Ms Mignonette

Moving On

2011-03-16T21:37:00.000-07:00

Over the last 5 years I've had a lot of fun writing this blog (well, until someone started spamming my comments section), and I've loved using it as a forum to talk about new talent, and to share random thoughts, and dreams, and milestones.
I'm moving the blog over to wordpress, so if you want to follow the continued adventures of Mignonette Designs, join me, won't you, by clicking here.

Crafty Things Afoot

2010-10-24T23:28:00.000-07:00

I've been taking stock of myself and the things that I'm not only good at, but also actually enjoy, namely:
1)working with crafters
2)designing and sewing
3)helping people sell crafts that they made
4)teaching people how to craft
5)writing about crafting
6)planning craft-related events

I couldn't help but notice that the word "craft" was in there 5 times, along with sewing, designing, and writing, which are also pretty crafty. Add to that the fact that last week's Free Will Astrology horoscope basically told me to get off my butt (figuratively, given the circumstances) and start writing, and I've got a pretty clear sign from the universe that I need to start writing about craft, or, if not the larger craft movement, at least my place in it, and the places of those artists that I want to work with.

As someone who has always loved writing, but has never made a living at it, the idea of diving into that life terrifies me - sure, I can churn out compelling copy, but is that art? I have no idea.

The Rachel Dress Bows

2010-08-22T22:17:00.000-07:00

If you've ever tried to embark on a creative life you know that into every life a little fallow time must fall. My particular dry spell has lasted for longer than I would like, compounded by getting married, making dresses for other ladies' special days, and then getting very involved with not one but two amazing museums.

It began to feel like, unless I grew a second head and two more pairs of arms, there would never again be a chance for me to make something just for myself. Imagine how happy I was when my friend Rachel commissioned a dress for a wedding.
We got to go through the whole 9 yards: shopping for fabric (in this case, a blue muslin Liberty of London print with a cream muslin lining), sketching out a number of different Mad Men-style options for the dress itself, mocking up the muslin and doing the fittings...all of the things I love but was terrified that I had lost. Draping the top, recutting the pattern, trueing the seams, and then re-cutting it. Yes, those are parts of the New York Times - they work just as well as pattern paper in a pinch!And the big finish, unfortunately with some blurry pics from the last fitting at midnight the night before the wedding. Even Anne got in on the act. Once the wedding is over I hope to get some decent photos together so that I can get it on Etsy.

New Projects

2010-07-28T22:37:00.000-07:00

Exciting things are afoot in Mignonette-land: The revitalization of the Ladies Independent Design League SF, searching for new studio space high and low (to share with a boatload of fellow artists, perhaps too many superfriends to comfortably make a crime-fighting group), and the creation of a new mobile-crafting venture. Also pleasantly surprised with the new hire I made at Job #2. Almost too many projects to keep up with, but I'll have to write them all down or I'll forget.

Holy Shizz Look At this House in Shanghai

2010-07-28T22:21:00.000-07:00

Today's post in the NY Times Home and Style section is inspiring me to
1)Drool
2)Book a flight to Shanghai
3)Become bff's with this woman so that she writes me into her will (okay, she's only 38, so we'd have to be bff's for a good long time, but still, it's so worth it and maybe she'd let me borrow her clothes).

Behold:

And of course what house is complete without an antique birdcage to house your rosebush:

Holy Cow - More PRESS!!!!

2010-05-04T12:45:00.000-07:00

Craft Bar with Etsy Labs is blowing up big - PHEW!

More press! Just look at all these listings and kind words:

Holy shiz - craft bar was a weekly pick for the guardian!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
sfbayguardian.com/
Hipster Runoff

PSFK
Britex

Snike Larten

Craft Bar in Craft Magazine Online!

2010-05-03T17:22:00.000-07:00

Hooray! Craft Bar, the monthly crafting workshop that I run in conjunction with Etsy here at the MOCFA, was featured on the Craft Zine blog this month!
Here it is!

Things I've Done Recently - April 22, 2010

2010-04-22T09:12:00.001-07:00

I'm really enjoying the whole process of wedding dress-making - I love working with a bride on a design and choosing fabric and sharing tips (most valuable tip for any bride: even if you love your mom/mother-in-law and get along with her really well, you should ALWAYS appoint a trusted friend to act as a "mom wrangler" - well-meaning moms tend to add an element of stress to an already stressful day).

The best moment is when we get to the point in the design process where the bride looks in the mirror and unconsciously smiles at herself - that's how I know that we've designed her perfect dress. And then it's off to the races with all the fittings, trying-on, and more fittings. And then more fittings, tweaks, tears (usually from me), lint-rolling, and more fittings. During the months when I am working on a wedding dress (I only do one at a time), my living room is covered in a maelstrom of pins, fabric scraps, spray bottles, stray scissors, spools of thread, and newspaper. Truly, the life of a designer just oozes glamour.

I wouldn't trade it for anything though - I had two weddings and tried on squillions of dresses before having my former assistant make mine (and what a job she did, yowza!)I just can't speak highly enough for having someone make you your dream dress. Knowing that an off-the-peg dress, even if
it is gorgeous, is going to cost as much, or more, as a custom-dress, it just makes sense to have one made.

I made this wedding dress for a fellow Brooklyn-to-SF transplant last year, and I'm really proud of it (and I really need to find out who took these photos so that I can give her some props, are they not gorgeous???).
This bride is rocking some serious retro glamour. The dress is silk shantung with a lightweight cotton muslin underlayer. My favorite detail is the back bow, which is a detachable obi belt that I beaded with flowers from the bride's grandmother's veil.
The wedding was held outdoors, in the Shakespeare Garden in Golden Gate Park.
Let me know if you want your own!

And...We're Back for 2010

2010-04-20T12:16:00.000-07:00

The sun is out which means that it is time for me to peek my head out from under my rock and bask in it a little bit.
The other day the wife turned to me and asked what was on my mind, and i waited a few beats before saying "mischief. that's what's on my mind". Spring is a time when I typically get super-restless and want to change up my routine, not just a little bit, but completely. I took a second job as the buyer for the Museum of the African Diaspora, which has been challenging and exciting, but I think the sea change that my world needs is even bigger.

My travels around the country (and the world, like PARIS!) seeking out fabulous finds for the MOCFA has given me the chance to unearth some of the most incredibly talented, charming, wonderful artists and bring their goodies to the larger public.

This has made me realize that I really want to resurrect the Ladies Independent Design League here in the Bay Area. Anyone who knew me in New York might remember LIDL from the heady days of 2003-2005, when we collaborated, shared, and even planned a fun craft fair, IndieLicious. We even got a mention in the Handmade Nation book!
The most exciting thing about LIDL was the chance to meet other crafty business ladies to talk shop, commiserate, and everything else. It was the business version of a Stitch and Bitch. As I meet more women who are talented but unsure of how to take their businesses to the next step I want to find something, notably a FREE something, that we can use to help each other, and ourselves. With drinks.
So I'm putting out a call to women who want to start or further a business to please contact me. Let's get started!

Delicious Crush on Wendy Hacker Moss

2009-06-29T12:37:00.000-07:00

What is it about the warmer months that makes a girl want to throw on a little floral dress (or seersucker pants, whatever) and the strappiest shoes she can find? Is it, as many would suggest, a desire to mimic the nature that is suddenly bursting from every nook, cranny, and sidewalk planter? Is it that we get so excited to be shedding the more somber colors of fall and winter that we feel the need to cover ourselves in pretended foliage? I don't know what it is, but I know that I happily succumb to it, and make no excuses, which is why I was so excited when the work of Wendy Hacker Moss came across the counter here at the MOCFA. Wendy's pieces are unlike anything I've ever seen, and, since I'm a girl, I fancy myself a jewelry expert.
These are the ultimate in "double-take" jewelry - Ruffly, delicate, by turns shiny and matte, these delicate-seeming pieces are made with the most unlikely jewelry material ever
- steel mesh.
That's right - Wendy and her sister Elisa have elevated the humble window screen from utilitarian to high art, creating lightweight origami blooms accented with freshwater pearls and gleaming sterling silver.
The Bouquet Ring sits on your finger like the sweetest bunch of tiny blooms, while the decadent Wreath Bracelet covers your wrist with a garden of lush flowers that move slightly and just beg to be touched.And for those whose tastes run more towards the bright and punchy, Wendy offers the Rock Candy collection, tiny semi-precious stones and seeds beads on sterling silver that look just like those elegant sweet treats you loved as a kid. Try not to taste the tiny black spinels, red rubies, and turquoise chips - these are strictly candy for the eyes. Whether you pair these with jeans and a tee shirt, or a favorite floral print, if you're not careful you might find yourself attracting legions of butterflies as well as admirers.

Wendy Hacker Moss jewelry, available at the Museum of Craft and Folk Art, 51 Yerba Buena Lane, San Francisco. Visit www.mocfa.org for more info.

