The Bistro Jacket, Sweetie Blouse, and Candy Skirt

Photography by Victor Ciccarelli for Erynz.com

That's "Ms. Roper" if You're Nasty!

Photography by Victor Ciccarelli for Erynz.com

The Guru Dress in Black and White

Photography by Victor Ciccarelli  for Erynz.com

Roper Redux!

Remember this Mrs. Roper inspired swimsuit cover-up?  I recently provided this as a wardrobe piece at a photo shoot, with the model wearing jeans.  I think it works quite nicely!

April 2011 Portfolio Special: "Magic Scarf Jacket"

April 2011 Portfolio Special: "Flower Shop Girl"

Three's Company: Chrissy's Sexual Harassment Suit

Remember Chrissy's bosses were always hitting on her?  I made this complete cover-up outfit that adds bulk in unusual places with the attempt to make something sexy while still revealing nothing.

First of all, I don't care what anyone says, this is one of my FAVORITE designs that I have done recently.  It is also one of the most complicated! Do you notice how the scarf around her neck is also the front of the double breasted jacket itself?  It's not just attached, it's PART of the jacket!  You don't see things like that!

The forearm warmers came as a kind of fluke.  I had JUST enough of that awesome orange flower fabric to make the jacket.  I couldn't have made it any bigger even if I wanted to.  So I thought I would make the sleeves out of the off-white knit material.  It looked weird.  So I unpinned the sleeves from the bodice and they fell/scrunched down to the forearms.  Then, I screamed like a girl.

It was suggested to me that this jacket would also make a good power-suit if I made a matching pencil skirt.  Fortunately, I already had one made from a previous outfit that used the same orange fabric.  So, here it is!

Three's Company: Roper's Risque Transformation

If sexually frustrated Mrs. Roper ever left Stanley, got major face and body work and ditched her curly strawberry wig for a blonde bob, I imagine she would wear extra tight versions of her old mumus.

Believe it or not, I was planning on making this dress out of a different, aqua-colored, fabric.  This striped pink doesn't look that nice on the roll, so I used it as a mock-up fabric.  But when I looked at the mock up, I was like, "Oh, my god!  She looks almost naked!" and the dresses' fate was sealed...

Doing something like this intricate twist effect is easy and hard at the same time.  In one instance, there are less darts and lines to sew to make it fit.  On the other hand, this is one of those things that you look at the strangely shaped pieces and start to put together and think you're doing it completely wrong because it's all a twisted mess.

Then you put it on the form and all is good.

Three's Company: Janet's Asian Flower Shop Outfit

It's a collar that not only stands out asymetrically, it also magically flows down and becomes the sides of the bodice.  That's inSANE!  You just don't SEE things like this!

I was determined after last week's hot air balllon bodice to still make something that added volume around the neck without being so unflattering.  So I thought about making a cutout, and then thought how it would look if there were flowers sticking out the the cutout, and you know how I like to make big collars, and so the next phase of insanity begins...

This top and its components are SO very intricate.  The collar is not simply tacked down onto the blouse.  It actually IS the part that connects to the back at the sides.  I think that I had to take it apart at different points during construction at least three times because I got lost as to what part belonged where.  It was a great mental challenge!

Since the top is very compicated, the slacks are extremely simple.  No pockets, pleats, not even a fly at the front.  And it's one of the best pairs of pants I have even made....

By the way, in case you are wondering, the flowers are from a papyrus plant in bloom.  I saw them in front of an apartment building today and ran out of the car, snipped off a number of stalks, and ran away.

3C - Shop Girl Janet

Janet works in a flower shop. On the old show, she used to dress up in what I thought looked like church clothes to go to work. Nowadays, I think Janet would be a lot more casual like most flower store girls, but still dressed to intice customers.























This more sexy Janet's top is made from very sheer strech poly with a carribean floral/leaf print. I wanted to put a lot of puffs and ruffles all over to simulate flower petals and bulbs.

I've never made a blousey blouse like this one. As you know, I favor very fitted tops with darts sucking everything in. But this experiment turned out quite well! The waist and arm bands are gathered in by elastic to fit her body.


The slightly flared jeans (that I made from every last inch of cotton fabric that I got from a garage sale) actually do funcionally button all the way up and down each side. The mannequins are a bit of a challenge to dress in pants because you have to remove them from the floor base each time, and Raine is expecially difficult beacuse her feet are far apart, which means I have to remove her left leg to get her pants on as well. I figured it would be convenient to just place the closures on the sides of the pants so I wouldn't have to deal with that process.

Well, after all was said and done, it would have taken less time to remove her from her base and do the leg thing than it did to sit there and button 56 buttons up and down each side! I really love the look that the buttons give, though, so I'm still glad I took the time to do it. However, if I decide to do the same button leg thing again, I'll definitely fake it just for the look and not actually make all the buttons functional.

3C - Chrissy's Office Frills

On "Three's Company," Chrissy worked as a secretary. She always seemed to be getting harassed by her boss. I think today, Chrissy would wear something that is sexy and fun, but not too tight and revealing.

I decided to make a fun assymetrical belted blouse for her with an extra large ruffle at the top to cover her "endowments". Yes, by covering her boobs, she's actually drawing attention to them because every time she moves, the ruffles will move and sway, but she's not smart enough to realize that.
















I decided to go with shiny animal print pants instead of a standard predictable secretary skirt just to kick things up a bit and also to get some trouser practice in...

3C - Chrissy's Clerical Error

Before that lovely ruffled number, I created a cropped jacket to match the pants with poor results, showing to the left. The shine of the material made flaws appear that weren't necessarily there. The lesson? Beware of shiny fabrics! They are best suited for skin tight designs over flawless bodies! Otherwise, don't go there!

3C - My first FanArt!

Thanks to my good friend, Michael Walton, I received my first fan-created picture based off of one of my outfits!

He was so taken by Leonora's impression of Suzanne Somers, he had to create a comparison portrait.

Prepared to laugh your face off here.

3C - Mrs. Roper's Convertible Mumu

Well, the mystery is finally over! I know all of you were wondering who my third character would be in my 3C collection and it is the fabulous Mrs. Roper, and not Terry, that won my heart.

As you should recall, Mrs. Roper always wore these strange rectangle Mumus on the show. And let us not forget that she was always desperately horny and hardly EVER got any from her husband.

So I envision the updated Mrs. Roper as being a very courgarish Landlord's Wife who hits on all the young men in the building while wearing scandalously short 70's loungewear.

This whole dress (which is much fuller and more complicated than it looks) is held together by one continuous band of gold satin that wraps around the body and fastens in the front with a button.

I was concerned that the dress was WAY too short to just leave without a safety device underneath, so I made a pair of frilly panties, which I LOVE. They are way too cute to use just as underwear, so I rigged the mumu to clasp at the back of the waist to convert it into a sunbathing outfit!

Looking Good, Mrs. R! You've come a long way, baby!