Ain't Life Grand!

It sure is!  And lately, for the most part, it's getting better and better every day!  In most recent news, my ties are now available for sale in Grand Central Station!  How cool is that? The lovely ladies behind Local Labels, Loren and Jean, are showcasing their wares at a kiosk in the Graybar Passage from now until the end of August.  Local Labels is the purveyor of many fabulous products, from pickles to perfume, which are all made right here in NYC!  This, obviously, includes my ties!  

To read more about Local Label's escapades at Grand Central, and to learn more about some of the featured artisans, be sure to check out their blog!  If you live in the city or are traveling through, don't pass up a chance to stop by, say hello and support your local artists!

Jenn Logue - Extra Pretty!

Earlier this year I had the great pleasure of meeting the talented singer/songwriter Jenn Logue.  We actually met at the after-party for Malan's fashion show while waiting at the bar.  Actually, she first started talking to my mom, whom I left at the bar to go say hi to someone else. (I know, I'm horrible!) When I came back we all started chatting because my mom had discovered that Jenn ALSO was originally from Pennsylvania.  I gave her my info and told her to call me if I could ever make her anything to wear.  I talked with her shortly after that and loaned her several items to use for a photoshoot.  I haven't seen the photos from that yet, but when I do I'll post some here.

Jenn just recently had a party for the release of her new EP.  The party was at Mad 46, on the roof of the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan.  It was a fantastic evening, and I was ecstatic to have been able to make the dress that Jenn wore to the event.  She and I went fabric shopping, and I let her pick out what she wanted, while offering my opinion when needed.  The dress is made from a gorgeous royal blue silk charmeuse and a printed silk chiffon.  Jenn wanted something glamorous, young, fun and pretty, but also something she could move easily in while playing.  Since we had very minimal time to complete the dress, and only time for one fitting, I decided to go with a basic halter top dress, and let the fabric speak for itself.

Jenn's latest release is called the "Pretty EP"  You can check it out on her myspace, facebook, or website.   She's going to be starting a US and European tour very soon, so be sure to check her out if she comes to your town, she's fantastic!

I love the way the skirt was rippling!

Jenn and I.  I had WAY too much free pink champagne by the end of the night, but this wasn't then.

  I came straight to the party from work and got soaked in the pouring rain that day.  

Malan, Fashion Week and I

Although this post has been sitting on the back burner and getting dusty, since Fashion Week is past and we're already thinking Spring '10, I swear it's only because I've been so busy I haven't had time to sit down and write a good bit about it all.  So for those who have been pestering me (in a nice way) I offer you something here to suffice until I can post again, hopefully much sooner than a 5 month gap.  Geez, I'm a slacker.

So, the 8 or so months I've been in NYC now have just been a complete whirlwind. And some of the most recent exciting news is that I was able to work with the fabulous Malan Breton.  Malan, if you don't know (and shame on you if you don't!) was a contestant of season 3 of Project Runway.  He's been designing his own collection for 6 or 7 years. Shame on me, because I can't say for absolute certain, but I'll find out and correct!  I had been put in touch with Malan through a small chain of friends.  Laura Kluvo, from BPR introduced me (online) to Christian, an AMAZING artist and good friend of Malan.   She encouraged me to write him and ask if there was anything I could help with, as if was right before Fall fashion week.  I did, and he wrote me back but as it was only about a week away from the Bryant Park shows we never had time to get in touch.  In January, I saw a post from Malan looking for interns to help with his Fall 09 collection.  I responded immediately and he called me the very next day.  

