Mad Hatter

Hat making or millinery has been around since the beginning of time.  Since homo sapiens needed to keep their heads warm, flappers needed a way to show their disdain for authority, and modern day songstresses needed to be seen from stage (Badu, Gaga).  All through time there have been people crafting these hats. From Rose Bertin (the French milliner to Marie Antoinette), to tradition Peruvian women in the Andes. Phillip Treacy, one of the most famous milliners today, is an award-winning Irish hat maker who designs amazing concoctions for the most important designers in the world including the Karl Lagerfeld, the late stylist Isabella Blow and Alexander McQueen.  Lets take a look at some of these lids, toppers, Monteras and bonnets . . . .

"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." - Wilde

Inspiration Board: Kanga Fabric

Inspiration Board: Kanga Fabric: "I have a few friends that have lived or do live in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. They always bring back these amazingly beautiful, patterne..."

Kanga Fabric

I have a few friends that have lived or do live in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.  They always bring back these amazingly beautiful, patterned fabrics.  They're called Kangas. Love them.  You can make dresses, head wraps, blankets, upholstery . . skies the limit really.  I love that they are also used as a way to show political affiliations.  I have one with Obama on it.

"The Kanga, which come from the old Bantu (kiswahili) verb ku-kanga to wrap pr close, is a colorful garment similar to kitenge, worn by women and occasionally by men throughout Eastern Africa. It is a piece of printed cotton fabric, about 1.5m by 1m, often with a border along all four sides (called pindo in Swahili), and a central part (mji) which differs in design from the boarders. Khangas are usually very colorful"

-wiki

Apple 1 Motha Board

First Apple 1 Motha board. Find patterns, M.I.A, etc . . . . .

In Memory: Alexander McQueen

By a route obscure and lonely,
Haunted by ill angels only,
Where an Eidolon, named NIGHT,
On a black throne reigns upright,
I have reached these lands but newly
From an ultimate dim Thule-
From a wild clime that lieth, sublime,
Out of SPACE- out of TIME.

- Edgar Allan Poe 

One year this Friday February the 11th Alexander McQueen Passed. Such a talented artist. And a true artist he was.


"Right before Alexander McQueen's death he had an eighty percent unfinished autumn/ winter collection, 16 pieces, presented in Paris during 2010 Fashion Week. Fashion editors picked his final designs. Editors said the show was hard to watch because it showed how McQueen was obsessed with the afterlife. The clothes had a medieval and religious look. Basic colors that were repetitively used were red, gold and silvers with detailed embroidery. His models were accessorized to show his love for theatrical imagery. "Each piece is unique, as was he," McQueen's fashion house said in a statement that was released with the collection."  -Wiki