Earth Day Fashion with Bugs and Bark

Here are some images from a Earth Day fashion show I went to at the Abbey yesterday.

The designer, a girl I know who is also a local hula-hoop teaching master, makes luscious bellydance costumes and is promoting her line of clothing made with natural dyes from insects and marigolds and cherry-bark and such.

Of course, I went for the belly-dancing!

The fashion lines ( Goddesswear, Naturally Dyed, Funwear and designer Tracey Mantha's personal Costume Collection ) were loosely grouped around the theme of the four elements-- Earth, Water, Fire and Air-- and a different dancer introduced each line of clothing in an outfit made by Tracey.

Heather danced Earth in a green and white outfit hung with quartz crystals--she always looks so relaxed as she dances.

Edith danced Water in silky blues with a beautiful jewel on her forehead. I loved the other dances too, but Edith's was special--she was like a naiad gathering water in a otherworldly forest.

True to her personality, fiery Taiya danced the element of Fire, in a peek-a-boo ripped velour outfit with a lit candelabrum on her head. She once danced a Fire-Finger dance at a show I was co-producing (she had long lit tapers on the ends of her fingers), and I was certain the smoke was going to set the fire alam off....she's pretty amazing.

Cathy danced Air combining gauzy veils, trailing white flowers and feathers. She used the breeze from a portable fan for artistic effect.
Between dance numbers the models (at least two of them pregnant) pirouetted to the strains of Slammin' Jack and Declining Amphibian Phenomenon .

The fashions were funky and fun to look at, although few were my personal style. I liked the ruffles added to denim effect though--just the other day I saw someone wearing a skirt of hers and admired it. I thought the long hooded velvet outfits were quite lovely too, in a medieval/witchy way.

I was also impressed (nay, blown away) by the colours produced by the natural dyes: organic raspberries can create a fabulous shade of purple. A Mexican insect produces a soft blue shade. Tree barks coloured clothing in oranges, yellows, browns, and greens. Marigold flowers dyed things a yummy yellow. I remember long ago trying to dye cloth and experimenting with beets and onion skins--my colours were in comparison disappointingly bland.

My favourite piece of clothing today was a soft and velvety fringed, sleeveless brown dress with mushrooms appliqued on the front and a matching shoulder-bag. Super cute. I would definitely wear it:

" Mushroom Girl glows in this simple and natural frock, perfect for a walk in the coastal rain forest with her handy mushroom-picking bag......"
Other clothing made by Tracey was recycled from vintage pieces and even garbage. One girl modelled a costume known as The Recycling Queen : it featured a chest-piece made from take-out food cartons and a skirt fringed with old CD's. She was crowned with old Christmas tree lights. Oddly enough, the look somehow worked on her.