Isabel

I'm going to just come right out and say that , you know, I'm not a super girly-girl. I'm actually a pretty big tomboy, in a lot of ways. BUT I love fashion...which would seem incongruous. I appreciate a wide variety of designers and aesthetics, but as I get older, I tend to gravitate towards a more specific style. I sort of refer to it as "high class grunge", "fashion for tough girls", "rock and roll style"....whatever you want to call it, I don't know. All I know is I love beautiful things, but I also in a day have to maybe carry a brass instrument the size of my entire body on my back, saw through sheets of copper, bust shoplifters, ride 3 trains, haul box after box of books, and undoubtedly spill coffee all over myself....my clothes can't be too frou frou! SO, to me the epitome of badass chick style is Isabel Marant. I love her, her clothes, her vibe...it's like, all the shit I dig wrapped into one thing. Slim pants, beautiful blouses, sharp-ass jackets, sequins, leather, and FLANNEL?! Be still my heart.....


Spring 2011....Sexy flannel...I've believed in it since 1994....now you can too! No, but really, I love how hot, but chill it looks. The blue lace is freakin rad too.


This is from Fall 2010. I wear a lot of grey, I'd even go so far as to say it's my favorite color. I like how its mixed with silver on the right. I also just plain covet those coats.


Fall 2011. What speaks to me about her style is like, it seems to me, to be for girls who rather look cool than hot. (though you end up probably looking like both) When I see her collection, I feel like I could wear that...and not every designer makes me feel that way.

Awesome neckpiece.


Oh yeah, and let's not forget the SHOES....


Holy crap....


Hot shoes you could hang out in without feeling like your feet need to be amputated.


Chain AND fringe...hell yeah!

I do wear heels! Not like, everyday, or when I'm carrying 50lbs of woodwinds on my back, but I have been known to rock a heel! I like that they have this cute rockabilly thing going on. I also think they would still look cool after they're all spotty cuz you spilled beer all over them....

Everyone totally lost their shit over these...I can see why.



From one of her ad campaigns....usually ads piss me off, but I dig how simple hers are.

Thank you, Isabel Marant, for re-affirming my belief that I can love fashion, without being a priss!

Plastic is Forever

So this is the first piece I've ever made using vintage bakelite. Usually, I'm not into plastic, but I couldn't resist the Toxic Avenger green! I gave it kind of an industrial hippie vibe with the chain fringe.

I knotted the chains...still have to reinforce the knots with a drop of crazy glue....


Bakelite (the chemical name is....ahem....get ready....polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride.....jesus! Thanks wikipedia!) Was one of the original plastics, used until about the 50's






I like to get away from the crazy grandma aesthetic that bakelite can evoke....and toughen it up a bit.

BADASS new piece!!!!

I have been thinking about this piece for a while. I had to figure out the logistics first, but the idea has been brewing for quite sometime. Super-tribal metal mixed with vintage rhinestones...don't get more badass than THAT.

The chains are a dull silver and black!


I think the focal piece is African...maybe Ethiopian?


I figured out these cool spikes I found were actually FORK prongs!


One of my all time favorites, for sure....

The Dead Kenny Gs

St Patrick's day I went to the Brooklyn Bowl after work to go see The Dead Kenny Gs, and band that features one of my favorite saxophonists, Skerik. It was awesome.







I'm still getting the hang of my new camera, so the pictures are a little weird this time...

Bracelets

So, I like, never make bracelets. I don't really wear them much, they bother me when I play sax, but I'm trying to make a point to make them cause, well, most people don't play sax! This is a charm bracelet I made using various sterling, marcasite, and stone charms, all taken from antique orphaned earrings. I put them on this cool little piece of sterling silver chain.


They have a nice heirloom "got it from my great great aunt" kind of vibe.




There's also a cool sterling and marcasite bead. Aside from looking cool, it helps keep the ring in place when you're trying to clasp the bracelet shut!




The light blue stone is my favorite.



Be sure to check out the ETSY store!

March pieces

These are some pieces I've made over the past week.




This seems to be a vintage cigarette case. I like that there's a guy literally smoking on it. I hung it from a watch clasp. Dig how he's leaning against the lamp post...what a derelict!

This piece seems SUPER French to me...probably the whole cigarette thing.




This chain is cool because its so modern and delicate, AND its sterling silver. Hanging from it are a really old, super oxidized locket, a claw made out of shell, and a little brass leaf charm.

I love the patina of that locket...it looks like its been to hell and back!




An etched brass medallion (it was an earring...can you imagine? The thing is freakin huge!) and vintage rosary beads. I like how when you take apart rosaries, they end up looking like hippie beads.

Cool patterns on the brass.




A vintage bottle pendant with a bird, knotted chain, and a claw

PUT A BIRD ON IT!!!




Vintage rhinestone pins, deconstructed, and mounted on knotted chain

YES I know they're missing stones....thats the POINT!




Shell claws...lots of 'em...and chains...

Lady Godiva's Operation

A couple weeks ago I saw the Rex Complex and Scream Along with Billy at Spike Hill. It was a crazy punk rock burlesque fiasco! Live pin-up performer Von Hottie played a badass, wrestling, Lady Godiva...


Scream Along with Billy, featuring members of the Rex Complex









the REX COMPLEX








Lady Godiva....kicking ASS!!!




It was a pretty wild night!