Disastrous!

Alright. Here's the horrific story of my trip to Jay's Fabric Center today. I show up there around 4:25 pm today with high hopes of purchasing not only more of the tan and black striped fabric I used to make my knit dress for the fashion show but also ordering it in at least two other colors so I can make a ton of them to sell (lots of reasons.... chief among them 1. paying off debt, 2. Purchasing a serger/coverstitch machine). Well, I wander around and see that they don't have any left in the store... all the better, I'll just order a whole bolt and call it a day.

So, I find the lady in charge (I feel bad because she's so nice and I never remember her name) and I ask her what paperwork I need to fill out to order some more of this fabric (and show it to her). She gets this really sad look on her face and says, "That was a designer fabric we got from a jobber... I can't get anymore. I'm so sorry." Well, apparently she saw the utter dismay on my face and when I asked if she could tell me the contact for the jobber (in hopes he could give me a contact to another shop that bought some) she says they don't give out that information but that if there was even a small chance she thought she could get more she'd try for me, but that she knew there was no more to be had.

So I franticly searched the store for something even close and the only thing I found was this lime green and light heather gray fabric with a very thin yellow stripe, it was cool, but I know I wouldn't be able to sell many in that color. So, I came home and searched the internet for striped jersey and actually came up with some good options that I can get a decent amount of. So, in hopes that you wonderful people can help me I will post images here. PLEASE let me know which you'd be most likely to purchase a dress in. I'm especially interested in the opinions of those who have seen the dress I'm talking about... might include a picture a little later.

Anyway, here are the different ones I'm thinking about in the order I like them the best.

Ok, these first three are my favorite. The black and gray is a must, I've already decided I'm getting that one. Next, the blue and black goes awesome with the other things in the collection (remember, these clothes are inspired by the Tank Girl comic) and the red and gay is awesome because there are other garments in the collection made of red and gray fabrics... those are the two main colors of the collection.

Next, I found these three pinks. I don't really like pink but I think the first one especially would sell really well and the brown and light pink one is sooo different I think it would do well in boutiques that don't like as edgy of a garment (although the styling of the dress isn't exactly mainstream).

Last are these two completely odd-ball mixes. I really like the green and yellow but I don't know how many people would buy it. This color combo also goes well with the Tank Girl idea because the Roller Derby print used on the garments features a lot of these basic colors like blue, red, green, and yellow. The only problem is that I wouldn't know what color straps to put on it... black would be kinda harsh. And then purple and gray, it doesn't really work with the color scheme but it's unusual and I kinda like it.

Anyway, I really want to know what you guys think. Your opinions will directly determine which ones I buy.

Resort 09

So, the other day I was on the phone with my good friend Katrina and she asks me about Spring '09. "What's going to be in, what out? What are the colors?" She likes to get in ahead and know if she can spend money on a tattoo or if saving for clothing is in order. So I tell her what I know from the Promostyl books at school and thought to myself, "Gosh, why haven't I seen Spring '09 stuff yet..." and then realized that Resort hasn't even happened. So I go to Style.com and see that, alas, Resort has started. Woohoo... I'm not really a super fan of resort but I will point out a few things I thought were of note.

Ill-fitted clothing seems to be a trend, though who knows why. It's the most unattractive thing I've seen so far. I really don't think this is going to go anywhere, and all the designers were doing it... ouch.

Alexander Wang had a nice little Resort collection, though. I think he used this "trend" affectively without making his clothing look like shit. It is a bit too nautical for my tastes, but again, Resort always is.

Chanel was one of the few houses so far to produce a full Resort collection, and some of the pieces were really successful, others were... questionable. I just don't understand where designers are getting some of this stuff..

Chris Benz had an interesting collection with really colorful pieces. I liked it but it was nothing to write home about. Check it out, it's very wearable... maybe I'll make a dress like one of these for next summer.

Donna Karen also had a great collection. It reminds me so much of my school-mate Whitney's portfolio collection that if I didn't know better, I would think they directly stole her designs. Bravo to Whitney for such accurate trend forecasting. The only real difference is that Whitney did her collection in yellow (because I believe she based the colors off of Spring '08) and Donna did the collection in pink... Whitney's favorite color.

