sneak preview of glittermini vintage:part two

here is another sneak preview of glittermini vintage. check out my photos! they look just as good as the other stores that i will be up against. hell, they're even better! psssssh...

this weekend was spent shooting around 30 or so articles of clothing on four of my beautiful friends over two days. i couldn't have done it without their help, and also the wonderful eye of miss de la rosa--another one of my very talented friends who is a photographer. without her, i wouldn't have had the idea to shoot my shoes upside down in cutesy poses for instance...and my camera wouldn't have been set correctly... and she even came with those big ole silver reflector plate things that gave everyone a little extra glow.

here is a collage i quickly put together of some of the shots. i am so happy with the outcome.

i am fortunate in that my apartment gets a ton of sunlight, and shooting clothes in natural light is pretty essential, so that my buyers will be able to see exactly what they will be getting.

on another note, after the shoot, molly and i went to the cherry blossom festival (just like every other brooklynite, it seemed!) at the brooklyn botanical gardens. here are a few pictures:





what a great weekend. i haven't had such a productive weekend in ages...it sure does feel good to accomplish something...i've got to get to sleep though, because i'm pooped, and when i think about how much photo editing that's ahead of me in the upcoming days, i get dizzy.

i was hoping to have my first listings up by this wednesday, but that depends on how busy my week will be at my *real* job.

p.s. this little japanese sculpture pup had coins all around him, and he's supposed to bring me good luck. he was one of two sculptures outside one of the japanese shrines. i was snuggling up to him really hard to ask him to send good vibes my way.

these pics beat the clown pic

i find this little series of pictures more disturbing than the clown.

okay. so i had my birthday parties like every other midwestern girl at Chuck E. Cheese.

i have no clue how chuck e cheese is now, haven't been in there since i was a kid, but i can't imagine that this day in age, chuck e. is still robotic and whatnot. has he gone digital? do kids just go there and watch him on a screen and play video games, rather than play and catch one another germs in the plastic balls?

i present to you my friends... 3 snap shots of one of my birthday parties.

first: the band


chuck e's groupies... he came to say hi(thats my forehead in the corner btw, with the birthday cone hat):


and then there is this:


WHAT THE EFF is going on here? that's right. That's me. Bent over, getting what appears to be a birthday spanking from Mr.Chuck himself. I must have been a naughty girl that year!

I told you that there were more disturbing childhood pics from where the others came from! But this birthday party series certainly takes the cake for me.

glittermini vintage is coming, i promise!!

MY GOAL:
to have my very first listings up a week from today. first round of bids will end on the following sunday evening (experts say around 10pm is best... i will make mine 1030, because i know I watch the sopranos on Sunday)...i'm not getting my hopes up to rack in a ton of dough, but at least some of the clothes will be up!! and i would have started.

i lay in bed at night and can't fall asleep. even those darn sleeping pills don't keep the anxiety away for the first 20mins upon putting my head on my pillow, and i just can't stop thinking about how much i just want the listings up.

but... it will happen...soon. my *shoots* are happening on saturday morning, and sunday afternoon. and that's been the only hold up.

and then it's just a matter of uploading, and getting some technical assistance from D and there ya go... it has been lauched.

right now, i am also working on little logos and such, and the overall *glittermini* brand.

i found these cool images i am thinking about working with, as a starting point. and am playing around with different color palettes, and nailing down the typographical side of things.





check back soon!!! and keep your fingers crossed for me that i can get this thing up and going!

my house

Damien just told me that a bee is flying around his apt, and that just made me think of this picture of my dad. When I was around 7 or so, my dad built me a house. Thats him building it in the garage, and then it moved to the backyard. It had a screen door and everything, and I would have my friends over and we'd enjoy one anothers company.

Well, one day, the thing got overun by bees and hornets. So I stopped playing in it, because no matter how much my dad sprayed, they just wouldn't go away.:(

I loved that house though. And my dad kicks ass, because he made that thing from scratch for me.

Fun at the house!

Pictures of the day.

Sleepover... that's me in the blue in the corner suckin on a sucker (in the midwest, we call them "suckers" not "lollipops"). i miss my old basement too. it was so colorful and ultra 80s looking.

and i wish i could still do this, but i fear my body isn't this flexible anymore. i should go home and try it.

byebye tights:(

my most favoritist tights died today. started with a hole in the big toe that became so unbearable, i had to take off my boot and rip the toe of the tights in the middle of the street.

i think i will just make them in to leggings of some sort. i can't throw them away yet.

lesson learned: when you buy something cute at H&M like cute polka dot tights, buy like 5 pairs of them, because they never last.

