Spring Dreaming

“We are all wanderers on this earth. Our hearts are full of wonder, and our souls are deep with dreams.” –Gypsy saying

 

I took part in a springy boho themed shoot out in Griffith Park.  Photographer and visionary Yuna Leonard took us to this hidden picnic perfect field overlooking all of Los Angeles.  The rain from the night before had cleansed the city of its’ usual chaos and left the grass a bit dewy… perfect for some photo shootin!

 

 

Everything about this excursion was super laid back.  Stylist Charity Baker dressed me in 6 different springy looks rich with feminine textures and flowy shapes.  I like that Charity kept the wardrobe timelessly boho yet still on-trend.   

Hair and make-up artist Evelyn Sanabria busted out some big talent to poof my hair that big!  All in all I felt like a more glamorous and less granola version of the flower child.  

 

 

Photographer: Yuna Leonard

Wardrobe Stylist: Charity Baker

Hair and Makeup Artist: Evelyn Sanabria

Model: Kelsey Jaye

<3 Love and light

Sneak Peek: Upcoming Young L Video

Here are some behind the scenes snapshots of the upcoming Young L video that I recently styled.  The video will be dropping very soon.

We shot out at Joshua Tree on a gorgeous afternoon. I turned 3 models into a giraffe, an antelope, and a zebra.  One of the models got sick at the last minute so I jumped in and rocked the zebra hair.

<3 Love and light

Greased Lightning

Miryam and I decided to go hula hooping / tanning in the LA River.  It turned into an Instagram extravaganza!

On our way there, we drove through Mickey D’s for some strawberry shakes.  The guy at the window took this awesome picture for us.  Strawberry shakes + helpful photographer guy at the window = double win!

After we “put a smile on” at McDonald’s, we just kept snapping pics.  Here we are in the car enjoying our shakes.  Miryam is really good at using the flip camera feature on the iPhone.

Here’s the LA River.  I think it’s pretty and city chic <3  It’s also awesome because this is where the drag race between the T-Birds and Scorpions goes down in the movie Grease.  (A gazillion of other movies have been filmed here too but I think Grease is the most iconic.)

In true greased lightning style we drove my car down into the 'river'.  

Here’s the Grease shot.  Kind of shameless haha!  “Rules are there aint no rules.”

This is Miryam looking like a baws.

We have a lot of bling on.  And mismatched swimsuits. =)

Miryam is wearing a layered beaded necklace from Kimski in Little Tokyo and a pink necklace I bought at an outdoor market in Buenos Aires.

I made my peace sign earring last summer (bought the beads at Michael’s Crafts).  The long strand of purple beads is from American Vintage.  The pink resin rose necklace is by Betsey Johnson.  The colorful candy looking necklace is from a boutique in Buenos Aires.

Here I am hula hooping.  I wrapped this hoop myself in every bright colored tape I could find.  

The end.  All the photos were taken with my iPhone and edited w/ Camera+ and/or Instagram.  You can follow me on Instagram @kelseyjaye.

<3 Love and light

Happy Easter Bunny

Happy Easter everyone!

I spent Easter at my grandparent's house.  I found bags full of my grandma's old clothes that she was planning to just throw out.  These pants are hers from the '80s.  I'm going home tomorrow with a closet worth of vintage gold.  More photos of my grandma' wardrobe coming soon.  P.s. I have the most stylish grandma on the planet

Love and light <3

So Dark We Forget Who We Are

Aside from pictures that surface after Bellini nights spent with friends and my Polaroid Cam, I had never taken part in a nighttime photo shoot.  The darkness brought out a party energy that translated into the photos.  If I had a boom box (which thinking about it now would’ve been an awesome prop #should’awould’acould’a), I would have blasted Rosario Dawson singing “Out Tonight” as we walked the streets of Culver City.

I’m obsessed with Rosario Dawson’s character Mimi in Rent.  (Okay confession, back in the day I was a bit of a theatre geek.  The one day I ever cut class in high school was to go see the movie premiere of Rent.  But I digress.) I love Mimi because she has a seriously amazing grungy hot mess street style. Her character was a bit of an inspiration to me while quickly throwing together a look for this shoot. 

This shoot was incredibly impromptu and all in good fun.  My friend Aero hit me up about taking some outdoor candid shots a few hours prior to sunset. I quickly rallied my friend Miryam to accompany me in street chic “they call me Mimi” attire.  Diving into my closet, I just started layering unexpected pieces together.  For a bit of cohesion, I limited myself to denim and pink outfits. (Denim + pink = timeless recipe for looking like a boss).  I wish I had a denim bandeau to go with Miryam’s pink tutu.  I also wish I had a Pegasus and infinite frequent flier miles but a girl can only dream.

Looking at the progression of these photos, I do like the “out tonight” vibe.  It’s vibrant and poppy but if you take away the glitter and neon lights the streets look a bit lonely.  (I mean of course the streets are empty.  No one wants to go to Culver City on a Tuesday night!  But it’s perfect for the photos).  The chain link fence and LED signs are reminiscent of the “la vie boheme” lifestyle and well I’ve always wanted to shoot at a gas station.  Starting all pumped up at the gas station (haha corny) and ending with us totally exhausted at a diner… hope you enjoy the photos!

Love and light <3

Re-vamping the Evening Gown

So not quite my M.O. but I modeled some evening gowns for designer Vivek Shah.  I have mixed feelings about this shoot and the photos that came from it.

The surplus of fabric made this a challenging gig.  The fabrics were beautiful but very heavy!  And because the dresses were less than snug on my body, the fabric felt like a weight hanging around my neck.  The designer’s solution was to fasten the dresses onto me with industrial sized clamps and rope… which helped with the weight but limited my ability to move.  I’ve MacGyvered a lot of clothes to fit before but this designer’s effort was, in comparison, truly creative / industrious.

Still, I had a lot of fun shooting at this elaborately ornamented house.   I would have loved to style a ghostly editorial here.  Instead, to amuse myself, I satisfied my haunted craving by photoshopping myself into a vampire.  The photos needed some flair and the chandelier just reminded me too much of the Vampire Weekend album cover.  A little fake blood and now I’m kind of stoked on these photos.

 Love and light <3

Dusty Dreams

This shoot was styled by my new friend and lovely stylist Miss Zoe Demaruis Portia Flood and photographed by her talented boyfriend Scott Laytart.  Shooting with this stylish duo was such a privilege. 

Walking into their sun-drenched apartment turned photo studio early Sunday morning was like entering a pastel wonderland painted with the crushed insides of abalones shells.  There were racks upon racks of delicate slips and vintage dresses in dusty ballerina hues – ivory, pale pink, smoky lavender.  The kitchen counter was littered with lacey bunny ears, strings of pearls, antiqued silver jewelry, and croissants (compliments of LA Café) for snacking. 

Zoe dressed me into a little slumber-doll and I felt totally in my element.  Zoe used minimal jewelry and classic silhouettes to create a simply feminine look on me.  I really enjoyed the relaxed glamour of all the looks throughout the shoot and felt so free to float around.

Zoe is the princess of pastels (and creams).  Hope you can fall in love with her style like I did.  Enjoy the photos.