I posted one of these images a while back, vaguely mentioning what it was about. Well…. One of Reagan’s friends and long-time client has worked in fashion forever. She recently left her full time gig, in order to freelance. She had this idea where she would use her apartment to style up items, photograph them and sell them online. A few weeks ago she asked me if I would like to shoot it, and help with the web stuff. It sounded fun, so of course I said yes. Anyway, The site went live today. I think that it is pretty cool, given the fact that it was all done with two days of shooting, and only about a week and a half of coding (mostly done by my friend Joe, who I enlisted to help share the load). Anyway, check it out when you get a chance. The site is Hollysapartment.com. Also, check out the write-up in Racked, today. Here are the rest of the rooms we shot, below–

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Yesterday was the official launch of Tommy Hilfiger’s “Prep World” Collection. To celebrate, they had a soiree in Gansevoort Plaza, inside of a little popup house, followed by a housewarming party at the Standard. The collection is awesome. The party was fantastic. Today’s photo hunt is a scene of Mr. Hilfiger, himself chatting with a party guest. There are 5 differences. I made two of the differences fairly subtle (in my opinion). You may have to click on the images and enlarge them. Go!

Last night I shot an event at the new Madewell store on lower 5th Ave. This was my second encounter with the Bumbys (Above). They are a performance duo that show up events and rate people based on their appearance. It is kind of a fun concept. Anyway, It is a total bummer that Reagan couldn’t come, because she loves the store, and she loves Alexa Chung (below), who happened to be at the party. Not much of a coincidence, actually, given that her second Madewell collection will be launching this fall. Reagan picked up a dress that Alexa designed, last fall.

“So, what did Jill Bumby have to say about your outfit?”, people might be wondering. Well, here it is:

Thanks, Jill. Lucky for me, I was wearing my green patent leather loafers. Who else is ecstatic about the fact that this week is almost over?

No photo hunt today. But see if you can spot me chatting with A. Chung in this Lucky Magazine article.

Yesterday evening, J Crew held their Fall 11 preview in the MPD. It was awesome late afternoon sun, and one side of the showroom was letting a lot of it in. Even though there isn’t much J Crew product visible in the shot above, I couldn’t help but snap it, because of the light and the awesome flares it was making in the lens. Here is the color version.

I really liked the hair color/sweater color combo in the shot above.

And this guy came too:

And the big winner of giveaway No. 4 is…. Actually let me preface this by saying, thank you-thank you for all of the comments. I love reading about what people are listening to.  I really did like them all. I could tell that each person had put some thought into what they were sharing. So, I had to resort to good old random.org. Even though it doesn’t seem very random,  random.org chose the number 1. So– congratulations, Foodie!

I’m pretty sure that Reagan has your address. But if you wouldn’t mind forwarding it in an email, the buds are yours.

Two posts in a row bearing titles that begin with the word “happy.”

I couldn’t help but post photos of the shoes that I wore out last night. Yes, two photos of my shoes.

“What is happening to this blog?”, a reader might be asking themselves as they scroll down from one photo of green shoes to the next. The answer is– I don’t really know what is happening to it. The story behind the shoes is: Reagan picked them up for me last summer at one of the Bottega Veneta sample sales that she goes to. They have been sitting in my closet since then. I had only worn them once before last night. In fact, I had kind of forgotten about them. Then, last night as I was debating on what to wear out, there were the loafers blinding me with the green light that was reflecting off of that patent leather. Hahahaha. It was like destiny. Since I don’t own the green Rolie from the previous post, I had to rock some green loafers instead.

Now that the nonsense is out of the way. Let’s get down to brass tacks. As we all know, things are still not going well at all for the folks in Japan. There are a lot of bloggers who are doing this day of blog silence thing, which I think is cool. But, I have decided go a different route in acknowledging that I am still thinking and worrying about the Japanese. Similar to last Friday, I’m going to share some links that I found inspiring, relating to the events that are unfolding in Japan. Maybe someone else will also be inspired.

• This is probably my favorite one. An 85 year old woman escaped the tsunami by riding her bike to safety when she heard the warning sirens going off.
• Boston Globe Big Picture March 17
• Boston Globe Big Picture March 16
• Boston Globe Big Picture March 15
• Boston Globe Big Picture March 14
• Boston Globe Big Picture March 13
• Photos  from Operation Tomodachi– This is a Flickr set that the US Navy Published documenting their disaster relief mission in Japan called “Operation Tomodachi.”
• And finally, here is an article that the NY Times published about the initial 50 volunteers who stayed behind when the Fukushima Plant was evacuated. I feel like the facts in this story could very easily become a movie. I was very affected by the courage of these workers. I feel like their willingness to stay behind really epitomize the selfless solidarity that is associated with Japanese culture.

