Yes, Virginia

Virginia Johnson is a Canadian fashion illustrator with a fresh, effortless way of dashing her brush across a page. Hasty little strokes become leafy fronds, sketched circles take shape as owlish eyes. Her latest project: designing breezy cotton pieces in the prettiest hand-drawn prints you ever saw. Don't sweat through sundress season without one of her lighter-than-air frocks. Available in Portland exclusively at--mais oui!--The English Dept.

Holiday! Celebrate!

We're back from the L.A. Fall & Holiday Market with a camera full of new clothes for the cold season. The mercury may be topping triple digits this week, but we're falling in love with peppy Parisian knits, European prints, silks in lovely rose and mineral tones, cozy wool coats...here are nine glimpses of what's coming to English Dept. this winter.


L.A. ahoy: Joy on Mulholland Drive

Hi, June!

Memorial Day has passed, and it's officially summer--the season for white shoes, black iced coffee and clothes you don't have to think about. Here are some new arrivals in that category:
One of a kind nautical jersey tops from Supayana--our girl in Brooklyn
Jersey tanks and dresses from Enza Costa (feather-light and functionally feminine)
Sundresses by Elizabeth Dye (she's obsessed with "Stepford-Wives"-meets-South-of-France maxi-dresses right now)
New Thread bridal samples! Some great slinky party styles as well as crisp, perfect silk seersucker. Order these dresses, find a meadow of daisies and get married in it, PRONTO.

Next up: Notes from So.Cal. We're heading to LA Market for the weekend.

The City of Lost Children

Around here we keep pretty interesting company. Lovely dresses from Brazil, little tees handmade in Finland...you get the idea. While some pieces barely make our acquaintance before heading home with someone else, others hang around a bit longer. Some might say they stay long after the party has ended. It's really hard to say why some items hang around. In fact, we're really at a loss, because we love all of our babies equally! We really believe that some great pieces are being overlooked. This entry is the first of a semi-regular series featuring some underappreciated beauties. Pam is wearing Annelore's Sophie top, denim trousers by Development, and the amazing straw weekender is by the French design house April,May. We don't normally reward neglectful behavior, but we'll make an exception here. All of these items are on sale! You know you always root for the underdog anyway.