Sex and the Cities - Miranda

This week, I will present you with four friends who are living modern day lives of Sex and the City characters through landing their dream jobs and looking fashionable every step of the way!

Meet Stacie, who like Miranda, is a lawyer at a prestigious law firm where she dresses for success.

Stacie at the office where she is wearing a fitted polished suit and pearls

What is a typical day in the life of a lawyer?

My day-to-day varies considerably based on the posture of the case (or cases) I'm working on at the time. I work out with a trainer in the mornings two or three times a week -- I hate mornings but do it because (1) it helps me wake up in the morning and (2) I literally would not work out if I had to try and fit it in after work. Lately I have been preparing for expert depositions. Today I have been working on a mock cross examination of our expert on issues he may be weak on. I sent him the outline so that he can review it, and then will spend tomorrow in a conference room pretending to cross examine him, and then providing constructive feedback on how he can best spin tough questions, etc. I make sure that the support staff has all the documents ready to go. I have also had to follow up with the client on strategy issues to make sure that they are OK with decisions that may affect the case in a large way.

What are your favorite things to do for a night on the town in Dallas?

I love dinner and drinks with the girls. People are very much paired up in Dallas, so girls' night is something that generally has to be planned -- it is not the default. Charity events are huge here on any given night, especially with the young professional crowd. Everyone is on the committee of something, so it is naturally where everyone meets up.

How do you think your profession has influenced your personal style?

I have always loved the pearls + pencil skirt + button down shirt, and get to wear it every day! Since you have to be covered up, I tend to be more covered up outside of work too -- sleeveless is just not my thing. The exception, of course, is short skirts.

In what ways do you identify with or not identify with Miranda?

I identify with being independent, as well as pretty ballsy when it comes to speaking my mind. I enjoy making my own financial security. In my line of work, you have to be strong in your convictions. That said, you have to pick your battles ... I think I argue with people in my personal life much less than Miranda seemed to. I am comfortable with agreeing to disagree on minor points that really don't matter. I also identify with having a less-than-optimal work/life balance, and with dating someone who brings out the romantic in me.

I do not identify with the frumpy outfits. What the hell is that?

What inspires you from a career standpoint?

I work with a partner named Brad Caldwell, and I admire the integrity he displays. Until I actually began practicing I did not realize how shitty lawyers can be -- for no reason other than to give the other side a hard time. He does not engage in this bickering, he doesn't stretch the facts into something they are not, and he does not tolerate any amount of disrespect in the workplace. He wins cases ($540 million microsoft verdict anyone?) because he is only willing to back a case if he believes in it, and because he is a good lawyer. He also encourages younger attorneys and is really invested in their growth.

Sex and the Cities - Samantha

This week, I will present you with four friends who are living modern day lives of Sex and the City characters through landing their dream jobs and looking fashionable every step of the way!

Meet Paige, who like Samantha, is running her own PR firm in style.

Paige is wearing Pura Lopez wedges, David Lerner leggings, Myne tank, Nicole Miller

blazer, Damen + Division necklace and By Erin Gordon bracelets

What is a typical day in the life of a PR exec?

There is no typical day lol. That's what I love about my job.... Every day brings something new. From pitching editors and filming news segments to planning grand opening events and meeting with clients for marketing brainstorming sessions, each day is exciting and brings new challenges.

What are your favorite things to do for a night on the town in Chicago?

I love trying all the great new restaurants in Chicago with my husband or girlfriends.

How do you think your profession has influenced your personal style? (Or do you think it has?)

I work with a lot of great retail clients and always find the most amazing pieces at my clients boutiques. In PR/marketing, you attend a lot of events so I'm always looking for new, on trend items to add to my wardrobe.

In what ways do you identify with or not identify with Samantha?

Well, I definitely don't identify with Samantha's personal life lol. But I do relate to how she is committed to her clients and career.

What inspires you from a career standpoint?

My business partner, Carolyn, is very inspiring to me, and I look to her constantly for advice and to run ideas by. I've always wanted to own my own business so I feel like I have my dream job now!

