1. An Artist’s Utopian Vision from the Early 1900s Wenzel Hablik (1881) was a painter, graphic artist, architect, designer, and craftsman from Bohemia of the early twentieth century, associated with German Expressionism. At the age of six, he found a specimen of crystal, and saw in it “magical castles and mountains” that would later appear in…
1. A Human Torpedo, 1967 They were used as secret naval weapons in World War II. The basic concept is still in use. The Italian Navy experimented with a primitive tiny sub carrying two men as 1918 and this craft did have some success. The first truly practical human torpedo was the Itali
Inspired in Miró.
Samuel Cirnansck 2014 - Details
Fast-fashion discards are being shredded, and the fibers can be used in new garments.
The 2010s are back like they never left. To get the look, shop the best biker boots, from high-end to high street.
Explore louiserichardsonartist.com's 176 photos on Flickr!
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Who the hell wants this stuff?
Meetups are arguably the core of Lolita culture... gathering with your lolita friends, coordinating outfits together, and heading out to do something decidedly "Lolita". It can be visiting a new cafe, or a more physical outing, like exploring a zoo. This week in the Lolita Carnival, we'll be sharing ideas for 5 Meetups. My first suggestion is actually counter-intuitive to most lolitas, dare I say, blasphemous. But what the heck. 1.) HAVE AN ANIMAL DAY. YES. Break out the brand cat ears you've been dying to wear, or that ridiculous bonnet with long floppy bunny ears. Dig out the furry bear eared headdress you've been shoving into the shadows of your drawer, because you know what? It's cute as hell. You know you want to wear it, but fear the taunts of "cosplay". But I say, for one day, loosen up. ^^ Or should I say... GO WILD! Go on a nature trail, or public garden if you have any in your area. If you're worried about the terrain, how about a Nature Reserve? There was a lovely one I visited in Washington state called the Bloedel Reserve, with a sprawling lawn, elegant lake and a Victorian manor. Also, you don't have to wear something costume-y to participate. An "animal" theme is as open ended as you make it. And if you look around, there's plenty of pretty, inexpensive things you can buy or make to transform an outfit. Take this cat-eared veil I found on Etsy, for instance... Etsy It seems easy to recreate, with some tulle and wire. ^^ Or who says you have to be a mammal? If you're more into elegant butterflies or birds, that would be lovely too. Etsy 2.) Cooking Mama I love to bake... mostly because I can't cook anything except dessert, haha! So I think it would be really fun to have everyone show off their own cooking or baking skills, and have a cooking meet-up. (To save your clothes during preparation, this may be best completed pot-luck style.) Or, if you can't bake or cook, buy something and bring it. :) Then dress the part of the chef and try to convince everyone you made it. Have everyone come in their baker's best... or by that I mean, take a regular lolita coord and add an apron. Because really, when else do we get to wear those things? It's also a great opportunity to break out your maid-themed coords, if you have any! If you're one of the fortunate few, maybe you live near a place where you can go and cook your own entree. While I was in Japan, I saw a restaurant where you pay a professional to teach you how to cook. They provide the gourmet ingredients and guide you and your guest through the entire process. Not only is it delicious, but you get the self-fulfilment of making your own delicious meal! Or, there was a bakery I went to in Washington called Bella Bella Cupcakes. They offered a party where the guests made their own signature cupcake batter, combining