the Sketchpad" as I start pulling together the Spring 2010 Stacia collection...

Michelle Obama - The Bee's Knees

The queen bee has landed! This morning when I fetched the newspaper, blurry-eyed and half awake, I was immediately revitalized when I saw Michelle Obama on the cover of the LA Times descending Air Force One in Essex, England. She looked utterly refreshing in a vibrant yellow dress, black Spring coat, and patent leather belt. Next to all those dull politicians she was a shining star adding a much needed dose of color in a time of recession. Yellow is a color of optimism and evokes the feeling of Spring's new beginning.

Traditionally, yellow when paired with black makes you think of the colorings of a bee, but in this case it is pure perfection. Yellow was seen all over the runways for Spring, mainly in singular color sheaths adding just the right pop of color. But the world of politics is a very different world than the runway. What Michelle has single-handedly done for fashion in the White House is balance fun, wearable fashion with the conservative world she lives in.

It would be unheard of for her, or any politician's wife for that matter, to descend from Air Force One wearing just a bright yellow sheath (even Ms. Obama knows when it's appropriate to cover one's arms.) By doning a chic little Spring coat and effortlessly belting it with a black patent leather belt, she added a whole new dimension to her ensemble.

Bravo Ms. Obama!