How To Wear Vagadu

Good afternoon everyone!

This post today is going to be a fun one! We've added images of Vagadu vests onto fashion spreads to show you all how you could possibly wear on the vests! Wouldn't it be wonderful if on a student living I could afford to dress myself in wonderful dresses made by Louis Vuitton!

I hope that everyone in enjoys this! The purple vest is on a Donna Karan outfit. The navy and red vest isplaced on a model

wearing J Brand jeans. The yellow Louis Vuitton dress has a scraptec flowering vest over it. And the purple slip dress has a sleeve vest over it. Don't they all look great?!

Also I wanted to wish everyone Happy Holiday for whatever holiday that you might celebrate! Keep your family close and have a great time! This is going to be my last blog for Vagadu but keep an eye out for "Love & Fashion" because I will always be around!

Love & Fashion,

Kelley signing off for Vagadu

Pillow Talk

Hello darlings!

I hope that everyone is having a great day and that everything is going how they hoped their day would go.

Things are going wonderfully here at Vagadu because we've been working on new ideas and the final product is here! We've been experimenting with making pillows out of older fabric pieces that were too small to use for any of our large projects like the blazer vests and dresses. And these pillows have turned out great!

They are Scraptec Pillows made using a base pillow cover and then we've added the Vagadu touch! Like the blazer vests these pillows have the most wonderful fabrics on them like Italian silks in very beautiful patterns.

I know how hard it can be to find accent pieces for new homes or maybe an older couch that you wanted to spice up. Instead of spending loads of money getting it reupholstered or trying to find a slip that doesn't make the couch look dumpy you can buy a Vagadu Scraptec Pillow!

This is a great option because through the practices that Vagadu upholds, you too can be green. At Vagadu our products are made from 90% recycled materials, and everything is made by hand so there isn't any environmental damage caused by all of our products!

Don't hesitate to participate in some pillow talk tonight because that is the green thing to do!

Love & Fashion,

Kelley for Vagadu

Greenwashing: Beware!

Hello everyone.

I hope things are going well. And that everyone is having a good week and enjoyed their weekend.

Today I wanted to write about something kind of shocking that happens at some fashion events all over the world and that is "green washing". Green washing is when a company temporarily changes the way that they produce their product in order to gain good press from someone who honors green fashion.

Green washing isn't limited to the fashion world either, it happens in large corporations all over the world. An example of what a corporation could do is change all of the light bulbs in their corporate headquarters and then they call themselves "green".

Both fashion companies and other companies are then able to take advantage of tax reductions, good press and a new customer base. This is crazy that some people are doing this because they are taking advantage of people and also taking away

business from people who are truly green!

Fashion designers "green wash" their company through producing a new articles of clothing just for a certain event. After those clothes are donated or sold the company resorts back to how they were before.

Before investing your hard earned money in a new

company, even if you are just buying a "green" T-shirt, you should research the company! Make sure if they are saying that they are "green" that they truly are "green" all year round.

Don't making buying clothing a chore though, this should be an activity that you love to do! Just be aware that some companies are not 100% honest with who they are!

Love & Fashion,

Kelley for Vagadu

Sleeve What's Up At Vagadu!

Hey!

I'm not sure if any of you have wondered what happened to all of the blazer sleeves from the blazer vests that we create but if you have then today I'll answer!

We reuse those sleeves!

And we do this through some of the newer pieces that we're currently creating! One of the pieces is going to become a blazer sleeve blazer/jacket. Isn't that cool? We're reusing old blazer sleeves from past blazers and turning them back into their original form only better!

This piece blends fabrics together through the use of the blazer sleeves. These sleeves flow through the garment, creating a touchable blend of neutrals and patterned fabric. The blazer/jacket has 3/4 length sleeves and falls at waist level making this look ideal for flattering any body type.

Another way that we reuse the blazer sleeves is to use them

in the creation of the blazer vest that the sleeves just came off of. The sleeves become an elaborate collar or a new waist line but they stay within the original garment, how great is that?

Love & Fashion,

Kelley for Vagadu

Worker Bees at the Vagadu Hive

Hey! How is everyone's day so far?

This post is going to be all about the design interns here at Vagadu who work hard to make the wonderful items that you guys enjoy reading about! It is going to be a "Thank You" post and you'll get to learn a little about the behind the seams action.

Without the work that everyone at Vagadu puts in then things wouldn't get done nearly as fast which is always annoying! American culture is all about instant satisfaction and we know that, so we're working extra hard to make sure that can happen for all customers who are interested in Vagadu.

