we were delighted to have the 5 finalists from Modern Bride's "Bride of the Year" contest here at F&M on thursday to design bags! Allison Ahlfeldt, Lucy Lee, Megan Robillard, Quiana Sloan and Laura Zerfing have been bouncing around the city all week, including a visit to F&M. We just learned this morning that Megan Robillard is the winner who will appear on the cover! Congrats Megan! We enjoyed meeting all the girls, they were fantastic.
This lovely photo was taken at a wedding where the bridesmaids were all given a Freddy&Ma handbag. The bags looked amazing when we sent them out and we were extremely surprised to get back this beautiful image from Bello Photography, the amazingly talented photo group who shot this wedding.
shopping for vintage clothing can be exhausting and frustrating as old fabrics are uncomfortable, zippers are broken, and sizes are way off.......or rather our clothing sizes are way off! there's always that little tidbit floating around about how marilyn monroe was a size 12 or 14.......ladies, that means she was a size 4 or 6, quite possibly a size 2 at times.......there are no size standards for women's clothing so depending on the manufacturer and how they want you to feel in their clothing, companies will size down so that you feel smaller......so the next time you're buying that size 0 at Banana Republic, head down to zachary's smile and try and squeeze yourself into a size 6 from 1964......eye-opening ; )
this weekend was a whirlwind as I bounced all over the city, checking out the yellow jeans at the madewell store on broadway (not as great as i had hoped), the line for the new iphone at the apple store friday night (5 hour wait), yummy (and strong) Caipirinhas at Buzina pop (amazing pink brady bunch worthy chairs & dramatic black toilet paper), sunbathers in Central Park, very strong but tasty sangria in DUMBO, red wine and chocolate covered key lime pie in Red Hook.
i collected crayons as a kid......had one set that i actually used, the others remained pristine in their boxes fresh from the factory.....i would not share my crayons (ask freddy) and i was insistent on keeping them in their original placement inside the box.....(side note, i did not ever eat my crayons, or paste, for that matter).....this might explain my obsession with having a bag in multiple colors such as our buttery lambskin hazel....i just made the 3 in this photo for my personal use, but you can order one (or 4) for yourself in any color you can imagine.....and at $135 a pop, how can you go wrong? Email amy@freddyandma.com OR call me at 917-514-5155 to place your order now.
luv,
ma
perhaps it's the recent clarity I've been experiencing in my personal life, but lately all I can think about are these clear glasses by Selima for JCrew.....I have been meaning to post about this for days and of course when I check my email this morning, whowhatwhendaily.com has beat me to the punch! except that they were talking about sunglasses and i am lusting after the "all clear" ; ) variety.....i adore all of my chunky black glasses but sometimes i feel like they hide my face a little bit too much and i think these might be the perfect solution especially for summer. my friend and fellow designer jenny also styled her recent photo shoot with some similar frames.
would you see this happening......yes, that's freddy with rocco on the upper west side where someone took this awesome photo and was kind enough to email it to us. i think rocco needs his own helmet!
in honor of rocco (our office pomeranian) and his second birthday, this friday june 6th, i wanted to post some information i found about dog friendly cafes and bars! happy birthday rocco-(a.k.a., rockstar-poopy-jerk-little guy-little jerk -rocky-tough guy)
The Gray Dog's Coffee on Carmine Street (west of 6th avenue) allows dogs inside; it's their policy and apparently they routinely and cheerfully pay off any health inspectors that come around (with regard to dog complaints.) It's a very cool place to hang out with your dog.The one thing to beware, however, is if your dog barks once, you're warned; twice, you're out.
MUD on 9th street near 2nd avenue (and their coffee bar in Kiehl's Pharmacy on 13th and 3rd) allows dogs inside the restaurant and in their backyard garden. (In the 9th street location, that is.) The one exception is that no dogs are allowed to set foot in the food preparation area in either location; I can live with that.
Cafe on Greene Street, Soho Dogs are allowed in this eatery
VESPA: 1625 2nd ave btw. 84th &85th t: 212-472-2050
Bar Rio 558 Broome Street (btw Sixth Ave & Varick) (212) 966-2174 All organic wine and beer
Otto's Shrunken Head on 14th btw Ave. A and B ~ A allows leashed pooches.
DBA 41 First Avenue btw 2nd and 3rd St
Chumbley's 86 Bedford Street, ph: 212-675-4449 Another bar to hang out with Fido.
Von 3 Bleecker Street 212-473-3039
our most popular clutch, the hazel, was named for our late grandmother, Hazel Grey Averitt Wiggs....."gramma hazel" as we liked to call her (although she never admitted to being a day past 29) had style, taste, charm and a wicked sense of humor.....she also had a wicked temper which made her even more spicy......i was always particularly close to her and as the years go by i see myself resembling her more and more and wishing she was still here to enjoy the success of her namesake clutch. (that little girl on the left is our mom, aleta faye)
a great big thank you to grace at designsponge and the folks at domino for this colorful mention!
