this editorial is buzzing around the tumblrsphere right now.  shot by steven meisel for vogue italia more than a decade ago, yet still captivating & current.  amazing cut & shape standing the test of time.

maggie rizer, erin o’connor & others photographed by steven meisel // fashion editor brana wolf // vogue italia, july 1997 //

No, Nathan’s not the dude in these photos. That’s Kyle. You can find out more about Kyle here. Nathan is the dude who took these awesome photos. This shoot (see the whole thing here) happened when Nathan and Kyle were just kind of goofing around while exploring in Texas.

Nathan is a lifestyle photographer, graphic designer, and all-around creative powerhouse (not to mention one heck of a nice guy) who Arlene and I met during the very first installment of Dose Market (where he was documenting the event). Something clicked when the three of us met and we’ve got great plans for the future. For now, though, you can enjoy his great eye and fun personality via his blog and his instagram. And I can let you in on this little secret — the 3 of us will soon be meeting up in San Francisco for some photographic fun, so you better stay tuned!

And do be sure to check out the entire shoot over on Nathan’s blog.

After seeing Florence and the Machine last evening, Florence Welch is really all I can think about right now. Ethereal, beautiful, luminous, she’s like a little fairy you want to put in your pocket and carry around with you. Her voice is a powerhouse — as my father would say, “that girl’ll put a song on you.” The last time I heard him say this was in reference to Christine Ebersole as Little Edie in Grey Gardens; I am confident he would have said it again had he been at the show last night.

And of course Flo has an amazing sense of style, too. Adding to her ethereal, otherworldly presence last evening was her mesmerizing, diaphanous red maxi dress. Beautiful with ladylike black pumps, it was like a fairy costume once she kicked off those pumps and began twirling the night away. Sadly, I can’t find any images of the fabulous Flo in her fabulous red dress from last night, but here’s a few of my favorite images of the angelic and mystical Ms. Welch.

At the 2011 Oscars

{image sources: 1. found via lelaluxe; 2. via Zimbio; 3. via shoppingblog; 4. and 5. by Craig McDean via Fashion Gone Rogue}

Just in time for Halloween, we asked our favorite little creative powerhouse pixie, Erika Dufour, to do what she does best — let her imagination run wild. That’s really the best direction you can give Erika. She always comes up with something that is way better than anything we could’ve thought of on our own. And this story is certainly no exception.

So I proudly present to you, Erika’s Maskquerade:

See the story BIGGER; Shop the story.

{photography, styling and creative direction by Erika Dufour for TwentyThirtyForty}

We are big fans of menswear for women (in fact, Arlene’s unofficial middle name is “tomboy chic”), so when I stumbled upon this shoot by Heidi Slimane for T Magazine, it was love at first sight.

Got it? Just think Hilary Swank in Boys Don’t Cry and go rock that androgyny!

See Boy Crazy in its entirety here.

{image sources: all images via NYTimes.com; photography by Heidi Slimane, styled by Sara Moonves, hair by Didier Malige, make-up by Rose-Marie Swift}

What we love most about our jobs (aside from the endless opportunities to play with merchandise) are the awesome and talented people we meet. One of our favorite people is the lovely and talented (and over-achieving) Kelsey Kreiling, editor-in-chief of Laundry Magazine. We reached out to Kelsey recently to see if she would want to guest style a shoot with clothes from our site. Kelsey is a fountain of creativity and really wants nothing more than “to make things,” so it was no surprise that she jumped at the chance, ran right over to the studio and pulled a pile of options. She solicited the help of photographer Kirsten Miccoli and together they created The Imagined Girl.

Kelsey and Kirsten’s creativity doesn’t stop here. There is a different version of The Imagined Girl over on Laundry Magazine with lots more gorgeous photos — check it out here.  And also be sure to keep an eye out for Kelsey and Laundry  – that girl is going places, I promise you!

As if it weren’t hot enough already, today’s this & that is turning up the heat & going tribal with fab handmade jewelry line, Kora, and fave magazine, Numero.

SHOP Kora here

editorial images lovingly borrowed from Numero Magazine - photography by Sebastian Kim

Kora images via twentythirtyforty.net

I know, I know, we go on and on about Erika Dufour, but she’s awesome and we just can’t help ourselves.

The latest story she shot for us is something I’ve personally wanted to do for a while now — kind of a rock/grunge/punk thing. I’ve always thought that there is something really beautiful about the the industrial and rundown parts of our city. Not everything is perfect and there is something very real and honest about that. Luckily, Erika sees the same thing.

Well you can’t properly bring a vision to life without a truly exceptional model, and we found one in the AMAZING Kel from Factor Women Chicago. She totally embraced the challenge and just went CRAZY! She really used her surroundings (and was not at all intimidated by the occasional condom or empty liquor bottle she encountered). She happily climbed to the roof of an abandoned building, jumped around on a random mattress, rolled around on the ground, and beat the living daylights out of a chain link fence. Honestly, she was so inspiring to watch.

So without further adieu, I give you today’s Girls Friday: Erika and Kel.

Awesome hair and make-up by Chrisondra Boyd of Ford Artists

There is so much more, so please check out the story in its entirety here.

{photography by Erika Dufour, styled by Brandon Frein and Arlene Matthews, hair and make-up by Chrisondra Boyd of Ford Artists, model: Kel of Factor Women}

Took a short drive to the town next door, a Roman city in its day…Frejus.  Wednesdays are market days in this town, so we got our flea market on and headed to Frejus….

stopped for a little lunch...thanks to the hubby {and hubby's nicoise salad}, I slapped a few anchovies on this baby! YUM.

you guessed it! a stall filled with stripes!

5 euro?!! get out!!

and the family...three baskets later!

Almost 2 years ago when we did our first Style It, we hired a model we had never met. We knew she was young, but that’s about all we knew. Not knowing what to expect, in walked Dana: this gorgeous 15 year old with the confidence, maturity and swagger of someone much much older.

She was obviously a natural. We knew it from the moment she stood in front of the camera. This was clearly a girl who wanted to model, was serious about it and was doing her homework.

We used her for every Style It we could…

And shot her for one of our cover stories…

Unquestionably a fantastic, hard-working and dedicated model, she is also just an all-around great person. Smart, mature, funny, responsible and kind, we could not be more proud of her if she was our own daughter.

And now, at 17, our little Dana is spreading her wings and taking off for New York. When we asked her how long she was going for, she said “forever.” We’re so so sad to see her go, but know that she is going to be a star. A mix of Angelina Jolie, Scarlett Johansson and one of my favorite models, Rachel Ballinger, Dana is a force to be reckoned with. When you see her mug in the glossies, just remember you saw her here first.

from our last shoot

Come on, how cute is she?!

Go kick some ass, Dana. We’re so proud of you!

Xoxo and much love,

B and A

{all images by twentythirtyforty.net; Night Shift photographed by Karl Rothenberger}