MOCFA Store Fabulous Finds, Vol. 1

2009-06-28T18:07:00.000-07:00

In February, I became the Buyer/Store Manager for the Museum of Craft and Folk Art in San Francisco. If you know me at all, you will understand that this is the PERFECT job for me - I get to scope out independent designers all day long and get paid for it. As someone who is always trying to expand the crafting community, having the chance to share the work of independent artists with a broader audience is a dream come true. In many cases artists that I am working with have never sold in a retail space before; I have even had a couple of people create products especially for me to sell. Needless to say, I have sometimes been the store's best customer. I can't help it though - we have such a fabulous array of people represented, including Loreto Remsing, the brains (and nose) behind L'Aromatica perfume, a line of hand-blended perfumes often made with organic flowers and perfume oils. Our entire staff is enamored of the Gardenia, Yellow Rose, and Kulfi scents, though the new shipment of summer scents has made me obsess over the Madcap Violet and Pink Peony. Loreto, a graphic designer by trade, blends her creations in her gorgeous, sun-filled home in Haight-Ashbury, and when she's not making the world smell better, she will also design a mean set of wedding invitations for you (including mine).
Also new to the MOCFA store is Jen Hewett, creator of the extremely popular Michelle Obama Paper Dolls and fishnet silkscreen prints (favorite quote "Before I went on a job interview a few years ago, my mom called me and begged me not to wear fishnets with my suit. Please. As if I'd ever wear a suit"), and Julie Brookman, who looked at a plastic bag marooned on the beach and decided to use it as inspiration for a series of glass vases.

Lately I've become enamored with a couple of fabulous finds from the home-decor and jewelry worlds whose work will brighten up any corner of your casa, or your cuerpo.

One of the most recent jewelery additions to the stable of artists in the store is Florabond of Idaho Falls, ID. Made by the wonderful Nicole, these necklaces are little works of art featuring repurposed vintage buttons and flowers combined with delicously textured fabric foliage, plastic beads, lace, and stainless steel chain. Putting one of these babies on will instantly class up an outfit, and they are sure-fire attention-getters. I sold the Strawberry Lemonade necklace literally within ten minutes of unpacking it from the box (the best part is that I was wearing it when I sold it). Florabond's MOCFA pieces retail between $60-$80 and employ at least twice that in terms of creativity. I love the romantic feel of them - having them on makes me think of drinking lemonade and doing the Charleston on a wet summer lawn at twilight, which since I now live so close to Golden Gate Park, is within the realm of possibility.
Also new on the horizon is Kellie McCool, who translated her beautiful drawings of scales, umbrellas, and antlered people to blank greeting cards for the store. The scales are currently the most popular of the bunch, though I love the "quotation" card, which has a little space on the front for you to add your own greeting. Genius!
If you find yourself in the San Francisco area and need to find a gift or just want to treat yourself, please stop by the store and visit us - most items are under $100 and we feature mostly Bay Area talent, because this city is just bursting with crafty goodness!

New Blog Mention

2009-06-28T17:58:00.000-07:00

Oh gee, thanks so much to the loverly folks (folk? I don't know how many of you there are!) at PaperMichelle for the bloggy mention about the Anne Dress. I have been an Anne Dress factory lately - I'm even sending one to Paris in a few weeks for a wedding in Greece. The dress is officially better-traveled than I am.

But if you are feeling like looking at some beautiful stuff online, the PaperMichele blog is the place to go.

I know I haven't blogged in forever, but...

2009-05-11T09:13:00.000-07:00

Please forgive me by joining me on Saturday, May 16th at the Museum of Craft and Folk Art in SF for a book launch and crafting party hosted by the amazing Lotta Jansdotter!

More deets:

Time: 1-4 pm May 16th

Place: 51 Yerba Buena Lane, SF

Why: Lotta, cupcakes, and crafting! The holy trinity of DIY!

If you are a fan of modern design, you will understand why this event is such a huge deal for me (besides the fact that I am the one throwing it, of course). Hope you can join me!
UPDATE!!!!

The event was SO much fun! The lovely Christina and Kate from Chronicle Books even made a little YouTube video of the day so that you can see the fun for yourself:
cupcakes, crafting and Lotta, oh my!

Hooray! More love for the Anne dress

2009-02-19T11:30:00.000-08:00

Whee! Local blog Santa B Style has given us a shout-out today. Check it out here.

D2D St. Valentines Dress

2009-02-04T18:49:00.000-08:00

After two long weeks of trying to kill myself via sewing machine, I have finally finished my entry for Discarded to Divine. I am also putting a version of it up for sale on Mignonette Design's Etsy page here.

I am pretty proud of how much work went into the dress and how it turned out, especially since this is how it started: Can you believe this is what I started with?

Skoal!

2009-01-23T10:58:00.001-08:00

My first press of 2009 (I think) - The ever-popular Anne dress got a lovely little posting on Love Is Near's beautiful blog, which you can peek at here.
Thanks so much, Tara! I am so honored. :)

Draping the Waitress Dress 101

2009-01-20T19:38:00.000-08:00

Listening to: My Frenchie Playlist (April March, Camille, Stereo Totale, Edith Piaf)
Current Mood: Overwhelmed with sewing responsibilities

One of my 2009 resolutions is to return to my roots and spend more time crafting with others; it's inspiring and it also helps to keep me from just watching television all day (or reading Jezebel, not that there's anything wrong with that) instead of sewing.

I've been meeting with my friend Rachel to share ideas while taking the quizzes in Twyla Tharp's "The Creative Habit".

Besides learning that I am should probably pass some of the administrative worries over to someone else so I can get to sewing, crafting with others (and talking about crafting, which inevitably leads to talking about shopping, and then going shopping)is an amazing way to build community, share some knowledge, and pick up skills along the way. Right now I am trying to perfect my group-teaching skills for a class I will be teaching on how to make the Waitress Dress. I'm also trying to get it perfected so that I can take a bunch of them to Viva as Vegas this year. Here's hoping.

Dear friend Lauren came over to help me re-draft my pattern and teach Rachel the basics of draping, and Rachel brought Bing for some puppy socialization. The poor kitties had to hang out in the bedroom all day, which they only pretended to mind:

I first draped this dress in 2006, and I've been trying to perfect the pattern for it ever since. When I first made it I combined my pencil skirt pattern with my sundress bodice, which looked fine on the dummy (and a lot of people) but required a certain amount of fudging that I would rather not have to deal with every time I make the dress. I scrambled around in my sewing room but couldn't find the skirt pattern this morning so we're draping an entirely new one.

Because I like to bring out the girliness in everyone, and because my friends are perfect fit models, we decided to try it we decided to try the sample on first one body and then another to see what we needed to fix. :
It's cute, no? But still it needs a something.

Now that we've figured out that the waist is too long in the back and there needs to be more ease in the hips, it's time to block the muslin and get to draping on Blanche, my elegant and long-suffering dress form:

Should we do it as one long piece and shape it with the attached waistband, or make a bodice and skirt separately? Questions, questions.
And how much allowance to give the waist so that I can raise or lower it depending on the body it needs to fit?

We decided to give the waist a 1/2" allowance so that it could be raised or lowered and the darts could be re-positioned. We probably draped that waist dart for an hour - Lauren is obsessive about fitting darts, Rachel likes the entire process, and I wax rhapsodic about fabric, so we're a good team. When we finally agreed that the dart was laying flat enough (after much debate and a lot of prickling with pins), it was time to take the muslin off of Blanche and true the pattern, taking the fabric we draped and straightening up the markings so that we could transfer the whole thing to paper with my arsenal of rulers.

Lauren showed Rachel how to fix the waist darts while I ironed the muslin for our sample and ran around making endless cups of tea (did I mention that not only do I have the attention span of a hummingbird lately, but that I've also had a fever all day?) and wondering what to get for lunch.

After a quick call to Andy's for some veggie delights, we sat down to bean curd, broccoli, and the other thing I am trying to cut down on in '09, namely soda. I'd like to be in better shape for the wedding in August, so perhaps I should also cut down on the takeout food. One thing at a time.

Meanwhile, Rachel brought Lauren over for a closer look at the muslin and a couple of tips.
The ladies got to work on fixing the waist darts with the hip curve and putting in a seam allowance while I took a break to check on the cats (luckily Lauren noticed that I was only giving it 1/4" instead of 1/2" - like I said, I'm pretty feverish, so it's awesome to have friends who can offer good advice), who were completely unconcerned with what we were up to and just wanted to be left in their patch of sun. I can relate, especially today.

Now that we've gotten the pattern in a relatively happy state, it can be cut out of the fabric, a tightly-woven linen in pepto-pink which is strangely fetching, though it looks oddly like a big slab of bubble gum when it's all pinned together. We are nearing the 5th hour of our adventure and the darts are matching up, so it's time to sew, sew sew, and then back to the ironing board to check on the results of our experiment:

Which looks awesome so far. It lays perfectly on the dummy, and Rachel is happy, so everybody's happy! Next week we'll drape the back of the dress.

