On the most recent episode of Lifetime’s Project Runway, the designers were divided into teams and asked to design an Emmy Awards red carpet look for a former Project Runway contestant. I didn’t have a partner or PR designer in my work room, but I did have a fabulous new model, Raven. And unlike some of the whining PR designers, I LOVE designing for the red carpet. The Emmys may not be quite as luxe as the Oscars, but who wouldn’t want to create a look to be seen by millions watching an awards show?
This challenge was also called the Lexus challenge, since the designers were given partners and colors based on keys to various Lexus GS vehicles. I randomly chose this Lexus from online photos.
Inspired by the shiny red of the car, I chose a sheer red organza to design an asymmetrical bubble dress for Raven.
I gave the dress a single pickup in the front, embellishing with square sequins.
Earrings and bracelet are from Mattel. The delicate necklace is my addition.
To go with the accessories, I added gold sandals with a charm-embellished gold chain ankle strap.
The single bubble-edged sleeve has a line of red beading as a dramatic border between the fabric and Raven’s bare back.
I hope you enjoy the total look! I’d love to see Raven wearing this dress on the Emmys red carpet.
See you next time on the runway!
Red organza a donation from Lynne. Shoes a gift from Mark G. Harris.
Our friend and writing partner Jim is visiting The Compound. Each year when he comes, we make an agenda (this is his request because otherwise he knows we’d never leave the house), and on the agenda is “The List,” which is an ongoing list of movies we’ll all watch together one day (if not this visit, a future one). And of course, he knows he’ll get to catch up on the latest Twilight franchise release–so far, that hasn’t kept him away.
Monday I had a big pot of homemade beef and vegetable soup simmering most of the day (someone at The Compound is a little under the weather, and soup is good food, even when it’s hot outside*). After Jim arrived, we sat down to soup and the fixings for sandwiches. I gave Jim a special plate for his sandwich.
After we finished eating, he noticed that the knife he’d used to cut his sandwich had sliced between Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. IT’S A SIGN!
The first time Jim came to Houston, in December of 1998, I assured him he could pack for mild weather, that it’s almost never cold in Houston through the Christmas season. Jim doesn’t like cold weather, so this suited him just fine. Of course, it was freaking freezing that year, and he’s never believed anything I’ve said about Houston weather since.
No problem keeping warm this visit–we’re giving him plenty of heat and humidity.
Here’s a shot of Jim with Sweet Li’l Amy Sue outside Baba Yega restaurant on that first visit. I’d say something about how adorable they are, but I’m distracted by Jet behind them. My car was only an eight-month-old then.
*Kudos to anyone who gets the “when it’s hot outside” reference after all these years.
On the most recent episode of Lifetime’s Project Runway, the designers were taken to Dylan’s Candy Store. They were to create a garment using mostly candy.
Although I did embellish my look with candy, I actually used this unconventional materials challenge for a contest from Design Sponge. Entries for the Painter’s Tape Do It Yourself Contest needed to use Scotch painter’s or masking tape for a home-related project. Here’s how I started my project.
I got a cardboard sphere, ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape, and a model named Iris.
While putting together a jumpsuit for Iris, I was also creating a globe for my collection. Here are some process shots.
Wrapping.
Wrapped.
Glueing planet cutouts in preparation for coloring and Mod Podging.
Candy!
Hung out to dry.
Hitting the runway; necklace of Sour Punch Tangerine-Lemonade Bit.
Nerds belt!
She’s got the whole world in her hands.
And at her feet. And the world’s got her back!
Hope you enjoyed Iris’s look of bold colors. And a taste of sweetness.
See you next time on the Runway!
Thanks, Lindsey, for telling me about the Design Sponge contest.
Excuse me for a moment while I wallow in self-pity because of this.
