Parmesan-Crusted Chicken BLT Salad Recipe with Honey-Dijon Dressing | What’s Cooking

Introducing your new favorite dinner salad (unless you’ve already tried our Parmesan-Crusted Chicken Salad at one of our Nordstrom Cafe locations). With layers of satisfying flavor, if a salad can be comfort food, this guy is it.

We toss together mixed baby greens with ripe tomatoes, hard-boiled egg, roasted corn, smoky bacon (!) and tender chicken cooked until its Parmesan breading is crisp and golden brown. Clinging to it all: a quick and delicious honey-dijon dressing that’s spiked with a bit of ginger and a handful of fresh cilantro. This is the kind of salad you’ll want to make again and again, because once you’ve tried a gratifying forkful, it’ll be hard to stop thinking about having another.

Parmesan-Crusted Chicken Salad
From our Nordstrom Cafe
(Makes 10 servings)

Honey-Dijon Dressing
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup shallots, finely diced
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 ounce cilantro, chopped

1. In a blender or food processor fitted with a metal blade, add all ingredients.
2. Cover and blend until completely combined, about two minutes.

Parmesan-Crusted Chicken
2 pounds chicken breasts
1 egg
1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound Parmesan cheese, finely grated
Canola oil for frying

1. Wash chicken, pat dry with paper towels and cut into two-ounce portions. Season with salt and pepper.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and water.
3. In a rimmed plate, combine flour, salt and pepper.
4. In another rimmed plate, add the Parmesan.
5. Lightly dust the chicken in the flour mixture, then dip into egg mixture. Let excess egg drain off before rolling chicken in cheese until all sides are evenly coated. Repeat for all chicken pieces, placing them on a piece of parchment paper.
6. Pour enough canola oil into a large Dutch oven to reach 3 inches up the sides, then heat to 350°F.
7. Fry chicken in 2 or 3 batches, without crowding the pot, for 5-6 minutes until golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the pieces registers 165°F.
8. Transfer chicken to a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet to drain and cool.

Salad Assembly
Fried chicken pieces, diced 1/2 inch thick
1 pound mixed baby greens
3 ears corn, roasted and sliced from cob
4 medium tomatoes, diced 1/2 inch thick
10 slices cooked bacon, diced 1/2 inch thick
10 hard-boiled eggs, diced 1/2 inch thick
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 avocados, pitted and sliced 1/4 inch thick
Cilantro sprigs for garnish

1. In a large stainless-steel bowl, add the Honey-Dijon Dressing followed by the mixed greens, corn, tomatoes, bacon, salt and pepper.
2. Toss until all ingredients are coated with the dressing. Shake the bowl so the heavier ingredients fall to the bottom and the lettuce rises to the top.
3. Into chilled salad bowls, divide the greens by stacking them in a crisscross pattern, creating height in the center, then add the remaining toppings among the greens.
4. Arrange chicken pieces on top, dividing them among the salads. Garnish with a sprig of cilantro and a fan of sliced avocado.

Try these recipes and others at a Nordstrom restaurant near you, and find more recipes to make at home in our What’s Cooking series and Nordstrom cookbooks (available in selected Nordstrom restaurants and Ebars).

Have a favorite dish or beverage from our restaurants or cookbooks that you’d like to see featured? Let us know in the comments!

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—Jeff Powell (Photos and Intro)

via Nordstrom Fashion Blog http://ift.tt/2aikMKq

Designer Jérôme Dreyfuss on Why Nice Is Cool and Making Fashion Funny

Some people are just more pleasant to speak to, it’s true. After a recent conversation with the Paris-based fashion designer Jérôme Dreyfuss, several reasons for this were clear. For one, the thoughtfully cheerful Dreyfuss exhibits interest in a variety of topics. Secondly, his passion seems sincere. And he doesn’t take himself or fashion too seriously, which isn’t to say that he approaches his craft lightly.

