Saturday, August 22, 2020

Sara Louise Petty Design

During the Covid-19 Pandemic, the Fashion Industry has taken a huge hit. Many stores were closed temporarily with huge rents to pay, and stock that needed to be moved. Many small boutiques shuttered, they simply couldn't pay the rent upon the reopening. 

Face masks have become De Rigueur. 

I spent some of the extra lockdown time sifting through photos of my work, and organizing my online portfolio. 

Sara Louise Petty Design is a combination of my work over the last several years. Design Direction, Illustration, Fashion & Soft Styling, Womens Trend and Material Forecasting and Kids Trend Forecasting. As well as Color Palette design & Color Forecasting and Art Direction (Print and Pattern). 

Please check out the site at 

www.saralouisepettydesign.com



Saturday, August 19, 2017

Sara Louise Petty - This is 44.


This is 44. 

I decided to do something fun for my birthday and start a tradition of a styled photo shoot. I was excited to get to work on a fun shoot with a photographer I really respect. It’s a creative outlet for me, just like Halloween and making costumes. I’m too shy to be an actress but I enjoy the theatrical and costume side of things so styled shoots are so fun for me. I have always loved Marilyn Monroe, since I was a young girl. All my sketchbooks were chock full of sketches of her, I read all her biographies and watched every movie. I even listened to her albums (know all the words to Diamond’s Are a Girl’s Best Friend - ironic as I have never had a diamond ring). Something about Marilyn I always related to, some similarities with our early experiences and there is an honest vulnerability yet playfulness I feel is inherent to who I am. She was also well read, inquisitive, talented and frustrated at being perceived as only a sex symbol.

As a lifelong fan, I decided to be inspired by her, and honor her memory with this shoot. I picked up a cheap green towel (it needed to be thin to blow in the sea breeze), I had a sweater knitted to replicate her Mexican sweater and we headed out to the beach to recreate the very last shoot of Marilyn, shot on July 7th 1962, just weeks before her death on Santa Monica beach by George Barris. This shoot was all film, of course, so I decided this shoot must be shot with medium format film. I searched high and low for a blanket the same shade and texture of hers, but alas did not find one. Instead, I found a so soft Italian herringbone blanket in coral from Anthropologie which would have to do! I'm a perfectionist and of course, I wanted to find an identical blanket but sometimes you just have to let things go. I brought a wine glass, although I corked the white wine so I ended up bringing apple cider I bought at the Farmer's market (Marilyn is swigging champagne presumably in some shots, I do have some extra of me like this too!).

I purchased Portra 800 knowing we'd be shooting in low light (golden hour to sunset) and Black and White Kodak Tri X which has a lot of latitude in low light. I was excited because it feels more authentic and genuine. Although I do not resemble the beautiful and delicate Monroe, I tried to channel her essence and spirit in this shoot. Marilyn’s make up was fairly heavy in the style of the times, with winged eyeliner in her shots. I’m not a fan of heavy make up - and a dab of liquid bronzer on my cheeks and a touch of eyeliner is as far as I’ll go. Except mascara. I will never be without mascara, no matter how much it runs when I cry.

Marilyn's hair was messy, from the wind and perhaps salt water spraying it. I love the messy hair look and am blessed to have naturally wavy hair, so I went to bed with wet hair the night before and woke up and it was just perfect. Tousled, and wavy. When we got to the beach I added a little salt water in and it added even more texture.

I worked with an incredibly talented photographer named Wojtek Urbanek, from Poland, who lives in NY. We connected on many levels and had some similar life experiences. Both being photographers we had much to discuss. I had already decided I wanted to shoot film and had many reference pictures from the infamous George Barris shoot. Wojtek (pronounced Voytek) printed those out and we used them as a reference for poses occasionally but mostly we kept it pretty natural and went with the flow. One of my favorite shots, I was wringing out my sweater belt as the waves were rough and one huge wave came up and over the sand bank whilst I was kneeling. Resulting in a very wet bottom, and my sweater getting soaked. This made me laugh and I started to wring out the sweater which Wojtek loved from a photographic standpoint.

I asked Wojyek how it was to photograph another photographer, he said it was in some ways easier, because I understood the process and was organized - we both discussed what shots we wanted to achieve prior at least in terms of framing and concept. We discussing Marilyn being exceptionally smiley in this shoot; laughing and very playful. I brought a canteen of Watermelon martinis I made which helped with getting me in the Marilyn frame of mind.

The light was a little off this day and we really wanted the sunny golden glow. There was a lot of cloudy coverage and a misty sea spray filling the air. It was a gorgeous day, but the classic golden hour light was not there. We persisted, and every time we saw a break in the clouds and the golden light shoot through we got straight into the shots we wanted. Large butch seagulls with big bellies sat gingerly on the sand right behind me as if awaiting for a Watermelon martini, and Wojtek captured them all fly over my head!

The next day I bagged up the film and sent it off to California to the lab I use over there. With shipping time, and processing and scan time I had them back in a few days via FTP. I was excited to share with Wojtek and we chose the favorite shots. Wojtek made any color and contrast adjustments needed and sent me back the final files.

My homage to Marilyn; This is 44. 


























THE ORIGINAL GEORGE BARRIS SHOOT - OF THE INSPIRATIONAL MARILYN MONROE




































Saturday, February 14, 2015

Miles Benjamin Wender modeling in Greenwich Village

So proud of my beautiful little boy!
Can't wait to see the photos.



Saturday, January 10, 2015

Miles Wender's Modeling Website - Miles Benjamin Wender

We've just published a new beautiful site for Miles's modeling career. We will continue to update it as he progresses. He has some great castings this week, we will keep you posted on his new endeavors! 


Miles Benjamin Wender
Current Stats:  12-18 months clothing, shoe size 6, 33 inches tall, Blue eyes, Light brown hair, Cheeky smiles. 

Miles Benjamin Wender, Miles Wender, Sara Louise Petty, John Wender, Ira Wender
Miles Benjamin Wender, Miles Wender, Sara Louise Petty, John Wender, Ira Wender
Miles Benjamin Wender, John Wender, Sara Louise Petty
Miles Benjamin Wender, John Wender, Sara Louise Petty

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