Witty Wednesdays - Cats

I'm definitely a cat person. Sometimes, though, my cats can get on my nerves; specifically due to their seemingly spiteful sense of timing:

Mad Men Drinking Game

Since the Season Five premiere of Mad Men a few weeks ago, I've been looking around for a good Mad Men drinking game. However, I found most of them to be either too vague or far too specific, so I decided to have a go at creating my own.

Before I show you the game itself, it's important that you start off with the right drink. the AMC website actually has a pretty terrific cocktail guide that should serve as your menu for the night's revelries.

Feel free to share this with your friends and let me know what you think if you get a chance to try it! I hope you enjoy next week's episode, and always remember to drink responsibly.

Witty Wednesdays - Mawwige.

Mawwige is what bwings us togevvar today. I decided for this Witty Wednesday I would try out a style of comic I saw recently, where the comic panels were separate sticky notes. I seemed rather charming so I hope it works out! Yes, this one is a bit more political than I'm going to do on a regular basis, but I wanted to kick things off with something a bit more hot-button.

Let me know what you think in the comments! Remember, Witty Wednesdays update every week.


Hope you're all having a good spring break.

A Whole New Look

I'm sure you've noticed the complete over-haul to my blog. I'm still trying to make a few tweaks, but I think I'll be able to stick to this look for quite some time. I just hate stumbling upon blogs that look exactly like mine... So, I've customized my blog even more.

I must give credit where credit is due, though - the illustration I've used as my new header is by famed Illustrator Rene Gruau. He's one of my favorite Illustrators of the 20th century, and I didn't even know it until I realized how many of the fashion drawings of the 50s and 60s I've admired for years and years. He's even influenced my own illustration work. Here is a sample of his work, followed by some of my drawings following his lead:

Probably his most famous illustration

He even dappled in menswear... sort of.

Finally, here are some of my illustrations inspired by Gruau's work:

Velvet and Sequins

Leather and Suede

Lace

Now onto a bit of administrative stuff. I'm not going to post again until next week. I have final projects due Tuesday so I'll probably prepare some stuff for Monday so I don't have to skip it again. School ends on the 18th, but the family comes in four days later for Christmas, which means my house is going to be bedlam until the 31st. I'm really going to try my hardest to post lots of interesting stuff over the holidays, but I'm not making any promises. Besides, I'm sure most of you will be too busy with your own lives to read my little 'ol blog. In any case, we shall see each other multiple times before the end of the year.

Nostalgically Yours

Artwork and Kittens!

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Since I've been a terrible, terrible person and have barely posted at all this morning, I'll make up for it by posting some more artwork and some pictures of the kittens - are we cool? Here are some of the illustrations I've done for my Croquis and Rendering class at AAU. To see the rest of what I uploaded, you can click here - you'll have to scroll down past the Fine Art to see the newer stuff.

Also, I know many of you have been anxious to hear about the kittens! I've started to wean them off the bottle and onto some Turkey-flavored baby food. Here they are after their bath:

They're just learning to walk, so they need their exercise!

Some of them still find drinking water from a bowl quite intimidating...

Others have taken to it quite well

Individual Portraits!

Cute Anecdote - Since I had no one to help me bathe the kittens, I tied up my t-shirt to make a pouch to keep the wet kittens warm while I washed the others. They quickly settled in, but apparently got bored by the time I had finished. As I left the bathroom I noticed this and just had to take a picture...!

I seeeeeee you!

Mohair Dream for 1927

Just a little doodle I came up with in one of my random surges of creativity. It has weird shadows on the bottom because my scanner is acting up, so I had to hold up the paper in front of me and upload a photo from my iPhone directly to Facebook because I inexplicably can't save pictures on my phone anymore... Isn't technology just a dream? Here it is:

Anyway, as is my custom, I enjoy designing for different time periods. This is a mohair and fox fur coat designed for about 1927. If I were to make it today I would use faux fur, don't fret! It might seem a tad short but I presume the lady would have worn her dress just an inch or so longer than the coat. The hat is of wool felt dyed to match the mohair with a suede hat band to match the gloves and shoes. Hope you like it!

Project Runway Review

Once again, this review contains spoilers. If you have not seen last night's episode of Project Runway, please do so here.

Here again is my caricature of Tim and Heidi

Okay, so Michael Drummond is gone. I'm already bummed at the beginning of the episode... **sigh**.

The challenge this week was to create a head-to-toe couture look. The winner will be featured in a L'Oreal "advertorial" and receive $20,000! The looks have to be inspired by the finishes of L'Oreal eyeshadow: matte, bright, metallic, crystal, and velvet. Naturally, since the look has to be at a couture level, the budget was upped to $300, and the time limit was extended to two days.

The cash prize for a non-finalist winner is completely unprecedented in all the seasons of Project Runway. This challenge, however, is not. Flashback to Season 3: the designers were taken on a surprise trip to Paris, France, and were asked to create couture gowns. I can't find any pictures of this episode, or I would have shared them with you.

Moving on. Since the designers were given a whole extra day, many of them lollygagged and really took their time, something April was quick to point out. She herself was really working quickly saying, "You never know" in a way we'll later understand was foreboding...