Known predominantly for his luxurious handbags that project personality, Dreyfuss has a reputation for being a bit of a rebel. He worked with John Galliano in the early part of his career and has since cut a streak across the industry both for his unique designs (his fall-winter collection includes bags made of deer and goatskin leather; some come with interior flashlights for finding your keys or phone at night) and his wildly artistic methods for presenting them.

Read on for our chat, which covered architecture, Le Marais, what “cool” really is and why fashion snobbishness is out of style.

I hear you’ve been busy.

We moved into new offices with a nice garden five weeks ago. I found land in Le Marais and built it.

Who was the architect?

I was. I am very much inspired by Californian and Japanese architecture. I’ve always been inspired by architects—it’s so hard to think about a building and then build it. It’s been a huge passion for me. I always thought I’d build a house. The opportunity just arose, and I have a lot of friends who helped. It’s really great to work with them.

That’s so impressive. You’ve been doing a lot of creative things recently. Tell us about the wonderful pillow creations (nipples, lipsticks, fingers and cigarettes) in your fall-winter campaign.

They’re not really pillows. They were deisgned by a French artist, a friend of mine, Caroline Rennequin. Because being a designer is so busy, I don’t have a lot of time to spend with my friends, who inspire me, so I work with them. My CEO is my best friend that I’ve known since kinder school. Caroline is a best friend of my wife [the designer Isabel Marant]. She’s a painter, but all of the pillows are made out of leather. We really wanted a ′70s feeling, with a velvet leather that’s really ′70s chic. We thought of the artists of the ′70s. We laughed a lot about it. I don’t want to dramatize my fashion. I want to make a woman feel cool and comfortable. It’s just important to make the woman laugh.

Speaking of colleagues, what was working with Galliano like?

That was a very fun time, the mid ′90s. He is so talented. It was another time. We were thinking only about having fun. We weren’t thinking about markets then.

What is the captivation of the 1970s for you? Why is that decade having a fashion moment now?

I was born in the mid-′70s, so I have huge fantasies about that time period. There were beautiful women like Meryl Streep and Bianca Jagger and the women of Studio 54. The art in SoHo and New York and Saint Germain in Paris. They were not concerned with ads. There was a certain naiveté. It was just after the May ′68 Revolution. And the music was best. The bands on stage were in sparkling suits. The clothing was crazy. In terms of clothes, a lot was new. Girls started to wear pants and started really moving. The way they moved in the ′70s was very free. I’m always interested in how people move in clothes.

But after our fascination with the ′70s will come the ′80s and ′90s, because we all have a fantasy about the past. We all think it was better before, but we should think of the future. I’m not making the same styles as previous decades. I am more interested in the fantasy. If you look at too many images of the past you get lost, you can never get it right. I’m trying to work for a real woman.

You say that you design for the stylish cool girl on the streets of Paris. Where do you spot these girls usually?

I am so inspired by French women: they are super cool. It’s an attitude though, how you are with others. Since I am in Le Marais, I will actually say, “Let’s go in the bubble.” Everyone there is beautiful in a cool way. It’s the attitude. A woman who is too constricted is boring. One must feel good in their skin, then they look cool. But most importantly, if you are not nice you are not beautiful.

So what does “being cool” mean to you?

Being appreciative, nice to others, simple and generous. You don’t need money.

A homeless man once came up to me on the street and asked, “Are you Jérôme Dreyfuss?” I said, “I am.” He said he wanted to thank me. I was confused and asked for what. He said, “For your windows, each time I see your windows I laugh and think they are beautiful.” They are there and they are free. They make people happy. That is cool. It starts with a smile.

I love that. What is something new you did in this collection that you hadn’t done previously?

I’ve started working with patchwork. I was really inspired by Aladdin Sane. When David Bowie died, I started to listen to his music. I really loved him, as did a lot of people. So, voilà.

How do you go about christening your bags? They have the names of people. 

