“Fashion is the armor to survive the reality of everyday life.” – Bill Cunningham

We could all use a bit of escapism. With days looking similar from one to the next, frivolity does the soul good. Always current with style du jour, my senses peaked with a curious find portraying a lighter side of the fashion foray. This whimsical escape is a place of diminutive design and originative outfitting. Let's step inside a magical world of petite particulars for the women's Spring 2021 collection at Moschino - No Strings Attached marionette runway.

With complicated travel and careful autonomy in a pandemic climate, the show goes on YouTube, even for the rag trade brigade. With a nod to Théâtre de la Mode - an exhibition of dolls dressed in the latest fashions by Balenciaga, Balmain, Lanvin, and other internationally famous designers after World War II - Jeremy Scott, the creative director of Moschino, created an oddly appropriate cinematic, digital experience to calm the current dilemma.

Enlisting help from the Jim Henson Creature Shop, Scott brought a sophisticated spectacle to small screens everywhere. While Scott is acclaimed as the first fashion designer to ever dress Henson's famous Muppet, Miss Piggy, this present undertaking was no small feat (pun intended). Together the Jim Henson Creature Shop and Moschino collaborated to create models, a famous front row, and a marionette of Scott himself to showcase the designer’s latest Moschino designer collection and give the feeling of a physical fashion spectacle. 

In Scott's Spring 2021 collection, the inner-workings of clothes are brought to the forefront —  corsetry boning, panels, darts, edges, seams, and trims all on full display. There's an inverted zipper halter dress, unfinished pockets on pants, and jacquard trim that's sewn on backward. Even raw-edge tulle extends beyond the hem of skirts and dresses.

The collection is fabricated in a soft color palette, including gold, slipper pink, celadon green, and fairytale blue. The color range is rather subtle, very wearable, and portrays a pretty youthful princess feel to the clothes.

Especially in unpredictability and concern, creativity prevails to restore a bit of magic and fantasy. As Alexander McQueen famously declared, “Fashion should be a form of escapism and not a form of imprisonment.” I couldn't agree more.

Put Netflix on pause; a magical world of marionette muses is calling. Become the captive audience of fashionistas and creatives in this brave new world, no strings attached. xoxo-Sonya

Okay, I have to admit, I miss wearing stilettos and those perfect fitting jeans, especially worn together tastefully. While I have no problem sitting at home, self-quarantining to stop the spread of COVID-19, I'm starting to get antsy. I really don't find joy in spending my full day in pajamas, though running to Shoprite sans make-up in comfy loafers has been saving some time. With lockdown and loss of income, new financial priorities and balancing family budgets can feel like you're teetering on high heels. Yet women need a quick pick-me-up now and then, despite squeezing wallets of discretionary income and savings, especially at a time like this. All it takes is a little something to make us feel special to spice up the regular clothes calling from the closet.

Since we're still sitting on couches and at kitchen tables with Zoom, the new meeting room, looks need to be comfy and cozy on top of being cute. We'd like to keep our sweatpants in the mix, but also find fun ways to accessorize. And, incorporating a few signature style trends wouldn't hurt, either. Our fashion-loving selves are itching to come up with some smart ideas. We can certainly save a lot of money by focusing on "tabletop dressing."

This is really nothing new. The term tabletop dressing has been around for many years, gaining popularity in the 80's when embellished tops and the inclusion of jeweled sweaters became a standard element for many of the knitwear company collections. Taking the lead from news anchorwomen on TV and even politicians propped behind a desk or podium, they've been concentrating fashion firepower on their top halves for years. Today, we are anchored in front of our laptops and smartphones with the fashion zoomed in from the waist up. Got a meeting to go to? Put on some lip gloss and focus your look on these five waist-up style hacks to maximize the impression you make. Here's how.

1) Make a statement without saying a word. Wear an uplifting graphic tee or embroidered sweater. It doesn't have to be complicated. In fact, the simpler, the better. Get to the point.

2) Show some real necklace love by donning a knockout new piece. Are you a statement kinda gal, or are precious classic trinkets more your style? Find it and flaunt it.

