NEW BLOG

Our blog will now be posted to rwilliamsny.blogspot.com

Email Problems! Sorry :(

Sorry to anyone who has tried to email us this past week. Our @rwilliamsny.com emails are not working. Please direct all inquiries and communication to rwilliamsnewyork@gmail.com

Athlete of the Week

Check out our latest athlete of the week, Zoe Wilson from the Milbrook School. Besides having great fashion sense, Zoe is an amazing athlete and will be captain of the squash team next year.

Palm Beach

Some inspiring shots from our recent trip (click to view larger):

Sunny day on the A1A. We want this Jeep. Southern trunk show tour anyone?

The famous breakers.

Only in Palm Beach (or Newport) do you have classic, old, over-the-top places like this-- with the towering, perfectly manicured hedges, and ornate gates and fences-- in such concentration, sitting empty half the year.

Great elephants. Reminiscent of Elizabeth McKay prints.

Slim Aarons Style

Street Styles: Trinity College

CLICK TO VIEW PHOTO LARGER

It's no secret to people close to me that my favorite color is blue. When I started designing, I often heard people quip, "Are you ever going to design something that isn't Navy?"

When I was setting up in Mather Hall at Trinity, this pretty blonde girl wearing an almost monochromatic outfit of dark skinny jeans and a blue Barbour over a black and cerulean rugby striped shirt, caught my eye. I love the way her backpack and shoes explode against the more subdued palate of her clothing. And the best thing is, she looked (not in a bad way) as if she had just rolled out of bed and thrown the look together. Nothing affected or trying about her styling. It's hard to look to uptight and still pull off a backpack.

-Ryan

PS-- I'm curious what other people think of blue Barbour jackets. Don't mess with a classic? Trying hard to look like you aren't conforming to the NESCAC uniform? or just as timeless? Personally, I've considered buying one to have something to wear with dark green corduroys but can't justify owning another Barbour

Brands We ♥ : CJ Laing

Check out these genuine Ikat shorts from CJ Laing, and at $170, a steal for the quality. We're obsessed with their whole collection. The fabrics are all nothing short of stunning.

(click on the images to see pictures bigger)

The shirtdresses are super cute too, and done in an amazingly light fabric.

You can check them out in Palm Beach, or in a couple months when the weather is better in Southampton.

http://www.cjlaingshop.com/

Artists We ♥: Richard Avedon

Richard Avedon, Dovima with elephants, evening dress by Dior, Cirque d'Hiver, August 1955

The other day Tory Burch's blog posted on photographer Greg Lotus, showing this picture (Below) from Italian Vogue.

I instantly thought back to the amazing Richard Avedon exhibit I attended at the Boston MFA early over the holidays (by the way, the MFA has finally opened it's American Wing back-up after a spectacular renovation.... if you haven't been to Boston in a while it is a must see).

There are few photographers, besides Slim Aarons, whose work I can imagine inspiring countless future photo-shoots for R. Williams. A few of my favorites from the collection were (and I apologize for the poor quality blackberry pictures---- click on them to see them bigger):

I like the stripes of the flowing fabric, and how the angle of the models arm echos the silhouette of the pyramid. Simple, bold, elegant.

Great print on the scarf, and interesting negative space.

I'm quite obsessed with this guy's bowtie and am contemplating having an imitation made (you have to view the picture bigger to get it).

Simply Iconic.

-Ryan

On our mind: Nantucket

Walking to South Station, I passed the Lannan Gallery, the best place in Boston for nautical decor and vintage maps....

and this gorgeous map of my favorite island caught my eye.....

Luckily, I was headed to Nantucket that very (cold and windy, but fortunately sunny) day.

I think it would be great to live in one of these little buildings in the harbor. I wonder if some of them are homes or if they're all commercial.

I was pressed for time so I didn't make it to the beaches. Which would have been freezing anyways. I can't wait to go back once the water has warmed up!

We have a special project in the works using some locally produced stuff from the island (venture a guess anyone?)..... I can't wait to share it.

