Becky Ross, Project Runway Season 9 Contestant, Interview Part I

I am excited to share with you Part I of an interview that I recently conducted with my friend Becky Ross, Project Runway Season 9 contestant from Portland.

The photo posted above is one that I took when Becky and I were doing an impromptu photo shoot with some new and vintage hats from my collection.

1) What amount of influence does vintage style have on you and your designs?

I almost always design with a glance back at one era or another.  Research is a huge part of concept development and gives a great reference point for silhouettes and details.

2) What is/are your favorite era(s) of fashion?   

My fave eras in fashion are definitely the 1940’s & 1950’s, that’s when fashion embraced a curvy figure.

3) What things do you like about fashion from that/those era(s)?        

There seem to be a lot of “lost” construction details from the 40’s & 50’s that could be brought back in a fresh way to appeal to today’s customer.  Nostalgia usually makes people happy.

4) Who are some of your favorite style icons from the past?    

I’m really into pin-up girls, they know how to strike a balance between lady & tramp.

5) What are your favorite vintage movies, television programs and music?      

Fave films:  The King of Hearts (costumes & characters!), Mon Oncle (so ironic!), The Science of Sleep (great crafty scenes!), and anything having to do with historic British royalty.

6) What are some of your favorite trends for this coming Fall/Winter season? 

I’m absolutely loving the bright 1960’s color blocking! Mustard with bright lavender, burnt orange with plum, & coral with dusty aqua…What fun!  I am also all about the mixing of prints: florals with graphics with dots…  Why not?!  As long as it works!

7) In the past you mentioned to me that one of your goals was to create clothing that will fit and flatter the average woman. Is this still something that you want to do?       

Most definitely!  My career goals include making fashion trends available to the average woman in this country. She is 5’-4” & a size 14/16 which puts her in the petite-plus category.  There isn’t much good fashion available for this customer and it’s a difficult body type to shop for.  It would make me so happy to fill this obvious gap in the marketplace.  These women need me!

8) How long has green been you favorite color? What do you find so appealing about the various shades of green?     

At the risk of sounding like I collect crystals (oops, I do have some!) green is the color of the heart chakra and has protective qualities.  Green is the perfect neutral & is, well, the color of nature.  I’ve loved green and chartreuse since I was about 5 and got to pick out my new bedroom carpet, it was a celery green shag!

Check Shop Vintage Portland on Monday for a continuation of the interview with Becky.

Lulu's Vintage Coverage of the July 2011 Portland Antique Expo Show

Lots of fabulously dressed people dropped by my Lulu's Vintage booth at the July 2011 Portland Antique Expo...

Feline on wheels...

The July 2011 Portland Antique Expo was fun as usual. I had a little bit of time to wander around and take photos of unique things...

What's New at Lulu's Vintage Store in Portland, Oregon

Posted below are just a few examples of the over 125 new vintage clothing items that I just brought into the store. I have lots of fun and beautiful clothing from the 1930's-1980's including swimsuits, lingerie, dresses, skirts, blouses, etc...

Photos of the 2nd Annual Portland Hat Parade

The 2nd Annual Portland Hat Parade was quite successful this year! We had a great turn out and a beautiful sunny day for the parade. It was exciting to see how inventive people got with their hats.

We enjoyed our visit to Dayna Pinkham where we learned about her process and history, we turned heads as we walked through Portland, took photos in the park and wrapped it up with some gelato.

Thanks to everyone who came and made it such a fun event!

I baked hat shaped cookies for the occasion.

Me in my butterfly ensemble. I am wearing a vintage hat with a butterfly that I attached to it. I sewed butterflies onto my blouse and wrapped netting around my waist and sewed on a butterfly.

Kay (on the left) gets the award for the most inventive hat and ensemble. She said that she was influenced by the forest and nature. Her friend was a nice compliment to her with his archer/Robin Hood inspired hat.

The woman in the middle is Amy Downs who created the colorful hats that the ladies are wearing. You can buy these hats over at Physical Element.

Photos of people gathering here at Lulu's Vintage.

Chris manned my store for me while I was out leading the parade.

Alyce Cornyn-Selby owner of The Hat Museum in a beautiful Marie Antoinette inspired ensemble.

Dayna Pinkham talking to us at her millinery studio Pinkham Millinery.

This lady created her whole ensemble including the cool castle hat.

Group photos at Tanner Springs Park.

The European fairy tale interior of Via Delizia was the perfect setting for us to enjoy gelato.

For more photos of the hat parade check out Shannon Cheesman's coverage over on KATU

*The Second Annual Portland Hat Parade is This Saturday, June 25th*

Ladies and Gentlemen, come celebrate fashionable headwear in the Second Annual Portland Hat Parade.

Whether your favorite hat is vintage, handmade, locally produced or store bought, place it on your head, get dressed up in your favorite clothing ensemble and head down to Lulu's Vintage (916 West Burnside) on Saturday, June 25th. Lulu's Vintage opens at 12:00 and there will be a wide array of vintage Men's and Women's hats for sale. The Hat Parade departs from Lulu's Vintage at 1:00.

Along the parade route we will stop by Pinkham Millinery (515 S.W. Broadway) for a studio visit, Tanner Springs Park (N.W. Marshall Street & 10th Avenue) for a photo op and finish the parade at Via Delizia (1105 N.W. Marshall Street) where gelato and drinks can be purchased.

Become a fan and watch for updates about The Portland Hat Parade on Facebook

The Second Annual Portland Hat Parade

Ladies and Gentlemen, come celebrate fashionable headwear in the Second Annual Portland Hat Parade.

