Summer Simple

Summer is a time for ponytails, polaroids, fun and easy style choices for teens. This cute one piece romper is by Universal Thread for Target. The camera is a vintage Polaroid "square shooter" a fun land camera that shot with a square format. The "Instagram" of its day!

Most teens could probably get through the entire summer with just a few good tank tops! Minimal make up too, just a little blue eye shadow and mascara and she is good to go! 

It can be hard to find a classic white shirt for your teen age girl but just think outside the box!  This one is from the boys department from the fab kids line Cat & Jack by Target. 

 Model: Sammy M. for BMG Models  ✻  Make up by: Izzy

all photos & content © Lara Rossignol

California Dreaming

On such a winters day... two fun shoots I did just before leaving SoCal. It just took a few extra groovy fashion finds to pull it all together. Like this amazing 1960s wrap around jumper Milena is wearing by textile innovators Alex Coleman California. You can find some more of their amazing designs for sale here.

Though some of these actual vintage items are not available, I've hunted Etsy for similar options. 1) Chelsea wears a CP Shades slip dress with earrings & necklace by Veronica Rock Studio. 2) Stutz wears a vintage wide lapel coat 3-4) Milena is wearing a 70s handmade dress and a fab vintage fur hat both estate sale finds, boots by Via Spiga 5) Chelsea wears a one-of-kind hand knitted sweater by Veronica Rock Studio over a vintage slip dress. 6) Stutz in a classic black turtleneck from J.Crew 

Martina wears a vintage color block circa 1990s dress by Moschino made in Italy. Martina and Milena are the offspring of my friend 90s Super model Jana Rajlich who provided some of the vintage cloths from her own collection. While Stutz (who plans to go into acting when he finishes high school this year) is the son of another long time friend, amazing hair & make up artist Jetty Stutzman who applied her skills to Milena, Martina and Stutz.

Chelsea's H&M by Wendy Osmundson

all photos & content © Lara Rossignol

Little Frida

Inspiration can come from unexpected places and this recent shoot was a result of seeing a post on Instagram. I had worked with Keira a few times and it was her Mum's post of these beautiful headbands she made for a Frida Kahlo tribute that gave me the idea. The next day we were collaborating on this wonderful series... yes, sometimes it really is that easy.

Sweater by Iron Fist, vest from H&M all other pieces from LuLaRoe. Styling, headbands and make-up by Bianca Lopez and modeled by Keira Ward/ Zuri Models. 

Click here to check out the many books on this icon of art and style.

all photos & content © Lara Rossignol

New Work: Smallish

I've found a lot of interesting things at flea markets over the years but last summer was a true first when I found this kid. Her name is Olive ("like the vegetable" she clarified) and she was helping out her Grandmother who has been selling at the Rosebowl Flea for years. At just 8 years old she already had great style and a big personality. Luckily, I got some contact info and a few months later I arranged to photograph her. Working with a great team they helped me to create one of my all time favorite shoots for the very cool UK magazine Smallish.

 Dress by Misha Lulu ~ Hat & Coat from 3Birdz

Into the shoot we incorporated much of her Grandmother's amazing vintage collection of cloths and props, like this Victorian jacket and old violin. You can check out some of her stuff in her Etsy shop 3birdz. Here we paired it with a beautiful Tutu du Monde dress via Rainey's Closet. I found the tin carousel on eBay and my amazing stylist (who also painted the backdrop) Corrie turned it into a headband. So fun. You can check out more from this shoot on my just updated site. 

Styled by Corrie Sullivan ~ Hair & Make up by Liz Rizo

all photos & content © Lara Rossignol

Teen Queens

A new year is a good time to give your site an overhaul. I spent most of the last few days doing just that. I've been shooting more teen fashion and so I created a new teen section for this work. I have always enjoyed shooting for the junior market and in New York I did a lot of work for Seventeen, Mademoiselle and the iconic Sassy Magazine.

I also did many campaigns and one of my favorite shoots ever was for Cole Jr. a popular California based swimwear line, headed up at the time by a talented new designer named Trina Turk. Along with the print campaign I also shot this video, all on super 8 film. I think it's held up pretty well. Music by Chris Isaak, model: Neith Hunter and H&M by Beth Katz.

all photos & content © Lara Rossignol

Rock On!

I love working with Karen Landon, an incredibly talented designer who creates truly unique artisan pieces that always have me in awe. I helped her launch her line, Veronica Rock three years ago and it has slowly gained a loyal following. It is both edgy and feminine and all are beautifully made. Probably because she designs and makes every piece herself, including the one of kind hand knit sweaters.

