When real things happen to imaginary people

As seen on steamfashion a while ago, button covers for corset busks! (clicky-link, rah rah rah!)

I think that's a brilliant idea. I very much want to make some for my own corset collection. And I just had an idea that is either completely foolish, or amazingly clever, you tell me: instead of soldering pins onto the backs of buttons that you've cut the shank off of, wouldn't the jewelry finding to make clip-back earrings work just as well? The flat bit would slip behind the busk loop, and then the "front" of the button would close over the entire post & loop. You know, the same sort of theory behind fancy button covers for shirts & blouses.

Why yes, I am going to be experimenting with this in the next few days. I'll report back on how well it worked.

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Special message to apostle: sweetie, could you please email me at headmistress (at) gothic-charm-school (dot) com? I have a question for you, and I apparently misplaced your email addy.

I've pretty much stopped drinking coffee. I will occasionally have a cup if I'm someplace that I know has fabulous coffee, but for the most part, I have become one of those people that laments that the coffee never tastes as good as it smells. Which means my collection of extravagantly-flavored teas is growing, my current favorites being the Mighty Leaf Chocolate Truffle Teas (Clicky-link!) I realized this morning that I really want to mix up a chocolate rose black tea, which should be easy enough; I have chocolate truffle tea, I have rose tea. Mixing them together is not rocket science, but probably shouldn't be attempted before I have my first pot of tea of the day.

Speaking of teapots: I have a plain white teapot sitting on my bookshelf at work. I would like to take it home and paint a skull & crossbones in some sort of pretty scrollwork frame on it^*. Since this would be on the outside of the teapot, I don't have to worry about food-safe paints, just ones that would stay on. Anyone have any suggestions for what paints I should be looking at?

Shallow Fashion Details! ( Under the cut tag, of course )


^*Oh, okay, fine. I would sweet-talk stroppy_baggage into painting the skull & crossbones and scrollwork bits, because he's the one with art skills. I can, if I'm lucky and concentrate really hard, draw stick people. And one particular type of cute monster.

I recently picked up an issue of Altered Couture Magazine. (Clicky-link!) One of my obsessions hobbies is modifying and customizing clothing, so I figured that Altered Couture would be Just My Thing. In reality? Not so much.

The magazine itself is gorgeous. Nicely printed on quality paperstock, good layout, clear photography, all that. But that clear photography is entirely of finished projects; there are no "how-to" shots at all. Also, the instructions they give for each item are pretty sparse. This is NOT a magazine for someone who is looking for guidance and hand-holding, it is much more a magazine for people who are already pretty DIY-savvy and are in need of inspiration and new ideas. But who apparently have never thought to go look around online, which is how I find new ideas for customizing clothing.

My other gripe with the projects showcased in the magazine are that most of them are of the deconstructed and "Look at me! I'm an Artistic and Bohemian Piece of Clothing! Marvel at my fingerpainted details!" design school. Which is a perfectly legitimate approach to modifying clothing, but I would prefer to see stuff that looks more finished and less "Arts and Crafts Class". Or that at least looks more punk-rock arts and crafts class, instead of suburban soccer mom.

So, I'm probably not going to buy another issue. But I AM tempted to submit something for their "Thrifty Ensembles" section. The submission guidelines for that are:

1. Visit a thrift store and purchase a complete outfit for no more than $20.


2. Take "before" photos of the outfit.


3. Alter the outfit a la Altered Couture so that it transforms into an art-to-wear outfit.


4. Write a brief description about the experience.


5. Submit the photos, altered outfit, and description.

"Art-to-wear"? Is there something about that phrase that seems overly precious and twee, or is it just me being cranky? And also, I'm not sure if they mean you have to send the outfit to them and you don't get it back, or something else. Anyway, I'm still amused by sending them a write-up of what *I* normally do to thrift store finds.

Speaking of thrift store finds^*, hey look! Shallow Fashion Details! ( Read more... )

Today I am wearing the Lip Service jacket (clicky link to eBay!) that I spent most of my free time last week customizing.

"Customizing?" I hear you say? Why yes. Because I am (possibly) crazy, I hand-colored all the white on the jacket with Copic markers (clicky link!) in "Sugar Almond Pink". Copic markers are waterproof, and you can buy ink refills for them, which means they're perfect for clothing modification.

Coloring the jacket was a strangely soothing activity. It was something I could do while watching movies or talking to people, and now I have a Victorian-esque pirate-y jacket with pink & black striped trim. (I also now have a matching waist cincher, which was easier to color than the ruffles on the jacket.)

(There will be a photo of the newly-customized jacket posted to Shoutfit in the next couple of days. My co-worker and former office-mate likes to take photos, which means she doesn't mind helping me document the outfits I wear to work each day.)