Happy Cheery Marimekko

Now listed in my etsy shop,funkomavintage, is this superb midcentury modern, mcm, vintage Marimekko print.
It's by Maija Isola who designed many of Marimekko's now classic, legendary fabrics.



Marimekko began as Printex, a fabrics printing company. Finn Viljo Ratia bought it in 1949 and his wife Armi Ratia hired young artists to design fabric for the company. They were wild and bold ! Sales were slow so the company made clothing of the designs.
The first Marimekko clothing was designed by Riitta Immonen, and in 1951 Marimekko held a fashion show in Helsinki.

Now, Marimekko designs are printed on fabrics and all manner of home decor items....from bedsheets to bath towels to wallpaper. Dresses and shirts and accessories are designed using the wild fabrics.
Tote bags, kitchenware, and children's and men's wear come from the design tables of Finland's Marimekko.
All over the world, major cities have a Marimekko shop. They're instantly available by mail via the internets too!

Even Anthropologie had dresses made of Marimekko! It is quite popular again...
today, many of Marimekko fabrics are well-known.
Here's just a few.. These pictures are on the Marimekko website, click the clicky link there <--- Maija Isola's cheerful Pergola pattern (1965) is made into a sweet jacket by Marimekko designer Samu-Jussi Koski.





Maija Isola's Kissapöllö from 1961, is here in a dress by Koski.

Kivet 1959.



Kaivo 1964
and the sweet and wild.....unikko.
Marimekko says: Unikko came about in 1964 after Armi Ratia had announced in public that no floral fabrics are designed at Marimekko. Maija Isola did not accept rules or restrictions and designed in protest a complete collection of bold floral patterns.

I make stuff....many people like it...

Just saying...because when you spend your day and many many middle of the nights, thinking and making, and then someone buys what you Dreamed and Made....well, it sets the world spinning on greased grooves.
I have been playing around with bloomers since I was a wee one...they just fascinated me...so different from modern underwear...bloomers are big and baggy and not form-fitting. Made to be worn under a full skirt.

When I was in Junior High....
we wore tight girdles to keep the stockings up...tights were around and I certainly wore those....and then exclusively after awhile. But as a grown-up I played around with vintage stockings and garters and garter belts and girdles once I moved to Washington.
It's a matter of Cold.



In a screened porch of my parent's cabin at the Hotel, about 1963, I found a trunk of clothes that dated to the 20s and 30s. Lots of satin and lace and fluffiness and fringe and musty smells. There was pair of bloomers made of black satin and trimmed with baby blue ribbons and pink lace, rosettes of velvet and rhinestone buttons.

I was only able to wear them a few times before they tore to shreds. I continued to wear the antique dresses and skirts and do all the things that little girls do who are growing up in a tiny country town.




I've recreated those 20s satin bloomers many many times. I've been playing around with cutting up and restyling sweaters for about 40 years and a few years ago I drew a picture of a sweater turned into some warm bloomers. My prototype was made of a knit flannel and wow! that was the beginning. A few weeks ago I cut out a few pair, gathered my laces and ribbons and got to sewing.........


The Bavarian Steampunk Cashmere bloomers were featured on the front page of etsy where I list everything, until I get the ol' funkoma website remodeled and listed with tons of stuff for sale.
Being on the front page of etsy is important for me because I'm not a Chosen Few for them. I don't live in NY, I am not young, my photos just barely fit their criteria of "white"....so I was honored and it has given me a huge burst of energy.........
well, that and the fact I have a show in early November...and I am a never-ending protoplasm of Ideas...
I got to the Front Page of etsy on pure merit...great idea, well-photographed...and a unique design reinterpreted from something traditional and fun, practical and functional....
and Handmade.
Not factory made. Unique ...there will be more cashmere bloomers with vintage lace, but none will look exactly like the others.
Unique...because no one on the internets is doing this with cashmere for the ladies.

These are the first 4 pair for you.










Filling up and Spilling over it's an Endless Waterfall.
Stay warm Ladies!

It's Alice In Wonderland...

