There was a time (a time in which we still might be living) when every American woman visiting Mexico came back with a souvenir photograph of a zebra-painted burro, a tourist jacket, and a straw tote covered in yarn embroidery and palm-leaf appliqué. Heck, Mary had at least seven of the straw bags in a variety of colors and sizes before she ever even set foot in Mexico. It isn't that these souvenirs are terribly rare or terribly exotic, quite the opposite; they are rather inexpensive, readily available, and a definite rite of passage - passage across the Mexico-US border in which forgetful tourists begin panic-buying souvenirs for all the folks at home.
Tijuana - 1955 My grandmother (center) with my father beside her. My uncle is riding the burro.
In sifting through the wacky tacky archives, I found the above photo and one such straw tote bag, purchased at a thrift store. The body and the handles/hardware were in decent shape but the decorations had certainly experienced much sunnier holidays south of the border.
Looking very much like it had witnessed more than its fair share
of fiestas, this was the sorry state in which we found the bag.
In an effort to make way between the piles of newspapers and stacks of empty tuna fish cans for guests to maneuver through the hoarder's paradise that is wacky tacky headquarters, we are midway through an unprecedented clean-out. But the options to rid ourselves of this pitiful piece were quite limited - it was either fodder for the local landfill or a one-way ticket back to the thrift store (this would not have been the first time we paid for something at a thrift store only to donate it back again). The options to overhaul it, however, were limitless! It was time to break the buying/donating cycle and turn modern medical practice on its ear by taking this literal sad sack north of the border for a fun facelift.
I started by removing the shredded floral clusters and
giving the frayed yarn a well-deserved haircut.
Just happening to have yarn in shades of "close-enough" green and orange,
I grabbed a big needle and began to touch-up the embroidered leaves.
Mid-makeover, I liked the way that the my not-quite-a-color-
match yarn added some variegation and depth to the leaves.
Once the bag and the leaves were stabilized, it was time to complete the makeover; after all, there are serious responsibilities one must consider after deflowering a virgin tote bag. I suppose I could have tried to resurrect the palm-leaf flowers but they were so trashed, so lifeless, and so...brown; and it just wouldn't be a true "Crazy Crafty" project unless a strong dose of color was injected.
Continuing in my preferred medium of craft store yarn, I made
pom pom flowers in the other two colors I had in the stash.
A minimally invasive facelift with maximum results.
After all the effort of the sad sack makeover, I decided
that a fabric lining would be the perfect finishing touch.
With the tote bag complete, the thought occurred to me that anyone foolish enough to carry a full lamb's-worth of yarn around on a second-hand purse during the summer months might also need some protection from the sun (if not the curious stares of passers-by).
Using the purse as a guide, I embroidered a Put A Lid On It Sun Hat with the same leaf-and-pom pom-flower motif.
Just like the newly-refurbished tote bag, the hat is also topped by a pom pom.
As I've mentioned time and again, a matchy-matchy ethos is the backbone of wacky tacky design. So while the hat may not share a similar provenance to the tote the way a sombrero would, we think that this matching set is perfect for a Puerto Vallarta pool party or a caprice in Cabo San Lucas.
"Pardon me, do you know the way to San Jose?"
With all this talk of south-of-the-border souvenirs, we are in the mood to take a "Tijuana Taxi" for another round of swinging souvenir shopping!!! So much for our big clean-up and clear-out...
"Tijuana Taxi" - Heb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass (Scopitone)
While it has heretofore gone undiagnosed, I am certain that I suffer from profound Matchy-Matchy Syndrome. The symptoms exhibited themselves early on, when as a child, I sat starry-eyed watching Doris Day in a 1962 fashion sequence from That Touch of Mink in which mannequins at Bergdorf Goodman modeled luxurious lounging pajamas of acid-green brocade with matching robes, smart skirt suits with linings to match the blouses, and mink coats with interchangeable, satin overcoats meant to coordinate with every ensemble. Since then, the height of chic was defined for me by a woman's ability to have everything match, a theory which has not always served me well.
My matchy-matchy fate was sealed when I watched Bon Voyage!, another seminal film from that fabulous year for female fashion, 1962. In it, Deborah Walley wears one of the coolest (and hottest), matching, seaside ensembles that has ever graced the silver screen - a wacky tacky matchy-matcherson's dream come true!
Deborah Walley as wild woman in Bon Voyage! (1962)
Living in one of the sun-worshipping capitals of the world, I have seen many
a far-out swimsuit. None have ever come close to rivaling the sophisticated
savagery of Ms. Walley's leopard-print bathing costume with matchy-matchy
accessories.
Have you ever seen a suit suite like this?!!
