The Pressure Is On

Winter is fast approaching and as I pull out my cold weather coats and clothing, I am reminded of all the designs that I am furiously trying to get patterned, sampled,  and made up into wearable clothing! Some of you may or may not know, but I have teamed up with  Carolena E Nericcio-Bohlman of FatChanceBellyDance to sustainably produce clothing that looks amazing on everyone and that we, ourselves would like to wear!  We call this the Bessie Line - named after Carolena's  mother, and my favorite name for dependable vehicles and sewing machines.............a pretty and vintage sounding  name that speaks for our line of clothing! We have so many ideas that stem from what we personally want to be wearing - things we cant find in the stores - inspiration from the dance world, history, other cultures, our busy lifestyles and the need for quality garments to enhance our bodies and wardrobes! And what better way to show you how awesome these designs look on a real body than to wear them for you to see! Right now - today - I am finishing up specs for the Bessie Vest so that this first run can go online HERE!!!!!

And here is Carolena, in the middle ,wearing her Bessie Vest! And also in this photo are Terri Allred on the left and Yours Truly on the Right - all of us wearing our Bessie Skirts. All shapes and sizes looking great! :)

The Bessie Vest is such a great piece. It works with the Bessie Skirt in mind, yet will coordinate with just about any woman's wardrobe. Every design that we have been working on comes from a place of necessity and function. Every design strives to be elegant and work within one's wardrobe. Would we both wear it is always the question.

While we do our best to keep costs down, our pieces are not designed for mass production in mind, and the prices will reflect being locally made *hopefully* at a living wage for all involved in production. We are going back to good old fashioned ethics. You know the ones......if you cant afford it and want it, you save up for it - and take care of and treasure it. Maybe you would wear more of a few well made, well thought out garments and create a signature look for yourself. You take those basics to build a wardrobe that will last a while and embellish it with the tidbits from the cheaper garment outlets. We ALL love the cheaper clothing outlets - yet we have created an environmental and unsustainable toxic monster with our rampant importation of throw away clothing made overseas for pennies on the dollar. We are paying for this practice dearly. Now is the time to start purchasing more thoughtfully!

I am always hunting for reasonably priced fabrics to make comfortable and stylish clothing ! This can be simply exhausting these days - and I mainly want to be focusing on making things!!! So we are going to have basic designs in small runs for now. Fabrics will change to keep things fresh. The line will grow and evolve as time, budgets, and tastes, allow. Prices will reflect originality, versatility, elegance, quality, and sustainability!

Many new and exciting events and happenings are on the horizon! 2015 is going to be a life -changing year for many of us!! Stay Tuned!!!!!

Just In Time For Autumn

 
I had to grab this fabric when I saw it - total love at first sight! It put me right into the holiday spirit! Perfect for Halloween and the Autumn season (although I would wear this all year round - OF COURSE!!)

Bias cut slip dresses: sweet, frothy, and sexy! Perfect with some awesome shoes and a little bolero for Indian summer nights, or layered with a tshirt and pants or a skirt - use your imagination and play with your personal style!

 Created with  vintage detail and styling - yet with a modern edge: Ive made a very limited run - one in each size from Small to Extra Large, so email me with questions or convo me on Etsy! Bias cut clothing draped dramatically on the body in a way that clothing cut on the grain cannot do!!

Go HERE to do some shopping!! X

Christmas With The Crawfords

 Once upon a time, a long time ago, back in the 1990's, I was commissioned to make a long silver evening gown for a fun little holiday show in San Francisco called Christmas With The Crawfords. My friend Chris March was in the show and I was hired  to make a bunch of the costumes that he designed. I love working with Chris - we just click - I get what he's trying to tell me, and I understand the scale of oversize that he is famous for. I pretty much discovered this while working on the show with him back in those days. We worked together at the famous Beach Blanket Babylon,  hit it off right away, and he has been throwing fun work at me ever since. I also get a bit of leeway with design if this is appropriate and it always works out.

So I got the call with "do you still have that Joan Crawford evening gown pattern that you made?" Well...............I actually, miraculously  had part of it. And the rest was from memory and about 2 measurements. Really. My height - a guess at a bust and waist from former projects - and it had to be fitted. With super stretchy  fabric. Oh my.

But it turned out perfect as you can see. This is Joey Arias as Joan Crawford for the upcoming show. Perfectly stunning as stunning can be. As always.

Go see the show if you are in or around NYC this holiday season! You will laugh and be charmed!!

Tasha

Tasha was married on the coast with her little dog in the wedding party.

 Her five piece steampunk inspired ensemble was made of silk, dyed, distressed, and over dyed laces and tulle. Her silk dupioni over skirt was bustled up in three layers to be held out by the poufy ruffled petticoat. She wore a two-toned matching silk  corset with silver buckles and grommets at the hips and shoulders. The corset and skirt was piped in matching silk. Underneath it all, she was wearing my Fluffie Rufflie bloomers in dyed dove grey lace and cotton! We worked very hard to get this right because those perfect greens and greys were proving very hard to find in the right fabrics. The Peridot green came in from Thai Silks the wrong color (which may have been my fault -be careful with those color numbers when ordering!) but they graciously took it back and sent the right stuff. I made the groom a matching waistcoat and then over her dress, Tasha wore a dark green kinsale cloak from the Folkwear line that I made with silk/rayon velvet.

 She looked like she had stepped into some kind of time travel vortex when it was all put together. A beautiful bride, a beautiful wedding, a beautiful project!