August Trashion favorites - Victorian

Gorgeous Vintage Thimble and Snap Earrings by My Aunt Debbie.


Antique Lace Pouf Sleeve Shrug by Holly Stalder.


Recycled Suitpants Corset by Damsel In Thisdress.


Victorian Cameo Cuff in Purple and Black Leather by Tom Banwell.


Victorian gothic lolita ruffle miniskirt by Black Mirror Design.


Victorianesque capelet with ruffles and pleated shoulders by ParaNoire.


Vintage Victorian lace collar corsage by Nostalgic Corner.


Steampunk necklace by OpulentOddities.


Baroque Collar Wrap by Bonzie.


Corset by Milo Creative Studios


Victorian Tattered Corset Vest Top from Mano Bello at Cync00 eco fashion

DIY microtrend - The Mustache!

Curvy muctaches haven´t been in fashion for dechades, but recently I´ve noticed them popping around everywhere. One of these places has been Etsy and a few of my favorite blogs. Tens of different Etsy shop keepers have listed mustache-items lately (currently 414 items). Not only does a carefully waxed and shaped mustache give you a classic 20´s look but it also gives you a humoristic disguise. I bought mine from Paraphernalia a few months ago. When are you going to join this Poirot-movement? How about making your own and maybe hosting mustache theme party for your firends??? Who ever thought that the Bearded Lady would be a DIY trendsetter one day?




Felt mustaches and beards by Lupin at Etsy.


Strap on mustaches by NDechent at Etsy.


Faux facial hair by Born Lippy at Etsy.


Mustache envy kit and mustaches-on-a-stick by Some Things Hiding Here at Etsy.


Mustache pint glasses from Bread and Badger. Via Design Sponge interior blog.

Party planning trashion style

Lately I´ve spent hours in Etsy shopping for stuff for an upcomig party. The event theme is rock/burlesque/fetish. It is going to be crazy. So far I have bought this steampunk styled leather mask, black lace fan and victorian lace neck corset from Etsy. Of course all handmade and unique.

My idea is to be a steampunk-rockabilly-victorian gal with a Alexander McQueen vibe. Below some inspiration images on the dress. I have the patterns bought, but I still need to find the fabric... It would be good if I could find it from a thriftstore or fleamarket so I would not have to buy it new.. I´m going to decorate the corset with all the brass colored watch movements and parts I have bought from Etsy in the few months. The whole thing is propably going to weigh a ton but I don´t mind. My sewing machine is still at the repair guy so I have no idea how I will get the dress done in time... But I´m a firm believer of last-minute-panic so things have a tendency to work out. That´s what being creative is all about!






Tartan and pinstripe fishtail skirts and corset by viogeminidesigns.


Burlesque pencil skirt by Maisy Brown Repro Retro

Hair inspiration: Image from andyseyecandy.etsy.com

Woollen socks are a must in Scandinavia and they are the most comfortable thing to wear at home. But I´m terrible in knitting! I just don´t get it how it´s done... That´s why I was really happy to find these reconstructed sweater slippers by Zerkahloostrah. You can find her work at Flickr or zerkahloostrah.etsy.com. These would make a wonderfull christmass gift idea for my friends this year!

Refashioning sweatshirts by Takeoffyourclothes

take.off.your.clothes makes clothes, accessories and soft jewelry from reusing old sweatshirts. I love his design style. Items also available from takeoffyourclothes.etsy.com.

The Leanimal in you

Leanimal is a sustainable fashion brand designed by Leanne Marshall. I find her fashions very inspirational. She uses loads of draped fabric to form beautiful details on clothing. Leanimal has a shop at Etsy. Too bad almost all of her clothes are sold out at the moment, but I hope she will have new available soon.. Meanwhile you can check out the "sold" section and get inspired!

Sustainable fruit and wegetable grosery bags

More and more cities (San Francisco, LA, Modbury in Devon England,...) have banned plastic bags from super markets and shopping malls. Still waiting for your hometown to follow suit? Do your part by implementing your own personal bag ban: Stock up on reusable shopping bags (hit up Envirosax to purchase a well-designed set of five, or go the DIY route and sew your own). Avoid leaving stores with new bags at all costs, and find a way to re-use the ones that have made their way into your home. One method of keeping them out of the landfill: Crocheting another plastic — but reuseable — bag yourself.

