Halloween 2010 preparation begins NOW

Halloween 2010 is fast approaching

Costuming is one of my passions and every year, the spouse and I start way in advance deciding what we are going to do for our Halloween costume. We like to find characters that are couples, or at least from the same era, movie or song. The biggest challenge is to find characters that appeal to us both (read – that I can convince the spouse to wear), that are original, and that are not too cold or revealing as late October tends to be cold.

This used to be relatively low key for us until one year we did characters from the movie Matrix. I costumed as Niobe (Matrix Reloaded).

I should mention that in our town, Halloween is huge and the entire town gets dressed up and heads to downtown bars and restaurants in costume (http://www.youtube/watch?v=1R_inKeSiyeM). Our favorite spot has a Costume competition. We won second place for our costumes that year much to our surprise and pleasure.

The next year, we decided to up the ante. First prize was the goal. We were characters from Pirates of the Caribbean. I went as Tia Dalma, the voodoo queen. Another second prize win was the result.

The next year, I decided cold or not, I WAS GOING TO WIN!!!! We went with the vampire theme using the movie "Queen of the Damned" and I dressed as the Aaliyah character. Yet another second prize!!!!

This year, we are going for broke. Not sure what we are going to do yet, but the Na'Vi are looking good! And I don't care how cold or naked I have to get . I am sure it will be a winner ;D

Fassion Icon Carolina Herrera and my quest for the crisp white shirt

Last February, the spouse and I went to Vegas. This was a first time visit for him and he went pretty insane with the camera. He is an artist so the bright lights and over the top theatrics put him in heaven. For me, the biggest thrill of the visit was , not the lights, not the shows (we went to see Lion King and Zumanity) but then visit to the Carolina Herrera Flagship store that had just opened two months before *December 2009) on the strip.

Carolina Herrera is a Venezuelan designer who designed her first line in 1980 at 42 years old. She origfinally wanted to design textiles and has credited her foray into clothing to Diane Vreeland, the famed Vogue editor who encouraged her to "go for it"! Her daywear clothing is very chic "ladies who lunch" wear and her evening gowns are classic and impeccably tailored. She pays a great deal of attention to the "innards " of a garment understanding that a good foundation is key to a great fitting dress, suit, or skirt. She is also a proponent of the virtues of the crisp white shirt which has become her trademark.

I personally have not had as much luck with the crisp white shirt. While I am not an overly busty woman, finding a shirt that does not gap has been a challenge and when I do buy one in a big enough size to not be embarrassing, it is usually way too big at the shoulders and arms. Crisp white shirts do not appear to stay crisp or white for very long either. I have tried hand washing, with bleach, without bleach, drycleaning, with starch, without starch and finally decided that you have to be rich enough to just throw away a white shirt after two washings and just buy another one if dingy yellow shirt is not the look you are going for.

To date I have bought white shirts from Gap, H&M, AnnTaylor, Ann Taylor Loft, Express, The Limited, INC, Michael Michael Kors all to no avail., Carolina reportedly buys her shirts from Banana Republic, but I have not had much luck with those either. I have also been told that soaking a white shirt in vinegar the first time you wash it helps it stay white longer. Ummm....it doesn't but it sure makes you smell vinegary.

So the quest for the crisp white shirt continues inspired by Carolina Herrera, one of my Fassion Icons

Atlanta Carnival Costume

So as I mentioned, I LOVE creating costumes. The Atlanta Carnival this year was one I was DETERMINED to attend. The band we played with was called We Kinda Ting who portrayed "C'est Magnifique" and the section that we played in was called Ooh la la. The costume was pretty but because of some issues, I knew that I wanted to/needed to change it up a bit. First, because of my very abbreviated upper body (most people's torsos are half the size of their lower body; mine is more like one third), I knew that the corset would hit me much lower than on the model so the silver bottom would not show up at all. Next, I wasn't feeling the neck piece or the pink material in front.

MY INSPIRATIONS
My thoughts for the costume were to make something that could be attached directly to the corset so that nothing woukld have to go over or under it. I found a great example of a showgirl costume on line atwww.theburlesqueboutique.com/ They are based in the UK and the prices they wanted were out of my price range so I decided to try to figure out how to do it myself. I also wanted to try for a look with wings (such as seen the Victoria's Secret Angels Runway show) for my take on sexy angel/sexy fairy. I even found a picture of a costume of a fairy in a corset that looked just like the one I had!

The Final Product
Below is the finished costume, on the left on a hanger and on the right on me. It fit well, was unique and the wings (made with wire and organza with glitter glued on), were light and easily movable on the road.

What is a Fassionista

Simply someone with a passion for fashion and that would be me! I adore fashion. To me it is the most artistic form of self expression. It is an artform of ultimate committment. You become the canvas for your performance art.

People are always asking me questions about my "style". To me, that question is for those who view clotjhing as something that covers their body from day to day. My style changes with my moods. On days that I feel classic my style is classic; on days I feel funky, my style is funky.

I enjoy dressing myself and others. So many people have no idea what they look good in and if they ask for my help I am happy to oblige.

I also love costuming. Halloween, Carnival, Fourth of July, you name it. If I can find a reason to wear a costume I will. I spend days designing them and enjoy sharing the outcomes