Featured Finds

I love to go hunting at thrift stores and, since I've moved to Halifax, The Black Market to see if I can find anything super cheap and amazing that I can either use as is or fix up to make even more awesome. Here are a couple of my most recent finds, including three awesome discoveries I made today on my lunch break.

The first is a pair of Peruvian earrings that I snagged at the Sally Ann - they were only a dollar. The only problem with them was that the ear wires were all busted and not at all what you would want to put through your ears. To fix this, I took a pair of old earrings that I made and never wore, took of the ear wires from those and simply removed the crummy old ones with the new old ones - worked like a charm! Now they're awesome and perfectly wearable (I know one is missing a couple of dangles, but I just think that makes them look kinda quirky).

Today during my lunch break my boyfriend and I popped by one of my favourite stores here in Halifax,The Black Market, and I discovered their "grab bag" bin - filled with baggies of random odds and ends. I discovered a couple broken bits of jewellery: a stone pin thingy with the pin bit broken off; a pearl bracelet that needs one end fixed up, and a watch necklace that originally had a decorated face but looks much better without it, in my opinion.

I might just check out the Sally Ann near my home tomorrow if the Halloween crowd isn't too insane. Even if I don't find anything, I still enjoy hunting around a bit - the search for buried treasure is always exciting!

Shisha Embroidery 2: Some Images

Here are a few more images of shisha embroidery, including a better shot of Zoe Jakes' awesome shisha top.

The Art of Shisha Embroidery

When I was a little girl my mother had this amazing textile that I loved to just sit and examine. I had no idea where it was from or what it's purpose was, only that it had these amazing little mirrors embroidered into the fabric along with rich lines and blocks of colour. One of my strongest memories from when I was little is sitting on a big, comfy chair and looking intently at this (what seemed to me then) huge blanket with this incredible design, and those mirrors. Ever since then I've snatched anything I could find that had those little mirrors embroidered into it - my collection is small and only really contains that blanket (which is actually more like a table runner), a pillow cushion, and a beautiful skirt that I picked up for $2 at the Sally Ann.

Up until quite recently (I still had no idea what the art of embroidering those little mirrors into textiles was called or where it really came from, but my love for them has been renewed because of another interest of mine: tribal fusion belly dancing. I absolutely love the costumes that these chicks concoct; the rich fabrics, textiles, ornamentation, etc. There are so many influences in there that each little embellishment and touch can tell as much of a story as the dancing itself. When looking through some pictures of Zoe Jakes, I came across one of her wearing a bra completely embroidered with my little mirrors - so awesome! I've been keeping my eyes out for them ever since.

Not satisfied with just appreciating their beauty, I decided to try and figure out what the embroidered mirrors were called and how you could make them. In a brain break from doing database work yesterday, I did a bit of googling and found out some really interesting stuff about them.

The technique of embroidering mirrors into fabrics and textiles comes from India and it has a long standing tradition that dates back hundred and hundreds of years. The mirrors themselves are called shisha, and so the technique has been named after the mirrors. Pre-1500, the art of embroidering cheap, shiny decorations into clothing was developed by the lower classes throughout India as a way of imitating the upper class fashions that were embroidered with precious metal threads and jewels. After the 1500s, mirrors replaced some of the cheaper materials used and the technique quickly spread throughout regions such as the Middle East and even England. Because of their reflective quality, the little embroidered mirrors, or shisha, were thought to have the power to deflect evil away from the wearer.

Okay, that ends my poorly written history lesson. :P So anyway, I found out that really neat and interesting history, and along with that I finally found out how to make shisha! It seems fairly straightforward and along with a handy dandy how-to tutorial I should be able to crank them out. I'm so excited - I love being able to make my own beautiful things.

So, when I finally make my way down to the local Michaels to pick up supplies for my flower hairpiece, I'm going to have to pick up an embroidery kit and some cheap knock-off circular mirrors to play around with.