On a more lighthearted note, don’t miss the “Super Moon” this weekend. I’m hoping for clear skies on Saturday night.  Don’t get me started about how excited I am for GP on Sunday. Have a great weekend!

Happy St. Pattrick’s Day! Isn’t the green Rolex awesome? I grabbed the image from Zhush because I thought it was so cool. Unfortunately, the Rolex is NOT the item that will be given away today. That would be one piece of swag that I would probably hang on to, especially so that I could wear it every year on St. Patrick’s day. Plus, I think it would be a little bit soon to be giving away another watch.

Instead of green, today’s item is actually pink. It is a pocket square by Jack Spade. It’s a part of their yet to be released Fall line. I feel like sometimes I can be kind of a fancy guy. But, I have never really worn a pocket square. In fact, I rarely even break out a full suit these days. But, for those who do take their GQ game to the next level, this giveaway is for you. Here is a link to the various fancy ways to rock a pocket square.

As fancy as they are, pocket squares at their naked roots, are just handkerchiefs. Handkerchiefs come in handy for things like blowing your nose and wiping condiments from your face/clothes.

Although, I would not recommend using this square for wiping rogue condiments, I thought it would be fun use the concept for this week’s contest. Whenever I eat wings, it seems like without fail, I end up with a little spot of bleu cheese dressing with a hint of wing sauce on my shirt or pants. What is the condiment or other food item that always seems to end up on your clothes? Put your answer in the comments and I’ll choose a winner (based on a method that I have yet to devise), on Monday or Tuesday. May the luck o’ the Irish be with ye!

What up, interwebz? I just wanted to bring your attention to something that I thought was pretty cool. My sister who lives in Alaska is quite the seamstress. And, in light of current events is putting her skills to work for a good cause. Read her description of the project below, for the details:

I woke up this morning to a phone call from a concerned family member telling me about the tsunami warning. It quickly became clear that there was no real concern for the area where I live, but I could not get back to sleep, could not stop thinking of the people who woke up this morning to disaster. It really caused me to examine the fine line I walk between complacency, and compassion. I know that there are tragic things happening everyday everywhere in the world. There is no way for me to know about or know how to help with every one of them. But that is not an excuse to do nothing anymore. I thought of one tiny something I can do today:

My favorite fabric designer, Etsuko Furuya, happens to be Japanese. I have some small pieces of her beautiful fabric in my collection that I am going to make into zipper pouches and list in the “for Japan” section of my shop. For any of the pouches purchased from that section (or with “for Japan” in the title), I will donate 100% of the proceeds to the American Red Cross for Japan earthquake relief. If they all sell, I will make more for for the same cause until the fabric runs out…

Thank you!

Here is a link her her shop Bodhihandmade

The images below are a few of the items that she has made, which I lifted from her Etsy Page.

Try to solve the puzzle below. You can mouse over the image at the bottom left to see what the finished image should look like. Click “play again” to re-shuffle the pieces. To move a tile, click (don’t drag) the tile, and it will slide into the blank space. These are shoes from the Billy Reid presentation at NYFW, this past week. Have a great weekend!

Last night I had a pretty fun editorial shoot for Edwin Jeans, using hip hop artist Gilbere Forte as the model. Here is a sample:

I’ll post the set to shotbyjake.com when I finish editing, etc..

Reagan was able to get to Michigan, safe and sound. Today is another blizzard, to liven up my already hectic day. That’s pretty much the gist of what’s going on over here.

Monday, I hit 3 men’s fashion trade shows. My favorite was Capsule. The photo above is of my new jacket that I picked up while I was there. Not really. It was just a sample that happened to be my size. Since it was basically the coolest thing that I had ever laid eyes on, I had to get a photo of me wearing it (thanks, Sam for snapping it).

Saturday night I spent running around town shooting nachos with one of my friends who is writing an article for Antenna Magazine. The ones below are from Pinche Taqueria on Mott St.

The shot below is looking out the window at the Project trade show in SoHo.

And finally– a shot from the bathroom at Project. Why someone had struck out 150 and scribed 138, is beyond me. But I don’t really need to know the significance, to appreciate the hands-on care that went into packaging these toilet seat covers.

Today, I woke up to freezing rain. This sucks for two reasons. A– It’s freezing rain; B– I had to postpone for the third time an editorial shoot that I have been trying to do (and looking forward to) for a month, now.

I hope Reagan comes home soon.

Have a great week.