Too Many Tights!

3ree Sleeps To Go

1. Bandages are available again!!!

 

And we were shooting them (and many other exciting pieces!) until 3:30am this morning. Mercy. 

A MASSIVE thanks to the amazing CW and ABF!

And to answer your questions, yes, these are the coolest bandage leggings, and yes you need them in your life.

You can get them here.

2. Got some sweet pics from the beautiful AC, featuring the very awesome Lightning Leggings.

   

Note to girls... strappy wedges + printed leggings = awesome
 
3. Speaking of awesome... Clark Kent up top, Superman below.

   

The very fine Silver Spartans, which are really a staple for any girl looking to getting into superhero-ing.

(Thanks AN!)

4. Something to hide there, lady?

5. Okay, I'll admit it I AM IMPRESSED!

 

Those who are about to sweat, we salute you. 

Lena Hoschek, Via I Heart Alice.

6. Sorry, nothing here.

7. Not all Laces are created equal:

  

Can you spot the Black Milk Lace and the non Black Milk lace? First prize, an internet hug from me.

So good (thanks CH!)

8. Okay, this is a little awkward.

I feel a little weird doing this, but a promise is a promise - and a hell of a lot of vegetables gave their lives so that I could keep this promise.

So anyway... I found this random picture on the internet *cough, cough*:

 

Promise fulfilled. Tick.

I'm off to KFC.

x

jL

5ive Sleeps To Go

1. At the risk of repetition, I'd like to invite you all to the very exciting Black Milk Sunday Session happening this Sunday:

• When: Sunday 5th Sept, 4:00pm-6:30pm 
• Where: Lightspace Studios, Light St, Fortitude Valley
• What: Trying on clothes 'n' stuff...

 

Register here! (Or just turn up)

2. Wetlook bodysuits with arms.... anyone keen?

 

Don't worry, I'll tighten those wrists up.

3. Via Style Bubble. Some turkish leggings.

 

That's a cool concept, and one I have tried to do a couple of times (but failed). The problem I had was that they didn't stretch (definite no-no) and they looked ugly as sin when not on legs. I'm thinking these maybe go a little low.

4. The wonderful girls at Jeselle PR organised a fitting for me yesterday, which was awesome. There were like 8 girls there. That's 16 legs. It was lots of fun. After we had tried on all the clothes I asked the girls what they thought the strongest pieces were. The answer was....

Black Milk Wet Look Pantyhose

Who would have thought?

A close second were the Spidermans 2

Followed by the Velvet Maxi.

I personally liked the Velvet Flares... but that's just me.

5. Got this pic from the beautiful ML of Fashion Distraction:

 

Interesting leggings. Wonder where she got them?

6. Found a little discussion on lookbook.nu. It was about the Galaxy Leggings:

 

Hmmmm, well maybe you're right. How hard would it be to make your own Galaxy Leggings? 

Well, first you buy some high quality print polyesters from a fabric importer (they'll be only too happy to set you up an account so you can buy 1m of fabric), then source artwork, lay it up in a graphics program, print the pieces, create leggings patterns (how difficult could that be?), get yourself a couple of sewing machines, sew them up and ... bada bing.

7. ONE OFF!

Scary Skull Bodysuit

  
 

Only one, you know the score:

• Composition: Polyester/Elastane
• Designer: Me... and Leonardo da Vinci
• Price: US$70

The size is S ... but fits XS and M (I don't know how, but it does!)

The skull is made from taking a drawing of Leonardo Da Vinci's - cutting it in half and reflecting it upon itself.

One of my more morbid pieces.

x

jL

p.s. The girl above is the spectacular KD... who you should get to meet if you come this Sunday. :)

I Told You I Was Freaky

This is it... the big week.

If you are in Brisbane, please come along. Bring a +1... or a + 2, or however many you want really.

I think I'll be showing about 20 new pieces there. May be 30 depending on how I go this week!

1. I'm going to make a swimsuit with this retro film poster on it. You'll see.

 

"You eyeballin' me mister?"

2. Is it just me, or was there always something a little pervy about Darth Vader?

 

So are those shoes connected to the rest of the piece? Looks like it.

Via.

3. Last post I complained about this new Granny Chic that is creeping in.

"Don't worry about it" they said. "It's a phase." they said. "Ironic, darling" they said.

