grace, is that you?

i don't want to say i pounced on this group because that sounds a little, you know, crazy, but the line to get into the Envision show was moving and the green take-the-effin-picture-or-give-up-blogging signal was blinking faster and yes, ok i was verklempt. i may or may not have shortened my introductory schpiel to, i love you, for the sake of time. and in a sartorial sense, that is absolutely true.

i saw Oksana wearing a little animal (fake, vintage) around her shoulders with a fancy filigreed clasp and an exquisitely tailored dress and long gloves and a cocktail ring in the manner of ava gardner and grace kelly and other legends of the silver screen, and the rudimentary circuit board underneath my hair started smoking. when she said she made the dress (scissors, sewing machine, from a flat piece of cloth to this puzzle of fitted wonder), the system blew and i may have wept a little bit. more on oksana below.

i read rapunzel's red lips and matching pumps and bag. she spoke slowly and used one-syllable words, which was considerate. their blond friend in black and ruched and rhinestone was the only person, man or woman, in this zip code making a style statement by not wearing makeup.

i'm used to side seams, a waist, maybe darts --georgian architecture, all symmetry and ordinary. look at this! angled seams hipwardly, crosswardly, off-center back pleat without a matching one on the other side, asymmetry that me and nature love. here's what i know about oksana -- she can and does copy existing designs, she can create reality from a drawing, a photo, even a verbal description. Her technical skills are unmatched in my experience and she doesn't have a website. say for example, you'd like her to make you a vintage lanvin marvel, oksana could do that without need of a second mortgage. if that is the case, leave your contact info in my comment section and i'll pass it on to her.

i'm trying to show you the incredible construction and piecing of the dress. also the very wonderful gloves and ring which may be a walkie talkie. dress gloves for purposes other than shoveling snow are an idea whose time has come, again. you heard it here.