my magical creature costume designs

Hi! I finished these costume design drawings last night at about 1 AM. I love them so much and my critique went very well today! They are birds who evolved from the water three thousand years ago- just to give a short synopsis. Tonight I am working on turning a blouse from the late 1980's into the 1920's. Should be fun.. but a lot of work. Update you soon! :)

love, polly

a celebration: 3 weeks vegan

Hi! Happy Halloween Weekend, darlings! I celebrated 3 weeks vegan this Saturday and I've never felt so proud and so healthy! I have been making tofu scramble even when I was just vegetarian but I made it this morning and it was particularly good with vegan sun dried tomato sausage, red peppers, portobello mushrooms and avocados to top it off............................

I am currently drawing two magical creatures as a design for my costume design II class today. I am picking out fabric now and painting the colors on the costumes! I'll show you the result tomorrow! 

love, polly :)

the end of an era!

This is a photo of my Great Grandmother Frisina. She passed away this past week. Here are some photos I took on the day of her funeral. 

I wore a dress that used to belong to her. I wish I had a photo of her in this dress, but I sadly do not!

 The necklace is my mother's.. she let me borrow it :) It belonged to my Great Great Grandmother Marie Frisina. I love it very much.

 Here are some family photos of my cousins and my mother and our dog, Bridgitte.

It was a sad weekend but that seemed to be masked with my cousin Catherine and Luke's birthdays. I was so happy to be a part of their birthday celebrations. It was even more proof to me that life can and must go on. I hope you're having a lovely week.

love, polly 

every planet we reach is dead.

I've been obsessed with the Demon Days album by the Gorillaz for the past few weeks. I listen to it in the costume shop every time I get the chance. How did I not listen to this album in its entirety before now? Baffling. 

Today was my Great Grandmother Lucille Frisina's funeral service. It went well and it was so nice to see my family again. It was a much needed break. I also managed to acquire quite a bit of vintage beauties which I'll have to fully elaborate on in my next post :)

i love you!

polly

the start of a new collection..

Hi, there! I've mentioned a few times that I have started to collect vintage compacts, but it's a very small collection which I hope to expand upon throughout my lifetime. I thought I'd show you a peek at my new collection and tell a story of each one. I believe that a collection starts with three items.. but in this case, I know I'll collect more so it's the beginning of my collection... 

The big silver one belonged to my mother (I need to ask her where she got it!) and I found the black and gold mesh one while antiquing for my 21st birthday last year at Lisa's Antique Mall in Illinois. It has a mesh bag that holds the powder. It was only about 5-10 dollars if I remember right. A very swell deal!

UPDATE: Also, I wanted to update you on how my diet has been! I've been vegan for two weeks yesterday! Every Saturday I celebrate another week and treat myself to vegan ice cream or vegan cupcakes. It's a great reward system which works wonders for me! 

In other news, I am off to Taylorville, IL (my home town) today to attend my Great Grandmother Frisina's funeral and see my family which has driven in from St. Louis, Maryland, Mississippi, and many other states to share memories of her life. Hopefully I can get around to posting some outfits in beautiful places (because in Taylorville... there are so many beautiful locations!!). I am wearing a black dress that used to belong to my Great Grandmother to her funeral. I thought it was a perfect way to honor her memory living on through her grandchildren :)

I'm off to pack! Which color of suitcase shall I use? 

love, polly 

giveaway aftermath: Maria Elyse and My Best Friend Jules!

Hi, there! I am so happy to be posting yet another giveaway aftermath post thanks to Mervi from My Best Friend Jules. She designed a blog make over for Maria Elyse from First Impressions and it couldn't look better! I am so happy that Maria is happy with the result. Thank you so much to My Best Friend Jules for being kind enough to host this giveaway through my little blog :)

Did you win a giveaway of mine, too? Be sure to send me photos at mylittlepollay AT aim DOT com and I'll feature them and tell your story, too!

love, polly

battle of angels craft work

Hi, there! Here is a hat that I just so happened to snap a before and after photo of the other day. I added feathers and trim to this hat for the show I am assistant costume designer for called, "Battle of Angels." Have you read it?

I've been doing better since the death of my Great Grandma, but her funeral is one week from today and I know it will start getting bad for my family and I as the time comes near. I look forward to seeing my family again soon and hopefully it's pleasant. 

Happy Monday, lovelies!!

love, polly

to a very classy lady..

Yesterday at 2:30 PM, my Great Grandmother Lucille Frisina passed away at 99 years young. I've shared numerous stories about her and how her spirit has lived on though passing her clothing throughout my family. I am fortunate enough to now own three nightgowns, two amazing lace slips, and two elegant black dresses from her. She was one of the most generous people I've ever known with such a strong spirit. I'll never forget her laugh. The last time I saw her was this past summer. I wore one of her black dresses which my Aunt Kate gifted to me after she had owned it for a number of years. I feel so fortunate to have had someone so classy and generous in my family... I will always remember you, Grandma Nini.