Wake up peeps, this trend is threatening everything we hold dear!

ET TU COURTNEY LOVE!?

 

I blew the trumpet. When Vogue starts telling you that a walking stick is the must have accessory of 2011, then you'll wish you had listened.

4. A couple of cute girls...

Mini at the front, maxi at the back, cool idea. I'm woking on six (count 'em!) maxi dresses at the moment. 

5. Galaxy leggings - sold out :(

She's grinning because she actually got a pair. We're working on improving our print systems at the moment because the last few weeks has been a disaster. 

I'm not crying, I just have something in my eye.

Fixing it this week.

6. Is it just me - or is Natasha Poly the least intimidating drill sergeant in the world?

 

This guy's thinking "If she gives me any more grief... I'm gonna snap those legs."

7. For the multitudes who have asked when the Bandage leggings might be back... I'll give you an answer in the next few days.  :)

8. Got tipped off by RV to an interesting take on the catsuit...

   

Apparently great for skiing... and robbing banks one would assume. You can get them pretty cheap here.

9. ONE SHOT

Pink Spartans are gone, zebra leggings are gone, baby gone. So here's another one shot for you:

MUSIC

   

Just one...

• Composition: Polyester/elastane
• Designer: me
• Price: US$70 

It's a Mendelssohn Overture in case any of you music nerds were interested.

x

jL

Pink Spartans!

1. So last night I had a dream that I was talking to Michael J Fox about his bulimia, (because he would eat weetbix with honey and spew after every meal) when a tall handsome man comes along to the Black Milk Sunday Session and tells me that he is a homosexual mormon and gives me a pile of books on Mormon theology. Then I'm in an aircraft hangar reading a document written in Macedonian because I need to judge whether a family accused of terrorism in Japan should be allowed to enter the country.

I've really got to stop eating coco pops before bed. 

Or at least stop watching Inception before bed.

2. ONE SHOT 

Well, my first one off sold, so I'll do some more. :)

Pink Spartans!!!

• Size S
• Composition: Nylon/lycra
• Designer: Me
• Price: US$80

 

Only one.

I like them. Maybe I should start a label called Pink Milk? 

(and yes, I will try to do different sizes...)

3. Latex, the preferred fabric of metallic pig riders all over the world.

  

4. I know a lot of people don't 'get' my clothes. And that's fine. They're nice people, they just don't dig wearing shiny black stuff, or crazy outrageous prints. Fine.

Now, there are some things that I don't get. I'll admit it.

Exhibit A:

 

Did I miss something? I mean, when did the grannies take over the fashion blogs?

If I hear one more fashion blogger gush about how much she needs these in her life, I'm going to despair. Why in the world would you want to wear chunky cable knit hot pants? Are you planning to seduce a senior citizen? Do you want to get a job as a promo girl at the local rest home?

You're sick. You need help.

x

jL

p.s. For all those (the list grows) waiting for printed pieces, we're getting there! Thanks again for your patience. We are getting a few hundred pieces done this week, so hopefully yours will be among them. :)  Our last print run all got binned because all the blacks were wrong. That was a fun day...

I Don't Want To Get Over You

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If you live in Brisbane, love your leggings, and have a spare Sunday afternoon - please come along to the Black Milk Sunday Session on the 5th of Sept!

You can register here.

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1. I found some of this fabric hiding away, and decided to whip up this little number (some of you old school readers might remember this style):

   

Okay, this is me experimenting with a new (kind of) way of doing the fashion biz...

Basically, I make a piece, put it straight up on the blog/Facebook. Then some fashionable/stylish/amazing/beautiful girl (that would be you) snaps it up, depending on whether the aforementioned fashion item sucks or rules. And repeat.

It means I can experiment a little more. Go crazy, safe in the belief that there must be at least one girl in the world who will buy them.

It also means you get same day postage.

Zebra Leggings 

• Size S
• Nylon/elastane...and maybe some actual zebra
• Made in Australia
• US$80

(BTW, this is a new shop I'm using, please let me know if you have any problems using it!)

2. Lace dresses... I'm on it.

The maxi dresses are coming along very well.  I'm making a few little adjustments today:

• Straps to move out by 2cm on each side
• Back seam to be replaced by two side seams.
• Maybe drop the back a little

I tried to make it work with the backseam it was just too hard to get the fit right. The variation between waist and bust is just too unpredictable to be able to shape it correctly and let the stretch fudge the difference.

