

Oh, Shop It: Luxury Consignment Boutique Adds New Store in Birmingham
Closet NV has opened a second location! Before the ladies of Closet NV started to sell clothes via brick and mortar, owners Lisa Rosenberg and Robin Bloom first sold items on Ebay for family and friends. “We knew in our hearts that we someday would want to open a luxury designer consignment store, thus came Closet NV,” says Robin. “It was truly a natural fit for the both of us with our knowledge of retail and beautiful designer items.” DG3 visited the new boutique after a lun


Dancing with the Survivors: Mariella Amado
Just like in any ballroom dance, the design, colors, texture, rhythm and music all coexist with each other to help the dancer. Expressing emotion in the room, creating an atmosphere where everyone is focused on her: What she's saying with her figure, how the colorful fibers move with her body voluntarily, as the audience is enjoying all the turns and variations of the melody. I wanted to represent the breaking struggle, endurance, and the courage that a breast cancer survivor


Dancing with the Survivors: Bridget Sullivan
It's been such a wonderful experience designing a dance costume for breast cancer survivor, Cheryl Perkins. My challenge was to create a dress that adequately reflected her resilience, strength and exuberance for her swing dance routine! My dress for Cheryl is inspired by impressionist ballerina paintings by Edgar Degas. I love using recycled materials for my designs. I started with a light blue dress I bought at a thrift store in New York City, and dyed it. Then, I painted t


Dancing with the Survivors: Shawn and Claire Buitendorp of Shock and Awww
Hi everybody! We are Shawn and Claire Buitendorp, the co-creators and co-designers behind the brand Shock and Awww. As Shock and Awww, we normally create what we like to call stagewear, which in essence include garments that are intended to be worn on stage. They are outlandish, sparkly and over-the-top. Thus, you can image that we were thrilled to be asked to work on this project. We were paired with the lovely Cindy, who definitely shared our aesthetic and love of color. To


Dancing with the Survivors: Emma Witte
I want to do two things in my life: Be inspired by inspiring people and inspire people to be inspired. A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet an inspiring and strong women named Brenda Hawkes. She will be performing in this year's Dancing With the Survivors event and I am lucky enough to be part of her process by designing the dance costume! After she shared her journey, I could not have been more excited when Brenda told me she would be preforming the Hustle to “Stayi


Dancing with the Survivors: Akosua-Panin
Akosua-Panin is from Detroit, Michigan. Though artistically gifted before birth; she has been creating clothing designs since around the age of 15. From a young age, Akosua-Panin has created eye-catching drawings; from remarkable portraits to still life. Subsequently, she has continued to use her gift in drawing as an apparatus toward her skill in fashion design. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Fashion Design & Merchandising at Wayne State University, all while establ


Memoirs of a Geisha Stole the Show at Finish2Fashion
The Gem Theatre is like stepping into the most fabulous of time warps. The building, built in the 1920s, is a two-level theatre with intimate stage-level seating at cabaret tables on the first floor and traditional row and aisle seating on the second level. The Spanish Revival architecture was a beautiful setting for libations and hors d’oeuvres before the show began. But enough about the theatre, let’s talk about the fashion. Each interior design team was tasked with creatin