OOTD - Wisconsin Wedding

Doing a little backtracking on my Brother's Wedding in Wisconsin.  It was back on October first and their colors were Creme, Orange and Grey.

Anthropologie creme cotton dress that has slate blue/grey geometric shapes

Navy Anthropologie Drape cardigan

Coach Black and Grey Flats

Peach silk flower hair clip from AGACI in Chicago

Swatch baby blue watch

Emerald and gold Necklace from my Mother as a Birthday present

The shoes and pattern design of the dress up close.  The shoes had these coach logo silk rosettes for decoration that I hadn't seen on any of their typical store items.  I think It was a runway item since I got them from Filene's Basement. 
Speaking of which for those readers living in Columbus the Filene's Basment on Sawmill road is closing it's doors this Sunday (boo).  You can read the Article here.

My Dad and Me

A somewhat rare picture of us together and dressed decently.  Usually when I see him one of us is wearing sweats and hanging out at the house sick or being a couch potato so we hardly have a good reason to dress up together.

All the Men together Dressed up.

From Left to right my oldest brother Ed, my Husband Andy, my Dad and my middle Brother David who was getting ready to marry.

My Mom and Dad waiting for their turn at pictures with the couple and family.  I love that my mom wore her Hanbok for all three of our weddings.  It just seemed appropriate.  It's so pretty also how could you not want to be in the swathes of that pale green organza with delicate flower embroideries.

My Nephew got to wear the male version Hanbok as the ring bearer.  You can see it was a quite stressful for him.

Lastly I just had to throw in this picture of me and Niece.  She's really growing up quickly and such a pretty little girl.  I'll have great fun with her when she's a teen and we can go shopping together.

I know when I go to Weddings I always pay special attention to what other people are wearing do you?  If not maybe it's something fun to think about next time you are at one.
Cheers!

OOTD- Nod to Man Repeller

During College Preview I thought I would do a nod to The Man Repeller and wear a sheer dress to see how I felt about it.  I wasn't about to be in just black knickers since I am supposed to be a role model for the Kiddies so I alternated in some black Bike shorts instead.  The Blog is here where she writes about transparent dresses.  Success or Failure?  For sure it holds a lot of man repelling qualities.

 

Jean Paul Gaultier for Target Halter mesh dress

Creme F21 tank

Victoria's Secret neon pink multi-wear bra

American Apparel Black Bike Shorts

Nike Gladiator High Top Sandals

Turquoise Anthropologie Ring

Baby Blue Swatch Watch

Gold Vampire Fang Necklace.

I'm Narcissistic

Sorry guys but it's just another OTD of me.  I've been doing tons of sewing yet again failing to take pictures of the process.  Last night I finished sewing and lining the entire bodice of the Singer's green 50's inspired dress for the reception.  Tonight after Harry Potter with some friends I plan to map out what fabric I will be dying for the reception dress and finalizing my fabrics for lining my reception dress and my nieces flower girl dress.  Trying to keep these layered dresses light and simple is no easy task especially in white.  You almost have to put two layers of lining or settle for something a little heavier.  I've also taught myself how to do shuttle tatting.  It was a painful learning experience in that I would think I have something accomplished only to find my 3 hours of work had to be torn out because I did one thing wrong back at the beginning and it is easily noticeable.  I'll show you pictures and tell you more about that tomorrow.  That's a promise......

 Pinstripe Cropped Sleeve Jacket from Express

Baby Blue Tank top from Gap Body

Zac Posen Skirt from Target

Gold Wedge Sandals BCBGeneration from Filene's Basement

Baby Blue Swatch Watch

Gold Fang Necklace from Rowe Boutique
OPI Nail Polish in "Mad as a Hatter"

Appreciate the little things

I finally got in my order from Denver Fabrics for some Swatches and wow, not exactly what I was expecting.  but I know one of them will work and it will be wonderful.  I'm just happy they came in and were fairly cheap.  I did half yard amounts so I can hopefully get the bodice for one or both dresses done.  These two dresses I am working on are for the singers in the Band at our wedding.  My friends Cover Band "My Kid Sister" was kind enough to let us be their first wedding!  As a Thank you to them I wanted to make them all a coordinating look.

