Tala Kamea

Crystal Methodology

2011-12-08T19:57:00.025-07:00

I have a few pieces for sale in Miracle Thieves. They are made of a black, coated cotton denim, and are ready to be broken in by a loving new owner. The pieces feature raw edges and distressed details paired against sharp, precise "edges." One piece has already been nabbed, so don't sleep on these. They are also super limited in number so you won't be caught at a party wearing the same thing as that hussy over there in the corner... Happy holiday partying!

In studio:

Cuttle Shuttle

2011-11-19T13:19:00.003-07:00

Check out how awesome Meaghan is. She's doing her cuttlefish dance atop the Toronto space shuttle, aka city hall. This is dress 2/2 (see below), again with an original print designed and digitally printed by me on silk organza. It is happily on its way to Montreal, where it will be reunited with its strong-shouldered counterpart.

Twerk it.

2011-08-18T14:03:00.010-06:00

Long story short, I made this dress (1 of 2) in Montreal as part of my internship. I also designed and printed the fabric myself, which was a lot of fun but I'll talk about that some other time. I did a last minute, haphazard shoot with my friends Natalka (model) and Olya (photographer) before heading back to Toronto. Real photos later... this is much more fun: Natalka werkin' on her twerkin.'

Miraculously Thieved

2011-08-09T22:06:00.007-06:00

It has been quite some time since I've updated. A lot has happened, none of which I care to relay at this moment, but perhaps will share snippets of in posts yet to come. This post is to draw attention to a new art and design studio/retail space that launched at the end of July 2011, Miracle Thieves.

Founded by Jen Maramba and Tiffany Naval, the duo have created a beautiful space on the north side of the beloved Trinity Bellwoods Park, wherein one may discover and even create, through artist-led workshops, wonderful treasures. Thieved from the website: "MIracle Thieves features local Toronto artists in the main studio space. Ranging from illustrations and handbound books, to jewelry and sui generis garments, Miracle Thieves showcases a wide range of pieces made by prolific local artisans."

I am humbled and thrilled to be included in this group of "prolific" artisans, although I hardly consider myself to be anything even remotely close to that...

Anyhow, I urge you to visit Miracle Thieves, if not to check out a few of my pieces, but to see what kind of amazing talent is creating and thriving in Toronto. Oh, and they also host fun events and live music. Go, see it, love it, be inspired, create and appreciate what miracles may enter your life.

Janie Taylor for Chloé

2011-04-17T17:42:00.002-06:00

In love with this.

Janie Taylor for Chloé on Nowness.com.

Taladactyl Dress

2011-04-15T20:59:00.012-06:00

It's been a while, I know. I've been busy procrastinating on various projects. This is one of them.
A deconstruct/reconstruct project for my sustainability workshop class. I deconstructed a large windbreaker that I bought at a wardrobe sale for $3, and turned it into what I call a Taladactyl dress. Inspired by (mostly) pterodactyls, birds and flying machines. I still need to finish it properly, and take some slick photos, but here it is. Visit the tumblr I set up for the project, in which I discuss my process and inspiration a little more.
vintagereincarnate.tumblr.com
Keep your eyes on the skies for a full collection of Taladactyl dresses in the future.

Jacket before reconstruction

Look 1

Look 2

Look 3

Look 4 (features removable top skirt)

Anew

2011-01-05T14:13:00.001-07:00

I have a new website.
talakamea.com
Enjoy!

Only In Dreams

2010-11-02T20:52:00.001-06:00

At the beginning of October I helped a good friend of mine, Kevin Boothe, with a photography/design project he was working on. Kevin, a highly talented designer, and Matin Pezeshgzad, photographer extraordinaire, worked together on this project to create some incredibly beautiful images. My role? Provide some garments for the shoot. My stylist friend Adeline Yu worked on this, pulling garments that might work well with a projector. In the end we used the muslin for my Atmos dress, which proved to be a great canvas for digital projections. Check out some of the images as presented on Kevin's excellent design site Document (www.documentmagazine.ca) by clicking the image. Enjoy!

Les Fureurs du Tango

2010-10-25T00:37:00.002-06:00

The focus of my current research paper for my Fashion Theory/History class.

I am developing my strong love for everything tango.

"Les Fureurs du Tango"

George Barbier, 1919

Published in the 1920 volume of La Guirlande Des Mois

An Embarkation

2010-09-07T15:42:00.008-06:00

Last Monday was my orientation for the Master of Arts in Fashion program at Ryerson University. This is the first of such programs in Canada, and the first year this will be running. No one really knows what to expect, but I'm really looking forward to this. The orientation day was really intended to provide the 20 grad students an opportunity to get to know each other, the faculty and the staff. It was actually a lot of fun in spite of the fact that I was pretty nervous!

