McQueen meets Burton Halloween Photo Shoot with Viva Van Story!

The set for my Halloween shoot!

In honor of one of my favorite seasons (Fall) and one of my favorite holidays (Halloween) I decided to do a Halloween inspired photo shoot.

When I saw that Viva Van Story was doing a themed shoot inspired by Alexander McQueen and Tim Burton, you could have almost seen the drool coming down! Alexander McQueen was an out-of-this-world designer and Tim Burton is a mad artistic genius--put them together and you are bound to make magic! I was especially intrigued because some of my daughters favorite films are made by Burton. I know, I know, she is only four but I think she has a little taste of the spooky films like mama does *giggle*

Okay so before this shoot ever happened I had to somehow make it happen. It wouldn't have happened at all if I did not get the kind contributions from Rocio Vega, Nick Winser, Jennifer Lynne Foxell, and about $195 worth of selling at my yard sales. No I am NOT kidding you!

I mean think about it, I am a full-time stay at home mother of three super young children, I live in New York, and my husband bless his heart works full time at two different jobs in order to take care of all of our monetary needs. So I have to find ways to fund raise for my vintage wardrobe and my photo shoots. I do feel incredibly blessed that so many people believed in me enough to support this venture.

Also without the moral support from my husband who rarely has days off but that day he did and he took care of the kids for me-what a man I have! Thank you hunny!! xox

Another huge supporter is my friend Lucy Anne Riggs, I didn't expect we would be such good friends after a few emails but we just connected on so many levels. When this photo shoot came up we both encouraged the other saying that "We CAN do this!". And we did!

I was totally prepared for the shoot (October 2nd) and also prepared everything for my kids from bottles to extra clothes. The night before for some reason I was tossing and turning-I don't know why but I was a wee bit nervous. I mean I was going to meet my friend Lucy Anne for the first time, Viva Van Story for the first time, as well as another online friend and huge supporter, Dahlia Derriere. Honestly, this whole experience was way out of my comfort zone.

Remember I have been a stay home mom for four years now, I don't have any girlfriends close by, my dearest friends all live far away from me, and well lets be honest-adult conversation and contact is just not something I get very often. It is what it is but I felt I needed to jump with both feet in and allow myself to be nervous and a little uncomfortable-how would I learn anything if I just stayed safely tucked away at home, right?

It was 7am on a Sunday morning (unnatural and ungodly hour!) and Lucy Anne and her sister Lisa both picked me up from my home. From there we began our journey to Viva's in New Jersey. It was an easy and smooth ride over-of course I was still not fully awake *chuckle*.

Once we got to Viva's we met our MUAH team which consisted of Margherita (makeup) and Erica (hair) who were both sweet and super talented. I then met Viva who was casual and just relaxed, I mean it was a Sunday morning, who wouldn't be? LOL We quickly started going through the clothes to choose what we were going to wear. I  felt immediately uncomfortable because many of the pieces were super sexy and very revealing but we worked around that and found a beautiful cream colors vintage nightgown which I would wear a velvet corset over it-can we say FABULOUS!

Lisa getting beautified by Erica and

Margherita being silly-such dolls!

Lucy Anne and Lisa were up first with hair and makeup and watching the MUAH team work their magic was super fun and kind of relaxing as well. During that time I chatted up with Dahlia and it was so nice to meet her in person-we have been chatting online for a few months now and she is every bit as sweet as she is online. What a doll-truly!!

The whole look was a sight to behold!

Then it was my turn to get all dolled up and Erica added all sorts of ribbons and extra hair-it was wild! But the vision Viva has was for a Victorian Gothicish Halloween feel and she succeed for sure! After all my ribbons and hair were in place Margherita began her process of makeup and oh that was fun. It was lovely to chat it up with the girls-both very interesting, super funny, and very approachable--I would work with them both in a heartbeat!

Once it was my turn to work with Viva I didn't know what to expect. It was different from my past experiences which is neither good nor bad. There were three or four bright lights on me which I was not accustomed to and Viva just snapped away. I felt amazing in that velvet corset-my back and belly area both had so much support. The only difficulty was that I couldn't wear any shoes so Viva tied peach colored ribbons at my ankles-so pretty! And getting up and down from the sofa was a channel but Viva kindly helped *smile*

I loved the poses-it was very serene and no smiling was allowed which is difficult for my personality because I am a smiling person. But I loved the shoot-it was fun and relaxing and I used a great prop my friend Lucy Anne picked up for me-a stunning hand mirror. I cannot wait to get these photos! I know Viva was making little pieces of art with every snap of her camera.

I feel honored and super happy to have been able to work with such an amazing MUAH team and with Viva Van Story. It was not a typical Sunday for me-I met and made new friends and worked with one of the best photographers in the Pinup Industry. Very blessed indeed!

xox

PS Two great tips learned from this photo shoot:

1. To remove makeup use baby oil from Johnson and Johnson and baby wipes and it takes it all over nicely and leaves your skin smelling great and clean as a whistle.
2. When resting your arm on a chair or sofa place all your weight at your hips instead of your arm-it gives you the appearance for being relaxed.

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