whatever flavours they wanted. Supplies were provided by the bakery. Then when you were done, the bakers baked your cupcakes, and brought them out for you to decorate. ... who cares if it was a kid's party package, doesn't it sound like fun?! Do some research and see if there is anything like that in your area! 3.) Karaoke Because. Whenever I go out in lolita. I'm usually going to karaoke. A Hello Kitty karaoke room I rented with my friend in Tokyo. No, but really! Karaoke is a great ice breaker, and an ice maker... since we never get to wear cute Lolita coats in Hawaii, we once had a "Winter Karaoke" meet up, where we wore our winter lolita gear to the private karaoke room, then cranked up the air conditioning on full blast. And of course, you can sing Christmas carols while you do this. ;D Many people are scared to go, because they think it's "horrible and embarrassing"... and you know, I used to think so too. Until I went with about three thousand Japanese people. xD One of my good friends was in a band, and would just go wild at karaoke, yelling into the mic, kicking chairs, jumping, dancing, head banging... and even though he was great, his voice cracks too. And he'd sing duets with the worst of us, myself included. It's just about having fun. No one is an expert, and that's not what we're expecting. If everyone is worried about outdoing each other, you're going with the wrong people, haha. My point is, have a karaoke lolita meet-up, you won't regret it! 4.) ... You know, I think I spent all my energy on the first idea, haha! OKAY FOUR. UNITED NATIONS! On Metamorphose's website there is a world map, tagged with customers from all over the globe. From Metamorphose's Go! Go! Lolita Chan! Ever since I started lolita back in 2007, I remember this map on the site. So that is where I got the inspiration... Everybody comes dressed as a different country! Deep reds and greens for Italy, Red White and Blue with star accessories for America, Marie Antoinette for France, that kimono Jsk from Meta you never get to wear for Japan! This meet can hit the street at an event where you're sure to be street snapped, or maybe take it to a show, like the theatre, ballet or a circus. 5.) A Masquerade Etsy Going out at night is just as fun, if not more fun than going out in the day! And with a theme like "Masquerade", your options are endless. Guests should be encouraged to create or modify their own masquerade mask to match their outfit. Maybe you could have a contest, for most original, best over all, and so on! Possible events for this theme could be Art After Dark, First Friday, concerts, art openings, holidays such as New Years and Halloween... No matter what the meet up or the theme, I've always believed it's the people, not what you do, that make the experience. So no matter how fun or simple your meet-up idea is, enjoy the time with your friends and getting to know new people over all. I hope someday I get to go to a meet-up with all of my darlings! I'll make you all wear animal ears and dress like countries and sing karaoke, muwahaha. xoxo, Slightly Sadistic Cherie This week's participants: ☆ Let’s Go ☆ Hello Batty ☆ Beyond Kawaii ☆ Palace of Frills ☆ Sweet Lolita Doll ☆ A Life in Disguise ☆ Päivänvarjon alla ☆ Lolita Cor-de-Rosa ☆ Geisha Baby ☆ Angel Shinigami ☆
more pictures from infanta (from 29 dec)
This haute mess was created in an effort to raise awareness about the massive amount of waste that is ending up in our oceans. All of these garments were made from litter that I picked up off the beaches of Los Angeles & Sydney, Australia. I teamed up with Photographer Lisa Bevis, hair stylist Nina Paskowitz & makeup artist Andrew Shulman.
by Robert Boyd Charles LeDray, Untitled (Suit with a small suit cut from it) , fabric, thread,plastic, metal wood, paint, 28 1/2 x 12 x ...
