~ Have a Beautiful Day ~

~ New Body ~

....more sculptural fashion inspiration from French

gloves are by Tsumori Chisato, one of my favorites:)
....these images are from a spread entitled "New Body"

I've finished the first piece for my Gen Art submission. It's sort of a reworked "hoody" crafted from a nubby, Native American Indian inspired, upholstery weight cotton. I'm pairing it with my "ultimate yoga" outfit (which will be black on black cotton jersey and french terry) I figure if I have amazing gear, then I'll be more inclined to actually attend a yoga class. I'll be posting all the pieces here (after my submission) on March 17th.

~ She Could Do This All Day ~

~ S.i.m.p.l.e. Review ~

Check out Devon Rose's review on S.i.m.p.l.e. and enter to win a free pair of Long Winters Nap Leggings custom fit to your childs size:)

~ I'm lovin' Daryl K ~

I haven't had a lot of free time to really check out Fall 2009 RTW, but I'm so excited about Daryl Kerrigan's newest. Perfectly sexy and so wearable at the same time, I have been a fan from long ago, but can't remember when I've seen her look so fresh!

~ Teeny Tiny Floral Tunic ~

Devon models our newest piece the Teeny Tiny Floral Tunic. It pairs perfectly with our Dutchess Denim Skinnys.....so cute with gold strappy sandals!

~ Make It Awesome ~

Devon wears a fierce bunny onesie from MakeItAwesome. My sister gave Devon those precious sunglasses on her birthday, but she would never keep them on her face long enough for me to get a good shot... until today:)`

~ Love, Devon ~

Happy Valentines Day!!!

xoxo,

Devon Rose

Devon wears "Heart Belongs To" loungers from
NaomiTerblanche, perfect for hanging out in bed

....or dancing around the house.....
" I Heart Nerds" top from LittleOvercoat
...who do you heart???

~ Dutchess Denim Skinnys ~

Devon models our newest Dutchess Denim Skinnys with our Pretty Kitty Top . It ended up being my all time favorite photo shoot to date. She is TOO MUCH :)

~ Blue Mint Unicorn ~

Devon's custom Unicorn Pullover from knitwit4ever came today! Allyn was a joy to work with. We got to pick the body color from a wide range of beautiful hues. I love it over sized so she'll get to wear it next winter and it totally works (with the whole 80's vibe) with skinny jeans and moccasins:)

~ Garden Party Two ~

I had received a lot of positive feedback regarding the print/color combination of the Garden Party Dress and disappointment in the fact that there was only one (the print I used was a remnant that a friend had given me years ago). I've been thinking about a sub print and this one turned out to be perfect. It's the first sample for my Singapore project. My trip to Golden D'or ended up being a great one. The thing with outlet stores is once that bolt is used up, that's it... they can't reorder. I had purchased the grey and pink windowpane cotton from there 6 months ago and (to my surprise) there it was, in the same exact place, buried under tons of plaids. I bought enough to make another sample for my project and hid the remaining bolt. Hopefully my luck will last and it will still be there when the orders come in...fingers crossed;)

Devon's been sick the last couple of days, but she was full of energy today! Finger puppet in hand, ready to run errands with mommy.

~ How Thoughtful ~

Since yesterdays post was so angry and so serious, I decided that today something fun and a little frivolous was much needed. Here's an interesting fact that I found out after watching "Samurai" on the history channel. Did you know that... before battle, each warrior would burn incense in his helmet so that in the event that he lost, the adversary would have a pleasant smell after severing the head? How thoughtful!

Here's me as a Samurai warrior.......
Devon looks more Kung Fu Master than Samurai warrior, but she does look like she wants to send some heads rollin'

~ Highest Energy Bills EVER at American Beauty Mill Lofts ~

Anyone planning on moving to the Dallas area and craving the look of an industrial space would think that the American Beauty Mill Lofts would be the perfect solution. It definitely has it's appeal, formally an old flour mill built in 1920, Isaac and I fell in love (especially with the view from our bedroom window) a perfect shot of the Dallas skyline. Little did we know that it would turn out to be an energy nightmare.

Before moving in we were told to expect an energy bill of around $200.00 per month (already pretty pricey, but we knew that a larger space would cost more to heat and cool, so we were willing to cope with the increased cost) especially since the rent was so much cheaper in Dallas then what we were used to coming from Southern California. We moved to Dallas mid month in August and (not being used to such extreme weather ) we had the air conditioner constantly running. Our bill ended up being the expected (about $195.00) Imagine our surprise when the weather turned cold and our bill for the month jumped to $350.00! Wow! We were shocked! but discovered that our filter was incredibly dirty, therefore causing the heater to have to work twice as hard to heat the space. We changed the filter and set the temperature at 65. We were cold, but layered up in sweaters and dealt with it. The next bill came in ...$840.00!!!OMG! there must be some mistake (is what we immediately thought and everyone else that we told about our situation thought too). We called the energy company and had them come out to do a meter reread. We had the maintenance man come and shut off the power to see if someone was tapping into our power source. Then we found out that other people in the building that had corner units experienced double and triple increases to their energy bills as well, and as a result, were moving out. One family had a bill of over $500.00 while another (that only used space heaters and never ran the central heating) only had a bill of $50.00!

