Interview with With Hearts in my Eyes

By Kimmy McAtee · September 26th, 2007 · 1 Comment

With Hearts in my Eyes is a new collection by Hannah Bartie. Hannah is an Australian transplant who has been living in Encinitas for 7 years. Her clothing line is made up of amazing dresses and jumpers with
cute names like Bunny and Petal. Each piece is handmade and extremely well crafted and seems to play with the paradox of the romantic dream and traditional femininity in that “impossibly-cool-girl-not-trying-too-hard” way.

Hannah herself is one of the nicest girls I have met since moving to San Diego. She says “Please” twice in one sentence and says â€œTAâ€ after everything (which means thank you in Australian). Hannah loves drinking beer (Coors Light), buying Marc Jacobs shoes, Pedroâ€™s bean and guacamole burritos, Martha Wainwright, walking for extended periods of time, Khalil Greene, and drawing love hearts.

SanDiegoish caught up with her at the KAB Breast 2 Impress event in which she had an amazing dress featured and asked her a couple questions. Click to readâ€¦ and make sure you read it in an Australian accent.

How did you come up with the name With Hearts in Your Eyes?

When we were little at school, we would say between the girls that we were looking at a boy “with hearts in our eyes…” When we liked them.

Can you describe your design process?

I don’t have one, I am so all over the place, it depends what I feel like doing when I wake up…I get so many things going thru my head when I am trying to go to sleep about what I want to make and so I get excited about that and then start something new but then probably the next day I go back to what I was doing 2 days ago, so everything gets finished just in a strange order.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Everywhere. Sometimes I just think about one of my good friends and think, ok you need to make a piece that she would be real excited to wear and then I just get carried away.

Who are your style icons?

Iâ€™ll say it…I love Mary Kate Olsen, so much that itâ€™s kinda gross.

Did growing up in Australia influence your work?

No, but now when I am choosing fabrics for a dress, I have to think to myself, can I wear this at home as its so hot in the summer, so maybe I change my answer to yes.

You had a recent fashion show in LA- this was your first one - how was it?

I wanted to vomit cause I was so nervous but then I had a drink and was almost ok with it, but I think it all went good and I was super happy with each piece that went in the show. And all my favorite people bothered to make the trek…so thank you.

You have designed a reconstructed piece for for the Keep a Breast Charity fashion show, was it difficult starting from an existing tee?

No, it was fun knowing that I had to use certain things to make the piece and I liked that my shirt came with the love hearts with the KAB logo on it so I was just basing the piece around them…

Samantha brenner wearing a With Hearts in my Eyes piece for Breast 2 Impress

What 3 items do you think every lady should have in their closet?

Vintage beaded cardigan, find a pair of jeans that fit you real awesome then buy 2 pairs, but that only counts as one, and a pair of flat knee high black boots… you still get more than those 3 right?

What is your favorite trend happening right now?

Winter!

Being that your husband is a professional skateboarder do you think has had any effect on your line or publicity- positively or negatively?

Not at all, I don’t push it in that direction

Who is the typical girl that wears With Hearts in Your Eyes?

You have to love puffy sleeves