Whether your favorite hat is vintage, handmade, locally produced or store bought, place it on your head, get dressed up in your favorite clothing ensemble and head down to Lulu's Vintage (916 West Burnside) on Saturday, June 25th. Lulu's Vintage opens at 12:00 and there will be a wide array of vintage Men's and Women's hats for sale. The Hat Parade departs from Lulu's Vintage at 1:00.

Along the parade route we will stop by Pinkham Millinery (515 S.W. Broadway) for a studio visit, Tanner Springs Park (N.W. Marshall Street & 10th Avenue) for a photo op and finish the parade at Via Delizia (1105 N.W. Marshall Street) where gelato and drinks can be purchased.

Become a fan and watch for updates about The Portland Hat Parade on Facebook

Prince William Calendar & My Childhood Visit to the U.K.

When I was a little girl my family visited England and Scotland. At the time of our visit Princess Diana and Prince Charles mania was still going strong. Being a young girl I loved all of the hype around the Royal wedding and thought that Princess Diana was pretty. During my family's visit I bought various different memorabilia items including this calender featuring pictures of Prince William as a baby. I just recently came across this calendar when I was going through childhood items that I found at my parent's house.

A Day in the Life of Lulu...

Yesterday when I was leaving Tacoma I commented to Chris that because of the way I was dressed I felt like I was out of the movie Singles. I had my John Fluevogs from the 1990's on with a floral dress and black tights and it reminded me of the way Bridget Fonda dressed in the movie...

My Fluevogs...

I had a long, yet incredibly fun day yesterday! I got up at 6:30 in the morning, got ready for the day, and then Chris drove me to the train station where I waited for two hours for the train to head down to Portland. Once on the train I was able to enjoy beautiful sunny views of the Puget Sound. The train arrived late into Portland. On the way to work from the train station I dropped by Whole Foods and picked up my usual salad for lunch, then I went to Cacao and sat and had some drinking chocolate at Cacao (if you haven't ever had drinking chocolate before, it's I-N-C-R-E-D-I-B-L-E). After finishing my drinking chocolate I headed down to the store. After work I walked over to the John Fluevog store where they were having a grand opening party. It was a lively atmosphere and John Fluevog was in attendance! I got to meet John and get my photo taken with him, which gave me a thrill...

After talking with people at the party I headed over to the nearby movie theater and watched Bill Cunningham New York. I thought that I would enjoy the movie- but, I found it more endearing than I had imagined. Bill Cunningham seems like such a kind, down to earth and talented man. The outfits that he photographs as well as the people who have been featured in his photos are great! I highly recommend going to see this movie!

After the movie I quickly ate some Chinese food before I met with my friend at a dance club. We we're out until around 1:30 a.m. and I got to sleep around 2:30.

Phew, like I said an incredibly fun, yet tiring day!

Fabulous Black Dress

Last Friday Rebekah came into the store and tried on this dress. It fit her like a glove and looked amazing.

I had been waiting for the perfect person to come in and buy this dress. With it's fabulous sheer pleated sleeves it's bound to make a dramatic impression at any event.

Treasures Unearthed: An Hour With The Movies and The Talkies; Record Albums by The Cure; Elvis Costello and The Attractions; Depeche Mode; Joan Jett & The Blackhearts and The Smiths

For the past several days I have been working at my parent's house helping them prepare to move from my childhood home. Yesterday I spent an extremely physical day boxing up and carrying hundreds if not a thousand books.

Because of trying to get things done quickly I tried when boxing up stuff in my parents house not to get too involved in looking too carefully at things. A few things caught my eye yesterday that I brought back to my house.

One was this book An Hour With The Movies and The Talkies from 1929 and which the author dedicated to Charles Chaplin (an interesting coincidence is that the photo below is Image number 1929 from my camera)...

One of the opening paragraphs of the book states, "Ignoring illusion, half a million people labor so that several hundred million others will spend a billion dollars a year to see about a thousand feature pictures (and several thousand secondary ones) the majority of which are so stupid, tasteless, and wearisome that no man of average intelligence could bear to look at them twice. Recognizing the illusion half a dozen people have, in the thirty years of the movie's existence, created perhaps a score of films which have interested men and women of intelligence and have suggested that the moving picture is, or can be, an art".

I guess that some things never change. I fully agree and believe that the statement "the majority of which are so stupid, tasteless, and wearisome that no man of average intelligence could bear to look at them twice" applies to movies today.

The book promises to be a treat seeing that it was written on the cusp of talkies. Flipping through the book I noticed that the author writes about The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari as well as films from the Soviet Union that I am a fan of.

When I was boxing up records that my mom had bought to resell I couldn't resist taking a quick peek through them to see what there was. Initially they looked to be mostly show tunes and then I came across some of my favorite bands at which point I asked my mom how she had gone about choosing which rock albums to buy, seeing that she doesn't listen to rock, she said that she bought whatever she thought would be collectible. I came away from her house with The Cure's Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me; Elvis Costello And The Attraction's Armed Forces; Depeche Mode's Black Celebration and Some Great Reward; Joan Jett & The Blackheart's I Love Rock N Roll; and The Smith's Meat is Murder.

I own all of these record albums already- but, I don't know where my old copies are so I am glad to have found these. I just recently brought a self standing hi-fi record player over to my place. I don't have a t.v or internet at my place so my only music up to this point has been the radio on which I listen to the classical and jazz stations.