eVintage Blog Tag - Oscar Fashions

eVintage Blog Tag! The Oscars - I was tagged by Julie at Damn Good Vintage to answer the following questions about Oscar Fashions.

1) FAVORITE GOWNS OF THE NIGHT & WHY?

- I liked the French Girl's dress. I liked the mermaid-like scales effect, although they did look a little odd around the breasteses. I thought she was beautiful, and I read that she is making a movie with Johnny Depp and Señor Bale, lucky girl.
- Olive from Pushing Daisies looked great in that gathered black chiffon gown.
- Cate Blanchett always (well, usually) looks great and I really like this dress on her even though I tend not to like most pregnant lady fashions. I like nice loose fabric over a belly, not skin tight, so this passes nicely for me.
- Oh no, can you believe that's she's on my list of best! I always thought she was annoying and never liked that Alley McButter show. But I liked this gathered Grecian Goddess dress.



2) WHAT ERA DO YOU THINK IT REPRESENTED BEST?
I guess Kristin Chenoweth's black gathered gown had the most vintage style to it. It reminds me of 1950s gathers and draping done like Ceil Chapman or sculpted fitting like Howard Greer.

3) LEAST FAVORITE GOWNS OF THE NIGHT & WHY?
- Cameron Diaz is always a mess. The dress would have been nice it it were less wrinkled, if you couldn't see her tan lines and if she did something with her hair. She always looks like she just got in from the beach and yanked that hair back in a ponytail. Yeah, that's her thing, but hasn't that been her 'thing' for a bit too long now?
- Julie Christie, I am sorry. You are perfection from the shoulders-up. I read that she designed her dress, I love home sewn stuff myself (although this is not exactly 'home sewn') and I think it's a great idea. But this didn't turn out to be a great idea. Maybe without the pink gloves? No, it still would have been all wrong. You deserve a much more beautiful gown than this.



4) WHAT ERA DO YOU THINK IT REPRESENTED BEST (or worst, as it were)?
Cammie's dress looks very 1950s and it really is a great dress, she just totally messed it up. Ms. Christie looks kind of like a goth 1960s cocktail dress, which I would have loved, when I was 18-22.

6) TILDA SWINTON, FASHION SCORE OR SCARE?
Who? I've seen her picture but none of her movies, so I don't know anything about her. Didn't care for the Oscar look she wore.

7) WHAT DID YOU EAT WHILE WATCHING THE SHOW? I don't watch the Oscars, I just look at the Red Carpet photos the next day.


Honorable mentions.
Ruby Baby, Ruby Baby - Ruby Dee was one of those gorgeous ladies in red. She just looked classic and fabulous.
Cody Diablo. Never heard of her before, haven't seen the pregnant teen movie that she wrote/won an Oscar for either. I think she made alot of the worst dressed lists, but I liked her look (except for the gold ballet flats) She's not typical Hollywood, so why should she dress the part? I liked the leopard print dress, I liked the tattoos, the hair and make-up were great. Very Rock-n-Roll. I thought she looked cool.



Now, follow the blog tag on to Penelopepup's Vintage Blog

Project Runway - Chris & SweetP

So last night was the semi-season finale of Project Runway where Rami and Chris got to show their 3 strongest pieces for the judges, to decide who should go to fashion week. Rami won, deservingly so, because I do think his clothes are more marketable than Chris. But I think they should have sent both to the finals because I think Chris has some very interesting ideas in fashion. But it's not that bad really, because Chris as well as SweetP both did get to show their collections at Fashion Week. That's because in 4 seasons, the producers still haven't figured out how to line up the shows with Fashion Week so that the final 3 won't be spoiled in the Fashion Week press before the actual show airs on TV. Hopefully the exposure that SweetP & Chris receive at Fashion Week will help out both of their futures. We find out the winner of Project Runway next week.

Here are 3 of the outfits from SweetP's runway collection at Fashion Week. These were my faves of the 12 presented. The 2nd one being my favorite of all because I like the colors and the print and it's a cute little dress, which is what I think SweetP is really good at. I hope she does well on her own and I'd like to see more of her designs.


