Our May Cover Story is shot and should be up soon  This one came down to the wire!  I mean, the wire!  Brandon and I were getting looks together the morning of the shoot with a start time of 9am.  Thanks to the talented crew and the amazing location, all went off without a hitch and the story is beautiful.  This shoot we had a couple of inspirations…this great jewelry ad from Tous.  Oooo la la!

and this FANTASTIC dress from Les Prairies de Paris….

That dress lead us to the gorgeous Rose…..and Voila!  Karl’s take of Rose + Tous ad…..

Thank you Karl!! Cover-Story-Rose would not be Cover-Story-Rose without you!!

The talented crew...photographer extraordinaire, hair stylist extraordinaire and stylist extraordinaire. This is one of my favorite shots....on the white couch :)

OK, threw this one in. Me, behing-the-scenes the day before in our studio for another shoot. Studio shoots are a little nutty in our small space....clothes, makeup, a good handful of people and even sometimes a dog!

Many thanks to our friends, Lisa & Joel.  Their home (aka…amazing location) was absolutely perfect for this shoot.  Here are just a few detail shots of the location…..

4' metal wall hanging

a pair of ceiling lights in the living area

ceiling above the kitchen & dining area

Funny, but the word “fresh” has been taunting (and haunting) me a little for the past few months. So I find it ironic that it seems to me to be the perfect title for this post.

On Monday, Arlene and I shot our cover story for May with the fantastic Karl Rothenberger and an adorable model from Factor, Rose. 

the lovely Rose, wearing Rachel Comey skort and blouse and N.D.C. boots

Rose’s mother told us that Rose wants to straighten her hair. Can you imagine???? You should of seen — and heard — the reaction in the room when that came out! Apart from her disappointment with her curly lot in life, this young model (she’s a mere 14 years old) takes her modeling very seriously. We asked her who her favorite model is and she said Karlie Kloss. Which is even more ironic because Karl just showed us this Karlie Kloss story from Vogue UK, shot by Alasdair McLellan, as inspiration for an upcoming summer cover story (to be shot in NYC, stay tuned!)…

{I swear I sat on a floor just like that in a room just like that and watched Richard Nixon’s resignation speech on a TV set just like that. Classic Americana.}

Born in the USA images via Fashion Gone Rogue.

We shot our upcoming cover story (party dressing!!!) at the Raffaello.  I was completely taken by this gorgeously sexy hotel and once again, completely taken by our fair city….this time 18 floors up.  The Rafaello sits perfectly in the heart of the Gold Coast neighborhood and all around was just a treat for the eye.

a peek at North Ave Beach

something bout those fire escapes...just love them

the famous John Hancock

ahhhh.....gorgeous

great old vintage buildings like this one are sprinkled all over the city

a couple of behind-the-scene shots....Amelia & Karl

Amelia & Karl

and....Amelia & Karl :)

many, many, many thanks to Jared Galbut and the Rafaello Hotel, Mr Karl Rothenberger, the beautiful Amelia Pool.  AND last but not least (we could never do it w/o you), Katie & Kelcey!!

We shot our Nov cover story this past week and unlike the West Coast or down South, it’s cold here in Chicago.  We got completely gypped out of summer AND our indian summer!  The forcast that day was a tropical 60 degrees.  We maybe got close to 50?  Then there’s the wind that takes that number down another 10 degrees.  The wind just whips off the lake and…#@%)^T*($!!  But like those killer shoes, we do it for some fashion  I have to say, the fashion, the photography and the weather did make our hearts beat that much faster

The dynamic duo, Karl & Michelle

There’s Ms Nicole, our hair & makeup artist, trying to stay warm in a doorway and ‘guarding’ all our gear.  Who says fashion isn’t glamourous?

ahhhh….there’s a better picture of Nicole 

many thanks to…

Karl Rothenberger, photographer extraordinaire

Michelle Hicks, model extraordinaire

Nicole Schimel, hair & makeup artist & security guard extraordinaire

Katie Piotraschke, intern extraordinaire

Recently, we had the pleasure of meeting New York-based photographer, Karl Rothenberger. He’s from our fair city and is back in town briefly to visit family and work on a few creative projects — twentythirtyforty.net being one of them! We are very excited about working with him and wanted to share some his fabulous work with you, too. We’ll forgive him for shooting in Brooklyn with NYC models and hair and make-up artists. After all, when the result is this good, who are we to argue?

I just love the vibe of this so much. And the hair just blows me away. Amazing.

all images provided by Karl Rothenberger Photography.