Tour Guide: Austin Fashion Week

Austin Fashion Week 2010 is almost here! And yes, in case you're wondering, I am and will be running around like a mad woman for the next few days to get ready. As intimidating and overwhelming as AFW can be for participants, I think it can seem that way to Austinites on the outside looking in. There is a mass of cocktail parties and runway shows clumped into the small time span of one week, so it's hard to know which ones are most worth your while. Which is where I come in; think of me as your tour guide.

The week will kick off with Bright Lights Idea City, a showcase of designs from Twelfth Street by Cynthia Vincent, Robert Stock for Robert Graham, and the mash up teams from AFW 2010. So, you'll get to see the blood, sweat, and tears of Team Anachronism (aka my team) in person. In addition, there will be gratis food and cocktails alongside a silent auction and art sale benefiting Dress for Success. What does that mean exactly? You can bid on any one of the mash up team prints as well as jewelry, clothing, bags, etc. from all participating designers. Pretty cool, huh? If you'd like to purchase tickets, you can do so from the AFW website.


Sunday, August 15th marks the first day of salon/boutique and showcase designer pair up events. All events during this week through Friday, August 20th will be free to the public.

To kick off the week and end your weekend well, you should stop by Shear Decadence. This shindig will be hosted at Salon Intuitions from 5-8pm and will showcase the talent of Merritt Gade Fine Handmades. To sweeten the deal, Merritt and her salon will provide tasty treats, a 20% discount on all MGFH jewelry, gift bags, raffle prizes, and a photo booth by Booth 66.

One especially important point- if you attend both my and Merritt's events, you will be entered for a very special raffle to win goodies from both of us. We will be handing out raffle tickets at each event that you will need to take to the other as proof that you've attended both, i.e. pick up a ticket from Merritt's event, fill it out, and bring it to me. You will be entered for the raffle. Our parties are less than one mile apart, so it'll be easier than taking candy from...well, you know.

On that same day during the exact same time slot (August 15th, 5-8pm), yours truly will be hosting a retro-inspired cocktail party, Pin-Ups and Pastries, at JR Salon. We will have cupcakes from The Cupcake Bar, complimentary cocktails, and raffle prizes and goodie bags with freebies from Diamonds and Guns, JR Salon, and the always fabulous Kuhmillion. Btw~ Beth Hempton from Kuhmillion designed these beautiful party flyers for me. Don't they rock?




On Monday, be sure to head over to one of my favorite spots in town-North Lamar downtown for Jetset to Style. The always lovely Anne Marie Beard, handbag designer extraordinaire, will host a fashion show complete with yummy treats, cocktails, goodie bags for the first 25 attendees through the door, the works. Jetset to Style will take place at the new (at least new to me) Austin shoe store, Stella Says Go, and proceeds will benefit 1 House at a Time. I have a feeling that my attempts to save money will prove futile after attending this stylish party, especially as it will be serving as my Monday happy hour.







On Wednesday, August 18th, Lovely Austin, one of the rockin local boutiques that carries DGAJ will be hosting Cupcakes, Cocktails, Makeovers, and Fashion with Material. I am jumping out of my seat excited about this event because the gal behind Material, Kellie Lewis, is on my AFW mash up team! She is insanely nice, and the pieces she made for our team competition are amazing! For the event, there will be complimentary cocktails, treats by the Cupcake Bar, and daytime to evening mini-makeovers.

To close out your week, check out the Austin Fashion Awards Show, which will be going on starting at 5:30pm at The Long Center on Saturday, August 21st. Along with the awards presentation, there will be live performances by Austin bands, SPEAK! and Zayra along with runway shows by Line & Dot, Rene Geneva, Boudoir Queen, Chloe Dao, and *drum roll please* Betsey Johnson. I'm promising myself now that I will not freak out and try to run onstage and hug her. I will instead remember that I am a calm and collected adult(ish) who doesn't get starstruck. Ever. Not even by Betsey Johnson.

Be sure to drop me a line if you're planning on attending any of these or any other rockin events happening during Austin Fashion Week. Hope to see a lot of you out there.

Action Jackson out.

Currently Listening: Debut by Bjork

Heavy Metal pt. 2

As promised here are a few more pictures of the jewelry I made for this year's AFW team design challenge. This first piece is a crown that was worn by our female model. The brass sheet was pretty malleable, so once we cut the strip and sanded/buffered the edges, bending it to a head-shape was a pinch. I then spray painted the deco fan with a crackled brass and attached it and the peach Swarovskis using liquid fusion and E6000, respectively. Another piece that I made for our female model was this arm coil band/cuff. The material is copper tubing (hardware store find) that is typically used for plumbing. To get this shape, we wrapped the tubing around a can (yes, some elbow grease was definitely needed). The curled end was achieved with pliers, a vice-like small tool used by plumbers, and plenty of patience. To finish it off, I put a few layers of brass crackle spray paint on the piece. A good tip for working with copper- it can change shape more easily than brass, but if you over-manipulate the metal, it will become brittle, more difficult to shape, and has a higher potential for breaking.

Finally, this necklace was made for and worn by our male model. It was intended to be flashy and over the top, so hopefully attendees of the fashion show in two weeks (eep!) will agree. When worn, the brass pieces fan out really well and give the necklace an art deco vibe. The rectangles were initially one brass sheet. The metal is thicker than the picture would lead you to believe, so we needed to use metal cutting shears (and some muscle) to cut. Holes were drilled on each metal piece, and the rectangles were strung with onyx-colored iridescent chandelier beads on an all-jump ring strand.

I'll be sure to post even more pictures so you can get the full 360 of these pieces (or as 360 as the interwebs will allow). For now, please visit fashionweekaustin.com to vote for your favorite designers/salons/boutiques/models/photographers/makeup artists/anyone else I'm omitting. If I happen to make your list, I'd be okay with that too.

Action Jackson out.