Grey Matter

Grey Matter by brimalotke

Check it out at fashionamag to read all about these style versatile shoes!

Scarf Love

Scarf Love by brimalotke 

Curious about how to incorporate scarves into your wardrobe? Check out my piece on fashionamag!

Costume Shop Dress Project: Finished

Hello Everyone! This is how my "Dress 1" turned out! I had removed the lace on the front, the bow from the back, and the straps. I showed my boss the final result when I took both dresses into the shop and she agreed with me that the previous straps were just horrible and definitely needed to be replaced. I chose this velvet lace to use for the straps because I love the black with the maroon and the lace adds interest to the plain dress. I left it embellished so that when used for a performance the designer for the show could add just enough without having to take anything off. For my other dress I also didn't add any embellishments for the same reason. I'm really happy with the end results and I wish I had finished them earlier so I could work on even more. I will be finishing some alterations for "Hay Fever" and this next week I will be helping finish organize the costume shop. In my private time I will be attempting to sew a men's shirt for practice and hopefully a jacket for myself.

A Little Gingham for Everyone

A Little Gingham for Everyone by brimalotke 

Head on over to fashionamag to check out how to be inspired by gingham & work it into your wardrobe.

Costume Shop Dress Project: Almost Done!

Back View.

I've been working on my dresses for the costume shop and should be done by Thursday! For this dress, ''Dress 2," I've taken the chiffon additions from around the back and moved them up onto the shoulder straps. To me it looks better, more elegant feeling and lays a lot better than the original dress. I also had removed the white bow from "Dress 1" and sewed it with the colored bow from this dress. I sewed both bows together and then hand stitched them to the back of this dress. I had stitched the one side along the back and then for the other side used snaps since the bow covers across the zipper. I really wish I used dresses my size so I could get pictures of someone modeling them for my portfolio, but I will settle for better pictures once I'm done. As of now I just have to stitch some holes in the chiffon closed and I'm debating on adding lace detail from the other dress onto the front of this one.

Closer look at the Back.

As for my other dress, it is essentially a blank state right now. I removed the lace on the front, the bow from the back, all of the fastenings except for the zipper, and removed the straps because I disliked the way they looked on the dress. I am thinking of using some black lace to make straps and a belt of some sort to add interest to the dress. I have some other chiffon I could play around with, I was considering a type of long vest over the top of the dress, but it's not the same color. Oh well, I will be playing around with my designs but not until I'm completely finished with this dress! That post will probably be tomorrow (or maybe even tonight!). Stay tuned!

Costume Shop Find: Corsets Galore!

We got a decent size donation this past weekend, mostly some random children's clothing but there were a handful of really awesome finds tucked within the bags. These 3 corsets (with stomachers!) are an amazing find for our collection of items. We don't really have any like these in our collection of costumes, and we barely have any period corsets, so this is great!

I've included front and back pictures for each of the corsets. There's a couple of things that need a little work to be fully wonderful, but they're definitely usable and will look great with some of our other pieces in the shop.