ICON series

One of my favorite places to find inspiration is from old photos of my favorite models, actors, musicians, and artists. I challenged myself recently to use some of these photos to create a line of 100% upcycled shirts I'm calling the ICON series. I'll share a little about how they are made.

Twiggy!! 

First, I decide what shirt I'm using and look through my saved pictures, and match up a photo that the style will go with the shirt. The next step is to make the head and hair. I iron fusible interfacing to the back of the fabric I'm going to use, this stiffens it and keeps it from fraying. Then I trace out the basic shapes with pencil, and cut out the shapes I need for the head/neck and hair. Then I fuse these pieces to the shirt using a fusible webbing called Stitch Witchery. This keeps the fabric pieces from shifting while I sew them to the shirt. This process is called applique. 

Johnny Depp as Crybaby- be still my heart. Cheekbones from heaven. BTW if you haven't seen it, go, go now! Find it, watch it, fall in love with its weirdness. I used two vintage floral fabrics for Johnny that give his greaser look a new, softer twist, perfect for this pretty coral and gray striped tank top. 

After the head and hair are appliqued to the top, I give it a good press and then onto the next step, painting. This is all done freehand, there is no tracing or erasing, it's all final. I pull up the photo on my phone to look at while I work, and start with a little black fabric paint, sketching out the facial features. Then I go back over them with darker lines where needed. I dry brush the shading. Then I add a few more little details to each one, block printing or buttons or fabric flowers, to make each one really special. 

Here's my first batch of inspiration photos:

ICONS

And my first series of ICON tops (and one jacket):

L to R, top- Johnny Depp in Crybaby, Frida Kahlo, Kate Moss,
middle- Frida Kahlo, Twiggy, Grace Jones
bottom- Frida Kahlo, Iman, Isabella Rosselini

Details- buttons, flowers, sparkly eyes

Detail of Iman shirt

I have had a really hard time lately getting people to go to my Etsy shop lately. I'm not sure why, to me it doesn't seem different than Amazon or any other online shopping. There are items, you click the description to read about it, you add it to your cart, click "checkout", and pay with a credit card. Pretty standard I think? But for some reason my sales are down. I've been working my social media hard, trying to send people to my shop, but I feel like I should be getting more sales from the Etsy network, and just in general. Because what I'm finding is that when people actually SEE my work, they like it and buy it. I have been quietly internalizing my perceived "failures" (not selling enough) for a while now. And feeling really bad about it. But I'm finding from talking to people that they just haven't been seeing my things. They aren't visiting the Etsy shop and all the social media sites are constricting my posts so much, people only see them if I pay for advertising (which I do sometimes). I've read the best way to sell things online right now is through Instagram. I have a business account on IG and I have been working lately on setting up direct sales links to my items. It is taking a long time because I have like 200 individual items. 

Ok, so that was a really long paragraph to lead up to me saying, I am not sure the best way to sell these new tops! Should I put them on Etsy (will anyone buy them if I do?) I did a facebook auction recently which went pretty well so I might do that instead. Thoughts? Ideas? 

Also if you are dying to buy one of these, just write me a message! Or if you have a special request I'd be happy to do it.

What people/characters should I do next? 

Thanks for reading!! :)

Frida jacket + Iman tee + jeans= yessss queens

Romance on the Runway

Just a little collection made for under $500... I'm no McQueen or Marchesa,
 but I am proud of what I make on such a tiny budget.

THE ROMANCE COLLECTION

I love exploring creative themes for my clothing collections. This time I thought it would be fun to play on the idea of spring love. The collection tells a love story which starts happily enough, but I decided to give a tragic ending because it's more fun and interesting subject matter.

 It was awesome to watch my models each take on their roles and have a lot of fun with it on the runway. If you want to skip ahead to my runway recap on youtube, click here: Runway recap

Or keep reading to learn about the making of the collection. 

Romance Collection sketches as submitted to NWAFW

To set the mood, I had an amazing music track mixed by my friend Glitch Gatsby including great tracks like the Deftones Head over Heels, Beyonce Crazy in Love, and Keep Your Hands to Yourself by Grinny Grandad. The songs alternated between male and female singers which went perfectly with the collection which explores the dynamics of the human heart.

