Follow the White Rabbit . . .

I know these images have been spreading around the web these last few days and you may have seen them. I don't care. I simply have to share these pictures. Kirsty Mitchell, a UK-based costume designer and photographer, recently lost her mother to cancer. She was inspired to do a photo shoot called "Wonderland" in her memory, and the results are, quite simply, stunning.

The images evoke loss and longing, beauty, sadness, and a sort of far-eyed hope. There is a silence in these pictures that speaks of strength, of the power of fragility.

Kirsty intends to release a book of her images in 2013, but you can go to her website and see extensive behind-the-scenes information of how each of these images was produced. I remember preparing and shoting my pictures for the Seamstress Shop, and though these are 100 times grander, I think I can understand the acheivement and the joy she has in these images. They are visual poetry, and I want to climb inside.

Put on Your Sunday Clothes . . .

I took a few pics of my '40's look this weekend; I just couldn't wait for next weekend's event, apparently. These are taken with my iPhone's Camera+ app, with some awesome filters applied;)

I'm excited about the Air Raid next week (not too many opportunities to use that sentence in life!), so stay tuned for more, and better, pictures!

Bombshell . . .

As I've been writing "Celluloid", I've been watching a lot of movies from the '30's and '40's, and I've beeen reminded how much I love Jean Harlow. I have a passing resemblance to her (extremely passing!), and in college as a makeup class project I did myself up to look like her. Up to then I had never seen any of her films, but afterwards I decided to give her a try, and discovered a gutsy, brassy, funny actress with impeccable timing and a whole lot of moxie. It was love.

My favorite films of hers include "Bombshell"(a cutting satire on the Hollywood machine that still seems relevant today), "Libeled Lady", "Wife vs. Secretary", and "China Seas". I recommend all these films, if you have any interest;)

Harlow died at 26 of renal failure, an illness that went misdiagnosed for days until it was finally too late to save her. William Powell, who had been in love with her for three years but hadn't had the chance to marry her, placed a note in her folded hands with a single gardenia that read: "Good night, my dearest darling". Even dying so young, she left an indelible impression on movie history.

I decided for no good reason (other than boredom, I suppose) to make myself up as Harlow this weekend. It's just a faint resemblance, but it was fun anyway;) Now if only I had a fraction of her moxie . . .

New Pieces are Up!

Wendybird Tricorn Hat

New pieces are up in the Seamstress of Avalon Etsy Shop! Come and check them out while they're still available!

Leanne Bridal Fascinator

Ygritte Forest-faery Headband

Beatrice Whimsical Butterfly Fascinator

Eugenie Anti-Bridal Bridal Fascinator

Thank you once again to the fantastic Shannon Skloss and Nancy Upton for making my designs come to life!

Dark and Beautiful . . .

All pictures from Shannon Skloss

They're here! Here's a quick preview of a few of the fantastic shots from the recent Seamstress of Avalon shoot at the Old Zoo in Griffith Park. I'll be putting the new pieces up in my shop over the next few days, but I didn't want to wait another second to publish a few pics . . .

Thank you so much to both my photographer, the awesome Shannon Skloss, and my fantabulous model, Nancy Upton. I will happily work with you ladies anytime!

Forgotten and Fabulous . . .

A short while back, I blogged about Nancy Upton and her sheer fantastic moxie, entering the ridiculous and insulting American Apparel plus-size model contest and using it as a platform for satire. After I blogged about her, we got into contact and about collaborating on a photoshoot someday; we have similar taste and style, and working with her for Seamstress of Avalon sounded like a whole lot of fun. I don't think either of us thought it would happen this quickly, though!

She contacted me a week ago to let me know that AA was flying her and her photographer out to LA for the weekend, and did I still want to do a shoot? Did I? I went into full prep mode, and on saturday headed into downtown LA to meet Nancy and Shannon, get Nancy into makeup, hair and costume, and we all trekked out to Griffith Park to wander around the Old Zoo.

Basically, the Old Zoo is this run-down, overgrown, abandoned zoo not far from the present-day Los Angeles Zoo; it was built in the '30's and abandoned in the '60's, and still stands. People shoot there all the time, and walking around, I can certainly see why: old rusted cages covered in grafitti and rather spooky-looking rocks sprawl over beautiful land that looks out over the city. We couldn't have found a more interesting location (though, we almost didn't find it at all!)

It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun; I can't wait to see the pictures Shannon took, and to post the new pieces in my store. I loved working with both these girls; they were an absolute joy. Stay tuned for pics!

Iki . . .

It's been quite a while since I did a full-fledged photoshoot, and since I'm currently between books (for the moment), I wasn't planning on spending my weekend writing. So, I decided to dress a wig, slap on some makeup, and take some pictures;)

The concept was obviously punk-geisha. I was not making an effort to be accurate; I could do that, but I don't currently own a kimono that would be appropriate. I decided to go for the editorial end, and when I worked on the pics in post-production, they veered towards a pseudo-futuristic, Firefly-esque gritty which I kinda like;)

A note about doing a photoshoot sans photographer: don't do it. It took me three-times as long to set up, and there was a lot of dashing back and forth to look at the images and then set up the timer for the next shot. I should think about investing in a remote shutter trigger if I'm going to keep this up; it would have made things a lot easier!

If I could find a job styling photoshoots, I think that would be a blast. Where does one get a job like that, anyway?

*Iki: "cool" in the geisha dialect of Gion.

Hubba, Hubba . . .

Yes, that's a Seamstress of Avalon piece that model is wearing!

A fantastic photographer recently contacted me, interested in using April in one of her shoots. Check out Jaime Marland's work; she is incredibly talented!

Thanks, Jaime!

In the News . . .

One of my costumes was used in a fabulous photoshoot!

One of my very dear friends, the fantastic and uber-gorgeous model Kaitlin Chin, asked if she could borrow something for an upcoming shoot, and I naturally agreed;) The above was taken just a few days ago by the talented folks at Knapp Photography:

Hair:Angie Prieto from PM Chicago Salon

Make up: Jennipher Sakura Gonzalez from Rockstar Faces

Thanks for making my dress look so amazing, everybody!

* P.S.: The shoot was done at Alhambra Palace, where my sister almost had her wedding last year!