What's the Material?

The first time I believe I saw a garment made from atypical material was on Project Runway.  It fascinated me that unusual items could be manipulated into clothes with an extraordinary flare.  I have yet to try making something using the unusual, but I think about it.

Found some fascinating designs made with objects with other original uses.  Lovely and time consuming work! 

Bottle gown, pinterest.com

Straw dress, pinterest.com

3D polymers dress, by Noa Reviv, bkrw.com

Balloon dress, pinterest.com

Until next time and blog!

Exclusivey Etsy

Etsy.com is a great website for shoppers and designers alike.  Designers get to sell their products, usually one-of-a-kind designs, and shoppers looking for the unique items not seen at the neighborhood department stores have a great time surfing this site.

I'm always pleasantly surprised looking at Etsy.com.

Painted jeans by Vestitidarte

LiLiCreations

Barbie clothing designs by Tunafairy

Recycled dress by RebeccasArtCloset

Till the next blog!

The Vertical Stripe Wins

Aren't striped fabrics mostly cut to run horizontal on sewn garments?  Yes they are. And don't you find that striped fabrics cut to make vertical striped clothing very a la mode?  I definitely do.  I believe this is how I prefer to wear stripes...

iduple.com

aliexpress.com

luxurymall.ph

ezpopsy.com

 Till we meet next blog.

Fashion Through the Decades

Fashion has changed so much over the centuries, but not as much as it's changed between 1900 and 2000.  Clothes can show a few things about a person such as economic status, the type of music genre preferred, even what faith you may be.  

Today, African American fashion spanning seven decades is spotlighted.  Enjoy!

1930s  pinterest.com 

1950s  fashionistazlife.com

1970s   kwekudee - tripdownmemorylane

1990s   styleblazer.com

Until next blog!

Trendy Olympic Uniforms 2016

I'm just enjoying the Rio Olympics, aren't you? Unfortunately, I didn't see the complete opening ceremony (saw over half).  I fell asleep, but not because I was bored.  I'll be drinking coffee during the closing ceremony to make sure I'm awake for the entire program.

We're now into the second week which includes one of my top favorite sports to watch, track and field.  So I'll be riveted to the tv for these next few days.

I think many of the uniforms worn during the opening ceremony (the ones I saw, and the ones I found online) for the Olympics were just on the mark.  Colors  and silhouettes were fun and somewhat experimental, if that can be said, for the start of a world competition.  

Shout out to the Canadian medal winners! And to the other medal winners from a few other countries I was also rooting for!  Here are just a few of the winning uniforms. Wish I could post all my favorites.

Canada, telegraph.co.uk

Maracana, essence.com

Brazil, bustle.com

Czech Republic, si.com

Fiji, telegraph.co.uk

Till next time and blog!

Young Africa Designs

 Aaaahhhh.... the young African fashion designers (by young, I mean anywhere from 18 - 45 years old, lol...) are creating some incredible clothes.  I saw some innovative designs by Africans, online, that made my mouth drop.  There are some fantastic ideas in terms of silhouettes ( take a look at Blacktrash designs for example.... yes, the name astounded me, but the clothing is phenomenal...) and there are lovely combinations of fabrics, colors and prints.   Applause!

monsieurpolk.wordpress.com

wp.360look-book.infor

 

lovefashion.co.za

fashionnetworkafrica..blogspo.com.es

Till next blog!

Native Design So Chique!

I love Native American designs.  There's something about the art, designs and prints that shows a connection to nature, and yet these same designs can be modernized to be wearable in urban settings. Plus the designers love to use a lot of color, which I'm much in agreement with.

One of the four Native designers featured today, Sho Sho Esquiro, is a Canadian Native woman from Yukon, Canada (yay!) who has recently shown her collection at the NYC Couture Fashion Week this year.  One of her designs, the yellow dress, is pictured below.

By Sho Sho Esquiro, indiancountrytodaymedianetwork

Penny Singer design, beyondbuckskin.blogspot

By Linda Day Peters, newsamericanfashion.blogspot

Patricia Michael 2010 collection, fashionwindows.net

I have to talk a bit about Patricia Michael as she is the first Native designer to compete on Project Runway!  She participated in season 11, which I haven't seen yet.  I'm having a hard time finding Project Runway on networks in the eastern standard time zone in Canada. I'd love to see her creating on the show! Can I buy the dvd anywhere?

Till next blog!

A Confection of Mixed Prints African Style

I attended an African wedding this month through a friend I met in September. The bride and groom were a handsome couple, loved the wedding gown and the suit. The traditional African dresses many ladies were wearing (I'd call a lot of them gowns, many had floor length dresses) were beautiful, colorful, some with prints.  The head wraps were regal.  The men were looking good, most of them in suits. I was not dressed as lovely as the ladies were, but I enjoyed the ceremony. Unfortunately, I didn't think I could take pictures of these women as it was a church wedding where the groom was a minister's son.  

Which led me to this week's post.  Looking for African gowns, I came upon these delectable outfits in beautifully printed fabrics.  The ones with multiple prints are even more exciting and engaging.  I think future fashion trends will embrace print mixing for commercial clothing.

www.naijalife.freehostia.com

www.hairpik.com

www.weddingdigestnaija.com

www.bellanaija.com

www.munalucibridal.com

www.fabmagazineonline.com

Till next blog!

Old Meets New - African Print Fashion

African fabrics, traditionally draped and tied to be worn in the past, have, for some time, been transformed into many clothing silhouettes.  The bright colors, intricate patterns and geometric shapes on clothe have gained popularity throughout the world since 2010.  I must say, the combination of traditional African prints and current clothes are a lively and wonderful combination.  

www.afrofrocks.co.uk

www.fashion-conscience.com

www.clothingattesco.com

www.toyfilm.jp

Till next blog!

Dresses to Celebrate In

 The beginning of the new year is just at our doorstep.  Happy New Year everyone, and a belated Merry Christmas!  Many people will be celebrating the coming of 2011 tonight.    I found a few attractive and unique dresses online that I think many women would love to wear to bring in the new year.  What will you be wearing? 

http://appozitegeist.appozite.com

www.omiru.com

by Igigi Limited Collection, www.divaglamplus.com

Talbots, www.thefashionlist.com

 

 

 What am I wearing, you may be asking?  Hmmm...  I don't know yet... I'll choose something a couple of hours before I'm ready to go out...  I'll try to put together something unusual.

 I hope that 2011 is a year of inward peace and contentment for you all.  Happy New Year!  Till next blog!