Everything about the outfit is oversized - the hat, the glasses, the duffel bag, the style!
As Bon Voyage! is a Disney film, it is possible that old Uncle Walt, considering the bikini
too risqué, ordered the addition of the criss-cross modesty straps with the belly-button bow!
In my opinion, this could very well have been the precursor to today's monokini and those
much-coveted "Scandal Suits" presented by Cole of California in 1964.
Having enjoyed a winter season in California that was close to breaking records for its mild manner (aside from a recent, freak hail storm), my thoughts easily stray to summer. As a result, I have been revisiting many of Deborah Walley's beach-bound performances in Gidget Goes Hawaiian, the AIP Beach Party movies, and, of course, Bon Voyage! Consequently, my first real "Sew What?!" project for 2015 is an itsy-bitsy, teenie-weenie, matchy-matchy RUFFLE-KINI!!!
This navy, white, and citron-yellow floral-print cotton was
purchased at my favorite place for my favorite price - 99¢ per yard!
It had been sitting in the stash for years waiting for just the right project.
Because the flowers are printed in large scale (7-8 inches), and I figured
that my best bet in diminishing the material's overtly flower-power
message would be to gather the fabric into miles of ruffles.
It takes miles of ruffles to make a Ruffle-Kini.
To send this outfit truly over-the-top, it was imperative to find a finishing touch that indeed went over the top...over the very top of the hat. As shown in the illustration, I had the idea of a long fall cascading from the pinnacle of the Put A Lid On It! Sun Hat. As it happens, fake hair - even "cheap" fake hair - isn't all that cheap. I found an online distributor of the finest polyester fibers masquerading as human hair, but the ponytails were always the most expensive pieces. I decided to take a chance on an eight-dollar, twenty-nine-inch, clip-on, bleach-blonde extension and pray for the best. When I got the "hair," I just removed the clips and rolled (and sewed) the hair into a ponytail. I don't think my makeshift fall would fool the likes of Vidal Sassoon, but I am happy it turned out so well. The following images, taken by our pal, Fabian Fioto, are the soon-to-be-legendary results of a photo shoot which we lovingly refer to as, "Legends of the Fall."
After all, any outfit is made by the fall!
Even after sewing all of those ruffles, I had exactly enough fabric to
make a matchy-matchy hat, beach bag, cover-up, and ruffled mules!
Nobody told me how much work it was to apply so many layers of ruffles to a bikini. About halfway through the process, I was all the way ready to give up - out of both frustration and concern that the result would look like a bulky baby's bathing costume!
And I was afraid that the ruffles would look too juvenile!
I think Mary was able to prevent things from going too far
in the diaper cover direction!
For each piece, I either made my own pattern or made it up as I went along.
"I'm forever blowing bubbles!"
What you can't see in this photo is Mr. Tiny and Allie going blue in the face
trying to blow as many bubbles into the frame as possible...to questionable result.
The only photo I took all day was this behind-the-scenes shot.
Never having had an on-set hair expert, we felt very lucky to have little Allie on
hand. Working so diligently at taming the fall, it might have been nice if Fabian
let her use the ladder once in a while to climb to the top of Mount St. Mary!
For me, there is no denying the greatness of the above photos. However, when I stopped "directing" and truly left Mary, Fabian, and the afternoon sun to their own devices, the photos became really special.
We were lucky enough to have the use of some beautiful friend's beautiful home for the afternoon.
They were gracious enough to let us shoot indoors and out!
I'm allowed to say , "Wow," because I am neither the subject of the
photo nor the photographer. All I did was make the lousy ponytail hat...
How to stuff a ruffle-kini!
This one is my favorite.
Or maybe this one...
Or maybe this one...
After Fabian had taken exactly one million photos of her in the bikini, Mary changed so Fabian could get some photos for his own portfolio. I decided to do as the cool kids do and photo bomb; I snuck behind the bar and popped up just as the shutter clicked. Initially, Fabian was none too thrilled with my hijinks, but we all ended up thinking the photo was pretty cool!
I'm not sure that there is any cure for Matchy-Matchy Syndrome, let alone any treatment. Furthermore, I'm not sure that I would want one anyhow; much like Deb's beach get-up, I think it would be impossible for this matchy-matchy leopard to change his spots!
Whether you prefer matchy-matchy or mixing-and-matching, wacky tacky
will always encourage you to make with the fake hair and WHIP IT!
As always, a huge THANK YOU to my compatriots, Fabian, Allie, and Mary, for elevating my crimes against fashion into something beautiful!!! Thanks also to our hosts for endangering their position with their home owner's association and neighborhood watch group by opening their beautiful Beverly Hills home to our ragtag bunch! MERCI BEAUCOUP!!!