3) Show off your listening skills, wearing a pair of jazzy earrings. Big and bold or quiet and classy, you'll be all ears with some stylish ear candy.

4) Scarves are more than just a fashion statement; they are indeed a work of art. Become French for a day and tie a printed neckwear piece to jazz up a white top. Oui, oui!

5) Whether you are typing away at the keyboard or just lifting your third cup of coffee, make it memorable. Spruce yourself up with a stack of unforgettable wristlets.

With the change in workspace accompanied by a very welcomed change in dress code, basically, anything goes. But style is not a one size fits all even in virtual parlays. So, after your coffee and shower, take a minute to tweak your Zoom casual look. It can boost your daily mood and give meaning to your work. xoxo-Sonya

Suggestive of the sky at dusk, the reassuring qualities of the thought-provoking Classic Blue color highlights the desire for a dependable and stable foundation from which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era.

We are living in a time that requires trust and faith. It is this kind of constancy and confidence expressed in the color, a reliable and dependable blue hue we can always rely on. Imbued with deep resonance, the color provides the anchoring foundation.

As technology continues to race ahead of the human ability to process it all, it is easy to understand why we gravitate to colors that are honest and offer the promise of protection. Non-aggressive and easily relatable, the trusted Classic Blue color lends itself to relaxed interaction. Associated with the return of another day, this universal favorite is comfortably embraced.

Imprinted in our psyches as a soothing color, Classic Blue brings a sense of peace and tranquility to the human spirit, offering refuge. Aiding concentration and bringing laser-like clarity, the color re-centers our thoughts. A relative blue tone Classic Blue fosters resilience.

A boundless blue evocative of the vast and infinite evening sky, Classic Blue encourages us to look beyond the obvious to expand our thinking, challenging us to think more deeply, increase our perspective and open the flow of communication.

With many of us feeling wholly overloaded and perpetually stressed due to our 24/7 lifestyles and our anxiety about the future, wellness and an emphasis on self-care, which keeps us comfortable and healthy, has become a big focus. Blue foods and beverages, including Classic Blue like shades, are rich in anthocyanins, helping to build a solid foundation that acts as a form of protection for good health.

In our quest to reduce environmental impact, we are looking for materials and products that are organic and untreated. Reflective of indigo bearing plants and dyes, Classic Blue plays into the consumer desire for natural ingredients and sustainability. 

Each season the team at the Pantone Color Institute creates the Pantone Fashion Color Trend Report, a color overview highlighting the top colors fashion designers showing at NY Fashion Week will be featuring in their collections for the upcoming season. With color on the catwalk, a vital indicator of the color stories we can expect to see showing up across all areas of design, the Pantone Fashion Color Trend Report is an easily accessible guide to the season's most important color trends.

We are going beyond classic with Pantone's selected color of the year for 2020... xoxo-Sonya

Inspired by the small but mountainous kingdom in the Eastern Himalayas, the pièce de résistance capsule collection combines vertiginous platform heels in thirteen distinct styles handcrafted by Bhutanese artisans called LouBhoutan capturing the country’s rich cultural legacy. LouBhoutan is a range of shoe designs created with artisan students of Bhutan’s art academy, who learn the kingdom's traditional handcrafts prized by the nation. Among these are wood carving and botanical painting, both influenced by Bhutan’s native plants and colorful landscape.

Each shoe was hand-sculpted in wood and hand-painted, the fruits of a six-year partnership with the students of the School of the Royal Arts and Crafts in Thimphu, Bhutan. “The craftsmanship in Bhutan is exceptional and very particular,” said Louboutin. “The artisans have an extreme sense of color, and their architecture and artistry are very joyful. Bhutanese are astonishing people, they are very into secular traditions but with an intelligent and modern gaze of the world that surrounds them.”

The shoes are hand-wrought using traditional painting, wood-carving, metal-work, and relief embroidery techniques. The collection represents the highest expression of Louboutin's atelier expertise. Pairs are being sold exclusively in select stores globally as iconic collector's pieces from the brand.