After the usual introductions, we were assigned groups for the activities that day (I was in the Placket Plums group), each of which had 3 students and a teacher "advisor."

The "Vintage Act" presentation consisted of a varied collection of historic and vintage garments. Each group was assigned a garment to assess, analyze, and determine a number of factors such as time period, fabric, who might have worn it, how it was made... and then create a story about it. It was an interesting and highly appropriate icebreaker - we had good fun creating a dramatic love story around our Matisse-inspired hand-painted garment.

The "Edible Fashion" activity was very "Project Runway." Each group was given $20 to spend at the Metro grocery store, where we were to buy organic and natural items (mostly food, essentially) with which to create a garment.

We had about 2 hours for all of this, and it was fun! My group did a take on the "Little Black Dress" - saying that "green is the new black." We used green cabbage layered for most of the skirt, and radicchio in the centre front of the skirt and bodice. We had an asymmetrical shoulder detail constructed out of purple cabbage, some other lettuce, and radishes. Sounds horrible, right? Our dress actually looked somewhat like layered lace... and kind of pretty!

Draping a foundation on which to glue the cabbage leaves.

Discussing the braided green onion trim.

Hastily glueing as time is running out.

Brittany glueing a lovely arrangement of radicchio.

The final product.

The range of garments was vast and exhibited great creativity. There were some food items arranged in ways that I would never have thought of, including tortilla shells rolled and stuffed with popcorn to create a ruffled collar, and a Fruit-By-The-Foot mini-skirt. Smart!

There was a judging panel of various professors and faculty, and a group was selected as the "winners" of the activity. Some of the criteria was creativity of materials, design details, form, structure, construction... I don't know what else.

The winning team was announced, and it was... the Placket Plums! Yay! We each received a $10 gift card to Starbucks - essential for student life.

While each garment was very good and displayed a lot of great ideas, part of the reason we were selected was the elegance and simplicity of our dress. Sometimes less is more, remember? Silly cabbage cocktail dress. What fun.
The day closed off with a nice tour at the Royal Ontario Museum, followed by appetizers and beer at the Three Brewers, a local microbrewery. It was a long, full day, but a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to sitting in the classroom and studio with my new colleagues, and hearing all their ideas and varied viewpoints on all things fashion and beyond.

P.S. All photos from the orientation day are available by clicking here.

Place Called Grace

2010-08-08T22:35:00.003-06:00

I'm excited to say that another one of my pieces has made an appearance in the Toronto music scene. My Petalos Corset was borrowed last Thursday, August 7 for Saidah Baba Talibah's video release party at the Gladstone Hotel. The party, presented by Exclaim!, was for her new video "Place Called Grace." She seems to have such an interesting and intense personality, and her look is quite unique - I was so curious to see how this garment would look on her. Worn backwards, the corset looks incredibly, well, how do you say it, "badass."
Yes. Definitely badass.

Not An Appropriate Summer Post

2010-07-18T09:41:00.001-06:00

It's been a long time. While I've been working on some pieces for various people, I haven't been as productive as I'd wanted to be this summer. I've been incredibly busy with work, and while a girl's gotta pay the bills I've also been distracted by this beautiful summer we've been having! I've been enjoying biking around the city, sitting in cafés and bars and parks, and enjoying time with my friends and loved ones. As a Libra I'm supposed to be more balanced... I'll work on that, but in the meantime here's an oldie that I never got around to posting. In preparation for the too quickly approaching fall and winter season, it's what I consider to be a real "bunny hug" - or perhaps you might call it a "bunny shrug"? Anyhow, here's a page straight from my portfolio.

She Got Me. Pt.II

2010-06-12T16:30:00.007-06:00

So remember when I said I had some stuff in a music video? The real video came out a while ago, here it is for your viewing pleasure. These are my designs that made the cut, in order of appearance:

Cotinga Jacket

Silk Pleat Pants

Winter Capelet

If you hate super catchy pop/rap tracks, then hit the mute button first.

Beauty in High Park

2010-05-30T22:23:00.004-06:00

High Park in Toronto has a nice little section of Sakura trees, or cherry blossom trees, that only bloom once a year in late April/early May. This past April I had a yearning to wander amongst the pretty pink blossoms and pretend that I was on vacation in Japan, or even Washington, D.C., enjoying the trees in full bloom. On a whim, I asked my amazing photographer friend Landon Speers if he would be up for an impromptu fashion shoot amongst the ephemeral blooms. In a day we managed to pull together a great team that had Landon's good pal Warren Hrycun assisting with photography, the lovely Brae Mason handling makeup/hair, and the beautiful Deirdre Buryk modeling my silk Atmos Dress. The saturated cobalt blue really stood out against that backdrop of pale pink flowers, I am super happy we did this while we could! One of my favourite things about the day, aside from spending it outside in the beautiful park, was the number of park visitors who began taking snapshots of what we were doing! We became something of a tourist attraction at that point, which actually ended up adding an interesting element to some of the shots. Here, check out some of the behind the scenes photos along with the real dealios.

