New Fabric

Toile

...and trouble. Since I'm so riled up and excited about this month and it being my birthday month (yes I have extended it from a day to a week and now a month, I figure the older you get the longer it should be to account for the time you've spent alive) I thought I might show you my latest fabric find. This french toile was only £5 per metre, I managed to get the last three metres of the roll. Someone clearly privy to such a bargain bought all of the blue and left little of this bordeaux red. KISSING MY TEETH with vigour. So, I'll treat myself to a birthday outfit of sorts with this beauty of a fabric. Stay tuned.

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Meanwhile, here's Dita in this Westwood toile dress. I'm thinking creative visualisation (visualising me in this print) had something to do with this find.
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Amore toujours

An Adult Tale

Ever been to the shop and got £10 change instead of £5? Then you understand. Fortuitous can only explain my fortune when I found this fabric...I looked at the price and thought it was a bungle but I realised soon it wasn't a mistake, it was just that much of a bargain. Excited, I got home and made this strapless mini dress with an exposed front sand colour zip ...naughty girl chic because one pull on the zip and knickers says 'Bonjour' and dress is wiping the floor...(for about £8.50 per hour).

This night was Zalons Birthday at Funky Bhudda, I hate to name drop but I'm sure he'd appreciate the plug, he's Amy Winehouse's backing singer (watch Amy Winehouse outsung by Zalon) and has just released a single with Dionne Bromfield 'Ain't No Mountain High'. David Haye, Miss Frank and Kandy Rain were also there. They should have put the pepper on the steak but the meat was overcooked and dry and the pepper carried no heat. Graziella did a mini rap on the MIC but it wasn't X Factor....Soooooo computer says no, judges say sit down, be quiet and drink your alcoholic beverage and clubbers say 'Hey, hello, we're trying to dance here dude...how rude!'.

The highlight though was watching a random guy (on his own) stand and peruse his kill. After about an hour of sipping on Rose he then puts his plan into action....buy champagne for one and hope a number two is lured in by her thirst for the wealth. He moved from his nest and walked around confidently with the Moet bucket. So amusing I tell you. It made me wonder about men going clubbing alone. Strange. He was small a guy, not capable of getting a lady directly when you consider the options but I give him a star for sly efforts. Lol - can you believe that was the highlight?
 

Me
Me

 

 

Wax Works

Ok gang, I've fini a dress for a client using wax laced African material. I added protruding cap sleeves with tassel fringing for je ne se qua. Lola says 'I think it's absolutely georgeous, loving the dress! Thank You Merci'. Check her trying it on.....Well merci beaucoup Lola, I'm loving it to...so much so I will make one for moi.

Me
Me

Laced Up

I've been slacking, this I know but for that I'm sorry. I should have posted this one exactly one month ago...you see I wanted to Lace myself up for my darling sisters birthday partay....oooo sounds awfully sexual (even Class A) doesn't it? But I wish it was that exciting for the readers - Tales of sexual mischief or some risque adventure, nope, more run of the mill, things that make a typical day kind of story. Although I was slightly (if I could measure it) stalked by an aggressive DMX esque dude that persisted to follow me around the latter parts of our celebrations. Actually there was a doggedly determined look in his eyes that quaked me.
 
So.....without going totally off the wall, pulling words back to the point...I was fortunate to get my hands on this beautiful pink and blue (stretch included) lace that was sooooo OMG and stress free to work with. Whatever the damn papers say I've always always backed statement shoulders...brooches, beads, buttons, shoulder pads, puff balls, feathers, pin tuck, skip and a hop. In fact its always been, for me, more than a phasing trend so in line with typically Me Me I made military type, two tiered tassel shoulder ornaments. Tony says "That's Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat". Me is liking Me's work and would say is proper pleased with it. I officially name it the 'Would like to' dress. You know, 'would like to  ___________' . Some have added: Have, grab, take, own. But almost always does it start with 'would like to....'
 
With Lace, 

Me
Me

Monday

Thank Almighty for bank holidays. I wanted to go to Notting Hill Carnival but 15 years protest made it hard to so instead I would partake in post carnival euphoria....as there always was. This was drinking somewhere after 7pm. I have to say I made this get up in record time, about two and a half hours (see project runway for ref). The fabric was pastel green cotton (lucky me I found it hidden in a plastic bag) I figured the design would be a 1950's pencil dress, no straps. Great for the pin up look! It fits like a second skin it's amazing. This and my red top are my favourite. I absolutely love it!

 
*yes those are watermarks! That's what a rush and washing your hands will get you. Phew for cotton they disappeared in seconds.

Me Me

Sunday

This day was my cousins wedding ceremony. I was growing weary of my
project runway but I had more heart than surrender. I took pity on
myself and made this task a 'top' task, this was all my energy could
afford. Eenie meenie minie mo...I suppose navy spurs on regality so
that'll be my choice. It's a sober yet dignified fabric and I had a
lovely chino pencil skirt and cream shoes to marry them with (or maybe
a no ties relationship, whatever, it bodes well together). Besides
cream and navy are an aka for ice and cream - that's how well they
match.

