Vivienne Westwood Red Label: Spring 2010

One of my consistently favorite designers is Vivienne Westwood. Sometimes called the "Queen Mother on Crack" she continues to design in the punk-rebel tradition. This is the first time I can remember seeing a female model with a shaved head in a major fashion show. If this becomes a popular trend, I might try shaving my head this summer! Anyway, some of the outfits were too kooky even for me, but I thought some of these were pretty cool. I really like the pastel colors and prints, and the interesting unusual shapes. I wish I could afford to buy some of these clothes.

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Fluevog shoes are cool and unique

These shoes were designed by John Fluevog, who also did the illustration. I happened to come across an ad for this magazine while I was looking through the latest copy of Bust magazine, which is really my kind of magazine. Anyway, the following information about the company comes from their website at www. fluevog.com.

"John and his longtime friend and ex - partner, Peter Fox, go back to biblical times. In those days, such scriptural characters as Methuselah lived to be, quite literally, thousands of years old. John, himself, is thousands of years old and Peter Fox is, in fact, Methuselah. Before they founded Fox & Fluevog, in the ancient biblical age of 1970, they were shepherds. Actually, they worked at Sheppard's, a venerable Vancouver shoe emporium, albeit a tad on the conventional side. As you can imagine, John and Peter felt a wee bit constrained, selling brogues all day to businessmen in suits and servicing only the occasional hipster. When, one day, the miraculous happened, it was followed by the inevitable: an old warehouse full of turn - of - the - century footwear (men's & women's, in mint condition, no less) became available to buy at one ridiculously low price. In a nanosecond, John and Peter were out the door and into their own store, fully stocked with brand new fifty year old shoes that, in 1969, were right in style. Fox & Fluevog immediately became the very coolest place to treat the feet and has remained so ever since. Around 1980, Peter heard the siren song of New York City and moved there to open his own store, specializing in design of Ladies' (particularly wedding) shoes. John took over the business and built it into the multinational mega corporation it is today, along the way forging his undaunted reputation for the world's most distinctive shoes."

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I love the movie "Avatar"

Last night my son and I went to see the movie "Avatar" and I loved it! My son liked it but wasn't as excited about it as I was. I have a theory about this. I think that people who love art and color will be blown away by the art and special effects in this film. I wish I could move to the planet Pandora.

The people look like big, beautiful blue cats, and they are literally plugged into the plants and animals of the planet. The plants and scenery will take your breath away. The scenes where the landscape is shown from the air are amazingly realistic and spectacular. I agree with reviewers who say that they've never seen anything like it.


Thanks for visiting my blog! If you are looking for a current example of my custom fashion illustrations, visit this link: http://lizblair.blogspot.com/2009/10/alabama-chanin-design-and-my-drawing-of.html

Great Shoes on Garance Dore's blog

Garance Dore is a French fashion illustrator and photographer, and she also has an internationally famous blog. This evening, when I visited her blog, she had some photos of really cool shoes and boots, that were different from anything I've seen before.

I particularly loved the brown thigh high boots with the diamond pattern.

I'm seriously thinking about saving some money by embellishing some of my own shoes and jeans with studs, rhinestones and glitter. I noticed this evening that even my small town Walmart has a good selection of these things, and so I might do it myself.

Thanks for visiting my blog! If you are looking for a current example of my custom fashion illustrations, visit this link: http://lizblair.blogspot.com/2009/10/alabama-chanin-design-and-my-drawing-of.html

Loved Adam Lambert's Style

Last night I watched the finale of Season 6 of "So You Think You Can Dance." I actually was only half watching because I was also surfing the internet and only paid attention to certain parts of the show. First, I must say congratulations to Russell Ferguson, who won for best /most popular dancer of the season. I had a feeling that he was going to win, because he seemed to have consistently great performances. However, as a fan of fashion, my favorite fashionista(o) was definitely Adam Lambert, who performed his song "Whadaya Want from Me" from his recently released album. To begin with, this guy is just extremely good looking. I loved his black pompadour hairstyle and his heavily made up eyes. As always, he was wearing his signature black fingerless gloves and black nail polish. He was a slim light gray suit with narrow tie that looked better than anyone should ever look in a suit. I want one now! Anyway, the trousers were very slim fitting and showed off his black shoes with white spats. Having said this, I hope he doesn't turn into a male version of Lady Gaga, which I think is a possibility. I have heard that they have recorded at least one song together. I love Lady Gaga, but anyone who tries too hard to copy her would just seem like a poseur in my opinion. Anyway, Adam if you're reading this (yeah right!) keep up the great style and original performances.

