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.

Heavy Metal

So, remember how I promised pics of my jewelry from the Austin Fashion Week challenge? Well, I don't want to use the dog ate my homework bit, but the dog ate my homework/my camera decided to be stubborn mid-upload. I was able to get a few shots though, so here they are. For the challenge, my team decided to go with an Egyptian theme, which is characterized by intricate beading and lots of metal when it comes to jewelry- neither of which I have much experience with.
When it came time to brainstorm and sit down at the drawing board, I enlisted the help of Merritt Gade (of Merritt Gade Fine Handmades) and Lori Hooks (of Adorn Modern), jewelry metalsmith extraordinaires. Actually, first I freaked out (a lot) and then I enlisted their help...which may or may not have been followed by more freaking out.
Lori was nice enough to let me invade her garage studio to work on the metal pieces as well as teach me plenty of techniques to turn hardware store brass sheets, copper wire tubing, and a few ideas I sketched/scribbled out into some rockin jewelry. The brass sheet for the cuffs was split down the middle and hammered out into a more wrist-friendly shape. I then used liquid fusion to glue on the art deco scarabs.
I decided to do one piece that was more on the side of what I do, which is where these scarab lucite filigree earrings came into play. I might just have to make some to sell on my Etsy shop. Whatdya think?
In other news, The WonderCraft, one of the Austin boutiques I sell my jewelry at, has found a new home on the east side at Starving Art. One of their neighbors of E.A.T. (East Austin Trailer park eatery) will be hosting a grand opening, and the WC gals will be open and celebrating their new digs tomorrow at 5pm. Read all about the new spot on The WonderCraft's blog and be sure to hit up the party tomorrow!

If that's not enough to keep you busy, come check out one of the other rockin shops that carries DGAJ, Lovely Austin Boutique's Grand Re-Opening tomorrow from 6-9pm at their new pad, i.e. 1506 S. 1st St. They'll have live music, ice cold popsicles from Austin's own Goodpop, and the cherry on top will be the premiere of one of my crafty friends, Anne Marie's handbags and accessories at the shop.

So, be sure to check out these stellar events this weekend, get ready for Austin Fashion Week voting and more updates, and while you're at it, shake your fist at my camera.

Action Jackson out.

Pinups and Pastries

I'm currently still in the planning stages for Austin Fashion Week, however, I'm thrilled to share some exciting developments for the event I'll be hosting with JR Salon. I'll post a Facebook event very very soon, but in the meantime here's the basics:

What: Pinups and Pastries Austin Fashion Week Event
Where: JR Salon (4800 Burnet Rd.)
When: Sunday, August 15th 5-8pm
Why: There's free cupcakes and cocktails in it for you if you come. If that's not enough incentive, I promise to make some fabulous jewelry/eye candy that'll make it worth your while. For the event, the salon will primp a few models ala Bettie Page to showcase their fierce (yes, I just said fierce) hair styling and mad makeup artist skills. To round out the look, these lovelies will be donning corsets and some rockin DGAJ jewelry.

So what about that exciting news, you say?

Kuhmillion Lingerie and The Cupcake Bar will be sponsoring our event to make it an especially stellar night.
Kuhmillion is an Austin-based lingerie company that is part classy, part retro and sells their satin and lace at prices even yours truly could afford. And that's saying something. Even if Vargas pinups aren't your thing, the variety in styles is vast enough to suit any taste. Our models will be sporting some fabulous pin-up stockings from the Kuhmillion boutique so you can see in person just how great their wares are. In the meantime, check them out here.
For those of you who've been living under a rock in Austin for the past few years, The Cupcake Bar is a cupcakes only catering service that combines unconventional flavors with even more unconventional toppings (nerds, gumballs, pop rocks, pixie sticks just to name a few) that are custom-made to your specs (hence the "Bar" part of the name) to make something that is not only insanely delicious but also super fun. If you want to see what I mean, check them out here.

The salon and I are brainstorming party favor ideas in the form of raffles and goodie bags; believe me when I say I'll keep you updated on this. All the same, hope to see as many of you there as possible!

Action Jackson out.

Currently Listening: The Island by Le Tigre

That Hansel is So Hot Right Now

First up, if you don't have plans tonight, you should check out Pixel Pop: a Fusion of Art, Fashion and Music. If you do have plans, cancel them- chances are this promises to be more fun anyway. This all ages event is goin on at Mohawk tonight starting at 9:30pm and will feature art/art demos, a fashion show, pop-up shops, make and takes by The WonderCraft, tasty treats from Blue Note Bakery, photo booths, live music, and giveaways. Whew, that's a mouthful! Personally, I'll be seeing Predators tonight at The Ritz Alamo, but I will definitely be stopping by afterwords.

Note: This picture has been removed until further notice. Sorry for the inconvenient lameness.

In other news, yesterday was the team photo submission deadline for Austin Fashion Week, which means I can start leaking all the pictures I want. What you see (above) is the product of my team's (aka Team Anachronism) blood, sweat, and tears. The models featured are Lauren Rachelle and Robby Gonzalez, whom my team selected in June at the AFW Model Call. The beautiful dress that Lauren is sporting was made by Kellie Lewis of Material. Robby is also donning a wrap made by Kellie; you just can't see it in this particular photo. Egyptian eye makeup, Goldfinger-esque body paint, and even a wraparound snake (on Lauren) are all makeup splendors created by Wendy Sanders of Blood and Glitter Makeup.

One of the first things I see when I look at this photo is the intricately designed gold and silver hair centerpiece (yep, it's hair) on Robby. Equally intricate and detailed is the tall hairstyle on Lauren that incorporates watch faces, leaves, and a head piece by yours truly. The avant garde hair you see here was done by the sweet and talented Pamela Ivy Kim. Finally, the beautiful photography work that captured the tangible efforts of our team members in one concise shot was done by Julien Larmay. The jewelry was of course done by DGAJ. Close up shots soon to come!

So what's next on the list for DGAJ and Austin Fashion Week? I'm in the works of planning my trunk show/soiree-esque event in collaboration with JR Salon. I'll be posting details on my event as well as those of other Etsy Austines soon, so keep your eyes peeled. In the meantime, check out Pixel Pop tonight at Mohawk.

Action Jackson out.

Currently Listening: Frankenchrist by Dead Kennedys