One thing that these women don't do is rush on the projects that they are working on. Each garment or accessory that they create, they work with until they completely understand the piece. They work with the garment making sure that everything lays correctly and that the colors all work together in a effortless way. The women make sure that they are putting their best work forward, so that you in turn get the best product.

It is great to work with these women because I know that

we all share a great passion for the clothing industry and for green fashion. The other women are all design interns at one of the design schools in San Francisco and some of them have already done their first fashion show (through their school)! Isn't that super cool? I am not a design intern, I am a marketing intern. I love seeing them work because I don't know very much about the behind-the-scenes part of the clothing industry but now I'm learning!

Love & Fashion,

Kelley for Vagadu

Why Vagadu?!

Hello everyone!

Isn't is cold right now in San Francisco?! When I looked at the weather for this week it said that it was going to rain more, which means that it is nearing a San Francisco winter! San Francisco is finally starting to act like San Francisco, horray! I hope that you guys like this weather as well.

As I'm sure you guys all know, here at Vagadu we rework clothing items using older vintage already constructed clothing pieces. What we do is deconstruct the item, breaking it down to the very basics. Then we rebuild the piece creating a blazer, vest, dress, or Obi-Belt using other fabrics that have been previously donated to Vagadu from many different places. Sometimes the fabrics come all the way from France or Italy!

We believe that buying items that have been reworked or recreated from previous garments is the best thing to do!

This is because those prices have already gone through the entire (lengthy) fabric treatment process and aren't causing any further environmental damage. Instead of following in our culture's past habit of abandoning clothing that is out of season or has fallen out of style Vagadu takes those items and breaths a new life. We work to create new unique pieces that are designed so that it will continue to be current even after the

current trends pass.

Buying organic clothing is a great step that can be taken to "green" up your closet but even organic fabrics have to be sent through a treatment process. This process is long and uses a lot of coal burning energy thus making the organic fabrics very controversial. There are many people

within the clothing industry that believe that buying organic and buying nonorganic fabric is the same thing. This is because of the environmentally harmful steps that both fabric types go through before they are able to be turned into the garment that we buy.

Another thing that Vagadu does which helps make our clothing surpass the current trends is that we use vintage pieces as the

base for our blazer vests. Vintage pieces are constructed at a higher standard than what most mass production clothing company currently have today. This means that those vintage base items are going to last longer and look better longer

because of the work that was put into the item. Vagadu then steps in and rebirths the item making it current with detailing and wonderful other fabrics!

I believe that everyone should try and do their part to help counteract the damage that has been already caused to the environment! If you do this through buying green (clothing, food, anything!), through donating old clothing or recycling and composting then GREAT!

Keep up the good work! Your planet thanks you!

Love & Fashion,

Kelley for Vagadu

Accessories For Every Location

Hello everyone! We cannot believe that it is already almost the middle of October! This year is moving so quickly! We hope that everyone in San Francisco is loving this Indian Summer as much as we are.

At Vagadu we've made these great new hair pieces! And this blog is going to focus on how many different ways you can wear them modeled on one of the interns at Vagadu. The hair pieces are super fun because there are many different shades of each color within the accessory making it so that you can wear these with any shade of color! The intern is modeling one of the pink ones, but there are many different colors like blues, golds, multi-colors, and neutrals!

One of our favorite things about these pieces is that we've made them using old scrap pieces that we have around the studio. Before we thought of this idea, the scraps were being used but often were too small for bigger projects like the vests. Now there is no scrap piece that is too small for these Scrap Hairpieces! Yet another way that Vagadu is staying green and making eco friendly clothing.

Anywhere that you could think of wearing one of these pieces, you can really wear it there! As a hair piece? Obviously! As a chocker or neckaccent? Yes! On your belt, blouse, shoe?! Of course! On your wrist? You Bet! You can pin it, clip it, add a headband to it, put a belt through it

and tie it anywhere that you think looks good!

Love & Fashion,

Kelley for Vagadu

Marguerite's Purple Recreation

Hello everyone! I hope that everything is going well for you!

Recently we created this beautiful blazer vest for Marguerite. Before the blazer went through it's wonderful

transformation it was a solid purple blazer by Donna Karen. It was designed sometime during the early 90s and had become a bit d

ated. Marguerite wanted to change the blazer into something that she could wear because the blazer was currently just sitting in her closet.

This is when Marguerite decided to contact

Vagadu and we set about the repurposing process. This blazer was already such a bright bold color so we decided not to add any dark accents onto the piece. We wanted to keep the bright purple the main focus, as per Marguerite's wishes.

