Kristi Smart Romantic Fantasy Coats and Clothing

A little halloween poem.

2011-10-26T12:14:00.000-07:00

I baited my breath

to attract the bats
to move into the belfry

along with the cats.

My breath has abated
my brain has been batted
The belfry is scented
with an aroma that's catted.

With love,

Me.

The Item
Face of The Moon

The Artist

Allie Hartley

The Shop

Strange Devotions.

The item.
Halloween Jack Is a Real Cool Cat

The Artist
Jill McDonald

The Shop

Happy Camp Creations on etsy

Best pet bed EVAH! (nods to Lantz Tolles)

2011-09-26T11:26:00.000-07:00

Want.... I dont know if Henry wants it, but I want it. Found over my morning cup of coffee and etsy window shopping. Im my imaginary dream house this is sitting nicely against my pretty white wall snugged under the sunny window showing off the view of the country estate. Fabulous window treatments frame this charming pet bed and my perfectly behaved Henry is reclining like a pampered pet.

The price is right. Some one needs to grab it before I do. I would have to get rid of my one chair to fit this in my house. It might happen. Made by http://www.etsy.com/shop/Spaghetteria

Celebrating Henry’s bad behavior.

2011-08-12T11:12:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning with a feeling of dread.
I found Henry’s rectum was glued to my head.

It wasn’t his usual choice of repose.
The artful arrangement, his torso, my nose.

I wont be surprised if I break out in a sty.
Due to new sleeping habits, his anus, my eye.

I hope he goes back to his chest, my ear.
My armpit cheerfully cradles his rear.

My eardrum awash with his thundering purr.
My cheekbones warmed by the fuzzness of fur.

With the first light of day now up my cats butt.
I'm considering trading him in for a mutt.

I love little Henry with all of my heart.
I'm ever so grateful he cant pass a fart.

My favorite colors.

2011-06-14T11:35:00.000-07:00

Etsy is known for its tasteful pale front pages. The front pages come from treasuries that the etsy members create. I like this one. It roars with color. It hoots, hollers and dances in the aisle. Bring on the color! Toot some horns! Wave a flag and pierce an ear or two! Lets be a little lively.

Why I wont own a plastic covered couch.

2011-06-13T14:39:00.000-07:00

Skin stuck to leather? No. Thats why I like fabric furniture.
I have a fuchsia yoga ball that is my computer chair.
I loved it till the warm weather hit. I plopped down on it wearing nothing but my undies and a t-shirt. Im on it for an hour. When I stand up to answer the phone, I discover that sweat + plastic = super glue and I am now one with the yoga ball as surely as if I had licked a frozen pipe in the middle of winter.
I go capering off to catch the phone in a bent over thigh glued together kind of staggering waddle. Henry is going bug eyed at the worlds largest pinkest bounciest hemorrhoid that is glued to my ass.
The ball ripped away when I went careening through the doorway and it got caught in the doorjamb. I caught the phone on the last ring. All I could do was lay on the floor laughing hysterically while my friend kept asking "Honey.... are you okay?"

Where are the movie cameras when you need one? It was hilarity with out witnesses. I just hate that.

1976 Rare banned Queen Poster! A Night at the Opera

2011-06-06T18:56:00.000-07:00

Its a post about a poster.
A million years ago photographer Philip Dixon hired my sister and I to model for a risque rock poster. The band, Queen, the poster, A Night at the Opera, The year 1976. The poster went up in Tower Records on a Friday. By Monday they were pulled off the walls, banned and destroyed. There are very few left in the world.
We were paid in albums, posters, front row seats to the concert and some cash. I ended up with my first pair of boots. Earthshoe boots! I was so darn hip in those boots. I gave up the boots years later when I couldnt fit into them anymore. I just loved them. They were the height of seventies fashion.
Cleaning up around the homestead, I found a couple of posters that were squirreled away by my father. He thought they might be worth something someday. Thanks Dad!
So this is for sale. $340 plus shipping. Please contact me through my website at www.kristismart.com My sister and I are splitting the loot.

2011-05-10T02:03:00.000-07:00

Faux vest set in tail coat

zippered punk frock coat

Punk Rock safety pin coat by Kristi Smart

The basic black vest for the men folk.

2011-04-12T10:53:00.000-07:00

I get so wrapped up in decorating my vests I forget how much people like the clean black no fancy no fluff vests. Available in any size you might want to order. From elfin to giants. You can order this vest through my website.

back view of weird vest.