Side seams give you a really nice fit.

3. Got these pics from my good friend CP, whose girlfriend is building up quite a collection...

     

Very niiiiice. 

4. New York Couture:

Retro sci fi fluoro leggings - tick

Chunky bangles - tick.

Hamburger singlet - tick.

Psychedelic lipstick - tick.

Bras - ...? Hey, who the hell was in charge of bringing the bras to this photoshoot?!

5. I got tipped off to this with the title 'elephant ankles':

Harsh, very harsh! 

Ankles are a tough one because you can get some fairly wide variations. If you have ankle problems with your leggings, the best solution is to put them under the heel. Of course, you need a really good stretch in the fabric to do that comfortably.

I know one place that does a really good two way stretch leggings... :)

6. Is that the Mentalist hanging out with Taylor Momsen?! 

 

There are a lot of things I could say about this outfit... but I'm going to limit it to one:

It is hard to get zips to sit straight and not go all wavy.

7 . I'm not sure if the straps and the top section of the outfit below would provide adequate boob support for activities such as ... well, swinging through the jungle and kicking baddies.

 

Still, Sheena never seemed to have any problems with it.

I think I might make a high waisted velvet skirt today.

Why the hell not.

x

jL

It's All On Like Donkey Kong!

=====================================================================================

It's on! Black Milk Sunday Session #1:

When: 4pm Sunday Afternoon, 5th September

Where: Lightspace Studios, Fortitude Valley

What: Black Milk collection showing and sample + seconds sale

Who: You! (...and me).

That's right, you are invited. 

I should explain, it's not like a party... it's more like a hang out and dress up. It's very similar to what quite a few of you girls who come to me directly already do. You come around, see the new pieces, try on a few, buy whatever grabs you. Same thing... but more girls. And finger food.

I'll give you more details in my next post. :)

=====================================================================================

1. Don't be shy now... you know you want to:

 

Join up at the Black Milk fan page, that is.

What is the big difference between this page and the old page?

IT HAS A SHOP!!!!

For reeeelz! How cool. What I'm planning on doing is whenever I do a one off, or a sample, or just something that probably won't go into production, I'll put it up at the Facebook fan page and you can snap it up should you so desire.

And I think you will so desire.  

2. Beauty contest are truly bizarre conventions. I mean, a group of women converge on a location and compete in being looked at.

 

Still, it lets costume designers cut sick and create some amazing pieces. I would love to do something like this.

The pictures above are in the national costume category, apparently.

Miss Venezuela looks like she was dipped in glue and then propelled through a glass window.

... and would it make me look nerdy if I pointed out that there should be only 13 stars connected with American national symbolism (representing the 13 original states), rather than the more symmetric 14 that are attached to the woman above?

Probably.

3. You know, I could quite easily do nothing but Galaxy Leggings and still make a living.

Because they are so cool.

 

I have no idea where I found these pics, so if they are you, let me know!

Galaxy Leggings US$60.

4. There is a possible universe in which this makes sense. I've just never been there.

 

Fantastic way to lose the paparazzi:

"Where did Kesha go?!"

"I have no idea, all I can see is a tiger."

"Is Kesha a tiger?"

"No, she's a human"

"Guess it's not her then. Let's go find Gaga...."

[Kesha (behind her tiger mask)] "LOL!"

I'm doing Tiger leggings at the moment (and tiger spartans, and tiger catsuit.... etc. etc.)

5. Kate, in either latex or PVC:

I had this idea of doing stay ups for your arms, so they will be like gloves, but without the fingers. 

6. Black Wet look leggings. Yes, you need them. Owl optional.

 

I feel like the owl is looking into my soul. (Thanks HN!)

7. Okay, I need the truth here - if I made a bunch of sheer bodysuits... would you wear them? Or maybe... do you know anyone who would wear them?

 

This girl looks fun. I would like to hang out with this girl. 

8 . Via Fashion Toast, the coolest thing I have seen in a long time.

 

Soooo tempted to make one of these. Must... resist...

x

jL

New Facebook Fan Page - Join or Die.