Happy New Year!!!!

2009-01-06T16:19:00.000-08:00

I have decided to update my Etsy page, won't you surf on over and take a look?
Mignonette on Etsy!
I've been looking at my super-glam New Year's Eve photos and wondering how I can use them as inspiration for this season. Seriously, I have more ideas than I can shake a stick at, but lots of trouble organizing them in my pointy little head.

In the meantime, I will be updating this blog more frequently. I am planning part two of my wedding in Montreal, if you have any advice (seriously, we have NO IDEA what we are doing and neither of us has ever been there) I will gladly take it.

VOTE FOR MIGNONETTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-09-17T19:03:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh! Mignonette got nominated for the Craftiest Bastard 2008 contest! Vote for Mignonette (and then vote again!)! The polls are open until Oct 10th!

We’ve selected 10 crafty candidates to run for the Craftiest Bastard 2008!

You have the opportunity to elect your favorite candidate by voting on the issues: creativity of product, originality, use of materials and product construction.
Be sure to craft your vote today!

VOTE HERE!

the Styledash review is up!

2008-07-17T16:52:00.000-07:00

Awesometown - we were recently interviewed by the fabulous Mallory from Styledash, AOL's fashion blog.
You can read it here or just scroll down (though I recommend going to the AOL site).

We love all of the amazing independent designers out there. In order to find out more about just what makes all of these creative types tick, we present to you an ongoing segment called Indie Designer Interviews.

Today we'd like to introduce you to independent fashion designer Kpoene' Kofi-Bruce of Mignonette, which means 'cute girl' in French. Kpoene' recently launched her new bridal collection, which includes custom gowns.

Tell us a little about yourself and your company.
Mignonette Designs is a line of handmade custom and ready-to-wear dresses for sophisticated girly girls. I've been running Mignonette since 2002 when I first moved to Brooklyn. We've gotten a lot of press and been in a lot of stores and had a great time with it. I recently scaled back to work on the launch of Mignonette Bridal in June of 2008. This is a higher-priced (but still under $500) collection of dresses that can be modified for brides or bridal parties, and we're also offering custom gowns.

How did you get started as a designer?
I worked for a large company for a few months and realized that I really didn't want to work for anyone other than myself. Luckily, I moved to New York at the right time - Indie business, especially indie design, is really heavily encouraged there and it's easy to find other crafty entrepreneurs. In fact, I learned so much just in the first 3 years of running the business that i decided to start my own networking group, the Ladies Independent Design League, to work with other women who were trying to get their businesses in shape. It's not that I'm an expert, but I've been around the block a few times. :)

What inspires your work?
I am an unabashed Francophile so I love watching French movies, reading French blogs, and of course listening to the music of my favorite singer, April March (she's an American who mostly sings in French). I recently took up flower arranging, which is such a fun, random old-lady hobby, but it really helps to clear my head and think of new designs.

Who are your favorite designers?
Yves St. Laurent was a genius, and of course I also love Nannette Lepore, Catherine Malandrino, and Rebecca Taylor. My girlfriend gave me a Viktor and Rolf skirt for Christmas and even though it's more architectural than I am used to I like wearing it.

What are your top fashion & beauty must-haves?
I am a shoe fanatic. I have lots of different pairs of pointy-toed black pumps, and maybe nobody else can tell the difference between them, but I know.

For beauty I will take any concealer that hides my under-eye bags, which are enormous - lately I really like Cover Girl Trueblends. It's inexpensive and it actually works great. I also always need Pucci Vivara perfume or Mark Jacobs Daisy perfume or I don't feel ready to leave the house.

Any advice you would give to aspiring designers?
I would say that you have to really believe in your product. I'm repping a friend of mine who is a fellow clothing designer and she is the perfect example of what an indie business owner should be: She wears her designs nearly every day and really personifies the label. I think that's important. Refusing to take "no" for an answer is another thing any business owner should do. If Etsy isn't the best way for you to sell, create your own website. Can't seem to get into craft fairs? Maybe you should try boutiques. Since it's so hard for little businesses to stay afloat, you always have to look for new opportunities and they are usually in very unexpected places.

Where can people find your work?
Right now I am only online at www.Mignonettedesigns.com, www.mignonettebridal.com, and at Pandora's Trunk in San Francisco.

Anything else?
Please contact me if you are a new designer looking for advice! I can dish it for days!

New reviews and Etsy madness

2008-07-16T12:10:00.000-07:00

Current mood: Frazzled! I've got two dresses to finish before I can go to the ball (i.e. Avani's wedding).

Hooray! Mignonette Designs got a sweet little plug from the fabulous Lilah over at Chateau Bizarre! It's normally a site dedicated to goth and steampunk so I feel that we're in some pretty illustrious company! The best part is that Mignonette Designs is listed under the "vintage and rockabilly, glam and drag" section. Hee.

Here's what they said:
"A small line of cute knee-length dresses sweetened with modernized retro elements, perfect for daywear-into-nightwear ensembles. Both the clingy and the swingy are presented with wrapping tops, puffed sleeves, mermaid hems, little belts, and other distinctive details of the forties and fifties. Custom is welcome."

You can see the write-up here.

Meanwhile, last week I did an interview with Styledash that will hopefully be up this week. I'm really excited because I love the Styledash blog, and I didn't realize before but it's an AOL-sponsored blog, so hopefully that will bring in some new shoppers.

In other news, the conquest of Etsy (well, I'm trying) continues with the Mignonette Designs Etsy page that largely features custom work. I'm also posting up random sample pieces, such as an Anne Dress in size 0-2 that is only $85! That's right, I said $85! If you want it surf on over there and pick up a serious bargain.

As you can probably tell just from the banner, the Mignonette Etsy site has a completely different feel than the normal Mignonette label - prices are lower, designs are more experimental, and there is a huge focus on custom, so if you've been afraid to commit to a Mignonette Designs piece, the Etsy offerings might be more your speed.

I was also contacted by the publisher of Gala Weddings today about a write-up for Mignonette Bridal! I can't believe they contacted me - It's a dream come true for a tiny bridal shop like Mignonette Bridal to be in the pages of a magazine like that.
I'm bursting at the seams with excitement and also freaking out - what pictures should I send them? What should I say? The fear of putting my foot in my mouth is palpable, I'm really much better at repping others (hello, Sarah Zins, anyone?) than I am at talking about myself. Phew.

Oh, and - If I said I would review your indie biz on the blog, don't worry - I'm getting around to it!
xoxo
KP

Mignonette all over the place

2008-07-10T11:56:00.000-07:00

So...I took the plunge and joined Facebook - won't you be my neighbor?
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=1354395711

Also, I've been merrily adding to my etsy shop so it's officially back up! Please check it out here, and, you know, maybe buy something. :)
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5038803

And in other exciting news, I recently unearthed another wedding dress that I made back in 2003. Geez, I didn't know I had it in me but it looks pretty great! So here are some pics. Enjoy, comment, etc. If you would like your own version, it is for sale on the Etsy page - it's the "Custom Spaghetti-strap gown".

I'm also really happy because the black shauntung Anne dress went home with its owner yesterday and now I get to work on the two houndstooth traditional Annes that I have in the pipeline, plus this afternoon I am fitting my friend Ann for an Anne. That name is very big in my life lately.

anyways, I will be posting up a tutorial on it so you can see how it's made! hooray!

I went to yoga yesterday with Anne and am horrified at how stiff and achy I am - it sucks. Everyone else was balancing themselves and sun-saluting all over the place while I lay there gasping for air. I'm too young to be this out of shape. Boo to me for being creaky.

Announcing Mignonette Bridal

2008-07-01T21:55:00.000-07:00

It's July 1st, 2008 and Mignonette Bridal is ready to launch!

Please check out the site at http://www.mignonettebridal.com .
On the site you can engage (ha-ha) my services for a custom dress, including designing, budget consultation, even styling!
You can also order a ready-to-wear dress from the site if you need a piece in a hurry or want a less-expensive (but still amazing) option.
Please tell all your friends who are in need of a custom-made, gorgeous dress - I'm so, SO excited that this is finally happening, and I want to dress as many brides as possible!

In other news, now that Pride is over, I have started working my little tushy off repping my dear friend Sarah Zins' eponymous line of organic and recycled clothing.
Usually when you hear "recycled" you think of exposed seams and strange, fun-fur fabrics. Not so with Sarah Zins. Her line is incredibly wearable, well-made, and stunning. Best of all, it looks good on everyone, even those of us who are curvier.