2011-03-03T18:27:00.001-08:00

back view of weird vest. , originally uploaded by Kristi Smart AKA ManicManx.

Ive got a new obsession and its this applique I made. It keeps evolving. Like a virus. It started out simply but with spectacular flashy fabric. It got cut into two pieces. It got elongated, it got pointed. It got carved into a ribcage. It got leathered, silked and velveted.
Im working on the back of a coat right now. Bubbly textured leather and a glittery wool. Its got metal rings and if anyone is interested its a mens medium long frock coat. Part steampunk part circus couture.
Stay tuned for pictures.

2010-10-17T12:12:00.001-07:00

Fall is on its way and its time to start thinking about hats again.
I prefer the combination of whacky, arty, pretty and handmade. The kind that lets people know you are aging with humor and keeping your head warm while doing it.

Here are some of my etsy favorites. Jannio is two people run by Janine & Isabelle. Skilled hat makers residing in France.
They design wonderful hats and their felted purses are truly works of art.

For cute comfy and eliminating the need for dying your hair pink, visit DesignProjects.
The macho duck hunter silhouette is offset nicely by the lush soft yarn and the adorable ears.
I still love a good whacky hat with kitty ears on those over fifty.
When your hair follicles aren't what they use to be its good to have a back up plan and it might as well be Betsy Johnson Pink

Wandering Lydia makes over the top architectural creations.

I love the excessive display of a wedding cake perched on the top of ones head. The "Horny Hat" is the one I would take home.

2010-02-06T11:34:00.000-08:00

I mailed this coat off to Marty Gear a week ago. He wanted it to have a bit of the vampire on it. The dark muddy red fabric on the lapels and the skirt is actually the back side of a bright red fabric. Sometimes its the wrong side that is actually the right side.

2010-01-11T10:42:00.000-08:00

My face hurts from grinning for solid week! Belle Armoire has just published their Jan/Feb issue for 2010. Inside is an eight page interview and photo layout of their featured designer. ME! I am thrilled to no end! They are showcasing some of my womens coat designs.
This magazine can be purchased directly from their site. I have also seen it at Jo-Anns Fabrics, Michaels and Borders.

What part of "Do Not Block Garage" were you unable to read?

2009-12-03T21:51:00.000-08:00

Dear Everyone pulling into the parking lot.
To my horror and dismay I have developed a deep psychic connection with Tiger Woods wife. Her presence comes forth commandeering body and soul when faced with problematic automotive situations.
A good example of this would be me rushing to the garage only to find that some one has parked directly in front of it despite the fact that there is a large number of empty parking spaces available that don't involve keeping a tenant from getting to work.
I have taken the necessary precautions. I have removed all the golf clubs from the house. I am trying to arrange an exorcism but exorcists are hard to find and the good ones are really expensive.
Until I can find the means to remove this unwanted visitor who is currently channeling through me, perhaps everyone can help me from getting all Tiger Woods Wifey on random vehicles by inconveniencing a tenant other than myself.
I have placed a sign on my garage saying "Do Not Block Garage. Tenant Parking Only". Of course this does not apply to you but to be on the safe side, just pretend it does.

Thanking you in advance for your cooperation during this difficult and confusing episode of psychic woe.

Plus size pagan pirate coat

2009-11-19T11:27:00.001-08:00

Plus size pagan pirate coat, originally uploaded by Kristi Smart AKA ManicManx.

Since I have been making this silhouette for so many years, I can adapt it to fit any one. I am guilty of looking at people and not seeing a person but a pattern project. Its a puzzle to solve. Its an obsession. Its a love and its my job.
I have a passion for making plus size coats. A woman with some meat on her bones looks like a queen. They have a rump to show off and thats my job. To make things that drape off of it and frame it like the picture it is.

Its why I have Manx cats. Its all about the cute round butt.

TotusMel's Wunderkammer

2009-11-05T09:30:00.000-08:00

TotusMel's Wunderkammer
I found this really nice blog featuring steampunk art.
They have featured richly layered imagery from Indigo Lights. The artist is Brian Giberson who works in all mediums.
Nice stuff!!!!!

I thought it was an oyster.

2009-10-23T20:26:00.001-07:00

Fried mystery meat., originally uploaded by Kristi Smart AKA ManicManx.

