The English Dept seems happily settled into their new digs at 1124 SW Alder, and they’ve got a new web site to match, plus new arrivals in the store. And, if you’re a savvy bride-to-be, you should take advantage of their 10-70% off sale on bridal samples through the end of the month. Go say hi!

(Development)

(Elizabeth Dye)

(Plenty, Plenty, and Plenty)

(Vera Wang)

Sameunderneath is inviting everyone to its new digs (806 NW 23rd) tomorrow from 11 am-8 pm. Included will be the launch of the Fall 2007 line, Widmer beer, acupuncture (?!—until 1 pm only), an acoustic set from Tyler Stenson (2-5 pm—I’m going to assume he’ll take a few breaks), art by Brett Superstar and DJ Verbz (5-7 pm).

Long gone are the days when fashion weeks meant Paris, New York, Milan… Jeez, even Portland’s got one! Photos from Copenhagen are in, so you can get a taste of S/S ‘08 before the big guns start coming out next month. Personally, I’m having a hard time getting into it. There’s a lot of beige and white (the entire collection from Elise Gug is a study in beige, which, actually, is probably my favorite because of its extreme beige obsession), as well as grays, blacks—in fact some of it is a touch wintry. There is some color, of course, with my favorite injections being the pink of Whiite and some sorbet orange pieces by Inwear. It’s kind of reinforcing my tendency to be most excited about what’s right here at home. Even if the clothing I like isn’t all produced locally, it’s become more about what independent shop owners have elected to import, how they’ve interpreted fashion at large to be translatable here, and then to mix it with locally made pieces, things that my doppelgänger in Denmark couldn’t scroll through on Vogue.com. Speaking of here, incidentally, Adidas made a showing in Denmark, collaborating with Wood Wood, which is a line that was imported by a local store: Stand Up Comedy, in the 811 E Burnside building (although it faces the back parking lot). The collection was huge—over 100 pieces. Here are a few looks below, to see the whole thing, click here.

What’s funnier than watching a model busting her ass on a runway? A compilation video of models busting their asses on a runway!

Mabel’s on SE Division, and Lint at NW 17th and Marshall are both closing this August. Lint’s been having a liquidation sale for the past few weeks (everything’s at least 50% off at this point - stay tuned to their blog for updates), and Mabel’s sale kicks off this Sunday at 10 am.

Starting this Sunday - August 12th - we will be having a storewide liquidation. All inventory will be 30% off, and we expect things to move quickly. We will open from 10AM - 6PM for the first two days, and will close at 4PM for the remaining 4 or 5 days.

Is knitting over? Nope, but customers have tons of yarn shops in Portland to choose from, plus cheap online places to buy yarn (and Mabel’s will reopen as a coffee-only shop called the Tandem Coffeehouse).

Mabel’s Cait explains:

This transition comes at a time when the Portland crafting community has an embarrassment of riches: over 20 yarn shops in the greater metro area, in addition to fabric, paper, and other crafting stores. At the same time, we at Mabel’s have felt the sad shift toward internet sources and away from shopping locally. Both because yarn purchases have been dropping over the last year and because the prospect of turning the space into a full coffee shop is more exciting, we are saying goodbye to three great years of Mabel’s and saying hello to what we hope will be many great years of Tandem Coffehouse.

I used to live around the corner from Mabel’s. It was a sweet little shop, but I almost always left empty handed (unless I just needed something basic, like needles). They had a lot of gorgeous yarn, but I was usually on the hunt for something super specific that I wanted ASAP. Luckily, Yard Garden on Hawthorne wasn’t far—and has at least five times as much inventory.

Lint is less specific about why they’re closing (though the owner had a baby last year, so it might just be time for a change).

Since the fall of 2003 Lint has been a dream come true, but fate has a way of altering dreams, throwing curveballs and guiding us to new directions.

Now it’s time to say goodbye to this lovely place and close up shop forever.
My heart is heavy, but filled with love for all of the great people I’ve met and all of the lessons I have learned along the way. Thanks you all for your continued patronage.