Thanks for visiting my blog! If you are looking for a current example of my custom fashion illustrations, visit this link: http://lizblair.blogspot.com/2009/10/alabama-chanin-design-and-my-drawing-of.html

My drawings from early December 2009

Thanks for visiting my blog! If you are looking for a current example of my custom fashion illustrations, visit this link: http://lizblair.blogspot.com/2009/10/alabama-chanin-design-and-my-drawing-of.html

Dasiy Rock guitars for girls

Here's an idea I wish someone would have had when I was a kid. I learned to play the guitar when I was about 12 or 13 years old, and in high school I even gave lessons to some little girls. A full size guitar was pretty big and heavy for a young girl. I also would have loved to get a pink one in pretty shapes like some of these in the pictures. But don't let the cute appearrance fool you. They are real musical instruments, invented by a mom and rock musician, Tish Ciravolo. These pictures were from www.usatoday.com.

Thanks for visiting my blog! If you are looking for a current example of my custom fashion illustrations, visit this link: http://lizblair.blogspot.com/2009/10/alabama-chanin-design-and-my-drawing-of.html

Grayson Perry: Fashion Illustrator

These fashion drawings are from English artist Grayson Perry, who I discovered on http://www.fashionillustrationgallery.com/. He sounds like a fascinating, but somewhat disturbed person. I found the following information about him on Wikipedia:

''Grayson Perry (born 1960) is an English artist, known mainly for his ceramic vases and cross-dressing. He works in several media.

There is a strong autobiographical element in his work, in which images of Perry as "Claire", his female alter-ego, often appear. He was awarded the Turner Prize in 2003 for his ceramics, receiving the prize dressed as Claire.

From an early age he liked to dress in women's clothes and in his teens realized that he was a transvestite. At the age of 15 he moved in with his father's family at Chelmsford, where he began to go out dressed as a woman. When he was discovered by his father he said he would stop, but his stepmother told everyone about it and a few months later threw him out. He returned to his mother and stepfather.

He did an art foundation course at Braintree College of Further Education from 1978 to 1979. He studied for a BA in fine art at Portsmouth Polytechnic, graduating in 1982.Wilson, Andrew. He had an interest in film and exhibited his first piece of pottery at the "New Contemporaries" show at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in 1980. In the months following his graduation he joined the "Neo-Naturists", a group started by Christine Binnie to revive the "true sixties spirit – which involves living one’s life more or less naked and occasionally manifesting it into a performance for which the main theme is body paint”. They put on events at galleries and other venues.

When he went to Portsmouth in 1979, his stepfather told him not to return home. Perry has been estranged from his mother since 1990. After graduating he lived a hand-to-m outh existence, at one point sharing a house with milliner Stephen Jones and pop musician Boy George; the three of them competing to see who could wear the most outrageous outfits to ''Blitz'', a New Romantic nightclub based in Covent Garden, London.

In his work Perry includes pictures of himself in women's clothes, for example, ''Mother of All Battles'' (1996) is a photograph of "Claire" holding a gun and wearing a dress, in ethnic eastern European style, embroidered with images of war, exhibited at his 2002 Stedelijk show.

One critic has called Perry “The social critic from hell”. "

Thanks for visiting my blog! If you are looking for a current example of my custom fashion illustrations, visit this link: http://lizblair.blogspot.com/2009/10/alabama-chanin-design-and-my-drawing-of.html

Birdie Doodles from Kate at Little Doodles blog

Thanks to Susie Bubble (http://stylebubble.typepad.com) for turning me onto this artist. It's Kate from the Little Doodles blog (http://little-doodles.blogspot.com). When I checked out her website, she has these cute little birdies on everything. Her art and crafts are available through her Etsy shop.

Thanks for visiting my blog! If you are looking for a current example of my custom fashion illustrations, visit this link: http://lizblair.blogspot.com/2009/10/alabama-chanin-design-and-my-drawing-of.html

Henri Toulouse-Lautrec: fashion illustrator?

In my last post I reported on Blue Logan, who has become somewhat famous lately because of his fashion illustrations, often done at the fashion shows as they are happening. On his website (http://www.bluelogan.co.uk) he lists Henri Toulouse-Lautrec as an influence

I can see the resemblance. Although, I've never heard him called a fashion illustrator, he certainly recorded a lot of the fashions of the times. He was also known for sketching events as they happened. His subjects were considered common and even vulgar at the time, but his art elevated them to cultural icons. He was a popular character at the Moulin Rouge, a Parisian nightclub.