Wrong.

chitsaron bulaklak

2009-10-23T20:25:00.001-07:00

What did I just eat? , originally uploaded by Kristi Smart AKA ManicManx.

The other day I walked into a Filipino grocery store and walked out with two fried lumps of mystery meat. I asked the woman what it was.
She said. "something from the pork"
"What part of the pork?"
"Hmmm. Something from the stomach." And she carefully cradled her hands under her abdomen. I thought perhaps it might be ovaries.
I ate the first one in the car. On the second one I realized I was eating almost solid fat. Nothing like fried fat with a side of fat.
When I bit into the chewy stringy parts I stopped eating and got out the camera.
Because of the stringy veined bits I now thought I was eating a testicle.
Pinupchick on etsy identified it as chitsaron bulaklak.

Im sure my cholesterol went through the roof. But it was fun and soooo tasty. So much for eating healthy this week.....

More fabric.

2009-10-08T22:50:00.001-07:00

More fabric. , originally uploaded by Kristi Smart AKA ManicManx.

Once a year or so I pull all of my fabrics off the shelves. Its amazing how many pieces get stuffed behind something. I unearth forgotten treasures. Silks and velvets, Fabrics rich in texture and color. I sort and refold. I pile things according to color and potential projects. I place the accompanying trims on tops of bundles of inspiration and neatly tie them up with a selvage edge of something.
This year I got an email. "I need a coat in shades of gray that looks like a drowned pirate". I had been wanting to make a drowned pirate coat for a long time and could not convince those who want to look like the robber of the rich to go that route.
I had my bundle of gray with the ancient tattered lace waiting to be sewn up.
Perfect.

I love it when my dreams come true.

Organizing can be bad for your health.

2009-10-07T22:53:00.001-07:00

I don't know whats going on with me. I have been organizing to the point where I feel its taking time away from actually making coats.
It has to do with my work environment. Everywhere I look I see things that need to be folded better, sticky noted or pinned to a wall.
I had spent two days pulling all my fabrics off the shelves, folding them and arranging them according to color, coordinates and possible projects. I found a box of unused plastic fruit containers. All my cones of thread went into them arranged by color. Today I pulled all my bags of cut out coats and vests. Every bag of cut garments has a sticky note pasted to the inside of the proper folder.
I guess this all needs to be done in order to work more efficiently. Its all part of having a business. Its just not really part of an artists brain.

Another nice coat

2009-09-26T16:49:00.001-07:00

Another nice coat, originally uploaded by danregal.

From Baycon. Miss Kim! A wicked woman with a great laugh came who tried on this coat. It looked like it was made for her.
Too funny to see it on Flickr.

Its hard to see but the rest of her outfit was great. Wonderful boyboots, great fitting pants. She was dressed the way I would like to dress everyday. Anyway, I remember her as being very entertaining and quick to laugh. Very fun.

2009-09-25T10:24:00.001-07:00

A pirate chest would be more appropriate of a container for these treasures. RIght now they are in a shoe box in my studio. Im obsessed with embellishments and medallions. I've been stockpiling these goodies. When I am looking for the crowning jewel at the center of an applique I get to paw through the pile pull out the perfect piece.
Phuuh phuuh. Okay.. Too many pees in that one.

Ive updated my etsy store

2009-07-07T00:27:00.000-07:00

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade
ManicManx.etsy.com

2009-01-25T23:24:00.000-08:00

Im really happy with the way this coat came out. This one is dedicated to my grandmother. Grossie. She was a milliner for Mr Blackwell. I don’t know which years she worked for him. I think in the fifties and sixties. She ended up with a lot of very fun trim from Blackwell. Then I ended up with a lot of very fun trim from Grossie.
I am finally starting to incorporate her trims into my coats. On this coat, the beautiful bright green fabric is hers along with some of the black braiding.
My grandmother use to make a lot of our clothing when we were kids. She dressed me in the more pastel colors and my sister in the richer darker colors. So funny. I always remember her long fingernails pinching my skin as she was fitting our clothing. It hurt like the dickens. Her response was always a “Well, if you stood still, I wouldn’t stick you with pins.” Funny, she never stuck us with pins, but those long nails….. man… they were something to be feared.
She taught me to knit and to do hand sewing. I think it was my mother that taught me to sew with a machine. We had an antique Adler that my father had bought her years ago. My Mom made the best Braidy Bunch outfits for us. Does any one remember poorboys? The early girlie version of wife beaters? And why these awful names for them? My Mom found us colorful striped poorboy tank tops and sewed coordinating a-line skirts. They had wide stripes in fushia, mustard, blue and orange. All the good colors of the day. Wish I had photos of my sister and I decked out. We must have looked fab.

