New Fashion Inventions

One of the great things about working for Viva Rebecca is being able to take advantage of the great equipment, resources and supplies on site to create my own fashion inventions. Since nothing has been sketched for the most part I hesitate to call them designs, but anyway here's a preview of what I've been doing.

Pictured above is a Purple and Gray Striped Top made of a cotton/lycra blend (stretchy) with a boat neck and long sleeves with arrow-shaped cuffs that can either be rolled up or let out to cover mid-hands. Lately I've been foregoing t-shirts for more long-sleeved knits because they fit me better. (By the way, I need to mention the fact that if it wasn't for Rebecca's generous guidance and supervision none of this shit would be possible. Amen.)

Although I've done Moon Crater Wristbands before it was in black leather. This time I got ahold of some faux wood finish leather and stamped my moon crater design on them, and pictured here is a sample of the new line. Looks pretty sick! Another new fashion invention in recent months was a Black and Red Striped T-Shirt Dress I made for Rebecca, very stretchy so it's recommended for evening wear (aka parties and nightclubs). Still trying to get Rebecca to pose for pictures in that one.

One of my favorite sections at Michael Levine's in DTLA is the Denim Section because the selection in colors and textures are so versatile. As a result I've fabricated a pair of aquamarine jeans, a sort of sea sick blue-green hybrid shade that has to be seen up close to be believed. Another pair of jeans is a great gold-olive green hybrid blend of denim that we framed with gold leather front and rear pockets. The leather pocketing was influenced by a pair of X-Ray Jeans that I owned with a similar feature.

Pictured below is a green linen knit top that was also very stretchy, kind of a challenge to sew but the end result turned out very well. Most of these tops are either recommended for night time wear or in colder climates. I can't see anyone wearing this in Phoenix on a hot August afternoon!

Since both of my H&M Henleys are falling apart I decided to create my own striped Henleys, one in red and one in yellow, both in cotton and easy for sewing. We made a pattern from the H&M Henleys in disrepair and cut the new ones from the same design. H&M shirts for men aren't very durable but their pants are an entirely different story altogether. I recommend you go there for the pants. At any rate, with the construction of my Henelys I don't think I'll be missing my H&M originals too much.

Whether I want to get serious about clothes making professionally or not is something I'll think over. Right now I like working with Rebecca, and I certainly don't harbor fantasies of being on frightening contest shows like "Fashion Star" or "24 Hour Catwalk", but there's a certain rush you get when you create your own cool Rock & Roll clothes. Kind of like the day you picked up a guitar for the first time and banged out a few chords and realized you've just written a song. It's that real.

Accessories Bought and Made

Last week I completed the design and sewing of a steak bag, which was a conglomeration of different oxblood leather hides. I wanted the bag to be a nice circular shape with a slight oval curve. The banding around the bag was a textured harder leather to keep the bag framed when placed on a tabled surface. The inside of the bag is lined with a cell phone pocket, a wallet and/or small purse pocket and another pocket (maybe for the mp3 player of your choice). I wanted the handles of the bag to be special so we decided on two cartoony frankfurters to be hot linked to your arm. I think the end result was pretty special and I'm making another one that I plan on selling.

Pictured below are three accessories for your review, two made and one bought. The two made is the: 1) bad penny belt with a nice gray leather hide used. Although you can't see it in the photo I punched a lot of cool moon craters of varying sizes. What you can see, however is: 2) My moon crater leather bracelet, a small black leather band with moon craters of various sizes. I made it small and tight for best effect; a large and loose bracelet would simply look damaged. The bought piece is the other bracelet with metal coils with leather links aligning them quite nicely. This great bracelet is available from Topman (http://www.topmanusa.com/) . They have a very eclectic selection of men's bracelets which can't be, pun alert, topped anywhere else.

Items that I bought recently include Oliver Peoples sunglasses - the Sheldrake series is a favorite, but they're all cool and stylish. The accessories you wear can be every bit as crucial as the major articles of clothing you wear every day. An outift can look incomplete until a necklace or bracelet is added into the equation, so don't scrimp on getting the little touches that complete your look. It's the little things that count.

I'll leave you with this awesome cooking apron made with red leather and festooned with black stitches embroidered all over. If meat is murder than let's put all our cards on the table, I say.