Freakish Yellow Skirt Update!!...and more

a Curious YELLOW bELL blOOms in 

   the garden,

      a top pick of the freakish show

             where chickens peck with

                 spots and stripes

                          and flower shower of skirtly delight

                              whispers true with sounds of

                                      sue SUE sue   

                                              Sue of

                                       You Can Call Me Sue

                                                         GO! GO NOW!! 

Last chance...

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Look what Sue grows in her garden! She has done a stupendous styling of the FYS on its last stop of the global Travelling Yellow Skirt Freak Show. You must go and have a look. There is also a photo of the fantastic addition she made to the skirt - absolutely perfect. Thank you so much, Sue! 

And in other news...

My thrifted floral Versace pants with happy landings of assorted other fabrics and a dusting of thrifted lucky-charm beaded bag and a magic loupe. Platform runners for colour-blast shock absorption of course. How easy it is to forget we're only human when we're full-on vibracized. Sproingy doink sproingy doink. Walking down the sidewalk was like trying out a big new children's toy. AS LIFE SHOULD BE on a good day. That's my spooky rebel girl followed by my warped self.

And I sewed! HURRAH! That 'ole familiar duet with the Machine, chuh-chuh-chuh-chuh, feck, chuh-chuh-chuh-chuh, fart balls, chuh-chuh-chuh-chuh... In fact, most of my time is spent PREPARING the fabric, but when I hit that show tune at last, it's a freaking Broadway musical. (Okay, so I took in some pants, but it felt like I made a hand-tailored Chanel suit.)

Trouble posting my face

Edit Update: (Mon. Oct 13, Miz Bagg HQ) I am featured in an interview HERE on Imogen Lamport's "Stylish Thoughts" column in her dynamic blog Inside Out Style. If you want to know more about me, "Yesh, secrets of the schtars!!" have a look. Imogen has had some life changes lately, well worth the read, and she believes in breaking style rules.

This is my face when I wake up (minus lipstick and eyeliner).

All thrifted except the tights: shiny satin summery dress with attached lemony underskirt, pink tulle petticoat, yellow zig-zag coat, red beret, D&G pony shoes, striped delicate cotton T, and magic loupe and toolbox hand bag from O. 

I have trouble posting my face lately; I have trouble posting any photo I like lately. If I like it too much I must defile it somehow, say, by dropping in a different background or a fake head or both. I guess that's my reaction to seeing Everybody Everywhere turning into models, especially kids who are adept at striking a pose-and-grimace within photo target range. 

Do you ever think your outfit or photo is too settled, too nicey nice, too model-wannabe, so you just want to wreck it up? Of course it's hard to get away from when the goal of an outfit post is to show people what you're wearing, but still, the desire to bust out is always just under the surface. The thing that usually creates harmony in what I wear is that little something that's "off." What's off in this outfit? It's not the pattern mixing but the red of the beret being repelled by the reds in my shirt. Brrr! (frisson of delight)

Maybe I need props... Or a cat head and a sideways background.

All thrifted except the tights: Karen Millen dress, floral linen coat with satiny lining, D&G pony shoes, vintage sunglasses. This is what I wore the day before, same tights (laundered between wears) and shoes. What's off in this outfit? The hemline - too short! I liked the selfie I took, hence the cat head and sideways backdrop. So, have you wrecked any good photos lately? Or bad photos? 

Do you favour beauty or the beast?

the post with the spaceheads and guy theme

SPOOKY-GIRL-ME DOLL

My big head on a spooky rebel girl sketch I made this summer.

Speaking of big heads, below is a cartoon I drew in 2011. I've known lots of people like Big Head Guy; in fact, I've had planets revolving around my own head from time to time as well.

Keeping with the guy theme, those are man shoes, my first attempt at velvet painting - well, my backing has a very soft nap like velvet but it's probably upholstery fabric - painted a couple of years ago, acrylic, 3' x 4', and forgotten about it until I stumbled across this photo. Now the piece is rolled up. It's odd how something that was so energy-focused during its creation can be easily forgotten.

AND MORE ON THE GUY THEME:

My friend, Corey Hamm, won Best Classical Recording of the Year at the 2014 Western Canadian Music Awards on October 5. How cool is that? His CD is The People United Will Never Be Defeated! composed by Frederic Rzewski. It is on sale at Redshift Records, CDBaby, iTunes, Bandcamp, and from him personally. His Facebook page is here. Congratulations, Corey! 

Corey has been on this blog before here when I photographed him at rehearsals with the Vancouver Symphony with Maestro Bramwell Tovey and composer Jordan Nobles.

Thaaat's better. It's so nice to take off my mask once in a while and let my real face breathe.

Below are the shots before I took off my mask. Not so very different really.

