Mark your calendars!

FaCshion is coming to London Saturday and Sunday, September 13th and 14th. FaCshion is the very first exhibition to target both trade buyer and fashionista in London. The exhibition will host four catwalk shows, a champagne brunch for press and buyers and 50 selected exhibitors over a two day event, held at ‘the creative hub of London’s East End’; the Old Truman Brewery.

Among the exhibitors is ethical womenswear creator, LaLesso (shown above). Inspired by vibrant colours and intriguing prints, Lalesso supports the threatened cotton industry as well as the textile manufacturing industry in both Kenya and Tanzania.

Other exhibitors include:

Kamua (Denim Wear)
New unisex denim wear label launching in September aimed at men and women driven by style and quality. The collection also includes knit and woven dresses, tops, and trousers which may be combined with the denim to create a refreshingly modern look.

Mayaa (Handbags)
The signature Mayaa handbag includes richly embroidered beadwork interwoven with use of hand made raw silk, tanned leather, brocade, jute and ultra fine linen to create a stunning array of formal handbags.

Osman Ozdemir (Womenswear)
Osman Ozdemir’s collection is a mix of strong and romantic feminine print combined with his design philosophy and use of 3-dimensional shapes and eastern elements.

Conquer Gear (Menswear)
Conquer is a collective using unique imagery from across the globe, by collaborating with artists from many scenes and being inspired by everything from Hip-hop and Ska/Punk to Sports and Street art. All garments are fair trade cotton of the highest quality

DeedamG (Womenswear and Jewellery)
New bespoke womenswear collection produced using natural materials to combine trends with elegance.

Tan Silver (Jewellery)
Stunning art glass creations 

For more information about becoming an exhibitor – or to get a jump on the latest designs before they hit High Street – visit:

• FaCshion
• FaCshion on Facebook
• Truman Brewery (Virtual Tour)
  

Simone Legno’s tokidoki store now has these cute pink hi-tops (they’re also available in yellow) $130.00

I discovered tokidoki through Lynda.com, a fantastic site for online training in computer (and design) courses. There are lots of freebies including 1 hour of tokidoki with clips like “what is tokidoki?” “Lynda sits down with Simone”  “Simon’s sketchbook” and more. Check it out here.

And for all you tokidoki fans click here to enter the contest to win one of 30 pairs of the boot especially designed for the Sundance Festival 2008.

These tokidoki™ for Onitsuka Tiger™ Snow Heaven 72™ boots are the first collaborative effort between Onitsuka Tiger™ and tokidoki™. The boot features a custom tokidoki™ design on the inside of the boot and custom embroidered tiger logo. Not available for sale, 30 lucky tokidoki™ fans hoping for a collectible item could win these boots. The boots are only in women’s shoe sizes of 9 ½ to 10 ½. By answering the following questions correctly, you could win a pair of Snow Heaven 72™ boots signed by tokidoki Creative Director Simone Legno himself…(tokidoki fans – find the online questions here)

As a former eBay seller, I’ve been on the lookout for a new auction site that’s easy to navigate and uncluttered. I think I’ve finally found the answer with FabricJam.com. Just launched on Saturday, FabricJam.com is designed for individuals who buy and sell women’s clothing and accessories, but do not have time to navigate through impersonal, broad-spectrum, unappealing auction sites. (That’s me!)

“While shopping at online auction sites is convenient, with a modern women’s busy schedule – wading through categories irrelevant to a search is time-consuming. With its clear, attractive layout, and a listing process far faster than its competitors, shoppers will enjoy using the site and sellers will spend less time listing their items. Fabricjam revolutionises the online auction format. Being able to shop by celebrity style is also a great feature,” says entrepreneur Claire Webb, owner of Fabricjam.

