Tasteful Holiday Sweaters!

I recently went to an "ugly sweater" party and I much enjoyed donning a tacky sweater and red tights for the holiday. But, there are ways to enjoy a good holiday sweater with out all the tacky. Holiday sweaters have been given a bad name due to the fact that most of them are tacky. Nordstrom.com has a great selection of sweaters that I would wear to a holiday party. Here is one. This is the Free People "Snow" Fair Isle Sweater. The color is just fabulous. I also love the stripes knitted in because they are very subtle while still keeping the traditional holiday sweater feel.

Sweater: Free People, Nordstrom.com, $88.00

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picture courtesy of www.nordstrom.com

Christmas Ornaments for the Fashion Forward

This is the picture of the supplies you need for making Christmas bow ornaments. You just need red and white ribbon. I cut mine into 19" strips. Then I tied them into bows and put ornament hooks through the back of them. Put them on the tree and Voila! you have very cute bow ornaments. Just some holiday fashion fun for you.
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So here is a drawing that I did for class. I was trying to embody the 1970's punk look. I loved ripped jeans as well as v-neck shirts so this look really appeals to me. I have decided to carry some very soft v-neck tee shirts like the one in the drawing in the boutique which is now open. I realized that basics are very hard to find. It bothers me I cannot find a basic tee shirt. I am very excited to say that I will be be putting clothes online and you will be able to purchase Rum&Couture clothing at www.rumandcouture.com! I will let you know as soon as the store section is up and running.
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This is just what I needed. A little practice drawing corsets. I must say. I do love them. And, my fashion show is coming up this Saturday! SUNY Cortland hosts a Music for the Cause event where the proceeds from the show go to a different cause each year. My line of corsets and skirts will be showing at this event. I am very happy to announce that it is November 7th and my first day of the clothing shop being open is going to be November 9th. Thanks to all of my fans!
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New Boutique

This is the good news. I am putting my clothes into a boutique downtown! I'm super excited. The place is not into clothing right now, due to the fact that they are all hair and products. I really love the boutique and I am working with the owner to make room for a clothing line. I really love this picture because the color scheme is amazing with the green and the light pink. I hope to incorporate the colors into the store downtown. It's also full of furniture which I think makes the place look comfortable and welcoming. I'll keep you picture updated about the process.

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all pictures are found on flicker.

My Tulle Obsession

Here is the inspiration for what I like to think is my attempt into working with TuTUs. I happen to love them and then Add the fact that you can find amazing tulle colors and you have me hooked. I'm going to attempt a few skirts that I plan on showing on the runway. Below are the pictures that I look to for inspiration when making the new skirts. I'll have stuff that I made to post in no time.

Welcome to my Wonderland.

Here is the inspiration for my fall line. I'm going off the femininity of Alice with the wild side of the other characters. I am going to do an entire line of skirts that are one of a kind. I have black corsets to go with each dress. I want the contrast to speak for itself. Plus, there is nothing more exciting to me than frills and ribbons!
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HOW TO PACK FOR 5 DAYS

On my last trip to Florida I realized what I have known for years. I am an overpacker. I have no ability to minimize. I could have saved money on suitcase charges by just bringing a carry on and leaving what I never even take out of my suitcase at home. 

So how do you pack for a five day trip to a warmer place? Well here is what I actually ended up wearing, which ends up being less than half of what I packed. 

First rule of packing...always check a ten day weather report and plan for the lowest temps and the worst weather they try and throw at you. In my case that was low sixties for a day and two days of rain. Also, no matter how hot the weather is, there is also very cold air conditioning.  

For my five day trip I was able to wear, and should have only packed the following...

2 pairs of jeans, 1 sweater, 1 hooded sweatshirt, 2 bathing suits, 1 pair of sneakers, 2 pairs of sandels, 2 pairs of heels, 2 sundresses, 2 going out dresses, 2 pair of sleep shorts, 2 pairs of shorts, 1 skirt, 2 tops, and 2 long sleeve shirts. Even though this seems like a lot, it rolls very small and all fit into my carryon suitcase along with other things I needed. This includes my camera, ipod, makeup/toothbrush, and hair products. Because the plane regulations only allow very small sizes (you should always check what the oz. regulations are before packing) they take up very little room. 

I found this picture on flicker and thought that it was a good example of packing. Try it. You can avoid packing a large suitcase that you will have to pay for if you just think ahead and make good packing choices. 

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photo thanks to flicker.com

Summer in Alaska Sketches

         Well here is page from my notebook of sketches. This is the original sketch page from the Rum&Couture Recycles show in the fall of '08. You can see how things change in just a few short weeks. I didn't even end up using fur in anything I did.

         I started with the idea that I could recycle some material that gets wasted a lot in our society. I thought of fur first because of the animals that get hurt by it. I wanted to make a summer line that incorporated fur in some ways. The best way I thought to do it was making bathing suits and short summer dresses and pairing them with books and heels that were accented with fur. 

What I ended up doing as most know was recycling T-Shirts. I know that there are so many T-shirt used for promotional events that they become disposable like trash. So I took T-shirts and made dresses and tops that were fit to go out to dinner in. 

Next post: I plan on showing you how to pack for a 5 day vacation to some place warm with just a carry on suit case! 

