Most of the outfits I make for girls who go to dubstep shows and music festivals have one specific criteria. They want to stand out amongst the crowd. This has lead me to create all sorts of amazing costumes from flashing bras and ninja suits, bright corsets and matching tutus and glow in the dark burlesque inspired dresses. Regardless of the idea it’s always a blast to make and the result is always spectacular.

Ladies if you are planning to attend a summer music festival and need the perfect flashing, glow in the dark stand out outfit make sure to give me a call.

Amanda's Hemp silk and fringe dress glows under black lights and looks phenomenal!

Cortney's vest was her design, i just have the skills to make it a reality.

One of my customers had a very special wedding to go to in Australia and she needed a very special dress. What she envisioned was a dress from the movie Under the Tuscan Sun. The costuming for this movie was all very 1950’s vintage inspired and the dress that caught the attention of my customer was a vibrant orange silk dress that Diane Lane wears.

This was a fantastic dress to re-create and once we found the perfect fabric the project moved smoothly and turned out beautiful. I was able to take some quick pictures of this one on my mannequin.

This is what we came up with. I made two different belts to go with it.

This is the dress from the movie that my customer wanted to have custom designed.

I just recently made my friend Yamma a dress to wear to a wedding. The dress design was to be low in the back – and sexy.

It took me several attempts to draft the right design for her but eventually I got it right and we proceeded to buy a beautiful turquoise dupioni silk that perfectly suited the design and occasion.

In the end, Yamma looked amazing in her dress. Since I was also at the wedding, I enjoyed the praise, admiration, and complements she received while looking so stunning in my design.

Halloween is my favorite holiday – even though it’s not really a holiday. The costumes. The parties. The candy. How can you go wrong? It’s also my busiest time of year.

I love making halloween costumes, and I usually have a huge list of people to make them for every year. It’s a great way to get creative and it’s fun for people to wear something that is not their usual day-to-day.

In the past I’ve made costumes based on movies, or from a particular time period, or just ideas that people come up with and can’t produce themselves. All I need is a picture or drawing and I go from there.

Give me a call if you have an idea for an amazing scary or sexy costume that you can’t find at your local costume shop.

Here are some images of costumes I did last year.

I’m always happy to do this type of project as it is a challenge and the end result makes my customers so happy. This top was really easy to put together once I figured out how to construct it and it turned out fantastic. It looks very similar to the images I found online of the original. The bling we used to adorn the top is slightly different but, of course, some things you can’t match up identically. I think we got the color just right.

It was a great collaboration and Tiffany got the top she always wanted.

Natalia, from a very young age, was also always fashion-conscious. As a child she refused to wear anything other than dresses to school, even in the snow. This posed some trouble for me, as it was my responsibility to get her dressed and ready every morning.

I’ve been making Natalia clothing since she was very little. I started off by making her tank tops and Halloween costumes and now I make her whatever she asks for, since I now have the required skills. Natalia has always had a specific style and her love of dresses has never changed. That’s great, because I love to make them. The best thing about Natalia as a customer is that she almost always likes my ideas, and she always looks fantastic in my designs.

The main two things I make for Natalia are bathing suits and dresses. Sometimes she has ideas that she brings to me, sometimes we just buy fabric and I use that as my inspiration. Regardless of the way the designs come about, it’s always easy for me to be inspired because I know Natalia very well and I feel comfortable showing her new ideas I come up with. She is always very supportive and enthusiastic about my work.

This post features some pictures of Natalia in dresses I’ve designed at her request and instruction. The purple dress was one she had seen online and wanted me to knock-off for her. I made some slight changes to the design so that she could wear a bra with the dress, as the original was backless. For most of Natalia’s dresses we use a two-way or four-way stretch fabric, as she likes things to be very fitted and I personally love working with knits.

The white dress was made for a costume party she had to go to. It was an Alice in Wonderland theme and she wanted to be a sexy version of the White Rabbit. I love when I get an assignment like this because it’s fun and I have the freedom to play around a little. For this dress we used a white knit and I designed it with cutouts at the sides and a circle skirt. I also made her some bunny ears and she was set to go to her party.

Got an idea for an outfit you’d like to own but have never seen in the store? Contact me – Carina – for custom designs of all kinds at 778-998-3630.

Jenna from Revel Events commissioned the dress from me. She wanted a short and pretty little rustic dress for the photo shoot that would be sent to a bunch of different magazines and blogs to help advertise all of our businesses. I put together about 7 designs and they picked my favorite one of the bunch. I love when this happens it makes it all the better for me when I draft and make the dress.

Since the wedding dress was to be more for an outdoors and rustic style wedding, we chose a short above the knee design with lace inset and a crinoline to give the skirt volume. The fabrics used were satin and lace. The dress turned out amazing and the photo shoot produced out some wonderful images.  The photos were featured on Style Me Pretty Canada. Here’s a link to the photo shoot.

Email: philosophypink@gmail.com

When I think of burlesque, the words “vintage glamour” instantly pop into my head and I imagine lascivious 1950’s pin up girls with a comedy twist; but there’s so much more to the art of burlesque then just giggles and jiggles.

I’m in admiration of all the beautiful ladies of the burlesque scene who brave the crowds, get up on stage and bare their souls (among other things) in their performances. Though I’m a little too shy to take to the stage myself, I’m proud to contribute to the performances in a small way by sewing or designing the costumes for the show.

My gorgeous friend Miss Voracious V is an amazing burlesque dancer and her routines always entertain me and put a smile on my face. I was fortunate enough to have the pleasure of making Miss Voracious V part of one of her costumes: a sheer chiffon, pinky-purple nighty she wore beneath a dress. She adds so much personality and joy to her acts, and I encourage everybody to go see one of her wonderful shows.

I’ve also sewn a gorgeous gown for the talented Miss Carole Brunette, another foxy Vancouver burlesque dancer. The dress was one of Carole’s designs; she brought me a sketch and I put together the design logistics. It is a gorgeous royal blue and pink strapless satin gown. It was a delight to put together and Miss Brunette is a delight to watch. I absolutely love making gowns and dresses, and it feels great to see amazing and talented women wearing them on stage.

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Photos of Carole courtesy of Elizabeth Lang Photography

Sometimes the back is too long or the bust its out of shape – whether it’s too tight or too big, it can be very frustrating when you want to wear a dress but can’t find one that fits. Yet, there are so many types and styles of dresses, and with slight modifications dresses can be made to fit perfectly. Custom clothing can be the way to go if you can’t find a style or fit you want in the stores.

I met Amanda about four years ago. Her style at the time was much more casual than it is now; she was mainly a t-shirt and jeans type of girl. She seemed open to wearing dresses, but her main complaint was that dresses never really fit her quite right. As a fashion designer I saw this as a challenge. I wanted to help Amanda get the perfect fit in her dresses.

Over the years, I’ve made Amanda many, many dresses. I’ve designed dresses for her and have also used commercial patterns that she’s selected. Regardless of the method used to create the garment, I always make sure to fit the dress to her exact proportions.

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