Stylish vs Fashionable

I've had some nice conversations lately about the difference between style and fashion. In my opinion fashion is keeping up with trends. Wearing  whatever color or silhouette is in regardless of how it works into your personal style or how it will look on you. This issue, is why I love small fashion, local designers, small artistic shops, and little vintage boutiques. With these businesses and people your style isn't about what's hot right now, but about YOU and how you want to feel and look.

Style is about creating a wardrobe that feels and looks like you and perhaps who you want to be.

This is an amazing dress by Seattle designer Frankie Four http://www.frankiefour.com/about.html She makes ultra flattering and comfortable dresses, bathing suits (for men and women), cowl neck tops, and ties. The Betsey Johnson necklace is one of the many unique pieces found at the Pretty Parlor http://www.prettyparlor.com/ Both dress and necklace are available at the Pretty Parlor.

This is a magical and frilly knit dress by Seattle Designer Raymond Chapman. Raymond designs beautiful and classic retro inspired pieces. His creations are so beautifully crafted that they will be staples in your closet for years. Dress and necklace available at the Pretty Parlor

Here's one of my pieces :) I call it Gravity. I love this style of dress. It's very flattering on every shape and it's super comfortable. This dress is available in Med and Large at Monster http://www.monsterartandclothing.com/
Monster is a fantastic store with lots of creative and fun things for your body and for your walls.

Speaking of Monster, this octopus cameo necklace was designed by Monsters own Jessie Beans https://www.etsy.com/shop/jessiebeans and this fantastic knit chevron dress was designed by Seattle's own J Von Stratton http://jvonstrattondesigns.com/ Both dress and necklace are available at the Pretty Parlor.

Another Glam Cloud piece. I make these comfy and great fitting raglans. They are a great hit. A size variety is going to Frock Shop http://www.shopfrockshop.com/ this week.
 The owner of Frock Shop is another Seattle designer, she makes very pretty and versatile dresses and curates a beautiful clothing shop.

Lastly here is a dress that I made for myself, I love fabric. I often find myself fawning over the fabric at Nancy's Sewing Basket http://www.nancyssewingbasket.com/ on Queen Anne Hill. That's where I found this amazing fabric. I knew when I saw it that I needed to make a dress out of it. In my idealistic mind that is what style can be, a connection between fashion and you.

Kitsch and Cute

I like kitsch! It's my favorite, I love it when my clothing has some sort of hidden meaning. The best dress is pretty but also has some little thing about it that makes people stop and think "oh wow that has a ______ on it, how cool!"

ET dress! I made this out of sheets. I have two of them and one is going up on my etsy site this week. https://www.etsy.com/shop/GlamCloud?ref=hdr

This is perhaps one of the cutest and prettiest dresses I've ever made, I love the kitty fabric so much, and how can you go wrong with cupcakes. This dress is up and for sale on my etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/listing/194469065/kitties-and-cupcakes?ref=listing-2

Excuse me? I mustache you a question. I got that name from my Cousins wife who is a teacher :)
https://www.etsy.com/listing/194810773/excuse-me-i-mustache-you-a-question?ref=listing-shop-header-1

This is one of the many dresses that I made for myself for my birthday last month

My Raglans

These great raglans are so comfy, cute, and carefree. I can't make enough of them

The raglans are just available in stores now, but I'm hopping to make enough to put on my esty site very soon. https://www.etsy.com/shop/GlamCloud?ref=hdr

My Fabric Drawers

Every week is a new adventure in dress making. I'm still taking things apart, and making them into new dresses

the two dresses on the left came from the one on the right that I made last year. I think the new dresses have the same feeling of adventure as the original but maintain more of a classic feel.

I made two of these, they were re made from a couple skirts. I call them "Little Cats on the Prairie"

This lovely cupcake dress was made with some fabric pieces I saved from a few other dresses. The black fabric is a fun mole skin.

I love this camera fabric, I was delighted to find enough of it to make this dress.

Then this monster dress, was made with the fabric left from a few mod dresses that I had made.

Sassafras is Great!

I get to know, visit, and talk to  lots of wonderful shop owners. One of these shop owners is Amy Tipton. Her shop is called Sassafras http://www.sassafras-seattle.com/ and it's located in Belltown Seattle. Her shop is dedicated to selling and promoting local and small designers.  Sassafras is filled with  wonderful and creative pieces by wonderful and creative local artists and artisans. Sassafras also has a space below where many of the designers work and create. So the piece you purchase may have just traveled up the stairs :)

I brought some new dresses by last Tuesday and took a few pictures of the delightful pieces on display.

Glitter Sweet! I love these bags. Pretty and durable. Big enough to store your personal stuffs, a tablet or book, but not so big that it'll weigh you down. 

Lovely and rustic leather purses and bags are what Moo Young makes, I got to meet her when I was there too, we had a great conversation about supporting and being involved in the local art community. It's super inspiring to get to meet others who want to make Seattle unique and beautiful.

So many great clothing designers are featured at Sassafras. Its a great place to pick up that dress for a wedding you might be going to this summer, or just your favorite T shirt.

Owl dress by me Glam Cloud :)

Sassafras also has so many great jewelry designers and some of the cutest and funniest cards ever. A fantastic location for special gifts.

Welcome Summer!

It was a nice warm week here in Seattle. The beautiful sunny days made me think about what I'm going to want to wear this summer. Fun easy breezy dresses are the best way to bask in the glory of the sun.

Nautical fashion never seams to go out of style, and why should it! How can we not always love the lure of the Sea. I've made this dress in 2 sizes and it's a new take on one of my favorite patterns, I'm going to see about taking these along with a few others to Sassafras this coming week.

I love this Japanese floral fabric with little pandas hidden in it. I'm a fan of yellow, and I've always wanted to make a yellow dress for myself, but my coloring doesn't agree with the idea. So keeping the yellow away from my face is how I'm going to compromise ;)

I've been re claiming some of my own dresses this week, and I'm having a great time pairing the bits of fabric that I have with other fabrics that I can find.  This dress is available on my Etsy site https://www.etsy.com/listing/188169997/yakuza-tattoo?ref=shop_home_active_1

One of my favorite stores to make dresses for is Monster in Ballard, http://www.monsterartandclothing.com/
I get to make the most colorful and creative dresses of my dreams for the costumers there.

I made a size run of a different dress style with these cute little foxes, and I had a bit of fabric left over so I got to make this lovely foxy dress. I think she will go to Sassafras too :) http://www.sassafras-seattle.com/

Javier S Ortega

This week my blog is about one of my favorite people. He is funny, kind, and has an amazing talent for bringing beauty and mystery to the world. Every time I get to see one of his shows I feel so lucky to know him.

I love this painting, I think it so gracefully says so much about how we treat gender  in our culture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOexdF

YVNxg

This is a show of his that I got to see last year, it's amazing! So elegant and gritty at the same time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCJvfnNqfzQ

This compilation incorporates so many great elements, the sepia tones, and the allure of a crisp fall night. I can feel everything I love about Autumn when I look at them
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb7iDZY9HjE

This painting is so dark and sensuous, the whole series is like discovering your favorite suspense or horror film was made before you where born.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoT0bPiGWyY

Check out more of Javiers paintings at his website http://www.orttega.net/ortega.html

Or go on a Youtube adventure, this one makes me want to join the circus, and pretty much be one of Javiers characters :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WNsxhxe0TM