Monday, July 27, 2009

Mecca, Mecca, Mecca!


It is Sf Mecca Immersion time and I'll be vending at the Boutique on Sunday.
Here's the scoop:

SF Mecca Boutique Bazaar
August 2nd
City Dance Studio near Van Ness and Market
10 Cotton St. SF
3-6pm

I'll be bringing with me as many Sampants as I can muster!
Fluffie Rufflies, lace goodies, skirts, and more!

See you there!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Rattie Tattie Skirts!




Kristine, my lovely friend and room mate is wearing her Rattie Tattie skirt with her cotton Lycra Sampants.

I have two skirts left up on my etsy shop! You can wear these several ways, as there are three ways to rouch this skirt up for a drapey bustled affect. And its a subtle effect - appropriate for day wear, as Kristine can attest!

I'll be vending again soon - so grab these while you can! I may not be making more in the stripes!

kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

Stupid White People And The Meaning Of Life


This has nothing to do with fashion or costume, but its my blog and I'll write what I want - I just read a comment made by a family member who was joking about bringing a peace pipe to a Burger King on an Indian Reservation in order to get something decent to eat there. Maybe I'm being too sensitive, but I thought this was said in poor taste.
Maybe there was a thread of truth in the statement, though, as Ive seen what goes on behind the scenes in fast food joints and the sight of a wealthy, well fed, blond white woman stepping into a Burger King on an Indian Reservation might very well bring bodily fluids into the meal............just a guess. As would the sight of a wealthy, well fed white G-Man.......just sayin.

So this statement brought me a night of sleeplessness and trendy white guilt. I looked up all the info I could on the state of the Native American people today. Dear God. While it looks like The Bureau of Indian Affairs is trying to better the situation, it still looks like more of the same bullshit that has been doled out for so, so long. I'm no expert and most of us modern Americans are either not interested or we are too busy trying to occupy other lands. And granted, you cant turn back a clock and fix mistakes or wish people away. Many of us are trying with great difficulty to make ends meet in our own little occupied pockets of land. Every country has been occupied - taken over by someone. People and tribes enslaved, wiped out, assimilated. This particular genocide makes me so sad, though. It just wasn't all that long ago that a nation was almost completely wiped out. And look what we've done to the land. Its just awful. However, if I was a white person back then, would my consciousness be at this current level? Would I be like my grandma who chased starving Indians off their stolen land? Probably - but who knows.

This all reminds me of an incident that occurred last year when I was in line at an Asian run convenience store. A drunk Mexican man in front of me was hassling the store owners and calling them names. I tried to shush him up and help them get him out of there, but he spun around to face me and said "why don't you go back to England where you belong!" Well, he had a point and while I wasn't about to argue with a drunk, I totally saw where he was coming from. I couldn't excuse his bad behaviour, but I saw his pain. And all I said was " I tried, but they wont have me." Which was the truth. I looked into it - a lot. And we both just shrugged. We both knew the deal. Whataryagonnado?

So while we don't want to really look at these things or see the underbelly of the wealth of this country, there are real wounds caused by hatred, fear, greed or famine, religious persecution and fanaticism that take many hundreds of years to heal. If not thousands.

Maybe our dear government feels a debt is owed it. It was hard work to exterminate these people and force them onto these little parcels of mostly unworkable land. It cost the United States Of America a whole lot of money to conduct this project. I'm tellin ya - this made the Jewish Holocaust and the Japanese Internment look like a piece of cake!

There is the not so popular view that if the underdog has the tools and technology, it will conduct the same behaviour as the current alpha dog. This may very well be true. People are people and do stupid people things regardless of their color or creed. The humans with the most money and the best tools will always win out. Look at the Vikings, for cryin out loud. White people fight white people. Black people fight black people. Some offer help. Most turn away. Few want to be responsible for their miserable behaviour.

But it really is a sad state of affairs. I wish it would just stop. Well, they say that in 2012 it may very well..........stop. I cant wait to see what happens. I'll be mighty disappointed if there is no drama and happenstance. Mighty disappointed indeed. We need a little cleansing.......not a genetic cleansing, but perhaps the human species could use a little spanking soon. Time out? Play time over? A taste of medicine? One can dream. I dream that it will simply be a time of awakening. We will all just forgive and move forward. So this means that I also have to forgive my relatives, stupid people, ancestors, and my own arrogance ( I must seem stupid to someone )- and hope we all see the light eventually.