I don't want to talk TOO much about what I helped out with.  I'd rather let the pieces speak for themselves.  I'd like to make it clear that I did not design ANY of the items that are shown here, I only constructed them.  Malan does every bit of his design work on his own.  On February 13th, a special showing was held at the Eli Klein Gallery in Soho.  Here are some pictures from the event of pieces I made and people I met, with details:

Ruby Silk Faille & Black Silk Organza V-neck Dress

Malan & I

 Ruby Silk Jacquard Gibson Jacket

Garnet Silk Jacquard Long Wrap Coat

PR Alum Diana Eng and I

Onyx Tulle & Silk Organza Capelet Blouse.  Tulle lined in tulle, whoo that was tricky! I LOVE the cape!  And I have to say, I think this was the prettiest model of the night.  I hope that doesn't cause a catfight somewhere!

For now I'm taking a little break and focusing on working on my own collection.  It will be more everyday wear, as opposed to eveningwear. It will be ready for Fall 09, and available online sometime this summer.  My color palette is rich, deep blues, purples and greens, with a hint of grey and black (and maybe a fab coat with hot pink lining!) thrown in for good measure. My pieces will be mainly wool and silk combinations, my two favorite fabrics!  All designs will be very limited edition, some there will be no more than 5-10 pieces available, some even less. Several pieces will be one of a kind.  My size run will be 2-20.   I'm just now in the middle stages (sewing and patternmaking) of getting all this worked out.  Will be sure to post more details as I go along!

I definitely hope and expect to be working more with Malan in the future.  I think we work great together, and I couldn't ask for a kinder, more inspiring designer to be learning from.  I'm sure we'll be starting Spring '10 soon enough!  And there may just be some side projects underway already.  

That's all for now!  Hope that will tide everyone over in the meantime.  I'm in the process of getting more and better photos from the event.  Expect those to be updated in the next day or so.  If you can't wait, there are some other great photos from this show as well as Malan's Spring '09 show here.

More soon!  Another post in the works too.  Stay tuned!  Thank you Malan!  And thank you BPR for linking this, what a nice surprise this morning!

New York - The 1st Two Months

Ah yes, here I go with a challenge. Trying to fit everything about my first two months living in NYC into a post that doesn't get too long and boring. Deep breath...

Moving here was one of the most miserable experiences of my life!!! Packing took seriously over 2 weeks. It's actually so awful I don't really want to relive it here. Suffice it to say, if you ever hire a moving truck. PAY FOR THE INSURANCE! We paid a shipper to send everything here and then flew nonstop with two cats. Moving day we arrived at the airport, cats have been properly drugged so as to stay calm and sleeeeep. Airline announces there will be a 5 hour delay! Because of "weather" in NYC. Meaning: Phoenix pilots don't know how to fly through a raincloud. We made it though and pulled up in a cab in front of our apt. we had never seen at about 11:30pm. I won't talk about our neighborhood more than to say it's DIRTY, in a bad way. We have a 3 month sublet, the only thing we could find since we hadn't secured jobs here before we move, and we will be moving to a nicer area at the end of October. Enough about that.

Monday, August 2nd, two days after we arrive. I had an interview for an internship with a small, luxury fashion design company of Cynthia Rose. The VP, who interviewed me, told me I was overqualified and that she thought I would be bored working as an intern. I insisted I wouldn't and I was so excited when she wanted me to start the following Monday! Nick (my boyfriend) was waiting for me at Bryant Park, right up the street, and I was walking on air when I went to meet him there, so proud of myself! Things have evolved (or devolved) at the internship rather quickly. For the first two weeks I was excited to be there, but I was a little bored and wished that they would require more from me so I could show what I could do. Then the VP decided she wanted me to work mainly with the Production Manager (she was the only person running that entire area of the company). I was fine with that as it was something that I didn't know about and I felt that it would definitely give me skills, information and contacts I would need in order to start producing my own line in the future. I didn't get to spend a lot of time with this person, as the designer's personal assistant quit after my second week of work, and I ended up taking on a lot of her responsibilities, only working for free. After about another week or so, the VP started asking me if I thought I could do the Production Manager's job. I told her probably, as long as I would be trained and knew what I was doing. It didn't seem that hard. Boy was I wrong. Shortly after that the P.M. quit and I sort of got bumped into her position, temporarily or permanently was yet to be determined. Keep in mind that I have ZERO experience or training in production, but I am very organized and this is what they thought would make me good for this job. I didn't make it more than 3 weeks. In reality, I was doing a job, single-handedly (trying anyway) that there need to be 2-3 people handling; full time and on the payroll. I got so overwhelmed right away, that I knew there was just no way I could continue without crashing and burning. On top of that, it was taking up ALL of my time (I was there from 9-7 many days). I know that's typical of lots of jobs, but I originally took the internship to help me learn things to forward my own career and my own design work, not make me a personal slave for someone else's profit. There are many other reasons why I did not stay with the company, but on a professional level it's mainly because I'm not qualified for the position and I was SO stressed out about it's all I could think about all the time. I just moved to New York! I love it here. I don't want to spend all my time hating it. I would have made a GREAT production assistant, and they NEED one, but they don't want to have to pay for one, and it's just too much work for me to offer to do for free.

