Happy New Year 2010! Everyone makes a fishtail dress.

Happy New Year, everyone!  This year IS going to be a great year, I have decided.  So there!  The dress that I made this year made meI realize that I REALLY need to go fabric shopping for "nice" material.  You know how it is when you have a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear?  I have a wall of fabric and no material to use!

For New Year's Eve, Trina is going to be a lounge singer.  I saw the scene from "White Cristmas" (it was on for a full 24 hours on Christmas Eve) called, "Love, you didnt' do right by me."  In it, Rosemary Clooney's character wears a mermaid dress with a full skirt that starts high in the back and lower in the front.  You can tell that she doesn't have that much mobility in the dress, bit it looks fabulous.
I put together this combination of vintage fabric with less expensive broadcloth for the "fishtail."

  The material for the top part is amazing.  There is metallic thread woven into the fabric to make it look glittery without the hassle of glitter flaking all over the place.  Love it.  I also used as a trim, a metallic and faux pearl ribbon also found in the vintage box. 
I wanted to make use of Trina's alternate leg (compare and contrast the alternate and original) by making a long dress that was tight at the knees, so I went with a mermaid silhouette.  I wanted to make it a little different, though, as usually mermaid skirts are either straight across or angles to tip up at the front. So that is why I chose to try the high-in-back approach.

I love the top part because the fabric is awesome and fits like a glove.  And I also think that the mini bolero is preshe.


Do not quite love everything of my dress, though, to tell the truth, but it was a good learning experience.  The lower part, I was afraid if I made it any higher in the back, it would look like the skirt was coming OUT of her butt.  But in retrospect, I think it I should have done it higher for a more dramatic contrast and let the people with nasty minds fend for themselves.  With the two layers composing it for fullness, there is 16 yards of fabric down there!  I could (should) have used netting or crinoline for the underlayer, but didn't have any, but of course, I'm not whining about needing to go fabric shopping again.  No, I am not.

And with absolutely no segue, here is a picture of all of my girls in formalwear because it IS New Year's Eve, after all, and they have a party to go to that is just as real as they live and breathe.







Bewitched: Serena Wants to Blow You A Kiss In The Wiiiiiiiiiiiind.

I got a few comments from my last outfit that Samantha's shirt dress (or at least the print) looked Serena-appropriate.  While I agree that Serena would like the wild print from that dress, she would never wear something that subdued.  Serena thought of herself as a rock star, so I made this slightly-off-kilter combination for Serena (something Samantha would never wear) as inspired by her living room rock number, "I'll Blow You A Kiss In The Wind."

I'm not sure WHY this scene still stands out in my mind after all these years.  Maybe it was the awkwardness of the camera movements trying to do the 60's psychedelic rock video thing.  Maybe it's that the song is memorable thanks to the "wi-i-iiiind" hook, but not necessarily that good.  Maybe it's because I didn't fully appreciate Serena until I became an adult and realized she was fabulous (I used think she had an annoying voice and always wondered how someone wearing such an ugly wig and bad makeup was so mean).


So here is Raine's Serena Rock Star outfit, complete with altered eye makeup and "beauty mark." (I know it's on the wrong side, but her hair is covering her face where the original would be.  Did you know Serena drew different symbols as her beauty mark with each episode?  I didn't.)    Many of visible seams are a little bit off and have a funhouse mirror quallity, just like Serena.  You can obviously see the collar is sideways, a feat that was not easily accomplished while still making it fold and stand up in the right places.  The button closure in front is also off center. (but it's fake. The garment actually zips up the back.) And the yoke of the skirt is on a severe diagonal at the front, and a severe curve in the back.

In the end, I really like the skirt.  I think it's adorable.  And as for the top, I like the way the collar turned out.  I would definitely consider doing something like that again in an even bigger proportion on top of a dark cocktail dress. with a really full skirt.

Bewitched: Samantha Stevens' Pebble Magic

Look! It's a one-piece! I've been doing a lot of separates lately, so I wanted to make something less complicated (and less time consuming!) while still hopefully keeping it interesting and beautiful.

You know, Samantha Stevens may not be as dear to my heart as a character as, say, Jeannie, but I sure liked the way she dressed and she had good hair.

I remember Samantha often wore shirt dresses on Bewitched. And, it being the 60's, there was usually some kind of loud and/or psychadelic print on it. A well-made shirt dress can not only be beautiful, but also very functional as well, as it is very convenient by fastening in the front, and also looks masculine/feminine, dressy/casual all at the same time. Every woman should have one.


Granted, this print is quite busy, but I like it. I found this fabric (and the shoes!) at a hospital garage sale. It's super retro plus plus, don't you think? From what I realized about working with busy prints from my last outfit, adding a lot of details is pretty much a waste of energy because you won't be able to see them. So, because of this, I refrained from adding any pockets and employed only the simplest of darting techniques to nip the shirt in at the waist.