The emotional LouBhoutan capsule is very precious to him. Christian’s boundless creative universe extends to explore traditional Bhutanese royal craftsmanship in these magnificently hand-sculpted and hand-painted pieces. " My preferred shoes are the ones that mix different techniques," he notes. The exquisitely detailed wooden heels and platforms are combined with colorful iconic Louboutin mixed materials on the uppers. The result is an extraordinary union of creative universes.

LouBhoutan is clearly a step up in style... xoxo-Sonya

A little something® nestled atop a rustic stripe of Deux-coupage™ on natural mother of pearl is three exquisite, handcrafted flowers of metallic lampwork glass. The Tuscan Sun statement piece in radiant earth, parmesan, vitrified ivory with silver, and chartreuse sun swirl to create color-rich one of kind jewels collected for this asymmetric eighteen-inch necklace.

One side has two rows of handmade glass beads laced on leather while the other links multiple strands of antique silver chains. The reverse of the large pendant is a tiger stripe. With such attention to detail, this is a jewelry lover’s treasure. The necklace is secure at the back with a gunmetal magnetic closure for ease of wear. With the extra charm of additional handmade lampwork, the set is completed by matching earrings and bracelet.

Where you are is who you are. The further inside you the place moves, the more your identity is intertwined with it. Never casual, the choice of place is the choice of something you crave. ~ Frances Mayes, Under the Tuscan Sun

Like fanning through a deck of cards, my mind flashes on the thousand chances, trivial to profound, that converged to re-create this place. Any arbitrary turning along the way and I would be elsewhere; I would be different. Where did the expression "a place in the sun" first come from? My rational thought process cling always to the idea of free will, random event; my blood, however, streams easily along a current of fate. ~ Frances Mayes, Under the Tuscan Sun

My idea of heaven still is to drive the gravel farm roads of Umbria and Tuscany, very pleasantly lost. ~ Frances Mayes, Under the Tuscan Sun

Tuscan Sun necklace and earrings are available in the online boutique... xoxo-Sonya

That weekend in July was a scorcher. Luckily, we escaped bustling Bergen county for a couple days of respite. Ninety-minutes away in upstate New York, I secured reservations at an uncommon bed and breakfast I found online. As we drove up the block arriving in the Rondout section of Kingston, we realized we were surrounded by churches. The Georgian-style steeple peaked amid the trees as we pulled up and parked in front of the gated portal of the renovated 1859 Baptist church.

Passing hydrangeas, climbing greenery, the music of a gentle water fountain, and pots of colorful petunias, we gingerly approaching a massive but welcoming set of arched wood doors and rang the bell. Though I had no idea what to expect, I knew what we discovered behind those doors would affect something special.

Church des Artistes is the large renovated church hall home to painter/poet Julie Hedrick and composer/musician Peter Wetzler. It is located in the Rondout section of Kingston, a short walk from restaurants, art galleries, quaint shops, river cruises, and boating. Situated on the Hudson River, Rondout had initially been a separate maritime village established by the Dutch in the seventeenth century as an Indian trading post. Rondout derives from the word redoubt, the fort that was erected near the mouth of the creek, a word meaning "stronghold." Befitting is the area name, for this church renovated by artists is also a stronghold filled with beautiful contemporary paintings and sculpture.

Each room at Church des Artistes features Julie's artwork. Her canvases large and small, in suits and solo, are layered works of luminous color and texture. All the oil paintings are complemented gracefully by the natural light that pours into the space. Her epic narratives are vibrant and abstract, with an ethereal quality, perfectly positioned, creating a large shrine of contemporary expression.

Yes, we would be back to this magical place. I decided it was here we would photograph A little something new.

Colors abound in the canvases teeming with a delicate dreamlike rendering. Each room and reading nook welcomes and inspires. The juxtaposition of antiquity amid modern composition feels very familiar to me. It's as if it echoes the heart of my own creative spirit - a union of old and new artfully combined in seamless expression.