1. Seriously, those are your only two options.

I'm doing something really interesting at the moment (I'm actually always doing interesting things... I need to go do something boring for a change). I've got a new Black Milk Facebook fan page, and I'm closing the Facebook group.

And there is a good reason for that. See if you can spot the difference:

Old... and New.

Did you see it?

So if you want to stay posted through Facebook, please click the like button at the new fan page. Actually - let me make it easy for you:

..

And it you want to suggest your friends like us as well (*cough, cough*), I won't stand in your way. :)

I must admit ... I'm kinda very totally excited about this.

It mean I will have a place to put all my one offs and samples. So if you want something that is unique, a designer piece, and going for cheap, this will be the place to will find it. :)

2. Putting the final touches on my new pieces. I'm a little nervous. You always wonder if anyone is actually going to want to buy these things, or if you are just kidding yourself that they look good.

Anyway, I've got two words for you: cat suits

Okay, one more word: tiger

Are you thinking what I'm thinking? This will be outrageous.

3. Future chic from Fashionising:

   

4. The very sweet EG, hard at work:

 

This is not going to be a surprise to most of you but there are called Peacock leggings... and you can get them here.

5. Lace Spartans from the beautiful SP:

 

I have been a bit deprived of Lace Spartans pictures lately.... so I was very happy to get these from the always amazing ML of Fashion Distraction:

     

And yes, I will be doing some more lace leggings. :) 

6. Here's a little blast from the past. Anyone remember these?

This is like a Black Milk vintage piece!

And still looks so good after all these ... months.

7. Got to hang out with a couple of local bloggers last week. There was Miann from Fashion Falsehood, 

 

... and Madeleine from We Killed Couture.

Seriously awesome girls.

In fact, they get invited to all the cool fashion events in Brisbane. Madeleine was telling me that Mercedes Benz Fashion Festival sent her tickets to the shows, and I'm like (thinking, not saying) "Hey, where were my tickets?!"

Not that I would have gone.

It's more the principle.

It's funny, with stuff like that you're always wonder if you don't get invited because you are too indie/cool/underground and punk. 

Or ... if you just suck and they don't want you at their cool parties.

Personally, I'm hoping for option #1 here, peeps.

8. And my chances of getting invited to this party ... well, not looking good there either:

 

At least we now know how tall these guys are relative to one another.

9. David Bowie - a man with fashion sense unlike any other.

  

And apparently a man with inner thighs unlike any other.

10. Movie review!

Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky

A bit sucky.

And a bit porny.

I find it strange that many people like to see Mme. Chanel as some kind of role model for women. She was 'independent' we are told. Really? Dig a little deeper into her murky closets and you may be surprised what you find... 

x

jL

Jane Says "Have You Seen My Wig Around? I Feel Naked Without It."

1. Black Milk Sunday Session - 5th September 

Wanna play dress ups and check out my new collection...?

2. I read this today about the much misunderstood world of fit modelling:

The work is not glamorous, it’s thankless hard work. You can expect to be treated as an inanimate object - not because people are horrible but because they are used to working on a form that doesn’t complain when pinned, prodded or pushed and they’re concentrating on the product, not you. Expect to be stuck with pins occasionally, expect fitters to be occasionally insensitive, expect for your feet to hurt. It is not unusual to have an audience while changing your clothes. Watching someone get in and out of a garment is vital information, as important as fitting to size itself. If you undress unobserved, no one will know if a zipper is a tiny bit too short or if it is too difficult to get your shoulders into a snugly fitted top.

Via Fashion Incubator.

What most people don't understand that, as a designer, you really see the female body as an abstraction - a space for artistic expression and commercial ludology (look that word up).

It's a strange way of looking at women.

3. Juliette Lewis, being Juliette Lewis.

 

You could go all red with silver stars... or maybe just get the Lace Flares:

 

Yeah, do that. 

Is anyone still interested in the plain Lace Leggings? I made an XS sample yesterday... I could make some more.

4. Some interesting thoughts about the whole thing with the traditional industry trying to get leverage from bloggers:

Dance, Blogger, Dance!  LINK

I always find it funny when you talk to someone in the mainstream fashion industry and you tell them you have a blog:

"Oh, blogs, OMG, they are so huge right now. Massive."

So I say "Yeah, they are. Okay, so which blogs do you read?

"Ummmm ... the Sartorialism. Is that one?