 I began with setting my rules down: it had to be dressy with a sly
sexy...a cultural Ugandan/Nigerian wedding ceremony meant I could not
get excited with the sexy side of things. More sexy without laying all
to bear and not leaving imagination a route straight to sex. More
conservative but without being a librarian stuffed with rulers. What
better than a one shoulder top! Skin but no breasts (not whore-ish:
check) and conservative but alluring (keeping up appearances: check).
I endeavoured to make the only sleeve on this top distinctive, after
all it still had to be different (I may have died from all these self
inflicted rules, welcome to the Adventures of Me Me). Voila madam,
balloon sleeve with an extra long narrow cuff. I couldn't have done
better given the rules, two hours I had and the energy I could (or
couldn't) muster. I added my OTT brooch just for finesse. Like you do
a cherry on a cupcake or apple martini (both mmm). Bring on Monday!

 Me Me

Saturday

The evening whispered promises of a good night on the town in my ear. She was right, t'was a good night indeed. We ended up in a bar/club in Chelsea, somewhere downstairs. It's ridiculous for me not to recall the name but for once I hadn't organised this excursion. Can you believe for once I only drank two glasses of champagne? I'm no AA candidate but I can knock them back. Could the winds be carrying a change? Me thinks so, tres bien.

So, this time I used the red pure cotton and purple polyester (like satin but softer)...contrast colour contrast fabrics. The top was tres fitted with exaggerated cap sleeves (considering this is a prominent season feature *see Balmain), a slash open front and a back slit. Only a mini would complement this top. So a mini I made with red stitching, just to make it coherent while still contrasting. Paired with a studded black belt and purple satin peep toe platforms, it was pop, rock and domineering. I felt I could part the crowds with my shoulders. Ha, did I just make a biblical reference with shoulder pads? Only me! But this get up really gave me a dominatrix confidence and I felt statuesque. Can't quite explain it but I see now why Rihanna's addicted to it.
*see Project Runway for reference. 

Me Me

Friday

This days activities included a birthday dinner at the Absolute Lounge/Restaurant and another Birthday Black/White party in West London. I had no other choice but to use the cream silk. I dare not wear stark white, too harsh for my skin. So cream was my compromise. The fabric is gorgeous, drapes well and the stripe detailing adds to its beauty. I only had 1.5 metres so a backless mini it was. I added the white criss cross straps at the back attaching it to the front bodice to sprinkle abit of swimsuit chic. Also, my big white ring, white sandals and a very pale blue blazer and I was done and out.
 
Me Me

Project Runway

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There's no other way to describe my situ but to make a direct comparison with a competition to make clothes in a short period of time. Four events (birthday dinner tonight and a maybe black and white party, Sat night on the town, Sun wedding and Mon bank hol whatever goes really) needs four outfits...if there was anything worth buying I would. However I do have fabrics, no surprise I always have fabrics (left to right) grey cotton (stretch) jersey, navy blue polyester, aqua polyester, red pure cotton, pink cotton, peppermint twill, purple polyester, hot pink silk satin, floral cotton, and cream silk. I love days like these...what will my hands wield? No one is more excited to know. I'll post each days outfit for you.

Me Me
 
 
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The Delicious Irony of it all

A beautiful thing irony, or rather blind intuition. As if spending most of Thursday night/Friday morning making a piece for a client wasn't bad enough, I went full throttle and (blindly and intuitively) started creating a personal piece out of slack polyester. Yellow slack crepe polyester at that. Scrap indeed, it frays like a really angry women (what my darling nephew calls a bitch), is unneccessarily heavy and also sheer (how?). Operative words being full and throttle. Polyester dress, 5am, normal circumstances: No no no honey, I'm sorry but I can't pencil it in. Buuuuuuut, I had a date with Portobello and a friend friday avo and I wanted a summer dress. This was the mustard seed. Bored with my wardrobes state of affairs anything would do.

The comedy was: what was meant to be a summer dress mutated into a hulk of a very dressy dress. I magic-ed this juvenile fabric into an obedient alter neck dress with ruffle detailing - my luck I had about a metre and a half of the thing. The beautiful irony is that Friday avo saw a phonecall alerting me that the wedding that was supposed to be on Saturday was actually hours away. Au reviour Portobello. But then, what great luck! No faffing around looking for something to wear, I just made it! Grabbed my navy sweater, red ring, red clutch, slipped on white sandals and did my little Carrie run out of the door. Tres sexe et la ville - some French speaking person will probably tell me I got that all wrong but for reference it was to read 'sex and the city'.

*Mind you, A* efforts in garment production has meant a D- delivery of photography so excuse my action shots, I was (in inverted commas) "celebrating" at a wedding after all, work and the idea of it was in North Pole with Santa at the time.

Me Me