Super cool-I think this person might be an illustrator

I was searching for some fashion croquis girls that emulate my style of illustration and I stumbled upon this pic of someone getting quick croquis sketches tattooed on their calves.  LOVE IT!!!!! I think these are very fun. 

The finished product with the starting product

Home dying some silk!!

Needed some navy silk for my senior collection, unfortunately I only had lime green (for 2.99/ yd-clearance at vogue fabrics) in my stock pile. i am cheap therefore do not want to buy more fabric, so I took a quick trip to craft store for some Rit and got to work.
Fabric in the beginning

Tech sketch

Bridal gowns are way more work than I expected.....

So, after many many MANY hours of sweat, blood and a few tears the bridal gown is 95% finished.  I knew the gown would take a while, but I never thought it was going to take over 300 hours.  I had finished the gown in around 250 hours but hated the way it looked and took the whole thing apart.  Starting over with just the bodice, I reworked the chiffon overlay and created the sand dollar appliques throughout the bodice instead of the original idea of having it only on the bust. After reworking the bodice I toned down the skirt from the previous design by using only a few draped "fishing net" like cowls in the contrast color chiffon to bring in the theme but not take away from the intricacy of the bodice  This gown an "Under the Sea" themed gown and the next will be "Old World" with a slim silhouette and a draped skirt-sketches will be posted soon. I think the next gown will only take around 200 hours but I don't think I will be attempting that anytime soon.
 Enjoy the photos!!
xoxo

More bridal pictures!!

Bridal pictures!!!!

I'm not dead....just hibernating

I must apologize for my long absence from the blogging scene, life has been a bit chaotic-but I'm figurin it out!!
In personal fashion news, the bridal gown is done and I will start posting pictures of the steps taken in the construction of the gown from corsetry to beading to the disappointing realization that I hated the original concept.  Like Rome, wedding gowns aren't built in a day (Unless you are the crazy talented Elda de la Rosa who constructs gowns in the time it takes her children to have an afternoon nap ;) props to the bridal queen of Chicago!!) and I spent a good portion of summer break reworkin the gown and now I love loVE LOVE it!!  After finishing up the gown during summer break I had to jump immediately to another design driven project for the new fresh market and cafe at Old Orchard Mall called Wilde & Greene.  I just submitted my 3 sketches which I will post when I get back to school and have scanners readily available.  We will find out on the 11th or the 13th which look has been chosen and then patterning and draping will begin! I will try and be more diligent on my picture posting this time!
I'm happy to say the school is almost over countdown has started and if all goes as planned I will be a happy graduate in December!!!! Yay!!  This means there should be lots of interesting student fashion news to follow this post.
cheers

New rule-no men in tanktops!!!
Either you are too fat to be wearing one or you are too muscular and your tank is two sizes too small, either way-gross.
By the way-this includes basketball jerseys even on game day and shame on those who wear them off season

Bridal sketches coming soon

Grammys-Uber underwhelmed slash a bit disappointed :-\

I am all about fashion as a form of artistic expression, which is why I try to view the wardrobe choices of  people like Lady Gaga, Madonna, Katy Perry and Niki Minaj (to name just a few because I can go on and on about the awful choices that "celebs" make on a daily basis) as an artistic expression of whatever they've got going on in their heads.  But HONESTLY people, what the H was going on at the grammys this year?

Our first example of HORRIBLE choices

is Rihanna-what exactly is she wearing and who told her that she would look good wrapped in Christmas garland baring all for everyone to see.  Certain things should stay on the runway and off the red carpet.  Bieber-bad job as well. With all that money and fame, an ill-fitting suit is just bad form.  Not to mention the clash factor with his gf. This white does not compliment the gold hue of her dress at all!!!

she rocked it!!! def a best dresser ;)

And then there were the train wrecks.  In my opinion, these garments shouldn't even hit a run way-glitter bra with a painters drop cloth attached to it (wings-really!?!), latex sport bra with a ?"skirt"?/?loin cloth? (I don't see egg here-I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one) and then there was a walking billboard for why one should only accent in animal print.    

