Mod wedding dress shoot for White magazine

A behind-the-scenes video of a mod-style photo shoot for White magazine – featuring a Kitsch Bitsch vintage 60′s-style lace wedding dress. Kinda makes me want to get married all over again.

60's mod vintage lace mini wedding dress

Want this dress? It’s here in our store. Not exactly what you need? Email us for a custom order and a free fabric sample of the antique lace used to make this dress.

Free pattern: Reversible denim bucket hat

free denim reversible bucket hat pattern tutorial

Some of us wear our favourite pair of jeans until they literally fall off our bodies. Once you have cut your jeans into shorts, what can you do with the left-over legs? This unisex bucket hat is an eco-chic way to salvage scraps of denim which would otherwise end up in landfill.

Even if you have never sewed anything before, this is an easy project on which to learn.

Subscribe to The Kitsch List for exclusive access to this tutorial and our library of free tutorials. Plus we will email you one new free tutorial each month.

I would love to see your finished hat, why not upload a photo to our
Kitsch Bitsch Facebook Fan Page? (You will need to ‘like’ our page first).

Questions? Problems? Comments? I would love to hear your feedback.
Email me at alyssa@kitschbitsch.com.au

7 ways to help you become more creative

I believe the concept of a ‘creative type’ of person is a myth, and that anyone can improve their capacity for creativity. I have been asked many times how I continue to come up with new ideas to separate my readers from their beer money. So today I am going to try to explain my own creative process; how I overcome creative block, find inspiration and create something which has never existed before. I use these techniques whether I am sewing, painting or writing this blog.

how to be more creative

1. Make a start

Wherefore art thou inspiration? The creative process is usually just that – a process. Rarely is there an epiphany. The common misconception is that the idea must come first. But the solution to procrastination and creative block is simply to make a start. Inspiration will not knock on your door. You must handcuff the inspiration and drag it to your desk. Trust the process and make a start.

2. Don’t worry be crappy

The biggest mistake you can make is being afraid to make one. In fact, many great discoveries have emerged from mistakes or mediocre beginnings. Mistakes are just part of the creative process. It’s a messy process, but something eventually emerges from the crap.

The challenge is to recognize which mistakes are worth working on and which mistakes to discard. Sometimes you just need to take Lassie behind the barn. Not everything I touch turns to awesome. In fact, most of my ideas are crappy:

- Unisex tube tops
- Caffeinated eyedrops
- Crochet tampons

How am I not famous yet?

3. Buy a one-way ticket out of Dullsville

Inspiration often comes from the most unlikely places, you just need to expose yourself to a greater diversity of information. Surround yourself with new places and people. Open your mind. Talk to strangers, the stranger the better.

I spent most of my 20′s traveling the globe, collecting random experiences which would later link together and emerge as new ideas. Inspiration is simply the joining of seemingly unconnected dots.

My ideas rarely come from thin air so I devote time to research. I have digital folders of ideas I have collected as well as a physical scrapbook full of bar napkins with sketches on them, Don Draper-style. Which leads me to my next technique:

4. Pour a drink

Excuse me Sommelier, which wine would you pair with this foreboding creative block?

When I hit a stumbling block I find it useful to distract myself. I put some pants on and go out for a walk. Or take a long shower. Or meditate. Or pour a drink and download pretty fonts for a while. When we relax, we stop paying attention. Thinking can be the enemy of creativity. This is the reason why Google installed ping-pong tables in their offices.

Our society rewards focus and concentration but I consider daydreaming to be just as important. Some of my best ideas have come whilst staring into my refrigerator or wine cabinet (see my post on Tea dyeing).

Alcohol also dulls our fear of failure and of being judged. It can make us brave enough to risk sharing our inner selves, to try something new, and to stand out on a limb, vulnerable and exposed. “Write drunk, edit sober” – Ernest Hemmingway.

5. Work your arse off

7 ways to help you be more creative

Sometimes I get so absorbed in work that I neglect my loved ones and personal hygiene. Or I forget to eat lunch and blackout under my desk. “She forgets to collect our kids from school” is a likely excerpt from my future divorce papers.

A few years ago my friend, artist Julia Sattout, could barely draw a straight line. I attended a drawing class with her and marveled as her work quickly improved. Unsatisfied with mediocrity, she practiced drawing almost every day. Her determination has resulted in her now earning money as a portrait artist.

Julia Sattout portait artist Sydney

'Girl in Pink' in pastel by Julia Sattout

“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” – Thomas Edison.

Be sure you give yourself lots of time. As a former graphic designer I know how a deadline can stifle creativity. Leonard Cohen took 5 years to write ‘Hallelujah’, one of the greatest songs ever written. Someone should do a cover of that song.