Where do we come up with these crazy phrases, phrases like, "Never look a gift horse in the mouth?" I have never found a single occasion to look any standard-issue horse in the mouth, let alone a benevolent gift horse. I must admit that until very recently I hadn't given much thought to this particular barnyard idiom. In actual fact, whenever the phrase was uttered I couldn't help but picture a nattily-dressed thoroughbred rapping at the door with a beautifully-wrapped gift box in hand hoof. But who was this horse and on what occasion would he be obliged to give me a gift? I kind of assumed that this was vestigial phraseology, lingering long after the demise of some ancient culture whose venerated horse figure, "Father Equus," - very much akin to our Santa Claus - once a year blessed the good, little children with a bounty of gold, and frankincense, and myrrh (if it's good enough for Him, it's good enough for me), and hay. However, the question remained, why would I look in his mouth?!!
Upon reflection, I suppose the real sentiment is that when given a gift (in this case a horse), it is decidedly bad form for one to appraise the quality and value of the gift (in this case inspecting the mouth of said horse). Instead, one should simply be thankful for the generosity behind such a spectacular gift - I mean, who at some point in his life hasn't wished (in vain) for a pony? This was a full-grown horse!
Our gift fabric...or is it our fabric horse???
Not so very long ago, our pal, Charles Phoenix, gifted us with roughly two-and-a-half yards of the most brilliantly-colored, vaguely-tiki (maybe rustic, mid-century Scandinavian folk?) printed material, exhorting me to turn it into something great. The yardage turned out to be a decent-sized, vintage tablecloth. As a collector of vintage tablecloths, I am typically one to "let sleeping tablecloths lie," unless they have completely outlived their use as such. This tablecloth happened to be in excellent condition; nevertheless, Charles had issued the gift with a specific challenge. Not wanting to appear the equine equivalent of the Grinch, I figured the best way to honor our great Gift Horse was to give his tablecloth a brand new life (and avoid even a fleeting glance into his mouth).
Proof that not all of my sketches skew blonde!
Letting the fabric be my guide, I opted to make Mary a three-
piece, tiki-inspired playsuit (shorts, top, and cover-up).
It was an outfit that seemed ideally suited for the scorching heat of the Viva Las Vegas car show and for her Ponyboy Magazinephoto shoot.
I thought it was a bit cheeky to feature the large flower pattern on the
bra top which also features traditional shoulder and halter straps.
(Photo courtesy of Alexander Thompson/Ponyboy Magazine)
After making a fully-lined top and shorts, the tablecloth fabric was running low. To subsidize it, I used a coordinating cotton in solid yellow for the body of the cover-up, binding the center front and side vents in tablecloth remnants. There was just enough material left to make patch pockets and a sash (finished with those signature yarn pom poms).
I trimmed the "Put A Lid On It" sun hat with coordinating yarn (vertical stripes and the obligatory pom pom) and bound it with the fashion fabric. Isolating a couple of flowers from the design motif, I machine-appliquèed them onto the headscarf. The sunglasses were an acquisition made during our trip to Japan last year.
(Photo courtesy of Alexander Thompson/Ponyboy Magazine)
In the end, by examining the fabric, measuring it, and determining its worth as a garment, I suppose that I am guilty of the very behavior I was so earnestly trying to avoid - looking a gift horse in the mouth. The thing is, I like what I saw and indeed it made me all the more grateful for the gift...or the horse. I really think this whole thing could be cleared up with some simple rewording; "Never look a horse gift in the mouth." "Never look in a horse's gift mouth?" "Never gift a horse's mouth without looking in it?" Shoot, when someone gives you a gift, just say "Thank you." Thank you, Charles.
These pictures are a bit of a bonus because they are probably my favorites from the Ponyboy style editorial by the generous and talented photographer, Alexander Thompson. Of course, my favorite photos feature an outfit of which I only really made half. The entire outfit is vintage, but the simple, dirndl skirt was made by me from a length of vintage material that was also a gift from Charles. Teal and white dahlias/spider mums highlighted in gold - they just don't make exciting border prints like they used to!!!
(Photo courtesy of Alexander Thompson/Ponyboy Magazine)
Replace "Ed" with "Tiny" and it all makes so much sense...
So where do you stand on the gift/horse/mouth issue? Have you ever looked a gift horse in the mouth, yea or naaaaaaaay? Did you like what you saw?
The whole lot was filled with classic cars, vintage trailers, and roadside enthusiasts.
We weren't there as spectators alone; we set up a pop-up hat shop in one of the Wigwam Motel rooms.
Charles, Mary, Zack, Fabian, and Mr. Tiny
After seeing some of the hats I had made for Mary, Charles kindly asked if I could bring
enough hats to sell. Quarters inside the well-appointed wigwam were a little tight with all
of those hats but it made for a cozy (and blessedly active) selling space!
