Okay… here are the Vegas pictures finally! Sorry, I’ve been super duper busy. For those of you who didn’t catch my last post, I went to Vegas earlier this week for the “Magic” convention. No, I’m not talking about “Magic: The Gathering” (Hi Becca) or a David Copperfield show. You dorks. Magic is basically a fashion industry trade show, where retailers and clothing companies get together to show off their new stuff so they can buy and sell for next season. I got to see all the awesome upcoming collections from brands like Lip Service, Red Ballz, Beauty Fiend, Tripp, E.C. Star, Fine, Emily Strange, Serious, Dragonfly, and like a shitzillion more I can’t remember, all before they’re even available to the public! We snuck in by borrowing Kevin’s friend’s business license to register. It was actually really funny because when we got our badges, we didn’t even know what they were going to say! Mine was like, “Amy Doan, Distributor.” We had to act like we knew what we were doing there. It was great.
So we arrive in Vegas on Sunday nite and check into our hotel… and get this–IT’S A FUCKING COUNTRY WESTERN HOTEL FOR SENIOR CITIZENS!!! I swear I am not making this up. It’s called the Frontier; check it out if you don’t believe me. We walked into the lobby and one out of every ten people is in a wheelchair or a walker. I turned to Kevin and said, “HOLY. SHIT. Hahahahahahahhaa.” Of course, he blamed me, saying *I* was the one who picked the hotel, but we’ll never know.
After dinner (in the hotel’s country-western restaurant complete with bull ride), we decided to go to this new gay club at Caesar’s Palace. Kevin said it was too early to go in and that we should gamble a little bit first. If you know me, you know how bah-humbug I am about gambling and Vegas in general, because I never win anything and I think it’s a big fat scam. But being a good sport, I said, “Okay, just for a little while.” So Kevin puts some money into the slot machine, pulls the handle, and WINS ONE THOUSAND FUCKING DOLLARS ON HIS FIRST PULL!!! We decided to stop gambling so we wouldn’t risk losing the money, but we did take this cheesy photo first.
This is my “Hi, I’m with the rich guy!” slutty girlfriend pic.
And here’s us at the club. It wasn’t that good, but the people were really nice, and the bathrooms were clean. Christie just pointed out that my contact lens is off center. Hahahaha
I must have been DRUNK! There was an Elton John store too.
So the next morning, we woke up early and went to the Trade Show. SO! MUCH! FUN! Like I said, we got to peek at all the newest collections from every company you could possibly think of. And I guess Kevin is friends with Rob, the creator and owner of the whole Emily Strange empire, so we got to hang out in the secret Emily booth that only super important business people were allowed to enter, haha. I scored a buttload of free stickers and posters. I’ve never really been a big Emily fan, but Rob was nice.
And the highlight of my day? Pamela Anderson! She has her own clothing line now, and she had a private booth set up to deal with her clients. I think she was the only one in the entire place who had a two-story booth with men in tuxedos guarding the entrance! You were only allowed in there by appointment, and well, I didn’t have one. I was pretty bummed, I totally would have died to have my picture taken with Pamela Anderson! But I did take a few blurry far-away shots. I didn’t want to take any closeups whenever she was downstairs cuz then I’d just seem like creepy obnoxious paparazzi. I really like her though. I know she seems like a one-dimensional sex kitten on TV, but if you saw her in real life, you’d see why everyone loves her! She just seems so happy and at ease with herself, and there isn’t a single thing phony or pretentious about her. Call me cheesy, but I think she is the perfect woman! Minus the gross Hollywood tan.
Pamela Anderson
her booth
Ebay was there too! They were trying to recruit me by giving me pamphlets about the joys of selling on eBay. Kevin had to embarrass me and say loudly, “She’s already a Powerseller!!” But anyway, yeah, this lovely picture was taken while I was in a good mood, unbeknownst to me that back home, eBay was cancelling all my auctions for “keyword spamming.”
