Her twitter name is Bunny Bisous, her first blog was called Julia Lapin (lapin means bunny in French), her current blog is called Yes! A Bunny Stream of Conch, and its logo depicts two bunnies touching each other’s noses, yet Julia Frakes’ favorite animal is not a rabbit. In fact she names many different animals – horses, moose, goats, pheasant, cats, dogs, pigs; in that order – except rabbits. “It’s just an old nickname from around the time when I worked very closely with Paper Magazine, prior to starting a personal website in 2008,” she thinks back. And I guess it stuck. Appropriately so. Because 21-year old Julia Frakes is a tiny little mouse with a tiny little voice which no moose or pig could possibly relate to.
For our vintage outing Julia and I visited Frock, an expensive-looking, beautifully curated vintage store on Elizabeth Street. It must have been one of the coldest days of the year. Snow was still piled up in smutty-dirty, icy globs on the sidewalks and the temperatures had reached alarming depths. But we braved it all like champs because much like me, Julia Frakes adores vintage. “I am a history major and politics buff, so perusing antiques and vintage wares is definitely the most rewarding and thrilling of shopping experiences in my book,” she tells me. On the – though rare – occasion that she shops, Julia gravitates towards the elegance of the 1940s or the aura manifested by Vogue UK during the 1970s – “that distinctive mishmash of woolens and plaids, scholarly menswear paired with the era’s delicate prairie aesthetic, as captured by such legends as Sarah Moon, Francesco Scavullo and Norman Parkinson”. But her greatest source of inspiration is the 1982 Vogue edition of More Dash than Cash by Kate Hogg. “The high-and-low, bucolic-cum-urban manner of dressing as captured in Hogg’s credo and the dreamy images contained therein have since had a sweeping impact on my whole fashion philosophy.”
When I ask Julia to describe her personal style she comes up with the most fascinating backdrop for her fashion education. Before she was a Fashion Writer (she writes for The Journal, Paper, Dossier and Vogue Nippon) and model (she is represented by Next ‘Special Bookings’), she lived in Pennsylvania where her family ran apparel manufacturing factories. Growing up in this textile environment “certainly spurred a lifelong appreciation for all of the handiwork and fabrics behind domestically-produced garments, not to mention a deep-rooted respect for old-school Americana like Pendleton and Ralph Lauren,” she recalls. But what’s so much cooler is that she quotes Heidi, Switzerland’s national treasure from the namesake book by Johanna Spyri, as the eccentric, spry optimism at the heart of her style. You might remember a very young Shirley Temple in the 1937 movie adaptation. “That sprightly spirit and exuberant attitude has surely become more polished while I have grown up, but its distinctive ragamuffin cheerfulness—always with something a bit off,” she elaborates, “—is definitely something that I still cherish to this day.” So while Julia took hints from a children’s tale to adopt her personal style, her massive knowledge of history and fashion literature have attributed to a grounded yet girlie sense of style, minus the bunny ears.
love this post, stunning pics! esp those with the cape x
The mint dress is my favorite! She seems like she would be fun to hang out with =)
<3 Sarah
theantiquepearl.blogspot.com
The last pic is simply stunning.
cute! i've seen her before, but i liked getting more of her personality out from this story 🙂
natalieoffduty.blogspot.com
i am in love with the hood and ALL of the shades 🙂
http://hammocksandtrampolines.blogspot.com
http://etsy.com/shop/puddinp0p
The wonderful ladies you photograph have both Dash and Cash and some Women out there have plenty of cash, but lack the Dash. I have absolutely no cash, but I have the book – Not, however the title you mention. No one aims to look like they have more money than taste, surely?
Looking forward to your next post, as always.
Oh how I love this blog!
http://hepburnwaldorfvanderwoodsen.blogspot.com/
Fabulous post 🙂
Love Julia Frakes.. she has such a wonderful sense of style!!!
wow the mint Pierre Cardin dress is to die for! fabulous colour and it compliments her gorgeous hair colour perfectly.
Actually…. The Vogue book is called MORE DASH THAN CASH. We just noticed the dyslectic mistake. Oops! Here is a link to some info on the book: http://www.codeforsomething.com/2009/12/more-dash-than-cash-vogue-shows-us-how/
first of all she looks stunning in green and mint!!! it is probably because of her skin tone and gorgeous hair color. her inspiration? well you can see that it is profound and that she a very conscious fashion mind. she knows what she wants and i love a girl with a distinctive fashion identity. she looks amazing with every bright color, look at that blue cape. it makes her glow, the glasses are so pretty with her hair. love the oversized sunnies with her precious delicate face.
I love the post, the 70's Courreges coat looks great – the length is just perfect, and the mint dress – wow!
I absolutely love your blog. It is so fun to read about the people you feature, and have a look at their personnel style and off course vintage.
Check out my personal blog about my passion for style and vintage at http://www.zoemolyneux.blogspot.com/
i LOVE the chanel bag!!!!!!!
check out my blog and follow it if you like 🙂
http://juliasstyleutopia.blogspot.com/
i LOVE julia frakes! her vocabulary and eloquentness blows me away!