I Said Yes To The Dress

I'm making my best friend's wedding gown. Yipes!!! I will be honest, I'm askeered a little. I know how to sew and make clothes. I made costumes for Broadway. I have a degree in Costume Design and have been doing that professionally for 20 some odd years, but I'm not fashion trained. And I still feel like a fashion making fraud. Ha.
But so what. It's for my best friend.

So we met on Saturday and got a head start. I'm using commercial patterns and changing them as needed which I am more comfortable with than starting from scratch. We got the muslin bodice fitted. It's actually looking good. Now to find a proper skirt pattern. This is going to be a Frankenstein dress-but hopefully with much more subtle stitching.

Glee, Emma Pillsbury or Oprah Fans-Red Alert!!!!

Wednesday April 7th is a special Glee Episode on Oprah. The Advanced Mixed Show Choir from my daughter's school is performing as an example of a real Show Choir. Please watch. It should be fantastic. I'm so excited. My daughter is a freshman and in the beginning show choir at Burroughs High School in Burbank. They filmed the choir room scenes for Glee in her school's choir room. I guess that's why they chose us. That and because the choir is amazing.
I am also a fan of Emma Pillsbury's style by the way. I don't know if she's on the Oprah episode but a lot of the cast will be there. Thank you, Oprah, but no picture of you. More Emma.

Where Have I Been?

Designing costumes for a play while working two other jobs. Yikes. I just put my head down and tried to meet all my deadlines. Now I'm starting to be able to look around and see what else is going on. Hi.

The play I worked on is called "The Psychic". It's new and written by Sam Bobrick who was a television writer for shows such as "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Gomer Pyle". I created a 1940's-esque look for most of the characters using modern clothes. They're supposed to be believable as modern people but there is a film noir tone. It was fun. And the play is hysterical.

Here are some pictures. The blue top that the dark haired actress is wearing is not what's actually used in the play. I wanted to use this beautiful vintage looking silk blouse from Forever 21 and finally found it in her size. I don't know that it would have photographed as well as the blue so maybe it's okay. Here's the blouse we're using. So beautiful.

Walking In L.A.

Today I met my class downtown for an Architectural Walking Tour . I chose the Art Deco tour this time and it was great. My favorite part was the cool bachelor pad from the 1930's atop the Oviatt Building. I wanted to hide under a piece of furniture and live there like Eloise in the Plaza Hotel but unfortunately common sense prevailed. The Penthouse Apartment and sun deck are now rentable for weddings and parties. Here are a couple of pictures from the website:

We were blessed with perfect weather even though it rained last night and a little bit this morning. I'll show what I wore but I'm warning you, this was a 2 hour walk in downtown Los Angeles so comfort trumps style. (especially the shoes-oh well, my feet thanked me) 

                                                    

Shirt-New York & Co

Jacket-thrifted

Off-white Sweater-thrifted (Donna Karan)

Jeans-thrifted

Scarf-Forever 21

Sneakers-Big 5 Sportswear

ps-this is another military style jacket

Measurements And Read-Thru

I'm designing costumes again at Garry Marshall's Falcon Theatre. I didn't realize he directed and produced the new movie, Valentine's Day, until I saw the poster in the lobby. I still have to see that.

 

Today is one of my favorite kind of days, which is the first time I meet the actors and hear them bring the play to life in their own unique ways. I also show them my sketches and take measurements

Once again the play is well cast and everyone is super sweet. This is my fourth time working with Susan Morgenstern as director and it is always an immense pleasure. I mostly dressed for comfort today since I would be bending up and down to measure. These are stretch jeans and very comfy.

Sweater-thrifted

Top-thrifted

Jeans-Macy's about 4 years ago

Shoes-Marshall's

Necklace-thrifted

Bracelet-thrifted

That's the shadow of my daughter taking the picture. Thank you, Honey.

Girly Man

I got a spectacular pair of shoes a couple of days ago at Buffalo Exchange and today found a great belt to go with them at Target.

I decided to put an outfit together so I could wear them both. Here's how I put it all together for work.

How cute is that belt?

What we have here is essentially a mannish look, a blue button down shirt with a glen plaid skirt (the fabric is mannish, not the skirt, although glen plaid is originally from Scotland and those guys wore...never mind). So to make it more feminine, I added the leather belt with flowers and to make it more "me" I wore the fabulous leopard pumps. I needed a short necklace to draw attention back to the face. After trying several different things, this vintage necklace won out. It doesn't compete with the other accessories and goes with the blouse. You can tell by my expression that it was really time to leave for work.

Shirt-thrifted

Skirt-yard sale (1/2 of a suit for $5)

Necklace-Vintage

Belt-Target

Shoes-Buffalo Exchange

Thanks to my Mom for helping out in a pinch and taking these photos.

I Love Perks!

My wonderful job had a dinner meeting that we got paid to attend. So nice!! The dress code was casual but since I work for a fashon college it doesn't mean "going to the store and not caring who sees you" casual. I chose to go with a trend that has been around for some time and is hanging on for dear life: Military.

The kind of military style popular now is more vintage, like Civil War through WWI. It's mostly identifiable by the buttons and band collar. I wore a plaid vest that has a band collar and some cool military-like hardware. It has a bit of small ruffling on the armseye and yoke which makes it more feminine.

Another trend right now is mixing opposites so  if you want to do military and be super "now" you could put it with something soft and innocent or bohemian. I chose a shirt with puffy sleeves and a 1950's charm bracelet which echoed the copper in the vest buttons and, in a way, resembles medals.

I'll give some more vintage military decorating ideas later. For now, here's where this stuff came from:

Vest- thrifted

Shirt- thrifted
Jeans-Macy's 4 years ago
Necklace-Vintage (Grandma's)
Charm Bracelet-Vintage
Boots- Nine West- gift (Thank you Sandi!!!)
And thanks to Devesa for taking the pic.