Natalie Joos

The beautiful model and art director, Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, was featured last year on a popular blog called Tales of Endearment, and like the protagonists in Rear Window, fashion afficianados around the world participated in a voyeuristic peek into her closet which houses an impressive and impeccably organized collection of vintage fashion. Julia is friends with the founder of the blog, Ms. Natalie Joos, and the two have been photographed out partying together among fashion’s in crowd.

Tales of Endearment is a blog whose draw proves that Hitchcock was right, there is a little voyeur in all of us. The blog chronicles the fashionable life of its founder, Natalie Joos, a New York-based casting director admired globally online for her personal style. Think of Tales of Endearment as an online journal of practically every girl’s dream life — jetting to Europe for Fashion Week, shopping in Milan, attending fashion shows. The blog peeps inside the closets of Joos’ fashionable and famous friends and her photographs always incorporate a vintage vibe.

We observe Joos' life and admire her style:  It is bright, pretty, quirky, and sexy. Of course it doesn’t hurt that she happens to be a leggy beauty with access to the best that fashion has to offer, but Natalie Joos is more than just another pretty face. Hailing from Belgium, she worked as a model and earned a degree in journalism before moving to New York City in 1997. With no set plan for her career, Joos started working as a personal assistant to the accomplished art, music, and fashion writer, Glenn O’Brien. Her stint with O’Brien led to an enviable position as studio manager for the renowned fashion photographer, Craig McDean.

In 2003, after six years learning the ropes in Craig McDean’s studio, and with the encouragement of Mr. McDean himself, Natalie Joos struck out on her own, opening her own casting company. She has a knack for picking the right face and has cast models in editorials for V Magazine, Purple, and Vogue Germany, in advertising campaigns such as Helmut Lang, Hugo Boss, and Rocawear, and in runway shows including Costello Tagliapietra and Cynthia Rowley. She writes for fashion magazines and of course blogs, but that is on the side. Just like the curious and mesmerized voyeurs in Rear Window, we will keep watching as long as she does....

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, Natalie Joos et al photos courtesy of Billy Farrell Agency,Twitter, Facebook, Purse Forum, amtvintageblog.blogspot.com, and Fashion Spot.

Joseph Altuzarra

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld asked me to add talented young designer Joseph Altuzarra to her list of favorites and I am delighted to oblige her kind request. He is already listed as one of Carine's favorites, but I will focus on his relationship with Julia here so hopefully the two entries will be different. Julia says of her friend Joseph, "He has real talent and deserves to be talked about. I designed his first lookbook." Altuzarra worked for Marc Jacobs, Proenza Schouler, and Givenchy before launching his own line for Fall 2009 with Julia styling his lookbook and Vanessa Traina modelling, oooo la la ! His first collection was 15 pieces and he was concerned that his debut be neither too cold nor too distant. I'm guessing that wasn't a problem, here's what Julia had to say upon returning from Altuzarra's first show: "I just got back from his presentation and just so proud of him. We first met through friends when he asked me to art direct his lookbook and ever since I am one of his biggest fans. It's just so nice to see such a young designer with such luxurious taste and detail oriented." He expanded the collection to 29 pieces this season and dreams of a large jewelry and shoe line in the future, sounds luxe. Julia is pictured wearing a dress from Altuzarra's first collection paired with YSL Tributes; the photographs of this collection were taken by Julia as Dazed's guest blogger for New York Fashion Week.

Joseph Altuzarra photograph courtesy of style.com
Julia Restoin-Roitfeld photograph courtesy of Six Six Sick
Julia Restoin-Roitfeld photographs of Joseph Altuzarra collection © 2009 Waddell Limited

James Penfold

When Julia Restoin-Roitfeld served as Dazed & Confused's guest photo blogger for New York Fashion Week in February, she caught her friend James Penfold in action. Among other talents, this former supermodel speaks Italian and has been known to DJ occasionally using the moniker "The Savoir Faire." Penfold includes an impressive array of clients in his portfolio, among them are DKNY, Burberry, Giorgio Armani, and CK Jeans. Julia captioned her photo above saying, "At the Purple Magazine dinner at Soho House with my friend James Penfold (former model and upcoming DJ. He will be performing at the Last Magazine [founded by Julia's former boyfriend Magnus Berger] party this Thursday). My friends and I are debating about his new signature look, black smudge eyeliner. So should man makeup come back as a trend? I personally quite like it!" What do you think, man makeup or no? I'd like to see how Vladimir looks in smoky eyes, it so becomes the female members of his family as well as his friend James... Heh, in the last photo even his tshirt is wearing man makeup.

James Penfold photograph by Julia Restoin-Roitfeld © 2009 Waddell Limited
Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld and James Penfold photograph © 2009 Patrick McMullan
Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, James Penfold, Paola Kudacki photograph © 2009 Patrick McMullan

Brian Atwood

The sexy violet suede shoes that Julia Restoin-Roitfeld wears are the Lola pumps by her friend and designer Brian Atwood. Fascinated by toe cleavage, Atwood is a fetishist's dream. He learned design while working at Gianni Versace for seven years in Milan where he still maintains a studio. Donatella says of his work, "Brian is amazing at injecting sheer femininity and sexiness into a static object like a shoe or a bag." Brian has a lofty goal in his design, to make the wearer stare at her own feet: "My job is done when a woman can't take her eyes off of her shoes. If she's at dinner and is looking admiringly down at her feet, rather than at her guy, I'm a happy man." Though I can hardly imagine Julia choosing to gaze longingly at her Lolas when she has Robert Konjic to look at, she is super sexy in these and clearly an Atwood fan.

The admiration is mutual, Atwood is a Roitfeld fan as well. He flew in his sister to be his date at this year's Council of Fashion Designer Awards (CFDA) including styling and dressing her for the evening as part of the deal. When he chose the stylists for his sister's hair and makeup, Brian requested a specific look: “Hair straight and shiny with a little bit of bedhead in back, and very natural makeup with a smokey Carine Roitfeld eye—very Vogue Paris.” Apparently that same day Julia was texting Brian while trying to zip up her stunning black Balmain dress for the party.

Photograph of Julia Restoin-Roitfeld wearing Brian Atwood's Lola purple suede shoes courtesy of coolspotters.com
Brian Atwood photograph courtesy of The Fash Pack

Poppy Delevigne

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld's friend Poppy Delevigne is an English model, actress, and socialite originally from London that now resides in New York. Poppy went to Francis Holland School in Belgravia and then attended Hampshire boarding school Beadles, where she was in the same class as Alice Dellal. As a model Poppy has been featured in campaigns for Anya Hindmarch, Laura Ashley, Bamford, and is currently the face of Myla. She is represented by the modeling agency Storm and lives in the Upper East Side apartment of the Duchess of York.

Poppy has an interesting family background as well. Her grandfather, Sir Jocelyn Stevens, is a major influence in British media. Stevens is the founder of the first British pirate radio station Radio Caroline, the former publisher of Queen Magazine, the managing director of the Evening Standard and Daily Express newspapers, and the chair of English Heritage. He is currently married to a descendant of the family which owned the Titanic. However Stevens' first marriage was to one of the ladies-in-waiting to Princess Margaret, Janie Sheffield, and they have a daughter Pandora, who is head of personal shopping at Selfridge’s department store as well as Poppy's mother. Poppy's father is property developer Charles Delevigne. Her younger sister Cara has just been signed to model as well. Tune in to Fashion Air to see a new video of Poppy and her favorite spots in London.

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld and Poppy Delevigne photographs courtesy of stylerumor.com and style.com