Johnny Bravo, She Fits the Suit!

When I found this shiny snake skin fabric, I knew I had to make a pair of rock star snake pants with them! 

 

photography by Victor Ciccarelli for Erynz.com

Cindy, it's Totally German Vogue!

I have to admit that when I made this outfit, I thought it was a little... odd.  And I was kind of afraid to put it on my model because I was SURE she was going to do something like smile politely while plotting my demise inside her head for making her wear something so ridiculous.

Well, sometimes a risk pays off because Cassidy rocked this odd little German number like she was in the pages of German Vogue!

Update:  Cassidy actually made it into Italian Vogue online!  This is a HUGE deal for a model.  Congratulations, Cass!!

Where is the TV inspiration, do you ask?  Remember the epsiode of the Brady Bunch in which Cindy was convinced that she was going to be the next Shirley Temple and dressed up as "Heidi?"  Well, there you go.

Marcia Marcia Marcia! Her Hair is Perfect, and so are You.

I am not doing this week's challenge from ProJRun because I have a rule of not designing fashion clothing  for children (costuming is different) until they get boobs.  If I HAD to for a TV challenge, I would probably make pants like these, because I think the little girl would love to spin and twirl and play with the skirt part without worrying about anyone being able to see her undies.  Wearing it, they would look like either a princess or a super hero.  Every girl would want one.

So, here to brighten your day is Marcia Brady.

This outfit actually has a couple of hidden features.  Back in the 70's, these tight shirts were really in.  But did you ever wonder how it was that Marcia's top was always perfectly tucked in?  Because it was a body shirt, which meant it fastened under the crotch like a unitard.  Making this shirt in this method really made it easy keep the blouse from bunching.

But this outfit is really about the skirt in my opinion, since the blouse isn't at all complicated.  It's dangerously short and low-waisted.  What keeps it in place?  As Marcia would never wear something that ran the risk of being truly risque, this is actually a Skort.  So when she moves or sits, the skirt won't run the risk of showing anything.  It also won't ride up or rotate while she's walking.  So really it's a safety issue as well as a fashion one.

You might also notice that there are pockets and the pleats escape from under them, which is unusual to see in a pleated miniskirt.  In fact, I've never seen it before except when I did something similar for this hotpant kilt, so I'm totally taking ownership of this one until I see it all over the place in the near future, such as my short-sleeved jackets and one-side corner flappy flappys that other designers have totally stolen from me.

You know what the most challenging thing was with this photoshoot?  Marcia's hair.  Every time I reposed her, I had to brush her hair to make it look perfect.  I'm sure I went through the hundred-times technique that Marcia practiced on the show during the shoot!  It gave me a new respect for Christine Taylor, who played Marcia in the Brady Movies.  You can tell by the way that holds her head on screen that she was instructed to make sure her wig didn't become imperfect when she moved or walked!

Brady Bunch - Cindy's Baby Doll Trench Coat

This outfit kind of evolved... Originally, Leonora was supposed to be playing a different character altogether, but since I noticed that this coat was steering to more of a "precious" direction with the pink and the frills at the bottom, I thought it would be much more appropriate for a Brady collection.  I still want to run with the "other" character sometime soon, so you'll just have to wait and see!

The material that I used for this is from my friend, Dana Louise.  She just adopted a baby girl (congratulations!) and was considering using this pink satin for the crib, but I stole it as the baby was sleeping.  Perhaps that is why the coat somewhat morphed its own design into a babydoll theme.

I ALMOST didn't complete this outfit.  Like I said before, I had a different concept in mind originally.  It was going to be more of a sporty look, but I think that the sophistication of the satin paired with my meticulous tailoring made it more "proper".  I am excited, though, that I even thought to attempt a cross between a trench coat and a babydoll dress.

One thing that I was really scared of, though, was the pleating at the bottom.  See, I just bought a special attachment for my sewing machine that automatically makes uniformly deep pin tucks at specified intervals, which saves literally hours of time because you don't have to sit there and measure and mark and fold and pin.  It's nothing short of a miracle.  However, it only pleats in one direction (at least as far as I can tell so far), so I'm still playing with around with it.  Something that I didn't realize (but should have!), was that by adding all that pleating and therefore creating multiple layers of fabric, I added bulk and puffiness to the hips.  The ONE place that a woman would not want extra fullness!  What was I thinking?!  It would have been better to pleat the top seam and let the bottom frill out naturally, like a little skirt attached to the outside of the jacket.  Oh, well.  Lesson learned!

Is it a Phail?  Not completely, but I'm still calling it one because it's not what I wanted.  Jezz, I'm tough on myself!  But I'm not bashing my head in over it.  It's still kinda cute.

In other news, I am FINALLY going fabric shopping on Sunday with my friend, Paula.  I'm sure there are many people out there who are tired of hearing me complain about how I don't have any fabric! I don't have any fabric!  Well, hopefully, I won't be able to use that excuse and if I make something awful, it's my own... fault...

...Oh, wait...