Here's to the tatted ladies...

Men with tattoos can be rather sexy depending on the situation, but in my opinion, women of the fifties and sixties in their feminine frocks pretty much rule the skin and ink world. Especially when they are also the artists, i.e. Cindy Ray in her Australian studio during the 1960's (directly above). (Images from 1000 Tattoos, edited by Henk Schiffmacher)

Best of Four

I recently put together a four-piece mini collection for a cute/crazy DIY boutique in Iowa City, The White Rabbit Gallery. This little number was by far my favorite! I originally constructed some absolutely perfect puff sleeves which drooped like soggy cornflakes when I finally got them attached. A bit downtrodden at my fabric structure oversight, I figured I'd better call it a night; I turned out the lights at my workstation and went upstairs to bed. Halfway there the solution occurred to me. About-face back down to the dress and I slashed them up, painstakingly pressed bias binding and all, and transformed the carnage into a lovely deconstructed ruffle collar. Yay! The wonderful thing is that it would not have been nearly as cool if I had just done this from the start. As soon as I stopped moving on autopilot and started listening to what the dress wanted, it grew some claws and instead of just existing, it became fierce! I am now tempted to start destroying little sections of my more pristine dresses to give them some teeth...If you happen to be in Iowa City, stop by at 109 South Linn Street, 52240 and this little beauty could be yours...:)

Cutest kids...ever?

Since I'm approaching the 1.5 year mark here in Portland, I've had the opportunity to be a "Career Day" presenter at my mother's elementary school twice now. Last time I taught them about being a dancer, this time about fashion design. Basically the gym is set up with tables all around the walls, behind which stand a plethora of parents, relatives and other volunteers ready and willing to explain our careers to children in 2-4 minute bursts of excitement. For three hours. It's actually kind of awesome, you have no idea which kid is saving what info and how well they were listening...until you get the thank you cards afterward. They are required to pick their favorite presenter and thank them in written format. These artistic tokens of gratitude are collected in one large manila envelope and delivered to the presenter. I have to say, the ones thanking me for dance information were pretty cool, but fashion design? Apparently this really resonates with kids...or maybe the evidence was more tangible since I brought several dresses with me...but they were INTO this one! I got all kinds of drawings of their own imagined fashion lines and PARAGRAPHS about their dreams and aspirations! I think I even got an order for a birthday dress, but they forgot to include their last name and desired method of payment :) Either way, they wanted a blue dress. Above are a few stellar examples, enjoy.

Creeping about in the evening Tyme

Psst! I'm still here, creeping about in custom orders. I have to tell you how much I am looking forward to "floor day" tomorrow. It's one of the glorious T-days of the week when I'm not obligated to instruct children in the methods of dance. On these days I prance about, sprinting from basement to second story in a caffeine addled craze as I alternate swiftly between computering upstairs and sewing in the basement. What's special about tomorrow is that under no circumstance am I allowed to set foot in the kitchen between the hours of 8 and 5 and probably not afterward either. You see, our landlord's kitchen remodel process has reached a fever pitch of glory in which a flaming red marmoleum floor will be laid. The upside here is that our house must remain a balmy 68 degrees F (20 C for you more sensical folk over yonder) throughout in order to insure proper installation. For those of you who are not aware, that is at least 20 degrees warmer than the average temperature of my home. So even though I won't be able to cook a dernned thing or eat in my home for the next few days, at least I can pop out of bed without a shiver fit!