We photographed her newest collection with my favorite muse Izzy while she was visiting a few weeks ago. No, she's not a little girl anymore! With Deborah Harry as our inspiration we think we found the perfect combo of originality and rockstar. You can view the entire collection here and use this exclusive promo code: FRESHPIE2016 for 20% off entire site, even sale items, through September 17th.

all photos & content © Lara Rossignol

Girl Crush: Deborah Harry

I don't know a girl who grew up in the 70s or 80s who did not want to be Deborah Harry, if only for a day. A beautiful rebel who broke all the rules and did it with her own unique style. All these things also describe one of my favorite clients, Veronica Rock. A truly original line of amazing hand made jewelry and knitwear by my friend Karen Landon. We are gearing up to shoot her newest collection this weekend and what better inspiration than the iconic Debbie!

photos via pinterest & content © Lara Rossignol

Make Shade

Its official, summer is here and it's hot out there. Stay cool with a pretty paper parasol and have a very happy weekend. 

Styled by Jen Pinkston with hair & make Up by Eric Barnard both for Aim Artists

all photos & content © Lara Rossignol

Girl Crush: Jean Shrimpton

Jean Shrimpton was one of the first true "Super Models" and an icon of 60s fashion. Muse and paramour of photographer David Bailey their relationship was dramatized in the BBC film We'll Take Manhattan. She also wrote a well reviewed biography and is in featured in the documentary, The Real Blow Up.

This is a fun clip, a rare American TV appearance in 1967 on the show What's My Line. In a more recent interview she said, "I never liked being photographed, I just happened to be good at it." She now owns a luxury hotel, The Abbey in Cornwall with her husband and son.

photos by David Bailey, John French and Bert Stern ~ written content © Lara Rossignol

Photo Story: Nancy Johnson

Nancy Johnson was a popular fashion designer in the 80s & 90s with a signature high end vintage style. She ran distinctive black & white ad campaigns shot by photographers like Matthew Rolston and Herb Ritts. My friend, Creative Director Brian O'Reilly began working with her in the mid 90s and wanted to bring and even more authentic period look to the images. He asked me to do a test shoot he could present to them to better illustrate his concept which also might lead to me landing the next campaign.

We shot on a hazy afternoon on the upper east side of Manhattan near Central Park. He had gotten the model, who had a waif-ish Audrey Hepburn look I loved. I feel we really captured the period beautifully, perfectly styled from head to toe by Meg Goldman. I think most people would believe they'd been taken 40 years earlier if they did not know otherwise. When I saw the excellent and perfectly stylized period movie Carol I was reminded of these images and pulled them from files.

Though I didn't get the campaign, I did get some great images and testing for a specific client is a great way to get your foot in the door. In 2000 Nancy Johnson turned her designer's eye from clothing to jewelry and Brian went on to work for an array of amazing clients including Clinique. He is now the Global Creative Director of Beauty@Gotham.

all photos & content © Lara Rossignol

Summer Color Story

A mix of summery favorites starting with this 80s flashback of a baby Milla Jovovich wearing Ungaro I shot for Tatler Magazine. Peonies are my favorite flowers, these beauties from Trader Joe's will run you just $7 a bunch. Rainier cherries, yum! Love this funny lady Janet Varney look for her in the summer flick: Diani & Devine Meet the Apocalypse. You can always count on Lesley Evers to bring on the color with her bold prints. Love these groovy cushions for my glider from Home Goods.

all photos & content © Lara Rossignol

Photo Story: Girl Crush

Shot with Polapan and carefully taped down in order to make a dupe, this is from a test I did with then model now sought after accessory designer Kendall Conrad. Beautiful but also possessing a sharp wit made her one of my favorite models to work with back in the day. This is a hispstamatic photo of the original, photographed on a light box.

 Barnaby Conrad, Kendall's father, was an artist, writer and bullfighter and her mother, Mary an interior designer. So it is not really surprising she would choose a creative career in fashion. She started with handbags and has expanded that into a full luxury line that includes jewelry, shoes, home decor and luggage. All are available online or at any of her three boutiques.  

all photos & content © Lara Rossignol

Photo Story: downtown girl

This was from a shoot for the LA Times Magazine I did during a brief stint living in downtown Los Angeles. For a year I sublet a large loft space in an artist building just a few months after graduating, my first and last traditional photo studio. It was pretty raw, with no real walls or doors, my bed on the floor in a corner and the majority of the space set up for work. I had a view out the back of the train tracks and it was close to little Tokyo which was going through a resurgence of sorts. 