The first look of the collection is Flirtation. Flirtation is a neon pink tulle confection of a dress, covered in silk flowers, with puff sleeves that tie with bows, and layers of bouncy ruffles. It is bright and bold and kind of silly, just like flirtation. It screams "look at me!" I originally wanted to do a whole gaggle of Flirtations, I pictured 3 pink ruffly dresses going down the runway at once, but trying to be realistic with time and budget, I only did one. I also gave her a flowered headband with a birdcage veil for a feminine, retro touch.

Model Josie Graves having her hair done at fashion week, modeling the dress, and on the runway. Middle photo by Amber Herrera, right photo by Arkansas CW.

Headband with fabric flowers and birdcage veil

Collection preview photos by Olive Jackson, model Alexis Walker

The next 4 looks are Courtship, in the form of two couples. First, a long bias cut gown in sheer dark purple voile. Bias cut gowns were popular in the 30s and 40s. The fabric is cut on the diagonal rather than the straight of grain, so that the garment drapes to hug the curves of the body in a graceful way. After sewing the purple gown I embellished it by adding lots of hand dyed fuchsia silk flowers. I wanted this look to be a little more subdued than the Flirtation dress, elegant yet mysterious. The sheer clothing for the courtship looks is a metaphor for vulnerability, as well as the way we present ourselves as we are first getting to know someone, trying to be our "best self". Maybe even exaggerating a little and pretending we are a little more perfect than we actually are. 

Model Jennifer Davenport in the purple Courtship gown. Left, at the fitting, center and right on the runway, photos by Arkansas CW.

Flirtation and Courtship 1, photo by Arkansas CW

Jen D, photo by Brandon Johnson photography 

The next look is the matching men's Courtship look in dark purple. It consists of a purple voile smoking jacket, drawstring pants in purple crushed satin with blue brocade jogging stripes, and a super long scarf pieced from the fabrics in the outfit. I decided this look didn't need a shirt. Sometimes it's fun to be in charge. 

Trent gets some guyliner from makeup artist Amanda Owens. 

Model Trent Wilson in the Courtship look, photo Arkansas CW

Trent Wilson, photo by Brandon Johnson photography

Next is the second Courtship gown, a sheer gown in lilac. Flowers and leaves growing symbolize a growing love. The dress was very labor intensive, for a design that ended up looking breezy and effortless. It's a hand sewn caftan-style gown in a very light, sheer mesh fabric. The flowers scattered over the gown were individually sewn on one at a time. They are made of tiny pieces of hand dyed silk. As usual I ascribed to my waste-not want-not mentality and used silk trimmings I've saved from other projects. This was actually the first piece of the collection that I made last year, which inspired the rest of it to come about. 

Collection preview photo by Amber Herrera Photography, model Emily Mae Ray

Emily on the runway, photos by Arkansas CW, makeup by Veronica Reyes, hair by Lindsey Iverson

Photo by Brandon Johnson Photography.

Next look is the matching men's Courtship outfit in lilac. It has a draped lilac jacket with silk leaves applied to the front of the jacket. The shirt underneath, n white chiffon, also has draped pieces across the front.The pants are a gorgeous dark red damask fabric. The jacket is trimmed in matching dark red damask.

Model Nathan Woody in the Courtship look, photo by Arkansas CW

Nathan and Emily in the end of show waterfall. Photo by Brandon Johnson Photography.

After Courtship comes the LOVE gown. I wanted this gown to epitomize passion and romance. To me, love and passion are wild, brilliant red. I picked a beautiful satin fabric that was very shiny and very, very red. The dress is actually two pieces, a corset and a very full skirt that goes over a hoop skirt to give it fullness. She also got a red birdcage veil. I decided since I only did 10 looks this time that I would have 2 showstopper finale gowns, and this did the trick for sure, I have had lots of people tell me this was their favorite look of the show.

Model Gelynda Johnson in the LOVE gown, photo by Brandon Johnson Photography, makeup by Enrique Salamanca, hair by Summer Foster

Model Gelynda Johnson in the LOVE gown, photo by Brandon Johnson Photography

The LOVE couple, Gelynda & Shane, phot by Mad Girls Mag/Gray People

The next look is the male LOVE outfit. It's the same bright passion-red as the gown, and I basically emulated elements from the gown into the outfit. The shirt is red chiffon and has a draped front. The pants are similar to lots of skirts I have done before with the "scales" of fabric. Some might say it's one of my signature techniques. There are a couple hundred red taffeta and silk scales sewn to the pants, which are red satin. When the wearer is moving, for instance down the runway, the scales all move and ruffle in the wind, and it's really beautiful.  

