Studio SF

Well, Happy New Year everyone! 2014 was pretty good to me and I hope it was for you as well! And on that note, 2015 is coming in with a bang for me!! I will be spending a great deal of time at the newly renovated FatChanceBellyDance studio in San Francisco where I will be working closely with Carolena Nericcio-Bohlman on our growing Bessie Line of clothing and adornments!

 Carolena and I have known each other for a very long time now and we are melding our ever-growing love of fashion that is flattering, easy to wear, and makes you feel awesome at any age. But with our naturally maturing minds and bodies, we are gravitating to wanting older women to be able to feel as awesome as we did when we were younger. We do not strive to be invisible. You can still be fun and faithful to living outside the box. You can still feel alive and vital in your clothes! And that is our mission. We don't like what is being offered to us and so we will make it for ourselves and for you. Being dancers and of the dance world, we know how your clothing needs to make you feel and fit...........................

So I introduce Studio SF:

Stay tuned!!! And Happy 2015!!!

Free Shipping For USA customers!!!!

I'm offering free shipping within the United States through Christmas!  Ive been up to my eyeballs in private custom projects and don't have a lot of new things in my Etsy shop yet, but maybe free shipping will help you out if you have been on the fence about investing in one of those adorable vests or slip dresses!  I don't really do the Christmas retail thing. The stress is not pretty. I cant handle the buyer's remorse and the trouble that this causes me. And it ONLY happens at this time of the year. I would love you to buy me out, but I cant do all that pressure thing. Its ugly. Use discount code FREESHIPPING at checkout when you make your purchase!! Its always lovely to know you are wearing my creations!

What have I been up to?? I was commissioned to make a pretty little Alice in Wonderland dress for a sweet young thing who always has to wear costumes on stage that are falling apart. Chris March sent me the lovely baby blue moire taffeta and the ideas and I whipped her up a cute little ensemble. He provided her with the apron, petticoat, shoes, and stockings. Lucky, lucky lady! I hear she is over the moon!

Ive been making a couple corsets and doing lots of alterations and vintage repair. Hand beading, moving and replacing zippers on delicate fabrics. The things that I really enjoy doing...........I am a total clothing doctor, no doubt. I need a doctor's bag and a smock!

But I indeed did make myself a bit of a linen smock dress, actually. I am so in love with the linen right now. Total love affair going on! So easy to throw on and not be too hot or cold.  Its perfect to meet clients in or go fabric shopping. I just love it more than ever!
Ive been making a new robe for Joan Crawford to wear in Christmas With The Crawfords. Go see it if you are in the NYC area this holiday season! I made the little blouses in this flyer. LOL

And now I am working on making new merchandise and a fashion show for ATS Homecoming in January. More to be announced about that soon. Oh - so much more to be announced...........

Whew.

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!

Vestuses for the Bestuses

 I keep telling people to go to my blog, and Ive just realized that I don't have many photos of my work up - a lot of inspiration, but silly me - where's my work?
I like my pictures big and taking up all my space on this blog, so they sometimes get cut off - click on a photo if you want to get the whole view!

I had been trying to make a simple vest for quite some time, but that thought materialized into these cute little shortie underbust vests that I sold at the Salome's Suitcase trunk show during Tribal Fest. Ive sold out of most of them, but I still have about 5 left in a variety of sizes in my Etsy store. Once Ive got my current orders under control, I'll make a few more of these out of different materials. I took my button and applique stash to embellish them randomly in different patterns which was a lot of fun for me since I love watching tv and doing hand sewing! So any excuse to do that makes me a happy camper.

They button in the front and fit rather tightly. They are meant to be form fitting and not a loose fit at all. Ive worn mine with Capri's, skirts, dresses - I really, like them. I think they are flattering on just about everyone who likes this sort of style. The buttons can be moved over if you need a tighter fit, but they are not really built to be made larger. Its best to buy a size up and move the buttons over if you are questioning your fit. But you can email and ask me to measure the vest again.

 These are bound with a self bias and fully lined. This fabric is a microfiber fabric that I found somewhere - there is no real fabric content info available. There is a sheen to the fabric, but its not shiny. Great for day or evening!

And last but not least, this vest would be awesome for Burning Man!

Here is Daniela Adriaenssens wearing her Vest at Tribal Fest. - and isn't she adorable!
kc.costumeccouture@gmail.com