I shot this on a very overcast day, purposely under exposing it by a stop then pushing the film to get this high contrast grainy effect. The model is Pam Piper, in town from NYC  and her beautiful skin and unusual eyebrows made her one of my favorites. I worked with her quite a few times over the years. The suite was by Valentino and was one of the most expensive clothing items I'd photographed on a model at that point. 

A scan of an enlarged "dupe" is all I have left of this shoot. Sadly, a lot of the originals of my fashion work are MIA. Not being diligent about getting them back from magazines, poor organization of my files and even throwing some stuff away during big moves are the main reasons I've lost so much of it over the years. Thankfully I was a bit more careful with my celebrity work.

I got to work with another amazing "out of town" girl, Lucy Cunningham, a London based model who had worked with one of my idols, Sarah Moon among many other great photographers. I was able to book her for a not so great but pays the rent clothing line job. She was kind enough to stay after and do this test shoot on the roof of my studio. Shooting with tungsten film gave it the blue tint and then I printed the b&w on color paper to add a blue tone. This was the way we did filters back in the day, really not a new concept just a bit trickier. Styled by Tracy Kirst with h&m by Jetty Stutzman.

Another from that period, shooting outside my back door on those very train tracks with Brian Setzer for Rolling Stone. It was my first assignment for them and I was pretty excited. Working for them had been a big goal and out of the blue the phone rang and it was Laurie Kratochvil the then photo editor. She had seen work I'd done for US Magazine, this was before it became a weekly tabloid when it was considered the movie's version of Rolling Stone. I used Polapan film, a wide angel lens and a portable strobe unit to get this shot. 

all photos & content © Lara Rossignol

Orla Fixation

Since buying my first Orla Kiely purse almost 10 years ago, my love for her retro inspired designs has almost become an obsession. One of the most popular textile designers in the world she has recently released this lovely 70s inspired line of enamel cookware. I had to have this tea kettle as soon as I saw it. Luckily, via an instagram friend I discovered Amara. A UK based retailer with incredibly fast & cheap (less than $10 for 2 day!) state-side shipping and use this handy link to get a special referral 20% off code for your first order. 

I also love this great series of biscuit tins that can fit everything from cakes to pastas to office supplies. She had also partnered with Clarks to produce some really cute shoes all in keeping with that retro vibe. I was lucky to get a pair, now discontinued but you may be able to find your size on eBay. Also check out her groovy iPhone cases and the new line of extra cute stationary & office supplies that often come in equally cute reusable packaging.

Think pink! This beautiful leather wallet from a past season is still available on Amazon at a slight discount. I was lucky to nab mine during a sale and have to say it is one of my favorite Orla Kiely purchases ever. 

all photos & content © Lara Rossignol

I ♥ my job

Travel is one of the perks of what I do and sometimes you get to go to really amazing places like Antiqua. One of my more exotic trips, staying at a beautiful resort while shooting for Brides Magazine. We had some extra time after the shoot was completed and so we did this shoot for fun. Improvising with a bridal petticoat and corset on model Rachael Millar and more dramatic h&m. 

I recently found this color laser xerox in my files, I used these to integrated unpublished work into my portfolios with the "tear sheets" aka pages pulled right out of the magazines. These light weight reproductions made for a more cohesive presentation than heavier prints. In the 90s this was the most popular way to show your work. Now you can have an entire book printed to order for less than the cost of the plastic sleeves we used. So this is a 5th generation; a photo of a copy of a print made from the negative then turned into a jpeg. Holds up surprisingly well. 

Model: Rachael Millar       Make Up: Ayako    Hair: Tony Lucha

Little Miss Photogenic

Fab vintage fashions can be had for song if you know where to look. Estate sales are a great place to start your hunt. Many are full of good quality, designer goods from days gone by. Keep an eye out for amazing textiles like this floral blouse made by Gilda of California. Even if they don't fit you can often repurpose them. Classics like this 60s era wool plaid skirt by the high end UK brand Jaeger are always in style and I scored this one for $3!

You can't go wrong with a turquoise poodle dress and a floral tea dress in good condition is a true score. The Owl purse pictured was a popular 50's trend, a "DIY craft kit" in a style made popular by Enid Collins. I found this one on Etsy and they also pop up on eBay occasionally, both also good sources for vintage anything. Keep your retro look fresh by using a bold lip color, here Olivia is wearing Vamp by Lime Crime.

Model: Olivia           Hair & Make-up: Wendy Osmundson                                                                                                                       

all photos & content © Lara Rossignol