Portland, OR

Again, another rather misleading title, but then again I never said I didn’t take liberties with this site. It’s not like Portland has a monopoly on DIY stuff or that no one else in the country is into DIY, but bear with me as I try to give you a cross-section of Portland, Oregon here, people.

credit: i5prof

First a little something about DIY, for newbies. It’s Do-It-Yourself, obviously, and that kind of mentality is alive and well in Portland, Oregon. From creating your own fashions to building your own bike, if you talk to ten people in Portland, I’ll bet that at least six of them are DIY’ers in some sense. Personally, I am into DIY skincare right now. I grow things in my garden and stick them in a food processor and then slather them on my face…

Anyhoo, arts and crafts are becoming popular in the midst of our economic downturn and depressed consumer spending. As someone who teaches after-school classes in which I build science-y projects with little kids, I can attest to the fact that I have just as much fun making stuff as the kids do. As an extra bonus of being a “crafty” chick, my house is full of pipe cleaners and popsicle sticks which my cats love to bat around. I think it is great that people are more interested in making their own xmas and holiday gifts, regardless of why.

And if money is an issue, kids love making stuff, so why not put them to work in your very own cottage industry/sweatshop in your kitchen or family room.

Ok, ok, I kid. Child labor is not funny. But seriously, whether you have children or not, making your own stuff is a wonderful outlet for all that creativity inside of you that you may not realize is there.

Here are some PDX resources to find you inner Martha Stewart…

Portland, Oregon, DIY, crafts, children, child labor, arts, holiday, gifts

As I sit here watching a Project Runway marathon on Bravo today, I thought it would be an appropriate time to give a shout out to Leanne Marshall, a finalist on the show.

And yes, despite the fact that I have already seen every episode this season, I am happily re-watching every one of those same episodes. For some reason, I find Project Runway immensely re-watchable. Same with Top Chef, which is starting its new season November 12. Mark your calendars.

Anyway, back to Leanne. I didn’t really see her going all that far at the beginning of the season. But unlike so many of the contestants (read Daniel and Keith — was anyone else totally peeved when Keith came back for the Zodiac challenge? Come on, we finally get rid of him and he is back like, what the next challenge!!), Leanne took the judges comments to heart. Not so much to change her own aesthetic, I would think, but rather to win the damn game, am I right? That’s what it is all about. The judges are your clients, so make them happy and they will reward you for it, with cold, hard, less and less valuable cash. Ah, I kid. Not really, the dollar has been tanking for a while, and with the current crisis I don’t see it coming back anytime soon, but another day, another post.

Leanne Marshall’s designs since the third episode have pretty much rocked. I especially liked the third episode’s black skirt (at left), as well as the dress she made out of Saturn parts (below). She deservedly won that challenge. I did like the Diane Von Furstenberg purple dress she made, but I liked Korto’s dress a little better, but just a little better. There were some designs that missed the mark along the way, but even when I was really scared for her, say in the college grad make-over challenge, she smartly listened to Tim Gunn’s advice, and edited/re-designed wisely.

But beyond my little ol’ opinions, I think it is wonderful that we have a Portland designer represented on the fifth season of PR. It seems that the most interesting designers have been coming from cities outside the fashion meccas of NYC and LA. It’s not like Portland is BFE Ohio whence Jay McCarroll comes from, but when people think of Portland, I am sure fashion is not one of the first things that comes to mind.

Congratulations, Leanne! I really look forward to seeing your whole collection in the season finale next week, and I hope you win. I really, really hope that you at least beat out Kenley, because I cannot stand her. How annoying that you and Korto had to finish up the season with her. I seriously think that PR focuses too much on creating a villain, instead of just letting the designs speak for themselves.

Possible spoiler alert: Leanne is not taking any new orders as listed on Etsy, due to large volume. Could this be because of a PR win or simply due to the added publicity? Also, her website is rather outdated, with nary a mention of Project Runway. I did email her, and she oh so sweetly responded, telling me that her website is simply out of date, and she has a new person taking it over for her. I didn’t press the issue, and I really, really hope that she is hiding the win. (I have not searched for any spoilers elsewhere, so someone out there may know who the winner is, but I don’t want to know. I prefer conjecture and patience. I accidentally stumbled upon the Top Chef winner two seasons ago and it totally sucked watching the finale, knowing that Ilan Douchebag Hall won.)

Portland, Project Runway, Leanne Marshall, Leanne, Top Chef, Bravo, design, fashion, reality show, Daniel, Keith, Korto, Kenley, Diane Von Furstenberg, Jay McCarroll