You can check out her line at Sarah Zins, and order it online from our friends at

http://www.UnsungDesigners.com

I'm enjoying this whole "rep" thing so much that I think I'll try and do it for some other designers as well - after all, I have lots of experience with buyers. Anyone want a rep to get their stuff into stores? :)

This Golden Afternoon - The Fairy-Tale world of Julianna Bright

2008-06-12T08:50:00.000-07:00

If you've known me for any length of time, you will have heard me blathering on, at length, about the now-defunct but still amazing and life-changing band The Quails. This trio of three little friends Jen Smith, Seth Lorenczi, and Julianna Bright produced some of the most danceable and heartfelt queer punk music ever, earning them a coveted spot in my "favorite band" rotation of Sleater-Kinney, Le Tigre, and, um, Belle and Sebastian.

Sadly, The Quails called it quits in 2004, with Seth and Julianna moving to Portland, while Jen, a visual artist who toured with bands like Cha-Cha Cabaret and is widely credited with coining the phrase "Riot Grrl", moved down to LA to attend grad school at UC Irvine.

Since then, Seth and Julianna have been working on some charming little projects of their own, including their daugher, Evie, Seth's food writing (and making), their incredibly beautiful band The Golden Bears, and of course, Julianna's stunning paintings.

It might be reductionist to say that Julianna's use of obscure Victorian-era themes (she paints, as she calls them, "forgotten fairy-tales") and simplistic mediums (hand-drawing, goache) to fashion her images puts her comfortably in line with the values of steampunk, but I think it is at least safe to say that they share some of the same ethos: dedication to old-fashioned inventiveness and extraordinary, surprising beauty.
A regular at galleries that cherish small-scale, heartfelt pieces, her paintings pop off of the wall (and the printed page - see her entry for "Diary" in The Encyclopedia Project) with bright, crisp colors and fantastical imagery, mostly in creams, reds, and greens.
All are quietly beautiful with a disturbing undercurrent of tension - why is that woman tied up, and why is her bird-saviour feeding her? Is she being fattened up? Why isn't she being untied? Why is that couple , one of whom has an eagle's head, sitting naked in the mouth of a monster? They seem at peace, so maybe he's just keeping them safe? And what to make of the slightly menacing anthropomorphic characters, assorted scattered body parts, and strangely humanoid but not human figures with which her works are populated? One of my personal favorites is a portrait of a well-dressed couple, a gentleman rabbit in a waistcoat and spats and bearing a single flower, complete with root system, walking with his brightly-dressed wife, whose high-heeled boots, toy hat, and parasol are nicely set off by her teal plumage and the fish she carries in her mouth.
I want to know more about them - are they going visiting? The rabbit looks away, seemingly irritated, while the bird looks directly at the viewer, almost smug. The lyrical quality of Bright's paintings is matched by the dreamy, lilting songs of The Golden Bears, who recently recorded a series of lullabies based on children's stories belonging to her grandfather.
Like her paintings, the songs, filled with vivid imagery of ships in harbour, diffused sunlight, and life seen through antique mirrors, conjures a world in perpetual autumn: crisp, beautiful, and slightly chilly.
It is a peaceful and quiet place where you nevertheless must bundle up against the scary uncertainty of the outside world (in "This Golden Afternoon", Bright mentions that it impossible for her to make art, sing, or even sweep up leaves without having "demons about").
Sweeping tales built around a single image predominate (branches against the sky, sunlight filtering through a window, and frequently, the sea), or in one funny instance, a lullaby where she fairly begs her daughter to go down for a nap - "Sleep, my darling/sleep an hour/sleep just like a folded flower" - Bright's remarkably clear, soothing voice is given a perfect platform with these songs, a natural evolution from the acoustic protest-cum-folk songs that occasionally pop up in the Quails' catalogue.

Since becoming a parent, Bright has noticed that her work is beginning to revolve a lot around animals and birds and other child-appropriate themes that echo the work of fellow artist and mom Nikki McClure. Like McClure, she and Lorenczi frequently find themselves making art out of necessity (their album, Walls Without Walls, for instance, was recorded because playing the demo versions in the car was the only thing that would get Evie to stop crying).

Doubtless the urge to fill the world with beautiful images, delicious food, and gorgeous sounds is an effort to create the sort of world she and Lorenczi would like to gift to their beloved child, a desire to create a perfect nest that they can all snuggle into, warm and relatively safe from the kinds of forces that they railed against in their younger days. It's a nest we would all love to crawl into.

Check out Bright's illustrations on her website, and visit The Golden Bears Myspace page to hear the music that you'll have trouble tearing yourself away from.

The Anne Dress gets dressed up

2008-06-11T22:30:00.000-07:00

Currently listening to: The Golden Bears "Inspirational Lullaby", The Quails "When I Was A Lifeboat"

This week I've been tackling some of the 18 orders that I've piled up (from Capsule, online, and the custom dress party I had a few weeks ago), and the most exciting piece to come out of all this is a new silk shantung iteration of the Anne Dress, which I'm going to start offering on the site as part of my new Mignonette bridal collection. And to illustrate just how much work goes into making the darn thing, I made a little step-by step guide to the creation of the "Anne":

1. First, you cut out all the pieces. In the case of this version, it was 16 pieces. Whew. Then, you pin them together. Now comes the part that's actually fun: Adding on the ruffle. I love how, when it first gets going, it looks like a beautiful long ribbon on the front of the dress:

and then, as you go, it starts to look more like a bandolier:

I think this picture is cool because it's so symmetrical. It looks like an entirely space-age garment, I think.
Also for this dress I made a new kind of ruffle with a seam on the outside, which gave it a really beautiful line that I'm pretty psyched about.

2. Now it's time to put in the lining. In this case the bride-to-be chose a bright red heavy satin, which turned out gorgeously. For future Annes I might make it a dark teal though. ,
then the lining is added in and flipped inside out so that the ruffle stands up:

3.Now it's zipper time. The lining doesn't look half-bad. Hooray to me.

Now we step back to admire our work. The royal we, of course, unless you count the cats, who only care whether or not my sewing is disturbing their busy schedules of sleeping and licking themselves in various rooms.
4. And on to the sleeves. Here it is without sleeves, which frankly I kinda like. It's very flirty this way. Or maybe it's very Elvira. Either way, it appeals to the femme-fatale image I wish I conveyed.

The ruffle is doing all kinds of wackadoo things so it has to be pinned down and "trained" for the duration.

Ironing the sleeves is always funny because they look like scary, shiny metal gauntlets. * Actually I guess they don't, but at the time they did, which means I was up way too late the night before.

Now everyone knows that I cut fabric on the floor, using a taped-together ruler, and that my sewing machine table is balanced by an old towel. I don't actually like cutting on the floor, but my cutting table is currently being used by the actual Anne to create a scale drawing of the solar system, and she's so darn happy that I don't have the heart to move her.

Now the sleeve is set in and it looks kinda cute, mais non?
Now I iron it again, and then steam it and lint-roll it, all dressed in my fanciest sewing outfit, i.e. my pajamas, even though by this point it's probably 2 in the afternoon.

It is a testament to how much Anne must love me that I could look like this and yet she stays with me. Ah well, we must suffer for our art. And speaking of art:

Et Voila! 49 steps later, a star is born!

But first, the dress takes a quiet moment to contemplate its birth, which Anne graciously captures on film.:

What do you think? Do you like it?

yay! mp's dress is done and she likes it!

2008-06-03T10:04:00.000-07:00

I can't wait to get some photos of her in the dress, but my lovely san francisco bride really liked the dresses that we whipped up (well, not exactly whipped, it took 2 months) for her! here's what she said:

"Dear Kpoene',

well we did it, and had an amazing wondrous time of it all. I wish I could have recorded all the compliments I received--on both dresses-so that you could bask in them. The yellow was so cute and I never knew I could have cleavage before...but it was darling.

Truly the wedding dress was perfect and it was a breezy day, it fluttered as I walked, and no marilyn moments....I will be sure to send you photographs. It was so fun to wear and absolutely perfect.

Thank you for everything!"

Gee. that makes me feel really special. :) Anybody else want a custom dress?

Titania....

2008-05-19T10:50:00.000-07:00

Hooray! Sarah and I finally finished the dress we were making Eliza for her brother's wedding - it's really gorgeous, a 12-panel bias-cut crepe-back satin dress with an acid green satin lining. I've never had an easy time working with either of those fabrics, so I'm really proud that I was able to get it done and even get the zipper to lay flat. No mean feat when you primarily work with stretch fabrics! Here's a pic of it about halfway through the construction process. As you can see, in this pic the top hadn't actually been attached to the bottom yet, but you get the idea, right?
So, in other news, the MP wedding dress continues apace (hence the title of this post for all you fellow Shakespeare nerds) - it's nearly done and is really looking like it'll be awesome! We had our last fitting on Wednesday and my bride is all smiles despite the raw edges and pins and general messiness. When people request custom clothing, I don't think they realize how much work goes into it, and I try really hard to make the whole process easy and fun and safe- I go fabric shopping with you, I bring sketches and lookbooks and costume books and magazines, we watch tv and pick out shoes and even underwear (though I won't say who I had to do that for, but it has definitely happened!).
The end result is usually something pretty darn good, though:
A lot of the ladies that I've met here in SF are about to get hitched (seriously, this is the coupliest city EVER), and it's really fun to watch them getting excited about it. I really, really hope I get to experience that one day too, day, but in the meantime I'm glad that I get to share in the process.

