rock and roll hotel: olympia!

bite it.

DIY at BYT!

click for BYT and this week's style column: DIY: miu miu-inspired ruffles!
thanks!
morgan

930 club: art in manila, grand ole party, rilo kiley.

velvet lounge: greenland, prabir and the substitutes.

steel yrself.

eat it.

panda head interviews...

if you live, love and shop locally in DC, chances are you're familiar with virginia arrisueño's sharp line of bags-and-more, de*nada. she's at all the great shopping events (styleistics, crafty bastards, black cat's rock n shop), all your favorite stores (kickballers, smash, redeem, alex boutique, NIDO, unsung designers, and even trim) and perhaps most importantly, all up on your best friends. DC girls love de*nada - but considering she sells across the US and canada as well, we can't really call her our little secret. but we DO get the dirty details on her new fall line first...

when and how did you start de*nada?
At the beginning of 2005, I was toying with the idea of starting a small business but I was clueless on what I wanted to create. At the time, I was working as an assistant to a local handbag designer who was teaching me how to sew, create patterns and overall how to manage a small business. One day, she decided to move her business to another state to be closer to her fiancé. After she moved, I figured enough was enough, now is the best time to start something. I was young and had plenty of energy. So I used what I learned from my former job and started a small business in handbag design…and presto, De*Nada was born!
A lot of people ask, "why did [you] name [your] label de*nada?" and why not use my own name for my label like most designers do. The answer is very simple. My last name, Arrisueño, is very difficult to pronounce properly. So rather then hear my name get butchered each time I did business, I decided to use a Hispanic word that is catchy, easy to say, and most people know what it means ("you're welcome"). Also, since my parents are from Peru, South America, I wanted to choose a word that was somehow connected to my roots. That connection is really important to me.
Although I had some problems at the start, I always knew what I wanted to achieve as an independent designer and entrepreneur: to design/create limited-edition products that focus on craftsmanship/detail, function, style and affordability.
how is this collection different from your first?
Personally, I feel that this upcoming fall and winter collection is very different from my first collection. The materials I used for the products, the overall appearance of this collection and the addition of tees and knitted accessories make this fall and winter collection very different from my first one.
After selling my products at numerous shopping events and talking to my customers face to face, I realized that the majority were young professionals/urbanites on the go who needed bags that were functional, durable, well made but still affordable. So for the fall and winter collection I decided to use a combination of vinyl and canvas. The vinyl I use is a higher grade of vinyl that feels and looks almost like leather - the difference is that vinyl is a lot more durable, easy to clean, water resistant, vegan-friendly and affordable. The canvas I use also has the same qualities as the vinyl.
For the overall look, I decided to transition the theme towards a more unisex/tomboy feel. Ever since my first collection, I never felt like the collections truly represented me. Since I have always been a semi-tomboy, I decided to combine both masculine and feminine qualities to this collection. For example, I included screen-printed images of guns and keys on a shopper tote bag.
Lastly, I decided to expand and include a small line of tees and knitted accessories, which I’m very excited about. For the tees, I worked closely with my long-time boyfriend, Kelly Towles. Since he has a lot more experience working with graphics/illustrations than I do, we would both develop the concept and he would illustrate the idea. The knitted accessories developed from a personal passion I have for fiber art, etc.
the scarves are a new venture - tell me about them!
Since I was kid, I remember my great aunt teaching me how to knit. She taught me how to knit sweaters for my Barbie dolls, teddy bears and later how to knit scarves. Unlike most kids my age, I spent most of my free time knitting. Since then, I have always had a fascination with knitted accessories and it followed me through out my years in college. My senior thesis was on fiber art. So for this season, I decided to branch out and design a small collection of scarves using alpaca and angora.
Essentially, the collection includes four styles and each design comes in various colors. Since I am personally not into the frilling, super feminine styles, I decided to keep the designs simple and elegant yet still functional and affordable.
I love this line and hope by next fall and winter season I will be able to develop [it] further and include a larger variety of knitted accessories like gloves, hats, sweaters, etc.

interview: morgan. pictures courtesy of virginia arrisueño. the f/w de*nada line is available online september 24th at www.DeNadaDesign.com and locally at the aforementioned retailers. and go add de*nade on myspace like now.

get it tight(s).

click over to brightest young things for this week's style column: testing 1-2-3: tights!
thanks,
love,
fall weather,
morgan.

safeway: columbia road.

rva road trip.

red onion: listopad cocktail party.

