Make-up close up

One more time, a flashback to the Comic Book Party.

Below, a couple of pictures of my party make-up. I had such a great fun changing my face geometry. It was so close to painting on canvas that I felt like I came back to my high school passion. I miss painting, and make-up is the closest substitute I could came up with.

These photos were taken long before the party. Hence, I don't have my glasses yet and my cat ears are still in the pre-design phase.

Here's my inspiration, Alma Mayer, from one of my favourite comic books - Blacksad:

After this post, the whole new area would come, as I'm in the process of refocusing and changing my sewing aspirations. Watch this space!

The Breathtaking Birthday Bash

It's been only a couple of posts ago, so it seems like yesterday, but it actually was a year ago - the very successful Noir Party. This year it was my husband's turn to turn 30 and to celebrate this important occasion we decided to throw a party... in Poland! And that was the beginning of the Breathtaking Birthday Bash!

Superheros and heroines, spies, Bob the Builder, Tin Tin, Death, Delirium, Desire, V, Poison Ivy and many more along with us: Alma Mayer and Corto Maltese - all gathered together to have fun, dance and drink till the very morning. At 4am, the urge for a grand finale pushed us to play a spectacular frisbee game in front of the Presidential Palace finished relentlessly by a police officer.

I love you Warsaw.

This was in May. Since then we've managed to return home and lose ourselves in our daily routines. The only thing I didn't forget, was that I really wanted to take better pictures of my yellow dress. Instead, the usual has happened - we never got around to do this. Hence, I'm posting some pictures from the party with the main intention being the yellow dress show off:

Photos by Ana

Wearing: mustard dress and ears (Fabrykat), shoes (All Saints), glasses (Sisley), jewellery (gift from a friend).

My fellow model, Desire, sporting his new suite by Versace. SO classy!

More pictures from the party here.

Pink dress

It took me almost a year to decide what I wanted to make out of the pink fabric I bought in Paris last May. I loved the colour and its rich texture - it's wool. My problem was I only purchased 1,5m of this fabric, so I knew I couldn't go for anything more ambitious than a simple 60s dress. I didn't have any particular looks in mind when I started making my dress but I somehow arrived at the exact same colour scheme as Marc Jacobs f/w 2009. Isn't it fascinating how human brains work?



I used the V1150 pattern for this dress, although I prefer to work without patterns. It somehow works for me better; patterns limit my imagination and make me follow instructions blindly. If I work with my imagination only, I feel like I can do anything I want. Still, when working with a unique fabric from Montmartre, I didn't want to risk any mistakes, so I went for a simple shape and a simple pattern.


The last picture is a bit distorted but it shows the colour better. We took the pictures on a typical English day - gray and damp, but I somehow liked the contrast between the gray background and the bright colours of the dress, scarf and the bag.
Yes, the bag! I got the bag at the Custard Factory Vintage Fair a couple of weeks ago. It was love at first sight and since then, I haven't left house without it.

Harem Pants

The idea isn't new. I was initially inspired by these COS trousers from the past A/W 2009 season:

However, the final shape of my trousers was dictated purely by the nature of the fabric I bought. It's a black muslin which literally flows through your fingers as you touch it. I loved its movement and softness since the very first second.

I don't think I've ever explained before how much my designs depend of the fabric itself. I get my inspiration from its texture and softness. I can spend hours at a fabric store, simply touching and stroking fabrics, and each touch gives me dozens of ideas. Finally, and most importantly, since I am and always was a colour lover, it's the colour that determines the final result. This post is not about colour though, it's about draping and my first attempts at this joyful art.
I totally enjoyed it! My husband laughed at me when he first saw me dancing around Euphoria (my sewing mannequin), mumbling some incomprehensible spells and trying to make my fabric flow in the directions I wanted it to flow. Endless fun! and a very satisfying result!



Wearing: leather jacket (SuperDry), boots (Zara), harem pants (Fabrykat), scarf (old cardigan incredibly stretched sideways[!] after a number of washes), gloves (Urban Outfitters).

...

R.I.P. Lee Alexander McQueen (1969 – 2010)

Jacket in action

The inspiration for the jacket came from Moschino Cheap&Chic 2010RST collection:


I am a great fan of Moschino Cheap&Chic. I like watching their shows because they are always incredibly entertaining. I like how they play with their inspirations and themes and how they finish their looks using bold, sometimes even childish accessories. This picture was particularly appealing to me. Ernesta Petkeviciute did a great job posing and made me see a newspaper boy, a small time crook, a vagabond. I fell in love with this look because I have always been such a mixture of a tomboy and a business woman. And I can totally see myself rollerblading to work wearing this and coming straight to a meeting :) Altogether, it's a great effortless look.

This was my starting point last August. However, right after I finished sewing my jacket, the business-half of my life took over the vagabond-half and I had to tone down all my looks and focus more on making myself look smart than making new playful clothes. Hence, the only pictures of my jacket I have are the ones we took during our insane and full of adventures trip to Poland on a 30-year old Triumph Spitfire.


This little beauty was a wedding gift for our best friends and, despite the innocent look on its face (yes, I still think that car has a very innocent face), it broke down about 8 times on our way there. So please, forgive my tired look and not always perfect clothes.

On the ferry to the Netherlands.
I am wearing: hat (All Saints), jacket (Fabrykat), glasses (Marc by Marc Jacobs), tee (Junior Gaultier), trousers (Nike Woman), shoes (All Saints).

Busy weekend

I am not a competitive person. I hate losing, and what's more, I hate winning - I always feel pity for the person who loses. And I don't like that feeling. I know, it's peculiar, but it's been like that for as long as I can remember. I hated competition at school and during my studies, I hated competitive sports (I mean, I can watch tennis on tv, but I wouldn't be able to play it) and I hate competition at work.
But there is one thing I AM for sure - I am an ambitious animal. I can compete with myself till death. I would push myself to the limits just to achieve the goal I've set for myself.

Does that explain why I came up with this brilliant idea of making a jacket?
Maybe not, but anyway, here it is, the yet-unfinished jacket and the best model in the world - Euphoria, a birthday present from my beloved husband.

I think she looks damn cool in this jacket. I would leave the jacket as it is now if I were not dying of curiosity to see how it looks finished.

The headphones belong to my husband, but apparently, these days, only Euphoria knows how to make them work.