Sex and the Cities - Charlotte

This week, I will present you with four friends who are living modern day lives of Sex and the City characters through landing their dream jobs and looking fashionable every step of the way!

Meet Renna, who like Charlotte, is an art enthusiast living in New York City.

Renna at the office where she is wearing a top from The Kooples, a Dolce and Gabbana skirt,

shoes by Loeffler Randal and Roberto Cavalli bracelets

What is a typical day in the life of a gallerist?

I am a sale administrator at a large auction house so my day consists of about a million things! I work closely with consignors, specialists, framers, shippers, legal, compliance, etc. to make sure that all of the details are in order for us to hold a sale.

What are your favorite things to do for a night on the town in New York City?

Some of my favorite spots are Kingswood and Fedora in the West Village for drinks. I also love Boqueria in the Flatiron for tapas and sangria. Madison Square Park is my favorite park in the city and also a center for public art. I love to grab a bite at Shake Shack or Eataly then walk around the park while checking out the current works on display. Also, there are tons of cute dogs in the park and some chubby squirrels.

How do you think your profession has influenced your personal style? (Or do you think it has?)

I try to dress professionally at work but rather than dressing too corporate, I try to accessorize and bring my personality to what I wear. Lately, I have been stacking Roberto Cavalli snake bangles up one wrist (an homage to my other favorite blog manrepeller.com). I am a sucker for heels but I always kick them off under my desk (I have 14 pairs of shoes under my desk, I don't know how that happened. I may have a bit of Carrie in me as well!). I run around all day and I have a secret fear that I will trip and fall into a painting so I switch back and forth at random intervals throughout my day. It's weird.

In what ways do you identify with or not identify with Charlotte?

Charlotte! I love Charlotte! Let's see, I think Charlotte and I are both probably looking for the beauty in life, which is why I love to be around artwork all day. You could say I am a romantic at heart; although, I like to think that I am not as die-hard about it as Charlotte. I don't know, we are also both brunettes!

What inspires you from a career standpoint?

The incredible works of art that I work with inspire me everyday. I love working with art as well as with our clients, I aspire to work as a specialist or in a client relations capacity, one day. History and art are intrinsically aligned; looking at history through the lens of an artist or a work of art tells a unique story. Alternately, looking at art through the lens of the historical climate in which it was created in can transform the way one looks at it in the present. I love uncovering those layers. For now, I love what I do!

Lina Maple at SARCA

Lina Maple at SARCA: Hit the A-List Art Scene in SARCA style

Next week the art world will gather together at Art Basel Miami Beach. As collectors scour the city looking for the next big addition to add to their burgeoning art collections, we are guessing their personal styles will reflect their collecting styles. Whether your taste in art is more impressionistic, minimalist or straight from the streets, we have the looks that will make what you're wearing match what you're viewing. So go ahead and be a muse in Miami, for both art lovers and fashionistas alike!

The Impressionst

The Minimalist

The Street Art Enthusiast

Moscow on My Mind

For the past few years I have had a fascination with visiting Moscow in the winter. It tops my list of next must-see destinations. Maybe it is because of the Art Institute's recent exhibit on Soviet War Propaganda, or maybe it's because it is becoming an emerging mecca for contemporary art, or maybe it's just because of my Eastern European roots and love for everything fur, but I can't get Moscow off my mind. The people, the culture, the sheer excess...really, everything about it fascinates me.

Here in Chicago, the Maya Polsky Gallery focuses on representing contemporary Russian artists. I am particularly fond of the work of Valery Koshliakov.

Hipster Meets Haute Couture

Anyone who has been to Art Basel Miami Beach knows how important it is to dress the part. The story is bright, bold and edgy, so if you are going to be there, make sure you get the look. Think Georgia May Jagger, Alexa Chung and Chloe Sevigny. And luckily, the Versace for H&M collection coming out this weekend just screams Art Basel. Umm, can we say...perfect timing!