Make-up party with pain au chocolat and strawberry strudels.

Landon taking some test shots.

Staging a shot in 2 parts (I'm floating!)

Attracting an audience.

How to put a model in a tree while wearing silk... this is something like Step 3.

Quick! Get a shot with the train!

And now the real deal:

Pretty Freedom!

2010-05-24T16:44:00.006-06:00

On Sunday, Leigh and I spent a long day of shopping for plywood and screws and everything else necessary to construct a table for my studio. After that, I popped over to visit Jodee and Helena at their Pretty Freedom boutique at 167 Augusta Avenue. Located 1 block west of the heart of Toronto's vintage clothing shopping area, they've already begun to set themselves apart - and they're not even open yet!

It was a beautiful day, so they were set-up outside stuffing rows of cute vintage shoes, finishing signs, and just enjoying the fine weather. It's always a real pleasure being around these two who are so full of creativity and energy. Oh, and they're oh so fashionable too. Taking a peek at their shop and stock is proof of their good taste.

The shop is decorated with some wonderfully unique furniture pieces, including a display table crafted from a discarded door, an old donated painter's ladder, antique mirrors, a charming chandelier-lit change room, and bamboo clothing racks - the latter being an honest creation from Jodee's Filipino self.

What stock is already out is a charming selection of summer's must-have rompers, art-chic dresses, denim jackets, glamorous vintage party dresses, and jean shorts for both ladies and gents. Sure, every second-hand and vintage store may have the aforementioned items, but Pretty Freedom has done a really great job of cutting out the clutter you will find elsewhere. Here, you will find only items hand-picked for their quality and overall fashion aesthetic. That means that with everything looking so damn good, you'll have a hard time deciding which cute dresses to actually take home with you! Well, it's not all cute dresses. Some of the stuff in there is pretty bad ass, I must say, and so completely fun to wear. There are items for men and women, and the clothes have been steamed to perfection with essential oils to remove any of those unpleasant odours that sometimes keep people away from great vintage clothes.

The first pair of "mum bums" I pulled off their rack were a perfect fit - needless to say I now have them at home to wear on my bum. I had a fun time breaking in their change room - I think I tried on half the store. After a helpful consultation with Jodee I left with a number of fab outfits for my summertime fun-times. I did a little photoshoot at home with my goodies, please forgive my silly wannabe model poses and rather, get stoked about the clothes! They're officially opening next week (fingers crossed), so check them out soon - I'm certain you'll love Pretty Freedom!

The sweetest thing: Floral romper with lace collar

Saturday night fever: 70s disco dress with flounce neckline

Art bitch: 80s butterfly sleeve dress

Sunglasses at night: The little black dress with a twist - you can't see the great fringe trim at the neckline, or the cutout back.

La vie en rose: 70s pink pleated disco dress

The girl from Ipanema: Mum Bum shorts

MUM BUM

Can you tell I love the mum bum? You won't find quality Levis for a better price.

A Barong, Born Again

2010-05-17T18:41:00.000-06:00

I've been super fortunate to have found such wonderful support from the Kapisanan Philippine Centre for Arts & Culture. It's been the wonderful team there that has kept me moving on numerous projects, including the Lady Maganda terno I made last November. Most recently I created a piece for the Vinta Gallery and re-launch of the Kapisanan website in April. I'm a little slow on this post, as the gallery has now been cleared out to make way for the Pretty Freedom pop up shop, opening very soon. Get excited!

So, since you almost definitely missed the exhibit, here are some photos of my creation. My piece, titled Pagbalik Pasalubong focused on the changing nature of relationships when distance is involved, and was an exercise in reclaiming items that once meant something, giving them new life and new meaning. If you think this sounds like a load of poo, then try reading my full artist statement!

I deconstructed a Barong Tagalog, which is a traditional men's shirt in the Philippines, and created a contemporary summer dress, great for layering over a bikini top or tank. Barongs come in all sorts of colours and cuts and feature different embroideries. I purchased this one in the Philippines in 2006. Many of them, including this one, are made of piña (fibres taken from pineapple leaves). It's a really great fabric that is sustainable, breathable on the body, and has an elegant look similar to linen. Piña is usually white or ivory in colour, but this shirt had been dyed with a gradient which gave it very contemporary look. I enjoyed creating this piece, I think it's quite a cute lil' number. It looks a little big on the judy, as I draped it on a size 8/10 judy, and this one is about a size 2/4. Oh well. The puff sleeve is detachable, and I do intend to make detachable butterfly sleeves to go with this dress. Stay tuned for those. In the meantime, if anyone is interested in purchasing this dress, it is for sale. Make me an offer.

