Obsessed with Pleats

Have you guys noticed this in fashion--all these adorable pleated skirts and dresses? I literally can't get enough of them. Pleats are a given in interior design with pleated lampshades, pleated upholstery skirts, and pleated drapery but what I've been seeing are a super intense version of this with a knife or accordion pleat everywhere.

I took this picture in a dress maker's store window in Roma from...our honeymoon! It was one of many swoon worthy moments from the honeymoon...sigh...

When I think of pleated fabric, I think of Bart Halpern, who offers tons of different pleat options. We've used a few of these fabrics in recent projects and they are gorgeous.

Doesn't this take your breathe away? I am speechless at how gorgeous this is. Also, is she making a cape look graceful and beautiful?

Like I said, pleats are in interiors too with this cute pillow from West Elm.

West Elm is getting these pleats. This nautical feeling pillow is from WE also and is in yellow too.

Can I pull off a long skirt? They are chic and comfy looking but am I too short at 5' 4"? This gorgeous lady looks amazing in the long accordion pleated skirt and long sweater.

I love this dress for if I had eloped and gotten married at City Hall. Perfect right? Too late for that though...

This skirt nails it in a rooftop photo shoot paired with a simple white top and belt.

Great for fall or back to school (like yours truly again) a dusty pink pleated skirt!

Are you all feeling the cute pleated skirts and dresses? I love the girly sophistication of them and the movement and motion of them. In terms of the interior design world, I think clean knife or box pleats are the way to go, otherwise you risk going shabby chic mess, which I don't advise. So who wants to buy me a pleated dress? All uncredited pics are from HERE.


Alicia B.

Friday Faves

Been a while since I've done Friday Faves, huh? Well life has been pretty hectic for me lately and its slow down a LITTLE but not a lot. So today has a theme, can you guess what it is?

I would like to have this at least once a day. YUM. You know that they taste as beautiful as the colors look.

Repetition is something that always catches my eye. This is gorgeous and I love this dark buttercup color.

Nautical. I'm loving all these ropes wrapped around the railing.

Ahh to ride on the back of a Vespa...I've never done that I swear. This one is quite jazzy with the stripes.

Well? What's the theme? These pictures make me want to travel and take tons of pictures. Maybe I will do just that. Happy Friday! (pictures from here)


Alicia B.

Our Wedding!!

A lot of you (my precious readers) have been begging me for pictures from the wedding two weeks ago. My mother and I basically designed the wedding and it was really beautiful...we rarely clashed on anything. My new husband and I are incredibly lucky to have had this amazing day...a good start to our lives together!!

We were married in a sweet little Congregational church in Litchfield County CT. The ceremony was amazing and my husband and I didn't break eye contact the entire time. It was threatening to rain and the moment that we stepped out of the church it started--good luck, I've heard!

Here are 3 out of 4 of my bridesmaids who wore adorable Buttercup yellow dresses by Lula Kate.

Here is the gorgeous tent that was in our backyard overlooking the rolling hills in the Berkshires.

The tent was beautiful and a cluster of these lanterns was hung over the dance floor. They were so charming and made the space super intimate.

Here we are!! My husband wore light khakis, a blue blazer and a cute yellow and blue polka dot bowtie from J Press. My dress was very light silk organza by Vera Wang with a large ivory grosgrain ribbon and flower broach.

Here is a close up on the bouquet.

My florist is a complete genius and created the most adorable and sweet flower arrangements in silver mint julep cups that my mom and I collected from the local thrift shops.


Our favor were 2 little macarons from Payard Bakery tied (by my sisters) in little bags with yellow grosgrain ribbon with our names and the date of our wedding written on them.

Ivory table cloths and light yellow napkins were the table linens and we had faux bamboo chairs.

Our cake was GAWGEOUS and though I only got one bite (the one that was ceremoniously fed to me) it was DELISH. Lemon butter cream= heaven. The cake topper was used at my sister's wedding 3 years ago and also at my grandmother's wedding in the 1930's so it was very special to have it.

Thank you for letting me share our amazing day with you and Happy Two Week Anniversary to us!!


Alicia B.

Giveaway Winner!

The UPrinting giveaway for a rolled canvas is now closed, but the winner is Ann! She said:


Congratulations Ann!! Please contact me at aliciabdesigns@gmail.com so that I can give you the details on your prize. Wooo!!


Alicia B.

I hate purple

Isn't this from Blueprint?? Mustards and golds against the light purple are romantic and pop at the same time.

Hi, my name is Alicia and I hate purple. Yes, I admitted it. I think the color purple is awful, but I've been working a bit with it at my new job and I might be coming around to lavender. Let's be clear, I said lavender, not purple. I'm constantly inspired by my new job and I'm loving the super sophisticated color combo of Lavender and Champagne.

John Saladino. I think it works quite well in a bedroom. It's romantic and soothing and the moldings and shadows are beautiful with the color.

Hal Williamson. I've posted this image about 8 million times for different reasons but I'm continually drawn to it! HUH. Be that as it may, I love the giltwood furniture with the lavender color.

Drake Design designed this fun lavender bedroom with lavender grass cloth walls and amazing glass lanterns.

Pinterest hotness. I love round/octagonal rooms and the metallic ceiling with dramatic purple silk drapery.

I know most people love purple and I might be a total black sheep here but I don't mind. I don't have any purple in our apartment or in my wardrobe but I really enjoy this color combo. I think that the lavender has a little brown in it which makes it more soothing without being boring or ugly or a hideous neutral. Thoughts on purple? What about Lavender?
What about THIS. Enter my giveaway by Friday to win!



Alicia B.

OH and BTW I got married...

A few of you all have been begging me for pictures from my wedding last weekend. I have to say it was, without a doubt, the best day of our lives and even though it rained (buckets), we had the most incredible and unforgettable time. These pictures are from the rehearsal dinner, which I designed, and my mother executed.

It was held in a boathouse, at a nearby boys prep school, so everything was very nautical. Plus I love nautical decor so I had so much fun designing it. The boathouse looked out onto one of the lakes in our town and was a beautiful view.

The fabric that we bought was from Fabric.com. My mom (sewing genius) sewed all the table cloths and napkins.

The napkin rings were nautical knot bracelets made by this super cute couple in Mystic CT available at Mystic Knotworks.

I scoured the internet for tons of milk glass vases, bowls, cake stands, and a pitcher for the tables. The flowers were from my mother's garden and were the perfect pop of orange, pink and red against all the blue and white.

Since we have so many of them, I'm probably going to sell off a few of them--stay tuned for that!

This was the bunting banner that I made! I had extra fabric from the tablecloths and some ikat fabric from some pillows that I made for a client and crafted them into this fab nautical preppy banner! More on that later...

The night was a total success and the toasts that everyone made for us were super special and meant so much to us. It was the perfect night before the perfect day!!

I'll work on some wedding photos for you in the next few days. What did you think of the rehearsal dinner? We had an amazing time and it was a great time for both of our families to get acquainted before the actual wedding. I can't believe we've been married for one week!


Mrs. Alicia B.