Taking off for Africa...

 I am reading the guide book on the plane to South Africa.... there is so much color theory to experiment with... you can use the same shapes over and over again, but inserting different colors into those shapes, they look entirely different.  This was a key element in the Xhosa traditional designs I casually tried to recreate and study here.

Some Pretty Things for Romera in the Dream Hotel Downtown

cotton panné velvet silverware mez en place for Cristofle silverware trays. 

To be featured at Romera NY in the Dream Hotel.

SWANKY, HUH? ;)

Once upon a time I had this printed top.... it was very blah... And now? :)

Mike's New Shirt!

So, my bro posted my mods to his band tee on his site yesterday.

http://www.errico.com/mike-errico-t-shirt-pimped/

I just want to be clear that I love this shirt, not because it is my bros, but because it is an awesome shirt.

 What is so super lovely about it-- is how it photographs, how it glows in blacklight at those crazy burning man parties, and how lookbook.nu  temporarily shut down my profile to give the leaders a day buy one of these tee shirts so as not to be unseated. (what a god damn conspiracy).  

The crazy thing is, I could have modified it in a MILLION different ways. 

 Mike Errico fans are  coming up with other ideas...

and so am I... This is T-shirt war! 

(You will also notice the tights from previous post.

Clearly, you have your answer. I fucking went for them. You should all buy a pair)

1to3 at SevenNY.com

Butterfly rings and polka dot nails? Why not ? :)

Mermaid parade

 I made this dress out of lots of fabric and findings...kind of a last minute decision, but well worth it!

Brooklyn Botanical Garden: cherry blossom festival

So when I went to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden for the last day of the cherry blossom festival and Sakura Matsuri.

I was super proud of myself for wearing my cherry blossom inspired headband and bangles, and pink chiffon shirt. I thought I would be the only one there who would think to dress the part.   “Who would ever think to get so decked out to come to a botanical garden to see trees?”

But clearly I know nothing about this event.

Much of the crowd was in full costume specifically tailored to the honor of the cherry blossoms.

There were pink scarves and floral printed dresses abound, each person taking the best of their personal collections to capture some cherry blossom-ness before even leaving the house.

Many appeared to have prepared for this day for weeks leading up to the event. 

They crafted their frothy baby-doll outfits months in advance with giant oversized bows, white petticoats and cupcake printed skirts and pinky winky lip-gloss and eye shadow.

Even the less dramatic folks got into the spirit of things.

I saw a middle-aged woman who simply wore a full-sleeved floral chiffon blouse and carried a Japanese parasol that she had purchased when she arrived. In my mind, I could see her pull that out of the back of her closet saying, “oh this blouse sort of looks like a kimono, right, honey?”  These lovely girls looked so pretty too:

 

There were a select few who looked as if they had been waiting since comic-con to resume life as their wild gothic alter egos.   Of course this makes sense since cherry blossoms= Sakura Matsuri Japanese festival= Harajuku fashion= whatever.

With such a simple theme, it was incredible to see the range of interpretation that people had for their attire.  And it was incredible to note peoples desire to attend the festival in a using clothing to connect to the events of the day that they related most closely to. Be it Japanese culture, modern or traditional for that matter, or just for the beauty of nature, most people used their clothing as a way to enter the event and transcend a visual interaction.

While I brought my camera – almost by accident-- to take   a few stray pics of some extraordinary cherry blossoms, the people who attended were all the more fascinating to me.