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

Congratulations to Athlete of the Week Shannon McSweeney!

Shannon makes a save against Nobles. PA wins 3-2.

We love Shannon and her friend's style.

This past season, Phillips Academy Goalie Shannon McSweeney was nominated to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Northeast All-Region Team. Congratulations Shannon!

Check out her profile on our website soon!

Inspiration: Anna Spiro

Yesterday I discovered the blog of Australian interior designer, Anna Spiro. It's full of bright, beautiful pictures. She has a great color sense and taste in fabrics that I am sure will inspire some of my future prints.

You can check out her blog here: http://absolutelybeautifulthings.blogspot.com/

Some of my favorites from her blog: