Miss Massachusetts 2011

Miss Massachusetts 2011 ~ Alida D'Angona

Recently crowned Miss Massachusetts 2011, the lovely Alida D'Angona. We were graced with Alida's presence at Fashionably Late's Newbury 211 show at the Liberty Hotel. A beautiful woman and we wish the best for her (and us) in the Miss USA finals.

OK. Yes, I'm a sucker for pictures with beautiful woman. Thanks to Jan "Archee" Bloch for taking hold of the camera for this one.

Happy New Year!

Michael Cress ~ Sartorial Boston

Latest Publication: Column in "Life With Style" Magazine

Click page to enlarge (then click again to magnify)... or just use a magnifying glass

For Sartorial Boston, this was a special piece since the people and businesses involved in the shoot accompanying the column were purely Boston-based. 

Many thanks to Birri O'Dea, editor of Life With Style magazine. For the photoshoot, tremendous gratitude to Christina Pierce- a wonderful stylist who pulled a family of rabbits out of the hat to make it happen on a tight deadline. The fantastic Mizu Salon not only did the hair styling but also became a homebase as we shot two models with twelve total looks at various locations in one day. Also many thanks to make-up artist Teague Vivolo, Holiday Boutique and Moxie Boston for the wonderful clothes and accessories. Finally our two stunning and highly professional models, Hollis Crowley and Ashley Bickford (shown). I look forward to showing more images from the shoot- I only wish more could have published with the column. Love all of you guys!

Louis Welcomes Designer Roland Mouret

Roland Mouret

Louis, the grande dame of New England luxury retail, welcomed internationally acclaimed designer Roland Mouret to the new spacious Louis location to meet with customers and discuss his latest line. The event offered a rare opportunity to meet the talented French born London resident in the United States. Louis was the first stop for Mouret on a four-city whirlwind tour which was followed by appearances the next day at Bergdorf Goodman's in New York and additional stops in Chicago and Miami. Mouret shows his Spring and Fall RTW during Paris Fashion Week so this was my first opportunity to both meet the designer as well as see his collection on display.

Roland Mouret

Louis was abuzz during the event with cheerful customers energetically taking advantage of the rare opportunity to gain invaluable and gracious input from the designer himself as they tried his latest line. Roland Mouret himself was clearly in his element dealing directly with Louis' clientele and his joyful enthusiasm was contagious. A radiant smile throughout the event and an eagerness to assist clients made for a great environment.

Roland Mouret's designs are known for celebrating the feminine form, excellent drape, minimalism and wearability. He says the perfect dress would be made with one piece of fabric and comes close in many designs. In his first runway show 10 years ago, he pinned all the pieces and without a stitch the show was a tremendous success to viewer and critic alike. I asked Mouret about the challenges of seasonal changes the fashion industry demands with his minimalist style. "It would be easy for me to design pieces which are very avant garde, but none of them would be wearable", Mouret said. This is a striking response. Perhaps it is easier for designers to showcase wildly costume-style designs for the runway at the cost of wearability. The real talent is creating "wow" pieces that can be worn straight off the runway. 

Roland Mouret

Mouret has maintained the minimalism of construction and most pieces in his current line have only one or two seams and some well placed darting. What results are elegant, figure flattering pieces with none of the unnecessary frivolousness. As the models and clients tried on Mouret's different garments, it was striking how timeless the looks were. A classic has relevance in the past, present and future.  Mouret's designs are instant classics.         

Roland Mouret

Roland Mouret

Roland Mouret

http://www.rolandmouret.com/
http://www.louisboston.com/

StyleBoston Chooses their Fresh New Co-Host

 The award-winning TV show "StyleBoston" chose their "fresh new face" Thursday evening at the Liberty Hotel. After the nominating committee narrowed their choices down from two thousand to three talented finalists, they announced the lovely Kimberly Walleston as he new co-host. Everyone give a big welcome to Kimberly!

