Couve Couture Spring Fashion Show

Another sold out show! What an amazing day. I have poured my heart and soul into this show not only as a coordinator but as a designer and to see it all come together brings such joy. I love that I live within a community that supports creativity and dedication to one’s passion. Not only does the support come from our living community but also our cyber-space community. The on-line and text well-wishes and encouragement have been unbelievable. I am humbled and honored to be a dreamer and a doer of this amazing event.

What made this show so amazing was the incredible talent involved in this show. The caliber of businesses, volunteers, sponsors, models, designers, hair and make-up artists was the best… and almost all (98%) came from SW Washington. We couldn’t have done it without Bob and his crew and Beyond The Eve Video Productions who brought 5 cameras and Three Rivers Audie~Visual who created the ‘vibe’ with black velvet curtains and runway lights. If you live in the area and you need a professional product done, these guys are the absolute best!

pre-show line-up backstage

Stunning pictures are starting to come in from our fashion photographers. If you have facebook access you can find them on the Couve Couture facebook page. The response of those who attended is pretty incredible fueling our dreams for the Couve Couture Fall show this October 2013. If you didn’t get to attend, you are in luck. I am attaching a link to the promo video that just came out along with a link to our local paper ‘The Vector’ . Looking forward to the article coming out in our local Columbian paper this Sunday!

Most of the vintage dresses that I re-created for the fashion show along with gloveletes are available for sale at the shop. Come on down to see ‘what’s new’ in our store. Lots of new, old stuff!

Enjoy!

Time to take a picture of our beautiful birds!

What a long and incredible day! I had the privilege of being surrounded by 13 beautiful models (Bridgette, Christina, Jessie, Jacque, Brittney, Morgan, Suzy, Alex, Amy, Charlotte, Tyler and Erik, Ashley), two MUA’s (Kandie and Abbie), Hair Artist Ashley, Creative Assistant and jewelry maker Tony, 3 photographers (Leslie of May Faith Photography, Ashley Ward and Annie Gould), and the whole crew from Simple Solitude Nail Salon. The weather got a little rainy at times but when it wasn’t raining… it was perfect for taking pictures along The Mighty Columbia. I tried to snap a few pictures from behind the scenes. The ‘real’ photographs will be coming in the days and weeks ahead. Previewed some and they are AMAZING! Enjoy!

Where there is a beautiful bird, there is a birdwatcher.

This is the Miss Oregon dress that I have talked about many times but you haven’t seen

Custom nails created to match each dress by Simple Solitude

A nest build for a ‘big’ bird

What a day! Woke up early this morning to the sound of pouring rain and hail. Getting more and more worried with each toss and turn I decided to get up. The big question…. do I hope for the best or cancel the photo shoot for tomorrow knowing that today was the day to build props for out ‘nesting’ themed shoot. Praying for an ‘umbrella’ over our creative area along the Columbia River and photo shoot area, I decided to reach from inside every ounce of optimism and hope for the best.

I had a great group of friends offer their helping hands to create, all of which are part of our photo shoot (Kandie Smith – MUA, Ashley Ward – photographer, Tony Krois – creative artist). I had no pictures or drawings for them to create from, just the idea that if a bird can do it… so can we! Our base for the nests was simple chicken wire. Our challenge was making it for a person, not a bird. My friend Tony came with a truck full of weeping willow, flowers, grass and twigs. The fresh flowers will be added just before the shoot. I had originally wanted 2 nests since we have 4 photographers and 13 models. Decided to just focus on one large one that could seat 2. The amount of twigs for one nest was incredible! It took 4 of us to move it off the beach into the back of the truck. To get it to arch up around the side we had to tie in rope, wire and bungee cords. It took piles and piles of twigs to make this nest. The picture you see with Kandie in the center is 3/4 done so you will have to check in soon to see the actual photo shoot pictures in the next couple of days to see the final nest.

I have been dreaming up this ‘nesting’ concept for about 9 months. Can’t believe that tomorrow this idea is coming to fruition.  I was so excited to create the woodsy parasol. If you visit our shop you will see my collection of vintage/antique parasols hanging from the ceiling. I needed a special one for this shot that was beyond usable. Thankfully my friend Connie up the street at The Cat’s Pajamas Antiques (you have to visit this shop if you are ever in the area)  found the perfect ‘needing some love’ parasol for me. The weather was a challenge along The Mighty Columbia this morning. Holding an umbrella with heavy winds makes it quite difficult to create a ‘woodsy’ look. At moments I felt like I should be singing the soundtrack from Mary Poppins! For easier creating, I attached it to a tree. I started with slits in the cotton along each spine then added curly willow with wire. Then came more twigs, moss and black, cotton material from the cut-out portions from the original parasol.  I am confident that it will look great in the pictures but not confident that it would protect from rain.