930 club: blisspop: georgie james, soft complex, the dance party.

warehouse: sonic circuits.

the remix: capitol hill grand opening

NY fashion week: a very small recap at BYT!

metro center.

jimmy valentine's lonely hearts club: boytoy party.

panda head interviews...

tina henry-barrus is tina seamonster: crafter, blogger, mom of two, and zombie-enthusiast (maybe not in that order) whose frighteningly adorable prints adorn everything from underpants and t-shirts to pins and holiday cards. keep an eye out for her at crafty bastards in october (and check out the crafty blog for her columns leading up to the big event), but you can get your seamonster fix any number of ways before then at i like seamonsters (her etsy shop), yeti loves seamonster (handmade quirk for your rad kids), and television zombies (her podcast). go forth!

how and when did you start crafting?
I have always made things: handbound zines, handpackaged records for my old micro-indie label. But I started what I do now about 4 years ago. I wasn't sure what the point was, I was just making these weird collages out of all of the tiny pieces of my life that I had saved for years and years. They lived in our spare bedroom, on the bed, for a while until the first Crafty Bastards Arts & Crafts Fair. That event just changed everything for me and I realized that people would actually buy what I was making. I also bought my Print Gocco to make shirts for that fair. The Gocco has become my tool of choice for creating things.
how would you describe your personal style? to what extent is it reflected in your designs?
My personal style is this weird mix of scary/cute. I would have to say that it is completely reflected in my designs. I spend more time dressing my twins than myself these days (there are two of them, after all). For them, I totally dig vintage sweaters and jackets over modern clothing. I love orange with any other color. I love not matching at all.
whats your favorite design so far - what have you made that you especially love?
I get tired of my designs really fast! I hate this. When I get tired of something, I stop making it, but then people keep asking me to make it and I get stressed out. The thing that I designed/made that I really love is the cover to my blog book. The book is called, "I Will Have an Army of Clones. We will be so Charming." I love the title of the book and the image so much. The title is a long story, but basically I wrote this on a skirt in 2003. In 2004, I got pregnant with identical twins. The line just became this weird thing for me, like I knew my future and that was so rad. The image on the book is a really close up picture that I took of 3 blue haired girls' heads. The heads are actually beads.
how does the design and execution process typically work for you?
First I live life. Then I blog about it. Then I search the blog for interesting stuff. Nearly all of my designs start this way. Sometimes I look at what other people are Googling to get to my website and take things from there. It is a weird process, but it works. It is like a past-self is sending a future-self clues to new designs. That sounds weird. I always start with words. I love words. I hate it when people think they are too cool to wear shirts with words on them, but lots of people are like this. So I have started to work with a graphic artist to bring my designs to life. ScottBMotorbike and I work really closely via email. He is the husband of a close friend, and now a close friend himself. I have to say that he mostly knew me through my blog when we started working together, so this makes sense. We totally click. I can say, "I need a panda hugging poop that looks like a Dairy Queen ice cream cone" and he totally gets it. This is rad and frees up my mind for other things. We have sort of created a little cast of characters who all sort of look alike and I dig that.
you use a gocco, yes?! do you LOVE IT?!
Wow. Yes. My Gocco is my dear friend. Since I live in an apartment in Adams Morgan with my husband and twin two year olds, I totally can't silkscreen for real - there is just not enough room. So, I gocco at my kitchen table. Sometimes I hate the limited print area, but I have been dealing with that by making shirts with 2-3 screens. I think if I got rich or something and had more space, I would still gocco.
who or what inspires you, style- and design-wise?
It is strange, I feel like my style has been the same since I was 5. I look back at pictures of myself at that age and I am totally still wearing the same kind of green Mary Janes. I think I am just this creature of habit. That said, I am inspired by the inside of fruit quite a lot. Like the inner workings of a cucumber, just lovely. I love color so much.
where do you like to shop, in and around DC? online?
I love thrift stores. I have always loved the Village Thrift Store in Laurel, Md. Since I was 16, it has been my favorite place for clothing. I love cheap and weird. I don't believe in paying more than $20 for a piece of clothing, except shoes. I love Mary Janes and have been known to go crazy at Comfort One in Dupont Circle. For everything else, Etsy.com.
what do you appreciate about being a designer in DC?
Hmm. I have always lived here, so I don't know anything else. I think I might fit in better in another city, maybe San Francisco or London, but whatever. The internet makes it so that I can show my work to the world.
what's your take on DC style, in general?
I think people who only wear black don't like themselves. DC is too grey and black. It is lame. I don't trust anyone who doesn't wear comfortable shoes or who dresses up on the weekends. Like you know, those "ladies" who are always wearing business attire. What is wrong with them? I guess I don't dig serious people with serious clothes and DC is very much that. I want people to start writing all over their suits and silk screening zombies on their ties. I mean, just because you have to dress nicely for work, doesn't mean you have to dress nicely for work. I worked in an office for years with a full head of blue or pink hair and people were totally nice to me. I say, do what you want!