According to Ms. Webb -

My inspiration for Fabricjam was a combination of things. The only other real option for trading online is ebay which I found was too broad spectrum, expensive to sell on, and complicated for many users. Having so many categories and subcategories can make searching difficult and for sellers your items can feel as though they are lost within the site. I wanted to create a simple, straightforward but stylish trading venue which will appeal to women of every age – no matter how computer literate they are. I  also wanted to add more features, such as shopping by celebrity style, clear search categories for vintage clothing etc. Lastly, I wanted Fabricjam to be dedicated to all things female – which is completely unique.

Seven reasons to bookmark FabricJam.com today:

1. Its ease of use to buy and sell
2. An easy-to-navigate platform
3. A 30-Day auction, so bulk sellers need not re-list every nine days
4. Free listings
5. A final sale fee at 3.5% – half of what online auction giant eBay charges
6. A no sale, no fee policy
7. Multiple search categories, including a shop by celebrity style category, so users can easily find items in the style of their favourite

BB Dakota The Fairbanks Blazer

Tripp NYC The Blazer Hoody in White & Black Check

tokidoki The Candy Cuties Clear Rain Jacket

Get free shipping with your order of $25 or more at Karmaloop. Use code SLATER. Valid through May 31st.

Cracker Your Wardrobe is a free street fashion magazine from Korea featuring photos from around the world. You can find it in coffee shops, hair salons, and retails shops and, if it’s not available in your part of the world, you can check out the photos online.

I love that Cracker Your Wardrobe spans the generations.

For the lowdown on the latest Korean Trends and an ongoing series about Korean Fashion Designers such as Choi Bum Suk, visit FeetManSeoul. And just in case you’d like to pick up the latest Korean fashion from Pierced Eye and other contemporary Korean designers, visit Angie Hearts. Use the 10% code – angieloves – for the next four days.

I was poking around the web looking for vintage clothing and found todays New York Times article about Foley + Corinna (thanks to a post on Hooti Couture). What an inspiration! I love to hear about multi-million dollar businesses that started out at the kitchen table.

With the help of a friend who could manage a needle and thread, Ms. Foley made more skirts and put them on a table at the old flea market on Avenue of the Americas in Chelsea. The first day, she made $2,000. The kitchen became a factory. “My kids were sitting there eating pizza in a sea of organza,” she said….In many regards, the story of how Ms. Foley and Ms. Corinna turned a flea-market friendship into a fashion company that now has $20 million in annual retail sales is uncommon. Neither one knew much about the mechanics of design or, for that matter, business. They have never been prominently profiled in Vogue or Elle, nor have they sought the Bryant Park runways. But Ms. Corinna has an eye for vintage fashion, and Ms. Foley is intuitive about how to make new versions of those styles for modern women.  (Read the rest of the article here.)

So I was doubly lucky because just the other day I was talking to my mother and we were trying to remember the name of a book I lent her a couple of years ago about Vintage Clothing and there it was right in front of me – Alligators, Old Mink & New Money: One Woman’s Adventures in Vintage Clothing written by sisters Alison and Melissa Houtte of Hooti Couture. Guess it’s time to pick up another copy!

• Hooti Couture
• NYT Article, May 21, 2008 (Foley + Corinna)
• NYT Slideshow (Foley + Corinna)
• Foley + Corinna

A while ago I wrote a post about steampunk messenger bags,  and another post about Gothic Lolita and a steampunk screenplay.

Today I found a post from HighFashionGirl along with a link to this New York Times Steampunk Fashion article which I had missed. (Thanks, HFG!)

I tend to agree with her about the silliness (and impracticality) of the clothing, especially for the women, but I do like the accessories, the bags from BabaStudioPrague and the jewelry from Rivkasmom, like this Steampunk Brooch Pin.

Label of Hope is a line of OOAK (one-of-a-kind) clothing started by Hope from Southern California in 2005.  Each design is created with a custom-made pattern and just about all of the items are made only once. 

Who is Hope?

I’m from Southern California where I remain happily. Art, in general, has always been very important to me and I consider sewing & crafts a great outlet. I also love: good causes/charities, painting, spending endless hours goofing around on Photoshop and Illustrator, eating EVERYTHING in sight (literally), thinking of quirky quotes and haiku poems, web design, html, and taking time for tea.

Shown above is the Zebra-print Indie top which was made completely from scratch using new and recycled materials. It has a cowl neck and is green, blue-gray, rust, and zebra in color with uber OOAK button tabs.

And here’s Label of Hope’s Brown Plaid Recycled Cowl Neck Indie urban Japan Top.  This top was also made using new and recycled materials.  It has a loose cowl neck and brown plaid and sateen with a red button and topstitching. I love the long sleeves and over-the-hips length of these tops. And of course, the fact that they are OOAK!

Find more Label of Hope designs here:

• Label of Hope - homepage 
• Label of Hope – on Fashionspace
• Label of Hope – portfolio
• Label of Hope – Etsy shop

Thanks to Erica Bunker for introducing me to Sewing.PatternReview.com. This site has it all – a sewing knowledgebase, reviews of sewing books and sewing websites, and contests.

Erica writes about the Mini-Wardrobe Contest which she’s entering - good luck Erica! I went to the site and found a few more sewing contests posted including a Beginner Contest, a My Pattern Contest and a Stash Contest – all starting June 1st.

Free Membership at Sewing.PatternReview includes:

• Access to 42,053 sewing machine, pattern and other sewing reviews
• Access to the sewing message board with 10,000+ posts
• Optional e-mail newsletter with interesting tips and techniques
• Ability to post reviews and share your sewing experiences with our 135,896 members

Be sure to visit Erica Bunker’s D.I.Y. Style Blog for more fashion and sewing news.

So I just set up a ‘page’ at Facebook for AllChic, but it’s awfully bare. I’d love it if all you Facebook members would drop by -  become a fan, write on the wall, or add a fan photo with your favorite outfit.

• Visit me here: All Chic on Facebook

AngieHearts is giving a bag away this month. All you’ve got to do to enter is sign up for their newsletter and write a post about your favorite item in their shop. Of course, this  top from Vingt et un 21 caught my eye right way with it’s gold buttons on the diagonal. The price is right at $33.

AltamiraNYC is fast becoming my favorite street fashion blog because of:

1. Posts with great dresses like the tibi dress above (shown with yet another pair of gladiator sandals, the perfect shoe for this dress…)
2. Blog posts with specific info given about fashion designers, and the photo subjects themselves;
3. Blogger get-togethers in Soho Park which I would go to if I were closer to the city;
4. And because I end up spending time hunting down more tibi black & white striped dresses like the one below from the Spring ‘08 collection and learning about the designer, Amy Smilovic.

Tibi designer and founder Amy Smilovic ascribes to a strict motto of ‘casual chic’ and this theme has filtered through her work. Smilovic started Tibi in 1997 and she continues to use a childhood interest in art and illustrations to inject a unique sense of vibrancy into her eye-catching pieces. (net-a-porter.com)

• AltamiraNYC
• tibi
• Net-a-porter.com (clothing by tibi)

Winnie ‘Mauvette’ Lee and Jan ‘Philip’ Vincent joined forces to create design label, Mauvette Philips. According to UrbanJunkies,

The duo have extensive textile design experience between them. Lee has worked for Rebecca Taylor, Mark Whittaker and Megan Park. Vincent has designed for Topshop, Toast by Post, Etro and Betty Jackson. Original prints in the collection are designed by Vincent which are entirely painted by hand. The hand embroidery is either sampled by Lee or passed onto embroiders known as ‘Karigars’ in India. Now in their fifth season, Mauvette Phillip’s inspiration is drawn from antique brocades and decorative patterns. By fusing contemporary prints with contrasting fabrics using handicrafts and beading, a modern look with a bohemian touch is created.

I had never heard of ‘karigars’ until I read this, so I did a quick search and found that ‘karigar’ means ‘artisan’. Many of these embroiderers are protected under the International Fair Trade Association, but others continue to work in crowded and unhygienic shops for little pay.

Mauvette Philips is available online at Waywardrobe. I only wish the site had a better zoom feature so we could really see the beadwork detail and hand embroidery on this beautiful bohemian-style dress.

