Oh Sandy!

What to wear?

Pulling an all nighter before your big show and not having a clue what to wear to it is a terrible idea.

The Blue Dress

This is me sewing...

Playing around with it. What to do?

Mom loving it!

FashionSPARK 2010

Designs for my upcoming show

Red feather bangs.
The plaid aligns perfect!

For Melanie.

Vogue.com

This was very random. I was at a bluegrass festival in May with the girls and someone asked if they could photograph me for VogueUK. I said sure but had absolutely no idea they were serious or that I would ever discover it. I mean...I have corn on the cob in my right hand! A friend of mine was actually searching for my designs and came crossed it. I was shocked. The quotes are definitely inaccurate but I love it. I made it into Vogue (or some sort of it) wearing my grandmothers square-dancing dress. Either way it's rad!

http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/fashion/street-trends/100624-jessica-domino--los-angeles-.aspx

I've completely lost it

I have an upcoming show, September 17 in Raleigh, NC. This will be my third year in a row participating in FashionSPARK. Every year it continues to get bigger and better. The theme of the show is always "Wear What You Are". I'm going to be clowning around this year. I'll keep you posted on my work in progress. For now here is the hat I made today.

Kelly in Berlin

This is an image of my dear friend Kelly in front of her first solo art show in Berlin!!! Wearing a one of a kind Domino. Love it!

Portrait of me working hard

Some select images from the shoot in North Carolina. Three local designers were chosen for a small feature. I was asked to be one of them. The location was insanely beautiful. I'm still waiting on the finale shot. Should be posted soon.

Photography by: Bruce DeBoer Photography

www.brucedeboer.com

I'm a terrible model

Goth Girl

I have the most amazing photo buddy ever. Her name is Aeschleah. Not only have we been collaborating on a photo project for three years but now we're figuring out ways to work together on other projects. She asked me to send her some pieces for a shoot she had in mind. I was a little worried about sending several garments in a huge brown box to SF. But, after seeing the end result I regret not sending more.

This photograph makes me go crazy. I love it!!!

Original Domino one shoulder one piece.

The kitty dress.

My white coat.

All photography by: Aeschleah

flickr.com/aeschleah

www.aeschleah.com

Mel's custom order

I started writing about this dress and collar a couple weeks ago (May 9). My dear friend and loyal client Melanie asked me to design and construct a piece for her to wear to goth prom in DC. I had two weeks to complete it and send it off.

This is the text she sent me when she received it on Thursday (May 20),"GOT YOUR DRESS AND COLLAR! I AM WEARING THEM NOW THEY ARE PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT I AM SO HAPPY. THANK YOU. I LOVE IT. The skirt length is great. Cut to boobs great. Love the tag. The lace is awesome. Collar is just how I wanted. Love the material too."

I always get a little nervous when making a custom piece. Especially when the person ordering the dress is too far away to fit. I'm so happy the pieces turned out perfect and she loved it all.

And off it went.

I asked Mel to photograph herself in the dress when she got it...

The night of...

Top Seller

Everyone seems to really like these dresses.

I tend to do a lot of patchwork and hand-stitching.

Hand painted and one of a kind shirts.

Custom made for Megan

Megan's been modeling for me since my September FashionSpark show. After modeling for me again in Oct, she asked me to design a custom dress for her to wear on New Years Eve. I'm a little late on the post but needless to say she loved it! She was so excited and couldn't wait to call her mom and girlfriends. This is her on the phone telling everyone about how amazing it was. My first official custom order was perfect!

A new dress for Mel

Melanie has asked me to design and construct a dress for her to wear to an event in DC. It's gonna be wild! The event is in two weeks. Stay tuned.

Lady in Red

"Being that i have immediate family and friends who struggle with diabetes everyday, i was thrilled to find out i had the opportunity to collaborate with The Diabetes Association for Couture For A Cause. It came as a surprise to me when i realized what a challenge it was going to be to design a garment that embodied the association and still have a flare of me in it. The first thing that came to mind was blood. After speaking with the rep for The Diabetes Association i was told about an upcoming event that was going to be Mardi Gras themed. My finished piece ended up being 100% 'blood red' silk, hand sewn crystals, sequins and beads. I spent hours and hours bedazzling it for the runway and the Mardi Gras parade. I didnt feel like that was enough, so i decided to also embellish the open back with the logo for The Diabetes Association. To me this completely embodies a dress that was inspired by diabetes."

This was my artist statement. 20 designers were paired with 20 nonprofit organizations (ex:Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, Boys & Girls Club, Neuse River Foundation, Artspace etc..) for this fashion show benefit. Designers were asked to create an outfit that embodied the mission and 'spirit' of the organization they were paired with. The designer whose outfit best captures the essence of their organization according to a judge panel receives a $250 cash prize.

The winning garment was a vest that had forks and spoons on the shoulders and a skirt that was partly made up of cereal box leftovers. I don't know...you tell me. I suppose I should have made a coat of syringes and Splenda packages!

I took these first four images minutes before the show.

Dancing in custom made Domino dresses.

The winning garment.