To accent the collar of the blazer we used hand dyed silks in yellow and silver in order to make the purple pop even more! The flower was made from leftover fabric pieces from one of the couture gowns that we'd created previously.

To balance out the other side we added beadwork to look like someone had just tossed the beads onto the blazer. Marguerite was very pleased with the result of the blazer and she planned to wear it with a rust orange colored top underneath.

This is another great example of what custom can do for the old favorite or well loved pieces in your wardrobe!

Love & Fashion,

Kelley for Vagadu

Obi Belt The Vagadu Way

Hi everyone! How are all of you?

We're all really happy here at Vagadu because of these new belts that we have been creating this month! They are the Vagadu take on the popular Obi Belt!

What is really cool about these belts is that we've made them to fit into our current collection! So there are Navy& Red belts, Neutral belts, and belts that are mix of all different blues! Isn't that a cool idea?! Soon there will belts

that will contain the pop color of our collection, we're making them this month!

Within these belts there are shapes that we haven't seen on any other Obi Belts, like really interesting geometric matters. Thebelts are all different, some are flowing from one side to another while some are totally different on both sides. We've used hand dyed silks, laces and velvets to add texture to these pieces and those textures make them pop!

We love the Obi Belts because they are an accessory that can be worked

in an outfit in such a wonderful way. Wearing them with a plain colored T-shirt or oversized shirt would create a totally different look than whenever you had previously worn that same top!

Another reason why these belts are great is that they are at a lower price point than some of the other Vagadu items

(under $150!!). This is great news for those of you who want to own

something by Vagadu but haven't found anything for your price point.

Love & Fashion,

Kelley for Vagadu

A Perfect Rose Reworked

Bonjour everyone!

One of the projects that I was really excited about reworking

was a vest that we'd come to call the Prefect Rose. The Prefect Rose was a blazer that we had already reworked into a blazer vest but people were not responding to this item the way that we thought they would be.

The idea came about to rework the Prefect Rose into an even better blazer vest than the first time. If a blazer vest is created and does not successfully sell then the next option is coming up with ideas on how we can make the vest even more flattering than how it currently is.

You can tell from the previous picture where I'm wearing the blazer vest what we've changed in the final product. But to explain, we unpicked the bottom drape and flattened out the way the blazer vest fell at the waist. Also we trimmed the bottom by about 3 inches so that it sat in a different location, we also dropped the bottom down creating a larger waist. We took material that we had cut off of the bottom and added it onto opposite the roses to create balance in the neck line.

Recently this blazer vest was wrote by a friend of Vagadu at a Gala in San Francisco and the vest was a great success. The woman wearing it was complimented throughout the evening, proving that a little reworking goes a long way!

Love & Fashion,

Kelley for Vagadu

New Creations Are Blooming at Vagadu

Good morning!

Right now we're really excited about a flowering vest that we recently created. This vest is a good accent piece to be worn over a long or short sleeve T-shirt depending on your climate.

We really love this piece because it is so versatile, we have it shown on the model worn with a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt. The flowering vest is something that can turn an outfit from low key into a one of a kind creation.

The flowering vest could be worn as shown or as a going out item paired with a tank and a high waisted skirt or trousers. This is one of those types of items that would get frequent wear because of the different looks that you can create with this flowering vest.

The multiple colors that were used for this item allow the item to both blend in and stand out depending on what color you pair the vest with. With a darker color the fuschia in the background would really pop where as with a lighter color the flowers would pop more.


Please don't hesitate to ask any questions! Have a great day!

Love & Fashion,

Kelley for Vagadu

Not Just Any Old Wedding Gift

Hey! How is everyone doing today?!

This blazer was first created as a pop color item that would bring color to any wardrobe since it is made from all different shades of purple. But this product ended up becoming something much more.

My cousin was getting married and after speaking to family members, they all agreed that I should make her a blazer specifically for her instead of a traditional wedding gift. My cousin loves colors that are bold and bright like reds.

We had already created this purple blazer, but to make it something that my cousin would like even more we decided to add red accent points to it. We did this through adding in red bead work, and fun red fabrics made from satin charmeuse to the neck line. This made the final product more flamboyant and exactly what my cousin wanted!

What was unique about this item is that we were able to rework the blazer for a second time to create the final end product. It shows that these blazers can be even further enhanced to make something that is even more liked.

Love & Fashion,

Kelley for Vagadu

The "New" Vest, Bunnies Not Included

Hello all!


Today Carol came in to pick up her new vests that she commissioned us to breathe a new life into. These items Carol had hanging in her closet, getting no use but she couldn't part with them either. The idea to change them into something more functional came about, so we set about this new task.