...the critics have lost their minds....sex & the city was utter perfection....i've been skeptical ever since i heard about this project, thought it was a mistake, thought it would be terrible....the movie could not have been any better, funnier, tragic, real, extravagant.......SJP was just, no words......i could not believe how much i enjoyed it, how much i laughed, how much i cried and how much i related to the story. 2 thumbs up, 4 stars, whatever, critics to you i say what - ever
start designing your summer bag now to take away with you for July4th holiday! not only do we have new prints but we have 2 new designers, Maureen Meyer of Flowers of Romance and Joe from JEF designs.....look for their bios and websites soon when our new designer section launches....Kelle from AnnKelle designs has added more whimsical prints to her already popular collection as well!
we just got our first sample of the new "marianna" (an oversize chunky clutch) and it's absolutely gorgeous and sexy......you can put a lot of stuff inside and carry during the day but it's chic enuf to wear out at night ---i will be rocking it tomorrow evening in Philly.......you'll be able to customize this bag by selecting from a wide variety of leathers, including quilted and croc textures......and it features my favorite chain and turnlock (you'll be seeing a lot of these)......thoughts?
One of our finest textile designers, Susie Ulsh, got married this weekend and f&m was there to represent! Ma was a bridesmaid and created 8 custom clutches for Sus and her 'maids, all prints by Susie in custom colorways to complement her scheme.....we were all rockin our bags at the after party and I even had time for a costume change so I could carry my favorite electric blue iolanda - ladies if you're getting married, look no further than F&m to create some gorgeous custom bags for your special day - the girls will LOVE them - xoxo
The best gifts come in cute packages.
Just in time for mother's day, Freddy&Ma is introducing our Minnie gift kit. Each kit contains our lovely leather Minnie coin purse, fabric and leather swatches and a gift card to design a 'full size' F&M handbag or home product. All orders placed before 5/9/08 will receive FREE express mail shipping. The Minnie is available in 9 colors, but we only have limited quantities in each, so order yours today to make sure you get the exact one you want!
it's been absolute madness at f&m lately, hence our sparse blog posts.......we are working on it, you'll start seeing improvements very soon. in the meantime, people are still talking about us and we've been around now for 2 years!! hard to believe, specially for us. check out some recent press and stay tuned for new posts.
Exactly two years to the day that the original Freddy&Ma site launched, we have launched a new website. While most of the changes are behind the scenes, many many many changes were made to the site to make it easier to navigate and also, to make it easier to design custom bags, pillows, plates and some other products we have in the pipeline. Head over to www.freddyandma.com, click around and let us know what you think in the comments for this post!
Check out our newest bag, the Minnie. This little clutch comes in variety of funky leather colors and is the perfect addition to your larger Freddy&Ma bags. They even have our F&M monogram embossed on the outside. Click here to purchase.
As you may have noticed, we have been growing by leaps and bounds here at F&M. As such, we are looking to expand our team and will be posting a few different positions we have available on here over the next few months.
The first position we have available is for a marketing manager/event coordinator for our custom events. Our event business has been rapidly expanding and we would like to find someone to manage the business development, marketing and execution of these events. It is a very interesting position and would be a great fit for a a seasoned marketer looking to work for a smaller company where their work can make a large impact. Read more below:
Continue reading "we are hiring! know any good marketers/event planners?" »
not to start bidding on Sweet Valley High books on ebay......I used to have to sneak-read these books in middle school, at which point I was only supposed to be reading Sweet Valley Twins.....my curiousity was sparked by a recent post on gawker re new cover art and I got all nostalgic for those great late 80s early 90s covers with illustrations of Jessica & Elizabeth......Judy Blume aside, these are still some of my favorite books (make fun, i don't care).......I think one of the best volumes was "the new jessica" where she decides she's tired of being a twin and goes all brunette on us......I had a similar experience 2 summers ago when I thought I might be tired of looking like.....well....I have no twin, so.....myself......and like me, Jessica realizes she's better off blond......ah, what an important life lesson to know your true hair color personality.......oh and I just have to mention some of my favorite characters....Lila Fowler, Bruce Patman and Enid.....oops I just placed a bid, must sign off ebay NOW.
we just wrapped an intense shoot with my favorite photographer, courtney brooke, in south florida, highlighting some of our new styles debuting in Summer '08.......lots more images to come and new styles and a brand new website......email me for more info amy@freddyandma.com
Check out F&M's newest style, the Josephine pouch, in the April issue of Lucky.
Curious how our Vote Totes have been selling? Check out the graph below which shows who is winning our 'election'. Two things to note: Democrats as a whole are doing quite well, though Hillary sold 90% of her bags before Christmas, since then Obama has ruled the roost. The second is that with thousands of totes in circulation, our goal has been achieved of getting out our message of the importance of voting and participating in the political process!!!