Trash into Treasure, literally (Part 1)

2008-05-16T20:51:00.000-07:00

So every year hundreds of crafty, fashiony San Franciscans congregate in Civic Center for a great cause: St. Vincent De Paul's Discarded to Divine auction and fashion show.
What's that, you ask?
Well, anyone with a creative bent is invited to come try their hand at turning the cast-offs from St. Vincent's clothing donation bins into beautiful, recycled fashion which is then auctioned off, with the proceeds going to help St. Vinny's fund their homeless outreach programs.
Awesome, right? It's so awesome that I sent poor Anne into the sketchiest part of Civic Center at 7 am to pick and choose clothing for me to remake, and she gamely returned with some serious trash that had huge potential.
After creating your garment, accessory, etc., St. Vinny's asks that you photograph it and include any sketches, production shots, process shots, etc. to illustrate your genius and fabulosity for the judging committee. The winners in each category are those peeps who put major effort into creating something awesome and gorgeous. This competition is such a big deal that companies like Jessica McClintock are invited to create a special auction piece, and FIDM holds semester-long classes devoted entirely to the creation of D2D entries. The contest is sponsored by mega-companies like Gensler, the Gap, Levis, and Macys and culminates in a tent show, silent auction, and cocktail party for an intimate gathering of about 500.
Oh, and the best part? First they hang everyone's entries at the De Young. I had a piece of art hang in the De Young, and I didn't even have to sneak it in! When am I ever going to be able to say that again, huh?

So I'm posting these humungo pictures of my entry on Flickr from start to finish so you can see that I tried. If I had known how much work some people put into their entries though (the people's choice winner made a corset out of a leather suitcase, because she is rad like that)I would have really pulled out all the stops. Next year, it's on. Friendly competition my butt.

Anyway, I will post more about this event (plus my pics of the fashion show) but you should really check out the website here: http://www.svdp-sf.org/DISCARDED/index.html

Kiss me Once, Kiss me Twice

2008-05-16T13:18:00.000-07:00

It's been a long, long time since I updated this bad boy, huh?
Sorry about that.
Today I'm super-happy because I finally got pictures of the wedding dress that I made last year and the bride looks so happy and pretty and awesome that I have to share at least one of them:
I'm also, of course, beyond ECSTATIC about CA legalizing gay marriage yesterday. Well, at least provisionally anyway, but it's legal for now, so let's celebrate! Any soon to be brides out there, contact me and let's chat! :)

I've been up to all sorts of things lately, and now that the Craft Congress is over (Whew! That was amazing. I will have to make another post about it), I have to focus on getting ready for Capsule next week (yipes!) and finish up the orders from the custom dress party I held last week.
Wait, you didn't know?
Yes, ladies (or whoever), if you live in the SF Bay area, you too can have Ms. Mignonette come to your house and design gorgeous pieces just for you. If you're interested, just email me!

Holiday Fair mayhem

2007-11-21T09:37:00.000-08:00

Nearly forgot!

If you're in the San Francisco area and want to get your paws on some amazing Mignonette bargains for the holidays, I will be making appearances at the following events:

Even More Bazaar
Saturday, December 1 and Sunday, December 2
2 pm - 11 pm (Art show opening in the evening, with DJ's & bar)

Indie Mart

Sunday, December 9, 12-5 PM, 12 Galaxies Bar on Mission by 22nd Street

Indie Wrap Up at the Craft Gym

5-11 pm

1452 Bush St (between Van Ness & Polk) in San Francisco

IPride
3rd Annual Sparkl* Holiday Family Craft Celebration

Saturday, December 15, 2007, 11AM - 4PM
2436 Sacramento Street, Berkeley, CA

Jewelry from local artisans * Art from around the world * Prizes * Homemade holiday treats * Creative wearables * Raffle * Face painting * Kids crafts projects * Refreshments * Silent bidding on handcrafted children's books with multiracial themes.

California, here I come

2007-11-21T09:07:00.000-08:00

Well, okay, we've actually been here for almost two months, waaaaay too swamped to get anything posted on here, and with barely enough time to breathe. In fact, since I started at Mervyns in September, I haven't had time to do much of anything, not even unpack, so whenever I get wicked stressed out I take a look at this pic, which is currently my screen saver at work. It is my friend Ann's kitty Lester sitting on her boyfriend's head. I don't know why this picture is so funny but there's something about it that just cheers me up every time I see it, so I hope you will also get a kick out of it!

Yay! A little bloggy love on a Friday afternoon

2007-08-24T10:24:00.000-07:00

Hooray!

Today is my girlfriend's 30th birthday,and the countdown begins for the big move - just one more week and we're out! I'm super-frazzled, so I was quite pleased to open my inbox just now and find the following kind words about La Mode D'Indie from Lola of the Lola Collection. Rockin'!
Check it out or just look here:

My friend Kristin Eno of Pixie Petals and Halflight at etsy has turned me on to a great blog. Run by Kpoene of Miss Mignonette on etsy, La Mode D'indie is a wealth of information not only about Kpoene's wonderful work and design, but of other fine designers as well. I love her style of writing, fun and entertaining...you really get the sense that you are sitting down and chatting with her.

If you are on the lookout for a new favorite jewelry designer, some fresh stationary, or a one of a kind piece to complete your Saturday night date outfit, I strongly suggest checking out this blog.

Cheers!

Lola

Pretty Pretty - Witty Workshop

2007-08-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

It is an unfortunate fact that with the advent of email and texting people have lost the ability to write a simple, heartfelt note. Gone are the days when calligraphy was a common skill and every woman worth her weight in white gloves and suede pumps kept monogrammed notepaper as a matter of course.

Alas, these days you're lucky if you get a thank-you note after a job interview, so what's an old-fashioned gal to do when she wants to say something heartfelt without the aid of a keyboard?

As often happens in those situations where life feels increasingly hasty, shallow, and filled with honking horns, a gentle arbiter of taste and style has come to the rescue: Witty Workshop!

Montreal's Valerie Parizeault has created Witty Workshop, a line of beautifully illustrated notecards, stationery, drawings, prints, and even sticker sets that feature the kind of idyllic scenes - tea parties, carousel rides, and introspective moments- that make me long for an endless vacation in the Jardin du Luxembourg, or at least a sunny Saturday at the Cloisters.

A connoisseur of all things indie, Valerie draws on nature, children, and unabashed whimsy to create her pieces, transmits it all to the canvas of her Mac, and then shares it with us.

She has the unique ability to capture private moments and infuse them with a quiet sense of magic, or to capture truly magical moments and make them outstanding. An artist and graphic designer by trade, Valerie will work with you to create custom images - personalied stationery anyone? What about your own logo?
As for her line of preprinted cards, even if your idea of a perfect childhood doesn't involve wearing white pinafores and giant hairbows, you'll be inspired to send one of Witty Workshop's glamorous ladies or soothing, gorgeous collages (check out "I Was Meant To Love You") to remind your friends, lovers, and others that the best way to reach out and touch someone is to simply say "Thinking of You". Check out the world of Witty Workshop on Etsy and you'll soon learn to appreciate the pleasures of the written word.

Check Out Eutectic

2007-08-21T12:03:00.000-07:00

Even though we New Yorkers like to think we've got the last word on good design, every once in awhile a crafter will pop up and surprise us, someone who's got the look, spirit and vision we've been waiting for, and might have seen earlier if we hadn't been so busy gazing into our navels (aka the stretch of Mulberry between Houston and Canal).

Luckily for me, my prayers to discover someone with talent outside of the Triborough Bridge environs were answered by the likes of Eutectic, the singularly incredible jewelry line from Houston native Stevie Ballow, who is also one of the minds behind Rara Avis.

Eutectic draws not only on the oft-referenced triumvirate of "art, architecture, and other people" for inspiration, but also gets a boost from Stevie's background in biomedical engineering, a trait which pops up mostly in the spare, quieter pieces of the collection.
What's even more surprising than a penchant for science is the way Stevie uses gems and metals like paint, mixing syma curves (also known to architecture buffs as "the line of beauty"), riotous colors, and tiny semiprecious gems jagged as paving stones into her designs to create a kind of wearable masterpiece.
Though Eutectic has enough mouthwatering goodies to keep any fashionista happy, the "Day + Night" collection is by far my favorite, boasting intricately Earthy shapes that make me think of Talitha Getty on a Morrocan rooftop, or long summers in Ibiza wearing nothing but bikinis and long, flowing skirts. Among other reasons why I'm glad my cat is peacefully sleeping on my wallet are these Chandelier Earrings with quartz and labradorite, priced at an unbelievably low $116.
By mixing gold and silver elements with stones, chains, and found objects, Stevie has managed to find the perfect balance between art and design or, as she puts it on the Eutectic website, between "balance and uniformity".