Over the years, I’ve shown nothing but love for Mattel, Project Runway, and Tim Gunn. For no compensation–other than wonderful gifts from friends and blog readers–I’ve done every challenge and presented a final collection for five–now beginning my sixth–season. When other people said, “I don’t like Project Runway since it moved to Lifetime,” or “I’m over Project Runway,” or “I’m not watching again because I didn’t like this season’s winner,” or “All Stars sucks!”, I kept plugging along, stabbing my fingers with pins and needles, burning myself with the hot glue gun, sometimes sewing into the night until my eyes were crossing. Did I receive big cash prices or a car for my efforts? An HP TouchSmart or EliteBook? Even a crumb of recognition from the corporate entities for whom I’ve been a goodwill shill?
I did not.
Now Tim Gunn has designed for a line of Barbies, including accessory packs, and it’s as if the concept is ALL NEW. All over the Internet people are dazzled and full of praise. It’s NOT NEW. For example, PR’s Nick Verreos designed two looks for MyScene Barbie, one of those a challenge in Season Two (you can buy that doll right now online for around $195.00). That challenge was an exciting one for the contestants because they knew in the past Mattel has teamed up with dozens of designers including Diane von Fürstenberg (doll available for $135.00), Badgley Mischka (doll available for $181.00), Vera Wang (dolls available from $90.00 to $470), Anna Sui (doll available for $168.00), Juicy Couture (set available for $155.00), and Christian Louboutin (dolls available from $83.00 to $299.00).
Fortunately for everyone who thinks this is the best and greatest idea ever, Tim Gunn’s dolls are reasonably priced. Unfortunately, they, too, will be snapped up by resellers who’ll gouge consumers and collectors for whatever the market will bear.
I’ll still be here in my lonely garret designing and sewing. But I refuse to gush about this Tim Gunn project. Although….I’m pretty sure I can be bought if Mattel or Project Runway wants to open their pocketbooks. Perhaps they could offer me a vintage red truck!
Ticket stub, tour book, and sheet music from Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk tour in Birmingham (Alabama) in 1980.
Stevie Nicks recently announced that Fleetwood Mac will do another reunion tour in 2013. Through the years, I saw Buckingham Nicks before Fleetwood Mac (Tuscaloosa), Fleetwood Mac with members Billy Burnette and Rick Vito and without Lindsey Buckingham (Houston), and Stevie Nicks solo a time or two (Houston), but to my mind, nothing can compare to the lineup that is Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks, and Lindsey Buckingham. That Tusk concert was one of the best I’ve ever seen in spite of all its growing pains involving relationships and drugs. We were all so young and foolish then.
It was a thrill to me when that version of the band reunited to perform for the U.S. presidential inauguration in 1993, and a few years later when they put together The Dance.
The Internet says Christine McVie retired from the music business in 1998, but she did put out a solo album in 2004, and she did some backup vocals on subsequent Fleetwood Mac albums. The times Fleetwood Mac toured without her after her “retirement,” she saw their London performances but didn’t join them onstage.
I’m just selfish enough to want at least one more chance to see my favorite five on stage together–if she’d ever come back, I’d pay the crazy ticket price. Unless I’d have to sell a kidney. I draw the line at giving up body parts for my favorite bands. I guess I’m not so young and foolish anymore.
Since I like mysteries with amateur detectives and sleuths, it’s surprising that I’ve never read Dashiell Hammet’s The Thin Man. I’m putting it on my list. Back in the age when VCRs were the thing and you actually went to a store and rented VHS tapes for them, Tom and I spied the movie one night, rented it, and fell hard for Nick and Nora Charles (as played by William Powell and Myrna Loy) and their funny dog Asta. In the novel, Asta is a female schnauzer. But when the film was made, the best available actor was a male wire fox terrier (also called a wirehaired terrier) named Skippy. Skippy was hired for the role of Asta and was actually renamed Asta. A relative of Asta’s was hired to play the part in the Thin Man television series. You can learn a lot about Asta’s film career and why the Thin Man films were so popular at the I Love Asta website.
One Christmas I gave this DVD set to Tom, so we can laugh at Asta, drink vicariously, and listen to witty banter anytime we wish. I gave a little nod to the Thin Man franchise in The Deal in a conversation between characters Aaron and Heath.