Recently I wrote about the fantastic jewelry collection at jcrew.com......and paging thru my new catalog this morning I feel compelled once again to give a shout out to the brand.......they have continued to impress me with their well designed clothing and new product catagories, most notably their bridal and crewcuts lines......I doubt that my personal style has ever even bordered on "preppy" but jcrew makes me want to wear seersucker and cashmere twinsets and argyle!! seriously!! Their newest catalog story was shot at this fantastic house in Palm Springs designed by Richard Neutra in 1946 and featured a crewcuts mini catalog with the most adorable children's clothing I have ever seen.....you know because every three year old girl needs a hot pink shift dress with jeweled neckline for $248.....anyone who knows anything will agree with me ; )
We're always intrigued by personal style, both in apparel/accessories and home (isn't it obvious?).....but there is something really fascinating about someones closet..... not just in terms of the contents, but also their layouts, organization, and overall "fun-ness"......I often go into my closet, blissfully reorganize and uncover some long lost treasure, and sometimes it's even more fun than regular shopping (sometimes).....last weekend we decided that it might be really cool to offer a free custom hazel purse to the person with the "best" closet.....so start sending 'em in, pics of your closet that is......and april 1st we will post the results and a little profile on the lucky winner. Boys, don't feel excluded! If your closet rocks, we will offer you 2 groovy richie pillows in lieu of a new bag.....so please send to amy@freddyandma.com and use the subject line "why my closet is the best"......ready -- go!! Here are a few peeks into my personal closet.....please ignore the wire hangers, it's a work in progress!!
...but I love to dress up my dog....and apparently I am not alone as there are thousands of adorable outfits to be had.....one of my favorite websites is barker&meowsky because they have really great sophisticated quality apparel....send us your favorite shops, we would love to check them out.....that's my doggie rocco, modeling a very sporty jacket.....my next purchase is going to that awesome little democrat t shirt...i also love the yamulke, a very cute gift
Our Vote Totes were mentioned in an article in this Sunday's LA Times. Check it out here.
As we all know, Ma loves LA so I am sure she is glad to see that she was quoted....
Sure, T-shirts skew young, which suits Obama's demo. So -- would Clinton's fans be more apt to wear their politics on their arm? Nope. Freddy & Ma, a custom online handbag designer, introduced "Vote Hillary" and "Vote Obama" totes in November for $25 apiece. The Obama version quickly became the political "it" bag. And last week, co-owner Amy Pigliacampo decided to mark down the Clinton bag to $10. "We had to put the Hillary totes on sale because we still have a lot left," she says. "And it's almost over."
when we first met f&m designer jennifer rose, she was a manhattanite working for tracy reese, one of our favorite designers....now the former new yorker is working in Colombus, OH as designer for Ruehl Women's Knits at the A&F Home Office in Columbus, Ohio. While she doesn't have too much to report about Columbus, she admits it's not as bad as most people in New York think it is (esp since she met the love of her life there)...jen says, "being a Designer at A&F is fun, challenging and lets me travel the world (yay), but it's independent projects like designing prints Freddy & Ma that really get me inspired" (we paid her to say that). You can find jen's prints online when you are in step 2 and you click the dropdown menu and search by designer. As you may know, closet space in NYC is precious so you can imagine how jealous we were when jen sent us these fantastic pictures of her color-coordinated closet in Columbus (chock full of vintage & TracY Reese).
love to wear prints (lucky for us)....ethnic prints are so strong this season, and we're pleased to present a new collection from Inigo Elizalde, inspired by a recent trip to South Africa. Go to www.freddyandma.com to place your order now!
I've been noticing so much yellow lately...a color that I never considered as an option for me, having blonde hair and all.....but I keep buying yellow items, most recently these fantastic open-toed oxford slingback, see below. We have so many fantastic prints this season in various shades of yellow and I have to say, it just makes you feel happy! (it's also my mom's favorite color) There really is a shade for everyone you just have to experiment.....it also looks soooo great with gray, such as gray tights or cardigan, which means you can start sporting that new spring wardrobe asap.
wedding dress shopping has gotten (in my humble opinion) increasingly out of hand in recent years with dresses costing upwards of 5K ......everything below is kind of not so cute and a little on the cheesy side (generally speaking).....but look at these fantastic options from nordstrom, all available for $500 or less! at these prices you can have a few costume changes ; )
while visiting harrisburg (where freddy&ma grew up) this weekend I stumbled upon this amazing vintage store called the pampered peacock and walked out with 4 bags overflowing with dresses, belts, scarves and slips......the store itself was adorable, the presentation was very organized and easy to shop and the selection was really fantastic, lots of 70s and 80s dresses (my personal favorites)....i'll be making monthly visits to this spot for more!
We here at F&M love Rachel Ray, so naturally we were very pleased to see this. 