You can see the rest of SweetP's Collection Here

Next are my favorite of Chris's designs from Fashion Week. His collection was surprising, it was dark and goth-like with lots of black, dark blue and dark red. What looked like monkey fur when I first saw it turned out to be human hair, strips of hair extensions that people normally put in their hair. Now at first, I was kind of grossed out, because somehow human hair seems dirtier than monkey fur to me (yeah, weird I know. Of course it's been cleaned) but after thinking about it being used in people's weaves and wigs and in Victorian Hair Art, and reading other's opinions, the hair doesn't seem as strange to me now. But I still don't see why he didn't use synthetic hair, wouldn't that hold up better?
The outfit at the top of this post was one that he showed the judges last night. Not only was it trimmed with the hair extensions, the skirt was made with rows and rows of safety pins. Chris said it took 8 hours to make each row. The effect was amazing and I have to say, that shiny hair looked really amazing coming down the runway. The judges thought his pieces were too dramatic and over the top. But what about Christian? That boy is way over the top and that's what they love about him. Also, Christian had to try on several of Chris' pieces last night which was kinda funny. And Tim called Christian 'Sweetheart', which was so sweet, and he blew Chris a kiss when Chris got the boot at the end. I Love Tim. I know, you do too.


You can see the rest of Chris' Collection Here

My choice for the big winner? Well, it's easy to say that it's going to be either Christian or Jillian. It depends on what the judges are looking for. For more marketable clothing they will go with Jillian, for innovation and personality they'll go with Christian. Christian def has a bright future in fashion and Project Runway would be foolish not to latch onto him on his way up.

So Cool - Custom Felted Likeness of your Dog - by Amelia

These are very cool, I spotted the ad for them on Cute Overload. They are custom made felted sculptures of your doggie by Amelia Makes Art - I must have one of Boris!

Check out her Etsy store above and also check out the Gallery of her work - with hundreds of little felt doggies

Project Runway - You vote 'It's Sew Not Over'

Project Runway is having a special online competition involving 12 of the designers from this season. The 12 designers each made 3 garments which can be seen online at the Bravo website. Watch each designer's runway show and then you can vote on who you think the winner should be! The designer receiving the most votes online will win $10,000.
You can watch the whole 16 minute show above, or go to Bravo's webpage and watch each individually and then vote -
http://www.bravotv.com/Project_Runway/season/4/sew_not_over/vote/index.php



I haven't chosen a favorite yet, but here is my take on the outfits -

Carmen - inspired by Japanese warriors, weird I thought. But once you get past the mask and the sword on the 1st model, the outfits are actually very interesting and very Carmen looking. All of the pieces worn together are a bit much, but on their own with something else they would be very nice.

Chris - the 2nd dress is very Laura Bennett, I like the shoulder drape on the 3rd dress, it's my favo from this group. But a lady can only take small steps in these narrow dresses! I'm kind of disappointed.

Marion - inspired by Hitchcock, kinda High Fashion Goth, kinda Avant Garde. Maybe even a little 1920s influence too. Interesting.

Christian - lots of wild chiffon prints. Man that last model is scrawny legged! I think the mix of prints is a bit much. The 2nd dress reminds of the readywear outfit from the Avant Garde challenge, except it's a print. I like the 1st dress and I like the jacket in the 3rd look, but I'd prefer both without the print stockings.

Elisa the Puppeteer - I want to say something about her outfits being kooky (her commentary is the classic Elisa-kooky that we all love) but the dresses are actually pretty good. The 1st not so much, but the other two gowns are very interesting, they look really comfortable and they are draped nicely.

Jack - the print of the first dress is great, but the lay of the dress and the black accessories ruin it. I like the jacket on the 2nd look, the 3rd dress would have been better without the print trim and without the black boots and gloves.

Jillian - Very cute first dress, LOVE the 2nd dress, the high waisted pants in the 3rd look would have been much better on someone with hips and a waist rather than the stick figure of a model. I think I know now who I'll be voting for.

Kevin - he's straight, he's from Jersey, His looks were good, but nothing really different or innovative. The 2st dress is a cute plaid and I like the opposing pattern down the sides of the dress. I'd like the 2nd look if it wasn't leather, that is pretty cute.

Kit - Cute stuff, I like the sweater with the buttons up the sleeves, the eyelash dress is very sweet and I like the cape from the 3rd look over the plaid skirt. I could probably wear Kit's stuff.

