Merry Grinchmas and a Happy Who Year!

Merry Grinchmas from our Who's down in Whoville, the tall and the small, sending you warm holiday greetings one and all.

Every year my family shoots a themed holiday card to print and send to family and friends in Canda and across the United States. This is the first year that we have went with a Christmas theme. There is nothing more iconically Christmas than the tale of 'The Grinch That Stole Christmas'. The story was written in 1957 by Dr. Seuss and spawned a cartoon almost a decade later in 1966 with the main character voiced by Boris Karloff. The fantasy Seuss world was expanded into a live action film by Ron Howard, Starring Jim Carey as the Grinch which was released in 2000. I saw it for the first time in 2001 when my cousin brought the DVD over Christmas Day to share with our family. Seventeen years later I have brought this story to life in Christmas Card form starring my family of Whovinille delinquents.

I want to go through the characters one by one in a blog series to follow, sharing the details of their costumes, props, hair and makeup. I always enjoy dreaming about my characters, acquiring and making costumes/accessories, props and building the backdrops and sets depending on the shoot. I hope it will inspire you to bring your own holiday visions or any fantasy you can conceptualize to life! 

 Special gratitude to my team!

Kori Savoie - Photographer 

Hanna Fisher - Makeup Artist

Brooklyn Truderung - Hair + Makeup Assist.

Michela Cagliero - Graphic Designer

Taylor Ramirez - BCBA / Blake's Assistant

Merry Grinchmas

and a

Happy Who Year!

Evening Ruffle: Then & Now

Fashion is constantly changing and evolving. Sometimes it goes to an extreme one season and paired down the next. It also varies from era to era with traces of fashion's past always present in today's collections.

1980's

This is how an evening ruffle was done in the 80's - nothing at all understated, major volume, extreme ruffle layers. Nothing was really understated about the 80's, big hair, bold colors and volume/embellished evening wear.

Shop this 1980's 'Bonny Fashion' Gown HERE $150

2018

With the spaghetti straps gone, the ruffle is minimized for cocktail hour with this Badgley Mischka dress

SHOP - $670

So what's your evening ruffle style? EXTREME 80's or Understated 2018?

Dress DIY

Anyone who has visited me recently knows that I have a stack of fashion magazines piled up beside my bed waiting to be read. If I have time I enjoy pouring over them for both image and article. This image in particular from the Dolce and Gabbana  Palermo 2017/18 eye wear campaign leaped off of the page. 

I love the simple 'Little black dress' and the mix and match array of adornments on the front bodice and back sleeve.

After realizing that I don't quite have the money for a Dolce Dress and I likely wouldn't fit into one if I did it inspired my DIY side. I immediately recalled that I do indeed have a black dress of similar silhouette and a wide array of Vintage brooches to work with to create my very own version of this look.

Time for a Dress DIY

I dug into my Evolution Vintage brooch stash and was able to find some interesting (and similar pieces) as seen in the ad.

I chose one of my many EV Black Dresses and pinned the brooches on in a similar way/

This DIY dress will be available soon for sale with or without the brooches. Individual Vintage brooches are also for sale in this lot or separately. 

Remember creativity doesn't always require consumption. Think about what you have on hand that you can add to or transform in some way. If you don't have materials on hand how can you acquire them second hand or re-purpose something to suit your style? 

What can you use in your own closet to DIY this or any designer look that inspires you?