---Preview sketch of one of the shoes designed by Joss!---

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending a preview of the Nine West Vintage America Fall 2010 Collection. The highlight of the event was Joss Stone, who has designed two shoes for the collection. Joss participated in an intimate Q&A session with a handful of us bloggers; it was an incredible treat to listen to her talk about the inspiration behind her designs and her thoughts on the relationship between music and fashion. Fred Allard, the Creative Director of Nine West, sat with Joss and it was obvious to me that he had a real understanding of why fans (like me!) love Joss’ style. I think they were really able to infuse her bohemian tastes into the designs. More specifically, Joss’ love of flowers (and flower tattoos!) were a big inspiration for the boots. I enjoyed hearing her talk about her ink – Joss said that she got her first tattoo of flowers on her foot when she was 16 and she figures she’ll never really regret it because she’ll always love flowers. I feel the same way about my tree tattoo so that was a really cool moment!

Joss and Fred. Photos courtesy of Nine West.

After the Q&A, we all got a chance to see the collection up close and to chat with Joss individually. And friends, I have to confess, I suddenly became start struck! [note: I handled meeting Barack Obama wayyyy better] The woman is gorgeous! Not to mention, I’ve been a huge fan of her music since high school. And man is she tall! But she was quite sweet – seriously!! – and didn’t seemed phased by my strange behavior.  While I was talking with her, some of her earlier music was playing in the background and she paused to comment to me about it  – saying that her voice has changed a lot since then and so she hates listening to her “baby voice”. I’m pretty sure I gushed some more and said something crazy like “OhmygahIwiiiiishIhadavoicelikeyours.Iloveyousomuch!”. Just Kidding? But actually, yeah that happened. And then I think I gave Wendy Brandes much the same treatment when I introduced myself to her – but I’m really just a huge fan of her wit! Sigh.

The collection will be in stores by the end of August but you can join me in pre-ordering in July using the website www.ninewest.com/vintageamerica. Joss will also be recording a song to accompany the collection and that should be available around that time as well!

A look at the Nine West Vintage America Collection (*these weren’t designed by Joss):

One of Joss’ favorites.

The collection also features some really cool accessories – I loved the texture of this bag.

My favorite shoe from the collection!

I also have my eye on that bag!