Noreaster Sundays are for finishing things

I have been very productive today. Every New Yorker needs a day that is declared a "stay in doors if you can" day by our local weather men. Well, it's not even 5pm, and I've accomplished a lot of chores today.

First, I woke up and did the dishes and cleaned my nasty apartment. Then I washed my hair, and then I finished my skirt!!! It's all done, and came out a lot better than I expected. The zipper is perfect too, the hem sucks, but that's okay. Gives it character.



Right now I'm going to take all of those clothes and measure them... before I can launch my store, i have to measure each and every thing, not to mention look closely for anything that i might have to alert the buyer to... ("tiny hole here", "small stain here where you can't even see it unless i told you it was there, but had to", etc... all that stuff that comes with buying vintage)

So, that is what I will spend the rest of my afternoon doing.
OH, and then I'm going to make these porkchops for dinner mmmmmmmmmmmm.

OOO it's the little things in life...

the highlight of my day was when i was laying on the couch this morning, and then all of a sudden realized that i had been hearing an old school bell ringing outside of my window....i'm sure i'd been hearing it for like 10 mins until it finally registered.... "OMG, that's a bell *peeks out of window*....OMG, that's the bell that Violette said I'd hear when the knife sharpener guys drive around"

i was in house-only shorts and a tank top, had just rolled out of bed not even an hour before, but i got so excited.. threw on my jeans, flip flops a jacket and a scarf to cover up the stained wife beater i had on... but where were my scissors?!?!? i found them after around 2 mins, shuffling through the chaotic state of my apt, and then found the dull scissors under last weeks paper.

i ran (slowly) down the stairs and said *waaait! you guys really exist! my friend told me about you! can you really sharpen my sewing scissors?!" i asked, realizing how silly i'd sounded after i peeked in his truck and saw the crazy sharpening machines inside. "yep, four dollars".

then my neighbor from upstairs came out with some chisels (he's a carpenter), then two more guys from the building across the street, and then from the window i hear my other neighbor who i have the biggest girlie crush on, call my name from her window, asking what i was up to over there at the knife truck.

it was one of those beautiful brooklyn afternoons. and so surreal to see everyone emerge from their apts with knifes and tools in their hands, half scattered hadnt-showered-today looking.

when Violette told me about this when we had our sewing day, i totally didn't believe this guy actually existed. it just sounds so funny to be told "no really.. you know, the knife guy! he just rides around in a little truck and parks ringing a bell and will sharpen anything you need sharpened if you catch him outside"

next time i will have him sharpen my kitchen knife set!! :-D he said they'd be back in around a month.

this pic looks like the knife truck i saw, except mine was green!

A sneak preview of Glittermini Vintage

After work, i went over to Mr. & Mrs. Finemans apt for a yummy dinner and had my first attempt at shooting the clothes that will go on my ebay store. I still have a lot of figuring out to do, and have to figure out the right time of day (since I don't have a studio or anything...right space, etc. I've looked at several other stores for reference, and have always liked the ones where the models are taken in a lived in space--something about it seems more fun and natural. So, I definitely want it to have the same feel, but just have to figure out the lighting situation and need to do it at a time where my subjects and I aren't working off of full bellies, and fighting off the tiredness that hit us come midnight after we all had very long days at work.

Anywhoo, here is a sneak peek of some of the pics and clothes. But this is only like 4 out of the 25+ clothes I have to shoot!

This is proving to be quite the undertaking. I think that it will also be a lot easier when I get my own tripod. But, I know itll all come together eventually.

The middle picture is of the stripped shirt that got to keep. Ain't she cute? She said she'd give me 12 bux for it... but I just wouldn't have felt right taking her money, especially since I paid no where near 12bux for it!

