gagavida's Profile

Bio

{gagavida} www.xxoogagavida.com

Thanks for taking the time to learn more about me and my work with GaGaVida! My name is Abby, and I am the central designer & director for GaGaVida.

To learn more about me & my work with GaGaVida, just follow the section titles below until you find what interests you!

Remember that you can always follow up at our GaGaVida central website for additional help, info, photos, and more (including links to all GaGaVida Etsy shops!)

www.xxoogagavida.com



1) THE BASICS & THE BEGINNING

I design and create within my studio in Denver, and I have been fortunate enough to do this as my only job for the last year. GaGaVida consists of two Etsy shops – each serving as the exclusive shopping venue for our wedding, wardrobe lines, respectively.

The first shop was created solely to sell vintage clothing & accessories. In fact, GaGaVida originated as an attempt to slim down my personal vintage collection, which had swelled over time.

Years of collecting became my starting inventory, and Etsy was where I decided to set up camp. At that time it was more of a side-hobby to my daytime office job, however. Inspired by the crafters, artists, and designers that surrounded me within the Etsy community online, I eventually began to revisit the skills that I learned as a kid growing up in the Midwest.

I come from a family of quilters, sewers, and “DIY-ers” in general – so the spirit was not unfamiliar to me. It wasn’t long before my handmade items were showing up for sale in the shop, right next to the vintage inventory that I continued to list. The first handmade pieces were re-designed prayer candle jars: I created original graphic designs using found (and then altered) vintage photos, and some clever phrases to add a novel quality. The designs were printed, cut, and processed with a protective layer before being adhered to the outside glass jars that held traditional prayer candle wax inside. I still love the candles, but it was unfortunately not the most ideal product to sell online.

But, the candles were only a segue leading to much more. Various handmade items were continually added to the shop along with the vintage listings, and at some point the sole GaGaVida shop on Etsy began to look crowded, and inconsistent in terms of the types of products being sold there. And, it was at this time that I started thinking about giving GaGaVida a new structure – which, would eventually lead to the GaGaVida that is recognizable today! GaGaVida today focuses on designing and creating handmade, custom pieces for wedding & wardrobe. What started as one shop (for vintage items), and later grew to three shops (wedding, wardrobe, and vintage) has been streamlined down to the two current shops for two current lines.



2) THE COLLECTIONS & THE SHOPS

While the wedding & wardrobe line both share specialties of handmade & custom pieces, the style, type, and purpose of those pieces does obviously differ very much. Pieces from the wedding line are created with brides, bridesmaids, and other wedding party members in mind: vintage-style birdcage (or “Russian”) blusher length veils (shorter lengths), classic full length veils, hair pieces or “fascinators,” jewelry, and other miscellaneous accessories per request (garters, etc.) These accessory pieces make up the majority of the wedding line – however, a more recent addition to the line has been a handful of bridesmaid, and evening dresses & gowns. These designs will begin to show up for the holidays, and will continue following the start of 2010!

The dress designs showing up in the wedding line will have a look that is not unfamiliar for many to see, as they are adaptations of several wardrobe collection pieces. I chose several of the wardrobe line favorites to adapt – designs that were being requested for bridesmaids already. The dress designs have been undoubtedly popular from the wardrobe line – however, there are always more than just dresses to choose from in that line.

While the wedding collection came first for me, it is the wardrobe collection has proven to serve as my “muse” thus far, providing a place for me to design and create the pieces that I find most inspiring, interesting, or just personally desirable as a consumer myself. When I decided to design clothing for GaGaVida, I took inspiration from my own favorite design elements, as well as from the women around me – what the liked, and why they like it. My years of collecting vintage apparel gave me a sense of history when working with fashion as well, and it led me to examine the ways that fashion has changed over time. It was when I tried to merge elements of past and present that I realized how much had been lost in the modernization of our experiences as consumers.

What has become “ready-to-wear” was created to service our desire for convenience, and access to the cycle of trends – which could be considered good or bad, depending upon the person that you ask. Regardless, it is easy to identify the pieces that were left behind in the years that brought us here: personalized & customized designs, and the experience that comes along with owning a piece of clothing that was created only for you. These are not lost in the modern world, as the world of haute couture continues to be alive and thriving. However, when it comes to what is attainable for the majority of women - the price, and the heavily formal designs make couture part of an unfamiliar reality.

Wanting to fuse these lost vintage elements with clothing that real women could, and would want to wear, I started to imagine what this ideal clothing collection would look like. The collection that followed was created with these criteria in mind: built to flatter, customizable details, personalized fit, reasonable price, and wearability that fits into day-to-day wardrobe.

It is the GaGaVida Wardrobe Collection, and it is made up of: dresses, pants, denim, skirts, tops, tees, lounge-wear, and jewelry.



3) METHODS, ETC.

I am constantly seeking out new methods and techniques to create the best pieces that I possibly can for both collections. All pieces are personally designed, and created by me in my studio, and I also work with clients one-on-one to personalize and customize their pieces.

Pieces in the wardrobe collection are completed using both hand & machine techniques, while all wedding collection pieces are done exclusively by hand.

I seek out quality materials to use in the creation of all my pieces, and complete each piece with both quality and care.



4) ADDITIONAL INFO, HELP & CONTACTS

For more information about store policies, you can visit the policy section of our Etsy shops, or visit the “Help” section of our central website: (www.xxoogagavida.com)

The website also includes information about both of the collections (including Etsy shop links & photo galleries), model portfolios, links, and contact info.

Please feel free to contact me directly using the Etsy conversation tool (at the top of every page) or by emailing me directly at the address below!


Website: www.xxoogagavida.com

Email: abby [!at] xxoogagavida.com

Female, Born on May 2

Favorite Materials

tulle, denim, stretch, jersey, knits, cotton, satin, silk, fleece, corduroy, twill, quilted