We greeted 2010 at a penthouse party in Manhattan. It was a gorgeous loft with windows on every wall with breath-taking views of Harlem and parts of Central Park. Whee!

Every year for NYE, I do the starlet look – dark eye, full lashes and red lip – festive & glamorous at the same time. I part my hair on the side and curl it into ringlets. I spent weeks contemplating my outfit and ended up wearing a dress I modified (had to turn it backwards and sew black ruffles at the bust) and a cozy faux-fur shrug.

• Shrug: not sure of brand
• Dress: from Canal Street, re-worked & worn backwards!
• Purse: Claire’s
• Tights: not sure but I like the pattern!
• Glitter mary janes: by Delicious. Actually, the same shoes I wore on NYE in 2007!
• Makeup: Medusa & Nymph magic dusts, Retrofuturist lipstick + dark red lip gloss

I love leaving lipstick prints on straws and glasses! ;)

Deerlings: how was your New Years’?

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If I had to nominate one brand for the title of Candyfuture Fashion, I’d immediately pick Jeantrix. Nyce & Hom are the guys behind mine & Audrey’s outfits for My Beautiful Rocket shoot. These two cousins go above and beyond to create clothing that is so outside the box, it makes you think “what box?!”.

On Saturday I drove out to Philadelphia to see their fashion show entitled  Parallel Universe. I can honestly say it was the most conceptual, thought-provoking fashion show I’ve ever seen. This is what the flyer looked like (feat. Raquel Reed):

Photos from the collection are still being edited, in the meanwhile enjoy some backstage action!

Designer part 1

And before you ask, my outfit:

• Bejeweled corset: made it myself, part of the Unicorn outfit
• Skirt: borrowed from Erica
• Tights: We Love Colors
• Boots: Baby Phat (yes, really!)
• Cupcake purse: gift from Mark
• Lipstick: D’Lilac
• Wig: eBay. I’m such a purple fanatic, ha!
• Necklace: Locketship

Designer part 2

I got to meet Jessie aka Painthead who runs the  Lime Crime contest on Polyvore every 10th of the month. She and her husband are so sweet and I had such a wonderful, relaxing time eating vegan cheeseburgers & chatting with them!

Jessie aka Painthead & hubby

Raquel & I being silly backstage :)

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Poppy & I

If you’re from Australia, you know who Poppy King is. She is the world’s #1 Lipstick Queen who launched her groundbreaking brand of lipsticks at the age of 18 in 1992. I remember people pointing out similarities between us in the past but didn’t realize why until I read her book, Lessons of a Lipstick Queen. This book quickly became my business bible – thumbing through its pages felt like reading about my own past, present and possibly future! If you’re a young entrepreneur, interested in becoming one, or simply want a fresh dosage of GLEE to inspire you, I highly recommend it!

A few weeks ago I found a comment from Poppy herself on my blog:

“Hello and Congratulations!
I love everything about what you are doing and you are an inspiration to ME! You have such a fab concept and I wish you every success with it. Whatever you do just keep being YOU and keep going. This is special and the beginning of something great.
I can tell.
Love,
Poppy”

Holding a big lipstick prop at the Lipstick Queen’s offices

I came out to support her launch of Fired Up lip gloss and got to meet her in person. Her sunshine personality is capable of winning anyone over; and the girls who work with her, Cara & Kelly, are some of the nicest people I’ve met in a long time! When I got to visit Poppy’s offices in downtown Manhattan, I was in heaven – leopard print, poppy flowers, lips & lipsticks everywhere… Poppy and I share a hobby of collecting makeup-related items, although, admittedly, Poppy’s collection is much more lipstick-centric. :)

Full outfit, Pocky in hand :)

I wore No She Didn’t in public for the first time that day. I got all sorts of reactions – younger kids love it and are naturally drawn to it, adults try to act like it’s not there, haha. No negative reactions so far, unless you count one guy mumbling “Someone is still in character”, probably referring to Halloween. ;) You know what else is strange? I found myself fighting the urge to smile at random people all the time! It was pretty awesome all in all. :D

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I have a hard time finding clothes I like in stores, so you can imagine what I go through with accessories: nothing, NOTHING comes even close to what I’d want to wear! I’m just not drawn to the safe retail ‘trends’ -  once something’s been mass-produced, it loses its appeal to me. So yea, you won’t be seeing me sporting a black headband with a fake flower any time soon…

Part out of love for DIY, part out of necessity, I find myself resorting to making my own clothes and accessories. I can spend hours (and hundreds of dollars!) at a craft store, marveling at all the stuff they have – from scissors, to pieces of felt to fimo clay. When I saw styrofoam cones on a shelf, I immediately wanted them on my head! That’s how the idea of a Twonicorn was born – because two horns are better than one!

Pearl-Horn Twonicorn

Below is a quick breakdown of how I did it:

• 2 Styrofoam cones
• Long hair extensions (doesn’t have to be real hair)
• Acrylic paint that matches the hair
• Assorted size pearls
• Needle & thread
• Glue gun

Paint styrofoam the color of the extensions (leave it white if your extensions are white). Braid extensions into one loooong braid, secure ends. Wrap the braid around the cones in a spiral, starting from the top. Secure with glue gun. Sew beads onto the hair. Voila! You have two beautiful horns. :) As for how they stay on – there are lots of ways to do this. I made two high pigtails, attached the horns with pins around the perimeter and then wrapped my own hair around the base.

More pictures with the horns can be found here and here!

Deerlings: do you DIY your own accessories?

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My Halloween costume this year was an embodiment of Candyfuture: a Pearl-Horn TWOnicorn! I wore it to the Dances of Vice party; I don’t think most people got my costume and I had to keep telling them I was “a girl from the future”. :)

• Top: Betsey Johnson
• Skirt: reconstructed out of a vintage dress
• Tights: We Love Colors
• Shoes: customized by me, as seen here
• Crochet neck piece: by Princess Sara
• Makeup: Lime Crime

We managed to squeeze in a photoshoot right before the party, so more photos + makeup/hair tutorial coming soon!

Mark was Alice Cooper. He was even more convincing in real life, it was kind of freaky actually. Every time I’d see him out of the corner of my eye, I’d think, Alice?? I’m a huge fan – but then again with my penchant for all things over-the-top and theatrical it’s no surprise. :)

My pink coat ruined what could’ve been a perfect shot

Sarah made her own wig & her friend made the dress!!!

The bad news is that our camera’s battery died before the party even began (how lame!). The good news is that we weren’t the only ones with cameras! In typical DOV fashion, the costumes were truly out of this world – I’ll link to more pics one they become available. If you were there and would like to share some pictures, feel free to post a link to your album!

Deerlings: what did you do for Halloween?

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