Smash Fashion ! Embrace Style!

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I never thought I’d have this experience

 

Can you believe I’ve just put on a catwalk show? I’m still reeling.

To kick  off CHROMOPHILIA , the exhibition co curated and featuring the work of Fabulous Fashionista,  Sue Kreitzman and other amazing outsider artists who work with a vivid palette, I was asked to organise a catwalk show of my very colourful, upcycled and bespoke clothing . A big challenge, you may say, since this clothing thing is really very new to me. It’s been a year since I first met Sue, and life has turned upside down and back to front, and I’m loving it!

Well, I like a challenge, so with a two week deadline, I set to work coming up with a collection of clothes that would work together , both upcycled and ready to wear. I asked the women I had already made bespoke pieces for if any of them would be interested in modelling their garments on the evening, and I’m pleased to say I had a very good response. I make clothes for very lovely people. What a pleasure it is!

Then ensued two weeks of early rising, late to bed, obsessive work. I realised just how obsessed I could be one day when I realised I was sitting naked at my sewing machine. Good job my studio is high up and I had remembered to close my curtains…

I worked right up until a few hours before we had to leave for the show. The paint on one coat was only just dried and heat set. Talk about last minute dot com .

I was lucky to be working alongside the wonderful performance costume artist , Ann Sophie Cochevelou who had models dressed in her spectacular wearable art as well as Amy ‘Synth’ Kingsmill who gave us a taste of surrealism when she performed her living doll act. The wonderful Miss Baby Sol enraptured the audience with her beautiful voice and charismatic performance and Mervyn Diese balanced off the night with his spoken word piece about colour /politics and the eco system.

The theme of the catwalk show was Anti Fashion /Pro Style and as luck/serendipity would have it, we would be kicking off on the eve before London Fashion Week started. What a coincidence… or was it?

Fashion tells you what to wear, style asks how you’d like to express yourself.

Here are some fabulous pictures of some fabulous people expressing themselves. Enjoy.

Oh what a night!

As Sue so famously says , ‘Don’t wear beige, it might kill you!”

I think these people are immortals now.

I hope to be able to do this all again soon.

 

www.iheartcart.com

Join the Colour Revolution!

I’ve been busy making since I last blogged. Sorry for the gap between posts, I really am not good at keeping you all updated. I admit I’d much rather be sweating it out at the sewing machine or getting busy with a paintbrush than typing at a keyboard.

But, a lot has happened since my last blog post. Firstly, I was really honoured to have my work featured in the Sunday Times Style magazine, courtesy of my friend, the Fabulous Fashionista ,  Sue Kreitzman. Sue was on the cover wearing a gorgeous Lauren Shanley creation, and on the inside feature, she was wearing a kimono I made for her featuring her own artwork.

What a joy and a privilege!

I’ve since gone on to make a few more kimonos , but short, jacket style ones all in my signature bright colours.

I made one for a very special friend, a Zimbabwean designer, who lives in Nottingham and has won many awards for her incredible accessory designs. Her name is Pam Samasuwo-Nyawiri and her company’s name is Vanhu Vanmwe  Do look her up, her bags are just incredible. Her kimono features her love of inspirational women , Erykah Badu, Miriam Makeba amongst others. Here is her finished kimono:

Another was made for a very special friend called Clare, who runs an amazing company Big Love Sista CiC who’s mission is to inspire women , young and not so young to believe in themselves through the power of art. I couldn’t love this woman more. Her kimono was made with her own images of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the back and a painting of Eve on the front. An image of Frida Kahlo with a sacred heart completes the piece, along with lots of vibrant poppies, embroidered and embellished with gold thread.

Along with these, I’ve made three other kimonos that are looking for new homes. There is a Frida Kahlo inspired one, and two with beautiful Macaw parrots as the theme. Here are the images. They are all a free size ( will fit up to about size 22/24 ) and they cost £180. A bespoke piece costs £225. If interested, do email me on thebabyfairyfifi@hotmail.com for more details.

 

For further information do head over to my website IHEARTCART 

or if you are a Facebook person like me, like  my page on facebook .

 

If you are a more of a cape person than a kimono person, I make those too… either waist length or hip length. Here are two I made earlier: So if you are bored of this bland world and you want to raise a smile , join the colour revolution !

 

Wrapping beautiful, stylish, unique women in art

This blog post is not about fashion. Fashion in my mind is more to do with status than expression. This post is about style and about originality and art,  it is to celebrate diversity and beauty found in being fearless and expressing yourself.

The clothes I make for unique individuals, are a collaboration. I start off with suggestions from the client, I try to gain a feel of what the client is about: colour preferences, ideologies, and favourite imagery. One proviso, though, I do not do beige or pastel colours. It is just not something that I could make work. I’m all about vibrancy and passion which I do not feel is reflected in beige and pastel. This is why I’m very drawn to the beautiful kento batik african fabrics as they are bold and brave and sometimes quite eccentric in the printed  imagery chosen, which suits my taste right down to the ground. I’m in the process of making myself a dress  with fabric covered in prawns, yes prawns…

Isn’t it just fabulous?

I thought it was about time to share some of the wonderful pictures  from my delightful friends /clients who have shared the moment when they first wear their piece of wearable art. They are priceless. There will be more, this is , hopefully an ongoing perk of making wearable art for unique individuals.

 

My very first client, Fabulous Fashionista Sue Kreitzman wearing her portrait kimono for the Sunday Times Style magazine shoot. Sue remains an inspiration and has become a dear friend whom I treasure.

