Couture and Vomit

A photo shoot featuring my dresses and vomit:

Photographed by Chris Blanchenot.

2006

Here are some pieces from 2006:

Old Photo Shoot (NSFW)

A 2007  photo shoot co-styled by Christabel:

All pictures photographed by Matti.

Avant Garde

Here are some dresses that I have made for runway shows:

Toronto Alternative Fashion Week 2008

Toronto Alternative Fashion Week 2008

Toronto Alternative Fashion Week 2008

Toronto Alternative Fashion Week 2008

Toronto Alternative Fashion Week 2008

Toronto Alternative Fashion Week 2008

Toronto Alternative Fashion Week 2008

All photos taken by Ron Louie.

Quilts!

These are my first and second completed quilts:

45"x45"

45"x65"

Both are made mostly with recycled fabric, either as second hand fabric, or scraps from past projects.  The second quilt features floral, camouflage, wolf print and flaming Darth Vader print squares.

T-shirts

Style: Sleeveless boat neck / Colour: Salmon / Price: $45

Style: Cap sleeved mock cowl neck / Colour: Pale turquoise / Price: $45

Style: Cap sleeved scoop neck / Colour: Red / Price: $45

Style: Sleeveless V-neck / Colour: Baby blue / Price: $45

Style: Cap sleeved scoop neck / Colour: Black / Price: $45

Current available styles: Cap sleeved scoop neck.

Current available colours: Deep turquoise, fuschia, charcoal, butterscotch, denim, wine.

Grumpy Owl/Amie Scott Video

Filmed and Edited by Ryan Oakley/The Grumpy Owl.

Dresses, bugs and body parts (not including the blow up doll) by Amie Scott.

Performed by Melisande Leduc and Dave Tom.

more about “Grumpy Owl/Amie Scott Video“, posted with vodpod

Burlesque Costume

The following pictures are from a photo shoot I did in September 2008 for a burlesque performance.  The skirt, bra and bustle were made by me:

Photographed by Daryl Banks

Photographed by Daryl Banks

Photographed by Daryl Banks

Photographed by Daryl Banks

Photographed by Daryl Banks

Photographed by Daryl Banks

Photographed by Daryl Banks

People Talk

Amie Scott press, over the years:

Now Magazine

National Post

The Grumpy Owl

The Grumpy Owl #2

Blogto

Blogto #2

Toronto Street Fashion

Rags and Mags

Final Fashion

The Price is Right?

There is a specific method used in pricing your commercial work.

Charge yourself a minimum of $15-20/hour for labour (including the time it takes you to go to the fabric store and purchase your materials), add to that the cost of fabric and other materials, and multiply the total by two.  In case you’re wondering, the reason why you multiply by two is because the retailer, whether wholesale or consignment, will be taking between 40-50% of your sale.  That’s right, you come up with a great idea, work your butt off to make it, and your retailer gets half the money to shove it on a rack somewhere and advertise your work at his/her convenience.  They do have to pay the high overhead of a retail space, but let’s face it, they have you by the short and curlies.  Get used to it.

Anyway, here’s an example of me figuring out the price of a t-shirt:

My t-shirts costs about $5 for the fabric, and, oh, let’s say $1 for the amount of paint used.  It takes me about two hours to make the shirt, from cutting to silk screening, to heat setting the paint, to sewing, to buying several yards of fabric and dividing the cost accordingly.

So, two hours at $15/hour, plus cost of materials brings me to $36.  Double that and the retail cost of my t-shirt should be $72.

Whoa.  $72 for a t-shirt made by an independent designer?  There’s no way I’m going to sell a t-shirt at that price.

Let’s try again, from the opposite direction:

I charge $45 for a t-shirt.  Subtract the retailer’s pound of flesh, and we have $22.50.  Subtract the cost of materials, and we have $16.50.  This means that I pay myself $8.25/hour to make t-shirts.  Which is better than what some visual artists haul in for their work (I’ve heard tell of some artists making about $3/hour when all is said and done), but it’s still less than minimum wage in Ontario.

Ouch.  I hope you like your day job.