Taking your own tote shopper with you gives you something to carry your shopping home, but what to do with those small vegetable and fruit bags? You have to pack your veggies somewhere to weigh them! A few Etsy sellers have an exellent alternative - tulle fruitbags. The see-through material means the cashier can read the produce number/barcode, and the bags can easily be washed and reused. A few dollars gets you a variety of sizes and colors from fabrik.etsy.com and ficklefaerie.etsy.com.

Classic patterns - Houndstooth

Houndstooth is one of the most well known textile and weave patterns. I find it fascinating because is mostly assosiated with classical dressing but has recently also been adapted to streetwear clothing. A crafter should look for patterns like this for their items. Because of houndstooths classical nature it will never go out of fashion and can be purchased by different styled people. It is also unisex. Colors can just be adjusted according to personal and trend preferences (like white-neonpink to pastel colors). Variants of the houndstooth check include the Prince of Wales check and Pepita plaid where check is formed with twill weave alternating bands of dark and light threads.

Houndstooth



Prince of Wales check or Glen Plaid


Pepita plaid


Neck ruff by misfitchic


Re-printing notebooks, by Morgan Worth.

Bow necklace by winnieatepooh


Tie by rabbitstop


Pins by relishdress


Hobo bag by hoakonhelga


Hat by Sookie


Buttoned top by morosemelonhead


Top image by harlemborn89.

Vinyl necklaces at Prada

Isn´t it wonderful how Miuccia Prada always seems to add trashion styled details to her collections and make them still look so elegant and classic?! Of course I´m talking about the vinyl necklaces and cuffs in her latest Fall 2008 collection. Beautiful lace coctail dresses are teamed up with wawy vinyl pieces that look like they could be made from thrifted vinyl records. You´ve propaby seen some vinyl bowls at Etsy, but this kind of styling just takes them to a complitely new level! I know these are not the thing for a beginner trashionista to make, but if you want some for your self I think Etsy Alchemy would come in handy. Just look up artists like EyePopArt or Stella James to help you out.

Prada collection images via Style.com.





Prada inspired vinyl necklace by Clamity Jem.

Inspiring zipper jewelry by Kate Cusack

I´ve spent the whole morning just googling zipper inspired jewelry. Found some fab things and artists. I got one tip through StyleBubbles blog comments (thanks Clover!) to check out artist Kate Cusack. Absolutely stunning work! In some pieces she uses only a few zippers, which is very good if you don´t have many same colored zips to use for your project. But of course my favories have more than 5 zips. :) I also found a zipper tab earring tutorial from Cut Out and Keep craft community.






Zipper necklaces by Kate Cusack.


This Zipper Necklace from Khoon Hooi Features: chiffon, wood, pearl, jewel and zipper detailing on body.


Zipper necklace available from 80spurple.com


Zipper tab earrings by wickedmoxie.etsy.com


Earrings by darhling.etsy.com


Earrings by mybloomnart.etsy.com

Inspiration: Human anatomy

I have an obsession with anatomy inspired art and craft. Skulls and bones (the real ones), jewelry made from anatomy text book images, clothes with anatomy prints.. Lets just say that cute pastel things with flower prints don´t do it for me. Some of my friends did not enjoy my post on Katharina Ludvig organ bottles and even thought the anatomy necklaces I recently bought from Paraphernalia were too much. Too "real" they said. Funny people. Human anatomy has inspired people from the times of ancient greeks so I suppose it should count as a classic trend. :)

Toolgrrl aka Rachel Wright is an artist I found from Etsy that reconstructs secondhand slips with appliques to create dramatic in-your-face anatomy inspired fashions. The buys all supplies from thrift stores and sews by hand. Check out her website www.rachelwright.net for images galleries. Some people might find them odd when I find them fascinating and beautiful. We can´t all like the same things.. That just wouldn´t be right. I love these dresses since it reminds me that we of the fragile and very personal eco-system of your own bodies. It´s a "respecting life and death" thing I suppose. For more anatomy inspired fashions, I recommend Undercover SS2005 collection and collection details.




Undercover SS2005 collection. Can you see the teeth, eye-balls and guts?



