I Will Wear This Dress So Hard

I've started working on my Halloween costume (yes, I know it's early, but I had an idea so I just started before I could lose steam) and have been looking around the web for inspiration where I stumbled upon the blog The Dreamstress.  She's "a textile historian, seamstress, designer, speaker and museum professional" from New Zealand.  While the underlying theme of my costume will be "what can I tack onto the top that will cover my hideous stitching?", the projects and inspiration pics on her blog almost make me want to take the time to learn to sew (almost).  

Look at the satin in the middle, it looks like a photograph!  (Okay, so this isn't so much about the dress as the painting technique, but still, it's fabric-related).  Also, she's going to KILL you.

 I want to wear this dress very badly.  The color! The draping!

I will also wear this one. While I'm driving my little carriage to town.

AND this one, which is one the blogger actually made herself.

I will wear this one SO hard.

Holy crap, this last one just makes me want to vomit with joy.  I want to wear it so very, VERY badly, corset and all.  Again, that hideously beautiful mustard color fills me with unexplainable joy.  The square neckline and the simple structure make it look so clean and tidy and you can focus on the line of the dress, but the buttons down the front, the little bit of gathered material (that seems to go into a bitchin' train), the embroidered flowers and the little hint of mustard at the bottom keep it from being boring.  Damn I love structured clothing.  I wish I knew this woman (and I guess lived in New Zeland?) so that I could go to her parties and events and wear these types of things.

Tip That Hat, Show Those Gams - Let's Go Skating!

Thanks to Casey for finding this picture on Wikipedia.  God only knows how she came upon it, but I'm grateful that she did.  Oh, that I could skate with such a casually badass attitude. 

So We Meet Again, Autumn

Friday was the first day of fall, if I remember correctly, but yesterday was the first day here that FELT like fall to me.  It was sunny but not terribly warm, you could see some of the leaves were starting to change color, and it was RIDICULOUSLY windy (a rather blustery day) so there were also leaves blowing around on the ground.  This morning I woke to the sound of pouring rain and right now I'm wearing boots and I've got tights on under my skirt.  Hello, Fall. 

I know I'm supposed to be sad about summer ending, but I'm just STOKED.  I know we'll get our back and forth weather, we'll probably have some more really warm sunny days, but I'm excited for fall!  I'm excited to cook fall food (so much more fun than summer food - STEW!) and to knit fall things (I've got a sweater to finish up and a new sweater pattern I'm jazzed about) and to wear fall stuff (must remember to get my yellow coat cleaned).  Now I just need to remind myself to fight off the urge to fall entirely into hibernation. 

Dressmaker, Dressmaker, Make Me a Dress

Or make me a costume, more accurately.  I'm super stoked for my Halloween costume idea.  I'm going to be a peacock, but a vaguely burlesque/old west dance hall girl peacock.  I bought an old wedding dress and am going to cover it in blue satin, then pull it up into a sort of bustle to be the base of a tail I'm going to make out of layers of satin & sheer mesh fabric.  I might even go crazy and put the "eyes" on the tail with sequins.  I've also bought a tiny little cap and some feathers to make the little crest that peacocks have.  Guuuuh.  It looks so awesome in my head.  Of course, I don't ACTUALLY know how to sew, so it's going to be a crap shoot, but I'm crossing my fingers because I'm super in love with the idea already.  Now if only I could find a dressmaker's dummy, it's kinda hard to sew a dress WHILE you're wearing it...

Joooooooooy!

I shouldn't be this excited about a shirt.

BUT I AM!!!  My T.A.R.D.I.S shirt is heeeere!  Bless you, Threadless.