Foundation Garments (2712 NE Alberta) is teaming up with the Portland Sweatfree Campaign (which is working to ensure that all city government purchases are sweatshop-free products) for Cement Mixer: Some of the boutique’s favorite designers (Leanimal, Erhart, Paper Doll, Mizu Desierto, Layers Squared, and Mine Clothing) are each designing an exlusive solitary piece interpreting “foundation garments” however they wish. Then, on Friday August 24, 6-9 pm, the pieces will be displayed and sold, with 50% of the profits going to the campaign, plus 15% of storewide sales during the event. Add to that free New Deal Vodka cocktails, and that’s what we call a real good time.

(Leanimal)

This sounds like a fun class, at collage on NE Alberta.

Rock the Stencil

Learn to transfer cool images onto fabric. No country craft stencils here! It looks like silk screening, but it’s stenciling, which non-toxic and inexpensive.

In this class students will learn to create stencils on their own t-shirt or fabric. Students are welcome to bring images to create a stencil with but it isn’t necessary, as well as Jennifer, the teacher of this class, will bring various images for student use. Jennifer will also demonstrate how to render stencils on the computer. Each student will walk away with their own customized t-shirt or piece of fabric!

Check out the example:

And stick around for the Recycled Clothing class—this skirt, pieced together from two boring old polo shirts, looks pretty cool.

You all know Etsy, I’m sure: the international online collective of crafty, handmade goods based out of Brooklyn? If you haven’t already, take an hour or three to get lost browsing the micro-production level of goods that Etsy is a portal to: everything from cell phone cozies to pottery to jewelry to stuffed critters. And, if you prefer your craft fair browsing to happen in real time, and in close proximity, the Etsy craft fair that was scheduled earlier this summer has been rescheduled due to the heavy rains that washed out the original date. So, this Saturday, from 8 am to 4 pm, check out a major Etsy presence at the already-kick ass Saturday Farmers’ Market on the South Park Blocks. And if you can’t make that, check out the site anyhow—lots of cute gift ideas.

(Fosterweld mirror)

According to this article from New York Magazine, designers who hit it big on Bravo’s popular Project Runway have more than just fame to look forward to. How about a little indentured servitude and homelessness on the side?
Project Runway winner JAY McCARROLL is not at all happy by the way he’s been treated by the show, and now claims that he’s not only homeless, but his hands are creatively tied.

“A week after I won the show, I met with two ladies from Banana Republic at the top of the Soho House, which is like, big time,” McCarroll says. “And they were like, ‘Oh, we can give you numbers for factories to get your clothes produced.’ But that was totally not anything like what I needed. What I needed was someone to sit down with me and say, Here’s how you start a fashion label.”

Before long, the blogs started to howl that Jay’s work was nowhere to be seen, and Tim Gunn, the kindly host and soul of Project Runway, was wondering aloud to the press why Jay hadn’t gained more momentum; he also castigated him for being a diva.

“My hands have been creatively crippled for two years—all those fucking eyes on me, reading that I’m a waste on blogs,” he says. He looks genuinely unhappy now, and younger than his 32 years—a reminder that there’s an enfant in enfant terrible, a person one feels just as apt to protect as to throttle. “I was just an artist before this happened,” he adds. “Now I’m an artist with a fucking clock ticking.”

And Jay’s certainly not going to get any help from host HEIDI KLUM who ripped into his designs after a near-disastrous Emmy red carpet appearance. From PR Insider, Heidi says…

“I tried that once. The very first time I got nominated, I asked the winner of the first season, Jay McCarroll, to design something. He had all these great ideas, and then designed something that was absolutely not appropriate. “It was not an evening red carpet thing for the Emmys - it was like an MTV/Halloween costume! I could not have gone that way. At the end of the day, I said no…He got upset.”

Ouch. By the way, if you’re reading this and living in NYC, can Jay surf your couch for a couple days?