And let me say that if fashion was a killing business, I'd knock off Marc Jacobs first... what a crap collection this season... I mean, yeah I guess maybe it looks a little like Yves, but man, I wouldn't want someone to do a collection inspired by me that looked this bad right after I died... but that's just me.

The Max Azria resort collection was great. It reminded me of Florida girls, even with the cropped jackets and long sleeve things. I think I know people who would wear these things at a beach bar.

Well, anyway, that's enough resort for right now. I can't take looking at another boring collection of poopookaka. Until later...

p.s. Whitney... Issac Miz. stole your tuck darted pants for his collection. *grins* Aren't you smart? Check out Donna Karen, too and Luca Luca.

Time to let it go...

Alright, it is the end of my grieving period and I'm now ready to sell the Marie Antoinette dress.

This garment is made completely from scratch with no pattern. It was made for a specific model to wear on the runway and therefore the size is quite unusual and can't be changed really. The waist of the gown is 24 inches over a corset. So, if you can cinch a corset that tightly on yourself (or not so tightly for many) than it will fit your waist just fine. The model who wore this for the show was a DD, so the bust is quite large. This is the only area I might be able to alter the garment to be smaller. The arms of the gown are also very skinny. I do have a bit more of the fabric used to make the gown, therefore, I could remake the sleeves, but that will be reflected in the price considering the new sleeves will have to be tea dyed and distressed to match and more trim will have to be used. As you see in the pictures, originally, the hook and eyes I used to hold the front of the over skirt together were not very successful. I have replaced these hook and eyes with ties to hold it better. Lastly, my model was 5' 9", so the dress is (if I remember correctly) 42" from natural waist to the hem. Lastly, the model was longer waisted than the measurements I had been given. Therefore, this dress fits best on people with short to "normal" length waists. If you're long from the waist to the bust, this dress is not for you, it will not fit correctly.

This garment includes: A bodice with hand beaded stomacher. The stomacher velcros closed because this was a stage costume and then zips underneath, this makes it incredibly easy to put on and take off; no pins required. The bodice then has large pant hooks to connect to the over skirt, which sits at the natural waist. The over skirt is very heavy with deep pleats in the back and draping cascades in the front. It is also decorated with the hand beaded fabric. The underskirt is built onto the panier. Because of this, the garment has to be worn with this particular, oversized panier. It was made specifically to have a skeletal appearance, as if the dress were centuries old and falling apart (more below). Therefore, it has a tattered hem with trim to enhance this idea. The corset that was made for this dress is not small enough for the dress. In order for the corset to be cinched to 24" the back steel boning has to overlap, which makes it uncomfortable to wear. I recommend getting your own white, very low cut (or underbust) corset to go with this dress.

The corset is for sale separately, though, if someone is interested. It is a fully metal boned corset made of white corset coutil. I'm selling it for relatively cheap because the binding isn't as smooth as it should be (my fault, poor cutting) I can show close ups of these areas if someone is interested.

Now for the fun stuff. This dress was inspired by the H.P. Lovecraft short story "The Tomb" for a fashion show featuring Marie Antoinette inspired period interpretations. The idea was to make it look as if the woman wearing the dress could have crawled out of the wreckage of the "dead" house in H.P. Lovecraft's story. Therefore, the dress is tea dyed around the entire hem quite dark and the entire dress is distressed quite a bit, but not enough to call the construction integrity into question. Also, there is moss hand sewn onto the gown to enhance the aged appearance. The wig pictured is, unfortunately, not available. The hair dresser who made it was not willing to sell it to me. Very sorry. The mask is available, I'll throw it in for free (it could be made awesome with some work but was a last minute addition I didn't really want). This dress is not washable. The top could perhaps be hand washed but due to the extremely delicate and expensive stomacher fabric, I wouldn't chance it. Febreze is your best bet for freshening the gown.

It cost me over $400 just for the materials in this dress, I spend over 200 hours constructing it, including a lot... a LOT of hand stitching. Note: There is duct tape inside the hoop skirt to help hold the massively wide panier "open." I could try to find another way to finish this off, but in the hours and hours spent trying to get the hoop skirt to stay up under the weight of the over skirt, this way worked the best. Also, with the dress I will include instructions as to the best method of putting it on. The panier -will- sag under the weight of the over skirt, it is supposed to. It is also supposed to flop a bit when you walk, it adds to the look of decay. If this will upset you, do not purchase this costume. It isn't meant to simply be beautiful, it is meant to convey a mood.