from Art to Wear by Julie Schafler Dale
The Dazed 100-er takes our quickfire pop quiz
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If you've noticed my lack of craft posts the past few months, it's because all my crafting energy has been going into my next cosplay - which is fun, but also saps my creative mojo, so to speak. I'm looking forward to finishing just so I can get back to smaller, immediate-gratification projects! Sadly I'm nowhere near the finish line yet, but I think the most important part - my mask - is finally finished enough to show off. As most of you guessed from my sneak peek ages ago, I'm working on a steampunk White Rabbit from Disney's Alice in Wonderland. Now, this is my first-ever foray into leather working, so naturally John and I jumped in head first by starting with a fairly complicated mask. Heh. I turned to Youtube for tutorials - and highly recommend this one from Merimask - but we still were figuring out a lot of things as we went along, since every tutorial offers slightly different advice. I started by modeling my mask after Andrea/Merimask's "Gentleman Bunnies" design: You can actually buy one of these (or a similar style without the monocle) at Andrea's Etsy shop for $200, but since this is to be the focal point of my entire costume, I was determined to make it myself. I'm just stubborn like that. And cheap. But mostly stubborn. Aaaaand here's my mask (so far): I may still adjust one or two things, but over all I'm pretty pleased for our first try! John did the hardest part, which was drawing and adjusting the paper template, stopping to crinkle it over my face every few minutes to check the fit. When he was satisfied, he cut it out of vegetable-tanned, 8 oz leather and handed it over to me to sketch on. I drew in my design details, and then he did the carving: John is really enjoying this new hobby, so I practically had to pry the mask out of his hands to do my own work on it. :) Next we soaked the mask in water and formed it on my face. This was tricky, since the muzzle really needed to stand out, but I kept working at it with my fingers, and was eventually satisfied with the shape. (Interesting note: saturated leather is oddly clay-like, and very malleable.) We also shaped the ears a bit. We propped up the formed mask on parchment paper, and then baked it at about 200 degrees until it dried: You know it's dry when the mask color lightens up again. (It gets quite dark when you soak it.) Takes maybe 20 minutes, tops. We used 7 to 8 pound leather for the mask, although I've since learned that we probably could have used something a bit thinner. This thickness is rock hard when dry, and feels more like wood than leather on my face. Good thing it's molded to fit so well! Here's the formed mask next to my original sketch. As you can see, we got it pretty close. As much as I like the color of undyed leather, I couldn't really be the White Rabbit without, well, some white. So next came priming and painting: I used a water-based primer, and then plain acrylic craft paint for the white. The gold sections were painted with Liquid Leaf - which is NOT water-based, but gives a nice shine. As soon as I finished the gold I realized the contrast was just too stark, so next I aged the entire mask with a lovely yellowish-brown water-based glaze. (The advantages of being married to a former faux-finisher: custom glazes on demand!) I went a little overboard with the aging, though, so even though I loved the look, I had to go back and white-wash the white sections again to brighten it up. After all, I don't want to be the Cream Rabbit. (More on my giant pocket watch in a minute.) The monocle was WAY harder than the mask, and took three times as long to make. I spent hours on the paper template, shaving off millimeter by millimeter to get it to fit the mask contours exactly. I first made a vinyl version, but then started over with a thicker leather for a more authentic look. I also started out with a vintage flashlight lens, but then abandoned THAT for the fun metal edging you see here: I cut my own lens out of plexiglass, and added a scrim by stretching a scrap of thin black pantyhose over the back. Finally I formed & stitched the cup, added decorations, and riveted the whole shebang onto the mask. The finishing touch was a thick gold chain attached to the side. That process was stretched over more weeks than I'd care to admit. I've come to realize I am the world's slowest crafter, just because I figure things out as I go, instead of starting with a clear-cut design and plan of attack. I like the process, but it does get frustrating. Now check out this loveliness: Sha-POW! This is what you get when you let weeds overtake your backyard: a lovely, springy ground cover in brilliant green. Who needs grass? I like this stuff! Oh, and I just realized the scale of this picture makes my mask look tiny, but I can assure you that's just a giant pocket watch. :) It's actually a vintage wall clock, but I removed the electrical guts and replaced them with a lightweight battery operated clock mechanism, so it even works! I also jazzed up the face with metallic gear cutouts and gems. (Still not 100% happy with it, but it's on the back burner for now.) The thing still weighs a ton due to its heavy metal case, but there's no way I could make something like this entirely from scratch. Welp, that's all for now! I have lots more to show you, but nothing finished, so I'll save all that for next time. 'Til then, I'd love your suggestions on what I can do with my hair/head. Hats are out, so I'm debating either a white wig (which might look too stark) or some kind of head wrap with white & gold cyberlox on the side, kinda like so: via What do you guys think? Any other options come to mind? My hair is too dark and long to leave showing as-is!
with amazing stretch denim & net fabric applied. lay the huge peice of fabric on one area of the skirt and started machinging, using the fabric design as a guide....before moving to the next section I trimed off the unwanted fabric. wearable art. "GEOLOGY urban fossil...found in the city, made with existing garments, found objects and cast-off treasures"