On to some more exciting and upbeat news! I've had several Project Runway sightings since I've been here. I almost ran into Suede on the street a few weeks ago, literally! He was talking on the phone and walking with his head down and we nearly collided. Also, right before fashion week I had to take some pieces to have buttonholes sewn in to a nearby embroidery shop, and Joe Faris was there having buttonholes put in those gold and pink pants he showed at Bryant Park. He looked tired and a little older than on the show, and I wasn't sure it was him. About two weeks ago I SWEAR I saw Keith, who was kicked off in season...3? I can't even remember. It looked JUST like him, but I'm not positive he even lives in NY. I also met Annida Greenkard, one of the models on the drag episode on season 5. She was awesome! And looked even better than on the show. And she was SO mad at Daniel for making her that boring dress! She's amazing. I'm hoping she and I can work together on a project, but haven't had time to discuss since I've been with everything else. And the biggest one of all, Nina Garcia! During fashion week I was lucky enough to get to go to one show! The assistant designer at Cynthia Rose got us on the list for the designer she worked for previous, Douglas Hannant, and Nina was one of the guests at the show. I somewhat candidly snapped a few photos of her while the models were walking. Unfortunately none of them were that great. Sorry Nina! If you go to the Douglas Hannant website and look at the Spring 2009 photos, you can actually see me with my sunglasses on on the right side of the very first image. I didn't want to steal it off their page and post it here though, so you'll have to go see for yourself.

Nina Garcia having some coffee at the Douglas Hannant Spring 09 show.

Many other exciting things have happened since we got to NYC and I'm sure there are many more to come! I'll save what I have for now for another post, this is getting plenty wordy as it is. Check back soon for more!

New Ties Galore!

Haven't posted in a while, and although I have about 4 or 5 different things in mind that I want to write about, I thought I would start by sharing some of my new creations! I have 3 new tie designs available for sale, two of which were listed in my Etsy shop for the first time this week. Let's start the roll call!

Bicycle tie! This one has been super popular so far! Cause who doesn't love a good bike? This was originally designed as a custom request to be used for a wedding, and my wonderful customer was so kind as to allow me to continue to use their design. Now anyone can have this awesome tie! Shown here in Cerulean Blue, Beige and Baby Blue. ALL of my tie designs can be printed in ANY color of silk you can imagine and custom colors don't cost extra!!!

Next up is the Fan Coral tie! I think I need to put together an Ocean tie set. I've got an octopus, a seahorse and now coral! And *spoiler alert* there is an awesome new squid design on the way in the next few months. Definitely before the holidays! And it's enough different from the octopus that if you like one, you'll need both! So, yes, fan coral. This design was also made as a custom request for a wedding. The wonderful Chris and Katherine, now happily married, gave me a photograph of what they wanted their tie to look like.