I need the bags to be done first. I never name them when I am designing or cutting the leather. I get the girls from my studio, and we sit down and go through a whole list of French names that I have on my phone. And it’s really fun. I’ll say, “What about Gerard?” And they’ll say, “No, that’s not a Gerard head.” Or, “What about André?” “It’s not really an André either.”

A lot of my friends complain because they do not have a bag named for them yet. We’ll have a dinner and one friend will ask, “Am I selling well this season?” And another will say, “I didn’t sell well.” I did the naming for people to understand that a bag or fashion is not so important. What’s important is to make the people laugh with stupid things.

Do you think fashion takes itself too serious?

Of course. I look at the people who go to the shows, the women at my wife’s shows, who spend so much time getting dressed and then wait out front for a photographer to take their photo. A circus describes this industry. There is a snobbish way with editors, too. Snobbishness is so old school. The new way is to be happy and generous. We are so lucky to be born in one of the richest countries.

I feel a lot of happiness when watching Kenzo, Azzedine Alaïa, Gaultier. They are working hard for people to have fun.

What is something that is making you really happy and hopeful right now?

We must be generous and nice, and that will be paradise. We have to be thankful.

The kids give me hope, when I see my son, his friends and my nephews. We are not the generation to save the world. They are able to solve problems since they were born being aware of them. We can only teach them. Teach them to stop consuming so much, to stop pollution. That traveling causes a lot of pollution. We can teach them to respect nature. That’s why I am positive. This time is so bad that all there is is to be creative. I always say I am waiting for a new Gandhi. In the meantime, I find my way by making people around me happy.

But the first step is to stop complaining—the French complain so much. We need to be aware of what we have. Be positive and not live thinking this is the end. Build something new.

SHOP: Jérôme Dreyfuss

—Britt Olson

via Nordstrom Fashion Blog http://ift.tt/2aC5jnK

Designer Adam Lippes Loves His Labradoodles and Vodka Cocktails in the Summertime

His first step into fashion was at Polo Ralph Lauren; his second was with Oscar de la Renta—where he spent almost seven years working directly with the legendary founder as the brand’s Global Creative Director. So to say Adam Lippes is primed to be an important name in American luxury ready-to-wear is a bit of an understatement.

Adam Lippes with Lola; all images via Adam Lippes

Says Vogue.com’s Nicole Phelps in her review of his Fall 2016 collection, “He makes luxe clothes that feel of the moment without succumbing to fickle trends.”

But how does a guy like that—richly experienced, expertly angled at a bright future—spend his summer? That’s what we wanted to know.

The Thread: Traditionally, at least, August has signaled a universal summer break. It used to be that all of Manhattan would essentially close up shop. Those days are probably gone, but we’re hoping you and your crew will get to take a little break next month—at least clock out early on Fridays, or maybe do a couple of fun group happy hours?

Adam Lippes: While we are not able to take off the entire month of August, it is definitely the summer month when our office is most able to recharge and enjoy some well-earned time away. We do have half days on Fridays in the summer; I try to take off as many of these as I can. I really encourage my team to take time off—I don’t like counting vacation days. I’m a big believer that a lot of creative work happens outside of the office.

We have planned an office outing in mid-August, a late lunch by the pool at Soho House on a Thursday and then a surprise Friday off for everyone the following day!  Should be a fun day into night gathering.

What specific projects are keeping you tethered to your desk?

August is actually a busy time for us in design. All of our spring/summer fabrics arrive just before Italy closes on August 1, so we are busy designing and fitting the new collection—the one we will show at the beginning of September.

The lovely island of Capri, via Adam Lippes

Hopefully you got a little vacay in earlier this summer?

I traveled all of June. I went to an incredible wedding in Capri and then combined some work and a bit of fun for a week in London. I also spent a week traveling to Nordstrom Stores on the West Coast—I started down in Orange County and worked my way up the coast to Vancouver, B.C.

I am headed off to Corsica for a week soon, and then will pass back up through Paris for a couple days to check out the newly reopened Ritz.

Adam’s dogs; Bidu, Lola and Kiko

What’s the ideal summer vacation? Do you have spots you return to whenever the weather is warm, or is there a place you’ve always wanted to go?

I have a farm in the Berkshires in Southern Massachusetts and I like to spend as much time as possible there in the summer with my three dogs. It’s where I feel most relaxed and am also able to get a ton of work done.

I also love St. Bart’s–I feel very at home there. I try to spend two weeks a year there in November.

I have always wanted to go to Japan, and we just recently signed with a distributor there, so I will be going soon and will for sure mix work with exploring!

St. Bart’s, also pretty amazing. 

Where do folks go for summer lunch in your office neighborhood?  

We’ve got an incredible array of eateries around our office in NoMad. There’s Mario Batali’s Italian emporium, Eataly, located just one block away; there is a fantastic almost hidden sushi restaurant, Itzakaya, just down the street; and an office favorite, a country-style Italian restaurant in the lobby of our building, Pecora Bianca.

Additionally, we’ve got a Vietnamese sandwich shop and an Indian concept restaurant just steps from our building entrance—not to mention one of the best fried chicken restaurants on our other corner. Truly, so many options, and all within less than a one-minute walk.

My favorite restaurants elsewhere in NYC are Sant Ambroeus in the West Village, Waverly Inn and Indochine.

Best movie of the summer: 

I haven’t seen any yet—but I am super happy Ray Donovan is back on Showtime.

Best summer cocktail: 

Vodka with fresh lemonade, seltzer water and mint.

Best nearby beach or park: 

We have a great park catty-corner from our office called Madison Square Park. It has incredible changing art installations, a Shake Shack as well as tons of benches, chairs with tables and grassy sections to sit on. It’s also an easy walk from our office to the West Side, where the Hudson River Park lines the river and offers playgrounds, courts for tennis, basketball and racquetball—and even sand courts for beach volleyball. There’s always a nice breeze to be found there during our hot summers.

EXPLORE: Adam Lippes | all designer collections

—Laura Cassidy

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Makeup Artist and Beauty Guru Rose-Marie Swift on the Secret to Glowing Skin and Organic Makeup

Recently, we had the delightfully direct and vivacious Rose-Marie Swift at a beauty photo shoot working her magic. And when you have a world-class makeup artist on set, you don’t miss the opportunity to grab a few minutes to chat with her about anything and everything—from her unexpected beauty regimen to her secrets to beautiful, glowing skin. Plus, we couldn’t resist asking her about her innovative line, RMS Beauty—a new-to-us collection of all-natural, organic and cruelty-free cosmetics formulated to hydrate and illuminate, with health-driven skin care as its guiding principle. Read on to learn a thing or two about Rose-Marie’s down-to-earth and refreshing approach to beauty. Spoiler alert: less is more.

How did you get to where you are now? Have you always wanted to be a makeup artist and launch your own line?

OMG, it was a complete fluke. I never set out to be a makeup artist, actually. I tried to model back in the day, but it was at the time when Margaux Hemingway and all the blonds with the big bushy eyebrows were in style. I would have done well probably in the ’40s or something, you know, because that’s my look. But I didn’t do well.

Anyway, I used to always do my own makeup on set. My sister was an aesthetician, and she knew a gentleman who had a whole bunch of hotels, and he wanted her to teach the women who worked there how to take better care of their skin. And my sister’s just, like, “Why don’t you teach them how to do makeup and do this with me?”

And so I did, and I just started doing my own makeup look on everybody. Before I knew it, I got asked by Vancouver magazine to do the makeup for a big model back in the day who came to visit her grandmother. And then, all of a sudden, I was getting calls, and I was a makeup artist! Absolute fluke. It was the universe that brought me to it, I guess. I didn’t pick myself to do it, that’s for sure.

What’s your beauty philosophy?

Less is more.