The Origin of Edwardian Headpieces

Over the last little while I've become intensely interested in Edwardian headpieces and just where they originated from - particularly those head band style pieces with the flowers flanking either side of the face (my previous post about making my hairpiece is directly inspired by this type of accessory, which was continued on in a more simpler form in the 1920s). When I think of these particular headpieces my mind always brings up this photograph of Evelyn Nesbit, taken in 1903:

(Interesting fun fact: according to this source, Evelyn Nesbit was the inspiration for Anne of Green Gables' physical appearance - very cool!) It's simple, gorgeous, and hints at the otherworldliness. Another famous girl who wore a similar headpiece was Ozma, from Frank L. Baum's Oz series (for more pictures of Ozma, check out this source):

In recent years, this particular type of ornamentation has come back in a pretty big way in the costuming of dancers like Mardi Love (mentioned in my previous post), Rachel Brice, and Zoe Jakes. I mention Mardi Love first because she was perhaps the most influential in reviving this particular Edwardian aesthetic - the others simply helped perpetuate it. In an interview, Love describes where her inspiration for costuming came from:

"Old photos and old textiles, I tend to collect old textiles and I’m really into Mooka*, Alfred Cheney Johnston, Arte, Edmond Doolock*, Arthur Rackham, and so just old illustrations, old showgirl photos, stuff like that. And then that kind of influences our whole aesthetic."

One of the reasons why I love the particular aesthetic that Love has created for herself and others is the fact that it references the Edwardian era so strongly, particularly with the use of this style of head ornamentation. A quick search on google doesn't really answer many questions on where precisely this type of fashion originated from - though to be honest, I haven't had much time to commit to such a scholarly hunt lately, what with working full time and doing other personal projects - but I'm still attempting to hunt down the origins, hence why I'm writing this.

Love mentions Alphonse Mucha (mistakenly written "Mooka"), one of the most recognizable artists of the Art Nouveau period. His painting style was liquid, graphic (he is perhaps best known for his poster designs), earthy, and very stylistic. He also had a habit of painting women wearing ornate headdresses such as the one pictured below:

Mucha seems like the best place to start in order to find out just where this particular "look" originated from. His aesthetic was influenced by art from the far east - he was certainly one of the many artists of the Edwardian era to fall under the spell of "orientalism." I did a quick search of some art history journals to see what might pop up on the subject and was surprised to see... not a whole lot. Many articles mention the influence of Byzantine art and fashion as being the strongest "oriental" component of his style, but I'm not 100% satisfied with this answer. I'm sure the answer I'm looking for is out there and it's just a matter of someone clocking me on the head and saying "hey! look over here!" In the process of writing this entry, however, I came up with enough information and enough questions to write an entire dissertation, so I think I'll give my brain a break and end with this striking picture of Evelyn Nesbit, which was either taken in the same session as the previous 1903 photograph, or taken later and meant to reference this earlier image:

*"Mooka" meant to be Mucha, as in Alphonse Mucha, and this second name is meant to by Edmund Dulac.

Flowers Part Two

While out and about doing groceries I decided to drop by the Walmart by my house to see what they might have in terms of crafty supplies.  Well, to my happiness they had just about everything I need to make my hair clips (and more)! I picked up a glue gun, some pretty gold beads, some clippy things (not the right ones, so I'll have to go back and replace them), and, best of all, some gorgeous coloured fake flowers.

Beautiful. I'll see what I can do with them once I have the proper clips. I'm thinking of adding hints of the gold in the center somewhere - just enough so that you get a little glimmer of gold when the light hits the flower just the right way, but not enough to take away from that gorgeous colour. They're medium sized so I'll have to be careful how many I use. I love them, so pretty, so autumnal... and so cheap (only $1). Definitely beats going to Ardenes, Claires, or any of those other stores and buying the super cheap looking knock-offs. I can't wait to get started!

Flowers

Something I've been meaning to do for a while now is make my own hairpieces - specifically the 1920s style flower hairpieces very similar to the kinds worn by Mardi Love of The Indigo. You can find them all over on Etsy and even in some clothing and accessory stores, but there's nothing more satisfying than being able to make something of your own that's unique and custom designed just for you.

Here are a couple of pictures that I've rustled up just now as both examples of what I'm referring to, and also inspiration for what I would like to do.

To me these are absolutely stunning. There's something so delicate and yet so bold about them all at the same time. I know all it would take is a pop down to the local Michaels to have a peek at their flowers, a rifle through the craft supplies to pick up the appropriate tools, and then a little elbow grease. I figure the next time I have a bit of cash and time I'll do just that and really force myself to have a go at it. I'll make myself a dare - by the end of next month I'll have two of these made and I'll post them here for everyone's scrutiny.