Dance of the Dressmaker

Well guys I took a not so elegant leap this week and went to my first ballet class!

Nikolay Krusser via Dust jacket

When I was a little girl I took ballet classes like just about every little girl. I wasn't very good. To be honest I wanted to throw on a tutu get in some point shoes and twirl like a swan from the get go. My 6 year old brain couldn't fathom all the up, down, plié repetition. So it felt by the side in favor of trampolining (boing!). As an adult however actually getting those boring looking things right takes a lot of effort and concentration (the missing ingredient from 6 year old me!)


I always wanted to do ballet growing up. I'd go to watch the ballet with my dad and my heart would just about burst when the orchestra struck up and the dancers came on stage. I never gave it a go though. I knew I'd never be a dancer like that, and decided I was just to old to even try. I've since learned however that that is bollocks! Ok half bollocks...I really never will be a dancer like the ones I saw at the ballet, I dedicated my life in a different direction, but you really never are too old to enjoy something for your self and get better at something just for the pleasure of learning something different, self improvement, and yeah maybe executing a perfect pirouette at age 50. Because although we might think by the time we're 50 neither we nor anyone else will care, we'd be wrong.  I remember at 18 picking up skateboarding and thinking about how I'd be like, 25 before I'd be any good, and ZOMG so old!

My new ballet shoes

So yeah, for a few years now I made a whole bouquet of excuses, too old, too fat, too unfit, too uncoordinated, but in the end like I say, you really are never too old, and all the rest, just showing up and trying will take them out of the equation. Getting over embarrassment can be hard, but once you take that leap over that one hurdle, who knows what you might be able to enjoy! Me? We'll I'm now a 32 year old beginner ballerina with a great "front attitude" struggling to figure out how to "make my knees point that way". Better than a 32 year old girl signing "I wish I'd tried that".

Falling for kanzashi

Having been unable to use a sewing machine for a while, I've been a busy kanzashi making bee! Fall gallery updates are all lined up, and what better way to kick off these updates than by finally including with the king of Fall kanzashi, Autumn tinted maple leaves.

This new pin is really getting me in the mood for cooler weather. Its also the 1st November kanzashi to hit the Kanzashi Core site, and (drum roll please)... Kanzashi Core's 100th kanzashi featured in the galleries!!!!!!
 
100 Kanzashi Party!

To celebrate the 100th Kanzashi Core kanzashi  I'm throwing a kanzashi extravaganza! Till  the end of September every full kanzashi order (this excludes barrettes) from our kanzashi shop will receive a free pair of tsumami kanzashi barrettes. Also everyone who orders a kanzashi this month will also be entered to win this rather tasty, retro kimono inspired purse to go with their new hair ornaments.

Launch it!

With the Fall updates on the zine site, I'm making a push to get new updates to the shop part too, but need the support of all you kanzashi lovers to make that happen!

Despite a flood of interest and requests when the kanzashi shop re-opening was anounced, it hasn't had the sales needed to sustain it.

If you are one of the people excited to see the kanzashi shop open again please help get the word out. Tweet us, Facebook us, Tumble us. I'd love to work with any blogs interested in the shop and the art. Most importantly, buy your favorites!

I have the seeds of a book in progress, prototypes happening for chic lucite geiko style kanzashi and even super out there courtesan sets! I hope with enough support (indie speak for sales) I can bring these things to you.

Red X Plague Style!

Our house has recently been hit by some kind of curse, my husband and I alternating with various "knock you on your ass" illnesses and medical almost impossibilities. So been quieter than usual here lately, sorry :(

Rococo Pants

Vintage fashion, antique fashion, there have been so many things done so well over the course of fashion history. I find a lot of the time when I think about fashion history, there are things I love about each and every era, and there are some periods that just did things better than others!


For me when it comes to silhouette I love the 18th century. It was so stylized, blown up and just plain magnificent. A total over the top caricature of femininity. I love the high heaving bosoms, the massive wide hips and exaggerated round bottoms. It was a silhouette that was impractical, imposing and really kinda sexy! Of course what was spectacular on the outside was a little heavy handed underneath. Not without charm, but not quite as tactile and seductive as we think of lingerie today. Of course however it was these foundations that made the shape so great!

When it comes to underwear I have to tip my hat to the Edwardians. There was some hardcore foundations going on there, but the pallet and treatments really made them look so dainty and delicate, no mater how much strain and coutille was in action.  Edwardian society was where beauty in the boudoir really came into it's own. Having fancy drawers went from being indecent temptation to a moral obligation! To be so darn seductive your man would never want to stray! Obvious social flaws and insults aside there, I thank them for the laces pastels ribbons and roses under our dresses.