What I wore today:

Blogger won't let me upload the photo of this outfit on me, so you'll have to make do with this one of the detailing. [Edit: I tried again and got my photo up below.] It's is a vintage maxi robe/coat lined in mint green light linen, which I belted high over my jean jeggings, high-heel Miu Miu boots, and oversized Jimi Hendrix T-shirt. There was a cool Beatles-in-India feel to this, and although I didn't feel the full vibe myself, this was one of those outfits where the beauty is more in the eye of the beholder. Who knows why.

This is a long post. Whew. I hope you're all having a great week. 

A touch of dark shadows for Visible Monday

This is my black silky gown/slip/night dress. Even double-size too big, I fell in love with it in the shop. It's old - you can tell by its general decrepitude and the wonky metal side zipper - and was probably home-made with its pinking-sheared seam edges, lack of labels, and hand-stitched hem. I resized it on my regular sewing machine playing with darts. But it cried out for a little Dark Shadows so I machine-stitched on a spooky rebel girl patch I'd made by iron-transferring my sketch onto a T-shirt scrap with serged edges.

The colourful striped cotton top was purchased for lots of money by a stranger in the past but I scooped it up for $5. (I thank her for donating it rather than throwing it away.) The knit is very delicate and the sleeves are extra long, perfect for the cool edge in the morning air. I'm also wearing a blue rhinestone necklace, a gift from a former housemate, a brown ball pendant thrifted decades ago, and the magic loupe from O. Those are my vintage sunglasses on my head, repaired for me by O. And on my feet are my thrifted D&G pony shoes.

This dress billowed thrillingly in the breeze, such silky swirling about my legs. The heft of my toolbox handbag and vigorous handling added manly ballast - I think spooky girl appreciated that. I always feel extra good when I wear something I've handcrafted. And you? Well, I know you do too - I always see it in your faces. 

I'll be slinking over to Patti's Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style in this gown. Slink, slank, slunk. I'll be the woman in the dark corner of the yard standing motionless in an eerie mist, a glowing green drink in my hand, and purring on echo mode. I won't bite. Promise. 

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PS - In answer to the question, what is a serger?, from the previous post, look at the inside seams of a T-shirt or other knit garment - they were sewn together with a serger. With a built-in cutter, a serger also trims the fabric automatically as it passes under the presser foot. Sergers are also called overlockers. They look different from regular sewing machines because they have three to four spools of thread.

In my next post, see my new hair...!

Wearing dog leash and opium den

Sorry for the serious face but I'll make up for it with the accompanying video later,
filmed on location in the garbage room atelier. I blame Val and the opium.

How am I supposed to go wee when I'm wearing a dog leash and an opium den over a back-zip playsuit? (And there's not a fire hydrant in sight.)

Bwa-ha-ha!! Don't you just love the opium den? See the teeny tiny pipe, the divan, lit candle, and mysterious jars? The white powder is upside-down "army" and the other is "shadow" or a place absent of sun or wind (according to O). And of course there's a huge mini mirror so I can admire myself. Absolutely stupendous (the mirror, not my reflection).

This perfect objet d'art percolated from the primordial Muse Fondue which Val has cooking at her house and arrived at my house quite a while ago. Instantly I knew I'd like to wear this den (to feel good and show it off) but I needed a suspension system that a) wouldn't require altering the piece and b) would stabilize it. The answer? This neon pink doggy leash, $4.99, which just last week I finally enlarged to fit my doggy torso. Today was the first outing, and when I invited strangers to view the den they gasped with delight. And that's a fact, Val. Thanks again for this incredible work of art. Val also sent a hilarious card addressed to Melstrom in a Teacup, Buzzed 24-7, Vancoolver, and threw in some lovely mysterious French accents. XO! You can see posts that Val made about this diorama and others she has made at her former blog, late blooming sparkle, here and here.

A N D -
Recently, I started a new series of ink sketches of spooky rebel girls, like that one above. I love the etchy scratchy rippy action of crosshatching (hatchet, axing, crossing) and I mark this series as another step in my decades' long art school recovery. My Turnip Heads (which I'm still doing) are line drawings of whimsy and joy, so these sketches are a big departure: style-wise they are scraggly like the drawings I did as a kid, and content-wise they are dark and foreboding. I drew six spooky rebel girls yesterday, like a fury. I did that sketch above this morning. I have lots of ideas for this series and I am excited to see what else emerges.

I have other incredibly lovely gifts from other people which I cherish and will post about as well. I have not forgotten you - never!

I'll see you at Patti's Visible Monday at her blog Not Dead Yet Style. And I know I'm missing other great link-ups as well so I'll add them here as I clue in. Happy long weekend to youse guys in Canada celebrating Canada Day, a country which thrives under the benevolent rule of the Queen as our head of state.