Petalos Corset

2010-05-13T20:32:00.004-06:00

My final project to hand in this past semester was a corset. It was for my corsetry course, wouldn't you know, and the assignment was to create, you guessed it, a corset. Any corset at all. It could be draped, flat drafted, based on a historical pattern, or a combination of anything you wanted at all.

I am a fan of certain elements of a corset, but as a whole I'm not necessarily in love with the look of a corset, in particular the typical contemporary corsets that are on the market. It's got to be something really beautiful and not overly gothic, fetishistic, or cutesy pie for me to really fall for it. So, when designing my corset I wanted it to be something that reflected my personal tastes. That meant, above all things, no lace-ups.

I altered a historically accurate pattern of an Elizabethan stay to fit my body, and drafted a peplum for the bodice. I wanted the peplum to resemble the petals of a flower, or the bulbs of various flora such as that of a lily. I used a strong cotton/Lycra blended fabric, flat steel bones at centre front and back, spiral steel bones in the bodice, and plastic boning in the peplum.

Oh, by the way, I did this in the few days I had immediately after the Serpentinata madness ended, and the corset was actually due. I busted my butt in the studio, pulled an all-nighter with my pal Laura (thank goodness she was there as moral support!), and handed my corset in in time. It garnered rave reviews from my prof, and I was super excited to do a shoot with this.

Obviously i couldn't wait, because here are some images of this baby, on me. I had intended to try out a "look" for the corset, and by the time I had the shoes on, I thought I was halfway to a shoot so why not try out some stuff. I added some makeup, false lashes, accessories, and set-up a camera, self-timering my way through an American Apparel inspired photo shoot. Even featuring the AA hooter shorts, from my time back in the day as an Edmo AA employee. Anyway, enough chit chat. Prelim Pocahontas Petalos glam. A real model with a John Smith still to come.

She Got Me

2010-05-04T23:56:00.005-06:00

I'm still working on a super long blog post about Serpentinata (I HATE blogger publishing), but in the meantime, here's a little preview of a music video for a new song by Jhevon Paris called "She Got Me". It features Pat K. of Stereos, and some vocals by Girlicious. To be honest, I had no idea who these people were before a great stylist, Madi Styles, asked to borrow some of my clothes for the shoot. I was super excited, and now that I see this clip I'm even more excited. Oh, and it turns out I actually like this song. You might notice that the major hook is a revamped chorus from a certain BSB song. Anyway, I'm super excited to see the full video! In this clip you can catch a nice slow motion turn of a model wearing my Cotinga Jacket. There's also a behind the scenes video floating around where I noticed another model wearing my high-waisted silk pleat pants. I must say, they look gorgeous on her. Anyway, I'll post the full thing when it's finally in circulation. Until then, enjoy a whole 30 seconds.

P.S. Did you know that Stereos are from my lovely hometown of Edmonton? There's a deeper strange mutual friend connection story in there too that involves my past as a freelance "stylist" (HA!) and a music producer pal of mine, but it's actually not that interesting so I'll shut up now. KTHXBAI.

Atmos Dress

2010-04-18T21:44:00.011-06:00

The major project of my semester was designing an evening wear dress. Yup, things move pretty slowly around here - almost a whole semester for one piece! Pretty boring I guess, but for the record we were draping something different every week. Anyhow, the dress was due the day after the John James event (see previous post), which was kind of good, as it forced me to get my shit done well before the due date. You should have seen the madness of the lab that day.

6PM, if your dress was not on the rolling rack in that room before it was wheeled out of the room, you didn't get a grade, and your dress would definitely not be in the 2nd/3rd year fashion show. Seconds until that rack was rolling out the door students were frantically sewing on buttons, hammering rivets, and sewing final seams for each other. Even though my dress was done, I spent the last 10 minutes wrestling with hangers, trying to get my long dress to stay on 1 or 2 hangers, and managed to almost miss the rack! They were moving towards the door as someone finally yelled at me to get my dress on a damn rack, and I joined the handful of ladies chasing it as it wheeled out the doors. Phewf. That was close.