Luckily for us, Stevie has developed something of a magpie's approach to creating her pieces, hunting and gathering to find the perfect mix, and then injecting a healthy dose of humor into the elevated art of her creations,
such as the Rosary-style necklace with onyx and white turquoise, which would be equally perfect on Kate Hudson in Vogue, or on me as I continue my far-flung journey for the perfect pointy black flat. I think this necklace would be divine with jeans and a simple but well-fitted tee, or for adding an edge to a flowy dress and boots. Like all of the other pieces in the Eutectic collection, it is witty and charming without trying too hard, and it is interesting without being self-conscious. Kind of like you, perhaps?

Visit Stevie here and see for yourself.

Size 9?

2007-08-16T15:31:00.000-07:00

Don't cry, little kitteh, with feet that big, you are sure to always score at Manolo Blahnik sample sales!

Etsy Excitement for the Strawberry Dress

2007-08-14T10:22:00.001-07:00

I'm in Ecuador this week, and yet I cannot tear myself away from the joy that is indie. In fact, I'm super-excited to go check out some of the handmade goodies that await me at the markets here. But it's still very early in the a.m. so I can't go yet.
I'll be back to reviewing the slew of awesome designers who responded to last week's request when I return to the States on Monday.
In the meantime, I want to share some of the delicious dresses that I've made recently, one of which I just made available on my ETSY page, Miss Mignonette!

As you might have read about in an earlier post, I love me some wrap dresses. I love how easy they are to wear, I love how the wrap and tie feature hides my tummy roll, I love how they instantly give you a waist, I love them I love them I love them! I could wax inarticulately rhapsodic about them for hours, but instead I would like to brag on a few of the ones I've designed, including my personal favorite, the Strawberry Dress.

What I love most about this stretchy cotton wonder is not just how cute it is, but also the wearability of it. When I started designing it I was really pining for a good wrap dress that would not fall into that dreaded "old lady dress" trap that so many wraps are prey to. A lot of my customers were pining for something that they could just throw on, preferably in a fun color, and most importantly in a fabric that didn't have to be babied.
I searched online for good polka-dot jersey and came up with this gorgeous mid-weight jersey blend with dime-sized polka dots. After modifying the pattern for the Andrea Dress to include a higher neckline and fuller skirt, I added a ruched keyhole back, closed it with some mother-of-pearl buttons, found a 2-inch contrasting grosgrain sash that could be made into a huge, flattering bow, and Voila! The Strawberry Dress!

Whenever I make a new batch of these dresses for craft fairs, they are usually gone within the first hour. Girls (and ladies) love that the sleeveless design is still wide enough to hide a bra, and that the modified sweetheart neckline is still high enough to prevent any slippage.

The tulip skirt and slightly Mandarin collar also provide enough interesting effects to take this dress from cute to *wow*.

I like making and wearing and sharing this so much that I've decided to put it on my Etsy page, Miss Mignonette, . I hope you'll check it out. It's a very versatile dress - now that I'm moving to a slightly chilly climate (silly SF! Don't you know you're in CALIFORNIA?) I plan to wear mine with a little cardigan and some pearls or one of my necklaces from Luka Designs, and of course some sky-high Minnie Mouse heels with a big bow. What would you wear yours with?

Whoo! Mignonette is on The Street!

2007-08-13T15:03:00.000-07:00

Exciting things today!

The article about the Ladies Independent Design League is up on Thestreet.com, and yours truly is on page 2! Check it out here, 'cause it's very exciting to get press always.

Delicious crush on Jewelry By Abby

2007-08-13T10:01:00.000-07:00

As you might have noticed, I like shiny things, and I especially like brightly-colored, beautiful, well thought-out shiny things that I can wear. In fact, I have been known to abruptly break off conversations in order to press my face against the windows of certain stores in Soho.

As an unabashed magpie, my jewelry habit has a tendency to become somewhat problematic, so it's always nice when a designer comes along whose work is so well-edited that you cannot make a bad choice. One of my current favorites is Abby Umansky, the designer behind Jewelry By Abby.Abby's pieces go beyond mere bling - she takes into account the healing properties of the stones, the origins of the silver and gold, and the ability of each piece to act as a mood-enhancer (they certainly cheer ME up).

I had the good fortune to do a couple of shows with Abby this Spring, and convinced her to trade a one-off striped jersey halter with ribbon tie for a deep-orange chalcedony collar-style necklace with a delicate gold-chain setting. It is one of my favorite necklaces and leaves the house with me almost every day. Whenever I wear it people ask about it. I wear my chalcedony whenever I need to look more dressed-up; In fact I am wearing it right now and deciding which of Abby's new pieces should become my next all-time favorite. The colors that Abby picks for her jewelry are so vibrant that they look like little fruits piled on her display table; even the metals are unusually bright and shiny and light up your face when you put them on.

Luckily, Abby has also been blessed with a genuinely spot-on sense of what girls want to wear. Invariably she manages to mix findings, stones, and finishes that are the perfect combination of exotic, feminine, and urban, so that you can wear them with jeans or a flirty dress (my personal favorite) and look completely pulled-together. With prices ranging from $50 - $200 for special orders, they are also priced so that you can treat yourself to one (or two) and not feel any guilt.
But, as they used to say on Reading Rainbow - don't take my word for it. You can visit Jewelry by Abby here and pick up an all-time fave for yourself as well.

Stitch Austin Donation = Rad!

2007-08-10T22:14:00.000-07:00

Here comes Stitch Austin!
The lovely ladies at the Austin Craft Mafia are once again throwing Stich Austin, the indie fashion and craft extravaganza that takes over Austin for 1 fabulous day every Fall. This year's event is Saturday, November 10th. With a hot haute fashion show and a craft fair featuring hundreds of awesome indie vendors, Stitch is the place to BE. If you can, definitely check it out.
Even if you can't make it, there are tons of ways to participate -
you can donate to the raffle, sponsor the event, give items for the goody bag raffle - including tote bags, which is a great opportunity, or have a segment in the fashion show.

Since I can't be there in person, I donated a Gidget dress to the raffle. If you like it, you can order your own from my "Movin' to SF Sale" on etsy.

Really?

2007-08-09T14:22:00.000-07:00

Huh. I just got interviewed by thestreet.com about the Ladies Independent Design League, the indie business networking group I started.
Isn't that a financial website?
When I told my friends who know about these things they freaked out and started talking about "Jim Cramer" and "huge deal on Wall Street" and wandered away looking dazed. That would be an interesting segment of the market. Bring it!

Attn: Indie Designers

2007-08-09T14:19:00.000-07:00

Hi, designers! As you can see, I just started this little indie fashion/design blog and I want to review people's work! I'm looking for clothing, jewelry, men's items, tee shirts, pets, baby, and graphic arts. If you're interested, please email me at kkofibru@gmail.com or leave a comment for me on this announcement. My only request is that you link to me once I review you so that we can all start getting lots of clicks and become rich and famous. Or something.
xo
Kpoene'

It took 4 hours to get to work this morning.

2007-08-08T09:44:00.001-07:00

I need some cheering up, so I took this pic from the Bonbon Blog. It's so pretty. I wish cherry blossoms grew inside of my house.

Also cheering was a lovely mention I recieved on the Bonbon Oiseau blog from the Queen of Beatiful Design Herself, Miss Deborah Stein,
which is here.
Thanks, Deb! That's really awesome. I like your pieces too.
But you know that already.

I was also greeted with the following fashionable activity, which I will hopefully be able to attend without looking too bleary-eyed or otherwise insane:

Nanette Lepore will be there! She is my idol. And the head of the CFDA.

UPDATE: Nanette was there, but I was too shy to talk to any of the important peeps and ducked out as soon as it was over. Most interestingly was the fact that Linda Hamilton from Terminator was sitting next to me. Isn't that random?

What I'm been focusing on instead of packing for our trip to Ecuador is making Anne a present for her sister's wedding and having Jane sew it. It's green shantung with brown undertones, slightly below the knee, with a ruffle down the front as a nod to the Anne Dress that she designed, and a bow around the neck. It is basically this children's shirt, but lengthened to make a dress, and made much larger. and in silk. Okay it's nothing like this shirt, I just like the picture. It reminds me of Anne, as do most things that are sweet, innocent, and kind of dorky.
I am most excited about the ethically harvested horn buttons and the chocolate velvet ribbon belt that will go with it. Jane is going to sew it for me. Hope it fits!

2007-08-07T09:48:00.000-07:00

okay, less cranky suddenly:

Hmm. wonder why?

