Breast Cancer Awareness Fashion Show...

So I got some photos from the "Fashion Brawl" Breast cancer awareness fashion show that I did on Oct. 16th and I had a blast. There were a few "coordination" issues with the team backstage as with any fashion show, but it was a great and fun show nevertheless. Everyone seemed to love the gray "Resistance" dress that floated done the runway ever so gracefully. Here's the photos from the event, see for yourself and don't be too shy to comment!! =)

DominiqueAnsari on Sense of Fashion

DominiqueAnsari on Sense of Fashion

Photos from Last week's Fashion show...

So here's a show I did for a youth organization in San Jose last week on Oct. 8th. I only showed a small portion of my collection, but the models were great and we have the best coordinator ever, she know who she is. It was held at the Mosaic Restaurant and Lounge in downtown San Jose, CA. Check out some of the photos below.

Fashion Show in Salinas Tomorrow....

So I have a Fashion Show in Salinas, CA Tomorrow, close to Monterey Bay, so I looking forward to it. I haven't fitted any of the models, will do this pre-show, so I hope that the models are great. There have been shows that I have done in the past where the models haven't been so great, but for the most part they have all been pretty great models. 

So we have to leave the house super early, and by "we", I mean, the hubby and I. I really am one of the luckiest girls; to have a husband that loves to help me whenever I have a show; he hasn't missed one yet. And even though fashion is really not his thing, he knows that I couldn't do it without him.....well, maybe I could, but that's besides the point.

A fellow designer friend of mine invited me to do the show, so I appreciate her putting in a good word for me. I really wanted to show my new spring 2011 collection, but I only have 10 pieces as of now, and since one designer decided to drop out of the show last minute, they wanted me to show about 15-20, so I don't think I can whip out 10 more dresses in a few days with all the patter making and stuff. I'll show it next time though for sure. I will post pictures after I get them back. Here's the flyer, not the best design, but here it is:

Some Doodles...

So, since I'm trying to start writing and producing my Comic/Garphic Novel, I decided to do some little sketches for practice. I never practiced like I show have when I was younger to develop my art skills, as I wasn't really encouraged as a child to do this, so I'm really, really out of touch...REALLY!!

I'm really great at doing Fashion sketches with the elongated and exaggerated poses, but I've never attempted the comic style before...like ever. I only recently got into comics; reading them and trying to practice drawing the figures as a friend of mind kinda pushed me into that direction and it opened my mind into a whole new light.

But I decided to start practicing now, as they say it's never too late to start anything in this life.

I really started to buy comics after I was invited to do a fashion show at the Fanime-con  2010 event in San Jose, CA which my garments were specifically made to be inspired by comics, and my original ideals for my anime characters. I then came up with the ideal for the main character with which the clothes and the story was based on, and I'm a big comic movie buff; I'm a movie buff period, so I was all into the ideal that if I wrote this and had an amazing artist to collab with me on this, that maybe in the future it could be made into a movie.

I have some people that gave me lots of contacts for artist and publishers, but I wanted to have the story be completed before I get in touch with them and I needed to do ample research to make sure that this story would be something that people would die to read and look at. The art above anything else should be AMAZING! Then the story has to be captivating enough to hold the readers attention and make sense as well. I want the story to draw them into the character more than anything else.

I have photos of the garments and my attempted "doodles", BTW I don't consider my self a fine art artist or sketcher at all, I also cleaned these up a bit in photoshop, this is just me really playing around, so  i'm not really asking for any art critics. 

I just kinda used my favorite colors, red,white and black, Red Mostly, The last picture looks like a zombie or vampire, lol!

The collection was 13 pieces, so this is only a few shots of them, this shoot was so freakin' fun!! I won't tell you the name of the collection as it is also the title to my comic, so you'll just have to wait and see it once it's published, however long that will take.

Selling to Dance Studios?....

So my husband's co-worker mentioned a suggestion to me via facebook about selling my designs to some Dance Studios since my designs sort of resemble Ballet/Dance clothing. I think it's a good ideal, but I really want my clothing to be looked at as ready to wear, even though my RTW is mainly focused on dresses and a few knit pants and jackets thrown in  here and there.

Overall, I might try it out and see what happens with that. I did a little research and that may be easier said than done, because most design studios sell their own merchandise. I really want my clothes to be looked at, as someone once call them, "Comfort-Couture". I don't really want it to be a literal translation of where the inspiration came from for the collection, which is dance. I also think the shoes on the model in the photo shoot also gives off this literal translation. 

My Dress on the left with model (who is a ballet dancer too) and a photo of a ballet dancer on the right.

But like she (the co-worker) mentioned, that might be my niche...

Up in the wee hours of the night....

Usually, I'm up pretty late, my schedule is pretty whacked out most of the time because I'm kind of a work addict, I find that my work becomes amazing at the hours between 1:30am to 5:00am. Weird, I know, why can't I be normal!!Anyway, it works, and then sometimes, when I take a "little" (and I mean little) break, then I can stop being a vampire and get up in the morning like the rest of the world. I've always been a night owl, the night agrees with me better than the day I guess. Also I think it's because of my constant habit of having sweet tooth around 10 or 11ish at night.


On other notes, I've been getting multiple orders of the "Juliet" Jacket  from my Etsy shop, it seem to be very popular, which is good. I think people like it because it's comfy and it's at a really great price. I usually make it when someone places an order so I don't get overstocked with the same product. So tonight, I'm making the jacket, and I also have to prepare for a fashion show on Saturday Oct. 16th (Will discuss later). I will post pictures of the finished product before I ship it out.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/58040933/the-juliet-shrug-jacket

Video from Shop TKDG...

Teaming up with a good friend of mind and a professor at the Institute that I attended back in LA, she let me be apart of her vision where she has a business that allows independent designers, such as myself, be featured through her company. She's an amazing designer herself and has had several public features such as California Apparel News.

Here's an amazing video clip that she created for me featuring my swimwear collection entitled "BubbleGum Love" inspired by every little girl's child hood friend, Barbie, check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4kH_bXVMsk

Dominque Ansari - Large.m4v

Introduction....

So this is my first time blogging, so bear with me as I'm new to this and will try to post as often as possible about my daily life as an Independent Fashion Designer and what that means to me.

For me, as a designer, it's a blessing to have the ability to make something from a sketch into something that is real and to have people actually want to buy my clothes is even more amazing to me.

I started this blog because aside from my bio that listed on my page, I wanted people to really get to know me and know why I decided to get into this field and what separates me from other designers out there. 

There's so much that I want to do with the gifts that God has given me, I draw, paint, do screen printing, pattern-making, sewing(of Course), write, cook like a chief from France; as my Hubby has told me on numerous occasions, sing, dance, model, and I'm now writing a comic/Graphic Novel (more on that later)!!
You could say that I love all things creative and without this joy in my life, I'm not really sure what else I would be doing with such a great passion.

I have Traveled to many great places; among them, all of Italy, a little of France, Greece, Spain, Sweden, and hopefully my next trip will be Japan, and met some wonderful people along the way.

I have worked with numerous amounts of models, photographers, designers, and countless other industry professional, as well, I have also had the opportunity to actually work for a Great LA Designer, and also a Manufacturing company in which I was an assistant designer. Now that I'm doing my own thing in the fashion world, I want to be able to share my experience with other people and encourage others that might want ot get into this area as well.

I still have a lot to learn and I'm learning everyday and I'm trilled whenever someone orders my clothing or purchases an item from one of the local boutiques where I have my clothes, the feeling is, for lack of a better word, wonderful.

I hope my experiences will excite and interest others in my journey to become an internationally successful Fashion Superstar!!