Wednesday, March 30, 2011

A trip to Canberra to feel like I'm in Russia

Tomorrow I'm heading down to Canberra with Mother Dearest for a few days to go visit the Ballet Russes Costume Exhibit at the National Gallery of Australia. I've been dying to go for months, and finally the opportunity came up to tag along with my Mother and her group of friends. So a few girly days on the road will be loads of fun.

This exhibition is absolutely UNREAL. I saw a few of the costumes down in Melbourne once when I lived there - the detail and the amount of work put into each garment is unbelievable. I can't wait to see a few more pieces up close again.

I promise I will take photographs and post them when I get back.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Victorian Bustle/Cute Apron

I was on exploring my usual blogs that I do on a daily basis and came across the awesome DIY project on www.outsapop.com. Craftovision is the baby of Threadbanger after one of the crafters, Corinne Leigh, left.  Check out her DIY tutorial on how to make this amazing victorian styled lace bustle that can be doubled for an apron or cape.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

in.cube8r

While walking home from the supermarket, a postcard stand caught my eye because this gorgeous vintage motif. I  picked it up because I thought it was very "Missing James-esque" and "The Graphics Fairy." Once I got home I pulled the postcard out of my bag and read the back. This is an amazing opportunity!



in.cube8r is a gallery that allows new and upcoming designers, crafters and artists rent a "cube" for an incredibly low price in the store and sell their goods. It's like a 7 day a week marketplace for a great low price! What an amazing opportunity for young designers! I think I'm going to look into it. They have clothing racks, and some of the stuff by Missing James might do well in an environment like this. Once things pick up a bit more with the corsets, I think I'll seriously consider this opportunity.


i love in.cube8r gallery: supporting australian artists

Monday, March 14, 2011

Apricot Corset

The latest of the collection is a gorgeous apricot satin corset with cream cotton lace detailing along the bust-line and the bottom. A steel busk in the front fastens at the front and cord at the back cinches everything in.







Friday, March 11, 2011

Candy Stripe Corset

Literally finished a few minutes ago, this "Candy Stripe" corset is made out of yellow and white striped cotton with yellow squiggle details, pink polka-dot ruffles and yellow ribbon rosettes. It laces up in the front with Bubblegum pink ribbon, and has a little blue flower detail on the right hip. It's a cutey!



Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Dreaming of Dior

My mother's best friend gave me this beautiful book over the weekend. It's titled "Dreaming of Dior" by Charlotte Smith. Ms. Smith is a socialite of the world having lived in London, France, New York, Hong Kong, etc., and finally settling in Australia. She's the grand-daughter of a rich American Quaker, Doris Darnell, who bequethed to Charlotte her whole vintage clothing collection. Now, this clothing collection is not like my vintage clothing collection. This collection has THOUSANDS of items in it, all given to her. Doris didn't buy a thing. This is a wardrobe to envy.

Charlotte decided to create a book about the adventures of all these garments. "Every dress tells a story." Each page is devoted to the story behind the dress, with illustrations done by Grant Cowan. Most of them I envy, but in the end it's a great book for inspiration.




New Postcard Designs

I'm so fickle. I've changed my mind about the postcard designs already. I loved the vintage green look of the last design, but it was a bit too formal. Corsets and costumes are fun! They're make-believe, like little girls playing dress-up. So I had to change it.

I found these gorgeous Free business card designs from Free Pretty Things For You and I fell in love. They are perfect for Missing James! To get a copy and look at the other designs go HERE.

Front of Postcard

Back of Postcard

Front of Business Card

Back of Business Card



P.S. Anyone know of any cheap places to get things printed in Sydney?


Sunday, March 6, 2011

Postcard Designs

I'm designing postcards to promote my custom designed corsets and costumes. I'll be handing these out at burlesque nights and theatre openings. The first one will be "The Peel" in a few weeks. You never know who wants a custom corset.

Below is the first draft of the postcard. Give me a shout and tell me what you think.

Front of Postcard

Back of Postcard

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

My Page - PinupLifestyle

I joined PinupLifestyle to promote my corsets. Check out my Page!

My Page - PinupLifestyle

Midnight Blue Corset

The last of the new stock, this Edwardian style corset ties up with blue satin ribbon at the front. It's a black cotton base corset with a black tulle with sparkles as the top layer. Fifty 6mm bones give this corset it's structure and strength. A modern take on the traditional style.

This corset is now listed on Etsy. Find the listing HERE.







Baroque Lady Portrait Corset

This corset is my new favourite. It's white taffeta with a portrait pendant on the front. Three layers of fabric are sewn together to give the garment strength and structure. Boning channels are sewn through all three layers of fabric on the side and back panels. The front is embellished with the portrait, teal velvet ribbon and gold trimming in a zig-zag design common of Baroque and Tudor style costume. White ruffles embellish the top and give a little "Marie Antoinette" touch. Gold satin bows tie the straps down, and cream nylon cording ties up the back. I am absolutely IN LOVE with this design. I custom designed the pattern myself - using the Marie Antoinette corset pattern and altering it to my design requirements. There are 32 bones throughout the corset - all are plastic 9mm.

This corset is now listed on Etsy. Check out the listing HERE.













La Vie en Rose Corset

Another one down! This one is a beauty, and really different to the other styles of corsets I've been making. I'm trying to cover all genres to show customers the variety in my designs. So I've done classic Baroque (Marie Antoinette), Modern Tie Dye, Classic Edwardian and now Cutesy "Pin Up."

This corset is made out of 3 different fabrics - an eiffel tower "quilting" fabric, a pink and cream stripe fabric and a plain pink. Teal velvet ribbon, aqua ruffles and pink bows add a little bit of lush adornment to this cute design. The back is laced up with pink satin ribbon and the front has a 12 inch steel busk.

This corset is now listed on Etsy. Check out the listing HERE.