It is now 6:30 pm. I have 3 collars to make, one pair of gloves to bead and all the dresses to iron. Minor details…. posting for my group of 13 models, 4 photographers, 2 assistants, hair stylist and 2 make up artists all the final details of our Sunday that will start at 6:45 am. Bottom line…. I am so blessed to be surrounded by so many amazing people that embrace my crazy ideas AND that during our day of creating today, it only sprinkled twice!

Getting Ready – accessories

Almost to the finish line. All the dresses are done! I have two transformations to show you but you will have to wait until our photo shoot this Sunday. The dresses are so small that they don’t fit onto my small dress form. Need a real person to show off how beautiful these dresses are.

Me and my Bernina in a sea of tulle

It has been a crazy week of making underskirts which means lots… and lots of tulle. I have been modifying square dancing skirts. Not an easy task! I decided to measure the length of one layer as I removed the lace from the original bottom layer, to then sew back on the lace to the new lower portion. Any guesses as to how many yards I had to remove and then put back? Guess higher… and guess higher again…. 38 yards! I have a new appreciation for these skirts and when I see one for less than $50, I will know that it is a deal. I ended up modifying 3 underskirts this week. I was sitting in a sea of tulle for what seemed an eternity.

I have been busy beading, starching and gluing feather to make some fun whimsical collars for our ‘Nesting’ photo shoot and glovelets. The gloves are truly a labor of love as I hand sew on each pearl and bead. For those of you who like vintage gloves, you know that to find a pair of gloves that fits the modern ladies hand can be considered a miracle. As I find gloves in good condition, but to small, I remove the fingers, add vintage lace and beading to make a custom pair of glovelets. They sell faster than I can make them. I suppose this is a good problem. With wedding season right around the corner, I predict that they will be gone pretty quickly. The ones in this particular picture are my favorite pair to date. The vintage lace was hand crocheted and the pearls came from a broken necklace. All of which were hand sewn. Again, labor of love. I have completed  13 pairs with one set to tea dye and bead and one set to just bead. Guess what I am doing while working at the shop tomorrow?

For being a person who was never really into theatre productions, I have to say that I am drawn to going this direction with accessories. I love the drama and theatrics of Queen Elizabeth’s clothing and accessories. I have been having fun using extra pieces of vintage lace and jewelry to make these collars. Throw in some feather and we have a collar fit for a Queen… of birds that is. I have two completed with a few more started. Who needs to sleep!

Can’t wait for you to see the final ‘look’ from our photo shoot in 3 days. Weather prediction is rain for the next seven and I am praying for a miracle. Taffeta and feather don’t do so well in the rain. Saturday is our day to make 2 human size bird nests and a woodsy parasol. So thankful for friends who like to share in my crazy ideas. Talk to you Saturday night!

Getting Ready with Dress #11

The dress that was staring at me, daring me to finish it is officially done! May be my new favorite. So thankful for my neighbor Jacqueline who will be modeling the dress for our ‘nesting’ photo shoot and Couve Couture Fashion Show. She has helped me with so many of the dresses, standing patiently on a stool, holding a measuring tape at the waist while I trimmed the bottom of many dresses. Many of these vintage dresses were to small for a dress form and needed a small human.

This dress has about 20 hours into it. The transformation has been unbelievable and so worth the time. Very happy that my mother gave me the knowledge to make the outcome possible. You will notice from the before pictures the difference in length and the removal of an oddly placed shoulder pad. I took the tattered and torn length and made florets that were place over areas of the dress that were permanently stained. I sewed leaves, placed a vine with green ribbon and then strategically placed the florets. This was a stitching project that needed a couple glasses of wine! The entire bodice had to be restitched and the zipper had to be taken our and re-sewn. Once the dress was complete I needed an underskirt.

My friend was kind enough to share some of her extra square dance under-skirts. Lots of tulle! To create length I removed the second layer of the skirt and added it to the first layer. It became the perfect length and fullness for this dress. Thank you Chelsea!