For the Beach Parties

For the Street Parties

For the Nights on the Town

Images Credits: because i'm addicted, The Little Black List & Versace for H&M Runway

Lina Maple at SARCA

Lina Maple at SARCA - Let's Get Glam

This fall at the Frieze Art Fair in London, Dora Fobert's fiber based paper negatives were a critics' pick. The exhibit, ALIAS, created fictional wall captions next to the beautiful ghostly black-and-white images questioning: if Fobert were alive to retell the story of her work today, what would she say? This open-ended question may never get answered, but here is a look at SARCA's newest fall/winter additions in Dora Fobert style, and we're saying, Let's Get Glam!

Modern Day Muses

Artists rely on a continual renewal of inspiration - a source of creative reserves. Nowadays technology provides a level playing field for artists, allowing them to have their finger on the pulse of contemporary culture to which they can respond creatively. But the story is always more interesting when there is a person and relationship that inspires the artistic endeavor. Here are some of my favorite 20th century artists with their muses.

Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick

Jean-Luc Godard and Ana Karina

Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith

Jean-Michel Basquiat and Suzanne Mallouk

Woody Allen and Diane Keaton

The People of Pilsen

In recent years, new opportunities have surfaced for artists that challenge the convention of the traditional gallery. The current lull in urban real estate has stimulated the growth of the pop-up gallery, a relatively low cost vehicle which allows artists and gallery owners to create custom event-based environments to display their work. In the heart of one of Chicago’s most vibrant emerging art communities, Pilsen, there is an abundance of low rent empty storefronts near 18^th Street and South Halsted run by Podmajersky.

showPOD on view at 18th and South Halsted:

Lina Maple at SARCA

Lina Maple at Sarca: Which Came First - The Artwork or The Garment?

It has been said that fashion is an attempt to realize art in living forms. Sometimes the similarities are more conceptual, where it is the ideas, inspiration and intent that draws fashion and art together, and other times, the similarities are more blatant. Being someone who is constantly exposed to contemporary art, I cannot help but make references towards it.

When I first spotted the T-bags owl shirts at SARCA, I immediately associated them with downtown New York artist, Aurel Schmidt, who appeared in last year’s Whitney Biennial and is currently releasing a book of drawings with Pulitzer prize winning poet, Franz Wright. Her work, which questions conventions of beauty by finding the beauty in ugliness, often appropriates cigarette butts, beer cans, trash and debris, but uses exquisite detail and craftsmanship in making these seemingly grotesque things transform into an aesthetically pleasing work of art.

I made a similar connection between Myne’s olive dress and New York based artist, Dalek, whose summer exhibit, “Prism Break,” at the Hurley SPACE Gallery used colorful and repeating geometric shapes to create an optically stimulating environment and uncover the secret abilities of color.

In today’s era, where high fashion is being deemed somewhat of a performance art, solidified by New York Fashion Week’s move last year to Lincoln Center, one of New York’s most reputable artistic depots, it is undeniable that artists are influenced by fashion, just as fashion is influenced by art. The question becomes, which came first?

In the Mood for Magenta

With winter just around the corner, I have been feeling especially drawn towards everything magenta. It is such a rich color that beautifully accents pale skin tones which makes it the perfect choice for this season's nail color (pictured OPI's Suzi Says Da), wardrobe (pictured Valentino Fall/Winter 2011) and jewelry (pictured Ana Hagopian necklace). Dieter Mammel uses the color magenta in his Magenta Lovers series to express the concept of sheer bliss, passion and love as depicted in the imagery below. Much of Mammel's work focuses on the use of colors as a metaphor for emotion and a strong depicter of mood. While not outwardly conceptual, Mammel's work is nevertheless thought-provoking.

Straight from SOFA

Last night was the opening preview party of the Sculpture, Objects & Functional Art fair (SOFA) at Navy Pier. Like all art & design fairs, it was overwhelming. I am going to estimate that it takes at least 4 hours to really see everything. Also like all art fairs, there was a lot of imitation work. I saw Jim Bloom channeling Willem de Kooning, Terry Turrell channeling Jean Dubuffet and Donna Rosenthal channeling Fernando Botero, but I am not going to bore you with that. Picasso said that good artists copy, but great artists steal, so here is some of the more interesting work that I had the pleasure of viewing that wasn't so clearly referential.