And that is why I'm always unapologetically anachronistic.

My every day is mid century fem, but I love to play with historical styles and clothes. I've got quite the personal collection of stays, hoops, rumps and naughty garters, and these days the odd client who loves them too!

I recently finished off some panniers for a great customer and friend who'd commissioned some updated stays a while back, and recently ordered some hoops to match through the custom service run through the Vivcore shop . 

latest commission

complete silk trousseau with embroidery and handmade flowers

show ensemble

My very first set from 2007

Obviously these aren't so much daily wear items. For everyday I wear my various girdles, crinolines and relativly plain silk corsets that keep sleek under clothes. I do love making this kind of things for shows, photoshoots and other foundation enthusiasts though when ever I get the chance. I'd love to work more with burlesque performers and photographers looking to do something rather grand, and brides who are looking to make a real splash with a matching trousseau of foundations, gown and accessories. I just love an excuse to cut up some steel and hand set some rhinestones!

Retro Belle

Not much to read today, but I know everyone loves a good retro photo or 4! I had the pleasure of shooting with the lovely Kitty Lynne the other week and snapping the following shots of our Mid Century Mode collection.

 

She's such a gem to work with, and always one of the funnest parts of being a designer. You can still snap up the dresses from the Vivcore shop, and stop by Kitty's page too for even more! There is also a quick interview with her from a few months back when we first started working together.

Out of Retirement!

Last one of a bit I promise! But if blogs are about life, mines been pretty much re-launching my kanzashi the past few weeks.

The first new collection went up in the shop today! It's been over 6 years since I last sold kanzashi, so I've been feeling rather excited about this update. I've always loved working with these, and been amazed to find out just how many of my old kanzashi followers are still with me after all this time! I hope I can win a few more people over to wearing these hair ornaments, and get back to making these as part of the regular design schedule♡ 

Kanzashi Challenge Redux!

The post last month I had made about using Japanese hana kanzashi as an alternative to the good old pin up flower clips really re-cemented my love of hana kanzashi! (traditional Japanese flower hair accessories) I got routing through my old research, and pawing through photos of modern and vintage kanzashi again and got to thinking about a goal I had set myself ages ago, and never completed...

Years ago I began a challenge trying to create one of every style of monthly maiko hana kanzashi. Not just one for every month, but at least one of each and every motif for each and every month of the year plus special occasions (about 5 designs per month on average, but some have as many as 11!). I did a lot of research over the years and have quite an extensive list drawn up of what that would roughly entail. Looks like about 70 hana kanzashi to meet that basic challenge.

Back in the day and managed to put together about 20 kanzashi towards the challenge, so that means at least another 50 to finish up the basic challenge (eek). This past week, after a sizable break from the challenge I dusted of my trusty kanzashi making tweezers, re-vamped the Kanzashicore❤ website and got stuck in!


Newest Additions
The first 2 were ones I thought would really compliment my retro floral dresses. June's clematis which had been a design that fascinated  me for years, and March's large peony kanzashi to go with a current favorite dress,

After that since it's now July, I dug into the silver bridge kanzashi of the Gion festival (held later this month) and the round fan kanzashi to set out my ultra tiny petal making skills. (The big silver bridge one I wore out over the weekend with a big 60's bouffant hair do!)

In my head when I first set the challenge I had also hoped to expand it to the various other types of hair ornament that go in to completing the sets as well. Not just the silk ones, but also the silver, (faux) tortoise shell and gemstone combs picks and pins too, plus the kanzashi worn by full fledged Geiko when their own hair is styled for special occasions.  In fact, a whole heap of aspirations meaning Kanzashicore I hope will one day have literally hundreds of kanzashi described, made and displayed! (hopefully before the internet has been replaced by skynet or whatever) I also have some cute modern pin up designs to work on as well.

Beyond the Challenge!
I personally wear all my kanzashi in a way that matches my lifestyle as a vintage loving, non Japanese, general layperson fancy-pants, and will be adding some tips etc on ways to wear and enjoy these lovely ornaments for my fellow western fancy-pants to the site as well.

I'm also starting to make up a first round of kanzashi for sale again just like in the good old days! I should have the first kanzashi event up in a week or so for those who also rather adding these accessories to their wardrobe.