Thursday, June 26, 2008

Disastrous!

1 have spoken

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.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Resort 09

0 have spoken

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.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Time to let it go...

0 have spoken

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 :)