interview: morgan. main photo of tina seamonster by graham meyer; all other pictures courtesy of tina henry-barrus!

30th street: georgetown.

outside tryst.

ch-ch-check it out.

if you didn't catch it earlier this week, click over to BYT for the style column: jovovich-hawk for target! ANNND OMG THANK YOU GUYS - DC totally won this round of STREET CLASH because of YOU!! one million thanks to each and every one of you who voted, and i'd also like to thank THE COMPETITION, the city of toronto & nati vanstone, for being such a stylish opponent!
love,
morgan

panda head interviews...

stacey ditata is owner of the remix, a vintage clothing shop that recently made the move from the del ray neighborhood of alexandria to capitol hill. if you never made it over the bridge to check out the amazing racks of 40s skirt suits, 50s party dresses, and 60s brocades (and more! so much more! and i should know - i worked at the del ray location for over a year!), do yourself a favor and head over to the new digs this saturday night for the grand opening party. stacey will be the one decked out in what will most likely be the most amazing vintage frock and jewelry of the night, and YOU'LL be the one thanking her for bringing the remix this side of the potomac.

how would you describe your personal style, and to what extent is it reflected in your store?
My personal style is very classic. My body (and my soul) love to melt into my beautiful collection of 50’s strapless, velvet cocktail dresses with the big poofy tulle underskirts. Or my tailored 60’s suits with googobs of beading. That to me is beauty. I guess that is reflected in my collection here at The Remix: a lot of texture and embellishments, classic styles from all the decades - the 40s through the 80s. I think I appeal to that customer with classic sensibilities (not that I don’t appreciate a little sass and some funkytown in my Remix collection, which you will find downstairs). But yes, I do think "classic pretty" is always in and that an opera coat is a fashion necessity! That sense of style is the first thing you experience when you enter The Remix.
did you always want to have a shop? how did the remix come to be?
No, my earliest creative achievement was at 5. I kept my first fashion design sketchbook and I used to draw dream clothes. I came to DC to be a fashion designer of all things...in the 80s in DC??? Needless to say, I found other employment in retail but in a creative position as a window designer for Woodies at Metro Center. My fashion design skills were transferred to designing environments for clothing as a visual merchandiser. I did that for 13 years. The Remix came to be as a response to my frustration with shopping vintage shops, which tended to be cluttered and visually undisciplined . It drove me crazy! I wanted to lend the sophistication of my retail expertise to the industry. I felt that the clothing deserved a better stage.
how do you go about choosing pieces? do you take current trends into consideration?
My experience as a window designer allowed me to develop skills in choosing the best item out of a huge multi-level department store to best represent a current trend or statement; to literally be able to stop traffic and provoke someone to run into the store impulsively! That skill has made me very good at "wow factor" and highly discriminating as a buyer in choosing the best quality and most iconic vintage items out there. I have to admit that I am one of those people who refuse to purchase the audio tape when I go to an art gallery opening - I like to view art and fashion through my own perceptions and experiences. But, yes, I usually check out a magazine but mostly after the fact just to congratulate myself on my own fashion intuition. I can usually feel the trends before they happen. And say, "Darn that was my idea and look I have a whole rack of it!"
what are your favorite items in the shop right now?
My favorite items are by far my coats. I love coats. I personally own over 35 myself. I think The Remix has the best coat collection in the whole wide world. I start to collect them for the shop in the spring and by the fall I am stocked with great quality cashmere, tweed, leather, fur-trimmed and wool coats! My favorite coat now available is a 60s suede swing coat with optional belt and huge chinchilla collar. Awesome and Wow! If it fit me, I would have kept it. But I know it is meant for some other glam girl (letting go and sharing are philosophical skills one must learn as a vintage shop owner).
how did you choose your new location? did you consider anywhere else in the city?