Kimberly Walleston and StyleBoston Founder and CEO, Terri Stanley

The Beautiful Ladies of StyleBoston Showing Their Style

One of the few quiet moments of this very special evening

Marco Radakovic

I admit it. I'm much tougher on men than I am on woman when it comes to good subjects for the New York Sartorialist. Why? Because I am one. I hold them to the same standards I hold myself in both dress as well as personal style and character. If I'm walking the streets of New York, I pass by literally thousands of men (and woman). As far as dress and presentation, woman have greater latitude in what they can look stylish in. For men, we're dealing with a more confined set of sartorial guidelines. Even those who are wearing nice clothes, tailored well and nice shoes- there is inevitably something missing most of the time. Panache! 

The Wall Street uniform doesn't do it for me unless they add personal touches to express their unique style (Bugs Bunny ties are not what I have in mind). Things the way they are, I inevitably find things that are "deal-killers" for me. For woman, the obvious sartorial deal-killer are their shoes. That's the beginning. Boring, mundane and lazy will kill a look. For men, that same rule applies. However, being a guy I know exactly how a jacket, slacks, ties, colors, patterns and fabrics should all work together and look as well as perfect tailoring. I'm pretty tough on my fellow man in this regard. It's slim pickins' out there, which is why I show more woman than men. That said...

I met Marco Radakovic a while back. Always a gentleman. Always dressed impeccably. The irony is we got together on a warm working Saturday afternoon and he had pulled the shirt out sans jacket. Knowing his style, he gets sartorial slack here. Being a straight male, I'm not wired for picking out really good looking guys and those who aren't. For Marco, he's a damn good looking gent. Even I can tell that.

Marco is Croatian. A football (soccer) star in his native country, he came to the U.S. in his early 20's to play professionally. About two years into it he suffered a career ending torn ACL injury. This is the beginning of explaining the soul of the man. In retelling the story to me, he said countless times how much he loved his surgeon. To this day he has tremendous warmth and sincere gratitude for the Dr. Why? He did his job and did it caringly and honestly. One would expect that those feelings would be reserved for someone who performed a miracle and got him back onto the field. No. Told from the beginning it was over and indeed it was. Short of not being able to play anymore, he's 100%. That deep gratitude for someone else in the now distant past tells me a lot about who Marco is. You won't hear that heartfelt talk from selfish, egocentric people. It's all about them and there's no room for anyone else. That's character. That's style. 

An entrepreneur, Marco has lived and is living the American dream... the opportunity of which is something else he's very grateful for. It would take pages to list his bio since his football career; let's say it's inspiring. Even in the face of people telling him he can't do something, he inevitably proves them wrong. Business? Got it. A few years ago he started playing with the idea of modeling and acting. Modeling? You're too old! Oh really? Guess again, his sideline modeling and acting career has come into full bloom. Versace runway, Four Seasons print ads, undercover special agent in the new Tom Cruise/Cameron Diaz film, "Knight and Day". Too old my foot!

Aside from the blossoming modeling and acting career, Marco is currently spending most of his time as the COO of the newly formed Wold Model Pros Modeling Agency as well as the Manager of Business Development for Couture Fashion Week. When I previously mentioned it was a "working" Saturday, they were casting for the event. 

The real deal. Character, optimistic, gracious, warm, open and honest. The kind of gentleman a gentleman wants to surround himself with. If only there were more.

Ashley Bickford

Ashley Bickford

I found this to be amazing.

While in Boston, I attended a wonderful fashion show presented by Eye Candy benefiting the Massachussetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (M.S.P.C.C).  Three previous New York Sartorialist featured individuals; Christina Pierce, Amy Patt and Elena Kollarova were walking in the show- how could I resist? It's for a good cause after-all.

I met up with Ashley Bickford after the show and found her to be charming, gracious, accommodating and sincere.

Yes, she's Miss Connecticut USA 2010. Attending college in Rhode Island, she won Miss Rhode Island 2007 and as a result was that state's representative for Miss America. Ashley's only the 7th "Triple Crown" winner in pageant history to have won her state's title and competed in Miss Teen USA, Miss USA and Miss America.

It would be a big mistake to stop there. O.K. Ready? Classically trained ballerina since childhood. Undergrad degree in Accounting. MBA. Professional print and runway model (including Town and Country Magazine and New York Fashion Week). We're still going... Audit Committee for the Hope Funds for Cancer Research Inc., previous volunteer for AmeriCorps, television host of "Northeast Adventures" and recently in the film "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" with Matthew McConaughey as one of the "future" girlfriends.