Well the fashion show has come and gone, I've received my marks for the dress (I did well!), and now it's time to arrange a professional photo shoot with this dress. I love it, I must say. It's another versatile piece made of this really light, gorgeous silk that moves like water. It's a halter dress, with a layering top skirt that can be tied around the waist or around the neck. The top skirt can also be tied as a dress in itself, in at least 2 different ways, so I guess you have a total of at least 5 looks built in with this baby, but actually, many more. Can you do the math? And as always, I'm taking orders! Enjoy.

Inspiration board - Satellite & Aerial Photographs of Natural and Atmospheric Phenomena.

Watercolour - one of several illustrations created of the dress.

On the runway (tied incorrectly, unfortunately).

Appliqué detail.

Down the runway at the Arcadian Court.

More photos will be posted in my forthcoming Serpentinata post.

Whirlwind Month

2010-04-12T08:34:00.014-06:00

It's been some of the craziest weeks of my life this year. School projects have been constant and demanding including a major evening wear dress project and having a heavy hand in organizing a large fashion show. As well, I've been involved in some extracurricular fashion activities to keep me extra busy. I'm going to try to catch up on my posts now that school projects are finally done - I handed in my last project on Friday - a corset with peplum that I am pretty in love with. Photos to come.

For now, we start with John James at The Red Carpet Room's Spring Trend Report. The event was sponsored by Fuze, and featured spring fashions by several Canadian designers such as Jessica Biffi, Brazen Hussy, and Lizares, and also featured an accessory showcase in which John James stole the show. Visit John James here.

Setting up at The Fifth

Juliann getting decked out in armour.

Juliann and myself with super talented designer Erin Ignacio (centre).

Rocking the jewels.

A Fashion Family

2010-03-13T22:58:00.010-07:00

One of my brothers is in Korea for a year. He recently met someone in the Korean fashion scene, and was recruited to model. It's about time! Matyi has the right look and build for this, and I just saw some of his first photo shoot!! It's great! Go Matyi! There are some real gooders in there, I couldn't help but smile the whole way through. So excited, I hope he keeps going with this! As well, the designs from, what I believe is a design group(?) - La Mer Ma Maison - are quite fantastic - wonderful stuff that I wouldn't mind getting a few samples of... And I hope he gives me V.I.P. passes to all future fashion parties he'll be rolling up into. Oh, and maybe one day he'll wear one of my designs, thereby plummeting me into stardom. Oh, am I getting ahead of myself? Mmmmmmaybe? Who cares. Great job Matyi!! You look fantastic!

Untitled from Chohongjun on Vimeo.

Alicia VW

2010-02-26T23:44:00.007-07:00

One of my supervisors at work asked me to create a dress for her that could make the transition between office and cocktail hour easily. Alicia likes classic shapes, but she's also drawn to pieces with interesting design details. She was thrilled with the slightly drooped pockets and draped sleeves. The fabric, a polyester microfiber, looks and feels like silk, but is easier for her to maintain during her busy and vigorous day-to-day activities. If you knew how fast she walks, you'd understand how silk might not withstand her energetic personality. It's a relatively simple dress, but it's elegant, versatile, and was an affordable option for Alicia. After I delivered the dress to her, and got her to try it on one more time, I asked her if I could take a few shots for my portfolio. She was a great sport, posing for an impromptu photo shoot. I even got her to give me a good pose featuring her hyperextended elbows. Awesome.

Me, Myself, and I

2010-02-14T23:30:00.007-07:00

I spent Valentine's Day continuing to update my portfolio. I had to (re)shoot a few garments, and with this being a hurried thing again, guess who had to model? Go me. This time I was sans une équipe créative - so I had to do the best I could. I painted my face and put my hair up in a pathetic updo, just to get my hair out of the way. I hung a big piece of white, cotton jersey from my wall, endlessly battling with the tape (I'm not willing to put holes in my wall just yet). I rounded up some lights, redirected the lights in my kitchen, and got my camera set up. Self-timer is an amazing thing. I wish I could say I had fun doing this.

Here are some shots of my Wear-Every-Way dress. It's a reversible dress with a detachable chiffon "scarf" that doubles as a belt. You can leave it on and tie it a million ways, or leave it off and let the garment just fall around you. You can wear it in a variety of ways including as a wrap, a shrug, a top, a sleeved-hood thing, and so on. It's really up to your imagination. Once again I'm designing as though fabric were the most precious thing in the world... In time perhaps it will be. For now, this is the ultimate investment piece for a poor fashionista. Enjoy.