I’m also a firm believer that your health is so important, too. There are all these anti-aging creams and the like promising hope in a jar, but it doesn’t work that way. It comes from the inside: from the kind of food you eat (never processed), your intake of water, your attitude in life, and the sleep you get. A healthy body equates to healthy skin.

What defines your brand? What do all of your products have in common?

They’re a reality check.

What do you mean by that?

They’re clean. They’re not full of chemicals or questionable ingredients. They’re very youth-enhancing for the skin and anti-aging long term. Naturally anti-aging, not chemically anti-aging. They make the skin look beautiful. And women who try them for the first time say that even their husbands comment on how good they look, but the husbands don’t know why. With my products, you won’t get a look that’s screaming makeup. It’ll be a look that’s healthy, vital and sexy.

Tell us more about your organic ingredients.

Almost all the ingredients I use are USDA-certified organic. That means the United States Department of Agriculture has approved those ingredients for having been grown ethically and without chemicals. Also, I’m a real purist. I go for the cleanest ingredients, and I source them myself, too. Like, the Amazon jungle is where I get my buriti oil (from the natives, believe it or not). My coconut oil comes from Thailand, and my bee propolis comes from the Alps. I don’t trust labs as far as you can throw them. I just want to have the purest, healthiest line that I possibly can.

Coconut oil is at the base of all your products. Why coconut oil?

Coconut oil has the highest levels of lauric and caprylic acid, and that’s what’s in human breast milk. Lauric and caprylic acid are antifungal, antibacterial, antimicrobial and antiviral—so talk about putting something good on your skin! But people don’t realize that coconut oil can also be processed cheaply, and it can be grown cheaply, so you’re losing the high levels of the lauric and caprylic acid, which can be destroyed in some of the processing techniques. Our coconut oil is 100 percent raw. Sometimes when you see coconut oil and it claims to be raw, that doesn’t mean anything. There’s nobody regulating the industry, so you can say whatever you want. Not in my case. I mean it.

For someone who hasn’t tried your products before, what three would you recommend they start with?

Living Luminizer, for sure, because that’s my star product. That put me on the map, because there’s nothing that compares to it. It’s all organic ingredients, healthy for the skin, and doesn’t dry up or look cakey.

Another one would obviously be my Raw Coconut Cream, as a makeup remover and a moisturizer—or even a little bit in your bathwater!—because your skin is the largest organ, so you want to take care of it.

The other one would be my Beauty Oil. It’s got Brazilian buriti oil in it. That’s very high in natural vitamin A and beta carotene, which is what they put in anti-aging creams, but in synthetic form. Mine’s in natural form, so it actually does wonders for the skin—especially for people with rosacea, eczema or psoriasis.

Why did Living Luminizer put you on the map? 

Living Luminizer gives you the ultimate, lit-from-within glow. It’s that just-made-love glow [laughs]. Dab it on the elevated parts of your face, like your cheekbones, a little in the center of your eyelid, above your iris area, down the center of your nose, corner of your eye, on your lips. It just gives this light-reflective glow that makes the skin look youthful. Unlike a lot of other products claiming to do the same, it’s not a powder. I think when you’re all powdered up, it looks dry, and you look old. There’s nothing beautiful to look at when you see powder on the face. When you look at oils on the face, it looks beautiful. It looks like it’s synergistically working with the skin. There’s glow, there’s an aura of health to it. And it makes you look younger—it really does make you look younger.

You used the term “chemically anti-aging” earlier and said that some products actually make you age in the long term. Can you talk a little more about that?

When you look at ingredients and see a whole long list of chemicals, you’re just getting a quick fix with those. They might make your skin look amazing, but it’ll just go right back to where it was before after a little while. Instead, I use the oils and herbs that those chemicals are derived from—or artificially mimic—and I use those natural ingredients in their pure form.