 So here is my quick sketch just to give an idea of what the dresses will look like.  it's a 50's style bodice that is halter since it will but HOT in August or at least I expect it to be.  The first singer doesn't like things as tight fitting so I am giving her a full skirt.  The other singer says the tighter the better so she is getting a more Mad Men office girl look with a pencil type skirt and kick pleat in the back so she can still move and walk.  The men in the group will get coordinating bowties and I ask they wear suspenders and short sleeved white shirts.  I don't mind if they wear Dark denim jeans or dress pants.

 These are the swatches that I've gotten in the Pale green is out.  It's just too similar to my bridal colors and doesn't look good on the skin color of the ladies.  Dark Green and Blue are the options now.   I finished the draping over a month ago I just needed to wait some things out and get the measurements from the Ladies.  Now that I have it all I can start again.  The wedding dress is on a little bit of a stall as I wait for some more materials to be mailed to me from best friend which she got from our other best friend in Korea.  Just some authentic Korean Hanbok elements to add into my dress.

Over the Weekend

My Social Suicide has officially commenced.  I had to decline going to more events then I could shake a stick at this weekend for the sole purpose of getting a chunk of my wedding dress figured out.  I spent about 12 hours on the dress this weekend.  Most of that time was spent at the ironing board getting the final pleats done.  I re-evaluated my previous measurements while breaking in my reception shoes. The difficult thing with this is I know what I want the exterior to look like but before that I need to figure out how the interior is going to work.  With the dress being strapless I need to make sure it will stay up.  Also since it is empire waist that leaves not room for any supportive boning so I need to make sure that everything is tight and stays in place without it looking like the fabric is pulling or strained.  I also do not want it to be all the way to the floor since I have some fabulous shoes that need to see the daylight.

 My main work station this weekend, netflix on the laptop, connected to the speaker, bottle of water, sewing machine (Brother Innovis 80) and Serger on hand.  My narrow hem foot has been my best friend in finishing all my hems for this silk organza extravaganza.

 

The one night I went out was to a friend's 30th Birthday Party which was just a house party with a bonfire & pinata.   I wore mostly casual but most importantly I got to break out my new Dr. Scholl's (yes I will wear old lady shoes) flat wooden sandal and you can see my natural hair color. 

Allison Rose "Love your Librarian" T-shirt

Gold hoop and Gold Panther Choker from Express

Pink skirt from TJ Maxx

Baby Blue Swatch

Silver Metallic Dr. Scholl's Sandals

Finally my hair color as it was Saturday.  I plan to put some baby blue into it and get more of that blondish yellow out of it.but overall keeping to a green/turquoise coloring.

TiLT

Happy Thursday!  This has been a week of little annoyances mostly due to this never ending cough.  The cold is gone but the cough persists and it is hot here in Columbus.  Sadly it seems like we missed another spring entirely and were dropped off right into summer.  Aside from the cough and the headaches it is giving me life is pretty good.  We are hitting the wedding things full steam once again and I am seriously working on my wedding dress after the hiatus.  My classes for Draping & Pattern Drafting started again this week at CCAD for the summer so that will keep me busy two nights of my week until August.

 

1. Winged Sandals. I saw these sandals for sale in Chicago at Belmont Army Surplus and now I am obsessed.  Unfortunately they will never come in my size (5) and they are sold out everywhere online.  They are from Irregular Choice and I think they are actual sandals from last summer.  Still super cute and I hope someone out there see's this and remakes these beauties

 2. Swatch.  I am a big fan of Swatch watches.  I try to get a new one every year.  They are relatively cheap, classic analog style watches with fun and sometimes funky designs.  This new one I picked up is a baby blue with extra long watch band that wraps around the wrist. They come in an assortment of other candy colors!

3. Delicate Knitted Sculptures.  This knitted bridge is amazing!  I have been holding onto the images waiting for the right time to post them.  I can get so much inspiration from just this one piece.  I love how tiny it is yet the shadow it casts with the lighting is so much larger and it still holds all the details of each strand of yarn.  It reminds me a lot of my friend Alissa Sorenson's work.

4. Needle felted Creatures.  I love how there is a influx of needle felted creatures that are not necessarily cute but they are fun to look at.  I can't figure if the person intended the one above to look like a hopeful sperm in a tube or just a specimen.  The attack of the lambs on the wolf below is one of my favorites.

5. Artistic Homages to Animations.  This is a ceramic Raku fired Howl's Moving Castle. Howl's Moving Castle is one of my favorite all time Anime movies.  The detail in this piece is amazing and you can see her whole progress right here.