Eyeball necklace by alteredeleanors


Anatomy pillow by CrowsCloth


Anatomica collection necklaces by Paraphernalia



Spine neckties by Toybreaker


Heart earrings and skull necklace by Holly Modine

Recycled leather to punk jewelry by Janna Ambags-Alberts

Janna Ambags-Alberts makes incredible design jewelry from recycled leather. Her work has the right (stylish) kind of 80´s vibe but at the same time I see them as very modern wearables. They have a punk feel to them that will elovate any little black dress to gala status. Janna has also a Flickr gallery by the name of Artable.nl.





Since her jewelry cannot be bought online I recommend checking out Fleathers.etsy.com. She makes earrings from colorful leather.

Steampunk fashon part 2 - the gear

Haruo Suekichi watches at Steampunk Lab

The biggest name in steampunk timepieces is Haruo Suekichi. His work just leaves me speachless. If his creations are out of your price-range, Etsy is an exellent place to find steampunk accessories (mostly just for women) hats, spats, gloves and jewelry. The level craftmanship is amazing with these steampunk-crafters. Steampunk Gear Group in Flickr offers great inspiration. As a seamstress I have no idea how to work with metal (exept maybe how to glue it..) so I´m very happy to find so many crafters that do. Etsy Supplies also offers loads of watch parts and other metal knick knacks that you can purchase for your own projects.


Vintage watch parts available at ingeniouslycreative.etsy.com


Steampunk ray gun by Xevian13


Photo by Amanda Scrivener.


Watch movement earrings by dustDesignCo.etsy.com


DIY Steampunk umbrella by dbvictoria.etsy.com


Steampunk glasses by faradaybags.etsy.com


Goggles by J.Mars Design


Steampunk rings by Catherinette Rings

A passion for lace

Vintage lace ages beautifully. Just like wine it just becomes better the older it gets. There is always a romantic feminine feel present and it just needs to be touched. Here are some of my lace-favorites from this weeks surfing.

Lace in trees - The Magnolia Project: (by Poppalina)


Colored lace earrings: modesign.etsy.com


Lace and mixed media cuffs by Robes of Earth

Back to the Future - Steampunk inspiration

It seems I have been a fan of Steampunk for years. I just never knew what this style/gendre was called until today. Steampunk is 19th century victorian fashions (tophats, taicoats, bustiers, corsets) and industrial styled design mixed with future-like gadgets. According to Wikipedia, the term steampunk denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne. “What the past would have been like if the future hadn’t happened so quickly“.


Steampunk laptop by Datamancer


(photo by fatalattraction)

William Gibson's 1982 novel Neuromancer is generally considered to be the first example of a literary form called cyberpunk. This science fiction subgenre places computers, networks, and electronics (the cyber- part) inside a future that is anarchic and often dystopian (the punk part; from the anarchic, dystopian punk rock music of the mid- to late-70s). Move the setting to the past, especially the Victorian age, take out the electronics and replace them with mechanical devices, especially elaborate, steam-powered contraptions, and you have a new genre: steampunk. This gendre has been applied to films such as Wild, Wild West, Brazil, City of Lost Children, Timemachine, Golden Compass, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and even Edward Scissorhands.




(photo by teelakallisto


Necklaces by Professor Quentin Ziplash


(photo by a_clockwork_zero)


Ring by JewelsofLuxury.etsy.com

If this gendre intrests you, just search the word "steampunk" from Flickr, YouTube, Etsy or Google. Prepare for hours of surfing... Etsy alone carries almost 4000 steampunk related items. I found so much inspiring stuff that I decided to post only a few pictures and a looong list of links.

Steampunk inspiration and wearables:
Steampunk Gear Flickr group
Steampunk Flickr group
Steampunk Fashion Flickr group
Etsy Steampunk Flickr group
Steampunk style article in The Star
Steampunk Workshop blog
MadArtJewelry
SteampunkLab blog - Projects
Brassgoggles blog
katbret_photography steampunk picture set
A_Clockwork_Zero jewelry gallery
Steampunk SF Photoshoot 2008 by JLinto
Steampunk fashions by Dreadnought Designs
lilibat mistress of Antimony & Lace's photostream
Wyldfire Studios steampun apron

Steampunk interior & object design:
Steampunk lamps by Frank Buchwald
Customized steampunk keyboards by Datamancer
Steampunk watches by Haruo Suekichi
Steampunk Home interior blog
Steampunk weaponry by Wetanz
Steampunk clocks by Marcel Betricey
Steamunk computer mouse
Tom Sepe's Steampunk Motorbike
Atonefabrik goggles

Steampunk inspiration:


Steampunk iPhone case:

Suits you Girl! A reconstruction by LauPre

Crafster hosted a challenge last December to buy something under 20$ and reconstruct it to something new. The winner of the "Super Ugly to Super Awesome" challenge is Sad Suit to Ruffle-y cute by LauPre! Once a sad, sad over-sized frumpy business suit, LauPre transformed it into a super cute and funky outfit! Fab job girl!!