Also, some anti-aging products out there are playing with the cells of your skin. They’re full of penetration enhancers that let things get into the skin, including a lot of nanoparticles nowadays. Nanoparticles are able to go into the skin, penetrate the bloodstream and the blood-brain barrier, which is dangerous. That’s why there’s such a controversy about nanoparticles. The industry’s full of them, but nobody knows what those will do to the brain over the long term. So I don’t use nanoparticles at all—only organic ingredients you’d find in nature.

As an expert, what do people always ask you, and what do you tell them?

They always ask me, “What do you do to your skin? It’s amazing!” And I go, “I do nothing.” I’ve used nothing my whole life. Ever. I’ve never used soap. People freak out over that. In Japan, they went nuts when I said that because they have like, five regimens that you do before bedtime. I have never done anything to my skin. When I was a kid, I used water and a face cloth. And then when I got older and my mom let me wear eyeliner, I would take it off with olive oil. Then I eventually changed to coconut oil, and that’s it. That’s all I’ve ever used for everything.

Well, I was going to ask you about your skin care regimen, but …

No, I have none.

Wow.

Yeah, and now I use my Raw Coconut Cream to take my makeup off, and I smoosh it around, take it off with a little cloth, go to bed. I don’t even wash it half the time. Look at all the chemicals that are in our water, man.

This stuff is stripping your skin. I think it’s Shiseido who just did a study on skin. They realized that the skin produces its own bacteria to protect it, and we’re washing it off. We’re stripping our skin. We’re killing the natural oils in it with all these alcohols and drying out the skin, and using chemicals that the skin is not happy with. Leave your skin alone.

What’s a common myth that you’re always trying to dispel?

Powders. Why do people think powders are the end all and be all? Powder just makes you look dry. It dries you up. I can understand on women who have really oily skin, but the powder sucks your natural oils out, so you’re actually dehydrating your skin over the long term. As you get older, the worst thing you can have on your skin is powder. Unless it’s the right powder. I have the right powder. My silicone powder—what I call my Un Powder. It’s fantastic, because it absorbs the oil but doesn’t deposit that powdery, dried-up look on your face. Also, that’s what I call my foundation, Un Cover-Up, because it’s like it covers, but you can’t see it. And it’s all natural.

Frankie (who Rose-Marie coparents with close friend and model Miranda Kerr) on set

What do you never leave home without?

Frankie. I never leave home without Frankie.

I also never leave home without my red lipstick and my eyebrows. My eyebrows make me look better when I do them because my natural ones are kind of fading. As you get older, you know, your brows, your lashes, the color in your lips, it all starts to fade. Again, Shiseido (I think it was) did research basically on why young people look so good, and they found it’s because of the contrast. They’ve got beautiful skin, and they’ve got these lips that are full of color and brightness. They’ve got brows that are strong and full of their natural color. As you get older, all those things start to fade—your face looks more monochromatic. So when I take off my brows and they’re just normal, there’s not as much drama in my face. As soon as I draw that eyebrow in, it just picks the face up. Same thing with a red lip: when I put it on, it just perks my whole face up. I look like a different person with my brows and my red lips on. So those are always in my bag.

How can anyone get beautiful, glowing skin?

One of the big things I always tell people is that I’m a super-huge advocate of probiotics for the gut. Once you balance that intestinal flora, it helps to balance the skin. And I also believe in enzymes, taking digestive enzymes. It’s anti-aging to take digestive enzymes.

One last question for you. What are your tips for living a happy and healthy life?

You know what? Get away from negative people, and spend time alone and in nature. There’s such healing force and energy coming from nature: going in the ocean, going on a walk in the woods. Get away from cement; get out of the crazy workforce. Let your mind just relax and calm itself, you know? Also, get laid.

SHOP: RMS Beauty

— Jeff Powell

via Nordstrom Fashion Blog http://ift.tt/2agl6Dn

More Free Samples, Gifts with Purchase and Beauty Lessons at Glam-Out Days

Behind the Scenes of the Chicest Happy Hour with Cinq à Sept

Most working stiffs know a place to grab a drink after the day is through. In some offices, a post-work cocktail is almost mandatory, a way to let professional conversations seep into the early evening hours, to operate away from office politics, to form collegial bonds outside of email.