It's also going to be so hard to ask my friends to model these things, because I want to give them all of my finds, but I have to stay focused and remember that they're for the store!! So I will have to repay them in brunches, beer, hugs, and kisses, and many thank you's:)Because if I give them all away, then I won't have any inventory!!! My dressform will also come in handy, but it's also good to have an actual model with the clothes on so that the buyer can see how it hands on a human. I know I tend to buy the stuff that I see, and just try to judge how it will fit me based on how it fits another human.

p.s. i think that the most successful is the picture of the blue dress (the shot on the left), its clear, and very color accurate. We used Aarons camera for that, and shot it in their elevator that was made of stainless steel... but that's the quality that i am aiming for.

me, mom, and (dead) mark

i probably fell off of my mothers lap 2 seconds after this picture was taken, as my mom was just chatting it up with one of her friends on the phone.

anywhoo--that's me, and my mom, and (dead) mark. i grew up with siamese cats. mark died when i was like 10, and my other cats name was simon. but he's a dead cat now too. and he died when i was in college.

an evening out is better than no evening at all

that's what my mother would have said if i called and told her about this tonight...

for those of you wondering how that craigslist date went. this IM conversation is all i'm gonna say about it........and i'd also like to add, if youre a guy, dont tell a girl on the first meeting that you were "un-dateable" for the past 2 years, and that everyone who was around you thought that you were bitter, and mean, and you still don't see how that girl stuck around for as long as she did putting up with your behavior... that's so not flattering, and just makes me want to run far far away from you. because if you admit to having a dark side on the first date, i'm almost positive that you will always have a dark side, and i'm not going to want to stick around to see it.

we had good conversation outside of that, and i really liked his sense of humor. he was nicely put together and had very nice teeth. it's always cool meeting new people...and it's better than sitting in my apartment on a chilly night with pazzo watching law and order re runs.

*sigh*
it's spring... i'm lonely! (there, i said it!)...maybe one day my prince will come, but i know it won't be from the list that craig updates daily!!!

Ugh! Stupid camera!

Tomorrow i promise that I will post pictures of my lovely vintage finds. I was going to take a funny picture (that will be taken in the morning), of everything that I got for my ebay store.

"Change the Battery Pack" it tells me, upon powering it on........ well, it's charging now, and I will post the funny pic in the morning, with follow up pictures.

(Angelina, this post is for you...pix coming soon. promise!)

Blast from the Past

Remember these two hotties? So much is wrong with this picture. So disturbing on so many levels. Which one is the dead one? I forgot.... well, it was hanging up half taped on the wall at work. Just a random picture. I guess someone printed it out for research purposes a while ago. haha but EW. ew. ew.

I always did have a thing for handbags

I'm Dreaming of a White Easter!

Right. So. It's been blizzarding, and flurry-ing the entire time I've been here. My brother said that on his way up from the windy city, they had to pull over, because it was like driving in the middle of a snow globe, and they were fishtailing on the highway, which caused them to drive 15mph at times, making that usual 5hr drive a heck of a lot longer than it would have been in sunny conditions.

My flight leaves tomorrow, but they don't lay salt here on the weekends (don't ask why, because i've never known the answer to this question. its not like it only snows in michigan monday-friday)... so it will be interesting to see whether or not my flight is delayed tomorrow night. Because, as of now, there isn't any movement, in or out from DTW...because of ice. ice. ice. ice. dammit!

p.s. please take note of the "feels like" column of the chart, because it really does feel like that outside. Why don't they just say that the *feels like* temperature is the REAL temperature? dummies!! dummies i tell you!

So many stores...So many aisles...So little time...So many miles....

I really tried to find pictures through google by typing in "vintage+fashion+detroit" but nothing good came up, so I found this super cheesy picure of the detroit skyline. Those fireworks are a representation of my excitement!

I'm home, in the lovely suburbs of the motor city, for a long holiday weekend with my family. And well, I'm also here for......

Sha-sha-sha-sha-sHopooppPpPpPPpPping!!!!!!!!!!

I just finished doing some research and wrote up a list of vintage store's I'm going to hit up while I'm here (Mother Fletchers, Carries Closet, Showtime Clothing, Cinderellas Attic...just to name a few),on top of my usual 3 salvation army stores that I always go to. The only thing about being in the midwest of course, is that all of the stores that I want to go to, are on opposite corners of the city (usually 30+miles drive apart from one another)... the shops aren't in one specific area,and if they are, they're *boutiques*, and I can go to to an overpriced boutique any day of the week back in new york. I'm here until Sunday. I am going to wake up at the crack of dawn on saturday, and shop till I drop...somehow, i have to spend time with my family too! But I've got crazy amounts of thrifting to do, and very little time.

Anywhoo, I am going to bring my camera along with me and will try to snap some pics of the places that I go to. My camera is on it's last legs though... the battery sucks.