Rami - Not a Grecian look in the lot! 1st look had a cute blouse, I don't think I like the puff of the skirt below the fitted hip - that's not a flattering look for the average woman. I love that lavender coat from the 2nd look. The Lavender babydoll dress would have been better without the ruffles on the arms and neck, unless you are 10 years old. I mean it'a babydoll, do you really need additional ruffles?

Steve - 1st dress, kind of plain and I hate those flat, no-boob bodices. The 2 other dresses were very nice party dresses, kind of 1950s looking and I really liked the lace shoulder treatment on the 3rd dress.

Ricky - Are you kidding with those hats? He had the 3 models wearing his hats. I couldn't stop looking at those hats! They were very distracting. Once I trained myself to ingore the hats I saw that the 1st dress was really sweet, I love the bottom. The 2nd dress, kinda trashy, but cute somehow. The 3rd dress was a cool looking red fabric, but it looked like it need to be pulled up or have something more structure on the bust or something at the neckline instead of the sheer nude.

Lindsay Lohan in recreation of legendary Marilyn photo shoot

I'm sorry, but I just gotta bitch about this. Is there no originality left in the world? Has everything original and fabulous been done, leaving magazines and publicists nothing to do but rip off the past, and rip it off poorly?
Lindsay Lohan is featured in a photo shoot in New Yorker magazine, recreating Marilyn Monroe's famous scarf photos. Now, Lindsay is a very pretty girl, but this idea is just a bad one, and the resulting photos make it obvious that it was a bad idea. There is just no comparison. The wig is bad, the make-up is bad. Marilyn is natural in her photos and Lindsay just looks awkward and fake. Her freckles are cute, I will give her that as a positive. But whoever came up with the idea for this photo shoot should be fired.
And amazingly enough, the guy who did the original photos, Bert Stern, did these too. What was he thinking?

'I've met some fierce bitches up in my life' - Christian highlights

Boudoir doll, Vintage hair, Jane Austen and pretty lingerie

Remember this sickly boudoir doll that I bought myself for Christmas? She's been glaring at me from her chair for weeks now, waiting for me to do something with her. I promised her a good home and nice clothing and she was tired of the scarf that I wrapped around her. So I dug through my vintage fabrics this week, found some inspiration, and I made her a dress and gave her new hair -



She looks really different with the dark hair and I love the way the gown turned out. I did very little sewing actually. I took the two fabrics by the corners and stitched them behind her neck. Then I just wrapped them, securing the blue fabric with a ribbon at the waist and stitching the black velvet to the ribbon in the back. Then I put a few stitches on the back of her sequined shawl. I hot glued the hems on the two fabrics. I did it while I watched the final challenge on Project Runway.



I have been obsessed with vintage hair for awhile, and even much more so lately. I bought the two books/pamphlets above on Amazon, they are copies of vintage hair books from the 1940s. 'How to create 1940s Hairstyles' has alot of good looking diagrams and instructions on doing many different styles. I haven't tried any yet. But I did give myself a haircut using the guide in the 'American Hairdresser' book. It's probably just a standard cut still done today, but I am really very happy with the results. It's about 2 inches above my shoulders and I can make it all curly around the sides, kind of 40s-like or I can use the bigger curling iron to make it more wavy, it waves really nice in the front. And it even looks good just drying naturally.



I've become obsessed with Jane Austen lately too, Thanks to the weekly Jane Austen movies that PBS has been showing (part two of Pride & Prejudice with Colin Firth is on Sunday night, yummy) So I ordered this book - 'Jane Austen's Guide to Good Manners - Compliments, Charades and Horrible Blunders' - perhaps it shall teach me to be a gentlewoman. I also ordered a biography of her life.





Don't you love the look of brown and aqua together? (along with a little peach) I made a stock purchase today (it included a bunch more lingerie from that lingerie loving lady's house) And while I was sorting things to write up the inventory, I noticed several pieces of aqua and brown lingerie and they just looked so pretty together. You wouldn't think that a brown bra would be pretty, but a vintage lace brown bra is very pretty. Yes, those are poodles embroidered on the one slip.

Dandelion Vintage Sneak Peek!