Kevin was wearing a shirt by Krush and bondage pants by Tripp. So every time we walked past the Krush booth or the Tripp booth, he’d get embarrassed and start walking really fast! One of the girls working at Tripp actually yelled, “NICE PANTS! THEY LOOK GOOD ON YOU!” Dorkasaurus. I knew better than to wear any name brand clothing to a place like this!! :-}
The Lovely Miss Ellie Jennings! My opening line: “Hey, I know this is really dorky, but is your name Ellie? And we’re friends on MySpace?” I doubt she knew who I was, seeing as how she has over 1,500+ MySpace friends, but it was really fun meeting her. She’s a buyer for Hot Topic and was at the convention for work stuff. I like taking pictures with people I meet so I can e-mail it to them afterwards and have an excuse to keep in touch. But I’m bad, cuz I haven’t had time to e-mail her this pic yet or even ask for her approval before posting it. I’ll get around to it later. Isn’t she adorable?!
Me and French Kitty! They had the best booth; it was shaped like a breakfast bar!
We didn’t go to any “raging parties” afterwards. We were so beat after 7 straight hours of walking, we went back to the hotel and passed out watching the season finale of “My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance.” That’s how cool we are.
And in the morning Kevin took me to MGM Grand to see the lions.
That’s all.
About time!
I’ve been waiting to see pictures.
Plus I’m trying to kill time rather than doing my work, and thus grateful for every possible distraction. =D
PS very smart to hang on to the 1000$ most people would go nuts and spend it all trying to win another thousand….
1. Oh my god, your hair is all pink now!
2. Your eyes are blue. They were green before?
3. Hahaha, As usual, Kevin isn’t smiling!
4. But, he’s not holding any alcohol in his hand!
1. Yeah cuz I used to have the top half dyed black, and the bottom half red, and every time I washed my hair, the two colors would blend into ddifferent shades of red! And every time I redye my hair, I’ll use whatever I can find at the beauty store, usually pink or red. So my hair is a total mess. There are like 892347238 colors in it, I don’t even know what it’s supposed to be!
2. No, my contacts have always been blue!
3. Maybe cuz he’s always miserable around me!
4. That was my job!!!! Heh heh.
awesome. thanks for sharing your pix. glad you had a great time!
Wow, I’ve always wanted to go to Vegas. I want to get married there too. HaHa, you probably think I’m a big dork. My wedding plans are:
The guests will have to be in full costume, or no entry. My hair will be a beautiful shade of PINK. An inpersonator will marry us too. I havent decided on the wedding dress, but it’s going to be so FUCKING cool.
Full costume? Uh oh, I hope I’M not invited, hahahahah!
I’ll dress up as Ronald McDonald but only if you let me be the maid of honor.
Your defenitly invited. HaHa. My 2 best friends are boys, so I’ll need a girl to stand on my side. No set date cause I’m not ready for a big step like that. But the guy I do marry MUST be into this idea…or no me for him. Just go as yourself cause remember on Halloween everyone was complimenting your costume when you didn’t even dress up.
PRETTY!!! Kevin is a lucky guy. Shit, I want to meet you sometime. Come by Red Ink Studios in Santana Row when I’m working. I work on Thursdays from four to seven. ^_^
I’m not rich enough to hang out at Santana Row. :-( Kevin and I set foot there ONCE, and we were like, “WHOAAAAA….” I thought sales people like that only existed in movies like Pretty Woman!!!
We’re actually eating at some restaurant there on Saturday for my friend’s birthday! This should be interesting….
Just stop by and see me! Doesn’t mean you have to buy anything. Boop! I don’t buy shit there.
okay, maybe it’s just me.. but in the second pic, your left eye (the one closest to the right hand side of the picture), is really freaking me out!
Not in an entirely bad way or anything, so don’t feel bad, it’s just kinda funny :D
Hahaha, it’s just my contact lens sliding around when I’m drunk! :-}
Aww cute piccies! What fun! Loving yr hair colour—what shade is it?
p.s. I flipped through my friend’s copy of Gothic Beauty and saw the article about Shrinkle designs and got all excited—i love your creations and style. :)
Thanks! My hair is like a combo of Rose Red by Punky Color and some leftover nasty neon clown orange by Raw (but I don’t recommend EVER going anywhere near Raw dye!!!)
Oh man, that Gothic Beauty article was kind of embarrassing! :-} There was an editorial error somewhere in there that cuts an entire paragraph out, so in one question she’s asking me about a skirt, and suddenly I start talking about my grandma calling me a carnivore and my mom calling me a caveman, hahahaha!