I'm asking $3,000 for all the pieces in this gown minus the corset. I'm asking $50 for the corset itself. These prices do not include shipping. I will absolutely not take returns on this costume, no matter what. If you have any questions you -must- ask them -before- you commit to buying the piece.

That all being said, I have not yet had a chance to do a photo shoot with this dress. I'm still trying to make arrangements with a model to shoot in it. I won't sell this dress until I have photographs of it, but please let me know if you're interested or have any questions.

Now pictures :)

Inspirational Goths

I know that it is minimally possible that this type of post could make someone more pretentious but I don't think that problem affects these particular girlies. Lately I've come across some Gothic ladies who I feel people should get a good look at. It rather tickled me pink to see that one of them doesn't get very dressed up all the time (like myself).

Shannon: Also known as Chrome Girl, this go go dancer/model covers herself in metal clothing. When the cyber thing was super huge, this lady was the queen. The fact that she's so into the cyber and club scene and doesn't do drugs makes me smile, because that's pretty rare to find these days. She's modeled for Lip Service and Demonia shoes.






Adora BatBrat: She's a newest find and comes from Sweden. She's a mommy of three (yes, 3!) and she even did a chunk of Goth modeling while pregos. Major props. Incidentally, I think this picture was after at least two of her children had been born... and you see how small she is. She also has a bunch of videos on YouTube. Some are about random stuff but others are about useful things like how to do your makeup and how to screen print a shirt the fast-and-easy way. Too bad she lives in Sweden, she'd probably be super fun to hang out with.



Sharon Kihara: Sharon is a belly dancer of high repute. She has danced with the Belly Dance Super Stars and also with the Indigo (almost all of my absolute favorite dancers). She has also modeled for a couple clothing companies that make clothing for bellydancers and likes octopi (so that's a plus in my book). I don't know if she's goth or if she could just play one on TV... but she's super cool none the less.





Messy Stench: So if you don't already know who she is, she's basically the other Tank Girl (the first of course being Lori Petty herself). She dresses all kinds of crazy, she's in a band called Alpha Shemale, she does a radio show in CA, and she's a model. She's also been in a CombiChrist video and some TV shows. She's pretty big time but she always has really interesting, unexpected photoshoots. So, check her out often.





Beccles (as listed on MySpace): Another new person I found whilst scurrying across the face of the internet. She's a makeup artist who sometimes models and she's just masterful at her makeup craft. Check out all her work on her Deviant Art page (linked) and marvel at her awesomeness.

Spring 2008 Colors and Trends

So people ask me all the time what the deal is with trends. Here's my problem: Right now, I'm not looking at this season's trends... well... I am... but for next year. So, because I was looking at the stuff for Spring 2008 last year around this time I went through the work of looking up information for you guys from recent publications and stuff.

Let's start off with color forecasts. I'll tell you what Pantone said (more than a year ago) and then show you what the designers put out (about 6 months ago) so that you'd be seeing it in the stores about a month ago. So, you're already late, might as well start making fall trends look good. But, for those who are stubborn (or wait to start wearing spring clothing in Florida till now) I give you the color forecast.

Pantone Spring 2008 Color Forecast
The colors are actually really, really pretty. They're pretty feminine, but the pink is super dusty and muted shell (that looks awesome with black). All in all, they're colors that can be worked into gothic wardrobes really easily for a pop of color, and like my friend Katrina and I have been doing since last December, grey is super big. So, time for everyone else to catch up. Anyway, at the end the designers that were featured give you their idea of the most popular things for spring. Everyone is saying white, but getting goths to wear all white (or any) is pretty hard, so I'm going to have to second Carlos Miele's idea and say beige (or even better, bone) and grey. Goths who do this for spring will look like they know what there's doing and really, it won't kill you, I promise. Go with light grey though, no charcoal. Think new pewter or old silver, metallic but not shiny, that makes your faded blacks look richer, mysterious, and antique. All the designers (big and small) stayed with this forecast so all the colors were used a lot. Yellow, both purple shades, the blue, and the red were used by everyone.

