Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/594375
BELL'INVITO REWRITES THE EXPERIENCE. PATRICIA MORA CORRESPONDS. PHOTOGRAPH RACHAEL WISE. H eather Wiese-Alexander, creative director at luxe stationer Bell'Invito and co-owner of design roost Nest (with her husband Scott Alexander) is a rare double whammy. She has looks for days, and tons of smarts. Lucky for us, she puts all of this ebullience into saving us from epistolary barbarism. Bell'Invito, which was established in 2004, is devoted to providing the world with supremely fine stationery (a proper analogy would be 1,000 thread-count sheets), where fine writing materials are valued and the art of elegant correspondence is alive and well. Alexander studied in Florence, and plenty of Continental sheen seems to have rubbed off. She studied graphic design at UNT, then migrated to the prestigious advertising firm, The Richards Group in Dallas, then on to Neiman Marcus, where she says, "I learned a lot." The "lot" must have included a crash course in business savvy. She sparks on multiple fronts with the speed of a Tesla Coil, and she can fiddle with a dusty old printing press abandoned in a shed in Arkansas until it starts humming like a champ. Recently, Alexander completed a new type of nest: a private salon designed within the Bell'Invito studio where clients browse a stunning array of samples — invitations, save-the-dates, stationery — in "I WASN'T SURE THIS WOULD WORK, EVERYTHING WAS GOING DIGITAL." — Heather Wiese-Alexander an equally tasteful setting. In addition to made-to- order writing sheets, note cards, announcements and invitations, there are social and digital bespoke collections; each of which allows clients to add their personal touch, to varying degrees. "I wanted to do something that maintains a respect for the craft of printing," says Alexander. "But I also didn't want it to be elitist." Bell'Invito uses presses that date from the late 1800s. "I wasn't sure this would work, everything was going digital," she says. "But I decided we would become the 'experts,' and our work doubled." On the other end of the spectrum, she also has a lack of patience with sloppiness — and poor etiquette. Case in point: "When we print invitations, 'Black tie optional' isn't something we allow. It's either black tie or it's not." Alexander's luminary clients are numerous, and while she refuses to name Dallas names, she will admit to having Katy Perry and Elton John as clients. N estled in the Design District near the levee, the Bell'Invito studio is open to the public for pre- packaged invitations, note cards, monograms and stationery, but if you're fascinated by the bespoke touch and yearn for top-tier, schedule an appointment to sit with the team in the chic new salon, where you can explore paper quality, typography, and embossing. And if you're shopping near Knox-Henderson, pop in to her Nest, which also has a newly installed Bell'Invito salon. Bell'Invito, 147 Pittsburgh St., 214.741.1717, bellinvito.com; Nest, 4524 McKinney Ave, 214.373.4444, nestdallas.com. THE ELEGANT EPISTLE Heather Wiese-Alexander The new salon at Bell'Invito The New Shingled House, by Ike Kligerman Barkley, trains the spotlight on an eccentric 150-year-old architecture style. Y ou've seen them in New England's storied resort towns, along the Carolinas, in parts of Florida and on the California coast. Galveston had plenty of them before the 1900 hurricane wiped the city out. Shingled- style houses, characterized by cedar shingles that form a sculptural envelope over a European-influenced frame, began appearing in America in the 1880s. Our love affair with the look hasn't waned since. Synonymous with wealth, status and a certain leisure lifestyle, shingled houses have long represented the best of everything. New York- and San Francisco-based architecture firm Ike Kligerman Barkley Architects has built dozens of elegant new versions of the shingled house over the past 25 years, and now the firm's partners have written a book on the topic that was released mid-October. The New Shingled House by John Ike, Thomas A. Kligerman and Joel Barkley ($60, Monacelli Press) features 14 of the firm's own designs in Martha's Vineyard, the Hamptons, Watch Hill, Block Island and other resort towns across the country. Pages and photos are also devoted to important shingled-style houses that have inspired them along the way. No one could be more up to the task of compiling a book on the subject: Ike Kligerman Barkley's work has been featured in Architectural Digest (they are on the AD 100 list), Elle Décor, and every other national design and architecture publication, and they are recipients of prestigious Julia Morgan and Stanford White awards from the Institute of Classical Architecture. John Ike will be in Dallas November 11 to talk about the firm's book and sign copies. "We do a fair amount of work in the shingled style, so it made sense to focus on it for a book," says Ike, who talked by phone from his New York offices. "There's a romance about it because it was the type of house that wealthy people built on the east coast. It's classic — people feel comfortable with it — but it also feels contemporary." John Ike with Ike Kligerman Barkley Architects will speak and sign The New Shingled House Wednesday, November 11, 5 pm, at Jean de Merry showroom in the Dallas Design District, 1505 Hi Line; RSVP 214.741.2888. "THERE'S A ROMANCE ABOUT IT BECAUSE IT WAS THE TYPE OF HOUSE THAT WEALTHY PEOPLE BUILT ON THE EAST COAST. IT'S CLASSIC — PEOPLE FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH IT — BUT IT ALSO FEELS CONTEMPORARY."— JOHN IKE Thomas Kligerman, John Ike, Joel Barkley FABULOUS FABLED FOLLIES BY REBECCA SHERMAN