Ten years ago, while my friend made the arduous trip from NYC to Australia to visit me, we would spend evenings convalescing from our intense daytime excursions by lounging in front of the TV, binge watching, and I’m not proud to admit this, Bret Michael’s Rock of Love and the subsequent Rock of Love Bus. As I’m not one to just sit idly by, a trait that my Dad absolutely hated, I had to do something while watching women competing for the former Poison frontman’s affections. I began working on a Bjork doll. Bjork, for those of you who aren’t familiar, was the frontwoman of the Icelandic rock group The Sugarcubes, and then embarked on a highly successful solo career. Between the daily sightseeing tours and Rock of Love fest, I sewed a miniature version of the Alexander McQueen bell dress featured in her music video “Who is It.” Over the years people have asked me about the availability of the doll, and I decided not to part with it as the “bells” on the dress have tarnished. I also politely refused making another one as I have to be in the right mindset to embark on extensive sewing projects.
And then it happened: I happened to have a lull in my schedule back in April when someone asked me to recreate it again. This time I researched the right kind of beads to order so it wouldn’t tarnish. There had been sourcing trips and a more comprehensive dive into the construction of the dress. My schedule allowed me to work on it only half an hour or so a day, most of which I did whilst Facetiming my Mom, who was also working on a knitting project of her own as we chatted. I also managed to find the three seasons of Rock of Love on Amazon Prime and chortled my way through it as I sewed the dress every night. It took 4 months to make it. By then I have discovered another material from which to make the face braid from. The only regret is that I didn’t have more time to experiment with it.
There is always room for improvement, of course. Maybe in another 10 years I’ll make another one!
Here is the original version made 10 years ago…almost to the day!
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