If you'd like to see the dresses she passed on to my mother and my Aunt Kate and then to me, here's the first post, and the second.

Here I am wearing my Great Grandmother Frisina's black velvet dress from the 1930's/1940's..

And here is a photo taken by Nathan Adhikari of me in my Great Grandmother's dress from the 1950's.

Here's a photo where we look especially alike :)

love, polly

September Giveaway winners

1. The first lovely prize being given away is a stunning pair of earrings and a zipper brooch handmade by Lola Dee. Congrats to Elia Marie from Elia for Love! Emal Lola Dee at lola AT loladee DOT com and let her know where to send your cute prize!

2. Next is one of these lovely headbands of the winner's choice provided by Ashley of The Peanut Gallery! Congrats to I wish I was a Giant Anteater! Email Ashley at abussard7 AT gmail DOT com to receive your prize :)

3. Congrats to Maria Elyse from First Impressions who won the lovely blog makeover face lift from My Best Friend Jules! Email Mervi at mybestfriendjules AT gmail DOT com to start on your design!

4. Last but not least, a bow tie design by me :) The winner is Zoe Beard :) Hi, Zoe! Email me at mylittlepollay AT aim DOT com and we'll talk about what colors you'd like! 

5. I almost forgot to announce the winner of a previous giveaway by my lovely sponsor Meggs! She is giving away a lovely little word bubble that I adore! The winner is Haley from NickandHaley! Email Meggs at membrey87 AT gmail DOT com to receive your prize!

Thank you so much to everyone who entered this giveaway! I appreciate every single one of you.

love, polly 

a peek at my new room!

So, here are a few photos of my (quite messy) room at the moment. I am by no means settled into my new house although we moved in August. I have way too much. I should probably have a yard sale. I think all of my room mates agree on this, too. Ha! Anyway, I didn't clean up a ton because I am a real person and I make real messes and I thought you should know. 

love, polly :)

The Difference Between Retro, Vintage, and Antique..

In case if you've ever wondered what technically defines something as vintage, retro, or antique (like I have more times than I can count...) you're in luck! I know I've been on the borderline for quite some time and it's nice to finally know the exact answer..

antiques: According to Merriam Webster, an antique is "a work of art, piece of furniture, or decorative object made at an earlier period and according to various customs laws at least 100 years ago." Make sure that if you're listing something as "antique clothing" that it is AT LEAST 100 years old (this is different with cars).

 Here is an antique wedding dress from the 1900's my Grandmother Kutch gifted to me from her antique store called, "Plain Jane's Antiques"

vintage:Although widely misused, the term "vintage" refers to an item that is at least 20 years old or more (there you go, you 1980's fans!) I know I hate seeing it misused and overused because it is such a fanatic thing today for something to be "vintage." One of my teachers at school insists that the term vintage should not be applied to any object under 50 years old. This is currently up in the air, but at least twenty years is the accepted age to deem objects under the "vintage" category. True vintage could be categorized at least 50 years old. "New vintage" is a term I've heard describing 1980's barely vintage items.

Here I am wearing a vintage dress owned by my Great Grandmother Frisina in the 1930's and 1940's.

Retro: retro simply refers to anything that looks out of style for the current time period. This could be clothing that was popular in the late 1990's (not technically vintage,  yet) or any new design that references designs or ideas of the past. This also seems to be somewhat interchangeable with the word, "vintage inspired." The 1970's are often referred to as "retro" although they are technically over 40 years old... which can be (in my eyes) considered "vintage."

Here's a dress I bought at Modcloth that is retro, or "vintage inspired."

I hope this cleared up some minor confusions for you like it did for me! 

love, polly

a real human being....

Life has been so busy with me... I can barely feel it when I sleep at times..

Needless to say, I snapped these shots of a wool cape my Grandmother Kutch spotted for me at the Salvation Army in Litchfield, IL last time we went together :) I love our little Salvation Army trips... they're something I truly treasure. Speaking of... my Grandmother Kutch told me the other day that she lost 30 lbs!! I am so happy for her...

Gosh, I've been singing songs from the film Drive all week! I saw it last weekend! (hence the title of this post). I am about to go see see a theatre show titled, "Hoodoo Love." I am very excited to see my friend Natalie's designs.. she is a sweetheart and I wish her all the best. It's her first time costume designing a show! Good Luck, Natalie! We love you..

outfit details:

retro shirt: 50 cents at a church yard sale in Champaign, IL last year

shoes: goodwill

vintage wool cape: Salvation Army

hat: forever21

vintage ghost tights: my mother's from the 1980's :)

love, polly

sans make up

HI! Good morning. THIS is the best tea EVER! It's called Yogi Green Tea Pomegranate... I am making some right now and I am very excited to start my (very long) day off with it in my thermos......

Oh, and while I'm being all random, you should go see DRIVE! I saw it last weekend and it was absolutely mind blowing. I totally recommend it. I MIGHT even deem it movie of the week. Look out for foreshadowing! 

have a great Tuesday! I have THREE fittings today. eeeeee.

love, polly