5.Op Art Swimsuit by F.C. Gundlach - Greece 1966. 

 

If I was really cool and all like art school, I would know who that dude F.C. Gundlach was. But honestly, I have no idea.

However, if there is anyone out there looking for tips for impressing art school girls... drop the name F. C. Gundlach every once in a while. Those art school babes will be powerless to resist your underground hipness.

I love art school girls.

6. Got to hang out with a couple of awesome girls yesterday. I had an ulterior motive, I must confess, I needed to test my new swimsuits and bodysuits.

You see, some of my earlier bodysuits weren't as good as they could have been. The bustier girls were getting issues. Side boob issues. And I'm getting emails from all these D cup girls saying - "Ummmm... I'm falling out."

Not cool.

So I need to fix the problem. How do I know if I have well and truly fixed the problem? Girls who are G cup can wear them, and still feel supported.

That's right - if we can keep the G Cup girls happy, we can keep anyone happy.

 

Moonwalker Bodysuit - tick!

 

Black Skull bodysuit - tick!

So, yes, they fit big busts... and little ones too. It's magic. 

7. While we were doing the fitting, I was a little worried. A little stressed. And I got photographed. This is what I look like when I'm deep in thought:

 

And, no - I have no idea what that strange fingers on the teeth thing I'm doing there is...

8. Ever had a nightmare like this?

 

I don't know which is worse - getting attacked by demonic muppets, or getting a king wedgie through fishnets.

Yeah, probably the psycho muppet thing is worse.

Which reminds me.. I recently bought aa couple of bodysuits from a certain aamerican clothing company to test on girls. Those babies go straight up the bum, never to be seen aagain. 

9. The amazing/amazing Treacle asked my opinion on a certain aanonymous company's financial woes.

These guys are staring down the barrel of a 90% loss of value. Damn.

First thing let me say is... it's hard making a buck in the fashion business. Seriously hard. Black Milk sells a huge amount of clothes, but I still have a tough time paying to get my Ferrari serviced every two months (joke, people, that's a joke). 

Let's just say I eat on Mondays, Wednesdays, and weekends. 

On the other hand, I also know that when you work in the business of putting fabric on bodies you just can't be sleazy. Perhaps there are guys who think that Terry Richardson is the standard ("Wow! I want to be a photographer... you get to have bad facial hair, make lots of money and have sex will random girls!"), but he's not. You have to be super professional.

I also know there are huge temptations to cut corners. I've done it, many times, and always paid the price. The difference is that my stuff ups cost me thousands, Dov's cost millions.

Thankfully Black Milk customers seem to be very forgiving, (which is much appreciated!)  :)

10. Got these pics of the Liquids this morning from EM:

"I love my liquids (even if I look a little grumpy in the pic). ^_______^ "

  

I forgive you. But, seriously, how can you be grumpy with shiny shiny legs and leopard print wedges?

x

jL

I'm an Artist, Coco, You're a Shopkeeper

1. We all know how good I am at keeping secrets. Like, not at all. So here I am - again - giving you a sneak peek at some of the new ideas I have been working on.

Behold - Gold Strap Leggings, and the Black Butterfly Top:

They will both be available at the Black Milk Sunday Session coming up in two weeks.

2. Her majesty, acting royal:

 

Watch this one do the rounds on Tumblr!

3. And a very touching little tribute from CH:

 

Silver Spartans, you can still get them here.

4. Found this on Stylestalker:

 

You know I have a couple of metres of hot pink fabric... hot pink spartans anyone? I'm serious peeps.

5. What is the collective noun for freaks? A cirque of freaks?

 

6. Are you thinking what I am thinking?

   

If you were thinking that the woman above has tiny little arms and that her bag looks like fluffy intestines, then you were thinking what I was thinking.

Another thing I'm thinking here... who was it that thought that making the white spots get bigger as they go up the thighs was a good idea?

6. Don't hold your breath for this style to catch on:

 

Sorry Ariel, you're not onto a winner with this one.

7. Someone asked me recently if I had anything to do with this:

No way, Supre can take all the credit for that one.

8. Customer service is a lot of fun isn't it? Especially when you have to tell people that everything is going to be massively late.

For some reason the responses are polar. You get either:

"No problem. I know you're busy and these things happen! Happy to wait a little longer. :)"

Or you get

"I'm so disappointed! This is so unprofessional, a curse on your house and children forevermore."