Beginning photo for fan coral tie design

I then drew the coral illustration by hand and had it turned into a screen. Here are Chris and Katherine on their wedding day! (and a close-up of the tie) The tie was printed with silver ink on sky blue. It's a little hard to see in the photo, but looked great in person!

And here are the ties available in my Etsy shop! Shown here in Royal Blue, Seafoam and Sky Blue.

Both of the above designs were finished before I left Phoenix. This next one is my first new creation since moving to NYC! I've been saving this moth design for a while, not knowing what to do with it. I just recently had a silkscreen made with some other custom images done for weddings. There was room left on the layout and I needed something to fill the space! So I created this flight of moths design. I like it. Hope you do! Shown here in Autumn Gold, Turquoise and Red Grape.

These following two ties are designs that were created as custom images for weddings which I will NOT be offering for sale in my shop. The reason for this is that the customers purchased the artwork specifically for use with their order. For both of these I worked with the amazingly talented Beth of wildemoon.etsy.com She and the customer conspired to create their ideal design and when she was done she sent it to me to have made into a screen. Beth was fantastic, lightening fast and very personable and professional. She and I are collaborating on a few designs right now and I would recommend her to ANY of my future customers who are looking for an original design. She can create screen-printable artwork from just about anything! Art for the first tie shown here was created from an illustration, while art for the second tie was created from a set of photographs! Amazing!

Custom Peacock Feather tie design created for Greg & Noel's wedding. Aren't the colors they chose just gorgeous?!

Custom ties for Wendy & Tim's wedding. She's a violist (I think that's what you would call it) and he plays percussion, so their design incorporated fiddlehead ferns and drumstick Allium. Fun! We are also printing a larger version of this on silk shawls I'm making for her bridesmaids.

That's all the tie fun for now! Hit me up with your custom requests and send your engaged friends my way!

No More Fashion Shows!

That's right! I have just completed the third and final show in a long round for fashion shows over the course of a month. It's SO great to be able to finally relax! I haven't any idea how many new pieces I actually came up with for these shows, but it was A LOT! I think all of them were successful, the last show at SMoCA being the most so, of course, and had a really great time doing them. But I definitely need a break. Especially that now most of my attention if going to be focused one trying to find somewhere to live and work in NYC in a month's time.

Lucky me, I got to have my hair and makeup done for the SMoCA show too!!

There were pile of fantastic photographers at the event, and there are a whole lot of photos online for to check out. There are some here, courtesy of Gary Millard and Four White Walls Photography. My pieces start on the bottom of page four from that link.

One of my designs at SMoCA Nights, modeled by Alyssa la Fortune Holt.

Another link for good photos is here. There were taken by Kevin Burgess of KODE b Photography. Here my pieces start on page 6, image # 113.

The gorgeous & glamorous Chasity Kenny, modeling a dress made just for this show.

There were also several shots taken from azcentral.com, the online extension of the Arizona Republic newspaper. Mine are mixed in with a bunch of other photos from that night, but you can definitely tell which are my outfits. Click here to see those. There are also a few images here, on the Arizona Foothills Magazine website.

The always beautiful and never camera-shy Amparo Elizabeth, wearing a wool and silk 2-piece.

All of the photos show in this post were taken by the amazingly talented and ever generous Nicky Hedayat-Zadeh. Nicky and her friend Chadwick came to the event with an entire setup and took some incredible photos backstage. She took so many fantastic shots of some of my new designs that I just had to post a LOT here. Hope you'll enjoy viewing these pieces as much as I loved making them!

The skirt of this outfit is trimmed in rows and rows of zippers. It weighs a ton, but looks great on the runway!

One of my favorite dresses, made of wool tweed and silk charmeuse, modeled by the enchanting Daynalyn Wain.


This piece was definitely the star of the show. Made from an amazing print silk, and modeled by the lovely Megan Accordino. This dress sold that very night, but luckily I have JUST enough fabric to make one more to keep for my own.

P.S. Most of these are still for sale if anyone is interested!!!