Staley Designs Book Builder - Preview

Staley Cook of Staley Designs invited me to attend her Fall Book Builder with a few other designers from HighBall to showcase our work. She took our pieces from runway costume to high fashion couture with these beautifully styled photos. She is still editing from 10 amazing photo sets but I am excited to share a few preview photos, including a few I captured from my iPhone.

HighBall Halloween 2012 - Royal Entrance

The show is over, but it's only just begun. Through all the blood, sweat, and tears (I was missing the tears part until the morning of the show when I ruined one of my 4 looks) I can walk away from this experience, relieved that it is over and excited about what it can start.

Myself, Annie Weihrauch for Rock & Royalty opened the show. Here are some videos and photos from the show!

HighBall Halloween // Annie from Little Tree Studios on Vimeo.

Highball Halloween 2012 from Little Tree Studios on Vimeo.

LONG LIVE THE ROCK & ROLL QUEEN.

My Couture Costume, myself & Nina West

Costume Couture, Designer Annie Weihrauch, Collection Model

ROCK & ROYALTY COLLECTION (right to left) - Look 1: Military dress & necklace. Look 2: Cage harness over T-Shirt, ruffle skirt. Look 3: Graphic Tank w/ stripe crop cami, harness necklace, studded tutu Look 4: Moto Miltary Jacket, embellished stripe studded skinny jeans

Designer, Annie Weihrauch w/ Rock & Royalty mini collection

HighBall 2012 Costume Couture - Behind the Scenes

I've been keeping a photo journal along the way...This post is still a work in progress. I will update it very soon.....

My original concept sketch for my application. The biggest concern from the show producers where that it didn't have enough stage presence. I promised I would make sure it would be dramatic, even though I have never done anything like this in my life...but I knew I could embellish the heck out of it.

My revised costume couture sketch. Only a few details changed as I created this.

Cleaned up my studio for the production video shoot with Little Tree Studios and Staley Cook.

A pair of shorts from a Sample sale that never fit, but I knew would come in handy on a project!

I first started by gathering some embellished pieces I didn't use anymore...A brand new pair of Kelsey Dagger shoes that I couldn't return anymore.

Some of my most used tools...wire cutter, lighter, screw driver, needles, and studded embellishments. Lighter you say? No, not for a smoke break, for sealing the ends of frayed ribbon and fabric.

More handy tools, scissors, embellishment bins and a cup for straight pins, although most end up on my floor anyway. You don't even want to know how many times I lost my needle. I'm not sure I recovered all of them, and I hope I never do.

I bought a heavy duty bustier that could handle all of the hand sewn embellishments including leather, chain, rhinestones, buttons and screw back spikes.

Starting to see it coming together!

Somehow I decided to embellish the Union Jack flag here. One of the most time consuming parts of the costume that sat unfinished until the last week.

Once I got to this point I decided I would move on to something else and finish up the embellishments later.

After the rest of the costume was finished I decided to change the black area to aqua studs to add a little color. This was the hardest part because I had to use a hand held heat tool instead of an iron.

Beginning work of my embellished moto military jacket.

The hot new trend is cage jewelry, so I created this bustier framed accessory piece, which I ended up ruining when I decided to sew it onto a garment, then begged Jess to help me Saturday morning before the show. It ended up looking better than this piece anyway!

Through out the 3 months there were several meetings with production, designers, models, hair and makeup, including this kick off meeting with the sponsors.

MORE IMAGES TO COME SOON!

Highball Halloween Promo Videos

Here are some links to the videos that the Highball team has put together. Little Tree Studios did an amazing job with the Designer spotlight videos.

My feature:
http://player.vimeo.com/video/50718833

All Designers:

http://highballhalloween.com/designers.html

2012 Promo Video:

Countdown to Highball Halloween

Only a few more days till Highball! Just wanted to share a few more photos of my progress. I'm saving some details for the runway reveal, but I wanted to share enough to generate excitement, and hopefully entice you to come out for the show!

HIGHBALL HALLOWEEN

This fall I've been spending most of my free time getting ready for the runway for Columbus's Highball Halloween which will be shutting down High Street in the heart of Columbus, OH on Saturday, October 27th. I am very excited to be one of the designers selected to show my collection and create a couture costume for this year's fashion designer competition. With just under 3 months (now only 3 weeks) and a generous stipend award, I have been challenged in ways I had never imagined and sparking even more imagination.

If you are in the area please come out and enjoy the show and Halloween celebration! 

www.highballhalloween.com

Welcome to my studio...while it's still clean and organized.

Costume Couture Concept Sketch, which is now evolving.

Gathering materials...shoes that didn't fit.

Gathering materials...shorts from a sample sale.

Embellishment supplies.

Sewing and studding.

Hand sewn Union Jack embellished flag.

Creating ruffles.

Sewing on the structured ruffles.

Starting to come together, but still a long way to go.

Spring Rejuvenation

Spring is here and it feels like summer in Ohio. Only 3 months until ComFest! Time to start kicking it back in gear.

I took a bit of a hiatus with developing and promoting the brand over the past few months. In the fall I took another full time design job back at Bath & Body Works, where I first started my career. With the stress and transition period I needed a break. It's still going to be a challenge to find time, but I'm determined not to give up on Rock & Royalty. Over the past few weeks we've been working on the web store and I've been working on marketing ideas. My number one goal is to build up my online presence again. Something I haven't done in years.

I'm starting to use my Pinterest account to market the brand and run weekly promotions. It's an amazing thing if you haven't discovered it. It's inspiring while at the same time promoting the brand. I intend to run weekly coupons and special product promotions so don't miss out! They will not be available directly from the web store. I may repin a lot of my own brand images so I can keep them above the surface for other people to discover but if you follow me, you will see a bunch of other things that inspire the line.

You will notice a lot of costume ideas on my pinboards. I am starting to work on a collection called Costume Couture which I will hopefully have ready for ComFest and other summer and fall festivals before Halloween. Some of my current pieces are more costume and couture than ready to wear pieces and I would love to expand into a full collection.

I also will be launching a rewards incentive program very soon. Help promote Rock & Royalty and earn points and free stuff! Basically if you get anyone to shop with us, you will get credit for their purchase. More details to come soon.

So with all of these ideas generating I'm feeling rejuvenated and dedicated once again. Any ideas you have please feel free to send my way!