Sushi Ra - A Delicious Treat and a New Alter Ego

I remember there was a random skit on Saturday Night Live with Jamie Lee Curtis in the 80's.  She played a teenager who was rebelling against her parents and insisted she be called, "Sushi Ra".  That is the only thing that I remember about the scene.  It must not have been that funny, but the name stuck with me after all these years.  When I found this sushi fabric, I knew Sushi Ra would have to rise again.

This dress was meant to look like a life-size sushi roll.  Obviously in addition to looking interesting and edgy, the band around the middle is meant to be the seaweed wrap holding the whole thing together.  Adorable, isn't it?

I originally sketched the dress to have a ruffle applique detail on the side.  I wanted to make multi-colored circles to look like tuna rolls stitched onto the left side of the skirt and bodice, peeking out from behind the belt.  I spent hours gathering strips of fabric and stitching them together to make three circles, and when I placed them on the dress, it looked SO cheezy!  Interestingly, I didn't get as upset as I expected.  I still got to use the medium-sized tuna roll, however, by folding it in half and making it into a clutch purse as shown in the picture to the left.

Of course, the funny Japanese theme is also inspired by John Belushi's Samurai character from the 70's as well.  That is one reason why Raine's hair is weird, because his hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail. I have put the most popular Samurai skit on the top of the page here.  Back then, this was considered the most HILarious skit of all time.  Funny how tastes in humour change, huh?

I have a lot of this fabric left, so look forward to seeing another Sushi Ra sighting in the future!