The Genius of Raven & Crow

As a designer I am really clear about what I am good at and what I love and where I'm not so fluent. I often say, "design is design is design", meaning, a good designer can learn to design anything well.

I've spent 20 years designing and making just about everything I can think of. However, I am not a graphic designer. Which is exactly why when I wanted to give my studio a proper logo I called someone that does what I do, but as a graphic designer.

I met Troy and Katie of Raven & Crow through a friend at a bar one sunny afternoon in Brooklyn and loved loved loved their business cards. They are also some of the loveliest people ever.

You can see why I love my logo so very much! They actually finished this for me many moons ago, so this update to my blog header and showing off the logo like this is long over due.

But don't you love it? Aren't they so good? geniuses....

I'm still just so delighted with it.

Susana's Mom's prom dress gets a make over

Susana came to my studio with this wonderful dress from the 50's with a photo of a modern white dress with layers and layers of Technicolor tulle under the skirt. I got so excited at the idea of this. What a fun way to update and personalize a vintage dress. Even better that it was already a personal dress inherited from her mom!

This dress had a couple issues, the waist line was authentic to the era and measured a mere 20", the front boning was wildly misshapen and needed to be replaced, but otherwise was in really good shape. Susana had a tailor detach the bottom ruffle and replace the entire back panel to make it fit correctly.

So what was left was this short scalloped hemmed, sweet cocktail dress. And that was when I went in and added layers of tulle to the skirt and a little orange tulle piping to the waist line.

We played with different combinations of colors, more colors vs less colors . . . but in the end, I think, we struck a lovely balance:

We kept the feeling of the vintage dress, but added the fun pop of colors at the hem (this must have been so fun to see her dance in!).

And then using the same tulle as her dress, I made her a fascinator, with tulle "peonies" and birdcage tulle "plumes" (keeping with the vintage feel). Her fascinator was really fun to make after we finished her dress. I pretty much made her put on the dress and sit in front of the mirror and I just put things on her head until we found the combination of flowers and tulle that we liked.

(fascinator back view)

I love this last photo of them! They both look so happy but most I love the way her new husband is looking at his bride! Like he just caught the canary . . . so sweet!

Congratulations and best wishes to the happy pair! xophae

Something Old, Something New . . .

My friend My Phung asked me if I wanted to work on this project with her and of course I said yes, I always learn so much and have so much fun working with her on things.

So this is Jodi's dress before we started, it was her grandmother's wedding dress.

We all liked the bones of this dress, but we also agreed it could be a little more fun and maybe less modest. We immediately removed the sleeves and lowered the front and back neck line.

My Phung remade the actual dress, adding silk tulle to the front and back, while I worked on the part that isn't really so visible, I rebuilt the vintage slip that goes under the dress. In the end I think both pieces came together in a really lovely way.

We kept some of the vintage look for the original dress but made the whole thing look way more like Jodi.

And then I made her a fascinator using some grey bird cage tulle and feathers to tie in her grey belt. I wish I had a shot of her shoes, they were this amazing bright fascia, so fun!

It was so fun to work on this kind of project, watching something new emerge from something old. It's a brave bride that will pony up a vintage dress and let someone recreate it right in front of her eyes!

Thanks Jodi! It was so fun working with you and My Phung on your dress, I had a ball!

And congrats on your new marriage! xo

Trouble.

This is Trouble.

Trouble got her name because she seemed to invite trouble whenever she was worn. Because she is this bias cut little simple thing, she seems to fit women between about a size 0 and an 8, and she seems to look as worthy of trouble on every body that takes her on.

Then an odd thing happened, as my sisters and my friends seemed to evolve, people started wanting to borrow her because of her reputation.

This is how she ended up in my sister Briana's procession when we lived in different cities. Her friend had borrowed Trouble and returned her to Briana, thinking I'd get her back eventually.

And I did. But first, I got a call at about 3:30 in the morning on the first of september one year with Briana saying, "Sis, I'm wearing Trouble with blue panties .. . and I'm in Reno with Troy" (I so wish I had a photo to share of THAT trouble!) Yep, Trouble fills in when you need to elope!

Then, a few years later (but very recently) my sister Tara called late one December, "Sis, I'm turning 35 and I'm trying to get knocked up, can I borrow Trouble?" I sent her the dress.

Now I have a very handsome nephew!

It seems, that at this age, we want trouble. We want this trouble that leads to happy unions and beautiful babies. Both welcome and happy additions to the family.

What's funny, is Trouble got made in about 2 seconds, from a scarf that got left behind at the restaurant where I worked at the time. (oh if I found the person that left that scarf, I'd write her a thank you note!) I simply held one end up in front and pinched where I figured the "back" should meet and stitched her up, simplest, most successful dress I've ever made. I promise.

So now, it's my turn to have this birthday and it's given me pause. What kind of trouble am I trying to stir up? And what kind of dress wants to usher in this year?

I'm not sure. But I do think my older sisters have set some very good examples.

Alterations meets Reinvention

I used to say that I would rather make something from scratch then take something apart and alter it. but this has a very narrow definition of "alter". That alteration is like, replacing a zipper or making something a little bigger or smaller.

Lately I have been working on projects where "altering" the garment means recreating it. For these currant projects are taking older, vintage dresses and turning them into something new for new celebrations. It's really fun to see these kinds of family history be passed down and then updated for a new generation and new memories. Giving these dresses a new life. It reminds me of the pieces I made for last September's Fashion Night Out.

So with Oscar night and the party that went with it last weekend, I was inspired to revisit some old "reinvention projects" that have been neglected in my studio. (Going to a party is the best motivation.) This originally was a skirt sample that I got years ago when I freelanced at Jcrew, too pretty to decline even though it was 3 sizes too big. I opted to turn it into a dress, obviously...

(I'm not so photogenic these days...)

I did this once before with another skirt I got during the same time. This one I added the bodice to make the skirt into a dress. The beading and detail in this piece was too brilliant to turn down just because it was much too big. (The beading also made the idea of just fitting the skirt a very daunting task... much more fun to add a bodice and call it a dress!)

(You'd trust me at your wedding with a camera, wouldn't you?)

Brings the idea of recycling to a whole new level, yes?