Project Alabama Tank. And Rambling.

I think I've already told y'all about finding this top when Jeanie Thorn took us to My Sister's Closet in Phoenix. I have, right?

Good. I'm so sorry--I feel horrible about having such a bad memory here at The Voodoo Cafe because I know it must be tedious for you, reading stuff that I say as if it's Brand-New & Exciting!!, and you're going, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, you've told us that story three times. Just show us the damn photos already. Geez." Maybe I should change the "About Me" part to warn people that there's going to be repetition. Also contradiction, since I change my mind about stuff.  Also empty promises, since I say I'm going to talk about something or show photos and then forget all about it.

Geez. I should just say, "I'm a flake," except that's not true. I'm reliable and well-organized. Just forgetful. Except that would imply I forget stuff, when what it really is is that it never gets to the part of my brain that would hold it long enough for it to become something that could be forgotten. It never gets that far.

Whatever.

(Typing that makes me laugh because I always think of: "Whatever, white people!" Gah, I crack myself up.) OMG--I just found this site, Stuff White People Like. I love this page--I have no idea if I'd love the rest of it or not, but The EGE and I have several on-going riffs on White Food. Also Super Negro, a superhero we created to save black people from the horrors of stuff like stuffed bell peppers and Salisbury steak, things that were forced on me in childhood but that The EGE was, mercifully, spared. Now that everyone eats everything and now that black people have adopted even the most hideous of white "fashion," we had to create someone who could come to the rescue. We will lean over to each other when we see a particularly egregious example (an dapper older black man in plaid golf pants, for example) and go, "Gah. Call Super Negro. Now."

ANYWAY! So we were getting ready to check out when I spotted this tank on the rack. It was a ways away, but I knew immediately what it was: Alabama Chanin. At least, that's what I thought it was; turns out it's Project Alabama, which is the part of the partnership that went overseas when they split up--so this is the cheaper import, not all entirely handmade but still pretty groovy. I didn't know that at the time--all I knew was that it was Alabama Chanin style and had a pricetag of $17.99 and that I snatched that puppy off the rack and actually squealed. (You can read my profile of Natalie Chanin in the January/February 2011 issue of Belle Armoire)

It was fun showing this off at Art Unraveled, which was why we were in Phoenix, because other people actually recognized what it was, which it totally unlike, oh, here, for instance, where people would see this and think it was just some worn-out tank I didn't have the sense to throw away or give to The Maid. (Yes, they do say that. Sigh.)

Mary Beth Shaw (and while you're there with Mary Beth, scroll down and see what she's doing with her stencils and this Alabama-Chanin inspiration, and then scroll some more and see what she says about our podcast, and then--oh, just read her whole dang blog, OK? I ♥ MB) went shopping the next day and found one of her own--apparently someone had a collection of Project Alabama and gave them up. For what reason, I can't imagine. Susan Lenart Kazmer tried to get me to wear the top so she could sneak up behind me, unzip it, and steal away with it. Silly woman: like I would wear it before I washed it.

Anyway, I brought it home *and washed it* and began working on it. Well, not right away:  there's the Wardrobe Triage. I've got to get photos of that. Yep. Got to do that. Anyway, what it is, is: I put all the clothes up on hangers and go through them and put them in order of what needs to be done. If it's mending or altering that requires the sewing machine, something simple and basic--those come first. Then the quicker embellishments--the ones that won't take forever: they come next. The ones I'm going to bead--they come in order of how long it will take. A few beads on the collar? Way ahead of something like this tank, where I wanted to bead the larger flowers all over the front. The problem with this Wardrobe Triage is that, as I get new (new-to-me; often it's pieces given to me by Trish, at the consignment store, or things I buy from her or at Goodwill) pieces, they fit in there, and then if I decide I want to wear something, it gets moved up. Obviously this isn't rocket science and isn't rigid or anything; it's just my way of trying to finish up the quicker-to-do pieces as quickly as possible so 1) I can wear them (duh) and 2) there's not this huge, huge line of stuff waiting. It's pretty sad, the number of garments hanging around our house. And when I say "hanging around our house," I mean literally: there are hooks on the door frames in the sewing studio, and those have many, many (manymanymany) hangers on them. There are finished garments waiting to be photographed, and those hang on the cupboard doors in the kitchen (where they occasionally make The Cook (aka, The EGE) grumble when they get tangled up when he's trying to get to the spices). There are pieces I'm thinking about--things I might add more to when I have time--hanging over doors in the Voodoo Lounge (mostly vintage coats) so I can see them while I'm doing yoga = a good time to think about projects. Then there's the big swath of them all hanging from the shower curtain rod in the cats' bathroom. There are so many in there right now that the room is dim, and if the rod falls down, the bathtub will overflow with clothes. It's pathetic, I know. But I love it.

But this isn't about that. This is about this:

and then I mended it, because the grey under-part had some little holes in it. And then I beaded it. People kept asking me why I wasn't using orange beads, or at least something bright and colorful. For one thing, it wouldn't go--beads look best and show up better if they're on a similarly-colored background, esp. if you use transparent beads, as I do (I like the silver-lined transparent ones for the most sparkle). And there's the other weird thing: I'm totally into chambray and faded denim colors here lately, as if I've returned to the love of my high school years. It's inspired by Native Funk and Flash, by boro style, by tenderly mended garments.

OK--the color is most accurate in the top photo up there. These below were taken outside, and they look a little more grey.

 I didn't bead the back. For the same reason I don't have tattoos on my back: I don't spend time/money on things I can't see/enjoy.

 I'm going to have to play around with pairing it. I wore it to an opening the other night with a full-length chambray-colored Bryn Walker linen skirt (clearance) and a pair of long, pointy-toed woven metallic leather Nordstrom's kitten heels (thrifted, brand new), and it didn't work for me: it was too contrived. I took the heels to Goodwill the next day: they were fab, but they were totally uncomfortable, and I loved imagining someone finding them there for a couple bucks on the shoe shelves. I hope it was someone who realized what a bargain they were getting. I hope they squealed.

I think this top will be best with my old 501's or maybe one of the jean skirts. And the long linen skirt needs a funky sweater or beaded t-shirt.  It's like I was talking about the other day: if you have something form-fitting on the bottom, you need a looser top and vice versa. It's about balance. If you have a dressy--i.e., beaded--top, you'd want something more casual to go with it unless you're just going for Over-The-Top. If I were going to dress this up, I'd get some kind of long silver-y skirt. You know, like s-y-n-t-h-e-t-i-c. Whispery. Not blingy, though. Even then, I'm not sure it would work for me. Dressing it down = definitely.

OK. I'll try to get Wardrobe Triage photos, but you're not allowed to go, "OMG. What are you doing with so many clothes? That's obscene! You should be ashamed of yourself."

OK? We'll just all pretend it's perfectly normal, and you'll say supportive things like, "It's wonderful that you're recycling these cast-offs!" and "My, aren't you the thrifty one?" and not--NOT!--"Oh, sugar, bless your heart!"

OK? OK.

XO