DingleBerry of Death! Oh the horror..........

2009-01-25T14:11:00.000-08:00

My cat is racing in and out of the cat door with a dingle berry attached to his ass. I cant catch him and he is going to have a heart attack if I don't get it off him.
I dont know why he is so terrified of them. The last time this happened I managed to corner him, get a kitty valium down his screaming gullet and waited twenty minutes. He calmed down enough and I was able to remove the offending piece of decorative fecal matter.
What a nut.
This time he is in hysterics and spinning around the courtyard like a crazed banshie. I can hear him whipping through the bushes out side my window.
I have no clue as to what is going on in his fuzzy little head. I suppose he thinks some thing is chasing him and trying to crawl up his ass. Its attached by a piece of grass or something. Its swinging back and forth slapping his ass cheeks like a set of nineteen seventies Klick-Klaks.
I wish he would take a lighter view of this. He could do yo-yo tricks with it and impress the other cats.
Oh well. I cant catch him. Its either going to fall of or he is going to die. I hope he catches it on a branch the next time he makes a pass through the bushes.
What a dope. I hope we all get some sleep tonight.

Retro Pillows.

2009-01-11T13:48:00.000-08:00

I remember making pillows for a craft sale back in the seventies when I was teenager attending Area H Alternative school. I had made a batch of rainbow pillows. A popular theme in 1974. Here I am in 2009 using similar themes but better techniques and talents. The fun part is in the designing and applique. As you can see I have yet to actually finish them. All fun projects have to be set aside for coat production.
This batch was started three years ago with the best of intentions. My new years resolution is to get them finished up and on my couch where people can see them and cats can lay on them.
I love the whole retro sixties seventies look for home furnishings. Cost Plus is selling those thin capiz shell curtains in Like Totally Cool Turquoise. It all reeks of Akron. That wonderful store that was hipper than hip way back when.

Steampunk Coat at Steampowered Convention

2008-12-13T12:13:00.000-08:00

Every year that I make coats is another year of enjoyment. I dont know why it makes me so happy but there is something so satisfying about doing this. I am very lucky to love what I do so much.
A silkscreener moved into the studio courtyard. He was showing me his designs and all I could think of was how great they would look combined with coats. We put it together and I came up with this one. I call it the Praying Mantis Coat because for some reason I have been having praying mantis's popping into my last two studios to say hi. This time one came around and really seem to appreciate my efforts. And he liked that it was spidery and green just like him.
This coat is made from black bull denim, features Richards art work and my appliques. It went to the home of Andy Bear and John Inis. (please forgive me if I have misspelled your last names)

So now that this creation has found its owner, I have to go sit on Richard and get more art out of him. I aim to make it a very different feel than this one. I cant wait.

I started making this coat twenty fricking years ago!

2008-10-23T10:58:00.000-07:00

I cant believe it. I still love it. It was one of those happy accidents. I had been making a jacket with whacky lapels. Huge and very eighties. Because it was the eighties.
I needed to make something a bit more refined and had spotted a picture of Marlon Brando in Mutiny On The Bounty. It was in a Hollywood Costume calendar book that I still have to this day. It was just a shot of his face and chest. It showed the lapel and I liked it. So I made it. To me it looked very Mariachi. That was more my bent anyway. Thinking it needed a skirt, I pulled out paper on the floor, drew a big sweep and in five minutes my coat was born.

That was twenty years ago. I just cut out another stack of Mens Mediums yesterday. Check out KristiSmart.com for more information.

I miss my Baby Nu Nu

2008-10-23T00:10:00.000-07:00

He was so cute.

Completely lacking in brains but rich in odd behavior.
Not really a cat. Not really a rat. Something in between.
He had breath that smelled exactly like chicharrones.
He was my special ed guy with special ed needs.
I was afraid I would never love him as much as Henry. That he would be neglected and ignored.
Turns out this ugly thing named Pepper took over my life.