The Divine Chic of Bonbon Oiseau

2007-08-07T09:17:00.000-07:00

Let's see, who am I crushing on today........... ah yes.

Fellow Francophile Bonbon Oiseau, aka Deborah Stein.

This lady makes the most interestingly pretty jewelry and gorgeous feathery hairpieces you've ever seen. Some of them look so much like fresh flowers that you'll swear you've never peeped a prettier bloom, unless you live in Tahiti, in which case you have gorgeous fresh flowers all the time, and anyway shut up. :)

If I ever get married Jane is making my dress and Bonbon Oiseau is making everything else for me, my bridesmaids, the wife, my mom, her mom, her friends, the cats, everybody.
Behold this piece Deborah custom-designed for a bridal party:
What I like the most about Bonbon Oiseau is that the pieces encourage you to inject some serious glamour into your everyday life, but since they are made with flowers and feathers and natural materials, the look is much more Earth goddess than anything else. They are so wearable and pretty, and with prices ranging between $42-$300, you can afford to pick up a few for yourself and your friends! I've done several markets with Deborah and her table, booth, and website are so perfectly chic and ethereal that people just flock (sorry, that wasn't intentional) to her table and try everything on. It's fun watching girls who would never think of wearing hair jewelry (including me) having fun with the pieces, but once you've got one on you feel like Billie Holiday with her trademark white camellia blossom.

Of course Bonbon Oiseau also makes incredibly cool jewelry, like these L'Eglantier (Wild Rose) Earrings. They are faceted crystal with antique glass roses. I don't usually wear yellow but I could be convinced:

Can't you see yourself in a summery dress and gold sandals with these framing your face? In fact, you are probably already wearing that outfit, so you should get these to make it perfect.
You can get them here.

And tell her Kpoene' sent you!

Yay! I'm an IndieEntreprenuer!

2007-08-06T19:54:00.000-07:00

Awesome! Check out this interview I did on IndieEntreprenuer.com. I feel so imminent!

Witty Painting Obsession

2007-08-01T19:35:00.000-07:00

I like to think of myself as an artist, and as such, as a connoisseur of other forms of art, especially 2-D. I have my favorites, like Kehinde Wiley, he of the *brazilliant* images of young Black men done up in saintly poses and rendered in gessos and egg temperas still wearing their normal street clothes, or Enid Crow, the Brooklyn photographer whose "Disaster Series" portraits are finally gaining some well-deserved recognition. Lately I have been looking even closer to home, namely within my own artist's studio complex, and have happened upon the quiet little career of Miss Ella Kruglanskya. Ella specializes in painting ladies who are being somehow compromised by their clothing, often physically, as in this painting of a very Hitchcockian blonde threatened by the print of her dress: Ella's ladies are all very full-figured, fashion-obsessed, and seem to get themselves into the kind of ridiculous situations we always fear (but hopefully never experience): This lady seems to be suffering from "butt-hair" a la Dracula in the Winona Ryder movie, and also the little man printed on her dress is strangling her. I hate it when that happens. A graphic designer by trade (if you live in New York, she may have designed your wedding invitations), Ella takes inspiration from a ton of sources, especially foreign fashion magazines and frequent (daily) trips to Daffys. This fashionista sensibility comes across in the styles and poses depicted in her work.
I recently attended her show at Brooklyn Fireproof, "Something Swarming Something". When I open a store I am hoping that she will do all of my advertising and also that I'll be able to paper the walls of the dressing rooms with her sketches. Right now I'm content to share her with the rest of the world, but I'll definitely be saying I knew her when. :)

New design crush

2007-07-30T08:01:00.000-07:00

Right now I am all crushed out on the work of fellow Brooklyn girl Aimee Wilder. I first heard about her on DesignSponge, and since I usually trust Grace's judgement I figured her recommendation would be up to snuff. Not only does Aimee have some seriously mad skills at Illustrator her prints are whimsical and funny and would look awesome either covering the hideous beigeness that is my bathroom or else gracing some of my jersey wrap Heidi dresses.Hmm. I better email her and see what she says. They are spot-on perfect blends of modern colors and classic elements. I want all of them in my house, somehow. Check out this hysterical barber's pole with hearts. , I mean, come ON! Can't you see that on a sweatshirt at Fred Flare?
Some of her more traditional prints include fleur de lys (my favorite) and funeral urns in dayglo colors, and patterns of hearts, clovers, and other poker staples in super-saturated jewel tones.

I'm thinking that she is going to be a major force in the design world.
In the meantime, you should check her out here and perhaps tell her how great she is too!

Joy of Wrap Dresses, Part 1

2007-07-29T13:21:00.000-07:00

You might have noticed that I am a wrap dress fiend. I have tons of them and can't stop designing them and am always looking for more.

Not only are they cute as heck,

1) they look good on everybody
2) they give you a waist if you have none,
3) they hide tummy rolls
4) they hide big hips
5) they hide big thighs
6) did i mention that they look good on everybody?

Popping on a wrap dress has the same effect as doing 100 situps a day for two weeks - your waist ends up looking about 3 times smaller. Who wouldn't want that, seriously?

As a hippy girl with a small waist who cannot get away with most of the styles that are popular right now, I love that you can throw on a wrap dress and go, and not have to worry about how you're going to look, because they always look great. That's the secret to Diane Von Furstenburg's success - ease!
A wrap dress was actually the first thing I designed lo these many years ago (okay four years ago) and I've been experimenting with them ever since.
I like to do the whole girl routine every morning but it does not extend to having to futz with my clothing all day long, tugging and pulling and adjusting and sucking in my gut. Luckily, wrap dresses mean that you don't have to do any of that.
If you like your chest, front-wrap dresses are great for showing it off, and if you prefer your back, there's back-wrap dresses for that too!

My latest wrap dress obsessions are this pattern that I found on Ebay, which is kind of like a combination of my Nefe dress and my Molly Dress. Not only is it a "Hollywood" pattern, check out the awesome rickrack and the big red and white bow! Can you believe the tiny waist in that illustration? .If my waist were that small I would snap in half! I think I will take some of the fabric I use for the Waitress Dress and make myself one of these. I might make the skirt fuller for that whole 1950's look I love so much, and maybe add some gussets for swishiness! I am crazy about gussets! I am also crazy about how wierd the sizing in old patterns is - this pattern from the 1930's is a size 18, which is a 36 bust and 39 waist. You know what size that is now? A SIZE 6!

Actually now that I think about it, that pattern looks an awful lot like these red polka-dot wrap dresses I made for the Pile of Craft show in Baltimore last month. Hmm....... Maybe the folks at Simplicity patterns traveled into the future, saw my dress at the craft fair, and then raced back to 1939 and made a pattern out of it?
Yeah, maybe not. But who's to say? :)

My other big crush right now is actually my Therese Dress (yes, I get mad crushes on stuff I design). I cannot get enough of it lately and it's been my most popular item at craft fairs by far. I always thought of it as being a pretty dressy dress, but you wouldn't believe the custom variations people have asked me to make on it -

First I made it for someone out of a beautiful Amy Butler Belle cotton print in buttery yellow and electric blue. This dress featured my first-ever handmade buttons! I think they were a success.
In the background is my oh-so cluttered studio. It is not actually messy, but since I cannot physically stop myself from buying fabric, trim, and anything else related to sewing and crafting, i's a pretty chock-full space. But everyone who comes in assures me it's the sign of a good artist. Anyway, I am pretty darn happy with the dress. It's cute, right? And much more casual. The happy owner plans to wear it to have brunch or go shopping. She wanted a dress she could wear flip-flops with but still feel pulled together. I think it worked out. It'll be cute if she dresses it up, too!

The other thing that you can see in the background is the muslin for yet another version of the Therese Dress, this time commissioned as a WEDDING DRESS! Can you believe it? I made someone's wedding dress!
I have to say it came out really beautifully: For some reason in these two pics the dress appears to be hanging longer on one side, but for the actual ceremony she took it to a dry cleaners and had them iron the heck out of it so it would lay perfectly. We had a tough time deciding between the blue belt to match the groom's suit, and the white belt to make it a full-on wedding dress.
My personal favorite part was the way we decided to take the scalloped edging on the lace and make it repeat on the sleeve.
Having a detail like that slims the appearance of bigger arms by drawing the eye downward, and since the sleeve was slightly fluttery it came out really flattering. I love doing custom designs, it's really fun working with someone to make their dream come to life!

Anyway, as someone who really loves chocolate, cheese, bread, and basically every other food that you aren't supposed to eat, I'm glad that the humble wrap dress exists. I'll keep wearing them and designing them, too!

one other thing

2007-07-26T20:51:00.000-07:00

PRAISE JEEBUS, my cats are CUTE!

