gatormade

open and ready for biz!!! ;D
http://www.etsy.com/shop/hennaflower

wow! what a busy september. last saturday was my teach sumie’s second l.i.c. fashion show. i met with her shortly before the show and she wasn’t that crazy about my concept. i fretted for days over what to make….i was so sad and stressed out. i couldn’t think of anything good. i settled on making a corset and a high-waisted wiggle skirt with ruffles along the back. i didn’t like it at all until i saw it on my model! then i fell in love. as usual the colors were really bold!

photo by jun lee. (i liked this model. she told me i looked 20!)

(by the way…i discovered after the show that my dress also made it on another fashion blog! maybe i’m on to something! http://www.phatguru.com/?p=9726)

anyways, as i was preparing for the fashion show our friend falu asked sami to play violin with her band for a show at the hindu temple which was to be the same night. the great thing about that is that he had over 30 songs to memorize and i got to hear a bunch of classic bollywood and semi-classical indian tunes all week while i worked.

both of our shows were fun and went well, but we were sorry to not have been there to see the other…

the next day zikrayat performed at the ‘queens county folk fest’ in the afternoon and in the evening? we opened for r&b star alicia keys’ VMA afterparty! the most high profile gig we’ve done so far!

so once the stress and work from all that was finished, i spent most of the past week decompressing and preparing for my birthday. on thursday the weekend began with my present from sami- a trip to see the bway show ‘burn the floor’. the show was amazing and made me wish i had been dancing like THAT my whole life. on friday i threw a little party for myself at dutch kills bar. a new speakeasy type artsy bar in l.i.c. on saturday, sami and i feverishly cleaned the house in anticipation of his parents arrival and last night, sunday, we had dinner with them and my parents.

today! sami’s parents and i drove to downtown brooklyn and did a little shopping at rashid sales and sahadi’s and had a delicious lunch at tripoli. i really miss going to that area. i used to go down there all the time when i lived in far rockaway and later in brooklyn.

so it was a great four days of celebrating. i have alot to be happy about with the fashion thing and with my cute hubby, friends and family. happy birthday to me!

just finished a reversible baby smock made from two vintage silk kimono’s. the reversible thing was really a challenge for my spatially inept brain, but i did it! also, i know silk and babies don’t go together so well, but i couldn’t resist. the fabric just screams baby.

today i got my dresses in a boutique! there’s only three so far, but i’m really happy and feel quite accomplished. i have such a hard time finishing things and following through with my goals, but i did it! thanks to sami bear and sumie of course. i’m really lucky!

http://www.brooklynrail.org

well, its been almost a month since i left my job at RH to perfect my sewing and start a business designing. its possible i might live to regret it financially, but i have to say from a mental and spiritual standpoint, i am happier than ever. my biggest upset these days is over what to make! and of course perfecting my skills is taking longer than i thought, but god its so much more rewarding than coding newsletters. i mean, i will probably miss web stuff and want 2 go back 2 it at least sporadically…but that might take a minute! all hail creative independence!

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!