Wirehairs are a high-energy breed who need good training from a strong human companion. They are super smart and love to perform for praise and rewards. Two of them were reasons why I loved to visit my college roommate Debbie’s parents’ house: Their names were Habebe and Sabe.
Petite Habebe and her son Sabe at full attention because they know Debbie has treats.
They had a wide range of actions they performed, including sit, stay, lie down, roll over, and BANG! which of course meant playing dead, all four paws up in the air.
Payoff!
Sabe would get so greedy for a treat that he’d often run through his entire repertoire without waiting for commands. He also would do this if Habebe was a little more relaxed with her follow-through.
Habebe comes from the Arabic habib, meaning “beloved.”Sabe shows how beloved his mama is.
ETA: I went back and corrected the spellings of the dogs’ names after I asked Debbie about them. She said my memory is pretty accurate. She also recalled that Sabe allowed her to dress him in silly costumes and played hide-and-seek with her.
To kick off its tenth season, Lifetime’s Project Runway put on a fashion show in Times Square. The sixteen designers had to send the show one look each that they felt represented their points of view. After arriving in New York, the designers had one day to create a companion piece that should look like it was part of the same collection.
I decided to go with one of my more glamorous former looks. This blue velvet evening gown enhanced with sequined-flowers was modeled by Noelle in Fall 2010. I created the straps from cobalt blue beads.
The new strapless piece uses the same silhouette and also has a slit up the back, but it’s a spring-friendly gown in lighter-weight, beaded, onyx Dupioni silk.
I couldn’t make it to Times Square, but my model Elke steps onto the Runway Monday set with confidence.
A look at the fabric in natural light.
I also designed Elke’s crystal necklace.
Red-carpet ready for the cameras.
Visitors to the workroom thought Elke looked a lot like PR host Heidi Klum. Here, she poses with mentor Tim Gunn and Heidi so you can see they’re three different blond(e)s.
Hope you’ve enjoyed my Season 10 debut. See you next time on the Runway!
Fabric from High Fashion. Tim Gunn gift of Marika. Necklace beads gift of Mary.
If only Lynne and I weren’t a mere thirty-five years old, we might have spent the Summer of ’69 this way:
We might have stayed up all night secretly talking on the phone by stretching the cords as far as possible toward our bedrooms. I could usually get away with this because of where our second phone was situated, but the princess phone Lynne used had to cross the hall from her parents’ bedroom to hers. The base was stuck in the hall, and the curly cord to the handset snaked under Lynne’s bedroom door. When Elnora (her mother) woke up from her pre-bedtime nap on the couch and walked down the long, dark hallway to go to bed, she’d trip on the phone, cussing as she caught her balance by grabbing the walls, while the handset would be jerked from Lynne’s grip and slam against her closed bedroom door. This was my cue to hang up, sneak our phone back to its stand, and go to bed, while in her house, Lynne would immediately jump into bed and pretend she’d forgotten to hang up the phone before falling asleep hours before. I doubt Elnora was fooled.
Mark Lindsay in the magazine photo I pretended not to be insanely jealous that Lynne owned.
I remember the closet in Lynne’s parents’ bedroom as being huge, and tucked into one corner were several brown grocery bags full of romance novels that Elnora and her friends passed among them. That summer, while Lynne mooned over pictures of Mark Lindsay and his pony tail, I was devouring one or two romance novels a day. If she got bored, Lynne would reread her Archie, Casper, Richie Rich, and Little Lulu comic books. Sometimes she could talk me into walking to town–it wasn’t much of a town, but we still found plenty of mischief to get into.