Here's the kicker. Remember I mentioned that degree in Accounting and the MBA? For the last two years she's worked as an accountant for Price Waterhouse Coopers, one of the "Big 4" accounting firms. Accounting. My father was an accountant. I know accountants. Ashley is not in the same universe of the stereotypical accountant. All of this and she's 24. Her ability to expand time as if in slow motion to accomplish so much is striking. How would you like to have Ashley sitting in the cube next to you at work?  

When you think of pageants, it's easy to stereotype those participants as well. Who can forget some of the notoriously bad moments of the occasional ditsy answer to a question that's later played repeatedly in the media? Ashley, her intelligence, graciousness and energy should be an example of why it wouldn't be fair for any of us to make assumptions about pageant participants, models or for that matter- extremely attractive individuals.

The look: The form-fitting two-tone dress is very flattering. I didn't ask but it looks like it may be a Parker dress. Crush Boutique in Boston featured a flattering Parker Tuxedo dress in the Eye Candy show that had a similar two-tone pattern, so there's my best guess. The sandals. I have seen a number of beautiful woman wearing these heeled sandals with minimal straps including Alessandra Ambrosio and Adrianna Lima. Needless to say, I approve. I'm seeing too many flip-flops and flats these days for my taste. Those can ruin, or at least detract from an otherwise perfectly stylish summer ensemble. I hope others will follow the lead of these three beautiful ladies.      

Christina Pierce

Christina Pierce

Do you ever have one of those moments you see someone you know but you can't place them right away because they're in a different place or element than you're accustomed? Something like that happened with me recently. I was at an event last week and two friends, Joe Miceli-Magnone and his partner Ed Garou were showing me pictures from Providence StyleWeek. There was an event photo taken with a beautiful lady that I knew. I just couldn't put it together! Joe and Eddie live in New York. After a few moments, it dawned on me the third was Christina Pierce, friend from Boston. NYC fashion crowd, Boston fashion crowd. Together. It took a moment but I got it. In a related note, I heard nothing but rave reviews on the Providence show. I'll definitely make it a point to make it next year.

Christina Pierce lives fashion. Growing up the north shore from Boston, she attended Boston University where she graduated from the School of Management. Taking her love of fashion and combining it with her business degree, she worked for a major clothing retail conglomerate for three years. Working as a buyer, stylist, marketing and projecting and spotting fashion trends- she learned a tremendous amount about not only fashion but the business of fashion. It's a rare combination for one to understand both; usually it's all fashion or all business. 

Christina and her entrepreneurial spirit set out on her own after realizing she had learned One of the great things about having your own business is that no one will put you in a box preventing you from exercising all your skills, talents and passions. Having good business sense helps to ensure monetizing those talents to the greatest possible degree. For example, Christina works with larger companies, hotels, boutiques and designers to help with the fashion side, business side or both- all falling under the large umbrella of fashion consulting. Many designers are fantastic at designing but fall short on the business side. This is where she adds tremendous value by bridging that gap.

Christina's personality mirrors her background. She can be the fun bubbly blonde or she can be deadly serious and businesslike. It's a great balance. Very kind, gracious and thoughtful- a delight. Today is Christina's birthday (June 24th). I think she's been celebrating all week, which is good since she's working two shows tonight. Not surprisingly, with her beauty she's asked to walk runway at a number of shows as well as perform her duties as a stylist for the designers. I have the good fortune of seeing her on the catwalk tonight on her birthday. Good thing that celebration was a week long... no rest for the talented and hard-working Christina Pierce. In my small way, my Birthday present is having this published today. Happy Birthday!

The look: The above image shows her sporting a beautiful brown dress with a pleasant sheen from the Boston boutique Bobbles and Lace as well as Chanel heels. Love the look. Simple and elegant.

Below, Christina's sporting a very different look with J Crew shorts, H&M suspenders and Giuseppe Zannotti with serious bling! It's fun. Thought the American flag was a nice touch for the all-American girl look with a twist.

Additional Credits for both images:

Necklace: Tiffany & Co.

Bangles: Alex and Ani

Earrings: Chanel

Ashley Lambert

Ashley Lambert

As soon as I met Ashley, I couldn't take my eyes off her. She's obviously beautiful but has great energy. Her expressiveness and personality really shines through in images. I'm constantly amazed at how much someone tells about themselves simply through small nuances in their face and eyes. It's a window to the soul.

