Good Morning!!

Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen! As most of you - but not all of you - know, I have been helping Carolena E Nericcio-Bohlman create a fun line of wearables that can be worn to dance class or cross over into your day and evening wear! This is the Bessie line of clothing that started with my Bessie skirt! This skirt was designed to be practically lived in and Carolena and I worked on some improvements to the design and then went on to make more great things to wear! The Bessie skirt was designed to be worn in more ways than I can mention here - I wear mine ALL THE TIME!!!!! I have been seen chopping weeds and digging in my my garden in my old one - and sashaying into a party in my newer one. It makes your butt look dynamic!! All the butts.......
What makes the Bessie Skirt unique is the way in which it is designed to be flattering on all bodies, and to be worn in many different ways. You can leave it down, or take one or more of the loops placed at the hem and attach them to one or more of three buttons at the hip line. You can wrap it around your body, wear it as a strapless dress, bustle it up in back or at the sides, or turn it into a pair of pants - I kid you not! 

And now we have the Choli Dress, which is also a smashing success! It has a built in choli underneath, is open in the back, ties in the back like a choli, and has buttons and loops so that it can be worn in a myriad of ways!

Come here to this link to buy your very own or to see more photos! Keep checking in! We are working on so many new designs and ideas! I can tell you one thing......Plus sizes are going to be offered for the Bessie Skirt ! The pattern is being graded as we speak! More is coming down the pike, my friends!!!! Keep Checking In!!!

COME SHOP HERE

A Successful 2015 ATS Homecoming Event

I seriously have a hard time describing the ATS Homecoming event that was held this January.........what an endeavor! Week long classes and workshops. Three days of Vending. I put on a  vendor fashion show and there were more performances than one could imagine. All American Tribal Style. All the time. Kudos to Carolena Nericcio- Bohlman and Terri Allred for putting this together and pulling it off! I was asking poor Terri questions constantly and her replies came faster than any promoter Ive ever worked with.

For those who may not understand what ATS Belly dance is, it is actually called American Tribal Style Belly Dance and is a style initiated and perfected by the troupe FatChanceBellyDance under the direction of Carolena who I mentioned above. I have been affiliated with these ladies in one way or another for a good 20 years. This was the first event of its kind that was completely 100% geared towards this dance style. Women came from all around the globe to attend. It was truly a homecoming...........

There was some down time during all the workshops, and we had a lot of time to hang out and catch up with each other - and then we would be swamped with either selling or catching up with our friends and customers - or both - and that's how these things work. Salomes' Suitcase came together once again to sell our unique and locally made artisan wares.

I threw together a fun little vendor fashion show on Friday night which brought attention to the vendors and I think everyone benefited from it nicely! And I got to know some of the vendors that I might not ordinarily have talked to as much. I made new friends - always a nice thing to experience......here is Cyndi Elliot working her Bessie as Carolena MCs in her Bessie...........

The Bessie line that Ive been working on was featured and sold at the FatChanceBellyDance booth - and pretty nearly sold out! The Bessie skirts were being worn everywhere and that was so rewarding to see!

 That was Bethany Maxwell showing off her skirt. She was stage manager and worked the skirt during the duration of most of the event!

Michyo Salsbury showed me an iPhone cover that her husband made of her wearing her Bessie Skirt! That is the cutest thing ever...........

The tears they were falling like rain at the end of the event as the participants went home. There was so much bonding that week that it was hard for many to leave. I don't often see that. So we are all excited to participate again next year at the Hilton - a much better venue.Thank you, Carolena!!

Get your Bessie skirt here!!!!

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!

Bessie Has Been Launched!

The Bessie Skirt - "Kathleen Crowley for FatChanceBellyDance®" - is now exclusively available online through the FatChanceBellyDance®  website! Regular and Petite sizes are available with a handy size chart to compare your measurements to! GET IT HERE!

I have been living in this skirt. It is easy to do just that. Its my go-to skirt for many occasions - or to simply go to the grocery store. You can wear it so many ways! I love being able to wear it with my torso covered and be able to wear it rolled down as well. When I was up in Seattle last weekend, for Cues And Tattoos and to visit my family, I just hiked this baby up in quite a few interesting ways to keep if off the wet ground. I didn't design it specifically for dancers, but as you can see, dancers are kind of my life - so you will usually see my work on dancers. But they look awesome on everyone - so go visit the website and get one of your very own! If you don't see your size, contact them and we will see what we can do for you - one size does not fit all and we understand that! And who knows.........maybe you will be inspired to get into belly dance!

 

Carolena Nericcio - Bohlman, founder and director of FatChanceBellyDance® has written a wonderful post on body image and the story of how this Bessie Skirt came to be. Read It Here!! I could not have written it better.

Other colors and variations of this skirt will be available soon - we started with black because black is what we all can wear - but other colors are coming! So stay tuned as we work our magick and bring you more elegant, fun, and wearable styles of clothing that you will surely love and wear for a long time!!!
Models in order of appearance:
Wendy Allen
Anita Lalwani
Kae Montgomery

Awesome Photography:
Sean Vallely (BlueFortySeven)

Karen's New Orleans Wedding

Karen, my last bridal client,  was just married only a week ago in a wonderful escapade through New Orleans!
They looked like they were having so much fun as they romped through graveyards and picturesque settings!
Hats off to the photographer who followed them around! I heard that everyone had a great time!