Lady Maganda

2010-02-06T22:18:00.032-07:00

I'm updating my portfolio. I wanted to photograph my terno that I had made last year, as well as do some quick shots of a couple other little pieces (my Cotinga jacket and a white rabbit fur capelet). I'm fortunate enough to know some incredible people. My talented friend Shane O'Neill was kind enough to take photos, and the shoot was styled and directed by my amazingly creative friend Jodinand Aguillon. He also pulled in two very talented ladies to the team - Brae Mason and Brittany Hopkins, who created the makeup and hair looks, respectively. Without these fantastic people I don't know what I would have done. I had to do the modeling, as the scheduling of the shoot was incredibly rushed and I couldn't find a model in time. For this particular dress, as well, I wanted a Filipina model, or at least a half-Filipina. Ha! If you know any models in the Toronto area willing to work gratis, please have them contact me! Anyway, I think I don't look half bad thanks to these talented people! Here are some "behind the scenes" photos that were snapped by Jack Duluoz working Jodinand's camera. I'll post some of the real shots when I get them.

Getting ready at The K

Reviewing some of the shots

This must have been us talking about "pruuuuuunes."

Think "malong."

Happy New Year?

2010-01-25T02:51:00.013-07:00

Oh hai. It's been a while. A few things on the go, including some custom pieces for pals of mine, photos soon, hopefully. School is in full swing, I was less than happy to return to classes after a really lovely return home to Edmonton (in spite of the -25°C weather). Projects this semester include an evening wear dress, drafting and sewing a designer knock off (yup!), designing and creating a corset, and a whole lot of illustrating, of course.

In between major projects we do several different draping exercises. This was last week's smocking drape - I used a lattice smocking pattern on a really soft bamboo jersey. Smocking is really strange in that it is quite difficult to plan out exactly how much fabric you need when you're not sure where you want to smock, if your pattern is curving, and so on. I didn't have much fabric to work with, and I wasn't certain I would like what I did. I therefore did not want to cut up my fabric too much, as I wanted to be able to use it afterward. So, for this exercise, I draped in such a way that I used as much of my fabric as possible, without cutting. From about 2 yards of fabric I think I cut away only a square foot or so.

I've been designing in this way recently, like an 18th century dressmaker keeping all that precious woven fabric in one piece. I've been coming up with some things that I quite like. Unfortunately I only had enough jersey to do half this dress. I'll figure something out. I'd love to wear this baby.

Lovely Cotinga

2009-12-09T15:47:00.009-07:00

Remember when I talked about my coordinated jacket and pant project? No? That's probably because you don't actually read my blog, but I won't hold it against you. As I finished up my jacket, and prepared to deliver it to Ryerson, I thought I should take a few photos for you, my random blog reader, to enjoy. After a sleepless night sewing, I didn't think you'd want to see my vampire face. My buddy Emily assisted with the photos - frantically taken in my building hallway but 20 minutes before the jacket was due. Enjoy the frantically assembled collages. Keep in mind, these garments are made for a misses 9/10, which is something like a 6 or 8 in our more common shopping sizes. I'm swimming a little.

Illustrations

2009-12-03T13:41:00.017-07:00

We're moving into evening wear. My final project in my illustration class was to design 4 evening wear design sheets (a total of 20 designs), and select 3 designs to present as fashion illustrations, each using different media, different styles, composition, etc. As I am still trying to "find my voice," and really develop a style, my illustrations are usually pretty different anyhow. Here are my three - what do you think?

pencil, watercolour, ink, metallic thread, glass beads (I'm actually going to make this in all the spare time I have...)

pencil, conte, lace

ink, pencil crayon frottage on back

Flashback

2009-11-12T10:32:00.004-07:00

Moderno

2009-11-05T12:50:00.016-07:00

The terno is done. A mixture of hard and soft elements, both in form and materials. Leather, jersey, and chiffon - perhaps a strange combination, but so am I, I suppose.

I will post full-length photos when the garment is on a body - there is no expression in a bust form.

Never Ending

2009-10-27T17:35:00.020-06:00

School is a never ending run of projects and assignments. I am sleeping very little - 3 to 4 hours a day if I'm lucky, and I catch up on the weekends, against my will. At this rate I'm never getting ahead. With so many projects on the go for each class, I am going a little bit insane.

This week I handed in a lovely pair of pants, part of a coordinating suit project that will continue until the end of the semester. Unrealistic production time lines, yes, but oddly enough in the framework of post-secondary education it's barely enough time. I failed to take a photo of the pants in the wee hours of the morning before handing them in, and will only get them back at the end of the semester. Photos will follow then, but for now, enjoy the 3 inspiration boards required for the project: The South American Long-Wattled Umbrella Bird (mandatory "3-D object"), Gianfranco Ferré's FW 2009 collection (mandatory designer collection), and "Frogs" (randomly given "wild card"). Blogger has uploaded the images in some crazy way, so the colours are heavily distorted. Oh well.