It's so frustrating, especially when there is literally nothing you can do to prevent or solve these problems. It's the whole butterfly effect thing:

• Erin Wasson wears a pair of little demin shorts
• H&M tell their factories they need another 10 000 pairs of little denim shorts
• The factories buy up all the denim stocks from the fabric merchants
• The fabric manufacturers now need to get their demin  stocks up
• They stop making print lycras and make denim
• The importers are told that their print lycras will be two weeks late
• The big labels buy up all the incoming print lycras
• The small independent labels are told that their print lycras will be three weeks late
• The printers say that their usual two week turnaround will become a three week turnaround because of the backlog. 

And if you happen to be at the bottom of the proverbial pile, no one's busting their buns to keep you happy.

I can't imagine at H&M headquarters they're saying:

"Ja, Gustav, we do need to buy another 10 000 units of these little shorts ... but have you thought about the impact that could have on small independent fashion labels in Australia?"

x

jL

p.s. I've decided that I'm going to make a lot more one offs and samples available through the blog here. You can expect a few this week.   

Hot Diggity Dog!

1. A question I get asked all the time:

Hey jL - I want some really cool and interesting leggings, but I don't want to buy Black Milk (I've heard they're totally overpriced and made in a garage by some guy who never even went to fashion school!). Can you recommend anywhere else I can get some gear?

I can point you in a few different directions. You could try these two places:

Tights Please:

     

Or UK Tights:

     

Check them out.

2. Made this top and sent it to the very amazing ML:

       

It's cool... but I think it needs more work. It's not quite working for me. ML suggested some kind of tank top, and I'm inclined to agree. I'll work on it. :)

3. I don't mind this look. Not the trout pout, the tights.

 

A little bit gym class, but that can work...

4. Via The Kingdom, Marc Jacobs, playing the subtlety card.  

 

According to MJ, he and the photographer tried a whole bunch of clothes but nothing worked.

Like all of Jacobs’ ad campaigns, it was photographed by Juergen Teller and features the 47 year-old designer lying on a bed with only an oversized perfume bottle over his bits.  Even though Jacobs is creative director of his own fashion empire and for Louis Vuitton, he says nothing he tried on worked.

He said -“Once I agreed to be the model, I couldn’t see what I would wear to express this,” Jacobs told WWD. “We tried it with clothes, but it didn’t work. Then Juergen had the idea for the silver Mylar, and it all came together. The silver Mylar also gives it that flash, that bang.”

MJ: Hey Juergen, these clothes really aren't working. 

JT: Yeah, so why don't you try on some other clothes?

MJ: No, I don't think any clothes will work.

JT: But you are a fashion designer - isn't that your job?

MJ: No, Juergen, I think the only way for this to look right will be to get nuded up. (Pulls out bottle of oil)

JT: What's that?

MJ: Body oil. I'm gonna get greased.

JT: So ... why exactly are you carrying around a bottle of body oil?

MJ: I just carry one around, y'know.

JT: Uh huh.

MJ: Just in case I need to get nude and draw attention to my contours.

JT: That is an amazing coincidence - you can't get the clothes to work and you just happen to have a bottle of body oil on you.

MJ: Look, I don't spend 20 hours a week in the gym to not to crack out these babies every once in a while! Start snapping.

5. Some very cool pics from the awesome BD:

  

And probably the coolest name for a photo I have received: For Sparta!

Epic.

8. Well, there seems to be a bit of interest in my dresses. I did get some photos taken, but I'm not sure if I'll get my mits on them for a while.

What makes you guys so sure they're not going to suck? You have too much faith. 

9. I Kissed Charles, supporting La Roux:

 

I think those are Lace Spartans in there.

9. Sad news for all you Ed Hardy fans out there, Ed Hardy Australia has been placed into voluntary administration (i.e. going broke).

They have even had to close their store on the Gold Coast. On the Gold Coast! 

Seriously, you know times are tough in the fashion biz when you can't turn a buck selling Ed Hardy on the Gold Coast.

x

jL

p.s. It looks like we will be having a showing for the new collection on a Sunday afternoon in two weeks time!!! Not 100% confirmed, but that is the plan. :)  If you're in Brisbane, mark it on the calendar.