calm V chaos

[calmvchaos]

Something i'm working on. Gauging interest. I want to make some contacts and see how I can have these made. Shirts are more for later. I want to get scarves and facemasks out there as thats something I want to wear.

Would any of you be interested in scarves/bandannas, facemasks and shirts like this?

[courtneyhowlett]

Finally posting videos from Japan. Got here a few days ago and have started documenting my experiences already. But this was the journey there! Hope you enjoy it!

[courtneyhowlett]

Another black girl, even though her skin is blue, haha. Don’t judge me :P

Pay What you want: https://gumroad.com/products/YPpW/

I’m doing a giveaway. All money from this is going towards me finally getting my own Camera (I’m borrowing from a friend) and tripod (since my last one broke in 2 weeks) for video making! 

Thanks for all of your continued support everyone! Hope you enjoy the files. 

Video can be seen here: http://youtu.be/kUn_QG65nwk

Please reblog if you like this! That would help me so much!

[courtneyhowlett]

The feedback i’ve been getting for this series is amazing :O

Day 2 Black girls Ladies Series

[calmvchaos]

Yeah, let me reblog myself real quick. I've got the logo for this blog on it, and yet its not posted here first? Come on Seage....whats your problem?!

:D

[courtneyhowlett]

Wow! Sorry, I neglected you guys! I’m a terrible person! But i’m back :)

Have a ton of new art to share with you. Let me try to stop disappearing..

Anyways, its my personal challenge. Black Girl Week. I feel like our ladies of color are not represented so often in art. At least in my industry. So I wanted to do something about it. Not trying to start a movement, haha. This is strictly for me. 

[hellothisissade]

Charisma.com - 『HATE』 from アイ アイ シンドローム”> 

[calmvchaos]

Addiction. Everything about this fits my world. 

[calmvchaos]

On Hold

I've been forced to slow down/put on hold some of my fashion pursuits for a while. I hate that I have to, but I need to set things up so that I'll be able to work freely - from the comfort of a HOME. I will still be creating pieces for the clothing, but I can't sew/design or do fashion illustrations for a while. I hope this time passes fast, I miss it already :(

[calmvchaos]

A Work in Progess of a new calm design. I'm actually using this same piece as a background to an illustration. I love when things crossover! I hope you like it. I have another to show you, but that will come tomorrow. 

[calmvchaos]

Digging Deeper (I'm Weird)

This is a continuation to my last post about being weird. Been quite busy with non-fashion related work this past week. Hope to sit down with the sewing machine and put something together, or at least get some art up. 

Lets go. The topic of being weird, being you. It really does relate to style, both on the inside and outside. In the way we dress, act, and feel internally. It actually seems to go much deeper than I thought initially. These thoughts have been burning my mind as of late. 

Think about this. How many of you openly express all of yourself comfortably to people around you? I don't mean running the streets nude, but just expressing thoughts that you would actually love to let out? Dressing in a certain way that's against the norm. Playing an instrument on stage for the first time? That stuff is hard right? Its scary to be judged by other people. But guess what? It doesn't just stop there. It goes an extra step. We are actually at the point where we cant even do these things in private without this weird sense of guilt or embarrassment. When I was little, I used to dance around and 'whine' (Caribbeans, you know what i'm talking about). Now, I can't even do that in the bathroom with the door locked, because I feel like an idiot. But...who is judging me? This fear has been embedded so deep that I can judge myself to the point of shame, without the eyes of another! That is scary and its dangerous. 

Lately I've been actively doing what I want. I have to actually fight and convince myself that its okay to do and try things that I want to do. And its so scary. You would think that for an artist or a creative type that it's much easier or that we're already doing what we want, but you'd be wrong. There are a shit ton of do's and don't's. They're all unwritten. But within creative communities, there is a lot of judging and egos and all that messy stuff. So even within my community, I sometimes feel afraid to truly express myself. And I think other people feel the same way, because I keep seeing the same type of work pop up, over and over and over again. Everyone recycling the proven method, and no one being themselves. Part of it is probably for work. But there must be a part in there that is built up on fear. 