6. Cross-pollination

From limitations comes creativity. One of the greatest pleasures in life is doing something which somebody tells you cannot be done. Here are some things which my peers told me were impossible, but I tried anyway and succeeded:

“No-one will buy a wedding dress online”
“You won’t make any profit unless your clothing is manufactured off-shore”
“You can’t make a decent profit selling vintage clothing on eBay

Many discoveries are made from not following instructions. Innovations are often made by people outside their area of expertise, because they are not afraid to ask naive questions. Cross-pollination is the birth of an idea at the collision point of two disciplines.

Johannes Gutenberg used his knowledge of wine presses to invent the first printing machine. My background as a graphic designer means that I am close enough to the fashion industry to understand it, but far enough away to question the conventional wisdom. In some ways this puts me at an advantage.

7. Have a nervous breakdown

This approach is optional. There exists a fine line between genius and insanity, between creativity and madness. Someday I will write a blog post about this. Today is not that day.

“The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanely sensitive. To them… a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death. Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create — so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, their very breath is cut off… They must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency they are not really alive unless they are creating.” – Pearl Buck

Where do you find your inspiration? How do you overcome creative block? Tell us in the comments below or email me at: alyssa@kitschbitsch.com.au

Free Tutorial: Crochet Granny Square Top

granny square crochet top

Turn your scraps of yarn into a crochet granny square halter top. You can also make this top by recycling vintage granny squares from an existing blanket. Throw it over your bikini and head for the beach!

Subscribe to The Kitsch List for exclusive access to this and more free tutorials. Plus we will email you one new free tutorial each month.

I would love to see your finished top, why not upload a photo to our
Kitsch Bitsch Facebook Fan Page? (You will need to ‘like’ our page first).

Questions? Problems? Comments? I would love to hear your feedback.
Email me at alyssa@kitschbitsch.com.au

That Vintage Lace Wedding Dress we Keep Talking About

vintage lace wedding dress

Very excited I was to find a full-page photo of one our vintage-style wedding dresses in White magazine this month. Finally, a wedding magazine that doesn’t make me want to punch myself in the ovaries. White is for both brides and grooms-to-be who don’t want a commercial extravaganza on their wedding day. The warm, vintage feel and articles which focus on the marriage not just the wedding, make this a magazine with a big heart.

With a divorce rate of almost fifty percent, why are we still choosing to tie the knot? Even my socks don’t have such a high divorce rate. Perhaps we marry out of sheer naivety? Courage? Blind faith? I am not about to question anyone’s decision to wed, I just design the wedding dresses. Or so I thought.

These days it seems every bride-to-be wants a vintage wedding dress so I have been inundated with custom-orders for vintage-style gowns made from antique lace. My ninja seamstresses and I have been working overtime. Email me at alyssa@kitschbitsch.com.au for a quote and free fabric samples.

vintage 50's wedding dress

I have installed a mirror and fitting area in my home studio for our Sydney customers to visit and try on their wedding dress for the first time. This can be an emotionally intense experience and I am privileged to share this special moment with them. Sometimes there are tears of joy. Occasionally the bride-to-be will stand blinking in front of my mirror in a state of shock, looking to me for reassurance. I can confidently advise on all things couture, but when it comes to relationships and the nature of love I am beyond useless.

It is a mistake to assume that after fifteen years of marriage and three children I am able to contribute any words of wisdom. I am the emotionally infantile spouse, my husband the endlessly patient and forgiving one.

Nonetheless, here is my unsolicited advice for the bride-to-be:

1. Make sure YOU are the crazy one.
2. Having a vagina means never having to say you’re sorry.
3. Needing new saucepans and a toaster is not a good enough reason to get married.
4. It is better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission.
5. Always try to put yourself in your partner’s pants. I mean shoes.

You’re welcome.

2 Free Wrap Skirt Sewing Tutorials

Sew a 1970′s-style wrap skirt in only one hour without a pattern!

how to make a half circle wrap skirt

70's-style half circle wrap skirt

Subscribe to The Kitsch List for exclusive access to these free sewing tutorials. Plus we will email you one new free tutorial each month.

All of our tutorials have been designed with beginners in mind. Even if you have never sewed before, our tutorials are easy projects from which to learn.

Half circle reversible wrap skirt

70's-style reversible wrap skirt

I would love to see your finished skirt, why not upload a photo to our
Kitsch Bitsch Facebook Fan Page? (You will need to ‘like’ our page first).

Questions? Problems? Comments? I would love to hear your feedback.
Email me kitsch-bitsch@optusnet.com.au

Enjoy!

Mirror Mirror

I read somewhere that encouraging a healthy body image in my daughter is less about what I say to her and more about what I say in front of her. What do I say about myself when I look in the mirror? Do I judge other people by their appearance?