These were some of my picks for worst dressed beyond belief-there were many more underwhelming ensembles that just didn't live up to the fashion prowess of some of my fave celebs.
I will try to be more upbeat on my next post with my faves for the past few award shows (I have to span a few because the best dressed were few and far between).

Charles Frederick Worth-father of haute couture

I have been browsing many images of haute couture and I stumbled on a garment done by Charles Worth and I fear that many, like myself, tend to overlook this powerhouse designer because his garments were created so long ago and the House of Worth hasn't been in the headlines in years.  He is still the father of haute couture and his garments were STUNNING!!!!  After narrowing my search to "worth couture" I found many beautiful pix that I am going to use as inspiration for my Baroque Twist line. Here are some inspiration pix-i'll add some sketches later!!! xoxox

20 inches....woah

 So, this is the corner of Western and Wilson-they've got both streets pretty clear but.......

 If you are parked on the street or if you are on a side street-you're not going anywhere unless.....

 You are like these girls, bundled in your down snowsuits (Chicagoans are prepared) shoveling your way out-GIRL POWER....they weren't really workin fast, but I have faith that by now, they are def out ;)

 Side street right next to the Daily-only thing cleared here is the sidewalk which was pretty empty

I wanted to give a scale of the drifts and the plow pile ups-that is an f-150 driving past the above side street on Wilson and those are footprints because when crossing this street you walk up a mini hill of snow drift-I also saw a few boys sledding down the sidewalks but at this point I had ravioli takeout box that needed to be kept horizontal. I will just say it was sooooo CUTE.

Holy snow-Chicago is covered!!!! It's actually kinda pretty :-/

So feeling pretty good about starting a blog last night, I went to bed with warm fuzzy feelings and had wonderful dreams ;)
The warm fuzzy dreams could have come about because I knew today would also result in a snow day-schools here decided to announce YESTERDAY at 3 that they were shutting down-totally cool with me. Coming from a girl very familiar with snow days, snowmen and snowshoes come out on these magical days It just makes me smile ;-) I know some of u r yelling at me-but it's true, I love snow days!!
Anyways, here are a few pictures of the neighborhood-I must say Lincoln square has cleaned up pretty well. There are also young families out and about playing in the snow and littlkilmer in snow are hilarious. There arent many places open but the ones that are have employees that deserve a big tip because they r making your fun snow day better and unfortunately they don't get to have a fun snow day so be nice, be patient and tip big because they deserve a monetary treat!!
Although I am in snow day mode, I do have sewing to do for class-gotta run!!
Stay warm, stay safe-build a snowfort and have a snowball fight!! Snowdays are for the young at heart!!

Hello World

Well, hello there.  I am really excited about this new blog :) This is my first blog so I guess I should just start by telling you about myself.  I am 27 and I am living in Chicago with my wonderful boyfriend.  We are super foodies so we try to take advantage of all the great places in our neighborhood on the regular.  We also love to create food and I have a little black book of my secret recipes that will someday grace the pages of the menu at my dream bed and breakfast on a self sustainable farm (oh yea-I dream in very specific terms ;) tehe)
  I am finishing up a bachelor's degree in fashion design and I hope to be launching a small private line with in the next two years.  I look forward to sharing the progress of this line with you via sketches and photo timelines ;) As a student in an art program I also have many random sketches and art projects that I will share as long as the criticism is playful and polite. I do not claim to be an artist beyond the use of a needle and thread so do not expect picasso or warhol, just some random thoughts, funky croquis and garment sketches.
 I also really REALLY really enjoy shopping and finding super deals.  I will try to post as much as I can with tips, sale alerts and sometimes there will be items I have for sale (I rarely sell items from my personal collection, but when I do-you will be the first to know!!) I really enjoy giving advice about shopping, styling, interior decorating and cooking and pretty much anything so if you have a question, email me and I will try to research and answer you as soon as possible!!
I really hope we can create a fun environment on this blog and I want to thank you for reading my thoughts ;)
 xoxo