Sigh.

kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Tension


Ahhhhhhhhh sewing machine woes. Just when you think you are almost caught up - or getting to the point where maybe you wont be feeling so pressured, your machine does something. Like not have proper tension despite all your best efforts to correct the situation. I know the drill. Change out the threads to contrasting colors and play with one tension knob at a time til it all gets figured out. Sometimes it corrects itself. Sometimes I throw down my tweezers in despair and scream "WHY AM I DOING THIS???????"

And then it goes back to normal and life goes on. But this is just one little tiny example of why things take longer sometimes to complete than we had planned. Today I start over. Help is on the way on Monday and the flow should be flowing better soon (seems like everyone has decided to go on vacation or something). I have been feeling like I'm in the middle of a log jam lately.

Best intentions and all - time management - the moon is where? Come to think of it, my phone wasn't working yesterday either - maybe it was some solar flare problem. Whatever, right? More coffee and back to my machine!

Maybe your order is in this pile of pretty fabric!
Kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

Friday, July 10, 2009

Climbing The Ladder Of Success


Lisa Hyde is climbing the ladder of success in her Sampants!

You can go to my etsy shop and special order a pair for yourself!
Timing of delivery will depend on how busy I am with projects.........help is on the way and hopefully I'll be getting caught up again soon!

kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Congratulations Kae!!!!!


Congratulations Are In Store to Kae Montgomery who is now the newest member of FatChanceBellyDance!

As some of you may now know, Kae has been coming in once a week and helping me be organized. The universe was smiling down on me when she appeared!

Typical moment with Kae (workwise) was last week when someone was asking if I could have something done by July. I was all "sure! No Problem" And Kae looked me in the eye and said "Kathleen, July is tomorrow!"

So you see how I think. I lose track of time here in my studio quite often and I need someone to stay on top of things for me.

Kae danced and taught in Japan until she moved here with her husband. Im sure we all be seeing much more of her now!

She will be dancing with the troupe at Tribal Nights:
July 15 @ Baobob Village
8pm
$5
3372 19th st. SF

kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

Friday, July 3, 2009

Who or whatever god is: God Bless America


Im in a very creative mood these days. Yesterday some of my friends sat around and we made collages while drinking wine and collaborating on future fabulous photo shoots and things of that nature.

Yes, I should have been sewing as Im very late in getting some of my work out. Im at that point right now where I feel up against a wall and just have to take myself somewhere else for a day or two or I will explode. I somehow thought at first that running a business that is mainly online would be easier. Woe is me........not, not, not! So much of my time is taken up by being on the computer. And I dont get my sewing done. In a better economy, much would get farmed out again, but for now, Im on my own. Molly is on vacation and help is actually on the way.....but this week is a little tight for time and I hope no one is being too put out.

Tomorrow is American Independence Day. For most of us, its a day off with picnics and parties and fireworks. As with most holidays celebrating the glory of a country, its inhabitants forget who came before and who climbed over who to get said country to where its at. Ours is a bloody and unfortunate history full of genocide and slavery - much like most countries. Things we dont want to think about while eating our potatoe salad. But for all its mishaps and bad mistakes and bloodshed, there is an element of good and while I would still rather live in another country sometimes, Im always glad to get back to the food and ease of every day life that isnt shared in much of the world. Who or whatever god is: God Bless America.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

PRIDE 2009



Every year, FatChanceBellyDance and students get asked to open for the Dykes On Bikes at the start of the San Francisco Pride parade on Market Street. This always means getting up very early in the morning and there are not a whole lot of viewers out yet, but the DOB love us and the press surrounds us like vultures - its a photo op fest!

At first it didnt seem like a whole lot of dancers would be able to show up this year, so I volunteered. I dont dance much anymore but this one is always fun and while we all want to do our best, dancing on concrete isnt easy and I figured I wouldnt be the worst dancer! It is always such a flurry of color and drama that a little loose technique isnt going to offend anyone!

But so many showed up for the live drumming......it was a blast..........



While I was in one quartet, we started moving around and the lead dancer was heard to say ........"head for the biggest camera!" It was one of the funniest moments ever! She was right, of course! Ok - it was Kristine Adams, my room mate - photographer extroidenare. So she would know.........


Above is Kristine heading for the biggest camera!


photos: Sean Vallely


So to make a long story short, I and my friends got into an SFGate photo that day and if I never do this again, I have a nice momento to mark the occasion.



kc.costumecouture@gmail.com