UPDATE!

I'm transferring this blog over to a new one, so please follow me there!
http://vauntd.blogspot.com/
New posts to come soon there, promise :)

this blog will self destruct in t-minus 30 days.

Cone Boobs & Cut-Outs

Introducing my new mini-collection: RETROSITY!
Featuring deliciously sinful latex goodies with sock/thigh garter details, cone boobs & cut-outs, this has been a long time in the making. I’ve struggled with almost every one of the 6 pieces, and damn it feels good to be done. There is still some tweaking to be done, but they are pretty solid.
Photographed beautifully by Corwin (of course) even though he greatly dislikes doing lookbook/commerical-esque stuff, and strutted by Mosh (of course):





BUY IT HERE! Etsy
I will be honest, the shoot day was exceedingly stressful. I am already a naturally high-strung, type-A person when it comes to my work, and delays and disinertia freak me out. Thankfully everything got shot and in the end I had no complaints, but I can safely say that I am glad I won’t need to do anything like it anytime soon.
So what’s next? Well I plan on pimping this out SO HARD. I’ve started to contact magazines about potential features/covers and yes, even some advertising. I think the time has come, now that I have a pattern base that I can easily pull from and alter, that I need to do a fashion & fetish “VauntD blizkreig.” Has a nice ring to it, eh?
If you have thoughts as to what online blogs and physical indie fashion mags I should contact, let me know.


Other than the blood, sweat & tears I expelled this past month on the above, I made plans to change tactics and work with a performance group called The BAAD (Bicycle Awesome Adventure Dance) Collective:


This and the title pretty much sums it up.
I’ve done one dance piece before but this will be a whole new ball game for me. I’m traveling to Alfred, NY for the next week to work one-on-one with the dancers and make custom pieces for them. I bought some insanely bright and patterned stretch spandex and it is going to be so fun. Not a money making thing, but I’m excited to dive in and collaborate with artists again. I don’t know if I’ll be able to blog while I’m gone, but rest assured I will have some crazy stories when I return.


Random link of the day: http://phrontistery.info/fabric.html
One of the most helpful sites I've ever come across.


And lastly, some personal visual inspiration:



I found both of these on deviantArt, by a photographer named Arthur Sysoev. The are mind-blowing amazing. The wardrobe definitely makes the shots, although the beautiful faces don’t hurt, and I for one know that I must make something similar to that huge green cotton organdy headpiece. Simple but exaggerated shapes are the way to my heart.



Manicorn.
I don’t know if you really need to know anything else.
Except for, of course, that I am going to have to make a huge rhinestone ball gag as soon as possible.

It is very difficult to sum up a long trip.
Even more so when I did almost no design work.
However, I did bust my ass finishing a custom piece that I think is one of my best right before I left, traded a hat for a custom pottery piece (trading with other artists is one of the BEST things about being one), and shipped a load of stuff to a stylist in Canada. So really, my vacation was a much needed sojourn.
But I'm back and ready to work!


Corwin shot my newest hood on the lovely and fascinating (overused word, I know, but really the only accurate one) Scar:


I have been trying to find ways to push these into more fetishistic realms without being cliche, and I think this mouth spreader version is a good solution. Pretty sure I'm done making hoods for the moment, although my next step is going to be making men's versions. There is something to explore there (gender, sterotypes, floral fantasies, etc, ad infinum) so I'm going to let it percolate and then see what happens.


ALSO, you know my website is now 100% live, right? If you haven't already bookmarked http://www.vauntdesigns.com, go do it now! Almost everything on the site is for sale, and one of my plans for this week is to put it all up on etsy. I will make an announcement here and elsewhere as soon as I do so so you can buy things :D


What to do in these next two weeks: solidify the patterns I have for my ready-to-wear collection and start to make some. It's going to be small - micro sized in relation to most designers - but I want to focus on making the 3 or 4 pieces as awesome and unique as possible. Custom work is still my favorite thing to do, but these will be a great way for me to speed up my work process and get my products out there for people to buy off-the-shelf (ie. off the internet through etsy). I'm going to use the Honey colored latex I ordered from RadicalRubber and didn't like to make all the samples...who knows, maybe they'll become more than just samples with other colors added to them.
(For future reference, all the pieces in the collection are going to be dual-toned unless specifically requested.)


And lastly, some personal visual inspiration:

Liu Wen by Bruno Dayan

I love the tones, the way the blacks are blue and are set off by the pink/fuschia lipstick, and the bondage is intricate without moving into a fetishistic realm. Hard thing to pull off, but beautifully done.


Creepy and amazing sculpture, not sure who it's by but was part of an exhibit here in Philly. It's incredibly made, down to the very last leaf, and I love that it references both classical Greek sculptures and that culture's mythology. I <3 a well executed craft.


These sleeves are hands-down awesome. Was flipping though a pattern book on medieval costuming, and these just stood out. A separate undershirt with large billowy sleeves would usually be worn underneath, but I want to make just this out of latex. Keep your eyes peeled :)

Fetholstery For All!

Been having quite the productive week! Made four more of my “Fetholstery” hoods, and I am very very pleased with how they came out. Much can be said for having a reliable pattern and taking your time to do it right.

(you know that if you click they get bigger, right?)

Top left: Cream with birds and nose strap, as well as tie/snap neck.
Top right: Sheer black & white with visor type covering over the face.
Bottom left: Silky baby pink with top ruffle and long neck straps.
Bottom right: Dark blue & green with eye holes and snap neck.


I’m also working on a pattern for a shoot at the end of April…I found this GORGEOUS sheer yellow fabric that looks like an incredible textile version of transparent latex. I bought a bunch of this puppy, so expect to see lots o’ stuff made out of it.


Since I don’t sketch I just drape and drape until I like it, then use permanent marker to dictate what needs to be done where.


Some peeps we know in Philly, Bell & Jerry Bennett, took this sweet picture of my puffy Nostalgia for Nothing jacket in our stairway. Looks neat, I like how it came out.



And lastly, some personal visual inspiration:


Photo of Georgie Bee, taken by Peter Ashworth. I love the color combination, the juxtaposition of digital graphics and digital photograph, and of course the pointe shoes.


Similar in color scheme is this bathing suit I almost got off eBay a long while ago. It was deadstock from some 80’s company, and I wish I’d bought it. Ah, well, I think I’ll replicate the design on some latex.

Laz

It’s been one of those kind of lazy weeks.
Dealing with roof leaks & postal mix-ups.
Sheeting should be here early next week, so I can finally start working again.

Finishing this client piece today. I like how it looks…what can I say, it’s fun to destroy something, break it down, then rebuild it. We shall call it CLOTHINGCYBORG. (Yes, it has matching pants.)



Corwin shot my lookbook (basically a portfolio of boring, on white background pics of all my pieces) on the lovely Sophie Nova…they will be posted on my upcoming website by the end of the month. Thankfully he managed to also take a couple awesome shots like this one so he didn’t die of boredom:


What this also means for you is that ALL MY OLDER PIECES ARE NOW FOR SALE. They are prototypes, so they have some minor flaws, but they are fun nonetheless. If you want anything you’ve seen on here, please email me at vaunt designs@gmail.com.


Mosh posted this cute & creepy pic on her blog of her wearing the bunny hood. So excited to see pictures.


Depressing point: the glue that I was attempting to mix together to make my own formula failed miserably. Thankfully I only used it on some decorative pieces since I had a feeling it wouldn’t work, but now I’m back to square one. Sigh. Another endless quest.


And lastly, some personal visual inspiration:


Inka Essenhigh has been one of my favorite artists for a long time. Everything she paints looks like it’s being pulled apart but never breaking, stretching but filled with some inhuman viscous substance that never pops. The organic shapes look like natural themes but distorted like fingers in a river. I’d love to take inspiration from them and do a huge liquid latex & applique on a transparent latex piece.
Ok, enough art babble, ha.


Picture by Barry Goyette…my favorite of the work he’s posted. Lovely texture in both the water and the shirt, combining. And I have a thing for floral upholstery type print, as you well know.


Saw this on deviantArt last summer- the illustrator is Laura Bifano. Looks like a song somehow, or a dream.

YES.

My first real tear- oh the excitement!! 4PM Magazine, based out of Milwaukee. Go get a copy if you're in the area! (High quality scans coming soon- these are just the digital snap shots.)
All wardrobe designed, made, and styled by me.
I also did the hair, but it's nothing too crazy to speak of.

*(if you click it gets much bigger)*

Shot by TH Taylor, with lovely models whose names I will add in later.
Thanks to everybody, you were all so awesome to work with!

Here's to 2010 being the year of professional editorial tears & being a real business.

5 Week Wish

These are the days when I attempt to stop freaking out.
To stop stressing about the move, which is now past.
To stop trying to control all of my situations.

I’m having a 50% success rate.

My extended break from the blog was not at all intended and I have missed it, gotta admit. So much traveling, so much packing, so much goings-on, it would take just as long to tell and as it did to live. So I will try not to barrage your eyes with it all, but enjoy the picture heavy posting.


When we stopped in the Ozarks to see my favorite people Amanda & Chase, she was nice enough to pose in my 2nd “Fetholstery” hood:


More thrift store fabric, this time a floral curtain. The mouth guard attaches on the left side with a garter clip, ‘cause it just wasn’t QUITE feminine enough.
I like how it came out a lot, although I hate cameras I decided.


Viva Van Story + Mosh is a pretty killer combo, and I love how the pics they created with my sock garter girdle prototype came out. Damn girl is so bendy it’s hard to get a normal head on shot, haha.


This one is now in the trash because it wasn’t right (wrong gage, some mis-gluing, what can I say it was made before I apprenticed with Vex and became AWESOME), but I’ve perfected it and the design will be for sale soon.

I also made Mosh another goodie for a super incredible photographer, Marla Rutherford.


Bunnybunnybunny.
Latex sock garter leotard with hood combo.
It was just shot today, and I’m anxiously awaiting the final edits. I almost killed myself trying to finish it before the move to Philly- I’m talking almost 12 straight hours of work. I was so mentally and physically drained but it was certainly worth it. The ears inflate(!) and though they aren’t perfect I sort of feel like it’s the first truly professional piece I’ve made. It’ll be on sale soon, so if you’re on MM keep checking the market.
Did you know that putting something inflatable underwater and then squeezing lets you find exactly where the air leaks are coming from???? Yeah, now ya do.


Corwin also shot my Valkyrie and Moulfon hoods on the stunning and fucking hilarious Jade Vixen:



As you can tell, we are a great team ;) The Valkyrie one is supposed to be in a column in Marquis this coming month, but we’ll see if it actually happens. I sure hope so!


I bought this magazine at an antique store the other day. No words can describe its glory.
[The second one was a drawing inside- I love that she’s wearing heels on her feet. Next project: make high-heel-ending gloves. There must be a way to do it.]



It’s now hanging on my wall above my work table. My parents though it was…interesting. Ha. They’re never surprised by any of my antics anymore. I'm sure my sisters will just looooove it when they come to visit. Double HaHa.


Now enjoy my badly sketched, but going to be amazing custom pieces that I’m working on:


"Industrial apocalypse" suit modification for a smoking hot local guy. I’m going to be distressing it and adding chain and metal and leather.
[If you can’t afford to buy something custom from me, I also do modifications of ready made garments like this- contact me for more info! (vauntdesigns@gmail.com)


Futuresex nurse for Sophie Nova.


Gothic Lolita inspired latex jacket & ruffled skirt. Not my usual style, but I’m making it for a photographer’s lovely wife as a birthday present and I’m really excited to work on it. All pewter & black latex goodness.


And lastly, some personal visual inspiration:


If you don’t think a gigantic bunny made out of mattress is cool, you have no soul.
(or sense of humor)