My ultimate goal is to find spring clothes/shoes/jewelry/etc in various sizes to start up my ebay store(again!. So I really plan on buying a ton of shiz, that's good enough to photograph, and stick up on ebay. Sort of like what this girl has here:

CLICK HERE TO SEE AN OVERPRICED EBAY STORE. AND NO, SHE ISN'T MY MOST FAVORITIST EBAY SELLER. NO WAY I'M REVEALING THAT SOURCE. THIS HERE IS JUST AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT I HOPE TO HAVE ONE DAY!

pizzle, from michigan!
xoxoxox,
elli.d

I'm in love with a stripper

So, I think that I officially love my job. I got invited by our photo dept. to a Bada-Bing type strip joint after work waaaaay up in the Bronx. We went to scout out a location for an upcoming shoot. It was surreal, because it was very early in the evening, so there were a couple of girls walking around, or eating their dinner topless at the empty tables before they went on stage. There were three girls. An asian girl with no ass, but a lovely stomach, and overall soft looking body... a black lady with really tacky tats that were trails of kisses going up and down her thighs... a white girl with the nicest ass ever, and boobs. and then you had a girl that was totally cracked/coked/methed...whatever'd up... super skinny with a body to die for, but with a total windowlicker face.



I brought back two souvenirs (thank you for the correct spelling of this, B). The label from a water bottle (which i'm asumming, had I paid for it, would have been like 5 bux), and one of a around 500 flyers that were tagged up all around the joint.

I've been to clubs before, but this time it was cool because the place was empty, so we got to get up close and really see these girls. They're amazing.... the way that the flex their bodies around the poles, and jump up and wrap themselves with one leg hanging...watching a pole dancer is truly mesmerizing. I can understand why those sad men who wake up to go to the strip clubs and are addicts go daily... I mean, these girls are hypnotic.

My co workers and I want want to sign up for pole dancing classes. (To get in better shape, of course...although shiz, lord knows I could use a part time job to get some extra money! tee hee. sike!)

Straight from the google search of lyrics from TPain, I leave you with:
I'm in Love with a Stripper

Got the body of a goddess
Got eyes of a pecan brown, i see you girl
Drop it Low
She Comin Down from the ceiling
To tha floor
Yea She Know what she doin
Yea yea yea
She doin that right thang
Yea yea yea yea yea
I Need to get her over to my crib and do that night thang
Cause I'm in love with a stripper

She poppin she rollin' she rollin'
She climbin' that pole and
I'm in love with a stripper
She trippin she playin she playin
I'm not goin nowhere girl I'm stayin
I'm in love with a stripper

Out of all the girls she be the hottest

Liking the way she break it down I see you girl
Spinnin' wide
And she lookin' at me
Right in my eyes
Yea she got my attention
yea yea yea
Did I forget to get me to mention
I need to get her over to my crib and do that night thang
'Cause I'm in love with a stripper

She can pop it, she can lock it
Teddy bend her ass down is bout to see this sexy girl
In my bed
She don't know what she is doin'
To my head
Yea she turnin' tricks on me
Yea Yea Yea
She don't even know me
Yea yea yea ea
I done got her over to my crib to do that night thing
Cause I'm in love with a stripper

pink does not match purple

my latest skirt

Violette Crumble came over today and helped me get back into my sewing groove. Last month, I got frustrated with my machine, and put it back on the floor. I was mad at it. Everytime I would start sewing, the thread would bunch up like crazy--it was just a matter of me not threading my machine properly, and I grew frustrated, and would give up. I've made a few things on my own successfully (a jumper, a shirt or two, and an a-line skirt that i made in a sewing class over a year ago), so i know i can do it. i just get tripped up by the technical problems!

Anywhoo, this is how my late sunday afternoon was spent. I pinned it on my dressform for you to see. It's a simple three piece pattern, and it has a very nice shape. I love how it flows, and when I hem it, it should be the perfect length. I have to sew in the zipper, but if i follow violette's instructions, it should turn out okay. The fabric was so cheap, that if it doesn't turn out, I won't feel TOO bad, because the stuff was only like 99 cents a yard on sale when I went home to the JOAnn fabrics. The fabric is kind of crazy too, doesn't it look like microbes or something? I will have to be in the same whacky mood I was in when I bought it, when I actually wear it!

Here are the back and side views. Wish me luck finishing it!!






p.s. Pazzo was a little bastard during the process. He bit Violette! He parked his fat cat butt on top of the directions, and when she went to show me something, he just snapped. I felt so bad, and embarassed--it was like he was acting like that bad child that no one wants to admit to being associated with when they act out... I'm still mad at him. I'm sorry Violette... next time you come over, I will make sure I have a cat cage, and I'll lock him up!