One of our pals, Cherie, was on hand and became one of the first people to
Put A Lid On It! We were thrilled to see her (and her awesome, homemade Route
66 dress) before she leaves us for the more verdant environs of Portland, OR.
While I did take a break to dance along to some of my favorite tunes (ahem, "Mashed Potato Time") spun by the killer DJ, I spent most of the afternoon inside the wigwam hocking my wares. Although, I have been assured that the event was chockablock with the most enjoyable activities, from showing off cars and trailers, to swimming, to weenie roasting, to s'mores toasting, to fireside sing-a-longs.
Two poolside fashion shows, hosted by Dave and Sabino of Clever Vintage Clothing, were filled with spectacular ensembles.
They were even nice enough to include one of my sun hats!!!
If I was a more ruthless kind of a person and capable of making a quick getaway, there were plenty of cars for which I would have gladly ditched all of those hats and started my life of crime - beginning with grand theft auto!
The cars were great but the real show-stopper was our friend's completely-
restored 1957 Airfloat trailer in gleaming gold! I was so awestruck that
I only captured a peek through one of the porthole windows.
Brian Potvin, the master "Ballusionist," created a
wigwam out of balloons and set it afloat in the pool!
The main event began at sundown; we were lucky enough to be a part of it! Tiny & Mary opened the show for the incredible troupe from the Bob Baker Marionette Theaterand the always-enthralling Charles Phoenix Big Retro Slideshow! You might recognize some of those puppets from their big-screen appearance in Walt Disney's Escape to Witch Mountain (1975).
Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)
If you can't escape to Witch Mountain, be sure and make the escape to the Wigwam Motel - to sleep-ee and to peepee in a teepee are most underrated and completely unparalleled experiences! We would be remiss if we failed to acknowledge the graciousness of the owner and conservator of this irreplaceable landmark, Kumar Patel. He and his family have committed themselves to not just their own motel, not just their own city, but to the entire Route 66 community and to the lovers of all things wacky tacky! A big thank you to our inimitable host and emcee, Charles, for including us in this very special celebration!
Wigwam Motel
2728 W Foothill Blvd
San Bernardino, CA
(909)875-3005
* The day has finally come!!! Put A Lid On It Sun Hats are now available for purchase in our Etsy store, Mr. Tiny's South Side Market. We will continue to bring you new designs, new colors, and new hat inspiration on a regular basis!!!
Yipes!!! Two weeks sure flies by when you are not having any fun. Okay, okay, I had a little bit of fun but mostly my head was down, toiling away at my latest hat-making venture and preparing for the Tiny & Mary performance at the Charles Phoenix Wig Wam Pow Wow (much more on that to come).
I was flattered when Charles asked me to bring as many hats as I could muster to sell at what is sure to become a signature event for him. Depending on Mary to be a walking advertisement for my pop-up hat shop, I had every intention of making her some thematically-appropriate headwear - and leaving the rest of her outfit in her hands. Oh, the best laid plans...
The custom TeePee Topper!
Inspired by the paint scheme of the earliest Wig Wam Motels, I recreated the iconic
serpentine stripe with red ric rac. I painted dowels for the tent poles and gathered a Marimekko remnant as a stand-in for the planter that surrounds each wigwam motel room.
Unfortunately, when one makes such a specific accessory, the fundamental elements of a coordinating ensemble are somewhat elusive.
Digging through the fabric stash, I was surprised to discover just two
scant yards of a Native American novelty print, featuring, flowers,
teepees, horses, and warrior braves.
Completely unaware of the fabric's origin, I almost sent it back to the bottom of fabric mountain for its lack of sophistication and unrefined design. However, if lack of refinement and sophistication immediately consign one to the bottom of the heap, I would never be allowed in polite society. Denying the natural hypocrite within me, I intended to make the most of this fabric.
This is much more indicative of what my sketch pad looks
like than some of the other illustrations I've shared. A small
amount of time and a small amount of fabric meant that the
outfit would need to be equally brief. Weary of making bra
tops, I made a simple play suit consisting of a cropped peasant
top and a short, gathered skirt; I used every inch of that material!
Accessorized with just a few red bangles and a '68 Cadillac Coupe de Ville,
Mary and Fabian took the outfit and the car out for a spin!
I guess we won't be winning any awards for cultural sensitivity with this one, but we consider the outfit and the Wigwam Motel to be true celebrations of Americana! Have you ever slept in a wigwam?
Cheers!
Mr. Tiny
p.s. Put A Lid On It Sun Hats from Mr. Tiny's Workshop will be listed soon!