Body image is your attitude towards your body, how you see yourself, how you think and feel about the way you look, and how you think others perceive you.

holding hands mother and daughter

As Nina’s mother, I am her main role model and she is watching me very closely. So lately I have begun to exaggerate my self confidence in front of the mirror. “I look great today” I say as she watches me get ready. “Mama, you look beautiful”, she says. I agree with her enthusiastically.

There are mirrored wardrobe doors in my bedroom, in front of which Nina spends an excessive amount of time twirling, posing and role-playing with her younger sister. Some days I want to rip out those mirrors. Some days I want to shield her vulnerable eyes from imagery in the media of underweight, photoshopped women, and a world where she will be judged on her appearance.

vintage dancing in mirror

vintage dancing in mirror

Nina is currently going through a crisis of confidence. Some days she collapses into tears of panic and self-doubt and all I can do is wrap my arms around her and wait for it to pass. Take a deep breath. Now let it out.

“Mama, am I beautiful?” she often asks, blinking at me with large hazel eyes. I tell her she is beautiful and smart and brave and strong. As if saying these words will make them true. As if I say these words enough times they will become the voice inside her head. I feel the tug of the umbilical cord.

“BUT I AM NOT GOOD AT ANYTHING” she wails. Her words break my heart, I love her ferociously. I desperately want to steer her clear from the pain I experienced growing up. But there is no fast forward button. If she were to skip a chapter then her story may no longer make sense to her. There will be more tears and bullies and bitches and immature boys. And then one day she will wonder, as I did, why she is trying so hard to fit in when she was born to stand out. “You don’t have to be good at anything” I whisper, “you are special just for being you.”

Pretty sure I win at parenting now.

Parenthood is the toughest of gigs. It is like holding up a mirror and seeing a reflection of yourself and not always liking what you see. It forces us to change and makes better people of us all.

vintage Alyssa and Nina

I was a geeky, uncool teenager years before the nerdy, hipster look was hot. I was unhappy with my body and felt awkward and disconnected from it. It was not until my twenties that I began to separate the way I looked from my self-worth.

It seems that most fellas don’t have this problem. When my husband turned forty I found him shirtless, standing in front of the mirror, unselfconsciously flexing and studying himself, before announcing, “l am looking pretty damn good for my age.” I tried to imagine a woman saying the same thing. Why is it that some men can walk around with wrinkles and a beer-gut and a grey, balding head and still think they are sexy?

I am turning forty next year and intend to age disgracefully. I plan to break all the fashion ‘rules’ for middle-aged women; to continue my wanton disregard for wearing bras, to wear mini-skirts and bikinis and sleeveless tops, despite cellulite and muffin-top and stretchmarks (you’re falling in love with me aren’t you?).

There exists a constant tug of war between my passionate love for food and wine, and my vain desire to fit into my collection of vintage dresses. Like everyone, I still have the odd day of self-loathing where I put on my fat jeans and fill the void with carbs and TV. My ambition to model healthy eating and exercise habits for my children is ultimately my strongest motivator.

My new year’s resolution is NOT to lose weight or to exercise more. I resolve to be kind to myself, to accept and encourage myself like I would my best friend. And the mirrored wardrobe doors shall stay. In front of which Nina and I will continue our dance routines and singing into our hairbrushes. Other days I will remember to take my medication.

Rather than point the finger at who is to blame – the fashion industry or the media, Kitsch Bitsch is leading the way by choosing to employ models who look like regular people with curves, healthy appetites and lifestyles. As part of the fashion industry it is our responsibility to provide realistic and attainable images of women. We celebrate beauty in different shapes and sizes and colours. Meet some of our lovely models here in our store.

We are currently looking for a size medium to large model for a monthly fashion shoot. Due to the constraints of the space/time continuum, I can only employ models in the Sydney (Australia) area. Please email me at kitsch-bitsch@optusnet.com.au if you are interested.

Dead People’s Clothes

Vintage 50s lace wedding dress

Vintage 50s lace wedding dress

Back in my university days, when I first began collecting vintage dresses, some of my friends, who considered vintage clothing to be creepy, referred to my wardrobe as ‘dead people’s clothes.’ I am not sure exactly when vintage clothing changed from being creepy to uber-cool, but I am grateful it finally happened.

A few weeks ago I mentioned my idea of a photo-shoot inside Rookwood Cemetery to my photographer, Miss Mimi. She thought the idea was creepy, but agreed as she was keen to experiment with her newly-acquired vintage Nikon camera and film.

The weather was glorious and the light incredible as the sun began to set. We photographed Miss Xenia in antique lace wedding dresses.

Vintage 50s lace wedding dress

Vintage 50s lace wedding dress

Vintage 60s crochet lace wedding dress

Vintage 60s crochet lace wedding dress

And then it happened.

