The Truth: Bigger is not Better- Part 1

Once again Fashion is reminding me with a sledgehammer of distasteful styles that I am smaller then petite.  Not only am I short but my limbs are all too small as well.

Shopping for Fashionable diggs when you are 4'10" and 110 lbs puts me in basically the kids/tweens sections if I were to go to a Macy's.  Which I only frequent when I need some Makeup on the go and sometimes browse the shoes.  Living in probably the most midwest city that is large but not Chicago or Philly I am left to the internets, Urban Outfitters, Express, Antrhopologie, Forever 21 our tiny H&M and Nordstrom with the occasion Sak's visit if I want to drive out to that particular mall.   None of these stores help with the situation for those of us shorter squat but lovely individuals.  For some reason all theses stores seem to think the wider you are then automatically the taller you become.  OH what a cruel Joke.  Majority of the midwest population are not super models ~SURPRISE~  We are in fact normal ladies with short comings and big personalities.    Due to these literal short comings we have to get creative.  A lot of women pay a lot of money for getting their clothes altered.  I have women taking  my pattern drafting classes at CCAD just to learn how to alter their own clothing and hem their pants without it looking wonky.  Lucky for me I sew and pattern draft so I can usually avoid buying a pair of pants, skirt, blouse what have you that can't be altered.  That is still extremely limiting.

If you want quality clothes they are much harder and painstaking to pick apart for alterations because they were made well to begin with.  Clothes made well are made to last and not to be torn apart.  Cheaper clothes can easily be torn apart at all the seams which makes it easy to alter but then usually the fabric quality is so poor it may not last the alterations process.  It's a battle that us short girls just don't win.

My personal creative way to go around all this is with skirts.  I wear skirts and dresses as much as I can because then I never have to worry about pants at all and their lengths.  I hardly wear jeans even.  Oh and the blessing of leggings coming back into style was superb!  Allowing me to wear all my dresses and skirts through the dead cold of winter and still being warm and cozy and sexy.  Alas my skirt days may need to come to an end at least at my new job.  Working at a library that has a very casual dress code and bending, squatting and lifting books is not so attractive in a dress or skirt.  This has made me realize that I need to get back to wear jeans and pants.

Pants are a problem, even the short lengths are too long for me by at least 2-3 inches.  Jeans are also annoying because they actually have shape these days.  They get wider in the knee and skinnier around the "ankle".  So the tapering on these skinny jeans and cigarette jeans just looks funky on me.  I can cut them off and hem them to the right length but then they are too big around my ankle and my shin has extra bagginess as well.  The best fashion solution to all this is getting wide leg pants.  They make you look taller and are easier to hem because you don't have to worry about the shaping like in a skinnier cut.

The Bad and Good by tornangel012 featuring Fremont pants

Touchy Feely

I was a terrible person and didn't take very many Progress Photos of my Touchy Feely Piece.
I know I was supposed to be doing the hairpin lace with the beaded Tilli Tomas Yarn but as I was draping with it and the Silk I just felt it was getting too matronly.  Not that there is anything wrong with Matronly but it just was not what I was going for. 

I decided also to go with the Royal blue silk instead of the Gold or Pale green because it just was more intense and grabs you.  It makes you want to touch it and feel it, I mean that IS the point of exhibit.

I had two yard of fabric so I just started at it with a hand needle and thread.  Originally I was going to to do a constast color and then it just looked hocky.  I thought just the color and shape should speak for itself.  It took a lot of patience and probably about 30 hours of time.

I wanted the front to be a bit of a different manipulation then the back so I was trying out circular gathering to mimic my bubble manipulated wools.  It kind of worked but not exactly as I had envisioned it to.  I could of stuffed the bubbles but that would of defeated the purpose of it being an empty space for people to squeeze.  I think I just miscalculated the effect the bias vs weft had as it was gathered.

Of course this is unfinished in the photos.  I was so rushed because I thought I would have another week to complete it but the deadline was closer then I thought.   I worked day and night for an entire weekend standing, sitting, kneeling around the form to finish it.  I completely forgot to take photos of the final piece.  Hopefully this weekend at the Show I can get some good images.

If you are in town you should come by Touchy Feely by the Couch Fire Collective at the OAL Gallery

Join us for a reception Saturday, February 27, 6pm - 10pm

Ohio Art League Gallery, 1552 N. High St. Columbus, OH 43206

in the South Campus Gateway

Project RunDown and The Legend R.I.P.

I've been a bit behind on the entire Project Runway synopsis and frankly I don't care that much.  There is some interest in there but honestly no one has made me go WOW or AHHH yet.  So I have lost interest.  I still watch it every thursday night but also with the addition of Models of the Runway and the way they collide makes me want to fast forward through the majority of it.  I know they are trying hard to rev it up with these new incredible prizes such as the cover of Marie Claire with Heidi Klum but ehhhh....