Like a billion girls on the planet...I loved Alice in Wonderland...and I love the
Sir John Tenniel illustrations that we most identify with the story...oh sure...Disney wrecked it tho it is a charming movie...it's old school Disney.......
No.
The real Alice is Tenniel......like this:




But I saw theeeeeese the other day....and wow.







click this Linkie for more......

Imagine my delight ! when I found this dress last year....in a thrift of course. It's a 90s babydoll....just barely vintage in about 5 more minutes......covered with Sir John Tenniel illustrations !!! oh yes.
I'll be wearing this in Portland this weekend...





I found this ...thing...what is it? a tablecloth? an antimacassar? I don't know...
It's a Hitatchi thingie....(its also says Castle)
I adore the illustrations, the secondary gothy colors, the whole mid 60s pop art take on Art Nouveau...
it's pen and ink line drawings like the Sir John Tenniel drawings.....with those lovely colors.....
it's just a length of white cotton with fringe at either end....




It's just big enough to make a bit of a skirt
...add some white lace and other gothy White Queen stuff.......



Gee, I do believe I have my whole Fall theme all lined up......
stay tuned funkoma fans and etsy shop buyers.......
I think it might be Alice I want.... is a Wonderland....kind of season...

When I say No Budget and Found...I meant it!

Now this is the kind of stuff that intrigues me...a sweet and lovely idea of a bed made with discarded pallets...oh do I know of pallets! A house I lived in in Steilacoom just before I opened the deli was made of pallets and Army ammo boxes. It was weird and stumpy.
From Design*Sponge comes this Before & After by Ashley Campbell of ashley ann photography. And a door headboard too. The simple white works well with the light wood and the punch of pretty colors. I especially love the coasters..Imagine the fun a child could have with this! Practical, hard to wreck and mobile too!

Decorating and living with found stuff.......

Decay is inevitable......and quite charming.....
so, it's funny when someone who has had her life handed to her on a silver platter....talks about "process"...and "growth"
Puh--leeeez. Shut. Up. What has this got to do with Tacoma.......99% of Tacoma looks like Grey Gardens without the trust fund and rich relatives....we're on the High Wire without a net.........
Clicky here for a swell slideshow....
I thought we'd like to visit Grey Gardens again....



I first read about this strange movie/documentary in the SF Chronicle just after it was released in 1975. I immediately identified with little edie for many reasons....the wardrobe manipulations were certainly familiar to me......but I had even back then the sneaky feeling that I was caught in a trap......a trap that I am just now pulling my head and the rest of me out of.....finally, just in time for Depression 2.0
so yes, life is weird. And well the theme is biblical...Ruth...and certainly Shakespeare..and Dickensian. the theme of a Life Lost ...a dream denied...so Tacoma. So often.

I applied for a job.......now I should get this job, because there is no other on the planet who wants it more, who can do it better. And...no one loves .........sf more than me.....and the population I would work with......those are my people. I have challenges.......and I have met every challenge and continued on.......
but kids, I'm not holding my breath.......I'm used to disappointment.
But I have made up my mind.....between now and say, 2 years from now, I'm leaving Tacoma. I have to go home.
I haven't been there since my mom died......5 years ago. I just have to go home.
So I hope you enjoy my song selection here........May your heart swell and rainbows float from your every word ........and I hope flowers grow everywhere your hair is now.......And this is why I sing Hotel California at every karaoke chance I get !!!

Sample of My Immense Talent !

Here's a little show of stuff I've made from recycled stuff.....this is why you see me a the thrifts all the time......and why I need so much stuff!

A Gray Day In Tacoma

How Not To Be A Fashion Victim....

1. Ripped tights are last decade...and punk...but on older people they merely look unkempt....instead of edgy (not the look you were hoping for, I guess)
...so do not buy these from Anna Sui .......just diy if you must.

via fashion police blog

and while we're on the subject of Anna Sui, and we are, boycott her altogether.
Yeesh....
her whole designer life/career is using fashions of the past......
and lately  she based her Spring collection on BIBA...
rips off punks for the ripped thing.....
and then she files suit against other designers who are turning out
clothes similar to hers!
Can you say IRONY ?!?!
and here's a Law blog that discusses this penchant that designers
 have for using others for inspiration...in detail so I don't have to...
great minds think alike !