Wild Wild West: The StoryBook Bolero in White Rabbit

Photography by Victor Ciccarelli  for Erynz.com

Wild Wild West: The StoryBook Bolero in White Rabbit

Photography by Victor Ciccarelli  for Erynz.com

Wild West Indian Summer Rewind, Almost Autumn!

Photography by jStemmerphotography.com

Wild West Indian Summer, Almost Fall!

Photography by jStemmerphotography.com

April 2011 Portfolio Special: "The Fake Indian"

Portfolio Special: "The Fake Indian"

Bonanza: "The Fake Indian"

I felt like playing with fringe.

I'm sure you know the very same feeling, right?

On the old Western shows, they regularly had Indian characters pop up for storylines, whether it be a scary Native man that is erroneously accused of a crime, or an intoxicatingly attractive Indian squaw in need of saving and/or taming.  The thing is, the actors playing the "natives" all seemed to be caucasians simply wearing tan makeup, i.e. "Fake Indian!"

I acquired this tan loosely woven fabric a little bit ago.  It was most likely intended to be used for window coverings, but I liked the way it easily unraveled at the raw edges and makes a wonderful fringed dress with beaded trim.

I wanted to pair the dress with an 80's denim jacket to add a cowgirl touch.  If you look at the zoom, I used a fringe slashing and twisting treatment used way back pre-renaissance period to show a peekaboo lining and add interest.

Bonanza: "The Fake Indian"

I felt like playing with fringe.

I'm sure you know the very same feeling, right?

On the old Western shows, they regularly had Indian characters pop up for storylines, whether it be a scary Native man that is erroneously accused of a crime, or an intoxicatingly attractive Indian squaw in need of saving and/or taming.  The thing is, the actors playing the "natives" all seemed to be caucasians simply wearing tan makeup, i.e. "Fake Indian!"

I acquired this tan loosely woven fabric a little bit ago.  It was most likely intended to be used for window coverings, but I liked the way it easily unraveled at the raw edges and makes a wonderful fringed dress with beaded trim.

I wanted to pair the dress with an 80's denim jacket to add a cowgirl touch.  If you look at the zoom, I used a fringe slashing and twisting treatment used way back pre-renaissance period to show a peekaboo lining and add interest.

Halloween Special: The Wild West Saloon Girl

For my next installment of re-imagining overused Halloween costumes, I choose "The Saloon/Can-Can Girl".

Can-Can chic never really got off the ground as some expected with the release of Moulin Rouge in the early 2000's, but people have been dressing as the Saloon Girl for ages before that on Halloween.  I can imagine the allure is surely the fun of wearing a LOT of makeup, feathers in your hair, and of course, the one socially acceptable excuse to lift your skirt over your head over and over again throughout the evening.

 

Trina is wearing a (perhaps unnecessarily full) double-plus circle skirt (I wanted to play with fold and waves, but it came out a little too wavy), with a halter top that gathers into the choker neckband with pleats, and a cropped faux double-breasted bolero with invisible shoulder pads.  See how complicated and impressive I made it sound?

Do notice as well that each flower was pressed onto the cloth individually.  I don't know how many flowers there are on there, but undoubtedly this would have been a very expensive project just because of that if those flowers weren't a surprise find at the bottom of a box of fabric that I bought from a garage sale.  I think I still I have around 250 to 300 of them left!

Halloween Special: The Wild West Saloon Girl

For my next installment of re-imagining overused Halloween costumes, I choose "The Saloon/Can-Can Girl".

Can-Can chic never really got off the ground as some expected with the release of Moulin Rouge in the early 2000's, but people have been dressing as the Saloon Girl for ages before that on Halloween.  I can imagine the allure is surely the fun of wearing a LOT of makeup, feathers in your hair, and of course, the one socially acceptable excuse to lift your skirt over your head over and over again throughout the evening.

 

Trina is wearing a (perhaps unnecessarily full) double-plus circle skirt (I wanted to play with fold and waves, but it came out a little too wavy), with a halter top that gathers into the choker neckband with pleats, and a cropped faux double-breasted bolero with invisible shoulder pads.  See how complicated and impressive I made it sound?

Do notice as well that each flower was pressed onto the cloth individually.  I don't know how many flowers there are on there, but undoubtedly this would have been a very expensive project just because of that if those flowers weren't a surprise find at the bottom of a box of fabric that I bought from a garage sale.  I think I still I have around 250 to 300 of them left!