Ahh. Summer is here and the sundresses are out. There's something wonderful, natural and attractive about the simplicity of a sundress. This shot of Ashley is pure visible pleasure of her ease and comfort. I'm typically not a fan of flats but they are de rigueur here. Fortunately, these are stylish and quite attractive. A long way from flip-flops which I must admit I abhor since they ruin an otherwise great look.

An interesting topic of conversation revolved around of all things, sports. Ashley played college soccer. Having played college and professional golf in a former life myself, talk of dedication, hard-work and competition flowed. It's one of those things that you have to have experienced to truly understand. I will say she has great balance in life and really gets it.

Ashley Lambert is the new generation in the fashion industry. Recently getting her degree in Fashion Marketing, she's worked behind the scenes on countless fashion shows. Unless you're in the industry its hard to appreciate the complexity of a runway show. Organized chaos. Months of preparation and planning and an untold number of people involved that converge for a couple hour window of final preparation for a show that may last all of 15 minutes. Something unexpected always goes wrong in the final moments that takes a cool head to work through. It takes a special personality and demeanor to organize a show from beginning to end. Ashley does it very well. I only wish she wan't backstage so we could see her stylish charm!

Amy Patt

Amy Patt

A while ago I received an email that said, "I absolutely love your site, your point of view and what your doing. You're someone I really would like to meet. Can we make that happen?". Genuine flattery getting you everywhere, my response was "Of course!".

Spending my fair share of time in Boston, Amy Patt and I finally firmed up plans to get together. As I was about to walk into our meeting place, I glanced across the street and someone caught my attention. Realize I am always looking for someone to catch my eye; that said, it doesn't happen as often as you may think. Just the right style and intangibles are rare.

As I was looking over, that very tall, well-dressed beautiful blonde waved at me. I thought, could this be Amy? Sure enough, as she made her way across the intersection she said, "Michael!?". That was my introduction. From there, things moved fast. I was going to get coffee but there was a line. No problem. Amy whispered over to one of the people working there and a coffee was immediately in my hands. That's just how Amy is.

Amy is one of those people that just seems to know and make friends with everyone. Someone I instantly adored. A personality that is a vortex and brings you into her orbit. She's in perpetual motion. Constantly talking with people either in person or on the phone. If there's a brief lull, she checks her messages and returns emails. Among other things, she's a connector, a networker. Need something? She knows who to go to get things done.

Previously married and now a single mother of two, life has been constantly evolving. Five years ago she began to get involved in the sparse Boston fashion scene. Being a networker, logical planner and social, she started a high-end event planning, fashion consulting and promotion company. It took off. Just a couple of weeks ago she held a sold-out event with 700 people that included a runway show. From the people I spoke with who attended, it was a huge success. The once desolate Boston fashion scene is now thriving with an average of two shows a week. They've come a long way. Did Amy Patt have something to do with it? I have to think her energy and enthusiasm only helped. The degree is impossible to quantify but they don't call her "the fashion lady" for nothing.

Amy's evolution is continuing on to more and larger opportunities. She recently became the Boston correspondent for Black-Tie Magazine and has a blog called the "Boston Sophisticate" that covers a wide array of her experiences and views of the fashion and social scene as well as thoughts on her own life.

The biggest opportunity Amy now has is she is becoming the General Manager for World Model Pros and World Model Magazine. For the modeling agency, she has begun scouting new talent and will be traveling to Croatia later in the summer to establish an international office. Things are moving fast for Amy Patt. She has the energy, the personality and the talent to pull it off. In fact, I don't think she'll let anything stop her. This is going to be fun to watch!

Style definitely has a story.

Her look: Amy is very thoughtfully well-put together and accessorized . White jeans and a white top with a navy jacket cinched at the waste. The navy framing her face was a good choice to balance and bring contrast to the white and highlight her lighter skin and hair. The clothing and bag are from a nifty Boston boutique called Terrida (they have mens as well- I checked!). The stylish heels are Max Azria and sunglasses by Dolce & Gabanna.

Elena Kollarova

Elena Kollarova

I can play word-association with almost everyone I've ever profiled. Elena Kollarova is Regal.

