gatormade

Sami and I saw this movie recently and I totally loved it. He Tivo’ed it from TCM and had to nudge me a bit to get me to watch it. I was so resistant at first because, well…a movie made before even our PARENTS were born??? borrrring!– but turns out it was hilarious, the gowns amazing, the dancing (Busby Berkeley) devine! I’ve since become an obsessed fan of 30’s glamor. …Oh and the movie stars a (very) young Bette Davis as an up and coming fashion designer. Gotta love it!

i just found this video from the show last week. it’s a little grainy, but you will get the idea. i didn’t get to see it going down the runway as i was in the back helping out. the only thing is that my model could have been a little more delicate with her walk, but overall she did ok.

check it out, my dress made it onto this blog!:

http://styledefined.blogspot.com/2009/02/fashion-show-at-foundry-lic-hosted-by.html

and here it is! hot off the presses, here is the dress i have been working on for almost two months. it made it’s debut at sumie’s fashion show at the foundry. it was great to be back at the foundry. what a beautiful space. i think i look as happy as i was the last time i was there! :D

During this February’s Fashion Week, head to Queens for a night with

NYC’s hottest up and coming designers. Presented in the amazing Foundry space, the collections will include both fashion and jewelry.

This one-night event promises to deliver some of the most daring and delicious new looks for Fall 2009.

FEBRUARY 10TH

6PM-9PM

(My couture evening gown will be presented alongside with Sumie’s line at this show!!!! The Foundry is also the awesome space where Sami and I were married!!!)

fashion show at subdivision

A few weeks ago my sewing teacher Sumie Tachibana, mentioned that she was working with a local boutique, Subdivision on producing a runway show here in L.I.C. Even cooler was that it’s to be held at The Foundry, the venue where Sami and I were married. She said that she was thinking of having her students present pieces for the show. I tried not to jump up and down like a 4th grader, but I was superpsyched by the idea. I really wanted to take part. So she confirmed a few days later and I started sending her patterns and ideas. I bought a vintage sari and during my last lesson we sketched out the final design for the dress, utilizing much of the sari in funky ways, and customizing the look. I’m really pleased with what we came up with…

What i’ve been doing the last few days is basically restructuring the dress from the original pattern into the design we worked on. Right now it’s still in muslin. it’s kind of a challenge for me because I only know that basics of pattern alteration and Sumie’s away for the holiday so I’m doing a certain amount of guess work. It’s good though, because I’m forced to figure it out, which is great because I’m learning alot, I have to say. So here it is so far….More as it progresses!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Haven’t posted much. Not like I think anyone’s out there reading this blog, BUT I have been a pretty busy sewing lately. I’m trying to get in as much as I can before Zikrayat begins another busy season. When the band is super busy I have no life so I have to fit in as much of my other creative endeavors as I can when we’re taking it slow.

Over the last few weeks I made several really neat little dresses, which is kinda funny because I NEVER wear dresses…

I also made Sami an apron for Christmas. Here he is bringing me a sandwich as I’m working…

I also decided to dabble in relational art after watching a marathon of “Art Safari”. Here is my first sculpture…

Here they go!

last week i finished another dress. it’s from a 1970’s mccall’s sewing pattern.

the dress is made from an interesting woven material that has a soft sheen. i really love it, though it’s far from perfect! i wore it to an indian concert over the weekend though and it looked devine!

next is a chinese brocade 80’s prom dress!

long time no post! it’s been a super crazy few weeks and time has really flown by. last month i hosted my friend Astryd for a fab Raqs Sharqi workshop. two weeks after that, Sami hosted his friend Faisal Zedan for a workshop and bunch of shows one of which was Rakassah. Rakassah is a huge Middle Eastern dance festival in NJ. i have mixed feelings about rakassah these days. there is three times as much fusion as there is any kind of authentic Middle Eastern dance. We were they only Arabic ensemble! it’s a little bit disheartening. I don’t have a problem with fusion for the most part, it’s just there are so many baby dancers coming into it now, and have no idea what’s real and what isn’t. i guess i just feel like we are representing an already misunderstood underrepresented art so the least we can do is present it as authentically as possible. it’s ok to create your own thing, but maybe…call it something else?

the weeks before rakassah i did a pretty good job of stressing myself out (as usual!) i choreographed my first piece AND made costumes for the performance for yogi, me and sherine. they came out really beautifully, but i was literally sewing up until we hit the stage! immediately after i went back to my hotel room and took a 4 hour nap! i was so completely wiped out. as a result, i don’t think it was my best performance, but went over pretty well. the girls were really awesome and it was the most fun i’ve had actually in a long time. vive banat zikrayat!

here is dimitri doing a hilarious robot dance to tribal fusion music at rakassah while bridget looks on…