Maybe its time to revive the lost art of illustrators as fashion reporters. Photography has gotten so common, and illustrators can capture the emotions of the actual event better than many photographers.

I am interested in trying out my skills. My sketches of live events are forthcoming!




Thanks for visiting my blog! If you are looking for a current example of my custom fashion illustrations, visit this link: http://lizblair.blogspot.com/2009/10/alabama-chanin-design-and-my-drawing-of.html

Blue Logan uses sketches to report on fashion

Right now, Blue Logan is one of the most popular fashion illustrators around. I have heard that he is called the "pencil paparazzi" because he reports on fashion events using a sketchbook instead of a camera.

I think I would like to try this technique. Unfortunately, my home computer is having problems, so I am doing my blogging from the Athens, Ohio public library. It's actually the most beautiful building in town, so I don't mind spending a lot of time here.

This would be a great place to sketch. Local bars and restaurants might also be good places to capture drawings of interesting people.

Anyway, Blue has a great, very colorful website at http://www.bluelogan.co.uk. These drawings are from his website.


Thanks for visiting my blog! If you are looking for a current example of my custom fashion illustrations, visit this link: http://lizblair.blogspot.com/2009/10/alabama-chanin-design-and-my-drawing-of.html

How to customize a store-bought wig

The wig I'm currently wearing is called the "Becky" wig from the Estetica wig company. First, I have found it to be worthwhile to shop for different prices on the internet. When it comes to wigs, I have found that price is not always that closely related to quality. When I searched for this particular wig in the internet, prices from a number of reputable companies varied between $80 and $120. Of course I bought the one that was on sale for about $80 plus shipping and handling.

As soon as you get the wig, check to make sure it is the right color before you remove it from the box or bag. It is difficult to return a wig after it has been removed from the box and tried on.

If the color is good, then try on the wig to check to see how it looks. Try not to get too discouraged if it looks a little strange at first. Part of this is just that you haven't had a chance to get used to it yet. I would recommend wearing it around the house a few times before you wear it someplace important. This will give you time to get used to it and make necessary adjustments.I am usually not completely happy with the style when the wig first comes out of the box. Usually it looks better if it is trimmed a bit to fit your head and face.

When I first tried on this Becky wig, the bangs were too thick for my face. I have a short forehead and I only wear light, fringy bangs. You can hire a hairstylist to do the trim. I usually do my own trim, but I usually feel comfortable doing this myself. You might also try to get a trusted friend who will give you honest feedback. Most wigs are pretty thick all over, and probably look more natural if thinned out a bit.

The other thing I do is sew a few toupee clips to the inside of the wig. You can buy these at almost any wig store. I sew a few in my wig and try it out for a day or two. I often end up re-positioning them after wearing the wig a few times. With this Becky wig, I first placed the clips on the sides of my forehead, and the wig kept sliding back too far on my forehead, and exposing too much of my hairline.I hope that this advice is helpful.

Oh, and one more thing. Almost all wig companies say that their wigs are comfortable, but I have found the stretch cap from Estetica to be more comfortable than some of the other brands I have worn.

Thanks for visiting my blog! If you are looking for a current example of my custom fashion illustrations, visit this link: http://lizblair.blogspot.com/2009/10/alabama-chanin-design-and-my-drawing-of.html

More Tights with Beads and Sequins

Here's a couple more examples of tights with beads and sequins. I haven't actually made a pair for myself yet, but I might try it while I am on Christmas vacation.

The photo with the black tights is from Doo.Ri's Fall 2009 collection.

The white tights were homemade and appeared on the Park and Cube website at http://parkandcube.com.

Thanks for visiting my blog! If you are looking for a current example of my custom fashion illustrations, visit this link: http://lizblair.blogspot.com/2009/10/alabama-chanin-design-and-my-drawing-of.html

Easy to make socks: Inspired by Miu Miu and Nylon magazine

Here's a great DIY project that I saw on Nylin Magazine's website at http://www.nylonmag.com/


This idea was originally inspired by sequined tights on the runway at a Miu Miu fashion show. In case anyone doesn't know it, this fashion label is the youthful extension of Prada.

Thanks for visiting my blog! If you are looking for a current example of my custom fashion illustrations, visit this link: http://lizblair.blogspot.com/2009/10/alabama-chanin-design-and-my-drawing-of.html