confessions of a material girl

well hello there…

iheartcouture — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 05:04:31 +0000

WOW! It has been such a long time since I’ve posted anything…almost a YEAR! Well, it has definitely been a crazy one. SO much has happened since my last entry.

1. I finished my gown for Monique L’huillier and it was in the Neiman Marcus windows in Beverly Hills and soon after, it sold for $1300. Nice.

2. I graduated from Otis.

3. I landed my dream job. I’m a Designer @ the famous Trashy Lingerie (yes, the one where celebrities shop and has been on many episodes of “The Girls Next Door”). There are only 2 Designers there…myself and the designer who has been there for over 20 years…we design independently, which is cool..I design lingerie and costumes…pretty much anything I can dream up, I’m allowed to make. It rules.

(that is why I haven’t posted, but I will definitely be posting updates with things past…lots of pics are coming, so stay tuned!!!)

Check out my Portfolio to see some of my work (not completely updated either…eek!).

monique l’huillier bodice

iheartcouture — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 00:38:11 +0000

here are some photos of our muslin for monique l’huillier. It’s a tulle dress, that after the first fitting became organza with organza folds and is entirely encrusted with jewels so that the model’s little “bits” are covered. It has a 6″ horsehair hem and nude duchess satin micro shorts. The jewel pattern on the dress is this great swirly motion…crystals include seed beads, swarovski crystals in multiple sizes and colors, tulle wrapped gemstones and vintage sequins and bugle beads.

another day in studio

iheartcouture — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 02:11:09 +0000

here is what our sr. studio looks like…you can see that I am among friends (the mannequins) and to my left is Jenny Vance’s muslin for the Monique L’huillier project. Mine and Meesh’s is an invisible tulle confection. Really, you can’t see it.

morgane le fay…fitting numero dos.

iheartcouture — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 05:49:41 +0000

I know, I know…photos from Fitting Numero Uno are MIA…got it. There’s a reason…and it’s legit. My first fitting was a disaster….well not completely. Here’s the deal: I made 3 pieces. 1) Pants. I had originally designed silk twill (or silk linen) skinny pants…cute right?? Well Liliana and her assistant Charlotte didn’t think so…They said to make pants that were “not skinny…not fashion-forward”?? okay, what does that mean??? I thought I was designing for Morgane Le Fay, not Chicos…Elastic waistband anyone??? jk….Okay, so I did a slim trouser. they were yuk. With that, I had designed 2) a silk chiffon top and 3) a silk organza petal wrap jacket with a high mandarin collar. Cute on paper. Hideous in reality. It was so much poofy whiteness…my model looked like the Michelin Man. Gross. Anyway…we decided that the chiffon top would be dropped to floor length (Rosemary Brantley has this obsession that is – Erin Seelert + maxi dresses) okay, I get it. I like them too…and my jacket was redesigned into a jacket/dress thingy with silk mesh wide-leg pants that I hated so I refused to make them…so I did the dress…and I’m happy because I designed it myself and Karolyn (my studio teacher) was awesome because she let me do what I wanted and I actually feel like I worked out all of the design challenges myself, which I love. So…

Below are photos of my Morgane le Fay (MLF) dress. White, Lotus-inspired….you get the idea. These were taken at the 2nd (fabric) fitting. During the fitting, it was decided that shirring at the front was not necessary and also the under-layer of silk georgette would be replaced with (yet another) layer of chiffon. This dress has a grand total of 20 yards of silk chiffon. I love it…and so will brides everywhere (lol). The neckline and back will be bound in silk satin organza and the ties are going to be extended to approx floor-length. The edges of the chiffon “petals” are finished with a picot edge and there are no side seams on this dress…it is all overlapping pieces of chiffon. I am also making a petal-shaped “scarf” that will be worn and removed on the runway.

…this dress is for the daring girl…not afraid of scandal…can’t wear a bra…even panties are iffy…maybe nundies would be a good call…

..model try-ons are this coming Friday, so I’ll have pics of the real deal after that. I can’t wait to see it finished. It’s a showstopper if I ever saw one. I wish I could describe what it looks like when the model walks…like a floaty, airy poof of billowy clouds. I heart it for sure.

If I was ever going to get married, I would wear this. But that’s not happening.

quite possibly the worlds most amazing collaboration.

iheartcouture — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 06:11:15 +0000

creative geniuses unite.

Lewis Carroll + Tim Burton = AMAZINGNESS

possibly better than Roald Dahl…maybe.

here is a peek at what one site says “could be” an image of Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter.

I can’t wait until 2010.

I also can’t wait to see the costumes…

on a side note…Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) is directing his version of Pinocchio…a dark version where Pinocchio is a bad boy and plays mean pranks on people.

i am elated at the thought of this.

MYES

iheartcouture — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:45:19 +0000

I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz about a new design team emerging on the L.A. fashion scene they are calling themselves MYES…

Stay tuned while I find out more…

night night l.a.

iheartcouture — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:35:37 +0000

parking on the roof has it’s benefits. views of the eastern building @ night and a lit up downtown los angeles.

i heart l.a.

i will miss some of these things if i ever move away.

ideas.

iheartcouture — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:29:46 +0000

where they all begin.

a sketchbook. stuffed with stuff.

mattoni water dress

iheartcouture — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:22:13 +0000

this is mindblowing. Check out Hana Soukupova in the Mattoni “water dress” commercial. Drink up!

Yatzer

new cards.

iheartcouture — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:54:57 +0000

the old ones were hard to read. pretty. but hard to read.

here’s the new look.