I LOST THE KEY TO MY CAR.

Because I’m awesome like that. Then I learned that the gates to the cemetery close at sunset.

I desperately called the cemetery office but spoke only to their answering machine. Panic. I called Roadside Assistance. I called my husband. I called a taxi. Then I sat down to quietly sob and await death by zombies. Luckily, I had two awesome gals and over one million peaceful souls to keep me company.

Together we sat, with Miss Xenia dressed like Cinderella, waiting for the menfolk to rescue us on their white horses. This wasn’t exactly how I envisioned my life turning out at age 38, and yet here I was. I vowed to re-write the ending to the story of Cinderella, where the clock strikes twelve and she tells everyone to frock off and goes back to being single.

Antique lace wedding dress

Antique lace wedding dress

The Roadside Assistance was the first to arrive, and I was so grateful I asked him to marry me. He broke into my car, retrieved my handbag then handed me the phone number of a locksmith to whom I agreed to pay an obscene amount of money.

Then my husband showed up and drove us all home. I was so exhausted and deflated that I curled up in the bathtub to sob some more.

Once I downloaded the photos from our shoot, everything was better. They were stunning and well worth the heartache.

Vintage crocheted wedding dress

Vintage crocheted wedding dress shot with vintage Nikon camera and film

 

I am looking forward to my old age, a time when will I slow down and stop doing so much stupid shit. And I will reserve a plot at Rookwood Cemetery with the royalties from my Cinderella book.

 

Vintage Nikon camera and film

Vintage Nikon camera and film

Vintage Nikon camera and film

Vintage Nikon camera and film

There is only one dress left from the Rookwood photoshoot in our Etsy store. But good news, you can join our custom-order waiting list by emailing me at kitsch-bitsch@optusnet.com.au We have more antique cotton lace arriving this week.

 

 

Vintage Mexican Dresses and Frida Kahlo

Vintage mexican embroidered dress

My current preoccupation with Mexican embroidered dresses has reminded me of the bold and vibrant paintings of Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo.

Lately I have been reading about her colourful life. And since watching the movie Frida, I confess to a girl-crush on Salma Hayek. I’m even considering growing a mono-brow.

Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo

Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo

A decade ago, I wandered into an exhibition of Kahlo’s paintings at The National Gallery in Canberra. The emotional intensity of her work fascinated me but I found the bizarre and violent images confronting. I was still young and yet to experience real pain and suffering. I couldn’t understand her message.

The Two Fridas

The Two Fridas

Today her work speaks to me like the voice of a long lost friend. I feel a connection to her. I read that during her life she had this same seductive effect on people because of her strong personality, her beauty and her talent:

…one of history’s grand divas…a tequila-slamming, dirty joke-telling smoker, bi-sexual that hobbled about her bohemian barrio in lavish indigenous dress and threw festive dinner parties for the likes of Leon Trotsky (the Russian revolutionary)…”

Frida Kahlo certainly lived her life to the fullest. I personally would like to get around to some of those other deadly sins but lately I seem to be stuck on ‘sloth’. She reminds me to live my life fearlessly, to throw my soul through every open door.

Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo

I have always been drawn to the work of tortured female artists. Kahlo suffered from polio and spina-bifida, and at age 18 was crippled in a bus accident, leaving her unable to bear children. Bed-ridden while recovering from her injuries, she began recording her life in paint. She painted many self-portraits, deliberately naive and heavily symbolic.

Drawing on personal experiences, including her husband’s infidelities, her miscarriages, and her numerous operations, Kahlo’s works often are characterized by their stark portrayals of pain, both physical and emotional.

The Broken Column

The Broken Column

If Frida Kahlo were alive today I would tell her that her suffering had meaning. That half a century after her death, on the other side of the world, I am living proof. For she has inspired me to begin painting again, to persevere despite pain and obstacles. And to look for the beauty in imperfection, to look for the rainbow in every storm.

At age 47, Kahlo’s injuries finally eclipsed her life. In Mexico she is considered a national hero. I like to think that someday I may die a heroic death but it’s more likely that I will trip over my cat and choke on a spoonful of chocolate cake.

We have a few gorgeous vintage Mexican dresses in our eBay store this week with more arriving soon. Subscribe to The Kitsch List and we will email you as soon as they arrive. Hola!

Vintage 60's Mexican cotton crochet lace embroidered wedding maxi dress

Vintage 60's Mexican cotton crochet lace embroidered maxi dress

Vintage 60's Mexican cotton crochet lace embroidered wedding maxi dress

Vintage 60's Mexican cotton crochet lace embroidered maxi dress

Vintage Mexican cotton crochet lace dress L

Vintage Mexican cotton crochet lace dress L