The one constant was the radio. Whether it was our transistors, my parents’ big console stereo, or the radios in the cars that took us to and from each other’s houses, we always listened to WVOK-AM out of Birmingham. (When it signed off at night, we became contortionists with our transistors to our ears trying to pick up WLS out of Chicago.) Taking a look at the old WVOK Tough Twenty Surveys, the mix of music amazes me. In one afternoon, we might hear the Beatles, Aretha Franklin, Herman’s Hermits, Tom Jones, the Grass Roots, the Archies, Dionne Warwick, Ray Stevens, Simon and Garfunkel, the Bee Gees, Henry Mancini, Marvin Gaye–we were the market for the music of anybody we might find on the pages of Tiger Beat, 16 Magazine, and Teen Beat. WVOK’s morning show was hosted by Joe Rumore who played oldies and sometimes music with a country influence between Sweet Sue and Golden Eagle Table Syrup ads. By the time we were fully awake and on the phone or being chauffeured to the swimming pool, Don Keith was DJing, and later in the afternoon, we’d listen to the melodic voice of DJ Dan Brennan.
It was also Dan Brennan who introduced WVOK’s Shower of Stars shows. Every one of these that Lynne and I were taken to by her mother and/or sister in Birmingham, we managed to find someone who could get us backstage. I have so many autographs from those shows. And when Lynne was old enough to drive us herself, we collected a few not-for-the-blog stories along with our autographs. We had a blast. We saw Tony Orlando when Dawn was just hastily assembled backup vocalists so he could tour after his first hit record. We saw Neil Diamond before he was uncool and then cool again. We saw Bobby Sherman, who we cared nothing about, and Pat Paulsen, the first comedian to run a satirical campaign for president (imagine–if he’d beat Nixon–Smothers Brothers in the cabinet instead of those thugs we ended up with!), and the Carpenters–who wouldn’t want to remember getting to hear Karen Carpenter sing in person? Most especially, we saw our favorite bands, Paul Revere and the Raiders and the Grass Roots, which is what branded us teenyboppers by the boys we knew, who were into much cooler music. Whatever. It was all about the crushes, and our walls were plastered with our idols’ faces like the young teens who loved Sinatra and Frankie Avalon before us, Wham!, New Kids on the Block and Hanson after us, and Bieber today. Long may you pop your bubblegum and sing along, ‘tweens and teenyboppers.
Have I shared this button before? It’s part of my collection from when it was first issued–I think in 1980.
I well remember the efforts I made to arrange a social life around watching television’s Dallas. Mother, Terri, and I were all addicted to the show. My favorite character was Sue Ellen Ewing.
I didn’t see the last few years of the show, but I did see all the biggest cliffhangers including Who Shot JR, Bobby in the shower, Pam’s exploding car, dead Kristin in the swimming pool, and the big fire at Southfork.
I was finally able to watch the first two hours of the new TNT Dallas and am looking forward to catching up. These days DVRs and Tivos make television a lot easier–even if I don’t have the busy life I once did.
And all these years later, my girl Sue Ellen appears to remain a force to be reckoned with. Where’s my Sue Ellen for Governor button?
ETA: I’m all caught up now, and I like the new Dallas. That JR is such a rascal.
This is it! The last day of the creativity project. Thank you to everyone who encouraged me with ideas, props, and comments.
Today’s theme from 30 Days of Creativity is “Star.” The Ram directs a lost chapter of the Star Wars movie franchise, Star Wars: Fashionistas Face Off.
Cast:
The Muses (called the “Hangers” by their enemies), led by Top Model Summer
The Monsters (known as the “Posers” by their enemies), led by Nefera de Nile
Yoda
A bunch more characters not pictured
Plot Synopsis: New Muses who haven’t yet appeared on Runway Monday realize the Monsters have attempted a coup, and Summer agrees to lead them in battle. When Yoda becomes aware of a disturbance in the Fashion Force, he arrives to broker a peace accord between the Muses and the Monsters.
On the most recent episode of Lifetime’s Project Runway, the designers were divided into teams and asked to design an Emmy Awards red carpet look for a former Project Runway contestant. I didn’t have a partner or PR designer in my work room, but I did have a fabulous new model, Raven. And unlike some of the whining PR designers, I LOVE designing for the red carpet. The Emmys may not be quite as luxe as the Oscars, but who wouldn’t want to create a look to be seen by millions watching an awards show?
On the most recent episode of Lifetime’s 
To kick off its tenth season, Lifetime’s 