A Huge Lot of Pictures:

Biggest Trends:
Feathers & Fur
Surrealist-inspired prints
Draped silhouettes
Flower shapes
Satin fabrics
Yellow
Purple
Semi-brights with Black
Hats & other head coverings
Return of the natural waist
50's & 20's
Star Motifs
Polka Dots & Stripes

Added Bonus:
Wearing your fetish-nurse outfits makes you look like a Louis Vuitton model
Even though a lot of Southern goths might not know much about SteamPunk, the runway seems to be taking notice...

My Picks:
Lightweight, wide-leg jeans (grey wash)
Something purple: Puce (the grey-purple), Plum, or Eggplant, all work and are big big big
Something yellow: I really like the Lagerfeld dress that I included which is yellow with a black mesh overlay. Try and find knockoffs at a cheaper price... cause that shit's hot.
Vertical stripe dress: Red and white or black and beige (btw, if I can find more fabric... I'll be selling one super soon)
A new hat... any hat, a bowler or a cloche are my top favorites


P.S. I've decided that if I move to Europe, I'd like to live in Belgium and work for Ann Demeulemeester, new to my list of favorites and oh so close to the top. Look her up on Style.com... everything, and I do mean everything she does is somehow gothic.

Fabulous Paris Fall 2008

If for nothing else, anyone interested in fashion at all should constantly check out STYLE.com for the clips from fashion shows. One of my biggest pet peeves with the Style Network is that they no longer show anything about the shows on their channel. I'm going to link to my favorites from Paris Fashion Week for Fall 2008 just because I still can't quite figure out how to cut my posts (working on it though).

1: John Galliano
Style.com has everything for this show (as it should) and the video goes over most of the best items.

2: Nina Ricci
The color palette for this collection reminds me of a dying moth and at the same time
something about my childhood. Who knows... Again with the jodhpur pants. This time in satin. Very sexy.

3: Louis Vuitton
Because of crappy purses, people tend to completely ignore the wonderfulness that is Marc Jacobs for L.V. The structure of these pieces (more hip action!) is amazing. With all the fabric sculpting going on it appears I may need to take up draping again if I'm going to create some of these shapes for myself.

4: Alexander McQueen
An obvious inclusion for me. If I could realize the ultimate fashion job it would be for Alexander McQueen. This collection is... It's just absolutely beautiful.

5: Chanel
One of my favorite things about this collection video was how Lagerfeld was like "That's very flattering, but there's not crime." with a twisted smirk when the commentator commented that his show was like a Hitchcock dream sequence. He's just the shit. This collection is full of the things gothic business women love to wear to the office.

6: Givenchy
The. Most. Gothic. Collection. Ever.

7: Stella McCartney
This collection had so many wonderful ideas going on. Little mini bubble dresses (endorsed by Twiggy no less) and handmade felt and all this English-ness. Very flirty; a different take on the "modern-hippie" trend.

8: Viktor & Rolf
Ok so for one, they had semi--if not COMPLETELY--industrial music in this collection... and that makes me very happy. Second I REALLY would love to hear how you guys think the letters are possible. Think of how cool it would be to translate this into all kinds of things. I'd love a jacket like this with religious and mystical symbols done in black... or even some crazy words like No and Dream. What a concept! And the staples?! I'm TOTALLY doing that!

Also, on an unrelated note, the music at the Karl Lagerfeld signature show was really really awesome. I think it might have been some kind of French Trip Hop... which is the most awesome thing in the world. It reminded me a lot of Ladytron. Anyone know who it was?

So that's all I'm going to feature. I wasn't really feeling anything from the other shows. They had a few key looks, but overall were not inspirational to me. You can check all the shows out on Style.com for yourself though and form your own opinion. I only had a chance to look over the shows that had videos, but if you see a great Paris collection that I missed, please point it out to me so I can drool, too.

First Post

So for my first trick, I guess I should say something meaningful such as what the reason was for starting this blog and that sort of crap, but I really don't feel like being too wordy about that. I'm just going to say I decided to do this because I was sick of the MySpace blog feature (which doesn't really let me do shit) and because I want to be able to advertise for my business so I can start making money, and because I like people to look at stuff I write; it makes me feel important.

Plus school isn't going to start back up till Monday and I'm bored.