Alyrenee's Copious Spare Time

Another very nice East 59th collection from Chris Stoeckel. The whole collection is really solid and well designed (as always).  I love the color stories here and even that purple fluffy tulle gown is GORGEOUS and makes those tulle dresses at convention look like some low-rent dollar store tutus by comparison. The two Victoire's really illustrate how the screening can make a sculpt look completely different.  I like both but I keep waiting for the right Victoire where I love the whole package. My issue is that I really don't need or want multiples of these characters so it is hard to justify buying the doll full price when I know I only want the fashions.  Plus these dolls do not seem to re-sell well.  I have been trying to sell my Classic Glamour Evelyn for like 6 months now with no luck.  I really like this Aurelia fashion, the sunny yellow jacquard, and her hair color with that skin tone.  I am not in love with her screening though so if I bought her, I...

Vintage glamour returns. Many of us were missing Victoire, myself included...and I am losing any hope that Katy Keene will come back. This new vintage line designed by Chris Stoeckel is very welcome. The four doll collection has a wonderful backstory around the fashion and marketing world in the Mad Men era 1950s New York. The initial descriptions tell us that Victoire Roux will be joining this line later on. Victoire's story was in the forties so I am assuming we will get a slightly more mature Victoire.  I imagine they will need to do a new sculpt for her to make her work with these wonderful new faces for these ladies. Victoire currently is more stylized...but perhaps with a less stylized facial screening the current mold could work? We shall see. It is all very exciting. It also sounds like there will be a vintage homme coming eventually as well. Yummy. This era makes diversity a challenge but I really hope they add a character of color in this line too...maybe a Broadway ac...

Fabric ain't cheap y'all.  Even though you don't need a whole lot to make Babs a new gown...I half a yard of silk is going to set you back around $10 bucks at most fabric stores (assuming you are lucky to live near a store that carries silk)...plus you still need lining, thread, and closures...oh and beads...etc. For that same $10 you can often get a WHOLE DRESS with way more yardage and re-usable bits at a thrift store! It's a concept known as up-cycling...all the hip kids are doing it. It is good for the world and your wallet.  Take someone's sad nineties bridesmaid dress and make it into something cool...or make it into many cool somethings and sell them...or wash your car with it...whatever the case, these things don't need to end up in a land fill.  Make do and up-cycle! Here are some tips for shopping: Learn how to read labels for fiber content.   Learn names of fibers (i.e. Viscose is another name for rayon.  Elastane is the same as spandex....

http://kevinweinstein.com/blog/article/chicago_wedding_a_everest_lizzy_justin I think it turned out just adorable.

I love this website for research...the photos of the criminals from the 1930s are AMAZING and I use them all of the time.  While researching costumes for Strawdog's next production of The Petrified Forest ...i found this gem ...

Mine is dress #10...Take a Memo.  Check out all the a wesome entries and vote for your favorite *cough #10 cough*. 

Here is my design for the Shabby Apple Dresses Design Challenge.  I went with a retro wiggle dress style that I love to wear.  There is a great 1940's vintage blouse in the college costume shop that is an acid green with purple accents.  This is my color inspiration.  I also love purple on red heads and was totally in love with the purple coat Julianne Moore wore in the last scene of Crazy Stupid Love .   An additional color option would be a greenish grey, with army green and red accents and gold buttons for a more military feel.  The fabric would be some sort of cotton with a bit of stretch and maybe a dash of wool so that it could be nicely tailored but also have a bit of forgiveness. A summer weight wool would be aces. The design is called "Take a Memo"...in honor of Joan ...the sexiest secretary ever.

I found this website while researching makeup for All My Sons.  There are some wonderful galleries of of the silver screen.  Enjoy my pretties.

Wonderful album by Carolynn R. Whitford .  I am particularly impressed with the Doris Day & Rock Hudson dolls and the adorable Robert Best Francie !  I love that mold...and that dog is darn cute.  V. tempting.

Yummy movie pictures and fantastic analysis.