Ponette as Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Over the past few days I’ve made a very long list of potential female figures I’d like to tackle for Ponette. But then the other night as I lay in bed, I was suddenly overcome by the strongest feeling of ultimate female empowerment, and could only imagine starting this project off with a badass woman who completely embodies the values of strong independent women – Ruth Bader Ginsberg, otherwise known as the “Notorious RBG”.

How to even get started? I started researching photos of RBG online… I noticed that her collars (“jabots”) were the most unique elements of her look. Her favorite piece is a white hand-beaded jabot from Cape Town, South Africa. Wow, I had my work cut out for me… I hadn’t made a beaded necklace in 20 years! Luckily, I used to make those beaded flower necklaces and other designs when I was about 12-13 and sold them at craft shows, so I’m no stranger to the bead world, it’s just been a really long time.

So I bought a pack of white glass seed beads and got to work. It took me about 9 hours to figure out and make this beauty but it came out great and I believe it is exactly the same size as the one RGB wears, though it looks much larger on Ponette, since she has no shoulders! The clasp is awesome and magnetic, so it will separate if Poe decides to violently scratch an itch or try to free herself from the jabot. Thanks to my favorite neighborhood bead store, Blue Door Beads! Pardon the photo quality… was taken with iPhone. You get the idea though, better pics to come when her outfit is finished.

I also bought black polyester and a zipper for the gown and am in the process of working on it. It’s the same fabric most graduation gowns are made from, hehe. Since I have no pattern I had to start from scratch. I basically used some scrap fabric to piece a gown together and figure out the sizes/shapes with safety pins before cutting into the real fabric. The real test will be this weekend when I sew it together, eeek!

Stay tuned for more updates. Once I finish the gown, I’m going to have her official Iconocat RGB photoshoot… can’t wait!