SS will be having a Spring Trunk Show today at 1pm! There will be new things, standard classics, and a few mark downs - sorry for the last minute, but some of us have been vending at Tribal Massive and threw this together for those of you who couldnt go to Vegas with us!!! We've been racing the clock to have some new adornments for your wearing pleasure!!
Come out and play, try things on, laugh, admire yourselves in the mirror, catch up on the latest and eat snacks!
We will be in the lovely Minerva's Antennae studio in the Mission! Please come down and say hi!
Members of Salome's Suitcase will be vending and being represented at Tribal Massive this year! Look for Minerva's Antennae, Medina Maitreya, and FoolProof Studio at 5star Boutique! It is rumored that there will be HiBeam Bindis there as well - along with a few pairs of Kathleen Crowley's Sampants! Be there or ........well, you know!
Sunday, February 26th at 6:30pm
inside Backstage Dance Studio located at:
3425 Backstage Blvd.
Las Vegas NV 89121
Well, some of us are not good at blogging and some of us have had a rough year, and some of us have been super busy, and some of us have been on the road and movin and a groovin......................but we're still here.............please check out our pages and keep checking in here! Many of us are vending fairly regularly!
Salomes' Suitcase Trunk Show!
Wearable Treasure To Inspire Your Dance!
Its time once again for your Tribal Fest pilgrimage!
Held every year in the lovely town of Sebastopol, California, Kajira Djoumahna and her husband Chuck throw down the most amazing Tribal Belly Dance event of the year - of anywhere on the planet. Many of the members of Salome's Suitcase have participated and supported this festival since its infancy. Some of us have been performers. Some of us have been vendors. Some of us do both! We are having a Trunk Show this time at the Fairfield Inn - just down the road where many of you will be staying! Good Times!
Tribal Fest is now on its 11th successful year of bringing you the newest, the best, and the brightest of the global Tribal Belly Dance Community. People make the pilgrimage from all around the globe to shop, to vend, to teach, to study, and to perform. This is where you will see the new trends being introduced and developed. This is where you can meet the designers, the movers, the shakers, the performers and the fans - we are all fans - the splendor is overwhelming! How can we not be!
Once again, Salome's Suitcase brings you our latest selection of original handcrafted garments and adornments in an environment filled with ambiance and Oldie Worldie charm! We understand a dancer's needs and we love nothing more than helping you enhance your practice and stage presence. Many of our pieces have huge crossover appeal and versatility, thus enabling you much room to round out your wardrobe!
Not only is the Fairfield Inna very convenient location (not far from the actual event) for most, but trying on clothing will be a dream! Our hours should allow most of you the time to stop by, hang out, say hi, shop 'til you drop, take a break from the overwhelm and then get back to the festivities!
We will see you there! We Cant Wait!!!!
(just click on these flyers for a better view!)
Salome's Suitcase Trunk Show
~Thursday May 19th 3pm - 10pm
~Friday May 20th 2pm - 10pm
~Saturday May 21st 2pm - 10pm
Fairfield Inn Conference Room
1101 Gravenstein Hwy. South
Sebastopol, Ca 95472
Email us if you have questions!
salomes.suitcase@gmail.com
Members of Salome's' Suitcase often vend together as a collective, and some of us prefer to vend on our own as our own entities...... ....sometimes we do both at the same events and sometimes we take breaks to pursue our other interests...... but our main mission is to make unique items, aim for the best quality, give you the best bang for the buck, and utilize the best use of our individual artistic talents to produce a garment, adornment, photograph, accessory - the best that you have ever seen. Customer service is very important to us!
