LamanBlu's Fashion Paper Dolls for Spring 2012

So we did it! 

We've been having so much fun with all of our life size paper doll projects - at schools and at the Denver Art Museum that we can't stop.  We've created our first paper doll book!  And we want to share it with all of you (just in time for a quick download to add to the Easter basket).

Open publication - Free publishing - More lamanblu

We're pretty enamored with it - and I hope your kids have tons of fun!  This is a free book to download - so the great thing about that (besides that it's free, of course) is that you can use it over and over again!

We'd suggest printing the dolls on a sturdier paper - photo paper perhaps and printing the clothing on regular paper.  If you prefer, you can also print the dolls on regular paper then help your kids glue to cardboard from a cereal box to make them sturdier for play (that's what we used to do when we cut paper dolls out of the newspaper when I was a little girl).

There are three LamanBlu fashions for each doll, plus one blank dress for your child to design and decorate (bring out their inner fashionista!)

Happy Easter, and enjoy!

Invitation to Join LamanBlu at the Denver Art Museum to Celebrate the art of Fashion Design and the career of Yves St. Laurent

Guess what?!  We are so excited to be partnering with the Denver Art Museum during Spring Break to celbrate the art of Fashion Design and the career of Yves St. Laurent!  We want to invite you all to join us for the most fun project - we will be working with the children to design their own fashion creations on giant paper dolls.  Then we'll hold a fashion show and your child can model their paper doll creation on the runway!  The paper doll project will be held on Friday, March 30th from 11am-3pm.  I can't wait to see you and your kids there!

By the way - we ran a test of this project in my daughter's kindergarten class a couple of weeks ago - they had a ball (I had just as much fun as they did).  Here are some photos of their amazing and creative work!

I hope to see you on March 30th!!!

Salu,

Holli

Spring Giveaway!!!!!

How would you like to have this dress in your daughter's closet?!  Enter our Spring Giveaway!

To enter, like us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LamanBlu)

and upload a photo of your child's favorite style onto our page along with a fun caption. 

This event runs from now through tax day (April 15th, 2012). 

At that time we will randomly select one winner from the likes/posts to receive the dress above (winner can choose color: aqua or bouganvillea and size:  6 months through 6x). 

We will message the winner through Facebook so they can make their selection.

More Spring 2012 Trend News

It really is finally starting to feel like spring around here - the birds are out and so is the sun, the wind has died down and the snow is melting!  My kids are feeling distracted and so am I frankly.  But there is fun trend news coming out from the big fashion shows, and I wanted to share it with you!

"In New York, London and Milan, dazzling colors predominated.  In Paris, chalky pales and pastels, blush tones and gray and cream looked fresh and less attention-crazed.  White is the right of spring in all major fashion capitals."  Marylou Luther 

LamanBlu certainly carried a Paris vibe for early spring, focusing on white and baby pastels of pink, blue and yellow.  We head more into the dazzling brights for a summer feel - when I'm always ready for a fiesta!  Prints were important in the shows also, with demure plaids and checks at LamanBlu and Jil Sander.  Surreal prints were a big feature at Prabal Gurung and LamanBlu loves this trend too, ours Pucci inspired.  Seahorses were a major theme for both Versace and LamanBlu.

"Fashion's sweet spot begins with lace:  Alencon lace, Battenberg lace, Brussels lace, Chantilly lace, Venetian lace and lace's sisters, crochet and macrame.  These airy, openwork fabrics are the networks that broadcast the news of delicacy and refinement.  Leaders here are Valentino, Pucci, MiuMiu, Luisa Beccaria, Erdem, McQueen, Oscar de la Renta and Junya Watanabe."  Marylou Luther, and of course, lace was a key element for LamanBlu.

"Enter the Little White Dress.  It's headed for stardom at Donna Karan, Hussein Chalayan, Owens, Sander and Hermes."  Marylou Luther.  Our white dresses for LamanBlu are one of the hottest selling items for early spring.  And our ballerina dress trimmed in plaid ruffles have the added benefit of being made of bamboo - which releases stains amazingly well!

"Lagerfeld's underwater wonderland for Chanel, sharks at Givenchy, scuba and surf at Alexander Wang and Ohne Titel, waves at McCartney and Peter Pilotto, starfish at Versace, sea nymphs at Armani and sea goddesses at McQueen - they all add up to a real sea change for fashion.  A truly New Wave."  Marylou Luther.  I love the ocean - it's always a grand source of inspiration for me.  You'll typically find some type of homage to the ocean and its creatures at LamanBlu, no matter what the season.  For spring, it's captured in the embroideries we selected, from seahorses to colorful crabs and lobsters.

So, what's the short of it?  Here's Marylou's wrap-up for Fashion Group International:

Best Bets:

Color:  Brights, Whites, Chalky Pastels

Prints:  Geos, Fusion, Florals, Photo Prints

Pleats * Couture Touches * Sport * Ease * Lace * Full Skirts * The Wedge Heel

The Loafer * The Smaller Day Bag * The Bag that Matches The Clothes

Vintage-Looking Jewelry, Pearls, Crosses

Happy Spring and Happy Shopping!

Easter Comes Early This Year!

April 8th - just over a month away - do you have your daughter's Easter dress yet?  We just got in our spring stock - including dresses which are great for Easter!

 Mention our blog when you order and get free standard shipping!

Paper Dolls

I've been reminiscing about paper dolls lately.  I loved paper dolls as a child!  We even created our own, cutting the fashion illustrations out of the Sunday paper, carefully mounting them on cardboard and creating new dresses for them.

Paper dolls are sort of a lost art, though there are a few folks keeping the art alive.  One of my friends is Jim Howard, a quite famous fashion illustrator in the 70's, 80's and 90's.  He had an impressive career illustrating for Neiman Marcus, Bonwit Teller, Bon Marche and the like.  He has created a beautiful series of paper doll books, drawing upon those fashions of the past.  You can check out his paper doll work at Jim Howard Paper Dolls

I've been thinking about a paper doll fashion book myself, of children, or course.....I've been doing some testing - and here's one first try at a paper doll.....what do you think?

I'm working on another paper doll project as well - GIANT paper dolls!  In conjunction with the family programs for the Denver Art Museum, as in lead in to the Yves St. Laurent exhibit which will be showing at the museum starting in late March.  Denver is the only US museum to garner this impressive exhibit!  I don't want to let the cat totally out of the bag yet, but stay tuned to learn more - and keep your calendar open the last weekend of March.  Get your kids creative juices flowing by bringing them to the museum for the family day to celebrate fashion!

And think about creating your own paper doll project with your kids this weekend......

303 Magazine Awards

Wow - thanks 303 Magazine!  The awards party was so much fun - and we really appreciate the recognition!

"We are celebrating the people & places that made 2011 great to be in Denver!
The 303 Award is given to people and entities who have contributed to progressing the fashion industry in Denver.
And the winners are:Holli Gibson & Rustin Coburn - Denver Design Incubator
These two are leading the fashion pack at DDI, keeping homegrown talent in Denver and teaching those with fashion aspirations how to reach their every goal.  Such openness in this do-or-die industry is a style we can all get behind!

Chris Parente - Fox 31 TV Personality
Autumn Binion - Fashion Show Producer
Denver Art Museum
Debra Mazur - Common Era"  (303 Magazine)