"I don't know what to tell you, unfortunately these corner units have no insulation at all" is what the maintenance man told me after I had him come and check out our heater for the second time. Our bill for this month was over $600.oo. Which brings our energy bill to over $1,400 for two months. BTW, I've barely run the heater at all. I actually wake up at night if I hear the heater go on. I'm freezing, but so terrified of the energy bill, I'll turn the temp from an already chilly 65 to 60 degrees. It doesn't make any sense, even with horrible insulation, that the bill should jump from $195 (in the Summer with the air conditioner constantly running) to $840.00 for heating when we keep the temp so low that we have to wear socks and sweaters! Also, there is no way that American Beauty Mill could not have known that certain units in the building were heating nightmares! We should have been informed! We would have NEVER moved here had we known about this situation. RENTERS BEWARE!

~ Gretels Top ~

Gretel's Top is a one of a kind piece that I made from an embroidered gingham remnant that I sourced from Britex in 2003. I really miss being able to shop that store, they have the absolute highest quality and most unique fabrics of any boutique I've ever seen ...highest prices too. They had a bridal lace that was $2,000 a yard. I think it had real gold woven into it. I have Chanel wool suiting fabric (that I got from there as well) still waiting on my shelves...should I make baby Chanel jackets next winter?

~ Prints Galore ~

YAY!

all my repro vintage

and Japanese import fabrics

finally

came in today for my

next Singapore project

~ Thanks Daphne!

I'm off to Golden D'or to find

coordinating eyelets, ginghams, dots,

and
anything that looks cute

to go with these precious prints:)

~ Tiny Angel Top ~

Devon looked so adorable in our newest piece, the Tiny Angel Top I didn't want to take it off of her, but unfortunately, it's still a little too chilly at the moment to wear. It's a great, floaty little number that goes with everything. I've also relisted our Pretty Kitty Blouse (I had thought that I'd run out of that print but I came across enough to make just one more).

~ My Funny Valentine ~

Devon's top is from pinkcupcakevintage, pants are from Lucy's place (she's been wearing them for almost a year now and they STILL fit...awesome!) The pink Chucks are a gift from a friend~ thanks Hilari!

~ Spring Fever ~

...another great pic that makes me long for Spring...I absolutely love the cropped puppy dog top with that hair cut, so stylish and so innocent at the same time.
So...gearing up for Spring this week! I'm looking over the store and filling in the gaps (we are in desperate need of tops) I'm pulling out some embroidered voile and a dainty floral printed cotton that my mom got for me and I just adore~ Thanks mom! She also gave me some beautiful blue, heavily embroidered organza that I'm making into a teeny tiny shift dress. I've found the perfect vintage lace trim (circa 1960) to accent it.

I'm doing one more piece with my black cotton eyelet and a black and white intricately embroidered gingham (I know black isn't the most kid friendly color out there but I just can't help myself) I'm also coming out with some pinstripe denim skinny jeans with ruffle accents to pair with our tops :)

~ A Little Listless ~

Poor Devon, I really need to get her out of the loft more often. Isaac and I were so into the idea of a big industrial space, and it is a great atmoshere for sewing in, but Devon really needs a yard. She needs to be outdoors with grass to roll around in and I know it would make the dogs happier too. So... end of March...we're moving AGAIN.

~ Sculptural Fashion ~

An image from Bon Magazine 2009

One of my pieces from my women's wear line "BRICK" published in ILook magazine 2001 , Hong Kong
One of my pieces from my women's wear line "BRICK" published in Sportswear International Fall 2002

I've been diving into a lot of women's fashion magazines as of late, my interest renewed partly because I've finally lost all my pregnancy weight (I gained like 65 pounds!) and partly due to my excitement about my submission to the Gen Art competition. Currently, I've been very inspired by a fashion spread entitled "Body Building" from Bon

An excerpt from the intro describing the spread reads

"We were afraid fashion would be stuck in a retro rut forever. But suddenly, there on the catwalk, was the beautiful face of the future"

I've always been a big fan of sculptural fashion. My pieces from back in the day were all about structuring shoulders and reworking necklines. I loved the idea of creating new shapes. But then again it was 1999-2002 and (at that time) fashion was all about the FUTURE.