Happy hour traditionally happens once the office closes, so around or after 5pm, in the time right before night officially settles in. In French, the designation cinq à sept (“five to seven”) applies. For Jane Siskin, the designer behind a line of clothing so named, it is the time when anything can happen.

We spoke with Siskin about her romantic collection of modern clothes, and she shared a behind-the-scenes glimpse into Cinq à Sept’s pre-fall lookbook shoot at Raoul’s in New York. The historic French bistro was the perfect setting for these contemporary bohemian styles. In short, if your after-work round of drinks looked this amazing, kvetching about your job would quickly be replaced with cavorting with your colleagues.

If your collection had a spokesmodel or mascot who would that be?

Bella Hadid.

What kind of woman wears Cinq à Sept?

The Cinq à Sept woman is confident and romantic, a bit provocative and très cool.

 What would be Cinq à Sept’s signature cocktail?

An Aperol Spritz.

 

What were your influences for the pre-fall collection?

When designing the pre-fall collection, we really wanted to create clothes that would be suitable for all occasions of your life. Day-to-night functionality is a constant thread throughout the line—the goal is to bring chic and pretty to everyday life.

Any other need-to-know French phrases when wearing this collection?

C’est tout bon (“it’s all good”) is a phrase we love.

Tell us about some of your luxe fabrications.

Head-to-toe prints, lace and layers of silk are paramount in the pre-fall collection and will continue in seasons to come.

SHOP: Cinq à Sept

via Nordstrom Fashion Blog http://ift.tt/2a97Th0

Melissa McCarthy Helps Kick Off Anniversary Sale at Nordstrom Downtown Seattle

Not that she needs any introduction, but the movie and TV star and newly-minted fashion designer Melissa McCarthy took time out of her crazy-busy schedule to stop by our flagship store in downtown Seattle last Friday, where she greeted customers and promoted her clothing collection, Melissa McCarthy Seven7.

Photos by Paul Conrad/Getty Images for Nordstrom

Let’s be honest: mixed in with the thrill at the prospect of meeting a favorite celebrity IN PERSON is the tiniest fear that the actor you’ve loved and laughed-so-hard-you’ve-cried watching—whose movies you OWN (even though you can watch them on Netflix)—will be nothing like her accessible on-screen persona in real life. But Melissa McCarthy did not disappoint. She was absolutely lovely—warm, down-to-earth, genuinely gracious and engaging with every single person she met–and there were many!

With DJ B.Two.Times spinning nearby, Melissa autographed pictures and CDs while she chatted and posed for snaps with a long line of customers and fans of all ages and genders. Her energy level never wavered, and she happily accommodated some playful pose requests.

After meeting the A-list icon, fans looked as if they were floating toward the exit, faces beaming and a bit dazed. The best way to describe the event? Pure joy.

SHOP: Melissa McCarthy Seven7

—Stefanie Frank

via Nordstrom Fashion Blog http://ift.tt/2aaRk2M

The Best of Pedro Garcia—in Bilbao, Spain

Over the last few years, Pedro Garcia creative heads Pedro García and Dale Dubovich have become our unofficial ambassadors to Spain. Always ready to list the hot spots and point us toward good beaches and great eats, they’re obviously passionate about their roots and eager to share.

A behind-the-scenes shot from the fall issue of Pedro Garcia’s Made in Spain,
their magazine-style lookbook (all images courtesy Pedro Garcia)

 

Of course, the real proof is in the shoes—and how those shoes are made. Pedro Garcia, the brand, takes a lot of pride in their made-in-Spain ethos—so much so that their seasonal magazine is called Made in Spain. The most recent edition took them to the industrial port of Bilbao to explore, discover and share the city and the fall collection.

We went one step further and traded a few emails with Pedro and Dale to get inside the inside scoop.