Hahaha, still press regardless. :) i just thought it was rad that you are getting featured, you deserve some recognition! :)
Thanks! :-D
it sounds like you had a great time. that would have been so rad!
I usually don’t like Vegas, so I was surprised I had a good time! :-D
Casinos are filled with out waiting to die.
The last one I went to there were people on oxygen with the throat hole smoking ciggarrettes. OH did i mention the old lady blue hair dye job?
OH MY GOD that oxygen thing would have just COMPLETELY ruined my nite, hahahaha!
Yes it was frightening.
I wondered why these people were at a casino.
If you have no trachea maybe winning money shouldn’t be your biggest concern
I went to the Magic show in LA!! A lady in my fashion design class was a buyer so I tagged along w/ her. It was fun seeing what other designer could come up with. <3 the pics!
I didn’t know they had one in L.A.! How fun!
yay
really does sound and look like you had a good time. and probably everyone’s jealous cause you got to see all the cool new stuff. Well, I am!
Re: yay
Wanna know a secret? All the designs for next season look the exact same as last season!!! I’m not even kidding. It was like all the same stuff but with slight variations like maybe a bondage skirt will have three zippers on it instead of the two zippers that were on it last season, haha! Or the leopard pants will come in green this season as well as the pink ones from last season… It’s all a scam, I tell you!!
Hot! Hot! Hot!!!
So much fun!!!! You are making everyone jealous of you!!! :P
Anyway, can’t wait to visit your own online store!!!
ciao~
>^_^<
Re: Hot! Hot! Hot!!!
*I* can’t wait to visit my online store, haha! God I’m sooo slow with getting this website set up, I’m driving MYSELF insane! :-}
You have NO CLUE how insanely envious I am of you right now!!!!!!
That’s wicked having won so much on the machines! I never wanna go to Vegas, me & Ant would probably end up completely broke & Homeless after a trip there!
That’s usually how it goes for us, but we decided to be smart this time and stop while we were ahead! :-D
Uhmmmm seriously I am dead jealous of your win, nothing like that ever happens to us, hence the reason I never go near those type of machines anymore because I always manage to leave incredibly broke… Oh well hope you did something fun with the cash!
that looks like SO MUCH FUN!! and i have ellie on myspace too, i didn’t know you had it. anyway yeah, i wish i would have been there!
Dude, EVERYONE has Ellie as their friend on MySpace, hahaha! Have you seen how many friends that girl has?!?!?
girl,you always have the coolest picture posts.I love that french kitty stuff.hook me up with a link to this trade thing? I wanna go next year =D and what kinda bleach do you use to get all your hair that vibrant pink?
Hey lady!! :-)
I’m not really sure what their website is. My friend and Kevin pretty much took care of all the registration crap–all I know is that you have to have proof that you are a retailer or something! :-}
And I use that cheap Wella bleach you can get at the beauty store, hahaha! That’s why it looks so uneven.
XOXO
Amy
haha. I went to a food convention and pretended to be a “Manager/Buyer”
and I look like a 16 year old so people all looked at me weirdly. And One asked what and where I worked
“err… it’s sort of ..umm… like a grocery shop… thing… but.. we have.. a cafe as well … ?”
I think he believed me. because I am SOOOOO good at making up stories. hell yeah.
Oh my god, that was totally ME at the trade show! Someone would ask a question, and me and Kevin would answer at the same time, except we’d give different answers. Hahahha
Hell yes! Your hair and makeup is always fucking rad! And I’m jealous…I would’ve loved going to a show like that! I’d spend hours and hours too! Basically……you’re just the bee’s knees. <3
Awww wow that looks like the most fun ever, i’ve wanted to go to Vegas since I was 5 *jealous* =]
Vegas is overrated! ;-)
Was Emily Strange part of Yum Pop or drawn by the same girls at some point? I thought it was but maybe they were just printed/licensed by the same overlying company…
Love the irony of the Ebay thing. I really would like to fuck them over somehow for all the shitty things that have gone on but … now I need to get a customer base for my new operations first. ;) And it’s nice not having to set a price–let the customers determine it! Bla, we need to start our own, actual, reliable but free auction site. Maybe a script/program to sell on your own site in an auction format so ppl could bid and your items would end in a week. With required paypal payment to end auction, otherwise it continues for another hour so others can bid / win / paypal. HRMMMMMM. *geek ponderings* Approved customers can bid without paypal since you can trust that they’ll pay.