Day 1 goes off with only a few minor hitches. Mondo's bodice apparently dramatically changed sizes after his first fitting when he tried to insert the boning. "Wretchen" and Michael Costello exchanged catty remarks because they both (once again) picked Burgundy/Bordeaux as their main color. Here's all I have to say on the issue of this repetitive color choice:



For those of you who don't know, that's from the movie Kinky Boots. Yes, I know, the color isn't the same, but the sentiment still fits for me.

Day 2 began with the designers still seemingly moving at a snail's pace - all expect April that is - but lo and behold, in floats Tim. I can hardly say he walks. He's never really walked, in my opinion. Tim has a greatly irritating announcement: the designers will be required to create a second, Ready-to-Wear look to compliment the main couture design. I thought this was an excellent addition to the challenge. What Tim said is very true. Designers do not make money off of Haute Couture; they make money off of RTW.

Cue designer drama! Everyone had something nasty to say about this addition to the challenge, except April, who was probably really happy she didn't dawdle like the others. Valerie had a complete meltdown and escaped to the restroom. I was actually really glad to see Wretchen and Ivy go to comfort her. Though my faith in the collective talent of this group is waning more and more quickly, it's interesting to see that time and time again the designers seem to bond despite the competition.

The runway was ultimately unimpressive, and it was really anyone's guess who would be in the top and bottom three. You can rate the runway for yourself here. My picks for bottom were Ivy, Christopher and Valerie. I very much disliked Wretchen's as well, but it was well-made so I wouldn't have put her in the bottom. The other three had either questionable concepts or bad execution. Valerie had all three, and I would have booted her. Instead, it was Ivy who went home.

Mondo won the challenge. I suppose it was because his look was the most outlandish. Though I did love his RTW look, and despite being a self-proclaimed member of Team Mondo, I personally would have chosen Andy as the winner. I thought his warrior idea was the most cohesive.

Here's my look for this challenge:

The Haute Couture piece is a gown with a button-down Minoan bodice in crepe with bright blue accents and a delicate chiffon front-piece for modesty. The skirt is asymmetrically layered chiffon. The Ready-to-Wear look is an elegant suit with open Minoan jacket and a bias satin blouse. The look is made for the "matte" finish of L'Oreal eyeshadow. If you're curious about my inspiration, you can read yesterday's post on Theseus and the Minotaur.

The preview for next week showed Tim introducing some guests that sent the designers into joyous hysterics. I'm going to go ahead and predict that members of the designer's families are these secret guests - let's see if I'm right!

On a side note, I've finally understood the point of Twitter. It's not about following someone so you can read about every detail of their lives. It really is a global conversation. I was logged in and posting all throughout the show last night and it was quite an experience. I was literally conversing with people all across the United States who were watching the same show as I. The wonders of technology do still occasionally impress me, despite being a child of Technological Age.


Thanks for reading,
Nostalgically Yours

Blog Update

Dear Readers,

Today we reached (and broke) the 1,000 visitor mark! Thanks to all of you readers for making this possible. It might not seem like much to you, but it means a ton to this blogger who never really expected his blog to go anywhere.

In honor of this exciting event, I've decided to unveil my blog's new logo, based on a drawing I did. Here is my process for you:

My original pencil and ink drawing

I isolated the desired elements and pumped up the contrast

Then I cleaned up the lines and added the name

Well, readers, what do you think? Before you make your decision, check out these color combinations:

These logos are based on my new glasses, which I will feature in a post later this week. I hope you like them, and I can't wait to hear what you think.


Thanks for reading!
Nostalgically Yours

Let's Go to the Movies!

Yes, I know. The sound is out of sync. There aren't any other versions of this on Youtube...

This evening at dinner, my grandmother told the story of her first visit to an American movie theater.

Edward Hopper - "New York Movie" 1939

She first left her native Colombia for the United States in the fall of 1950 to attend Mississippi Southern College. She still has all the correspondence she wrote in those early days. Much of the content of her letters pertained to the vast differences between her country and ours - for instance, how the black people were forced to sit in the back of the bus. She found this out the hard way when she took a seat in the rear of a city bus. The driver actually stopped the bus, went up to my grandmother and forced her to switch to a seat closer to the front. Needless to say, my grandmother was embarrassed and confused.

Poster for the movie that made Clara Bow

Many other things about the United States seemed very foreign to her, and the American movie theater experience was no exception. On a double date with her good friend from Colombia, the (American) men were very attentive. After buying their tickets and finding seats, they asked my grandmother and her friend if they'd like some popcorn. My grandmother's English was still rusty, so she asked for clarification. Her date explained that it was fried corn kernels covered with salt and butter. She and her friend exchanged looks - not because she didn't recognize the food; quite the opposite.

Damn. Good. Movie.

My grandmother had grown up eating popcorn as a side dish much like rice, so it was odd to think one would eat popcorn at the movies. The only movie theater treat my grandmother knew were candied almonds and other sweets. The movies weren't really a place to eat. In fact, eating at the movies would spoil one's appetite for tea after the movie in one of many local cafés. You can only imagine what she thinks of the nachos and hot dogs available today.

Not a movie poster, but you gotta love Barbi

I adore hearing these stories from my grandmother and from anyone who can share little gems of life in different times. I hope to share more and more of these with you as I blog my way through the ages.


Finis
Nostalgically Yours