He was a feral manx. When they called me to say they found a manx kitten they said "If you aren't sure you want him, dont come over. He is the cutest kitten ever and you wont be able to say no."
I got in my car and drove over for a look. This woman had him by the scruff of his little neck and was holding him up to the face of a huge male cat. This huge male cat was licking him from head to toe.
They held this ratty runty tailless thing up for my inspection. Slathered with cat spit. Hair sticking out in all directions. Puffed up wormy hairless belly, soggy little feet with muddy claws. Ugly ugly ugly. Ugliest kitten I have ever seen. Looked like a lab rat.
"Isn't he cute?" they asked. Oh man. He was anything but.
I had to sit there for a half an hour talking my self into taking this hideous excuse for a cat home to his older brother.
I did.
Only because it was my other cats brother.
Funny thing is. The first glimpse of him is pretty much nailed the rest of his life.
His brother Henry would start the day by pinning him down and licking his hair in all directions. Pepper would show up for breakfast with what little hair he had looking like it had gone through a blender. It was always "Oh.. Hair by Henry! Nice work, Love what you've done with the cowlicks"

I would follow him around and try to get that shot that captured how weird and rat-like he was. Somehow he always looked like a million dollars in a photo.
He was always doing something stupid.
Ari, my five year old neighbor (at that time) chased him down. Pepper ran for his life for about five feet. Then he threw himself down on the pavement and went belly up like a submissive dog. Not good survival instincts.
He loved water. As a kitten I had to fish him out of the toilet five times before I realized the lid had to go down until he was big enough to get out by himself. He jumped into the full tub more than once. Loved when I turned on the garden hose and ran it down his back. I could always tell when there was a pipe leaking under one of the apartments because he would come home with a demented expression and a soaked head.
what a nut.

The down side was that he was wreaking my life. He was spoiled rotten and high maintenance. There was no sleep to be had for seven years. I was stating to have close calls of the vehicular kind. My hair was beginning to look a lot like his. We started to compete in the dazed and confused contest.
He met a swift end. As sad as I was I got the first full night of sleep in years.
After two years of catching up on sleep I am starting to miss him.
In a tupperware kind of way.
Thats when you have something really great but its only good in small doses. You keep it in tupperware and only take it out when you have the energy to deal with it.
A bag of chicharrones would make me feel better. I could put it in tupperware.
I could stick a name tag on it and call it Pepper.

Losers Paradise. Chris Gaffney, We miss you.

2007-03-03T12:02:00.000-08:00

Friday, April 18th, 2008

Its been a day of Losers Paradise and tears. If I drank beer I would be crying in it.

Chris Gaffney passed away today. One of my all time favorite performers. I knew he was ill with liver cancer. A hard thing to beat. I didn’t have much hope that he would make it but still managed to be shocked when Chris Laurence called this afternoon with the news that he had passed this morning.

My heart goes out to his wife Julie and his family.

I have Gaffney’s “Losers Paradise” on an ancient beat up tape cassette. Amazing that it still plays considering how much wear it got. I feel fortunate that my neighbors always tolerated my obsessive and unrelenting taste in music. Some days that tape would get played three times in a row. Loudly. Very loudly.

Back in the day I would sail down the highway toward a night of dancing blasting his music, singing “take the right turn off the wrong road and take it all the way” at the top of my lungs. It revved me up for the evening and wound me down when I got back home. Any road trip I went on was started off with a round of “I’m on the road to Indio”.

I played that tape three times today. Loudly. Very loudly.

I thought that man was the bee’s knees. His voice sounded like gravel mixed with melted chocolate. He had a face full of character and a head full of whacked out sensibilities. He took those sensibilities and turned them into great songs seasoned with acidic dry wit.

One night at the Alligator Lounge my friend Betty Sword and I were swooning over him. When I told her that I was going to ask him to autograph my chest, she said “Your not going to do that. What are you? Sixteen?” Not being one to resist a double dog dare, I ran to Gaffney with pen in hand. I ended up with an autograph that delayed bathing for days.
I haven’t seen Chris Gaffney in years. He quit playing in the LA area, I got to where I wasn’t going out as much. I wasn’t willing to drive that far.

He also changed bands. I had a hard time believing that I would like his new group The Hacienda Brothers as much as his original band The Cold Hard Facts. But of course they would be good. He wouldn’t have been with them if they weren’t. I heard how great they were but regrettably never saw them.

I took if for granted that I could go see The Hacienda Brothers some day when I was a little less tired.

Its been a very sad day

Always play your favorite tape very loudly and never take things for granted.