The influence of these inspiration boards should be visible in the completed pant and jacket. My pants are a lovely, heavy-weight silk charmeuse in a deep bluish-grey, high-waisted with room in the hips, moving into a long slim leg - more influence from the Ferré collection than anything else. The jacket will be the showpiece, just as the Umbrella bird is a frou frou attention-grabbing bird flirt. Pretty excited about the garments, though they are keeping me up at night, every night. School sucks.

Focus on the Philippines

2009-10-02T11:32:00.021-06:00

In light of the recent catastrophes occurring in Asia, the Filipino art exhibit has been understandably postponed. No problem for me, as my dress is still only a bodice, the sleeve is yet to be attached (I have yet to hand-sew the sleeve to the bodice, through 7 layers of leather!), and the skirts yet to be cut.

In the meantime, the Kapisanan is busy packing up balikbayan boxes and putting out calls for necessities to send to the Philippines. If you can donate anything along the lines of first aid kits, feminine hygiene products, diapers, food items, soap, etc. please feel free to drop by the centre on Augusta and Dundas, in Kensington, and drop off some items.

If you have time or interest, you can also help pack boxes, and learn a little bit about various parts of Philippine history. This centre is a fantastic place that offers a variety of resources for artists, musicians, opportunities to learn about the culture and participate in it through drawing circles, history lessons, and even food eating events! YUM. Visit their website to learn more, and make sure you drop by on Saturday, October 3 sometime after 7pm for a great fundraising event for victims of Hurricane Ondoy. The evening features a poetry slam jam, music, cheap drinks, and of course great people! It's Nuit Blanche, so if you're out and about, stop by!

http://kapisanan.wordpress.com/

Garter & Asp

2009-09-23T21:57:00.007-06:00

One of my favourite Canadian designers, Jennifer Ann Gilpin, has a new collection out now. I am so excited! Originally designing under the name Re-Gen, she then produced a few seasons under her own name. SS08 was the last I saw of her amazing designs as she made a move to Berlin - can I say I wish I were in Berlin? Now I have discovered she has re-surfaced with the design label Garter & Asp. Her collections are often highly conceptual, but she aims to bridge the gap between conceptual fashion and wearable art - a goal I believe she succeeds in achieving. Her designs have proven once again to be interesting, elegant and sleek, with a bit of bite.

http://garter-asp.com

I Am A Mestiza

2009-09-17T10:41:00.010-06:00

Working on a project for an upcoming art exhibit at the Kapisanan Philippine Centre. Taking inspiration from a page in a Philippine history encyclopedia, my selected entry is on the "Mestizo" - literally translating to "mixed-blood." It's an interesting undertaking so far, looking forward to seeing my final product. Traditional Filipino design with a modern and personal twist. Progress posts forthcoming.

Birds On The Wires

2009-09-10T15:36:00.006-06:00

Fantastic. A lovely example of music's inexplicably ubiquitous presence in the cosmos.

Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.

Union Special 39500 FA

2009-09-04T23:12:00.014-06:00

A good friend of mine, Jodee, has recently been doing some great work at the Kapisanan Philippine Centre. They have a crazy old industrial serger there, which he asked me to come in and take a look at. Googling this machine it appears that it is a "streamlined high speed overseamer." Oh.

I spent a couple of hours, without proper tools, trying to thread the damn thing. Anyone who has ever threaded a serger will understand the frustration that often accompanies such a process. This machine, which I am yet to triumph over, is at least 30 times worse than threading any modern day serger.

Machine parts do not move out for easy access to loopers, fingers must attempt to fit in tiny holes and corners, thread must travel in awkward directions in order to pass through the tiny holes necessary to thread the machine. At one point, I had to thread a hand-sewing needle, tie a loop in that thread, and feed the eye-end of the needle through a tiny hole in the serger. Then, using a long metal utensil, I pulled the looped thread out from the tiny crevice it had recently been pushed into, tied the actual serger thread to that looped thread, and then retracted the hand-sewing needle, pulling the looped thread, and then serger thread through the tiny hole that was otherwise IMPOSSIBLE to thread!

It's absolutely absurd. This really can not be how this was done in a factory. Anyone with an industry secret, please do share. Holy wow! This thing better work well...

Page one of instructional diagrams

From sewusa.com where such diagrams were available. You'll need more than lots of luck.

Ninutik

2009-08-31T17:04:00.008-06:00

A random delight: Ninutik.

While at the IncentiveWorks Trade Show last week I came across this wonderful company. They make lovely, artistic products from maple syrup - one of Canada's unique natural treasures. So tasty, so adorable - check out their goods and consider purchasing something from Ninutik next time you need to give a little Canadiana.