There were textures and layers and lots of silk for a beautiful Steampunk themed wedding! (there is our friend Kimberly on the left who introduced Karen and I - and has some fun pieces that Ive created!)

I built Karen a custom corset and matching bustle made of forest green silk. The corset had a contrast of a lighter green printed with Fleur-de-lys We also added covered buttons along the corset front and pocket. I made sweet little handmade flowers in green, white, and purple to embellish the bustle. And then I used the contrasting green as leaves to go with the flowers.

Under her bustle was a a skirt made of several layers of silk Dupioni in varying shades of ivory. And interspersed with the layers of silk, we added different fabrics of metallic gold and ivory.

We made the bustle and the underskirt detachable so that she could wear these things with other garments - which she did as she explored the city the next day.

She was so nice to work with - such a lovely person - It made me very  happy to see how she was beaming on her wedding day. Congratulations to Karen, Brian and and their family!

SKIRT SALE!!

Hi All! I have put my Rattie Tattie Skirts on sale until Friday October 11th! All that I have is what is currently in stock in my Etsy store. Im not sure when I'll be making more - so if you like one of these babies and it is in your size, grab it now! They are perfect for this Halloween season, but are fun all year long! There are three channels with ties for ruching and scrunching up and down in a variety of ways for a variety of looks. Most of my Rattie Tatties are sheer or have parts to them that are at least semi-sheer. They are fabulous for layering or wearing with leggings!
I hope you are enjoying this Halloween Season!

All Stocked Up.............And Ready To Go!

It was not by design, because Im not one to create merchandise specifically for the holidays, but in my sewing quest to fill some racks for a Pre-Playa sale (which was a lot of fun - thank you 5&Diamond!) and finish up some items that have been languishing on a to-do shelf, I have been able to stock my Etsy store with lots of fun and pretty garments that will be a great cross-over for the Halloween season! This little green lace skirt would be wonderful for a Christmas party as well. (It'll be here before we know it!)

These are fun to wear and very versatile - three channels to scrunch and ruch up for a variety of different looks - but I don't see me making too many more of these Rattie Tattie Skirts in the future. Maybe once in a great while, but this is all there is for now. Grab em while Ive got em!

Join Us at the 5 & Diamond Pre-Playa Loft Sale!!

I'll have a couple racks of Playa Wear at the 5&Diamond loft sale this year!! A bit of this and a bit of that - sequins, glitter, and cute, sexy stuff all geared toward adorning yourselves in comfort and style out there in the desert! Come by and say hi! Come get your Playa on!!

2010 Tribal Fest After Party

Brad Dosland takes such beautiful photos!!! Just snagged a couple that were recently posted on his
Taboo Media Facebook page.. Brad does most of this on his own dime for his community, so we wait for the documentation when we have to - and gladly! This was the 2010 Tribal Fest After Party. My model, Steven was wearing the white wedding attire. Medina Maitreya made the fascinator and collar.

Model: Steven Eggers
Designers: Right to Left: Rachel Thomas, Medina Maitreya, Kathleen Crowley, Lee Kobus, Katherine Summer

Cute Rattie Tattie Skirt For Halloween - Or Whenever!

 

The ladies seem to be liking these skirts, and I had been eyeballing the sizes from a draft pattern all this time, which was getting old (and not very efficient), so I finally graded the pattern for XS - to XL. Now I can just cut without giving the size a lot of thought and can now focus on details. I can make larger sizes, so email me with your questions! 

These are all sheer black lace right now - because I happen to have a lot of that at the moment -  and because tis the season.............but I do have a couple more brown ones coming and some navy and red. (because I was feeling creative)

You can layer them one over the other or wear them with other skirts, pants, dresses, shorts and Leg Ruffles!

Here is a video of TigerLilly from Scotland wearing a black Rattie Tattie for her Tribal Fest performance. She is lovely, and works the music wonderfully - the opening bagpipes get me every time!

kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

Rattie Tattie Adjustable Length Skirts

When I can get around to making these skirts, they usually fly out the window. Why? Because they have three channels in the upper body of the skirt that allow you to adjust the length of this garment in many ways. And they are super cute and comfortable!

Granted,. this is not a new idea and has been around for years, but I dont see a lot of people offering these styles fairly consistantly. I adopted this technique years ago with many other skirts, pants, and dresses - and whoever I was inspired by (probably the Belgians in the 90's), we thank you!

 I often, but not always, use the fabrics left over from cutting out my other garments. Not only are they rarely ever all the same, but there is less of a toxic footprint on the environment, I can keep the costs down, and you can get a versatile, cost effective piece of clothing that will serve as a base for many different looks if you choose.

Clothing, costuming, bridal, steampunk, romantic, gothic......................the choices are many depending on the colors, the fabrics used, and your imagination!

Below are some of the best photos that I could take of the various possibilities. This is one skirt from my limited edition Harvest series. Some are subtle - meaning that the same length adjustment on a different position on your hips will change the whole look - and some are very obvious. Not all bodies are the same, so one look will be better on one person than another. But how rare to have choices!! And in this day and age when our pennies need to go a long way, how cool is it that you can get more bang for your buck!

The dress form and my camera limitations cannot convey the depth of color and how lovely these really are in real life - but if you think its cute, trust me, you'll think its even cuter when it arrives on your doorstep!
(I ship world-wide)