‘cosmic debris’
it started with cosmic girls, then along came yum pop + emily. same family, different creators. :)
cosmic debris was first, i think….but Rob (who actually created Emily) is the cosmic debris dude. one of my devil-ette girlies is his girlfriend, but sadly I haven’t pumped her for as much dirt as I would have liked too! all i know from my limited exposure to his is that Rob is a super cool/chill guy and you would never know he is loaded (which he must be, seeing how frickin’ popular his whole cosmis/yum pop family is!!). his girlfriend buffy rules too.
Technically, Rob didn’t actually CREATE Emily. ;-) He totally stole the idea from someone else, paid them $2,000 for the rights, and then built it up to the huge empire that it is now. Of course, that isn’t the story he tells people!! :-)
What’s his girlfriend like? He’s so normal and “chill” as you say. She must be pretty cool too!
oooooh, so someone else created her? dang! see, i *knew* i didn’t know the whole scoop. i don’t see buffy (his girl) that much anymore and so I feel lame asking her for all the details. But I’m DYING to know. I mean, the guy (and his partners, whoever they are) are SOOO successful, it’s crazy!! Gimme some more dirt!!! (oh, his girlfriend is really sweet. i fergit how they met—they kinda hooked up right as she was quitting the Devil-Ettes). She’s def. off-beat and waacky (she was the lead singer for this band Bride of Ozzy, that did all Sabbath covers….and she always wore these insane outfits and stuff). Her name’s actually Elizabeth, but we found out her childhood nickname was Buffy and that was it for her. She’s been Buffy ever since!!
Ok, your turn.
The Truth About EMILY!!!
Emily was created by a guy named Nathan Carrico back in ‘91. Nate worked for Santa Cruz Skateboards and designed Emily as a skateboard graphic for Ross Goodman. I have the original Ross Goodman sticker that Nate designed with Emily on it before Emily was even “invented” by Rob!!! I should scan it in for you, it says ROSS GOODMAN on it. Rob liked the graphic and made a few T-shirts out of it. When Nate saw them, he was like “Hey what’s up with that, dude.” so Rob paid him $2,000 for the rights to the character. Nate happily took the money, not knowing how HUGE Emily would be today and how much RICHER he could be if he had just asked for a percentage of the earnings, hahaha! And there’s this agreement between them that Rob never mentions Nate. So that’s why you never hear about it. Seeeeeeecrets!
Re: The Truth About EMILY!!!
Now that’s some good juicy insider scoop, Miss Amy!! Thanks!!! Damn, poor Nate. But i guess Rob probably had no clue how huge Emily would get either. KRAZY!
haha well im glad you had fun…
my experience wasnt as fun as yours only because i was working my ass off at it the last time i was there :)
coooooooool pics and ur hair looks pretttttttttttty :)
-becca
LOL HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! you really DO look like a dwarf in that picture! i almost spit out my drink when i read that! thats awesome!
I cropped my legs out so now it looks normal. Shuuuuut uuuuuppppp!!!
holy shit im jealous!
I wanna go and see clothing stuff before it comes out :( *sniffle*
haha i love emily strange stuff! its awesome! damn you ;)
haha well im glad you had a good time :P
<3
damn the man! if only i would have known, i would have driven 6 hours south and slutted it up vegas style!
you look adorable, as usual!!!
Get your fat ass out of Salt Lake CIty and come party with me in California!
I wanna get you drunk so I can grab your ass!!
okay!
i’m buying a ticket to frisko… i think i’ll come in april. yes, that sounds good.
For real. You should come out and play. Have you ever been to SF?
yeah, lots of times. i haven’t gone there in a while… but i need to visit my best friend in the springtime.
i want a whirlwind tour of bars… where i can get toe up and leave before getting kicked out. ;)
The first pic is cute ..hahahah you don’t look like a dwarf but a HOBBIT! :-)
I luv that pic where you’re browsing an ebay “how to sell and buy” manual. It’s very sarcastic!!!