I'm working on a few great dresses for next week's update at Dandelion Vintage. I did the photos today, so here's a quick sneak peek at a few of them -
Black sparkle flounce bottom, Black velvet halter with rhinestones, 1940s with layered peplum



Strapless Polka dotted Fred Perlberg, Light brown draped rayon and a Pink Tulle Emma Domb

Rock Rocks-it again!

You know that I love the doggies, and every year I watch Westminster's Dog Show. I have so many favorites, but you know that it's all about the Bulldog - hey-hey-hey! Cherokee Legend Rock represented the Bulldogs at Westminster for the 2nd year in a row. He came in 2nd place in the Non-Sporting Group (behind a frou-frou poodle ((rasberry))
If you check out their website, you can see videos of the individual breed judging which is a great way to see a bunch of your favorite breed. The bulldogs are so fun to watch, they have such great attitudes when they walk - http://video.westminsterkennelclub.org/player/?id=216270

Blogging Project Runway has photos up of the 5 designer's shows last week at Fashion Week. Yes, of course I looked. I like spoilers and this doesn't spoil anything, because we don't know the final 3 yet. I'm going to hold off on my opinions until the show really airs and I can see the outfits moving. Sometimes they look so different on the move than in still photos. I have to say that I was surprised at Chris' collection, kind of Goth for him. I didn't like the monkey-looking fur he was using to trim some of the pieces though. I'll also say, boy does Christian love ruffles!

http://bloggingprojectrunway.blogspot.com/2008/02/final-collection-polls.html

More Altered Art & Project Runway

This week I finished up the last book in the Altered Art Round robin project. This book's theme was Fairy Tales, and I chose 'Damsels & Witches'

The two page spread -



Closer view of 'Damsels' and then 'Witches'



I printed off some John Waterhouse paintings, perfect damsels, and I found some creepy Witchy images online too. I used gold tulle, flowers and paint on the damsels page and some vintage black tulle and lace on the witches page. The vintage writings came from some poetry pages that were in with Jessie Laurent Harper's things when I bought the hats and dresses from her estate 3 years ago. The piece I used for the Damsels said 'come back to me sweetheart' and the one for the witches said 'walk with me in the darkness' - which I thought were perfect for the pages.

OK, I'll do a brief Project Runway recap. Designing costumes for Lady Wrestlers. How fun to see Tim Gunn standing up there with those gals! Chris won, how could he lose with his drag queen costume background? Ricky was finally out, and there were no tears, which was a surprise. So now we are down to 5 designers. Today is the Project Runway show at Fashion Week. I was reading a live blog feed from the show and all 5 are showing today. So at least 1, maybe 2 are decoys.
My early prediction was that the final 3 would be Rami, Christian and Jillian. But I think Rami has lost his lustre with the judges, so he may not make it to the final 3. My favorites picks would be Chris, Jillian and SweetP. But I know that Christian is definately going to be in there, because the judges love him. SweetP had several great dsigns, but she also choked in a few competitions too, so I don't know how the judges will look at that.
Rami still has a chance though, going by my 'investment theory'. Rami already has an established name in Hollywood. The judges - and I don't mean Heidi and the gals - I mean the REAL judges, the ones who sign over the $100,000 check - are looking for someone to invest successfully in. Look at Chloe and Jeff, both had businesses and knew what it took to run those businesses.
Ahhhh, I don't know who'll win. I can't wait until next week's episode!

Some vintage for me!

A few ebay purchases for me this week, including this great green and black striped day dress! I really love this one and can't wait for warmer weather to get here so that I can wear it. Although all the green buttons and loops down the front might drive me crazy getting in and out of the dress. I also bought another dress from this seller for myself, but it was a little too tight in the waist - NOT the seller's fault, her measurements were correct, I was just wishing a little too blindly that it would fit. But you'll get to see that dress for sale on the website once I wash it, so my loss is your gain (if your waist is smaller than mine)

Then I bought the pretty plaid jacket below from andapanda's Vintage Clothing The colors are very pretty and it's a nice lightweight jacket for Spring. Finally, the Straw bag came from Dandelion Vintage! I had a bunch of purses pulled to get ready for the next website update, including this purse. But I decided to keep this purse for myself (something else for Spring) because I love the details and it's the right size to get all of my junk into.