For those who don't know this, Salome's Suitcase came to be when some of us were invited into a design group on a social network. On being asked some very straightforward yet simple business like questions, this group didn't seem to be going in the same direction as us and caused those of us who had been invited some disappointment - it had seemed like such a great idea! This led one of us to have a light bulb appear over her head and she started her own private Professional Belly Dance Designer group that we could "chat" on. We all either knew each other or had been admiring each others work from afar................and this led bit by bit to Salome's Suitcase - similar taste. Similar aesthetics. Similar high standards. Yet with our own individual styles and unique artisan tastes. We just click. Not intending to be a "clique", we just click. We work well together. And as any vendor knows: it is really hard to find the right people who get how hard selling in the public eye to the public actually is. Many of us have been or are involved in being part of dance troupes..........it feels like much the same kind of thing. Its all a lot of work and the benefits are worth it.
We are sometimes approached by designers and artisans asking to be included into our group, or wondering how we go about deciding who gets in. Well, the thing is, we are still a fairly young group and you know what they say about a group that grows too fast...........all chaos can ensue.......some of us have seen it happen within dance troupes. We strive to be taken seriously as business women AND have fun at the same time, but a foundation has got to be laid first. This is what we are doing. We are pouring the "concrete" for our collective. You cannot build a strong house without a sturdy foundation. You cannot look good in many garments without the proper foundation..........its all about the foundation. Our collective has monthly meetings (or more) that require a certain amount of commitment. This requires some travel and expense. We are continually developing marketing strategies plus new techniques to further our individual growth. As small business owners in a highly competitive market, we support each other in our endeavors. Maybe one of these days we can have new members - I think this would be welcomed by all. It isn't that there are not some amazing artists that would be lovely to work with, but right now, things are as they should be. We have discussed issues like having guest vendors come along with us for certain events. And this seems like a good idea. The event and the number of members involved will determine who will fit and what our booth can handle.
As you can see, our tables and racks are usually very full of wondrous goodies as it is! Minerva's Antennae!
This lovely photo was taken seeking refuge from a cold snap during our winter road trip to Fort Worth Texas. And I mean COLD - we had no heater! We didn't kill each other. But we suffered. I aged 20 years, and we still found humor in the situation. Well, one of us did. Ok - it was Lee Kobus from Foolproof Studio.
We stand United: Katherine Summer O'Neal and Fool Proof Studio guarding the store.........here is the gang vending below at Tribal Fusion Fair............
We laugh and sometimes we cry:
But we always mean business: Black Lotus Clothing.........don't do this at home!!!!!!!!!
Salome's' Suitcase is group of strong talented women who's aim is to bring you the best of the best: of the best of the best.................for your shopping and aesthetic pleasure!
KathleenCrowleyCostumeCouture has dipped her toes into the waters of commercial pattern making for the home sewer - and that means all of you lovely ladies who like to make your own costumes, who like to sew, who like to pay someone to sew something up for you, or who just like to collect patterns!
Two of her most popular garments are being offered in multi - sized packages. These are not for the beginner sewster and this is the basic first edition - made up in order to get them out to you asap! Kathleen really wants everyone to get out there and be creative! And while she will still be taking custom orders, this will hopefully fill the void for those who cannot afford one her fine creations - or who dont want to wait in line to get one!
Read more here about her patterns and how to go about ordering one!
Fashion Shows are often a lot of hard work to put together. And when you have several designers working on it at once, and everyone is backstage with their various jobs that are required to pull off a little show like this, we actually have no or a very limited idea of what this looks like from the audience. As seasoned performers and artists who have had a lot of background in stage performing, we can visualize how we want it to look. We can stage it how we want the models to walk. We can direct the models in what we want them to do. We can talk to stage and lighting crew and get the most we can out of what's available at each venue. But we cant sit in the audience and watch. Not yet. So here is our show and we hope you like it!
You can contact any of the designers and artists by clicking on their pages or going to: salomes.suitcase@gmail.com
We are very happy to say that despite the club lighting, this looks pretty amazing! We do pull some great looks together. We work well together, we problem solve without too much ego getting in the way, and we have a lot of fun!
Its also nice to have dancers available who know how to pose, move, and show off the outfits with relative ease - they can tell a story with what they are wearing and make it look easy.
Thank you to Ariellah for inviting us to participate in ShadowDance as both vendors and entertainment!
