Shopping indie fashions online at Smashing Darling

Etsy is a great site for handmade goods, but I unfortunately it does not offer a quality range of goods in clothes. Smashing Darling is the perfect site when shopping for a unique dress or other DIY/indie fashions online. All of the goods fetured on the site are for sale. It´s like "net-a-porter" of indie labels! Here are some of my favorites.

The 615 Project Fiona dress.


Laura Dawson Gallerist jacket.


Ena Daro Couture plaid couture dress.


Kahri Sweetheart Belted Circle Dress.


Angela Johnson T-shirt Ballgown

FadMashion emerging designer network

FadMashion is a new site for designers who want their works and brand noticed. “At FadMashion we make it easier for retailers to find fresh, quality talent in a marketplace overrun by outdated, scattered resources and we make it easier for designers to present their wares through our streamlined profile management interface. It has never been easier.“ I found loads of inspirational new talents with just an hour surfing. The site is still in Beta - that promises to solve the problem that designers and retailers face. The site rquires "fashion enthusiasts" to sign in to view designer details and collection images.

Dimitri Scheblanov fashions. Great look to re-fashion old tees and other clothes with a textile pen for a graphic and childlike artsy (unisex) look. I hope my local craft shops carry textile pens also in different colors so I can do this kind of work in the full rainbow spectrum! This kind of refashioning can be done quickly and in one evening. Definately something I plan to get done this fall when it rains outside :)





Octopi NYC. I love the cuts and material combinations in their FW08 collection.




Found via DIY City Mag blog.

ITS#SEVEN fashion design competition winners

This years International Talent Support competition ITS#SEVEN winners have been announced. This year Finnish Heikki Salonen grabbed the Diesel Award (50 000€) with his graduate collection. Congratulations! There were many zippers seen in the winning collections and no wonder because YKK was one of the event sponsors. See all the winners and their collection images HERE. I recommend clicking to the high-res images so you can see the details better. All of these collections are filled with stunning details. There´s also plenty of event photos available about the show and all the other desgners and collections in the competition.

FASHION COLLECTION OF THE YEAR - David Steinhorst. Zippers galore. Click to the high-res images for a closer look at the zipperwork.





DIESEL AWARD - Heikki Salonen. I loved the cropped unisex suit jacket, patched pants, blanket jacket and shoulder pearl beading.





MARIA LUISA AWARD - Alithia Spuri Zampetti. Stunning paper sculpture clothing.




Accessories Collection of the Year - Valentim Quaresma Unbeliavable steampunk / cyberpunk inspired metal scrap bodyjewelry collection.




YKK Award - Benjamin Shun Lai Ng. Very clever detailing and design ideas on mens footwear.

Wardrobe metamorphosis by Azumi & David (part 2)

Azumi & David morph different pieces of the wardrobe to create new humorous fashions called "Things to wear". I spent yesterday two hours browsing through all of their collections. There were so many cool and inspirational reconstructions that I have to show them to you in three parts: 1. tops, 2. scarfs belts, 3. bags. Check out also A&D blog.

A&D sees scarfs as much more than a simple piece of cloth. It can also be styled with collars, hoods or cuffs or made from unconventional materials like sportjcket sleeves. I never realized that sleeves can be transformed to so many different garments. A good design also enables the item to be more than one way. I especially love their woollen botton scarfs because they can be worn light or attached together to add more warmth. Also the hoodie scarf is a functional garment with an urban look. These designs will also go on my trashion-to-do list. Perfect for fall.

You can see the A&D collection details better if you open the images by clicking them.

Wardrobe metamorphosis by Azumi & David (part 1)

Azumi & David morph different pieces of the wardrobe to create new humorous fashions called "Things to wear". I spent yesterday two hours browsing through all of their collections. There were so many cool and inspirational reconstructions that I have to show them to you in three parts: 1. tops, 2. scarfs belts, 3. bags. Check out also A&D blog.

Azumi & David has mixed shirts, tees and sweats to create totally new items in the wardrobe. I call them "shirtop" and "shirtees". It also got me thingking on the amount of possibilities when taking a part and putting back together three different garments. T-shirts are made from 4 pieces, hooded sweats from 6 pieces and a shirt from 8 pieces... How many different combos does that amount to??? I´m not clever enought to give you an exact answer but at the moment I´m dying to find out! Splitting some pieces just gives you even more choices.

