BLING IT ON | DSM Magazine March/April 2020 Issue

BEHIND THE SCENES BREAKDOWN

Here are the final images from my recent fashion editorial in the latest issue of DSM Magazine. Yesterday I explained how honored I was to have one of my visions published in the magazine. With this post, I would like to dive into my creative process behind this photoshoot and explain each look.

Just like a writer in how they choose words to create a story, or an actor in how they bring to life a character, fashion stylists have their own creative process in imagining concepts and creating visual stories. As a side note, fashion editorials are different than your day to day every day outfits you wear. With fashion editorials, stylists are able to use their imagination and think out the box with styling items together that maybe the average consumer doesn’t think about. Fashion editorials aren’t necessarily there as a “copy this look” exactly and wear it the next day, they are to inspire others to view fashion in a different lens as art and to look at the details of the each piece in how its used to tell a story.

CONCEPT/INSPIRATION

I’ve always wanted to style a photoshoot that displayed jewelry as the main focus since we have such talented jewelry designers in Des Moines. Jewelry and accessories is something that I feel can be second fiddle to apparel and for this shoot I wanted it to be the opposite. With that, my inspiration came from my love of Old Hollywood starlets and their glamour shots that they would take. Most of them are in black and white in those days, but in those photos I’ve always been dazzled by the details of their beauty, whether it’s their hair, their eyes, and especially how they utilize the placement of their hands with their beautifully polished nails. Then I thought doing a shoot like this, but using jewelry as the focus and highlighting the the intricate details jewelry designers put into their work.

MODELS/HAIR/MAKEUP/PHOTOGRAPHER

In coming up with a concept, things can only be visualized if you have the right people to execute the concept. With this shoot I knew I wanted to have a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead. I knew the perfect models I wanted to utilize based on their specific features I wanted to highlight. For a blonde my inspiration came from the looks of Carole Lombard, Jean Harlow, Grace Kelly so I wanted someone who had striking blue eyes. For a redhead, my inspiration came from the looks of Rita Hayworth and Veronica Lake hair so I knew I wanted someone with long flowing red hair. For a brunette, my inspiration came from the looks of Lauren Bacall, Gene Tierney, Hedy Lamarr. I knew who I wanted to use and I couldn’t have asked for better models than Carly Babington and Jordyn Siepker. I’m so blessed these gals were available. Along with hair and makeup, I knew I could put my trust in Carly Condon Studio and Ivy Boyd Makeup Artist as my trusted makeup and hair experts to create modern day Old Hollywood starlets. To bring the whole look through a photograph, I knew I could trust Al Feliciano with his expertise in fashion photography.

CHOOSING THE JEWELRY/CLOTHING

In creating each look, some people don’t realize it takes time with a lot of research in choosing what pieces are going to be styled with each model and full look. During this process I started visiting with each jewelry designer/boutique I used, seeing their designs and soon I started creating different themes/color stories with look. Along with the jewelry, the models still needed something to wear underneath. Through my research in looking through Old Hollywood glamour shots, most of these actresses aren’t wearing much clothing and if they are it tends to be garments that are silky, evening wear or lingerie inspired. With that I wanted to showcase the jewelry with lingerie or lingerie inspired pieces, and pieces from Amour was the boutique I wanted to feature. The concept of each look is explained with each photo below.

Again, I would love to thank my team in helping me bring this vision to life and to all the jewelry designers/boutiques that allowed me to use their designs/merchandise for this photoshoot!