Thank you to the models for your patience, and for your grace and beauty!
Thank you to Jessie Cowan ofCrops and Bobbers for your uber amazing hair and makeup!
Thank you to Melanie Shapiro for assisting with hair and makeup!
Thank you to Bellyscape for the video!
And we thank ourselves/each other at Salome's Suitcase - this is a rare group of strong creative women who work very hard to make the world a nicer looking journey for you.
Its almost time to start thinking about the next Tribal Fest Afterparty Fashion Show for 2011, but until then, here are some photos taken by Sequoia Emmanuelle of some of our models in their finery worn during the last one. If you have questions regarding anything you see in these photos, please email us at: salomes.suitcase@gmail.com
Designers:
KathleenCrowleyCostumeCouture
Katherine Summer
Foolproof Studio
HiBeam Bindis
Medina Maitreya
Minerva's Antennae
Rose Harden
Models:
Giselle Sibyl
Steven Eggers
Sherri Wheatley
Aubre
Kristine Adams
Rose Harden
Sandi Ball
Kami Liddle
Zoe Jakes
Wendy Golden
The Ladies of TribalTique
Some members of Salome's Suitcase have been meeting up in Crockett, California these days...........because quite a few of us live here now or live nearby. Its a very cool little town about 15 minutes from Berkeley - or the bay bridge. Nothing much goes on during the week, which is a great plus if you are a designer needing not so much distraction from your work! Despite some of our pleas, the rest of the collective are happy to live in San Francsico or thereabouts. Fine. Be that way...........
But for those who can meet up for stitchin and bitchin, Port Costa, the little town next door that time forgot, is a great way to meet up and have a drink and it has the best stale popcorn ever!
When we last went to the Port Costa Warehouse for a bit of inspiration, Katherine Summer asked the barkeep for the keys to the Burlington Hotel across the street. Some of us have been wanting to do a photo shoot there for some time. It is purported to be haunted and to be an old brothel. The names of the girls on the doors give it away......
We let ourselves in and started snooping around. Tacky carpet aside, we see the potential. Its a pretty great location. I mean, look at that wallpaper.Yeah.
Tribal Fest is over and life is back to normal for all of us - whatever that means.
Many of us didn't vend at Tribal Fest itself this year, but preferred to vend at the Beats Antique Show that Thursday night, at the Hopmonk Tavern in Sebastopol, and then for two nights at the Tribal Fest Afterparty - same venue - hosted by DJ Amar.
Friday night was our first fashion show as a collective and it went off without a hitch. We did a lot of planning, organizing, model wrangling, crazed construction and sewing beforehand - and despite our hectic schedules (Rose went and got married the weekend before!) we pulled together an amazing show. Thanks to everyone for all their hard work. Thank you to Amar. Thanks to the Hopmonk Tavern (and their lovely meals!). And thank you so much to our beautiful models who had to stand half naked in the cold before they went on...........photos coming soon!
We always pull a great little space together wherever we go. Each of us brings our unique tastes, flair, and expertise to the table - literally - to produce ambiance and a unique shopping experience several grades up from your average festival vending. We are genuinely happy to see you again, meet you firsthand, and show you what we do!
But at night - with Lee's vintage lamps, and everyones' mirrors, props and merchandise, the booth pops! Its such a pretty place to come and hang out at. We actually like being there and it doesn't feel like work. Well, after we've set up that is...........please support your vendors - all of them (not just us!!!) at least say hi - because we all travel to get there - to get to YOU - and the overhead can be mighty steep to say the least! Its actually very hard work schlepping, setting up, taking down, packing, unpacking, and repacking, but we do get to have a lot of fun! "Work" does have its perks! We all hung out at Tribal Fest during the day, some of us worked, performed, some shmoozed, some of us even took a much needed little road trip through the woods and to the sea!
For shopping / vending / interviewing/ order inquiries, contact us at salomes.suitcase@gmail.com
Or go to the right and click on our names. This should take you where you want to go!
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