The best contest so far I feel as been the burlap sack dresses, which some of them really pushed while others stayed very flat.  

This was my Favorite

 

And this was my least favorite, which I think really should of gotten the boot

Do I still want to audition?   You bet I do!  If nothing else for some national exposure and another notch on my belt of things to do before I die.  One of which was untimely snuffed out this week.  RIP Alexander McQueen, you were a living legend of everything I am working towards.  Fashion serenely compelled by art in a perfect marriage of presentation on the runway.

This was one of my more favorite shows for Lee Alexander McQueen

OTD Am I a Villain?

Another sort of catch up re-cap outfit.
This one was funny.   I actually wore this to Ohayocon just to pick up the listing of what was being showed in the viewing rooms if I wanted to watch anything.   As I walked around I could hear people behind me trying to place me as a character in different Animes/Mangas.   I just chuckled to myself because I just was a well coordinated fashionably dressed person.  Not wearing anything particularly stunning but it worked.

I am wearing Red $8 sunglasses from UO

Grey puffy vest from Express

Long Black Puffy Lace back Coat 

Black Mock Turtle Neck Express

"We're All Mad here" Necklace from Untamed menegerie

High waisted Cheap Monday jeans that I altered

Red Penny loves Kenny Knee High Slouch Boots

I'm not hiding

Really I'm not!
I've just somehow gotten ridiculously busy in a good way.   I got a temp job at a Library and it is very strange to have a normal 8-5pm Monday-Friday J.O.B.   Firstly I have to wake up extremely early for me and then forcing myself to take a regular meal at the same time everyday is a new occurence also.   Even though it has nothing to do with fashion directly it has been a great positive influence on me.  Just having the quiet monotony of shelving books and processing them gives me time to really think and reflect on everything I have going on outside.  The biggest downside is that I have much less time to accomplish anything.  Also with CCAD Spring Semester started up again and my Kilala Meows class it is all very limited.  I wonder how it would affect my relationship with Andy if we didn't already live together.  I would probably never see him otherwise.  He has been a huge support for everything I am doing though, making sure I always have food at hand as I am running off or coming home late.

Working at the Library I have found some real Gems of books.

Also Recent I have become an active member in the Columbus Craft Cotillion!  They are a great bunch of crafty ladies that meet once a month to discuss the important art events and craft events going on around us and then sharing what we are all doing craft/art wise and personally which usually ends up in the gutter but it's all fun anyways.  Most recently we are going to be participating in A-Hole.  It is an artist made Mini- Golf event that different Craft and art groups around Columbus were asked to make a putt putt hole to represent them.  I jokingly said I could make a light up LED vagina when the ball got into the hole, now I really am going to have to make one ~ haha~.

There is another Art event I have been formulating my piece for called "Touchy Feely", which I am very excited for.  This will be the first event I have participated from leaving that terrible prom dress store that killed my passion to be creative.  I have this silk smocked dress with hairpin lace insets in my mind!   I have made some of the hairpin lace insets now it's just a matter of the design of the dress.  I know I want the back to be mostly hand smocked and I haven't decided on sleeves or sleeveless or what....... I also want to add in some gathering manipulations.  I also am not sure if I should use Gold silk or pale blue silk..... the hairpin lace is cream with glass beads.   I will take pictures and of course post my progress of everything per usual.

If you have never seen hairpin Lace here are some examples.

The Truth: Journals and Blogs

As odd as it sounds blogging is not the only documentation of my life.  I also have a hand written journal.  I used to do a lot of my thoughts and personal things on my xanga and my livejournal but nothing at all beats the honesty that I write into my journal.  I write just rambling thoughts of whatever is going on in my life at the moment or true ranting that no one else needs to hear.  A resolution I had made when I started this Blog was that I would not rant and become enbittered in this.  I have been doing a good job of it.   I wonder how hard it is for other bloggers to be this way and also if they have another source, outlet just like I do.  Over the years I've learned in my own way that ranting can feel good and all but who really wants to hear that or see that repeatedly?

I don't do this Blog to make a particular profit even though it would be a nice eventuality.  I do it because I love to write and share with my friends and strangers out there my thoughts, my talents, what I have learned and to me it is a continual teaching, at least with my sewing exploits.  I would without a doubt love it if I could make this like Gala Darling and Style Bubble my main source of income and receive hand outs from designers but the reality is not that.  I know the statistics, of the millions of Blogs out there how am I different?  What do I have to offer? and Why would any high end designer send something out to Columbus, Ohio?  The epitome of Midwest where the main thing we are known for is testing products and advertisements for big box stores and chains.  Perhaps that will change with our reputation of the Indie Craft Scene Growing more and more prevalent.

Here are a couple photos of my real paper journal.  I always like to take inspiration images and decorate with crazy stickers.