Mens secondhand suits make perfect material for clothing reconstruction projects since they are easily available, usually cheap but very good material to easy to sew (most are wool and wool-mix) and work with. I have also made a dress from a suit (+ corset) and found it to be one of my favorite projects. LauPre also has a blog (and Etsy shop). Check out her tutorial on making buttoned spats/legwarmers.

StyleBubble cut-out dress via Etsy Alchemy (made by Angie Montreal)

I rarely see an "fashionable" piece (that is propably designed only to be in magazine editorials), work in real life wardrobe. StyleBubble aka Susie Bubble seems to pull anything off! In March she was obsessed about these SS08 Acne and Comme Des Garcons "cage-dresses" and finally decided to go to Etsy Alchemy to get her own. I love the www for this sort of international connection! You´re able to send an open request on Etsy Alchemy on items that you´d like to have custom-made. Crafters look you up according to their field of expertice. The customer met her designer and Angie Montreal (IheartNorwegianWood.etsy.com) ended up making Susie her cage-dress. I think it turned out fantastic.



Read the full story from the dress inspiration to making-of and to pictures of the finished dress. And in case you have not read Susie´s blog, I recommend starting from the DIY expert section.

Handpainted flapper mannequins by Nostalgic Corner at Etsy

I´ve been talking about presentation a lot in my posts on selling your goods online. I just found something that will instantly boost your sales - the 20´s flapper mannequin torso. Put anything on this doll (jewelry, hats...) and it just looks stunning. Maybe not the best thing for Nurave lego-jewelry, but excellent for all that pretty, classic beadwork and millinery. It´s rare to find this styled mannequins from thrift stores and fleamarkets because the finder usually keeps them for their own displays, but I found a crafter from Etsy that makes and handpaints them! Her shop is at Nostalgiccorner.etsy.com. I want (need) one for my birthday...

Not so BoringSidney

Meet Belle, the fab milliner from Etsy known as BoringSidney. She makes hats with that have that special wow-effect. With a BA in Apparel Design and a Minor in Costume Design, Belle has had the opportunity to design costumes for some 25 plays or musicals over the last 18 years, several ballets, independent film, and a magic show. It was in the theatre that she learned the art of millinery. With a love for the bizarre and quirky, a solid sense of humor, and a driving need to create, that she started Boring Sidney/Belle Millinery label 9 years ago.

Hats millinery; hand blocking, creating hat blocks, steaming and building buckram frames is almost a lost art, having apprenticed under a master milliner in the theatre she learned old world millinery techniques and acquire vintage hat blocks, trims, and fabrics. Her shop carries 20´s art deco, 40´s pin-up styled hats, headwraps and feather decorated pieces with haircomb fastenings that will transform any dress to movie star status.



I´m so happy Etsy finally featured her on their Featured Seller column since she is one of my favorite Etsy-crafters. Read the full interview HERE. You can find Belle´s shop from BoringSidney.etsy.com. Her designs were featured also in the Spring 2008 issue of Elle Accessories Magazine. Congrats girl!


I love the shape of this pink hat so much that I´m going to tr to do this from neckties.

Unique shopper bags from plastic office file pockets and magazine clippings

These genious shopping bags made from clear plastic office file pockets. They are sewn together with a regular home sewing machine and you can decorate them with some magazine clippings. Etsy sellers note: This is the perfect (and fast!) stylish way to make bags for your DIY goods. Plastic file pockets are available propably from any recycling centre in your area. They will propably give some for free if you ask :) And if they have a company logo on them that you don´t want to be seen, just print a stickker with your details ext. and paste it over the logo. Simple as 1,2,3.

For more creative packing, visit Crafty Packages Group in Flickr.

I cannot remember anymore where on the net I first spotted these images. If you know who has originally made them, please let me know and I will credit you on this post.