Dwarf?! Hobbit?! Thanks a lot, you guys!!! ;-)
Helloooooo I just added you :)
I LOVE your designs and your ‘look’ in general, you’re totally cute! If there are any Emily stickers in your stash with any cats on them I will buy them form you if you don’t want them! Vegas looks like a totally outrageous place, I’m from Manchester UK so it’s about as far from what I’m used to as you can get, lol!! Loved the pix :D
Re: Helloooooo I just added you :)
Awww thanks!!
I have a ton of the Emily stickers left! You don’t have to pay me, as I totally grabbed a stash for free, hahaha! E-mail me your address and I’ll send you some!
amy@shrinkle.net
Re: Helloooooo I just added you :)
I <3 u already
P.S. I’m in a rock band over here, would you ever consider doing bespoke clothes for bands?
Eventually! But I’m such a slacker…. :-}
Do you guys have a website? I’d love to check it out!
Our new one is under construction, we’re just waiting for our new photos to come back form other slackers ;-) I’ll let you know when it’s up, should only be a couple of weeks…
I want to go to something like that. I really like your outfit that youre wearing in the pictures with the blonde girl and french kitty. Weren’t you selling that pink heart back pack? I was going to bid on it but it got to more than I would want to pay. Anyway, a country western hotel for senior citizens? That sounds funny.
Haha, yeah I had another one of those backpacks that I sold a while back! :-D I’m such a dork, every time I go shopping and see something I like, I end up buying out the whole shelf of them! :-}
I’m such a dork, I spend hours on ebay and am able to remember something I saw a long time ago and who was selling it.
I just came across your journal and i thought you should know that i dig your style and clothes your wicked pretty!!!
Thank you!! <3
ha ha whats keyword spamming? lol..
cute pictures!! I love them all!!!
Keyword spamming is basically when eBay thinks you are purposely putting in a bunch of fake keywords to get people to look at your auctions… BULLSHIT!!
I want to see the reactions of the old people in the hotel. XD
Your icon creeps me out, hahaa!
I love your pictures!Always beautiful..hey that pretty blonde is my myspace friends too.hhehhee..Looks like ya had a great time..Well im still a lil drunk from last night so Im gonna shut it up now:)
xoxo
Dude she’s EVERYONE’S MySpace friend!! I think I might even have found her through YOUR profile actually, haha!
what fun!!!!!!
the ebay shit pisses me off. good thing they’re only a stepping stone to your fame + fortune. ;)
Hopefully.. but knowing me, I’m such a procrastinator I’ll probbaly be on eBay for another 10 years, haha!
You have my boots on again! YAY! Mine are sulking at the moment because they gave me blisters and I can’t wear them. Like you needed to know that!
*Squeals* PAMMY! I love her! She seems like the nicest person in interviews – I’m so jealous now!
I want the big French Kitty too! How sad is it that this post has made me really excited? Must stop living my life through other people…
I actually JUST bought those boots a few weeks ago! They’re cheesy cheap $30 boots from the mall, haha! I remember back in the day you couldn’t find boots like that ANYWHERE, but now they’re a dime a dozen in every mall in the world. Oh well! :-}
Yay, someone else loves Pamela Anderson!! Everyone thinks I’m so tacky for liking her, but what’s not to like?!
Hee hee – I thought they were the rolling ones fron Demonia you got from your sister. You can’t get boots like that here – I’m the only one! YAY!
I guess people don’t like the fake boobs and the barbie doll thing – they think she’s a slapper. But when you actually hear her talk about stuff she’s so sweet and funny and caring and totally beautiful. Her eye make-up rocks too! I’m addicted to VIP – I love how she doesn’t take herself seriously.
what a life you lead! hehe. one day ill do thaaaat..
Oooo…that looks like it was a LOT of fun. I giggled when i read about Kevins pants! When i drag my fiance to the mall he RUNS past any store that something he has on is from…and then i have to go into said store by myself. Hey! Is that lion eating an Ebay rep? Sure looks like it to me! AMY! You threw him in there..didnt you?????!!!
I always catch myself wearing Hot TOpic clothes when I’m at Hot TOpic, and it’s the worst because everyone thinks I work there. AHHHHHH
Amy, Love the photos Looks like you had alot of fun. MaybeI’ll have to borrow my moms business license and go next year. Cute new clothes nothing better than that!
