Admitting You Have a Problem is the First Step

It's time for us to come clean about our magazine habit. Each month, we steal down to the corner newsstand (thank you, Rich's Cigar Store) for our fix...the latest issues of Elle Decoration (UK, if you please), and Living Etc. These rags have a knack for plucking fresh, of-the-moment inspiration from the air (a taupe and turquoise paint scheme! I didn't know I needed it, but suddenly I do!). The editors also know that good design isn't limited by genre. By promiscuously mixing furniture design with fashion and film and architecture and vintage shopping and lighting on their pages, these publications distill the great unruly mess of design into a meaningful catalog of inspiration...

A textbook example of that crack editorial eye, from January's Living Etc.: Vilde Form's teacup tealights. Platonic simplicity, turned upside down (literally). Clever work from Australian designer Louisa Vilde.

Bridal by the English Dept.

We'll go on record as saying that the vast majority of bridal gear is frightful. It's weird how many wedding dresses seem solidly locked into some mid-'80s-New-Romantic-meets-Soviet-figure-skater death grip--bead-encrusted bodice, anyone? How about a Juliet cap? What is a Juliet cap?

So, we're thrilled to announce the launch of Bridal by the English Dept., a collection of dresses for the anti-bride. We've pulled the most likeable and versatile dresses from the collections of Thread and Jenny Yoo, two New York based designers. Both started out as chic, wearable bridesmaid lines, but quickly realized that girls were actually snatching up their dresses for their own weddings. The thing we hear most from brides-to-be is, "I just want something simple!" And really, simple shouldn't be complicated...

We're launching the collection with a fashion show on January 22nd, so watch for photos from the event. Meanwhile, we say HURRAH to these two designers for recognizing that girls with good taste get married, too.

Day One

Here we are, in our first flushed days of owning The English Dept., a clothing, housewares and everything-we-love shop in Portland, Oregon. That's Elizabeth on the left, Joy on the right. We've started this blog with the new year--a promising one, this 2006. We're here to record the daily arc of our little venture, but also because there's just not enough space in our wee boutique to house all the lovely design we discover each day.

Portland's a blessed bastion of creativity, so we find plenty of homegrown inspiration. But we're also avid magazine dog-ear-ers, design dorks, fashion freaks...not to mention relentless Anglophiles. Our shop is called The English Dept. a) because we were both college English majors, but b) because if it's British, twee and adorable, we'll probably go for it. We tend to get breathless over a perfect bisque teacup or a pretty chiffon dress. That said, we do like design with a little muscle, too. Watch this space for weekly enthusiasms...and other 'asms.'