A&D uses clean and classic patterns in their collection, but my morphed thirtees would be constructed from grungy band-tees and men´s office shirts and flannel shirts. I call it "blue collar grunge". I´m so looking forward to getting my sewingmachine back from repair so I can start working on these!! Guaranteed Etsy stuff. You can see the A&D collection details better if you open the images by clicking them.

Clothing reconstruction inspiration from Eyola

There´s a new talent in London - Eyola! Her first collection is a remarkable mix of inventive and extraordinary shapes, cuts and details. Very inspirational collection when planning clothes reconstructions. My favorite is the suit-skirt and fringle dress. This is truly a new "name" to look out for in the future.






Via StyleBubble blog.

Cut and paste inspiration

DIY City Mag featured a few pages of my inspiration scrapbooks in their latest issue. Below the story. Click to MY INSPIRATION BOOK GALLERY if you want to see all the pages.

"It began with a problem...

I was first introduced to inspiration boards and books nine years ago when I was doing my thesis in fashion college. For it I interviewd designers on the process of fashion design. Each one of them started with an inspiration board collage that defined colors, theme, form, materials and the overall look of the collection. They said it was the most important part of the process and they defined the frames of the whole project. I had collected inspiring magazine clippings in office folders for seasons and at some point my shelf space just ran out. My husband was also tired of the huge fashion magazine piles in the corner of our livingroon and was threadning me to through them all out... Something more compact had to be invented. That´s when I remembered my thesis designer interviews. I bought blanc illustration books and started cutting. After a few evenings my inspiration folders had shrunk to one tenth of their original weight.



More than just a picturebook.
Inpiration scrapbooks are not just fun to make (to me it´s a form of scissor therapy), I found them to be handy in a whole lot of ways. I´m finally able to organize all my clippings as I wanted; by detail, material, designer or styling. Scrapbooks are magazine size so I can to have them in my bag every day. I usually take them with me when I go out to look for materials to a new project. Kind of an illustrated picture-shopping list! I can add drawings and notes on the pages right beside the pictures so all the ideas are stored in one place. I mostly concentrate on magazine clippings in my inspiration books but they can contain so much more. It can be anything you can paste on a book; a movie ticket, candy wrapper, an old photo, a piece of fabric or thread, a pressed flower, anything that you want to come back to. If you want to add 3D items, I suggest making inspiration boards.



Scrapbooking for perfectionists.
Usually I have one inspirationbook in the making. When I have cut all the clippings I organize them (by theme) between the pages but do not paste them until the whole book is organized, so I´m able to adjust the picture size and order to the last minute. My goal is to have every page filled with as much details as possible, an intresting look and a beautiful visual presenation. I really put a lot of time in the editing and thingking the pages through. I prefer to think of them as artwork with a practical function. If some clippings don´t seem to fit the theme or they just don´t look as inspiring as they did before, they are dismissed from my book.



Finding inspiration.
I browse through hundreds of fashion shows in a season and try to come up with ways to transform the catwalk-trends and designer details in to trashion reconstructions. If you browse through my books you can see that I adore humoristic details, special cuts, handmade treatments and anything fashionable can be transformed and made from recycled and secondhand materials. After collecting and sorting all the clippings the themes just seem to pop up. Runway designers have often surprising and intresting material, color combinations and forms in their collections. Most of them never make it to fashion magazine editorials, so I pick the ones I can apply to my clothing reconstructions and paste them into my book. I also read many fashion and interior blogs to find inspiring images and local streetfashion-micro-trends. Looking out for ideas I have not seen done before in crafts help me to keep my designs fresh and intresting.



Sharing the idea.
Today I have about six books that contain inspiration from hundreds of fashion magazines (yes, I buy a lot of them..), fashion collections and websites. My books have grown way bigger than my ability to execute the ideas and projects featured in them so I while back I desided to share them online for everyone to read. I scanned my favorite pages and dumped them to my blog and wed inspiration picture gallery. Since scrapbooks are collages, they are copyright-free and you are able to publish them where ever you want! My hope is that someone else can find new ideas from my books and incorporate them to their crafts and works."