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Why I Love Shop Flick!

This dress is the Ric Rac Camdyn in Carnival Print. I love this dress for more than one reason. The dress is off of shopflick.com and they feature designers of all areas. They have really cool clothes to offer and you can see the designers talk about their lines. It makes the shopping really personal. This dress is a three tier skirt with a clinch top. It's a beautiful summer dress, not to mention the pattern is just perfect. The victorian ladies playing games is both reminicent of the dress itself as well as the summer feel of the entire piece.

Check out shopflick.com and look at what they have to offer. Check out "about the designer" portion of the stores and learn what the artists have to say. It's both interesting and enlightening.

photo credit: www.shopflick.com

Girly Cheetah Part Two!

Here is the other fierce dress I promised you. Another mix of soft feminine and crisp cheetah. Next post. New fashion designer I love and a little info on the coming summer line. I also want to post some sketches. It's always fun to see where ideas come from.

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A Little Bit of Fierce for the Spring Line

Well I would like to start out by saying thank you to my beautiful model Jessica. She rocks this dress in the most amazing way.

I just wanted to share some of the wilder pieces that I did for the show seeing that I have shown you mostly tame and pretty dresses. Not to say that this dress is not pretty, but it is in no way delicate. I paired a bold cheetah print with the soft silky floral that I used in two other dresses. You may recognize the print from the long floor length dress because it is the same one in pink.

I chose to do the halter piece and the bottom ruffles in that material to give the dress a flirty feel. The structure belt is there to balance it out and enhance to structure of the bodice/skirt of the dress. All together I feel like this was one of my favorite pieces even though I didn't even like it when I was first done with it.

I guess it just took a fierce lady to make this dress work.

Next post...The other dress with this bold large cheetah print in it. And to think...I never thought I could make cheetah print work.

So sorry that I have not been updating! I really have been sooo busy making my spring line and it debuted this past saturday! here it is...quick video...and then next post the full show.

It's really great to share this with you. It took so much of my heart and soul to get this thing going and so much time and effort to show it. I love every piece and every person who helped me. Thanks to everyone. If you are interested in any dresses please leave me a post!

Last Peek

So here is your last peek at my Rum & Couture Spring 2009 Line.

This is a whimsical green dotted dress with a bright floral bust. I'm so excited because this dress is more fun and less serious than things I've been doing for my resort line.

I hope the bow doesn't throw anyone off of the true dressy nature of this piece. This dress has a zipper in the back and like all of the pieces that I have been working on - it is meant to be worn over a bathing suit or by itself.

I want to thank my roommate for doing this photo shoot and wearing my silly hat and glasses that I will surely be wearing on our vacation this week. Thanks for peeking in and keeping up with me. Now I have a date for the show. It is Saturday April 4th. I'm beyond excited, ask my roommates or look at the photo set of a hall way I have, and can't wait to show you the whole thing. From now on I'll just be posting accessories that will be in the show just so I don't give it all away. I'm bad with surprises but I'll try! (A few more pieces will but up on my website tomorrow www.rumandcouture.com so you can see maybe a few extras...well two to be exact) Told you I'm bad. But, no more after that I promise!

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Matching

Matching accessories in print often make me feel over done and too "matchy matchy" as many of my friends call it. Here is my trial: I'm going to try to coordinate shoes with a bag in print. Color coordinating is one thing...bold prints are another. So, I chose my coach clutch and matching print shoes. As you can see it doesn't get louder than that. (Well yea you can but I won't go there.) I chose matching prints that I could almost hide.
The idea behind it is that with jeans on you can not see all of the shoe. Also, the bag will be clutched in my hand. The prints are noticeable and matching but not loud and taking away from the rest of the outfit. If you have to do matching prints please promise not to wear matching jackets, hats, and pants, and so forth. Please haha. Good luck matching.
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I just wanted to post how much I love ski clothes and send out some advice for ski clothing. First ski pants are not flattering on anyone because you have no butt in them. So this is what I say. I have no butt in lots of clothes. So here it is. I like ski clothes because no one can tell if I have a butt or not. But better yet, I went skiing today and in new ski pants. Empyre is a brand that I had never used before. Empyre pants with- serious dry factor. I ate snow like it was my job and my bottom half should have been soaked but it wasn't! I really like these pants. Although their smalls are not small enough and there was snow in my pants at the end of the day. Another great thing I tried out today was my underarmor shirt that has thumb holes in the sleeves. GREAT IDEA> no snow in my gloves or sleeves. It was so much better. So there you are. My new favorite ski things.
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Dress 2 of Spring 2009

I have another side ways picture for you. I am really excited to say this is dress number two. I am posting it because they are the two show pieces for my line. Anything else dress wise is going to be secret. I will show accessories though. I may show a bathing suit or a bag or something. Who knows. Only time at my sewing machine will tell lol.
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RUMANDCOUTURE SPRING 09 LINE

So this is side ways and that's my fault. But! This is the first dress from the Rum & Couture Spring 09 line!
I'm so excited I can't even contain it. This marks the big first step. I got this done a few weeks ago and now am working on my third dress. Once in a while I will post a picture of something I am working on just to give you a taste of what is going on.

Enjoy the cocktail bubble dress!

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