There ARE, however, details that you may be able to see when you click on the pictures for larger views. I could not just present a completely plainly-made garment, otherwise, it would not be "designer." You can see on the front and back, there is an assymetical diagonal seam across the shoulder with a change of pattern direction from vertical to horizontal on the upper panel. It makes a little bit of a "sunburst" effect at the shoulder at the front.

Also, the skirt section is finely pleated in four different sections and completely flat in others. This took a lot of mathematics skillz, thank you very much.


Lesson at the end of the day? With black material, you can get away with murder/mistakes all day long. The same goes with busy patterns as long as you keep it simple. And far those of you who think that prints make you look fat, no. Only big prints make you look fat. There, I said it!

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Hogan's Heroes: Ruteno Kinchu, Communication's Expert

Okay, so it was actually "Sergeant (Kinch) Kinchloe" but I couldn't resist changing it because "Ruteno Kinchu" sounds cooler than "Sajenta Kinchu."

Sgt. Kinch was argualbly a less "adorable" character on Hogan's Heroes, being more of a subdued personality rather than childlike and cartoony like the others. He often tended to blend into the background (so much that his character was replaced in later seasons without explanation).

So this outfit is obviously not "All American." I just received this awesome wig and it screamed Harajuku Girl, much to Raine's delight. Can you tell she is SO much happier dressed like this than she was when she was portraying Mary Ann?

Meet Ruteno Kinchu. She is an undercover communications expert that poses as a DJ at a popular nightclub in Japantown. While most people think she is spinning hot tracks, she is actually monitoring conversations through her headphones and sending messages via her costumized turntables. Very sneaky, indeed.




I'll start with what I LOVE about this outfit. I love the shorts. It was the first thing that I constucted for this ensemble and I think it's unusual and gorgeous. The cross-between hotpants and a pleated miniskirt was inspired by Japanese Samurai armor, with it's geometrical side panels hanging against the hips. I've never seen this combination done this way before in a skirt and I think it's very sexy.

The hot green undershirt was made from remnants of bedsheets that I hemmed for a client last year and is meant to have an Air Force look. In a way, I think that the outfit looks completely fine with just the blouse and skirt.


The jacket is meant to look a little ridiculous, such as many Harajuku girls do. I really wanted to use my strange "flourescent green snails against polka dots" fabric that I don't even remember buying. I like that it looks unusual, but also wish that I didn't put the time into adding so many of the details into the garment that I did. With the loud print on the fabric, you simply can't tell that there are two pleated pockets with diagonal flaps on top, circular epaulettes on each shoulder, and a mini "belt" on each sleeve held on by little belt loops, all trimmed with rusty stars as buttons. The jacket took an entire day to make!

Yay for brightness!

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Hogan's Heroes: Ruteno Kinchu, Communications Expert

Okay, so it was actually "Sergeant (Kinch) Kinchloe" but I couldn't resist changing it because "Ruteno Kinchu" sounds cooler than "Sajenta Kinchu."

Sgt. Kinch was argualbly a less "adorable" character on Hogan's Heroes, being more of a subdued personality rather than childlike and cartoony like the others. He often tended to blend into the background (so much that his character was replaced in later seasons without explanation).

So this outfit is obviously not "All American." I just received this awesome wig and it screamed Harajuku Girl, much to Raine's delight. Can you tell she is SO much happier dressed like this than she was when she was portraying Mary Ann?

Meet Ruteno Kinchu. She is an undercover communications expert that poses as a DJ at a popular nightclub in Japantown. While most people think she is spinning hot tracks, she is actually monitoring conversations through her headphones and sending messages via her costumized turntables. Very sneaky, indeed.




I'll start with what I LOVE about this outfit. I love the shorts. It was the first thing that I constucted for this ensemble and I think it's unusual and gorgeous. The cross-between hotpants and a pleated miniskirt was inspired by Japanese Samurai armor, with it's geometrical side panels hanging against the hips. I've never seen this combination done this way before in a skirt and I think it's very sexy.

The hot green undershirt was made from remnants of bedsheets that I hemmed for a client last year and is meant to have an Air Force look. In a way, I think that the outfit looks completely fine with just the blouse and skirt.

The jacket is meant to look a little ridiculous, such as many Harajuku girls do. I really wanted to use my strange "flourescent green snails against polka dots" fabric that I don't even remember buying. I like that it looks unusual, but also wish that I didn't put the time into adding so many of the details into the garment that I did. With the loud print on the fabric, you simply can't tell that there are two pleated pockets with diagonal flaps on top, circular epaulettes on each shoulder, and a mini "belt" on each sleeve held on by little belt loops, all trimmed with rusty stars as buttons. The jacket took an entire day to make!



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Wigs Wigs Wigs


This last outfit marked this wig's third anniversary for being used for a project!  Congratulations, Pamela! (That's the wig's name...)

Click here to read rest of this article>>>>>

Gunsmoke: Miss Kitty's Got a Fabulous!