I always had a really good feeling about Eastern Market - I really identified with the artistic sincerity and bohemian integrity of the vendors. The area had a lot of soul and I always said if I moved The Remix to DC I would move to The Hill. My real estate broker did try to sway me other areas like Adams Morgan and Bethesda but nah, I felt my purpose was to help develop fashion retail on The Hill. I have been told I am a little bit of a "revolutionary," which I find humorous. I guess I do like to be on the edge. What artist doesn’t?
any advantages to being in DC?
The advantages of being in DC are huge! The client base is highly dynamic - indicative of a big city. Suburbia tries not to be suburbia but sadly, always ends up being suburbia. Suburbia was historically created in the 50s to create a "safe community to live" to escape the real and sometimes dangerous pulses of city life. This tends to work against fashion (the woman you sold a stylish cocktail dress to three years ago, you see today pushing a stroller with an infant trailed by a toddler in a Big Wheel. You know its over!). In DC there is so much diversity, culturally and professionally. People in a city want to step out of the fashion safety zone. There is lots of family stuff but lots of other stuff too! I love it!
what's your take on DC style, in general?
From a wide-eyed 20 year old who came to DC to be a fashion designer in ’84, I see DC has developed tremendously towards a unique and expressive style. Although inherently conservative because of the political and governmental office limitations, there is a strong desire to break free of the monotony of the grey and navy suit and find your Fashion Self - especially on The Hill. I sold a funky printed poly mini dress to a Hill staffer this June. In response to my question of whether she would wear that to work, she replied, "Heck ya, and I work on the floor!" Now, I watch those boring CNN newscasts just to see some crazy printed poly dress flash across the screen. Then I will know I am a true revolutionary and that I have done my job to influence fashion on The Hill!
anything you'd like people to know about the remix that you're not usually asked? As all of us journey through our professional lives and experience various jobs that help shape us and develop us, The Remix has been a professional opportunity that I created for myself and [was] inspired by my creative life experiences and creative yearnings — theatre, literature, philosophy, spacial design, visual art and history - all wrapped up in a shop that sells vintage clothes. I hope visiting The Remix will give all creative people the confidence to define themselves in their own professionally unique and creative way. In fashion and in life!

interview: morgan. photos courtesy of stacey ditata and remixvintage.com. the remix is located at 645 pennsylvania ave SE, so get get going over there.

pharmacy bar: adams morgan.

a terribly informative post.

EVERYONE PLEEEEASE GO VOTE for PH and DC in day 2 of this week's street clash! thanks so much to all of you for voting yesterday - we totally beat out our Very Worthy Competitor, the city of toronto! the winner of 3 out of 5 days goes on to the next round, so GET OVER THERE AND VOTE!
and a big thank you to sara levine at the washingtonian; she was so rad to interview me about 'fall fashion bargains' for the september issue of the magazine! if you'd like to you can read it while in line at the grocery store, but if you'd rather save those precious moments to catch up on your In Touch and US Weekly (which i completely understand), you can also check it out HERE.
and ONE MORE thank you to stephanie over at the amazing N.E.E.T. magazine; she included my saddle shoe DIY (which you can see in its original incarnation over at brightest young things) in the current issue! if you haven't read N.E.E.T. before then you're sorely missing out, so check out the latest and past issues of the mag online when you get a chance.
AND SPEAKING OF BYT, the call for entries for this year's FALL STYLEISTICS has gone out! the date of the event is set for october 20th and you've got until september 10th to get your samples/ideas/what have you to svetlana@brightestyoungthings.com. please click HERE for all the dirty details.
thanks guys!
love love
morgan.

black cat: assrockers, nitro tokyo, rattler.

outside bourbon: modernist society.

baby panda.

today panda head turns one year old! thank you SO VERY MUCH to all of you who have kept up with the site (or have just discovered it!), to all the DC designers, shop owners, stylish folks, and bands who have let me interview them, and OF COURSE, to all of you who have posed for pictures in the last twelve months!
you + me = love love DC love,
morgan.