Why am I Moving !?!

I say this to myself every time I move. It always seems like a good idea at the time, until the actual move is happening.

So much time is spent on the phone with all the utilities companies, the moving companies, the supers in both buildings to reserve the elevator, etc.

This is all after all the time I spent running around looking at rental apartments. Sometimes I think it's good that I have my own business so I can do all this stuff during "business" hours ... gotta set up that day-long appointment with Time Warner to hook up cable. And I can do that without using up a "vacation day".On the other hand, I am so distracted with all this "stuff" that I haven't done much this month. So of course now I am falling behind schedule. Luckily I had built in a month buffer so I am still okay. But I think after I finish moving I should rewrite my schedule (maybe while I am waiting for the cable guy) so I'll be back on track.

Working the Cowl

Just trying out different cowl necklines with different fabrics.

This is Silk Crepe de Chine.Double Silk Georgette

Silk Crepe de Chine again, draped on the back.

Working the Style Lines

As part of the design process, I like to drape all sketches. I find that I work better on the form. It also gives me an opportunity to think about the construction of garment, which works better on a 3D medium.

Here's is the finished style lines for one of the designs. This design varied a lot from the sketch, but that happens. I also started to do the pattern for this design, but I found it to be too time consuming so I am going to have to hire a pattern maker.

One Month Hiatus

It's crazy to think that almost a month has already gone by since I last posted. I'll try to catch you up on everything that's been going on the last month. Unfortunately since I am moving out of my apartment at the end of this month, I am not going to have that much time to post.

Here's a little peek into what I've been sketching lately.

Speaking of Shopping

I've been shopping a lot lately, must be all of the end of summer sales. But one sale I am really looking forward to is the Prada Sample Sale.

I've been once before and I found a really cute pair of shoes, a belt, and a skirt or two. That was a while back, now they have this whole system of reserving a spot, etc. Which is way better than waiting in line for an hour.

My appointment is for next Wed. at 3pm. My partner in crime, Aphrodite, is going to go with me. Luckily she was able to squeeze this shopping trip in right before she flies off to France for 3 weeks.

Shop 'Til I Dropped

Every once in a while, the stars align and a couple of my good friends don't need to go in to work in the middle of the week. So of course we get together for a day of lunch and shopping.

We had lunch at Alice's Tea Cup. You can't get any girlier than that. It is such a great place to go with your girlfriends. After a long lunch where we ate small bits of tea sandwiches (okay, I had big bites of steak salad) and sipping cups of rose tea, we were ready to go shopping.

Time flew by so fast. We were only able to visit a couple of shops within the 2-3 block radius.

Believe it or not, I went to all new stores. I bought some great finds from Searle, pookie & sebastian, and Lingerie on Lexington. I am not sure why I've never been to these stores, maybe they are more popular with the upper eastsiders.

At Searle, they were having a trunk show, so we helped ourselves to complimentary glasses of wine. After a glass, I had to get out of store, before I moved from the sales rack to their new fall merchandise.

Another Colorboard

Yes, I have another colorboard. This one is based off the most recent mood board.

According to my schedule, I should be designing right now. I looked over the sketches I have for S/S '08 and I didn't like any of it. At least not enough to bring over to A/W '08-'09. Is it totally normal to just not like your designs after a while?

I thought I can at least bring forward a couple of designs so I wouldn't have to drape everything over, but I really want to produce a design I truly love.

So I am going to start another intense session of sketching and designing. And maybe this time I won't drape everything, just the ones that are hard to describe on paper. We'll see ....

Mood Board A/W 08-09

When I was working on S/S 08, I didn't have a mood board, 'cause I was just rushing through the process. Now that I have given myself more time, this is my mood board for A/W 08-09.

I can see how a mood board can be beneficial in the design process. It is an inspiration and an anchor.

Lost Roman Holiday

I was just catching up on all my WWD reading and ran into an article about an Pompeii Exhibit showing in Dallas.

This reminded me of the time when I went to Pompeii with my DH. We had such a great time. Walking through the ashes of old Pompeii was surreal.

I would like to explore this inspiration at another date, not for the season I am working on now, but I guess I'll just file it away and maybe it'll work for another season.

Radom Find on Google Images

So in my search for inspirational images, I found these series of hand-painted photographs by fine arts photographer, Wendi Schneider.

This was the first image that caught my attention. I found it because in the description it says the model is laying on vintage 1940's textile.

Since I like the photo so much, I started looking through the rest of the series and I found that a lot of images where exactly what I was seeing in my head. The poses, the colors, etc.