I have never watched Gunsmoke.  The only reason why I thought of it was because it airs right after Hogan's Heroes, so I very often catch the opening credits to the show at the tail end of the recording on my DVR.  What's interesing, though, is that even people like me who have never seen an episode of Gunsmoke know exactly who Miss Kitty is.  She's frisky, she's fabulous, and she's in charge of not only herself, but a lot of the people around her.

 
Gunsmoke had a ton of memorably named characters that I just find hilarious.  I mean, where else are you going to see people not only named, "Miss Kitty," but also, "Festus," "Newly," and ... Matt Dillon?  Well, maybe not all of the names are strange...

Anyway, I wanted to make this outfit look like an updated Saloon proprietress dress.  In a few quick screens that I saw with Miss Kitty, the costumer often employed the standard Leg-of-mutton sleeves typical of the Old West madam, and many times, I have seen Kitty wearing a tight corset-like vest over a white blouse.

So, since my signature is the "short-sleeves over long-sleeves" (a style that I am seeing popping up more and more each day, which is a good and bad thing at the same time), I wanted to make a modified Wild West vest with short puff-top sleeves that will make people think, "Is it a jacket?  Is it a vest?  Is it a Pony?  It's fabulous!"


The jacket's fabric, if you have a good enough memory, is the remnants of the material left over from my Foppish Horror RenFair outfit I made last year.  I used pretty much EVERY INCH of this expensive fabric, which is why the bottom of the piece is shorter than what is shown in the original sketch.  I am SO glad I didn't have enough material to make it longer.  I really like it this short.  I just really like the way it turned out, period.  I guess it goes to show you that using fabric NOT from the dollar bin sometimes makes all the difference in the world.

Moving down, you may also recognize the pants have been seen before.  They are the pants that I used for my Janet from Three's Company.  I originally made some jeans that were recycled from three pairs of men's jean shorts that I found on the sidewalk near a dumpster, (I washed them first), but the pants turned out looking LIKE they came from the dumpster, so I threw them away.  (I can almost hear my mom right yelling at the screen at how disgusted she is that I even TOUCHED some stranger's jean shorts.)  Anyway, I re-used these pants not only because the color is perfect, but they also are constructed to look a little like chaps.  Notice the button-up sides and curved seam mimicking the shape of the opening of a pair of chaps.  Perfect for a gunslinger.

Lastly, isn't it nice to see Trina playing a sexy role for a change, rather than the "Old One?"  She's happy, too!


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Wigs Wigs Wigs!


This last outfit marked this wig's third anniversary for being used for a project!  Congratulations, "Pamela!" (That's the wig's name...)


As of this week, Pamela has been used for Miss Kitty from Gunsmoke, Capt. Lewis from Private Benjamin, and Mrs. Roper from Three's Company (the wig looks different because it's on backwards).

Paying attention to the number of times Pamela has been utilized, it's making me think of all the others that have had multiple uses.  Let's take a trip down memory lane just for fun!

Crystal has been used for:


Knight Rider's April - and - Laugh-In's Pamela Rodgers -and- Gilligan's Island Ginger
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Cindy (In Black) has been used for:

Jeannie Party Guest #3 - and - Hogan's Heroes French Dog Trainer

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Moca has been used for:

Jo - and - Rosie the Robot
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Cindy (in white blonde) has been used for:

Judy Jetson -and- Sea Goddess
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Shannon has been used for:


Endora - and - Jane Jetson
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"New Jesus" has been seen with

Lost In Space -and- Happy New Year - and - Rhoda Morgenstern
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Cindy (in ash blonde) has been used with:


The Avengers -and- TV Land Red Carpet Dress
---------------------------------

Eve has been used with:


Carol Burnett -and- Hogan's Heroes Pickpocket
But you also may have seen her as:


Random Picture that kinda looks like Parker Posey
-and-


"Halloween -09"
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Cindy (in light red) has been used for:


Carol Burnett in White - and - Jeannie Party Guest #2
------------------------------

Ashley has been used for:

Mod Squad -and- Laura Ingalls
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"Human Layered" (I can't remember the name!) has been used for:


Charlie's Angels Kelly - and - Mary Ann
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Becky has been used for:


Mary Trina Moore - and - Hogan's Heroes Explosive Expert

But you also may have seen her as:


Trina's Bio Hair
----------------------------

Amora has been used with:


Industry Party Girl - and - accidental 5 sedond dress
and also as:


Leonora's Bio Picture
but this shouldn't really count because in all three she is playing herself.
--------------------------------

Tulip has been seen with:


Tootie - and - Mork
(The latter was an uber phail, so picture was removed quickly)

Jewel has been used for:


Gidget/Beach Girl - and - Samantha Stevens
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Dang... That's a lot of wigs... and those are only the ones that I've used multiple times.  There are a lot more that I have only used once and even more that you haven't even seen yet!  Oh, my God!!!  It took me an hour and a half to even make this list!!!!  I have problems!!!!!  Serious problems!!!!!!!!!