The LOVE couple, Gelynda & Shane, photo by Mad Girls Mag/Gray People

Model Shane White as LOVE, photo from Arkansas CW

The next look is Temptation. Temptation is something that is present in everyone's lives in various forms, so she can kind of represent whatever you want. She is the beautiful devil that makes us do things we desire but know we shouldn't. I envisioned a showgirl-dancer inspired outfit. I began by sewing a red bodysuit and then covered it with a bounty of flowers, like a summer garden in full bloom. This was one of those projects that started with me being super careful, pinning everything before I sewed it, hand sewing everything---- and about halfway through, many hours in, I decided I had better start doing it on the machine if I was ever going to finish it. The look is completed with a red veil and matching red sequined fishnet stockings. 

Model Alexandra Tsaharidis in the Temptation ensemble, photo by Arkansas CW.

Alexandra, photo by Brandon Johnson Photography 

After Temptation, comes Heartbreak. I wanted to leave the "story" of the collection ambiguous so that the audience could make up their own story to go with it. If you want to take it very literally, you can see it as the story of a marriage broken up by a cheating husband, leading to the heartbroken wife spending the rest of her days alone. Or you can look at it more objectively, as the struggles that we all go through in life, sadness and heartbreak being inevitable feelings all humans experience at some point. I tried to make this look poignant and dramatic, almost like a shattered wedding gown, and mourning veil, the mourning of love.... a white lace mermaid gown with a red beaded and sequined broken heart, with bead and sequined "Blood drops" falling down the gown. The headpiece was inspired by the hennin headpieces worn in the middle ages. I love the way that the headpiece mimics the shape of the dress, creating a really interesting and unique profile.  

Model Tabatha Taylor, Heartbreak, photo by Arkansas CW

photo by Brandon Johnson Photography

Tabatha as Heartbreak, photo by Brandon Johnson Photography, makeup Veronica Reyes

Tabatha, photo by Mad Girls Mag/Gray People

The evolution of a look: Heartbreak gown from initial assembly, to fitting, to finished gown on the runway.
Model Tabatha Taylor.

The final look is Death. Inspirations for this look came from sources you might not expect. This headpiece by Alexander McQueen (below) is something that I have loved forever. It's so dramatic and spooky and high fashion all at once. I made something similar for my Death headpiece except with a hennin as the base instead of antlers, giving it more of a Maleficent vibe. Another inspiration came from the movie Amadeus. In the movie Mozart's father wears this "death" mask to a costume party they attend together. Then the father dies, but someone shows up at Mozart's door wearing the same mask, scaring him half to death. It's a truly scary scene, without any blood, monsters, or shock factor... simply seeing someone truly frightened, and the ominous sense that something terrible is about to happen, all from this simple mask and cloak with just the right mood and good storytelling. 

Left: Alexander McQueen headpiece. Right: Death mask from Amadeus. 

Knee deep in faux leather and brocade, sewing the Death ensemble. 

Trying on the Death headpiece in the studio. 

This was definitely the most fun look to create, though technically challenging. The top of the dress is a black, faux leather corset with a basket woven texture. The skirt is black taffeta with a velvet damask print. The very full skirt is worn over a petticoat and has a 15 foot train. It took a very long time to gather, and hem. All worth it for the gorgeous finished piece, and the gasps from the audience as the model whipped the skirt behind her as she turned the corner. A black feather collar, black lace gloves, and dramatic makeup complete the look.

Death, modeled by Amanda Knoner, photo by Brandon Johnson Photography.

Death, modeled by Amanda Knoner, photo by Brandon Johnson Photography, makeup by Emma Gilbert

Death, modeled by Amanda Knoner, photo by Brandon Johnson Photography

Preshow photos backstage, Amanda, photos by Samantha T Photography/ Miles Witt Boyer 

Photo by Mad Girls Mag/ Gray People

Giving Amanda a little help with the train as we did our final walk so we didn't end up tangled up with the other models.
Photo: Brandon Johnson Photography

Amanda is my right-hand girl. She's been in every one of my runway shows, usually opening or closing the show. She's a great friend and my muse for many projects! I think you can see how happy and relieved we are that the show went well. Till next time! ;)

Photo from Arkansas CW.