Fancy Feet

2009-07-27T15:48:00.020-06:00

I am obsessed with beautiful shoes. In preparation for a wedding I attended last week in Cochrane, Alberta I washoping to procure some fabulous shoes to go with my hot drop-crotch halter jumper. Seriously, it's hot. Unable to find those dream shoes that fit within my budget and were actually my size, I decided to create a versatile shoe accessory to not only go with my outfit, but something I could wear to many future occasions, and strap onto an assortment of shoes. Hand-cut and hand-sewn comme la haute couture véritable, I am thrilled with how these turned out. I am going to make a variety of styles now - some with a little more glitz and glam - delicate beading, gaudy gemstones, bold colours, et cetera.

Purchased shoes:

With lace accessory:

Lace on another pair of sandals:

Bad Form

2009-07-15T14:39:00.004-06:00

I don't have a proper drafting table, so I am forced to create patterns and cut fabrics on my very hard floor. Not only am I slowly destroying my back, but also my knees. Until I get a table, makeshift knee pads will have to do.

Have I upped my street cred yet?

Sweet Summer

2009-07-12T10:46:00.008-06:00

Some new clothing items and accessories are in the works right now (I'll try to get them up here soon-ish), but in my periods of relaxation I've been finding the perfect summer lifestyle accessories. Most recently these include a sickenly sweet Polish cherry wine, a patio, and Christian Dior's autobiography. Yes, I'm drinking one glass for myself, and one for Monsieur Dior.

Fashion Takes Action Launch Party

2009-05-16T17:23:00.028-06:00

At the end of April I participated in an Earth Day celebration - the launch of Fashion Takes Action. FTA is an organization based out of Toronto that aims to create awareness, through all levels of the fashion industry, regarding ecologically friendly fashion. It will help to connect consumers with retailers with designers with textile manufacturers and so on in an effort to increase sustainability and help save our planet from complete devastation! A little dramatic, perhaps, but thankfully it seems that the general trend in fashion is indeed moving in this direction, albeit slowly.

The event went down in the historical Burroughes Building on Queen West, and featured an open bar and some great DJs including Brendan Canning from Broken Social Scene. Part of the night involved pairs of fashion students from Ryerson creating garments out of old product packaging and materials donated by event sponsors. My good design buddy Devlyn Van Loon and I created a dress out of materials provided by The Lifford Wine Agency. We had 3 hours to do it, and we did it! We had no sewing machine - just needles and thread and glue. The bodice is made of non-woven textile wine bags, the skirt was made from old promotional t-shirts, soaked in their now discontinued line of eco-wine for the tie-dye effect. The creator of FTA just Twitted (or whatever) our dress here: http://twitpic.com/48vre

Otherwise, here are some pics from the event itself, which was kind of incredibly fun:

Devlyn Van Loon in complimentary colours.

Tie-dye.

Devlyn likes to scream.

Working hard. Thanks to my good buddy Daniel for supporting us and taking photos!

Yes, we always dress like this while designing/sewing.

Triumphant after 3 hours! Time to drink.

The Lifford dress.

Look at that sexy back.

Rooftop patio of the Burroughes Building.

Once the taps ran dry - resting my legs at the end of the night.

Heading home - Devlyn frightening us in the elevator.

Tala Kamea Spring 2009

2009-04-17T08:49:00.026-06:00

I've been busy at school painting squares and drawing organic objects. Not my favourite things to do. I have also been busy pattern drafting and sewing, as much as I can. Here are the fruits of my labour. More coming soon.

Custom colours and fabrics are available to order at talakamea.etsy.com. Check it out!

Photos by Shayda Omidvar.

Springsteen Dress

Fringe Tunic & Arch Skirt

Men's Modernist Top

Leather Fringe and Rose Gold Plated Chain Necklace

Back From The Dead.

2008-10-03T20:01:00.006-06:00

So I moved to Toronto at the end of August. Production has stopped temporarily. But guess what! Kamea is featured on this week's See Magazine. That's a one of a kind piece right there, bitches. And it's hot. Brooklyn '88.
Check it out:

Blush Dress

2008-08-07T01:14:00.014-06:00

Little brothers make great assistants.
What fun!

blush dress.
bandanna neck halter dress, descending back hemline, scoop back box pleat detail.

Kamea. July 2008

2008-08-01T08:45:00.026-06:00

Reworking ugly old things into pretty new things. Available at Nokomis Clothing.

peru. w. pearls.

peru. w. pearls. detail.

chain & pearl earrings.

peru. w. feather.

peru. w. feather. detail.

italia.

italia earrings.

roma.

gothic earrings.

bombay.

bombay. detail.

chain earrings.

brooklyn, '88.