Day of Beauty and Tearfullness

2007-07-26T20:07:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows me knows that the last few weeks have been tumultuous at best, namely as the day draws nearer for my sister-in-law's wedding. I was originally assigned to make the dress but when I got too overwhelmed with projects my friend/occasional assistant/craft fair partner Jane took over, thus saving both my relationship and my ass.
And boy did she do a good job. Lo, from a few yards of overpriced fabric came a wedding dress to end all dresses, the quirky wedding dress from which all quirky wedding dresses shall be molded.
Behold:
Can you believe that? SOMEONE I KNOW MADE THAT.
If she doesn't ike it I am going to commit hari-kari. But something tells me that she will like it. Something tells me she will be too busy getting married and being happy to even notice.
Of course when Jane emailed us the pics today Anne started crying at her desk. She loves her sister something fierce. I hope if I ever get married that my sister gets just as fuhklempt. We'll see.

In other news, Anne and I just got back from seeing Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane as part of Celebrate Brooklyn, and having never seen the company before, I think I can safely say that the perfect weather, typical attractive Brooklyn hipster crowd, delicious french fries from the Prospect Cafe, and of course the amazing performance, were a nice beginning to what I hope is a perfect final month here in the city of...rats? Lights? Free dance pieces? Whatever.

My crush of the day is this piece of gorgeous fabric from Reprodepot. It's almost exactly like a silk that Marc Jacobs did last fall and which I am still kicking myself for not buying when I found it at Mood a few months later.

Anne just snuck up behind me and caught me preparing to order it, which I am ashamed to admit since we're moving and I shouldn't be collecting anything new. Hmm. Anybody want some furniture, or 5 years worth of fashion magazines?

My Etsy Page is Finally UP!

2007-07-19T21:20:00.000-07:00

Please visit my new Etsy page, Miss Mignonette! I'm going to post up all my new designs there - hope it works!
Here 'tis:
Etsy!

My big gay June

2007-07-19T18:37:00.001-07:00

So Pride was actually last month and it coincided with a lot of other fashionista business I had to do, so it all goes in the same post.

The month actually started with the amazingness that was the True Colors Tour. I wasn't that jazzed about it first, because I try to avoid the kitschy, overpriced packaged gay thing, but since I am the epitome of kitcshy, campy, and over the top, I was actually really excited. Erasure, for goodness sake! Plus Debbie Harry, Rosie O Donnell, and even Margaret Cho couldn't messit up for me (it's true, I don't like her much. Does that make me a bad queer? I think it probably does). Plus the Gossip was playing and I've loved them for the last 7 years and I wanted Anne to see them, so I was psyched to go. I am so madly in love with Beth Ditto's skills and the huge sound the three of them produce with just a bass and drums. And Beth puts on one hell of a show. As an inveterate femme, it is hard for me not to drool over the new drummer, but as a feminist I had to maintain my integrity and also my girlfriend was there. We danced to Erasure and later we slow-danced to "What A Wonderful World" and someone took our picture.

On the 18th, Erin and I had to be on the 3 am bus to Baltimore for the Ladies Independent Design League's visit to Pile of Craft, thrown by the Baltimore Craft Mafia. I went to sleep; Poor Erin immediately got accosted by some random lonely guy who talked to her the entire 5-hour bus ride. Sorry lady!
We arrived at the church at 8 am, ready to set up and get going.
Slight problem - No Carrie. No Carrie means no garment rack, no hangers, no set-up, NO!!!!!! Of course she arrived eventually, newly married and brimming with gossip about the people we went to high school with, some of whom were there (YIPES!).

The day before, my awesome mom came up from DC to help me sew some new pieces, ncluding the Strawberry Shortcake dress.
When we weren't furiously selling our little hearts out, we spent the day among the cream of the Chesapeake Bay craft scene, marvelling at the creativity of our fellow vendors.

The Craft Mafia ladies were incredibly nice, giving us food and helping us with directions and setup and everything. I will definitely be doing their events again! Baltimore is gorgeous, and now I feel a little bad about not allowing Anne to consider moving there. It was also really fun getting to hang out with Sarah and Kim from Crafty Bastards and play with Kim's sweet kitty cat, who remarkably didn't mind being on leash in the middle of a crowd of thousands. Even I was kind of freaking out.

Just a few hours later we were dodging cars on our way back to the Greyhound station, excited to be on the bus and heading back towards the city. Laden with custom orders and kind of sticky, sleepy, and chilly (boo to A/C), we were mostly excited about showering and sleeping in our own beds. And there were no talkative guys on this leg of the trip.

Happy Pride!"

I won't pretend that Pride isn't sort of exciting for me, as well as completely scary, overwhelming, obnoxious, and fun. Heck, last year I went all the way to SF to celebrate, so I guess I secretly love it, even though I also consider it to be a exploitative excuse to drink and hook up with people that we've never met and will never see again. Queers drink too much and Pride is just an excuse to get fucked up for the sake of forgetting. Anyway, the girlfriend and I were debating whether or not to make an appearance at the NY parade this year. We decided to take a little trip on the Hetrick-Martin float, hopping on at 8th street to perform our duties as go-go dancers for the thousands of queers lining NYC's streets.

We jumped on next to our friends Abby, Deanna, Gina, and Eli, and proceeded to make dancing fools of ourselves. It was nice being back among the HMI crowd, saying hello and giving hugs. Here are some pictures of Pride from the HMI float. I am bummed that I didn't get one of those yellow tee shirts. Anne and Eli spent the parade setting little butch hearts aflutter while Abby, Gina and I dirty-danced to Madonna songs. All in all it was just like when I worked there. Afterwards instead of hitting the bar we...oh wait, we did hit a bar. But then Eli, Anne and I drove to the Brooklyn waterfront to eat ice cream and watch the sunset. It made the fact that I had to help him move to Philly a week later especially poignant.

Hooray for gay!

The week after that I was one of three "Design Prodigies" on TLC's new show "I've Got Nothing to Wear". We had a little party to celebrate my appearance and luckily they didn't make me look too foolish! Being on the show was incredibly exciting - we spent 3 days locked in a room in midtown with nothing to do but sew our little hearts out. I was kind of annoyed that the woman we designed for didn't pick my outfit, but I'm glad I got be on the show because I met George Simonton, the lovely and wonderful FIT professor and designer who I hope will be my new best friend.

Afropunk!

The following weekend my dearly beloved nephew came up to NY to hang out with us and help me get ready for the AfroPunk Block Party at BAM. Anne left for her uncle's house in New Jersey (we respectfully declined), and Malcolm and I went to the beach with my friend Eliza. We rode the ferris wheel, which was lovely and which I won't do again. :)
I was going to post a picture of Eliza in her bikini but then she would retailiate. :) I forced everyone to sit in a stable car and wouldn't let them move in case the car started to swing. I realy hate heights. :) Here's the ferris wheel instead.

Later, after dressing him up in Anne's clothes and dragging him to a bday party in Chelsea, he was a remarkably good sport about me forcing him to learn to sew and then, even worse, forcing him to model the girly creation he made:

You have to admit, the man is a good sport. And a darn good seamstress too!

The next day Eliza, Malcolm, Ella, Rudy, and Anne joined me for the First Afropunk Block Party.

I managed to make a ton of money, meet some great people, hand out lots of business cards, and hear great music to boot. Afropunk is my favorite movie, I like to think it was a love letter written expressly for me. And for once, though I heart James Spooner, I managed not to leap on him the way I usually do. He appreciates that, believe me.

Just a few days later, the month ended with Anne and I on the 3 am Greyhound from Port Authority, a place that at the best of times isn't especially pleasant, but at 3 am is really no fun. We took a trip down to DC to visit the Folklife Festival, which really meant that Kpoene' wanted to go check out the Hope Diamond, and everyone else had to follow. Aren't we a cute family? We are a cute family.

Finally, A Post!

2007-07-19T17:48:00.001-07:00

I've been trying to get this blog up since the site launched, oh............. 3 months ago? That's sad. But I'll be posting my latest pieces, custom orders, Etsy posts, and show pics, and then of course keeping updates of my sometimes fabulous, sometimes very quiet, life as an indie fashionista.

In the meantime, here are some pics from Bastille Day at the Brooklyn Indie Market. I joined up with my friend/ertswhile sometimes assistant, Jane Van Cleef, who is, as you can see, a major talent. I should probably make her "dissapear" and then suddenly come up with a whole line of impossibly beautiful pieces that I sewed mysteriously fast. Hmm.... Hope Jane's not reading this!

We are so cute it's sick, right? Yeah. Maybe since it was Bastille Day I should have written this post in French? Nah.

One thing I am really excited about is these Fete Dresses. I work at a textile showroom so I get free fabric, and then I get to go crazy with it. Someone the other said getting free fabric is like crack to me, and it's true. Fabric is like my drug - it's messy, it's addictive, it becomes a sickness to the point where I can't think about or do anything else, and my friends just shake their heads at me. And all my money goes to supporting the habit. The difference is that crack doesn't make you look pretty and hopefully my clothes do. I did 4 different styles. Here is one: