4.08.2013

put on your red shoes and dance the blues


I love every glittering hard edged sexy speck that is David Bowie. In fact, I've been known to get into serious arguments with close friends about the neverending cool that is Bowie. I defy you to find a rocker that has always been as undyingly cool as Bowie. I'll fight you. EVEN LABYRINTH COULD NOT STOP HIM.


So when that wildfire storm of a bloggess Tempest Devyne announced a Bowie sewalong, I was aaaaaaaaaall in.  Bowie sewie, baby. The only problem was too many ideas. Glam rock outfit...punk acid rock leather...slick R&B gospel suit...I landed on the look from "Jump They Say," from the album Black Tie/White Noise. VERY COOL VIDEO. He's on skyscraper rooftops, being pushed and pulled in medical rooms and elevators by sharp suits and pale nurses...the tune was written about his half brother, who, i believe, did jump. To me, it always sounded like an admonishment, a commendation, and a warning at the same time. VERY COOL SONG.

But I couldn't seal the deal, as the fashion was clean lines, tailored coats, and, well, black and white. 



Summer's coming, I can smell it in the air, it makes me feel alive, and I'm hellbound for color. Enter Nicole's (of You sew girl!holyfrig amazing Drape t-shirt dress pattern. This is "pattern magic," with no magic required. I'm of the no-thank-you camp when it comes to figuring those bad boys out, so imagine my delight when I had an artsy draped dress in UNDER AN HOUR. My first crack was made up in silky grey jersey, in the hopes of a slim resemblance to Monochrome Tailored Jazz Bowie... and I would've went with it, but I really needed to shoot it on top of a building (seriously, you gotta watch the video).  

But then I remembered this magnificent print, picked up at Spandex House. Or maybe it was World. Whichever one, IT HAS A SIX DOLLAR A YARD RACK. I had enough of this fabric fulla colors-to-light up-your-face to extend Nicole's pattern to maxi proportions. I believe there's even some serious moonlight in there. Definitely some blues for those red hues. And nothin says sway like jersey. The "Let's Dance" dress was on.



Big Daddy was always quite fond of this tune, we'd duet often. And Bowie is just, as always, the coolest. I revisited the video: a sweaty, white gloved Bowie lolls against a plaster wall with a lone upright bassist, a disinterested yet slightly worried singer, squinting into the sun bleached distance, as bar patrons of all ages drink and shimmy. You feel like you're in a mix of present and past Mexico, and Bowie is so cool, he doesn't even need to be in the video. You leave him halfway through the first verse and follow a young girl who happens upon a pair of patent leather red shoes, and then it all goes wrong in that Bowie video way: a mushroom cloud blossoms in the distance, and she and her beau are transported to some kind of New York (I may be projecting here), where they find themselves scrubbing streets, thoughtlessly spending, and dragging mechanical factory inventions around like packhorses. In the end, she ditches the shoes, and they snap out of it, back dancing barefoot atop their mountain, the sharp city intact in the distance across the water, the red shoes abandoned.



Appropriately, I went sans shoes for these photos, taken while away this weekend with Hollow Leg Dad, Hot Mama, and The Child(ren). Also appropriately, I would rather be dancing barefoot in their sun bleached backyard than heading back to the sharp city.

I'll put some Bowie on tonight for sure. It's the best for dancing when you have the blues.


75 comments:

  1. Very cute dress and great photos!

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  2. OH MY GAH, I LOVE THIS DRESS. And I loooooooooooove me my Bowie. He's just, wow. No words.

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    1. this dress is right up your alley, girl. i've made like six now.

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  3. Love that dress and definitely need to make myself one for summer. I live in those on my summer stay at home hanging out days!! It is gorgeous btw and looks amazing on you (as always of course)

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  4. I did not Bowie sewie but that's okay because you remind me of the babe. :)

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    1. tempest has a great gallery up of the bowie sewists. really cool stuff!

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  5. Love it!! If you say run- I will run with you, cuz you look amazing!

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    2. hiiii hiiiiii HiiIIIIIIIIIIIIII

      (i love the chorus.)

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  6. I've made a lot of Bowie-fueled outfits, particularly for Burning Man. I wish I had known about the sewalong!!! I'm literally thinking "can I make something start to finish in the next 6 hours."

    Your dress is great!

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  7. Very cute, your expressions are hilarious :)

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  8. Oh My, this is so fabulous! Love the colours, print and the dress itself. And, i like how you edited the pic, very artistic. Great job! And, yes, I Bowie Sewied, LOL, I love that expression, going to steal it! Actually Kitty also sewed an item for Bowie Sewalong. We are a talented family, :)

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    1. Ok, officially 'stole' your Bowie Sewie phrase and put it on my FB page. But, credited you, lol. I guess I'm just not that brazen!

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  9. I saw this sewalong and shared it with my sister right away - she's a HUGE Bowie fan! He was a client of my dad's in the '80s and my sister was so bummed that she wasn't born yet haha. Very cool dress and photo shoot! Reminds me of Kazz and her photos.

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    1. pleeeeeease tell me your dad got pictures. yes, i felt like an EXTREMELY amateur kazzmaker messing around with these in PS!

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  10. I am in a Bowie trance. You look fancy!

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  11. This. I have no words. Dress=awesomeness. Photos=amazeballs.
    Ok, 2 words.

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  12. You super-star! Love it, love it, love it!!! You have spun that Ooona magic around it like only you could.

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  13. Sorry - 2 O's in Oona.. not 3.... :/

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  14. Love your belt! is it rope? made by you?

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    1. ah, i wish, it's a pleather H&M job. i couldn't resist the neon sherbert colors!

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  15. Well, I love color and print so this one's a winner for me. Great job on print placement.

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    1. i must admit, i was bummed i didn't get the red closer to my face. i was in a bowie daze...

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  16. What an amazing print! I think you chose the perfect dress for it :)

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    1. thanks ashley! i thought nikki's pattern would make excellent use of it :)

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  17. My god!!! I am on the bottom...
    This draped dress is completely my style!!!
    Sublime on you as usual;-)

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  18. Run, Bowie will come after you to steal his dress back.. Yes he does like dresses... Inloooove with this darling x

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    1. ooooo ain't it the truth. those i must admit, if bowie were chasing me, i wouldn't put up much of a fight.

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  19. Dresses with stories! These are my favourite entries, Oona. And, yes, Mr Bowie is the coolest of cool - my baby brother walked out of his wedding (as in, back down the aisle. Not abandoning prospective wife at altar!) to "Let's Dance." But he is the coolest man I know.

    (I settled for walking down the aisle to the Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony" - and, no, I didn't shoulder the guests out the way!)

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    1. aaaaaaah i love it! both walks down the aisle sound uber cool!

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  20. aaaaaa! love! must make this dress! and i totally don't have a time for that now, with all the stuff that needs to be done, but you're challenging me, sister oona! off to check my fabric stash for some colorful jersey

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  21. Argggg this is so amazing!!! The dress the print the man the you too fucking cool. Need to stitch me this pattern. And gonna check out that mash up right now. Also, the cover of that Santana album was painted by one of my closest friend's dad - Mati Klarwein - if you like this one you should def check him out, he was SUCH an inspirational artist! x

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  22. Beautiful dress! I am following the link to the pattern :) I am super new to sewing and just found your blog on bloglovin! I am enjoying all of your talent!
    xo

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  23. Had I KNOWN about Bowie Sewie I would have been allll over it! Love him! Always have. Always will.
    But your dress!! Gah! So gorgeous! I love the drape. OH how I love the drape. And the color, well, you do colorful prints like no other.

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    1. ack! you woulda rocked bowie sewie! it's never too late to be inspired by The Man.

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  24. Did I do acid this morning? Why am I hallucinating this vision of balls out trippy magic? OONA DID YOU DOSE ME?

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  25. Wow! This is a stunner for sure! I'm not the age to be a diehard Bowie fan but I'm still a fan. He was amazing. And I'm hoping on over to Nicole's site to see this pattern with my own eyes!

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    1. oh maddie. one is ALWAYS the age for bowie. i sense a mixtape in your future.

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  26. This is great in a maxi length! You definitely need to be barefoot sipping a drink with a little umbrella in it for this dress.

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  27. Such a great post, the dress in it's technicolor beauty! And your graphics!! Your talents are many Oona!!

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  28. I did not Bowie Sewie, but I did watch the Oye Como Va & Let's Dance video and I do love your dress!

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  29. You need to stop being so cool. It's making the rest of us look bad.

    strugglesewsastraightseam.wordpress.com

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  30. Amazing color and so fantastic! This too is on my now mile long To Sew Lineup, which I probably won't get to before it needs to be warn (now, now!), but it's there. I am going to LA today and picking up some fabric, because I really need it (haha).

    Oh, oh, I have a Bowie moment! (put on your granny voice for the next few words, just do it.) Back in '75, I went to a Bowie concert in San Diego when I was 14, my world was not only rocked musically but also figuratively. I saw some things there that no teenaged girl from OC had ever heard of..... but it was fun and crazy and opened up my world to music. Nothing better than dancing to a Bowie tune!

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    1. i love it!!! were you just astounded? i would love to see him live...

      and you may want to put this at the top of your list. i've made like six now and i live in them!

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  31. THE COLORS! Love the style and print so much. You are rocking this look hardcore, and I say yes to all of it :)

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  32. Soo Amazing! Love the dress and the print and I'm always super jealous of everything you make :)

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  33. Cool dress. Sydney, though, not New York.

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  34. Cool dress, amazing photos. I think DB would approve. You should come to London and check out the Bowie exhibit at the V&A...it's all the talk!

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  35. So freaking awesome Oona, the drape and print? hells yeah! Killing it on PS too. I'd wear that everyday until hubby said Ok that's enough already get back in there and sew something new. Brilliant. Bowie is god!

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i thankya truly for taking the time to comment, i love a good conversation-- and hope you know my thanks are always implied, if not always written!