Full length before

Work for the dry cleaner

no need for the shoulder pad

under arm stains

permanent stains on the dress

The finished dress – back

Jacqueline wearing the final product

The finished dress – side

2 more dresses to go…. both at the dry cleaners and should have them completed this weekend. Oh, happy dance!

Cheers!

Getting Ready -Dress 9 & 10

As of this morning, I have 2 weeks to get everything ready, 3 dresses and accessories (gloves and hair pieces), 2 human sized bird nests and a woodsy parasol, for our photo shoot. As much as I thought I completed the most difficult dresses first, one is staring and laughing at me… daring me to complete it. The difficulty with this particular dress is that it is so small, I have to pin it to the front of a dress form. Hoping to have it done tomorrow for all of you to see and for me to check it off my ‘to-do’ list.

Here is dress #9 and #10: I am calling #9 my Buttercream dress since it looks like a wedding cake with buttercream frosting, ribbons and flowers. This is the first dress I challenged myself with for our upcoming Couve Couture Fashion Show and thankfully, just finished it. Talk about a labor of love! I have about 20 hours into this dress. The base dress came to me with the upper left portion shredded. I zig-zagged it back together. To be creative in my cover-up I decided to take another dress that was beyond salvaging and use it’s material to accessorize. I took the hem of the underskirt and ran it through my sewing machine to create a ‘ribbon’ look and then cut strips from the chiffon skirt to created roses. After many, many hours of hand sewing I was able to strategically place the ‘ribbon’ and the ‘roses’ on the dress. After a trip to my local dry cleaner I hand sewed pearls and sheer lace to the upper portion of the bodice and created new shoulder straps. With this dress, the first challenge was making it wearable and beautiful, second challenge… finding a model who had a 27 in waist but a D to a DD bust. Check and check! Ashley looks beautiful in it!

 

Dress #10 – Pretty in Pink. I was so happy to discover this dress. It was originally created by Emma Domb, a designer from San Francisco popular in the 50′s and 60′s. She created some of the most beautiful evening gowns, which includes, the Miss Oregon dress that I talked about a few weeks ago (hoping to finish this dress soon). This dress had a lot of stains on the lower portion. I took it up 6 inches and left the pink tule exposed. You would think that by doing this it would be even all around. Not so much. Had to cut again measuring from the waist, taking off another 2 inches (you will notice in the picture above that the hem is not even. This picture was taken before the second cut). Adding a full, square dance, crenoline under skirt to it created a magical, princess look. Brittney will be the perfect model for this knowing she doesn’t need to see her feet to walk the runway….thankfully.

If the next two days go as I hope, you will get to see the final 3 dresses. Fingers crossed!

Getting Ready – Dress #3-8

It has been an intense and very busy two weeks for me as I attempt to remodel 14 vintage dresses for our upcoming fashion show on April 13th – Couve Couture. As of today I have 8 dresses done, 4 almost done and 2 that need a lot of love. It is a good feeling to be half way knowing that our photo shoot is in 3 weeks!

There are many challenges when remodeling vintage clothes. #1 working with fragile fabrics, #2 knowing that once I cut, I can’t go back and probably the biggest challenge, #3 finding a person with the right measurements to wear that dress. The dress I was most worried about, after 20 hours of re-creating, has a 27 in. waist and a 34DD bust. Fortunately I had just the right Cinderella who was 2 inches short for the official Couve Couture Model Auditions. She fit into this particular dress perfectly. This ‘Buttercream’ dress needs a little more love and hope to be able to post pictures soon.

Well, enough words and onto the pictures…

1920′s Before

1920′s torn tulle and uneven at bottom of skirt

1920′s – need to replace shoulder straps

1920′s after – placed chiffon flowers where holes were in tulle.

Black lace dress before

Black lace dress after – took the material from arms and made a waistband.

Linda’s prom dress from 1967 before

Linda’s prom dress from 1967 after

Cricket’s white eyelet before

Cricket’s white eyelet after. This is one of my favorites.

Hester’s Dress from England before

Hester’s Dress from England after. The pink waist band is from leftover taffeta from a dress that is in progress

Claire’s Chartreause 60′s dress before.

Claire’s Chartreause 60′s dress before. Torn on the bottom.

Claire’s Chartreause 60′s dress before. Needs repair on shoulder. The beading detail is incredible!

Claire’s Chartreause 60′s dress (after) on Suzy who will be modeling the dress at Couve Couture