 

The Thread: Each season your collection references a Spanish city, and for fall you’ve trained your eyes on Bilbao. Made in Spain, your seasonal magazine, is a stunning exploration of the architecture and the landscape. Tell us more about why Bilbao really captivates the Pedro Garcia team’s imagination, and how the city ties into the collection.

Pedro García and Dale Dubovich: We always try to make sure that the location where we shoot Made in Spain has the same spirit as the new collection. We imagine the styles in a specific setting, in an area or a city that transmits that same energy. We were attracted by Bilbao’s architecture, the way the city’s contemporary and classic buildings coexist, the harmony of the contrasts.

This way of understanding the line connects with our own design philosophy; we work with materials progressively and our seasons flow, one into the next. Our signature materials and styles are always present, but we revamp and experiment with each collection to create new designs. This season we are showing highly recognizable design classics with a contemporary spirit. They are innovative silhouettes that have evolved from traditional footwear, a process that we feel is part of our identity. The Nicole style, in cordovan leather—an oxford-style upper on a flatform with a serrated sole—is one example. Another is the Queron style, a penny loafer, again in cordovan leather, finished with a glittered welt.

 

 

The ruffled, frayed-satin element that comes up in the collection feels like an example of old and new too. It’s been a staple in your collection for the last 10 years, so we can almost think of it as your version of old-world architecture, but the current riffs are like the modern complements to the classic look and feel.

Frayed satin is one of our signature materials. We’ve worked with it for over a decade. It’s a sumptuous material that seems particularly worn by time and use, due to its raw-edge finish. We wanted to give satin a contemporary treatment, bringing it out into the light of day and freeing it from its exclusive association with eveningwear.

Our Albany style, the ruffled ballerina we created 10 years ago, has a certain romantic rebel feel that has lost none of its impact. The spirit that was so innovative when it first appeared has endured over time and kept the design alive, which is something we place a special value on—it’s a source of great personal satisfaction.

Designing it, we were influenced by vintage lingerie-inspired dresses and camisoles, a trend that is still very relevant today. To mark the 10-year anniversary, we wanted to reissue the style and continue its logical development, expanding the range of silhouettes to offer a new perspective on the dichotomy—almost the contradiction—between the fragile nature of the satin and the raw, frayed finish. The result is a sophisticated blend that balances the contemporary and the baroque, as in the ruffled d’Orsay of the Adila style.

If we were planning to visit Bilbao, what three to five places would you insist we visit?

Your first port of call when you reach Bilbao has to be the Guggenheim Museum. Ever since it opened, the titanium curves, location, artwork inside and the sculptures surrounding it have been the driving force of what is now known as the Bilbao Effect. The museum boosted art and design tourism and was the cornerstone of the architectural and urban planning projects that would radically change the way the city conceived of itself.

As a contrast, another option would be to continue by visiting Bilbao’s Fine Arts Museum, with its neoclassical exterior and its outstanding art collection.

Another obligatory visit is the district where both museums are located, a renovated area of the old waterfront called Abandoibarra. Docks, cranes and containers have been replaced by an area of attractive landscaping, intelligently developed, with examples of cutting-edge architecture. And to understand Bilbao’s real character, take a walk along the Nervión river, the city’s backbone, perhaps ending up at the Maritime Museum.

Last but not least, you shouldn’t leave Bilbao without visiting the old town, known as Las Siete Calles—the “Seven Streets.” It’s an unspoilt neighborhood, crammed with small taverns and tapas bars where you can sample a txikito, a small glass of wine and a pintxo, the tapas typical of the Basque country, with delicacies spiked on a toothpick, often on top of a slice of bread. You could start with a gilda, the classic combination of an olive, a green pickled pepper and an anchovy. Drinking wine in small servings, eating delicious pintxos—strolling from one bar to the next with your friends—is the Basque way of socializing, and it makes Bilbao a tapas lover’s paradise.

Explore the Pedro Garcia fall collection | all designer shoes

 

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