Featured Indie Designer – Zombie Kitten

Rockabilly cuteness by Shelley of Zombie Kitten!

Zombie Kitten skirtYour Name: Shelley Smatana
Age: 32
Hometown: Houston, TX
Current Location: Los Angeles, CA

How did your interest in fashion begin?
Subcultures were what got me into fashion. I love youth uprisings that have their own politics, fashion and music and their opposition to the values of the larger culture. There is so much passion associated with subcultures, and I found that very inspiring .
In addition, I enjoyed the style of fashion in the B-movies from the 50s-60s era. Those movies that featured bad girls with switchblades, all girl gangs and juvenile delinquents and were fun to watch.
What motivated you to start selling your designs and what were your expectations when you started?
I was a bit frustrated with pencil skirts that just did not fit like the ones I saw in the movies, and I felt that other gals were too. I really did not have any huge expectations when I started making Zombe Kitten skirts. This has ALL been very flattering and surprising to me. I still blush and get all shy when people come up to me telling me how much they love the skirts. I really never imagined my skirts would take off the way they have!Read more…

Featured Indie Designer – bunnymassacre

This week’s feature is on the unique clothing by UK designer Bunny Massacre!

top by BunnyMassacreYour Name: Celeste Cook
Hometown: Bromley (the most southerly suburb of London & widely believed to be the birthplace of Punk!)
Current Location: Southend on Sea (Essex). It’s a cool town.

How did your interest in fashion begin? In the womb I believe. It goes back 5 generations in my family. My mother made almost all of my clothes as a child (my dolls always had a matching outfit too!) & my grandmother made me tailored suits that I would design when I was about 12. There was a while when I thought I would study Fine Art, but Fashion called me back. Since I can remember, I have always been thinking about designs & colours & styles & of course I could then get my mum to make it for me. By the time I was 10 she had started teaching me how to do it myself. The first thing I made was a boob tube, which I embroidered with beads to make 3 stars. It was waaay cool. I can’t help it- the ideas just never stop. Thankfully…

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Featured Indie Designer – aNGrYGiRL Gear

I’m back with new interviews… Okay, so maybe some of them have been sitting around for months, so they’re not technically new. But new to you!

So hold on to your butts… this girl supercharges her pieces with metal, metal, and more metal! Meet everyone’s favorite DiY Outcast: aNGrYGiRL Gear!

aNGrYGiRL GearAge: (3^2)(2^2) + 2.75
Hometown:
Denver, Colorado
Current Location: In my studio sitting in front of my computer 😉 …in Dallas, Texas

How did your interest in fashion begin? It all started when I was conceived as a female, I suppose 🙂 I’m really not into *fashion* ~ I’m not a fashionista, I don’t care what’s *in* or what’s *out*, I have no idea what the stars are wearing out on the red carpet. I know what I like to wear, and that’s the style I go with.
What motivated you to start selling your designs and what were your expectations when you started? Oddly enough I started selling on eBay to support my buying addiction. I was spending quite a lot of money on eBay, and even though I could afford it, I was starting to hear a lot of static from my husband for it. I decided I’d sell my work on eBay so that I could respend that money on eBay guilt free. Up until recently, this has always been a side job for me (I can’t call it part time because sewing 70 hours a week doesn’t exactly qualify as *part time*) and I spent the money on fun, crazy stuff that I couldn’t justify spending the *real money* on.Read more…

Featured Indie Designer – Dismantled Fashions

Meet Emily of Dismantled Fashions!

Dismantled FashionsName: Emily
Hometown: Fredericksburg, VA
Current Location: Same. But Richmond has my heart!

How did your interest in fashion begin? I’ve always loved clothes. I think what made me start making them was I’m a pretty tall, oddly proportioned girl. Clothes never looked right, and sure weren’t the style I wanted. My mom is a great seamstress, so I kinda stole her machine one day, had her show me how to thread it, then the rest is history?
What motivated you to start selling your designs and what were your expectations when you started?
Like most DIY designers, I started doing it for myself. Haha, the reason I sold my first piece was I made a skirt too small for myself, so decided to sell it because I can’t stand just throwing stuff away. Then it actually sold, so I made more. Looking back, they were so bad! This was probably 5 years ago, so at the start, I had no expectations. I was just a bored kid. The past three or so years I decided to get serious. Real life expectations? Still pretty low. I just want to have fun doing what I love, and if people get to be fabulously dressed at the same time, then that sounds great to me.
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Featured Indie Designer – Boober Cakes

Meet Jes of Boober Cakes!

Boober CakesName: Jes Zamora
Age:
23 big ones
Hometown: I’ve lived all over, but I guess my hometown would be Chesterfield Michigan
Current Location: ^_^ same as above, good ol’ Chesterfield =P
How did your interest in fashion begin? I guess it began in my early teens, when I had a huge desire to be unique. It didn’t make sense to me, to shop at the same stores, and buy the same things as the rest of the “punks” in order to be unique, so I started making my own stuff. It started off super basic.. I’d draw on shirts with fabric markers, I’d sew a purse for myself. After a while it progressed into making altered t-shirts, and even some shirts and skirts from scratch. Whatever I felt I needed at the time.
What motivated you to start selling your designs and what were your expectations when you started? I tried it for fun after making something for myself that ended up to big. I put it on ebay, thinking it would just be fun to see if anyone bid at all, not expecting anything from it. After that I became addicted. It quickly became very time and money consuming. I’d make some money, I’d spend it on some more materials, or a new machine… just snowballed from there. Read more…