The idea was to create a new vest that would flatter her figure and would be able to be worn in multiple setting including a more formal atmosphere. The two vests created looked best falling at mid hip level. The creation of this item, along with Carol's extremely pleased reaction has spurred the idea to create more vests falling at the same length in different patterns and styles.

What was great about this project was that the pieces we worked with were brought in by the person who was having the items created. This is a great opportunity to bring in an item that holds sentimental value but just doesn't quite fit anymore, like your father's old blazer.

This project was also challenging because this was the first time creating a vest that would fall longer than waist level. The end product turned out wonderful and everyone walked away happy with the new vests.

In the case of the bunny vest, it has previously been a track jacket with a zipper up the very center of the jacket. This zipper was reworked into a decorative item along both sides of the vest that worked well with the silk along the neck line. A button allows the vest to still be closed.

Love & Fashion,

Kelley for Vagadu

T-Shirt Fun

I normally don't create from T-shirts but for an event for Global Action through Fashion (at which I spoke about the importance of Green Fashion), I was asked to create a design a la VAGADU in a t-shirt form. The idea behind creating a t-shirt was that they would be teaching people how to rework their old t-shirts into something great. Therefore, I went to work to show how I would do it.

At first I was unenthusiastic, mainly because I am sick of t-shirts and the fabric that is used in most ready-to-wear. To me, t-shirt fabric is cheap and ugly and doesn't last. So, I don't work in it. However, in honor of the event I decided to participate.

To my surprise, I actually had fun and created a design I was proud of. As you can see in the image my reworked tee turned out pretty well.

So, what did I do?

1. Cut the sleeves and bottom off the dark green tee. Took the sleeves and and rouged them into the flower on the front. In order to get the shape I hand sewed it. Yes...using my couture techniques that I use on the very high end VAGADU pieces. As I know, couture is appropriate for almost ALL DESIGNS!!!

2. Took the bottom of the shirt and used it to created a mini ruffle and trim around the neckline. Again, applied through laborious hand-sewing.

3. I had another tee that was falling apart, and so I used it to create the cascading ruffles. This was accomplished by simply cutting spiraling circles into the green fabric and then letting them unwind creating the effect you see in the image. Next, I stitched them to the shoulder.

Voila! You have a couture-inspired tee!!! Amazing!

The Vagadu Man Emerges...

In just the last couple months I have surprisingly gotten very inspired by menswear. This is a very unexpected development, yet it has come about so naturally that somehow it just feels right!

A little back end tidbit....besides creating clothing I have branched out into image consulting and my primary clients have been men. Through the research and development of how to create great style for men, my creative juices started to expand as I got more and more requests for custom clothing. Given my flair for the unusual , it has been a fun journey to find the sweet spot between striking and over-the-top. Granted my idea of striking is probably much bolder than most, but still, I am find that avant-guard men's clothing is a very up-and-coming market and men are just plain AWESOME clients.

The other day I got a commission for a special b-day shirt. The man was an artist and so I wanted to tie the shirt in with his artwork. My client's art is photography where he essentially collages different bits of the image so that it has depth and texture and has you rethink the entire image. I wanted to apply that same concept to his shirt...which you see--in the image to the left--is a reconstruction or a collage of several shirts in one garment.

Another concept I conceived for a shirt is using my "scrap technology" (as seen in the scrap tech vests in previous post) and applied to a masculine design. In the end, it became more of what I consider to be a new take on the tuxedo shirt... or in other words, a reinterpretation of the classic ruffle. In the image pictured here, the gentleman is also sporting one of my custom ascots...a great variation on the classic tie.

Flowering Scraptec Vest...how the idea was born!

I love my 'Flowering Scraptec Vests' made from the remnants of the 'Varda's Women Gowns'.

I never blogged about how the idea was created. So I thought I would finally do it!

As a woman with a small bosom, I was noticing that I wanted some attention to the chest region--an area on me that often goes unnoticed. I have always been a fan of designs that exploit this area creatively. Starting back when Jean Paul Gautier was doing cone-breasts.

The flowering idea came with the fact I had a million scraps left over from the gown collection and I couldn't stand to throw them away...they were too beautiful! So the flowering effect was a perfect way to utilize the scraps.

Before I decided to make the idea into a vest, it was first part of a dress that I reworked from the Rex Floodstrom collection (as seen below).

Since the Rex dresses were very long, I hacked them in two pieces and used the bottom as the skirt part of the dress and created the flowering part for the top (as seen in the image below left).





I am wearing the dress to an art show at Gray Area Gallery. It was the perfect dress to wear to an art show. In my mind, one must wear art when viewing it!