Reality? Ummmm No, Runway, and is it for a hoof or a foot? Hmmmm.
Handmade Nirvana. The Holy Grail of Handmade. Shoes. Well the ones above are most certainly handmade but not the kind you would want to wear. I went in search of practical and stylish handmade shoes. It really is an art to make shoes, you can’t just sit down and teach yourself in an afternoon to make them like you can knitting or crocheting. There are so many considerations, style, durability, and then the tools you would need to make them. It’s a little mind boggling. Although hard to find there are handmade shoes out there, and some are not as expensive as you might think.
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It’s been on the handmade radar for years now, organic fabrics. I remember when finding them was like digging for gold and just as expensive. But with more and more market demand for eco friendly, organically made fabrics they are finally easier to source, come in nicer colors and patterns and penetrating the high fashion markets.
New York Fashion Weeks Spring 2010 Trends by Stylelist actually had organic fabrication as one of the top trends. When I first opened my shop on etsy you could find organic tote bags and t-shirts pretty easily, that was in 2007. As etsy sellers have become more fashion forward the designs have become more sophisticated too. Pretty Birdie’s Stephanie Teague really wowed me with this great trench coat.
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One of my passions is vintage. I try to watch the trends in vintage fashion closely because it often tells you what will be popular at retail several seasons later. Two springs ago I started seeing 1980’s Laura Ashley drop waist floral dresses going for really insane prices. All of a sudden it was tough to find them in the usual places and they were being tagged with things like punk and goth. As it often does this street trend trickled up into the designer collections and has been strong for both spring and Fall 2009/Winter 2010. Style blogs like Stylescout and Streetpeeper have showed both vintage and current takes on the trend. Searching Etsy for floralfabrics and themes I found lots of beautiful things but decided to focus on accessories, a beautiful way to update or showcase your fashion floral trend.
I found beautiful necklaces from fabric flowers at Florabond and enamel at Raquel Castillo.
Gorgeous bracelets, cuff or charm style from Hollee Costume Jewelry.
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One of the top trends to come down in Fall 2009 is Rocker Chic. A cross between 80’s Glam Rock with a dash of Biker inspiration Runway Daily showed designers as diverse as Balmain and William Rast sending it down the runway. The look relies heavily on leather, is mostly black and definitely sexy tough. I wondered though could Handmade handle the look? I mean a lot of people still think of handmade as quilting, crocheting and tie dye. So I set out to create the Rocker Chic look from handmade and Oh the Shops I Found!
My first priority was the pants, leather preferably and black. Surprisingly I found quite a few options. On the one end you have Behrle Leather with custom made leather pants that pack tons of attitude, but, be prepared to pay a hefty price. My favorite? Black Market Baby black leather panel leggings.
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Please welcome new columnist Jamie Drumwright to Try Handmade! She’s going to be covering trends in fashion design as they float back and forth between indie handmade and the runway. Previously a corporate director of retail merchandising, she “sees handmade as the new haute couture.” Welcome her to this space, and check out her first contribution to Runway to Reality and Back.
:: Erika
Which came first the chicken or the egg? Fashion imitator or originator? Today’s fashion trends are much more complicated than a designer or celebrity dictating what is acceptable fashion and what isn’t. Social movements, hobbies, economic factors have all taken fashion out of Paris’s hands and put it in yours.
Even better the evolution of Etsy and other handcrafted shopping environments have made it easier than ever to get exactly what you want. Take knitting for example. Around Y2K the popularity of knitting as a hobby trend took off and thousands of entrepreneurs were born. Over the last two fall seasons the popularity of knit or crocheted scarves has surged with handmade offering the most variety, best quality and reasonable pricing. Department store fashion lines just can’t compete with resources like Etsy. This fall some of the yummiest ever are showing up on Etsy’s pages with established sellers like Beautiful Bridget and Cricket’s Knit Creations showing beautiful styles for men and women.
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