I've made it! My very first ever HATE mail.

No one bothers to send you hate mail if you're a nobody. I got my very first one today, and hell, I hope it is the first of many, if it means that I'm gaining the success and notoriety that I want for FabGabs! This isn't really about my business, although it stems from my response to a "thank you" letter I got, saying that they appreciated that I use a plus size model for the plus size clothes. I'm not really plus, but I'm all I've got, right? I replied and included my measurements. I got this four days later (today) from a shill account:

Um okay my friend is friend with this couple who wrote you & you said you have a 31 inch waist?My sister is a 31 inch waist I know whut that looks like.Hahahahahahahahah-LMAO!!No way you are a 31 inch waist try 40 at least..I just saw your photos and gurl you are an XXXXL you are huge so why lie about it?WTF?That's so stupid.By the way liquid diets do wonders.Okay like bye.ugh and don't write back I don't talk to fatsos.

Don't worry - I won't let it go to my head or hurt my ego! Especially not when I have Lulu of Camera Bandit around to take foxy photos of me (can't believe I'm posting one of the cheesecake shots!)

A Timeless Beauty: Boue Souers Dress

This stunning dress sold in the summer of 2008. I purchased it from an amazing estate loaded with treasures the likes of which I have not seen since. This was, however, the crowning glory of the collection, without a doubt. Although I did not know at the time it was Boue Souers, it is something I later learned to some chagrin. But although the label had been lost to time, the quality and exquisite details were impossible to miss. It is why I saved photos, when I kept photos of very little in my short stint on ebay.  A late teens transitioning to the shorter 20's style, it is still primarily Edwardian. The black silk underdress, however, could have as easily been styled by a couturier in France in the 1950s as earlier. It features this amazing side drape, which was later to be copied and adapted decades later. As beautiful as the netted cotton overdress is with its gorgeous Alencon lace, it was really almost tragic to cover up the underdress. Of course, this would be ten times more lovely shown in my current set on one of my beautiful models - but it deserves to be shown off anyway.

These days, I would recognize Boue Souers work, but this business can come with a steep learning curve. It did go to a museum in Japan, so it is being preserved.

The draped wiggle skirt of the dress:

The interior:


And with the overdress:

From the sturdy cotton net, to the extremely fine silk taffeta, amazing drape and style - to those incredible details in the form of handmade silk flower arrangements - I will never see another like this. It was exquisite. The photos are all I have, but I was honored to help preserve this piece.

The Evolution of Fab Gabs

I've been kinda drunk on praise recently, as the set improves, as I give my photographer more leeway, introduce new models to the shop. (Thank you, thank you please, don't stop)

Most - not all - of you who follow me on Facebook, Twitter, etc. only found me in recent months, when the pictures got pretty! While I love people asking me how I do it well, it was two years of evolution, trying find my "voice." It is like developing a writing style. I'm proud of it, but totally recognize that I started well, pretty dang humbly!

So I give you... the Evolution of Fab Gabs


July 2008 - This dress set does happen to be the most rare and fantastic thing I've sold. It is a two piece set, moving from the teens to the 20s - the end price was $927, and I sent it to Hong Kong. I've spent hours dreaming what this would look like on Ruby! She could fit it, and both pieces - the black "wiggle" underdress and lace overdress were amazing. But my pictures well, don't really do it justice! Maybe I'll do a blog about sometime, though, it is worth seeing all the details.



November 2008 - I started experimenting with models. This not-well-done removed background lasted all of one photo shoot. Recognize the model? That's Kim of Jitterbuggin!



May 2009 The phone table enters the photos! Woo-hoo! That's actually MY Shaheen (hands off!) we did photograph it the week I bought it... but I wasn't able to give it up. Can you blame me? The print is "Pagan Primitives" - tiki god heads all over.



November 2009 - Fab Gabs finally starts to look like Fab Gabs! Used a student photographer and my new model Ruby.



January 2010 - Lulu of Camera Bandit comes on board and we add the couch to the set! This set required me to swap the layout of my living room every week. Whew! Super cute, but that's done with!



June 2010 - I buy my new 1930's Art Deco couch and chair, and suddenly my whole house - and therefore my set - finally come together! We take breaks in the shoots to play, too. And of course, Solanah is the new addition to the Gabettes (bonus if you can think of a better word for them!)

Gosh, I hope that's the last update to it all for a while!