I was watching some videos by TokyoFashion.com, and they had a girl on there who was a Shironuri artist named Minori. She had a very interesting outlook on life. So i'll end this with some simple quotes from her:

"I realize that by doing what i like, i can influence others" 

"Doing what you like is really hard, but by pursuing it, you will discover a different side of yourself."

Stay strong, be weird!

Seage~

[calmvchaos]

I'm Weird

The concept of becoming popular through being weird is something I've been fascinated with for a long time. I've been taking all the "weirdest" people I can find right now, and looking at their life stories to figure out how they made it big, and the stunning (not so stunning) fact is...they're not weird at all..they're closer to what normal SHOULD BE, if normal could be classified as a thing. The truth of the matter is...they're honest to the most important person; themselves. They don't pretend and try to fit the social norms which we've all become conditioned to blindly obey, so when we see someone against it, we view them in 2 ways. Either unfit and strange, and we look down on them. Or inspirational. Usually they're inspirational if they have hit a level of success in the public's eye. (And usually that success is dictated by money- but I won't get into that now)

The thing is, we're all abnormal. We're all a little crazy, but most of us don't ever want to admit that. We want to fit in. We don't want to be the black sheep. Some cultures call it "losing face". Its all about not drawing attention to ourselves. But then we have those who, not only can they not fit these guidelines, they don't want to, and they soar past us. The way I look at it is like....2 lines to "success". In one line is the regular people. They are all dressed the same, all wearing a black collared shirt, done up to the top, a blazer jacket, and black pants, with matching dress shoes or heels. They are all numbers. The person at the desk can't tell them all apart, no one is standing out, no one is extraordinary. Now, beside this line is the VIP line. Its much shorter, and everyone in it is dressed however they want to dress. Imagine Lady GAGA and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu walking in. When they go inside the office (again, ahead of the group of clones), not only do they get points for whatever skills they have, they would be remembered too. They make an impact on you, whether its good or bad. You think about them. Then you respect them for having the guts to do something so...'weird'. Then, if they have skill on top of that package, you gain a rounded respect for them as people. To believe so deeply in themselves and to not be afraid to show it, no matter how many people point at them and laugh. Or think and snicker to each other "Pshh, what a freak". Because, if you think about it, what makes someone weird? What makes them a freak? Because they're not like you? Not like the huge circle that is around you? We're all born into this world looking nothing alike, thinking individual thoughts, then learning at different speeds. We don't laugh alike, we don't cough alike, we're different. But then at a certain point, being different becomes a bad thing. Now THAT'S weird. That's scary. When did we all fall into the clone line? 

Hello everyone. My name is Seage. And the category that I fall into is 'me'. I'm proud of being weird - I like to call it unique. I will do my best to share with you all my uniqueness and be as honest as I can from now on. Now tell me: Who are you?

[calmvchaos]

I did it! I sewed my first anything EVER! Can't even lie, im pretty proud of myself, haha. It's by no means a beauty, but it's mine and it's my first step. I used a cheaper fabric as mg test fabric. I dont want to use the more expensive stuff until I have a bit of practice under my belt. Yatta! #infinityscarf #sew #selftaught #learning #calmvchaos #exciting #fashion #fashiondesign

[calmvchaos]

This is as far as I could get on my infinity scarf. The bobbin ran out of thread and the machines not letting me thread it properly. Ah well. I'm almost done!! I'll fix it and continue on. #fashion #fashiondesign #sewing #selftaught #infinityscarf #cookiemonster

[calmvchaos]

Lavascape

Here is an early concept for my line. Not sure if I would use this anymore. Unless anyone wanted to see it on clothes? This was before the entire concept of calm v chaos existed. 

[courtneyhowlett]

Be happy everyday, smile when you’re sad, laugh when you want to cry, surround yourself with positive energy and positive people, and slowly you will realize that life really IS good.

We have so many reasons to frown, so many reasons to stress and feel like its not worth it anymore. Push those...

[calmvchaos]

Last of the 3. I have been finishing up work these days. I'll be getting to sewing and showing some progress within this coming week! Thanks for sticking with me guys!

[calmvchaos]

What I bought. There's a lot of fabric there. Mostly plain stuff to practice (mess up) on. #fabricland #sale #practice #calmvchaos #fashiondesign

[calmvchaos]

What I wore. #onepiece #Trafalgarlaw #badass #Japan