INTRO
PAGE 1
PAGE 2
PAGE 3
PAGE 4

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.

Stylish peplums and fashion terminology

Queen Michelle from Kindom Of Syle blog created this wonderful and very stylish peplum to complete her wardrobe. What is a peplum, you may ask? According to Encyclopedia.com "peplum is a a short flared, gathered, or pleated strip of fabric attached at the waist of a woman's jacket, dress, or blouse to create a hanging frill or flounce".

Prada had some lightly padded versions in their Fall 2008 collection. Sounds intresting, looks stylish and is easy to make for yourself! I have a stack of shoulder pads in my craft supplies closet (cut out from secondhand 80´s clothes) that would work great in this project. I´d cover the pads up with lace, trim the edges and sew together onto a elastic waistband. Or you could use some of those fabric scaps left over from your latest dress/skirt sewing project. I know you have them! :) Quick trashion and an instant facelift for any pencil skirt or straight cuctail dress you have in your closet.

Peplums at Prada Fall 2008 collection:




I have learned so many new fashion related words (in English) since I started this blog. I´ve studied fashion terminology in Finnish and felt really frustrated in the beginning of my writing when I could not express myself correctly. But as I have browsed through hundreds of fashion blog posts, I have picked a few words on the way. I´m still a looong way from being an A student so I thought getting some proper fashion dictionaries might help. I found two from Amazon: Fairchild Dictionary of Fashion and The Thames and Hudson Dictionary of Fashion and Fashion Designers (World of Art).

Clothing reconstruction ideas from Viktor & Rolf Fall 2008 collection

I spent a good part of my weekend browsing through Firstview.com fall 2008 fashion collections. Every fashion blog is posting about the next fall trend so there´s propably no point of me doing the same. I concentrate on finding ideas from them that you fellow DIYers can aply in your projects. And boy did I hit the motherload!

I´m sure most of you have seen pics of the unreal 3D slogan jackets in Viktor & Rolf Fall 2008 collection. Quite stunning, but they take a bit of planning and pattern making to pull off. I want to see fast results in my DIY fashion projects (plus my sewing machine is at the repair shop) so that was not the thing that caught my attention... It was the STAPLES!! The entire collection is filled with seams with random staple-details. V&R also used them for gathering volume and combining pieces (sleeves to bodice). The best thing is that this DIY tip is unisex so you can style your mans wardrobe at the same go.






I had to go get my husbands staple gun immediately and try this out. I don´t think this would work so good on my silk party dress, so I´ll start from refashioning old tees, shirts and jeans. The staples need to be shot against a surface that absorbs the hit but allows them to be taken out easily - thick styrofoam. Be carefull when pulling off the garment. The staple is through the fabric but it still needs to be bent underneath to secure the fastening. Hammer the staple ends down to finish the detail. I´m sure V&R have sewed the seams normally before stapling them, but I would not bother if you are in a hurry... In this case "less is more" does not aply. The more the merrier.

I´m not sure if the staples I have are stainless steel, but I´m kinda hoping there not... I want them to rust when the garment is washed!! That would make a cool effect. Looooove rust. If the washing machine does not work in rusting, I´ll try soaking. CheapBoutique at Etsy also gave me a tip to use Boiled egg yolk works, Ammonia or urine for rust-treatments. Ammonia (clorine/bleach) might be easiest. I remember some denim buttons rusting when I soaked a pair of jeans in raw bleach. Ooops.

Zipper collar for Susie

I feel like a million bucks right now. StyleBubble aka Susanna Lau, my favorite fashion blogger posted about my zipper collars! The next one I make will be hers. I got the zippers today and it will take about a week for me to get this done. I cannot take full credit for the original design since Comme Des Garçons (SS05 collection) was the first designer behind this kind of zipper-use. Since so many have wondered how these collars are done, I decided to take pictures of all the making-of steps and post them to My Flickr site, Cut Out and Keep craft tutorials and of course here to my blog. I hope they are of some help to you in case you want to make one for yourself.