- Ryan

Inspiration: Antiquing

We love this pattern. Similar to the lining on the Olivia Tote. Can you almost see our logo in that red and yellow Chinese crest?

Athlete of the Week

Congratulations to this week's Athlete of the Week, Elizabeth Benedict, who plays squash for the Berkshire School. Check out her full profile soon on our site.

Some of her favorite things:

Prague

Ray-Bans

Patagonia

The R. Williams Olivia Tote

Summer Neutrals

We're best known for our bright, bold prints but sometimes summer calls for subdued earth tones mixed with whites. We love Kate Middleton's style seen in this picture from NY Mag. She looks so effortlessly chic. And she would look great with one of our ikat totes to complete her outfit (preview coming soon).

Athlete of the Week Notice

If you were recently nominated for athlete of the week, and missed the deadline because of spring break, please still email us at rwilliams@rsowilliams.com if you would like to be featured

Anticipating Summer: Espadrilles

Summer means many things to us at R. Williams: hydrangeas, fresh tomatoes and basil, watermelon, iced tea brewed in the sun, escaping the city to the beaches of Nantucket, the Cape or the Hamptons, swimming, sailing and tennis. All the things that we daydream of on a cold, snowy day like today in New York.

And then there's the clothes: fun beach totes, gauzy Roberta Freymann tunics, Shoshanna bikinis, Tom Ford or Ray-ban sunglasses and flip-flops for the beach, Tibi and DVF dresses and Jack Rogers for parties, and espadrilles....

Oh, the espadrilles! We got to thinking of espadrilles and summer in an interview for an upcoming feature. Here are some of our favorites for this season. We love the bold stripes of the Tory Burch straps and the light-enough for daytime gold stripes on the Kate Spade flats. The neutral Corso Como pair would look great with other summer neutrals as a blank canvas for some bold statement accessories.

Corso Como, $159 at Bloomingdales

Kate Spade, $99 at Bloomingdales

Tory Burch, $165 at Bloomingdales

New Blog and Website Coming Soon.....

Get excited!

May 1st, we have a great new blog arriving, packed with tons of interviews, guest bloggers, style tips, street style and party photography, travel features and more....

And an updated website with an awesome section where you can design your own totes! There are 1296 different combinations of totes that you'll be able to design, so you'll definitely be able to create something one-of-a-kind.

Dominican Republic

Our recent trip to the Dominican Republic was full of near death experiences adventure. From rides in pint size pick up trucks to a four hour long relaxing donkey ride to an off-the-track organic coffee farm owned by our creative director, Ryan's, relatives, we loved every minute of it. Here we share some of our more inspiring photographs.

Athlete of the Week

Congratulations to Maeve McMahon of Groton!

Books We Love: A Portrait of Camelot

At R. Williams, more than a few of us are into obsessed with the effortlessly chic style of the Kennedys. A Portrait of Camelot presents a beautiful collection of photos of the Kennedys during JFK's time in the White House. The reader follows the Kennedys from DC to the Cape to Palm Beach. There's also a great DVD of the family playing on their boat, The Honey Fitz, water skiing, swimming, golfing, and horseback riding. If we ever do children's clothing, more than a few pieces will be inspired by the photos of Caroline in this book.

It was fascinating to learn from this book that Jackie was a big smoker (who like Obama, hid it well in front of the camera and almost never allowed herself to be photographed with a cigarette in hand). The Kennedys were meticulous about when, where and with whom they were photographed. It seems that rather than the effortless style that the pictures seem to capture, the Kennedys were well aware of the power of image and used it expertly to create an enduring and inspirational American fantasy.

A button down and chinos and a simple shift. So easy. (Note the Navajos. This picture is worth millions of advertising dollars. Amazing how a single icon can rocket a sandal to popularity for more than 50 years. Scroll down and you'll notice that most of the girls in our last post are wearing Jack Rogers)

JFK in his signature Wayfarers, and Jackie in her signature oversized sunglasses. We love the rounded collar on Caroline's polo shirt.

All portraits by Cecil Stoughton, Product pictures courtesy of ray-ban.com and jackrogersusa.com