• Mauvette Philips
• Waywardrobe

There are some fashion designers on Etsy that are truly artists and LeAnne Marshall (aka leanimal) is one of them. Ms. Marshall is a graduate of The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in San Francisco and the recipient of their Levi/Dockers Fashion Designer of Tomorrow award. According to her website, she began designing her own ballet costumes at the age of 12 and has been designing clothes ever since.

Creating beautiful, conceptual garments that are ultimately wearable remains the focus of the line. Leanimal’s signatures feature structural tucks and pleats, non-traditional combinations of fabrics and textures, and always figure-flattering silhouettes. (read more)

This is a view of her Gezane Dress which was displayed in the Contemporary Museum of Craft in Portland!

See more here:

• leanimal on Etsy
• leanimal.com
• leanimal Spring 2008 Collection

The Bandana Shirtdress from AllChic affiliate, Peruvian Connection,comes in a great color combo – teal and walnut. Fitted with gathered cap sleeves, a self sash, pockets and a 48″pleated skirt, this would make a terrific Mother’s Day Gift. On sale now.

These new limited edition Nike Dunk high-tops in British Liberty Prints make me want to wear hi-tops for the first time in my life.

As far as I can tell they are only available from Dover Street Market, although Urban Outfitters has Nike Dunk with a partial floral print.

May 3rd was Street Musician Day in Lithuania. Our friends from Laimikis were in Vilnius snapping up many great photos of authentic street style. 

Reasons why I like this photo:

1. Vilnius looks like such a cool place. The capital city of Lithuania, it was host about 1000 street musicians in that city alone.  The closest thing we have here in Pennsylvania is Musikfest in Bethlehem, PA, but over the years that has turned something much more commercial.
2. I like the pianist’s scarf and her red bag with the hoop handle sitting on the ground behind her.
3. The band in the photo reminds me of Fuzzi Puddle, the band that rehearses right here under my home office, in our basement, twice a week.

Watch Once, the story of an Irish street performer and a Czech pianist, for another view of authentic street musician fashion. Note the fingerless glove, the tweed jacket, the scarf and of course, the over-the-shoulder messenger bag for carrying music, instruments, food, everything you need for a day in the street.

The New York Times has an article entitled “Life Imitating Film.” Here’s what they said about the stars, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, as it relates to Oscar Fashion.

A few days before they were to perform their nominated song “Falling Slowly” at the Academy Awards, the two musicians — who went from on-screen pair to real-life couple — borrowed a car and drove to Amoeba Music on Sunset Boulevard. They were besieged by fans. “ ‘Once’ was so authentic,” a young man said enthusiastically.

Mr. Hansard, the 37-year-old frontman of the Dublin rock band the Frames, gave an aw-shucks smile.

Ms. Irglova, a 19-year-old singer and pianist of Czech descent, stood to the side, fiddling with a locket she was wearing. Both performers were looking forward to rebelling against the formal dress code at the Oscars.

“I don’t own a suit, so I just bought one,” said Mr. Hansard, whose curly hair looked as if someone had taken an eggbeater to it. “But I’m not going to wear black tie. I’m going to be meself. They’re not going to kick me out!”

Ms. Irglova said, “For me to wear a night gown …”

“A what?” Mr. Hansard interrupted.

“An evening gown,” she said, correcting herself.

“No,” he said with a laugh. “I like it. Let’s both go in our pajamas.”

Laptop cases…starting at $86

I was visiting A La Mode tonight, then hopped on over to her friend Jan’s blog, Scoutie Girl, and found these awesome bags by SNAP.  The waterproof laptop cases were recently featured on The Today Show.