Eugene Von Bruenchenhein

Gugger Petter - Newspaper & Hemp

Kathleen Mulcahy

Christian Faur - Crayons

Lita Caillebot

Josepha Gasch Muche

The 50 Most Important Arts Organizations in Chicago

Are you looking to get involved or learn more about the art scene in Chicago? After a lot of research and many visits, here is my curated selection of the 50 most important arts organizations in Chicago - including, the galleries, the auction houses, the museums, the art fairs, the foundations & centers, the emerging art districts, the studios, the consultants and the informants.

The Galleries
1. Alan Koppel Gallery
2. Richard Gray Gallery
3. Rhona Hoffman Gallery
4. Donald Young Gallery
5. Carrie Secrist Gallery
6. Stephen Daider Gallery
7. The McCormick Gallery
8. KM Fine Arts Gallery
9. Valerie Carberry Gallery
10. Kavi Gupta Gallery

The Auction Houses
11. Christie’s
12. Sotheby’s
13. Leslie Hindman Auctioneers
14. Wright Auctioneers
15. Susanin’s Auctions

The Museums
16. Art Institute of Chicago
17. Museum of Contemporary Art
18. Smart Museum
19. School of the Art Institute of Chicago
20. Loyola University Museum of Art
21. The Block Museum
22. The Driehaus Museum
23. Depaul Art Museum
24. Museum of Contemporary Photography
25. Terra Foundation for American Art

The Art Fairs
26. NEXT Art Chicago
27. MDW Fair
28. SOFA
29. Exposition Chicago

The Foundations & Centers
30. The Logan Center
31. River East Art Center
32. Hyde Park Arts Center
33. The Graham Foundation
34. The Arts Club of Chicago

The Emerging Art Districts
35. University Village
36. Pilsen Art District

The Studios
37. Cornelia Arts Building
38. Zhou B Center
39. Flat Iron Arts Building
40. Chicago Artist Coalition Bolt Residency Studio Tour
41. SAIC Student Union Galleries
42. Pullman Center PAINT initiative
43. Lacuna Artist Lofts
44. The Geolofts

The Art Consultants
45. Chicago Art Source
46. Joel Straus Art Consulting
47. Russell Bowman Art Advisory

The Informants
48. Chicago Artist Resource
49. Chicago Art Magazine
50. Chicago Gallery News

Lina Maple at SARCA

Every Wednesday, I will guest blog at Sarca a new installation on the topic of how fashion, art & design are constantly drawing inspiration from one another. This segment will focus on the relationship between fashion, art & design, and the very personal environment they work together to create.

Working under and developing a friendship with Mark, principal and founder of Mark Cunningham Inc, has forever changed my personal style and style at home. Inducted this year into Elle Décor’s top 25 A-List and Architectural Digest’s AD 100, Mark is a tastemaker in the world of international design. To the circle of those who know him, he is a visual genius. Employees and clients regularly turn to him for advice on anything style related from what sofa to purchase, to what art to collect, to what to wear to a big event. What makes Mark standout from other designers is that he is able to take his impeccable taste and translate it to fit a number of different environments. The residences and hotels Mark designs are a reflection of the space’s history and the personalities inhabiting them. From a modern Manhattan penthouse, to a rustic Hudson Valley cottage, to a Texas ranch, each space Mark designs fits what it is supposed to be but never loses sight of the timeless quality that makes him who he is. Usually clad in John Varvatos or Jill Sander, Mark dresses himself the way he dresses homes, with clean lines and classic looks. Fashion and design need to work in conjunction in order to tell a story, so here are the versatile Sarca looks that work together with his designs to create the perfect, polished environment.

Fierce Friends

Dasha Zhukova, and fellow Muscovite and friend, Maria Baibakov, are making their mark on the international art world. Both founders of contemporary arts organizations in Moscow and both a regular presence in the New York art scene, Dasha and Maria, who are in their 20's, are changing the traditional concept of the art world tastemaker. Dasha's art & fashion magazine, Garage, launched this fall which is based off of the premise of her Garage Center for Contemporary Culture. Baibakov, currently enrolled at Harvard Business School, is working on relaunching and restructuring Baibakov Art Projects. Fierce friends, to say the least.