PASADENA BEAD AND DESIGN SHOW

My friend, Miss "C" and I attended the Pasadena Bead and Design show recently and had a wonderful time looking at all the fine wearable art, clothing, jewelry and beads on sale. Even though the vendors were supposed to be in the upwards of 250, there's no way there were that many. We were done looking at the 3 main halls in less than an hour and a half.

The clothing really was all inspiring though. Lots of color, raw edges and wild stitching on unusual fabrics, textures and patterns. We came away with a lot of new ideas about what we'd like to do in our own creative wardrobes and believe we can put our spin on a few items.








"Style Maven" - Christina Thomas
aka Miss C.








Miss C designs and creates coordinates like you wouldn't believe. I may purposely keep my camera on me at all times to that I can catch her in her latest creation. She not only creates her own hats and handbags, skirts, jackets etc., but she accessorizes like a true diva. She's a walking billboard for class and style - I want to be just like her when I grow up. :0)

Whenever I attend these shows I bring enough money to hopefully buy something here and there. I walked away with "only" a string of gorgeous metal beads from an African vendor. Otherwise, the articles we saw weren't what we were looking for specifically, or not our tastes predominately, and way above our spending budget exponentially! Yea, we're talking hundreds of dollars for some items that just weren't worth investing that kind of money in. Mind you, a lot of the items we saw were gorgeous and fantastic - but if I don't already spend that kind of money on other designers, why would I spend it on this?

As an artist I know the time and effort it takes to produce these items, but I truly believe that these traveling shows roll into town and get everyone all hyped up, and some folks think, "I'll never see that item again so I better get it." Some vendors purposely don't have websites, so you can't shop online later, or save up to shop later. I don't know, but I feel that there's some "game" to it all to make quick sales of hundreds of dollars. I know they want to make money, and they should, but give me a break. The prices are so high. I know they know other artists come to see their wares. So why would I buy it if I can create it too?

Here's a pic of one item I really liked and plan to sew. I liked that skirt, so I asked the young lady if she'd pose for a pic.









Houndstooth from Head to Hip!

I am beginning to take more and pictures of clothing I like, and I have no problem asking people to pose if I like what they're wearing.

This young lady was at the Rose Parade in January and I just loved this coat.





















FANTASTIC FINDS IN L.A.'S FASHION DISTRICT

Cousin Dena and I go downtown to the Fashion District a lot and here's a few pics of our favorite clothing from some of the stores.





















We love to experiment with clothing and accessory items we already own, as well as create some of these new fashion trends and clothing samples. We are completely inspired by what we see, but don't want to duplicate. In any creative venture, you must have your own vision - but a little inspiration goes a long way.

Inspiration = MOTIVATION, ENCOURAGEMENT, STIMULATION!! I have thoroughly been stimulated!!!