Jaime says: DRAGON WINGS!
In my realityTV obsessed imagination I’m total Facebook besties with Pennsylvania mega-family The Gosselins. Today in my fantasy world I get to to be Aaden Gosselin’s hero. Aaden is a gem of a child, and 1/6th of a medical miracle that rocked local headlines about four years ago. His fantasy world doesn’t include Facebook, but instead, dragons. (Boys!) Well Aaden, get ready to post some thanks on my Super Wall because, here she is, Rebecca Dixon: designer of DRAGON WINGS FOR BOYS!
A super-awesome boy rocking wings
StylePhile talked with Dixon about faeries, conventions for faeries, and faerie fashions…oh, and Dragon Wings for Aaden and his ilk.
What is FaerieCon and OMG are you going?
FaerieCon is the East Coast version of Faerieworlds, a huge magical gathering for fae and fantasy creatures that happens in Oregon every year. FaerieCon is held at the Philadelphia Convention Center in October. They have an impressive line up of fantasy artists and authors to meet, great
musical performances, an amazing fashion show and rows and rows of vendors with magical goodies to tempt your fancy. I will be there again in my faerie finery, of course!
Who or what prompted you to go into the dragon wing business?
A few years ago, after presenting my faerie wears as a vendor at the Maryland Fairy Festival, I had so many parents ask me where they could find wings for their boys to wear that I created a line of dragon wings. They were a huge hit, so I designed a second version that had a tail. You can’t imagine how incredibly cute they are: I gave a pair to my little cousin and he ran around the house, curling his fingers into claws and yelling, “Grrrrr!”
This year I have designed two new baby dragons and two adult-sized versions (sans tail!), which are available in my Etsy shop.
How important are trends in your work?
The fantasy world is very different from the fashion industry. There’s less a sense of trends as here is knowing what vision or ideas about magic and the fantasy genre are popular. Keeping tabs on popular artists and authors is just as important as responding to your customers’ design requests.
Good Faeries or Bad Faeries?
I suppose that depends on your definition of good and bad! I make wings for all sorts of fairies, the angelically good, the terribly evil and the mischievous alike. I like to leave it up to the wearer to decide which court they belong to.
Where do you go to watch people?
The fairy festivals and Renaissance Fairs are a blast for people watching: the costumes are amazing and you get to see facets of personality and imagination that are not usually so apparent.
Which mythical character would you most like to work with?
The Phoenix, which is the mascot and namesake of my company, Up from the Ashes.
What is your favorite movie for inspiration?
I couldn’t possibly pick a favorite! There are several movies that I love as background noise while I work: Mirrormask is a new favorite, Labyrinth and the Dark Crystal are oldies but goldies, The Fifth Element, Appleseed, any of the comic movies like Spider-Man and Batman, and Slayers or Rurouni Kenshen series.