Drill team

Donna McCollough takes vintage oil and gas cans and refashions them into cheerleader inspired dresses. I love how feminine they are, and the contrast between the rusted, industrial material and the dressmaker details. Seriously, are those darts at the bustline?

Images from Donna McCollough. Via Make.

Tie one on...

Tricia has been doing some very cool weaving projects (details and photos to come very soon), and I've been succumbing to my weakness for chairs in need of love. I started to mash the two together and have been exploring weaving and chairs and reclaimed materials. In my website wanderings, I found some really lovely examples.

I'm headed in a more modern direction with my project, but there's something about these vintage chairs and woven necktie seats that warms my little Alabama heart. And when the color palette is restrained, the result can be sophisticated.

Enjoy!

Update: After writing this post, I kept coming back to Alabama Chanin, who I blogged about a couple of years ago. Apparently I've fallen for necktie chairs before. At that time, there was something sentimental about it. This time around, I'm inspired by the pattern and texture. 

Images from 
1. ToolGirl Mag Ruffman 
2. Etsy shop preserved
3. Peter Russo Design

Tag! You're it!

 

Every so often you see one of those dresses made from something crazy (vegetables, pop tabs, AmEx gold cards), and they look good on the mannequin or in the fashion show, but they are more costume than real life. Then you see something like this, where an Aussie fashion designer turned an inside joke with her boyfriend into a wedding dress. 

In case you can't tell from the pix, the dress is made of bread tags. Not sure what those are? When you buy a loaf of bread from the grocery story, it's often secured with a little plastic tab that has the best-by date printed on it. Stephanie Watson and her boyfriend saved these each week. As their collection grew, they joked that when there were enough to cover a wedding dress, they would get married. Friends and family helped out, and 10,000 tags later, they couple was married, and the bride wore this. 

I think she looks radiant, and talented, and I love the sense of humor here. Best wishes! 

Via Ecouterre. Images from Constructing Nadine.

Pocket plants

if tiny terrarium jewelry isn't bold enough for you, Parisian designer Egle Cekanaviciute may be more your speed. The SEED clothing lets you plant seeds in unusual places, like your back pocket, or your shirt sleeve. At the core of the concept is designer's statement,

"...any human creation is helpless against the power of nature."

These aren't really practical as clothing (or garden planters), but the photos are lovely and as an thought piece, the line is intriguing. Enjoy!

Images from Egle Cekanaviciute. Via Stylelist.

This is not a Miss Print

 

If you're not already familiar with Betabrand, the design juggernaut behind Cordarounds and the Darpa Hoodie, you should be. Just get on their mailing list. Their promotional emails are part delusion, part viral marketing, all awesome.

Their latest Think Tank product is the Miss Print skirt, which is made up of cotton/spandex test prints from their screen printer's shop. Super cute. I hope they put them into production.


Images from Betabrand.

Next generation eco-fantastic

NPR's All Things Considered did an interview with seventeen-year-old Maura Pozek. In the style of the best Project Runway episodes, Pozek created her own prom dress out of cardboard and paper bags. That's charming in its own way, then it gets better. She reveals that this is the third prom dress she's created from reclaimed materials. The first one was made from Doritos bags, and the second was made of pop-tops woven with pink ribbon. 

It's worth listening to the whole interview. She's fantastic--doesn't come at it with an idealistic green point of view. She just thought it would be fun to make. My favorite is the Doritos one, but she's adorable in all three. You can listen here.

Images from NPR (top = Doritos bags, middle = cardboard, bottom = pop tabs).

Double-down on your do-gooding

Today is Good Friday (and the start of Passover), so today's post is about good. You've heard of TOMS, right? They make shoes, and their business is revolutionary. Don't get me wrong, their shoes are nice--cute, comfy, popular enough to be knocked off by Sketchers, etc. But the revolutionary magic of TOMS isn't in the shoes, but in this one little statement: 

With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair to a child in need.

I don't know if the founder of TOMS originated the one-for-one approach, but he took it mainstream. Since their success, every little do-good product company I know is toying with the strategy--Buy our pet bed, and we'll donate one to the ASPCA; buy our toothbrush, and we'll donate one to this homeless shelter; buy our McNuggets, and we'll donate a Happy Meal to.... OK, maybe not EVERY company.

Now they've partnered with FEED Projects, which is a worthwhile enterprise in its own right. The result is the FEED 12. If you buy a pair, they'll donate a pair of shoes and 12 school meals. Maybe they're not as cute as the glitter TOMS, but if you want to double-down on your do-gooding, this is one way to go. 


Have a great holiday, everyone!

Images from TOMS. Via Ecouterre.

The bus stops here!

Designer DeWayne Lumpkin takes vintage British transit rolls and repurposes them into furniture, housewares, and a very stylish line of clothing, charmingly named SheSpoke. How fantastic are these?

If you want to see these locally, check with Collage Gallery & Clothing in Potrero Hill. The trunk show closed mid-February, but there may be some pieces still in the shop. Or you can stop by my house. I just found a lovely pair of his Steelcase chairs on Craigslist.

Images from Collage Gallery & Clothing (images 1-3) and Katie (image 4). Via SF Gate.