The collar is made from 12 jacket zippers (70-80 cm long). First they will be taken apart and then pinned on to a dummy to get the organic form. After taken off the dummy the whole thing has to be sewn together by hand. I tried to use a sewing machine, but the shape did not come out as fluent as I wanted. Handsewing it is.

When finished, the collar can be used as a necklace or attached to dresses.



Links to my zipper-posts:
Zipper collar inspiration
My first zipper collar
Zipper collar with my crochet gala dress
The second zipper collar I made for a friend

My work is originally meant to inspire others to start crafting and creating things for them selves, so if someone sees my work and copies it, I´m just happy. But, with this technique it´s a bit difficult to make the collalrs exactly alike... That´s the beauty in crafting and DIY. 100% copying is impossible :)

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:

DIY design for narcoleptics

I have a habit of snoozing daily. In the bus, car or sometimes even in my workplace. Call it slightly narcoleptic, my husband calls it "blond thingking".. I never thought I´d find DIY projects or gift ideas for narcoleptics, but I did! Downstairs Studio is a Canada based company that draws inspiration from the everyday things around us. They also share my liking to add humor to their products. These Pilo pilo’s are designed to be worn as rings so when you lean your face on your hand it will have someplace soft to rest. How practical and confy is that! The perfect gift for a snoozing student. (I also love their idea of using shower caps as bicycle rain seatcovers.)





Joo Youn Paek is the designer of The Pillowig. A groovy design that allows you to doze off where ever. Love it. I´m so making this for the bus.


Via Bientot Demain blog.

Geek-ware Trashion

Technology has gone supersonic in the past ten years. Our electronic devices expire faster and recycling centres are stuck with mountains of old computers, tv´s, dvd´s, phones, printers, VHS casettes and so on. Anyone who uses these discarded technologies as material for their projects or products is my idol. Geek-ware blog ("adventures of an e-waste recycler") is dedicated in finding new ideas and the people that gid through piles of computers and other tech-stuff to give them a new purpose or look. Artists have also come up with fab new inventions when studying our relationship with these everydaymachines. Recycle-retro-tech rocks!

Customizing your computer screen: Instructions HERE
How cool is this.. And did you notice the keyboard??


Recycling computer disks:

Floppy disc notebooks

Disc notebooks

CD-case:


Privacy-laptop sweater and other Body-Technology Interfaces.


Mac-jewelry:


Sheeps in technology heaven: Original post HERE

Manon Gignoux´s love for wear and tear

Manon Gignoux makes clothes, accessories, jewellry and home decor from pieces of fabric. I think she has a wonderful way to combine (muted) colors and to transform an worn down fabric into something comfortable, soft and inviting.

"The origins of my work can be traced back to my last year of study at France’s Duperré School of Applied Arts when I carried out a photographic study of the clothes worn by workers in the early 20th century and explored the "traces of wear and tear" on clothes. Starting with details of a hundred or so photographs taken from books, I filled research notebooks and ended up with four themes: the "carpenter" or the traces of alteration, the "washerwoman" or the imprint of repeated movements, the "inside-out suit" or the dynamics of (de)construction, and the "woman shopkeeper" or the encounter between work clothes and everyday life and the way an object that is worn fits the body." (paragraph from Manon Gignoux website)




"I play on the relationship between clothes and object, I dress objects in order to protect them and to tell their story… damaged coverings, darned, made from accumulation and colours faded by time."

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.

Re-inventing your craft

Craft artists love their creations but sometimes I think they lose the ability to view their designs and technique objectively and that often results to lack of renovation in their designs or product range. They just keep doing the same stuff year after year... Let me give you an example. I went to a recycle-craft fair today in Helsinki. I saw too many totebags and brooches but not a single laptop case or iPod case!

Laptop carriercase by Janine King Designs at Etsy. Simple but very functional design.


Re-invent your color pallette.

Color is a very important part in design and the overall presentation of the product. We all have our favorite colors and color pallettes. I spoke to one crafter today at the fair about colors and she said the best sellers for her have always been black, white, brown and red (mostly burgundy and blood red). She had some green and orange in her collection but confessed that she keeps them in the collection just because they are her favorite colors even they do not sell that well. She has made a smart move on following up on what sells and developing her collections to match that even though they might not be her favorites.