Inspi-red!

Recently, I was at Target and I was directed by Jake to the "value" DVDs that were on sale for $4.75. I checked them out thinking there would be nothing that I would like or that I would already have the good ones. But as I was browsing I found one of my favorite movies that I didn't own, Clue! If you haven't seen this movie, you need to go out and rent it or add it to your Netflix queue because it is full of eighties amazingness and has probably one of the greatest casts ever.


One character in that movie that I was perticularly intrigued by was Mrs. White played by Madeline Kahn. I love her hair, her clothing, and her personality in the movie. Her character has a lot of subtlties you just have to keep an ear and eye out for because they are some of the funniest parts of the movie (particularly her actions towards Wadsworth played by Tim Curry).

Above: Madeline Kahn as Mrs. White

When I was thinking about Mrs. White and how she "immasculates her husband" it made me think of a similar female character, Lilith from Frasier. With her clothing style being masculine and feminine at the same time, just like Mrs. White's, I decided to design a line inspired by these two women.

Above: Bebe Neuwirth as Dr. Lilith Sternin

For Fall 2010, WGSN has forecasted something like what I had in mind for this line. So far I'm thinking that there are going to be a lot of mix and match garments and lots of suiting. And the color palette is obviously going to be a lot of neutrals and metallics but with pops of red too.

Homemade Bottega Veneta

As I was perusing my Blogger account this morning, Martha Stewart's Craft Department posted that the creative director of Bottega Veneta, Tomas Maier, was doing a segment on Martha Stewart's show about their bags but also the weaving technique behind the bags. And basically what we have on that post might as well be a tutorial as to how to make a Bottega Veneta style bag. Enjoy!

(Photos via Martha Stewart)

Weekend Update

Again I've been a little M.I.A. but in my defense, midterms were a little crazy. Wanda is loading the homework on us in both of the classes I have with her, the Gerber system for computer pattern drafting still isn't working, and my marketing class is sort of obnoxious.

But even besides that it's been a bit of a high stress environment at Alchemy Goods where I intern. For the past couple months I've been prototyping something (I'm not exactly sure if I can mention it on here since it's not yet in production and I signed a confidentiality agreement) and I've been working on the bill of materials, or more lovingly known as the BOM for us fashion designers. Every company does theirs differently but it's even more complicated when you're working not only in yardage but in inches as well.

My mind has also been filling up with ideas from numerous sources of inspiration like Day of the Dead, Clue the Movie, Plush You! and that's just the start. I am also going to be extremely busy over Winter Break because I plan to open my Etsy store and start my line of menswear for the Art Institute's fashion show in March. And last week I learned how to screen print (pictures to come) from one of my friends through Fuel Magazine, David Gallo.

So I have a bunch of posts in mind, I'm going to try and focus more time on menswear posts and I have a lot of outfit posts in mind which I hope to take care of next weekend. But with how my procrastination is going on this Sunday evening, you may even get a post out of me tonight but no promises!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Mad Girl!

U-District Visit

A month and a half ago (I'm big on procrastinating, what can I say?), I was on my break between Summer and Fall quarter so I made my way up to the U-District to see one of my very best friends that I've known since middle school, Shelley. We went out to lunch where she ate and I just drank some Horchata (yum!) and then to Haagen-Dazs to get some ice cream for me! It was a beautiful windy Fall day and the perfect temperature to walk up and down the Ave. A few streets over, I made Shelley take an outfit picture of me and then I thought it would be a cute idea to take an outfit picture of her too, to show how the styles between people differ and work well on that respective person. Here's the results:

On me (left):
Faux Leather Jacket: H&M
Red Shirt: Target
Pinstripe Jeans: Gap
Boots: Urban Outfitters
Purse: Harajuku Lovers from Macy's

On Shelley (right):
Hoodie: Marshalls
Husky Shirt: Vintage
Jeans: Old Navy
Belt: Thrifted
Converse: Nordstrom Rack
Helmet: Bell
Backpack: REI

The Glamour is Hysterical!!

I was flipping through the pages of the newest Nylon and one picture in particular caught my attention. It was a babydoll dress with some sort of multi-colored print. Upon closer inspection I found out it was a collaboration with the brand Hysteric Glamour and Courtney Love. I guess they could only prop her up out of her drug induced stupor for a little while because they only designed one dress together (haha). But honestly, I'd rather see one really cute dress than a bunch of boring ones, so I think a congratulations are in order for Courtney on a job well done.

Above (Left to right): Photo in Nylon magazine and closeup of the print featuring pictures from Courtney Love's Hole days.

About That Time Again!

Today marks the last day of my one week break between Summer and Fall quarter. So in celebration I've decided to post a little something. Actually, I just feel like I should post something since I had a whole week to do so and I didn't.

My friend Jake (who styled my hair and did my makeup in this post) made me watch Lady Gaga's music video for her song Paparazzi. And if you know me, then you already know you pretty much have to tie me down in order to get me to watch videos on You Tube, partially because of the über obnoxious loading time.

Anyway, the video FINALLY loaded on my super slow internet connection and it was amazing! I like Lady Gaga anyway but the story line was compelling as well. Towards the end of the video, she is wearing a very interesting outfit I recognized as being a Jeremy Scott dress. After digging even deeper into the depths of the internet, on his website I found that he did a whole collection inspired by Mickey Mouse.

Above (starting from the top image and going clockwise):
Lady Gaga in the Jeremy Scott dress and sunglasses by him as well;
A Jeremy Scott dress from the runway (I just liked the silhouette of this one);
The dress from the Paparazzi video, off the runway.