Cassandra in her very sleek fitting Frida pencil dress. Oh how beautiful she looks!

 

Beautiful Anne Marie in her Wonderwoman dress. She is quite the wonderwoman in real life too!

The brief was Wonderwoman , pink and Cat Woman . Two divas on one dress, hmm, that would have resulted in a bit of a struggle, so Cat Woman was symbolised by the leopard print side panels.

I think she looks spectacular! I hope it makes her feel like Wonderwoman when she wears it.

Amazing Kate in her Frida’ Hummingbird’ dress . Kate is not only beautiful, but smart and free spirited . She loves dragon flies and dandelions.

The brief was autumnal colours with a pop of red and orange, dandelions, Frida and dragonflies. Kate also requested a co-ordinating wrap. I wish I had Kate’s beautiful flame red hair…

This short cape was created for Lolo Moniasse, a model and muse. She inspires me . The theme was ‘Elements’ and features air, fire, earth and water.

Lolo is not only physically beautiful, but incredibly spiritual and quietly radiates a wonderful warm energy that inspires and soothes in equal measures.

Her short cape features a double portrait of herself, based on a photo by Simon Fairclough on the front and an original portrait by myself on the back, featuring Lolo’s fascinating scarification patterns.

Beautiful, original and unique. The capes not bad too…

This is another of my muses, my dear friend Marnie Scarlet. modelling her portrait tote bag based on a photo by Helene Jaspers. Without Marnie’s inspiration c.Art would have never existed. Love you Marnie.

Here is another one of Marnie’s bags a quite bonkers pink Nelephant bag based on photos by Tigz Rice Studios.

This is the back of the portrait bag, this side features an image based on the photo taken by Mark Lloyd of M L Imagery of the wonderful person who embodies living art, Marnie Scarlet.

Visionary artist and brilliantly bonkers beautiful human being. Miz Thang I love you! Miz Thang sent me a plain white tux jacket all the way from the States and here she is rocking the transformed version. The brief? Well, it’s Frida Kahlo .

Here’s Miz Thang again, wearing a cape I made for her based on her own incredible paintings of Circus Freaks. It had to be one of my favourite pieces to make .

There will be more posts like this, oh boy. How excited and privileged am I to do this?

Links and contact details

Sue Kreitzman

Marnie Scarlet

ML Imagery: mlimagery@gmail.com

Helene Jaspers

Tigz Rice Studios

Cassandra  http://www.thelondonbootcampcompany.com/

Lolo Moniasse

Miz Thang

 

To join us on the c.Art wearable journey, get in touch with me via my website or on my Facebook page or email me on thebabyfairyfifi@hotmail.com or send me a message via the contact form below.

By the way, you don’t have to be female…

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Forget Fashion, Embrace Style!

What is fashion?

 

Fashion, is it about wearing clothes to make you look good?

Could  it about fitting in to the current trend so that you feel comfortable in your surroundings? Is it a demonstration of personal taste and status? Maybe fashion is more about demonstrating your youth and desirability by wearing current trends ?

It’s definitely not just about wearing clothes. There is an entire industry built up around fashion that relies on first making us ( mostly women but increasingly these days, men)  feel insecure so that the marketing forces can sell us something : make up/ plastic surgery/ perfume /and yes, fashion.

I’ve never been one for fashion per se. I can’t stand the wastefulness of current trends that throw away perfectly good clothes just because someone has dictated them to be ‘so last year daaahling’.

But I do love clothes and dressing up and colour. Oh I so do… I’m wearing the most incredible pop surreal millinery  on my head, by the wonderful Bink of Pearls and Swine. Do check her stuff out, it’s INCREDIBLE!  The dresses I make myself. If you fancy one made for you , get in touch. I can make your vision of yourself happen.

www.iheartcart.com

www.facebook.com/c.Artbags

Fashion is targeted mainly at youth, no surprise there, as youth is perceived in our society as the ultimate symbol of beauty. I can’t deny that youth is beautiful all on it’s own. There is no need to gild the lily of youth.

Those of us who are a little, lets say , more mature , are usually forgotten in fashion. We do not count because we all know that women over a certain age become invisible , don’t they?

Or do they?

Well thanks to  Ari Seth Cohen and his Advanced Style blog, current thinking is starting to change. There is an ‘old lady’ revolution going on, but I prefer to call it a Goddess Revolution. My own personal inspiration is the Goddess Sue Kreitzman who I  consider a dear friend and inspiration. An exponent of the wearable art movement, Sue doesn’t as much get dressed as curate herself. She is a walking work of art and a massive supporter of other artists and makers.  She is the Queen of colour and I am delighted and flattered to be currently making her garments of a decidedly colourful nature, featuring hand painted images of her own artwork that are appliqued and embroidered and sometimes painted directly onto the garment itself. ( This picture features a garment I made based on the Mami Wata theme, featuring Sue’s artwork once again).

This past Sunday , I was honoured to be part of the feature in the Sunday Times Style magazine where Sue was wearing one of my wearable art  kimonos that I recently made for her.  The cover features a splendid jacket by the very wonderful Lauren Shanley. My garment is the one in the feature.

So I say forget the fear of being different, bat away the stuff they feed us to make us insecure. Age isn’t something to fear, it’s something to be embraced! The only reason fashion changes every season is to make us buy more stuff… think about that . Dig deep inside yourself and discover your real style. It’s lurking there somewhere.  Find it , then once you find it, just flaunt it. Because daahling, we only live once. So let’s make it a fabulous , colourful , fearless life.