Love your Hair….makes me miss my pink hair but it was just to much of a pain in the ass to keep up. Faded WAAY to quickly. I”m just to darn lazy What brand did you use do you have to keep redoing it?
I totaly Love your coat! where oh where did you get it? or what brand is it…sigh a purple & black furry coat heaven =)
My hair doesn’t fade as quickly cuz I bleached it three times before dying it, so it holds the shit in like CRAZY!!! I use Rose Red by Punky Color. My favorite!
My friend gave me the coat… it’s by Morbid Threads, so I’m assuming it was from Hot Topic. I’ve seen them being sold on eBay before!
OHHHHH and I LOOOOOVE the kitty purse you sent, it’s the BEST!!! Tako (my white cat) keeps chewing on it, it’s so funny. Cute!!!
That looks like so much fun. and I’m loving your hair.<3
Thanks! :-D
Sometimes my color contacts would move when I blink. It’s really annoying and people do notice it!
Love the pics.
Hey I just dyed my hair that color too! well, at least my roots. It looks awesome with your eyeshadows!
Oh yeah, Morosemelonhead is selling a coat in really similar fabric to your pink fluffy heart bag – it’s so cute.
Yeah I saw that! I would have bid on it if it didn’t have that weird lace flap!
wow…. im so jealous.
i love pam anderson.
tripp makes my ass look huge.
<3 me some french kitty. .. actually... you remind me of french kitty. i think its the eye makeup.... :p
Yay! Does that mean I’m a cute little white cat? Haha!
MEW!
what is this trade show? i think pamela is fucking awesome too.
Oh, it’s basically a thing where clothing companies and stores get together to buy for next season! Like the clothing companies show what their new designs are, and the stores order from them. Fun stuff!
Nice pics hon! Glad you had a good time. Get any great ideas while you were there? (Forgive if you already answered that, I didn’t read the billion other posts.)
Oh, and I agree about being smart for holding onto that cash.
No, no cool clothing ideas. The thing is, and I think I just wrote this to someone else but I can’t find it, but ALL the stuff for next season looks the same as the stuff for LAST season, haha!!! Like a pair of leopard pants will be the same as the leopard pants they made last season, except it’ll have an extra pocket on the back or some shit like that. :-}
Oh man that is totally lame. Its a good thing you’re creative enough on your own.
YEAH! Tripp booth!
My old roommate Eliana and her friend Sarah (who I met in NYC) were both working the Tripp booth. It had to be one of them!!
AWESOME.
I’m glad you had fun. I would have loved to sneak in there.
How funny! Small world.
hey love,
just saw something that might make you feel good (although you prolly don’t need anything to :) )
i saw your interview in ‘gothic beauty’ and i had to do a double take, because i’ve seen so many of your clothes in LJ and ebay, i said to my boyfriend “Hey! I know who that person is!”
anyway, good job <3
Thanks!!
I was actually a little bit embarrassed about that interview because
1) I’m not gothic
2) There’s some weird editorial mistake in there that makes me sound like I’m on drugs and answering the wrong questions, haha!
If I won $1000 I would cry from joy and go off on a camera shopping spree. And then I’d be broke again. Haha
I know the feeling! I’m just glad there weren’t any FABRIC STORES within a mile radius or that $1000 would have been GONE!!!
jealous! too much fun
Hey I stumbled onto your blog from a tshirt surgery community, and I realized your the designer of the clothes i’ve been drooling over on ebay! your style is awesome, and your pics are rad. I’m adding you so I can be full time jealous of your fashion sense.
Re: jealous! too much fun
AWESOME, thanks for the sweet comment! :-D
love the pics, looks like you had a lot of fun! btw i’m ariela, i’ve been watching your ebay auctions for a while now, although i’ve yet to win anything :\ just found your lj a few days ago so i added ya, and just wanted to tell you that i was looking through gothic beauty today and saw an interview with you so that was neat :o)
Hey Ariela, nice to meet you! <3
Heehee, that Gothic Beauty thing was funny. I’m just WAITING for someone to yell at me for being in that magazine when I’m not even goth… you know how protective some goths are over their scene. ;:-}
love the style, as always. that show sounded like fun. you should’ve stalked pam or something!