Bulgarian born and raised, Elena is now in college pursuing a Marine Biology degree at Suffolk University. I'm no dummy (others may argue differently) but I'm not sure I could have survive through college in marine biology. "Thanks for coming but this probably is not your calling" is what I would have heard after another dismal grade.

We've established two clear things about Elena: she's beautiful and smarter than many (most) of us. Did I mention she's a sweetheart too? Stunning, magnificent, elegant, intelligent and a great personality. Total package. People I like... in my never-ending hopes that I can get some through osmosis (my token biology term).

Elena's been modeling and walking the runways and is now poised to really break-out with her modeling career. Even more obvious to me since I had such a hard time choosing which image to go with-  all incredible. Ahh, those steely blue eyes. Perhaps I'll put another one in... if I can make up my mind which.

Anyone who reads this site with any regularity knows that I feel style is about more than how someone looks or dresses. There are so many intangibles to have style, a classic style- that it would be hard to categorize them. It comes from the inside-out. There's simply no faking it. It's transparent.

Having had a varied conversation after taking these shots on Bulgaria, America, marine biology, her trip to Maine in August for school and SCUBA diving- my first instinct was correct. This gal has style and she lives it. Whether Elena is on the cover of every fashion magazine in the world, finds her place working in and near the water or chooses some unknown path, I'm confident she'll do it... regally.

Natalie King

Natalie King

When she was growing up, all she wanted to do was be in the fashion and magazine business. Using her resourcefulness and passionate energy, she started writing freelance in college. Her Senior year, it all started to come together.

Natalie King is not just another pretty face. When she decides her destination, its just a matter of time before she gets there.

Born in North Carolina, her mother remarried when she was eight. Her step-father was a Boston native, so the family relocated. Always having the split contrast of the urban Northeast and the slower paced Outer Banks, she finds her balance in enjoying the best of both worlds. Whether its due to cultural geography, family upbringing or just an innate sense of style, Natalie has an elegant balance about her.

That Senior year in Boston, she attended a charity event that's always been an annual ritual. As a motivated aspiring writer, she arranged an interview with a well known boutique owner. Serendipitously, earlier at the event Natalie had been seated at the same table of a woman she felt oddly gravitated to. Her mannerisms, the way she spoke, dressed and carried herself. Asking someone else at the table who this lady was, she learned it was the owner and editor of Upscale Living magazine.

Following the formalities, Natalie sat down to do her interview with the boutique owner. As the stars aligned, the editor knew the boutique owner and sat down with them during the interview. One can imagine the self-pressure she immediately felt as this editor, who she naturally liked, sat watching. This was a moment to be professional and impressive. She was.

Following the interview, the editor asked who she was working for. Natalie explained she was working freelance and was in her last year of college. In a matter of fact way the editor said, "you're going to work with me now".

Starting as a freelance contributor to the magazine, Natalie did all she could to learn different aspects of the business, even volunteering to work as an unpaid intern for photographers so she could see a bit more through their eyes. Time went on and her passion pointed her down the path. Fast-forward three years later, Natalie King is the editor of Upscale Living magazine.

Upscale Living is what you may imagine. It's primary audience is the affluent and everything is done in a way that target-market would expect. From the glossy pages to editorials on travel, resorts, interior design, properties and fashion, it's high-end luxury.

Natalie's beauty blind to no one, she routinely gets recruited to model for editorials for the magazine. Early on she had trepidation about modeling and understandably so. She's serious and driven at work, the last thing she wanted was to have modeling undermine her role as a writer. Fortunately for all involved, it hasn't sidetracked her. We get to see her editorial prowess as well as her gorgeous looks.

Always passionate about fashion, she's a throw-back to what a few of us feel ought to be. Classic style. Our personal similarities and outlook were quickly apparent to us both. Classic movies, dress, etiquette, style. The dress she's wearing in the above image is vintage and timeless. It's simply the natural thing to do. It's nice to know we're not alone in this abyss of shabby "comfort".

Natalie is now exploring her passion for interior design. As the magazine frequently editorializes on design and designers, perhaps it was just a matter of time. I have a feeling she's going to be very good at it. Graceful personal style emanates though all mediums and it certainly does for Natalie King.