Phew! I survived Viva Las Vegas 13!

My goodness gracious!  Viva was a trip and a half, indeed!  I had such a blast, I cannot say thank you enough to all of the amazing people that I worked with and met over the weekend!  Photos are starting to trickle in slowly, but I want more, more!  I don't actually  have a camera myself, so I am relying on all of the seemingly endless photos that were taken throughout the weekend.  If you have any photos of me or my clothing designs either from the fashion show or otherwise, please send them my way!  I am holding out on posting until I receive a few more back, so stay tuned!  And if you have any feedback about what you saw, liked, didn't like I would loove to hear it, no matter what it is!

It is times like these that I really do wish the website was up and running, but one step at a time kiddos!  Remember, the official collection will not be debuting until Spring 2011, so until then it is custom lingerie only!  Not a bad deal, though, considering that means the options and opportunities are pretty much endless!  And my prices are more than fair considering all the detail and quality that I put into every piece.

OK, OK, twist my arm!  ONE preview photo, taken backstage at the fashion show, courtesy of the lovely Anna Coquette:

 (that's me in the center and my AMAZING hair and make-up artist, Jessi Pagel, to my right.)  Models, in order from left to right: Miss Amanda Lee, Margie Maraschino, Anna Coquette, Erica Vaughn, Michelle, Gateaux, and Jolee Blon)  Features on each one of these amazing women, coming soon!

Blonde Ambition Bellydance

This is a little late in posting, but Sabah and Lauren, the two loveable blondes of The Bellydance Superstars are joining forces for a mini tour with a new venture called The Blonde Ambition Belly Dance Tour!  They were just in Arizona (sorry for being late on the ball), and now they are on their way to Dallas and Austin, Texas to show the south how it's done!  Offering both workshops and dazzling performances, they are certainly worth catching.  And of course, featuring costumes made by yours truly, so don't miss it!

The most interesting part about their tour, is that unlike more traditional belly dance shows, Sabah and Lauren defy any preconceived notion of what it means to be an American belly dancer. It is a roller coaster mix of styles that blend vintage and contemporary interpretations of movement and music, creating a truly unique experience filled with highly theatrical vignettes. Each performance is distinct and features outstanding local talent and community interaction.  Love it.

We Love Sabah!

So, fun fact of the day...besides the lingerie line, I also design custom belly dance and burlesque costumes! One of my favorites is bellydance-ballet fusionist, Sabah of The Bellydance Superstars. We worked together for her most recent feature, a beautifully romantic choregraphed piece where she is accompanied by two of the troupe's tribal dancers. She presented me with amazing vintage inspiration pictures, and told me to do what I wanted with them. These were some of my favorites of the photos (including some that I found myself after expanding research):

  

  

So, I combined my favorite elements of these (and many more!), added my own little touches and wa-lah!

I went with a bit of an art deco influence, and I even found some really cool authentic vintage pearl, rhinestone, and glass bead trims.  Looking at the photos on tour (plenty more in her performance photo gallery), I realized it also gives the piece a bit of an Alice in Wonderland feel, which works out well as that's one of Sabah's favorites.  She then told me, apparently the girls had been thinking the same thing and interpreting the dance as Alice dancing with "eat me" and "drink me."  Too cute!

Catch The Bellydance Superstars on their next tour, or watch out for the next DVD release, they just filmed the new show, in 3D! Featuring this piece and many other amazing performances!  Go Sabah!  :)