I'm going to take a break from the usual Thursday post and talk about the new No Doubt video, Settle Down.

No Doubt & Gwen Stefani have been my favorite since I can remember. I became a fan in elementary school around the time Return Of Saturn was released. I WAS OBSESSED. I know it sounds corny, but Gwen inspired me so much growing up. I am the way I am today because of her. Her fashion sense, her hair and makeup, her awesomeness - I wanted to be just like her. I began sewing at an early age, imitating her wristbands, jewelry, sewing clothes for my dolls making them look like Gwen... I was never tired of it. I eventually began sewing my own clothes and found my own style. I have Gwen to thank for so much.

Getting that out of the way, I can't express how excited I am for their new music. Their recent music video (first one in ten years!) was released the other day. Just when you think they're already so damn cool, they go and out do themselves. I love the new song - trying to figure out what kind of sound they're going for, but whatever it is, I'm digging it. The video is fantastic. And Gwen's pants..... can I have them please???

I grabbed this off of Beacon Street Online:

L.A.M.B. — We sat down with Paula Bradley, our Design Director for L.A.M.B. and she shared with us how Gwen’s trousers in the new No Doubt "Settle Down" video came about.

"Her pants were inspired by a conversation Gwen and I had months before the video. She said she wanted to be back to her roots. More "UNDONE". We were talking about the concept for the video and Gwen said she wanted to use Indian fabric! and other mixes. I thought this was fabulous. We love the mirrors. So I went looking for all types of vintage Indian mirrored fabric, belts, anything i could find that had the mirrors hand embroidered on them. We bought a pile of them and then began to lay them out like a jigsaw puzzle. Only sections of the costume have mirrors. No two pieces are the same. When I first showed Gwen, she felt it was a little too "Hippy" and not No Doubt enough. So then came the checkerboard!!

The idea of the pants was fantastic, and making them was quite a journey. Thank God for Gwen’s trust and patience. In the end I think they were quite beautiful, and performed wonderfully. There are hours of work into something like this and you have to really be lucky enough to work with someone truly amazing to get the opportunity. We almost lost these pants, but Gwen believed in everyone and in the end the pants just got better and better."

Paula Bradley
design director L.A.M.B.

...I sense a future DIY project for myself coming.