Here’s what Michelle Kline has to say about her work:

each SNAP item is designed and sewn by me, michelle kline – right here in my portland studio since 2004. each piece is constructed from an assortment of colorful vinyl, decorative top stitching and complimentary fabric lining. the ever-changing combination of vinyl, thread color, stitch pattern and lining makes each bag unique and one of a kind. all straps are reinforced with metal rivets. we use a high quality vinyl that is durable, waterproof, and cleans up easily with soap and water.

record books (the original!) are hand cut and made from spent vintage records and their unique covers. interior pockets are made from transparent frosted vinyl. paper is standard/refillable size.
(audiophiles: don’t worry, we don’t cut up valuable records)

laptop cases are lined and heavily padded. they feature front & back zip pockets and handles for carrying. (now with optional strap!)

totes are all lined with a heavy cotton twill and have 3 pockets total with a snap closure.

 
And don’t you love these shoulder bags?…$68

Today twenty-one of my piano students performed in their Spring recital.

I don’t tell the kids what to wear, only that they shouldn’t wear high heels to pedal at the piano and no jeans. Up to about age twelve, the girls wear what their mom’s want them to wear, usually poofy frilly dresses.

Around age thirteen they wear their mother’s clothes. My daughter accessorized with a necklace I bought in Peru, and her best friend wore her mom’s sage green wrap dress. They both looked surprisingly mature. The high-school girls went casual with long shorts and capris.

It was the green wrap dress that caught my eye and I immediately thought of Treehouse28. Since I’ve been struggling to find the right settings on my sewing machine to sew a knit wrap top, I wish I could spend some time with her and learn how she creates such amazing designs.

The designer, Alix, is from California. She’s the mother of two, and started her business at Etsy a little over a year ago. All her pieces are designed from scratch. She does custom work… turnaround time is two weeks. Details here.

And here’s a top by Treehouse28… just because I couldn’t resist.

My daughter, the hippie, hates shopping, and would wear her pink Beatles hoodie all summer if she could so I found these cute 60’s style summer tops at our affiliate, dELiA*s, today.

(Use code DWFAFF for free shipping on orders $25 or more, now through 6-11-08.)

Top row L-R:   Stefania Top, $29.50 and the embroidered Anna Top, $32.50

Bottom row L-R:  Diana Top $32.50 and the flowered Cassie Top $32.50

By now I’ve written enough about my love of peplums, like the Dorothy Lee top here, and the vintage Betsey Johnson Alley Cat patterns here, Well, let me add another one to the list. I was cruising by FashionDerek tonight and this terrific jacket, with a peplum, caught my eye.

This fitted jacket comes from AprilMarin, and when I say “fitted” that’s exactly what I mean. On their website, designers April Bukofser and Marin Milio say:

“We started with our sights set very high; we wanted women to experience clothing that fit perfectly!”…The AprilMarin mission is to give women the chance to look and feel their best with a custom wardrobe. When you look good, you feel good and custom made clothing always makes you feel good. Each product is carefully made to your exact measurements to ensure a perfect fit. With extremely comfortable, incredibly stylish clothing, AprilMarin is dedicated to making clothing that makes all women feel and look fabulous. AprilMarin has found the perfect fit!

In addition to specifying your exact measurement, you can choose your favorite color for The Dylan Ruffle Jacket (outside and lining). For a custom jacket, I’d say the price ($195) is very reasonable.

I also love the Capri Pencil Dress. It reminds me of Audrey Hepburn (and once again the 60’s.) But I’ll save that dress for some Little Black Dress post down the line.

• AprilMarin (Shop)
• AprilMarin (Blog)
• FashionDerek

And speaking of tattoos, I found these tattoo stockings and socks from Post Designer the other day. I had forgotten all about them until my daughter read last night’s post about the tattoo sleeves from Thank You Mart.  She, who will be wearing a uniform to school next year, has been begging me to order her a pair.

The designer is Gabby Nathan. Born in Bulgaria, she lived in Angola as a child and currently lives and works in Tel Aviv. Her biggest passion is character design and illustration, but her new “thing” is toy design.

The Tattoo Tights come in stockings ($25) or knee-highs ($15). The design is on one leg only.

I can’t decide which I like better —- body color or white.

For more information:

• PostDesigner.com
• PostDesigner Shop