Alexandra King - Independent Bridal and Womenswear Designer

Blue velvet in the making

2012-01-24T22:54:00.001Z

A little making of the blue velvet princess coat which we made earlier this month to go to Italy, Most of the lining is hand stitched in place and I love the way it sits over a full skirt. Perfect for the opera in this gorgeous jewely dark blue.

January has well and truly come and nearly gone already in all it's manic, whirlwind of wedding splendour. It was like everyone set their alarm clocks to start plans this month and I have had to force myself to sit down and do a post. The scary thing is the longer I leave it, the more I am struggling to find something interesting to post. I need to start rambling more again.
I also can't share anything like sketches or dresses until the weddings have been so I have lots of secrets sitting in my studio at the moment!
Time for new collections too ......................................................

Working the prom dress

2012-01-15T17:25:00.001Z

The last prom dress for now, in it's final stages of being made. This dress was one of my first designs when I was still on a path to study fine art and sculpture. This photo reminded me of the white dress I originally sculpted over chicken wire with pva glue and nylon tissue, on my foundation course. It was in the first week of my degree that I realised I wanted to make the dresses to wear.

I then bought a lot of three 1950's dresses from America, one of my first eBay purchases back then and arrived, stuffed in a cardboard box was this stunning white tulle and lace debutant dress which still hangs on my wall today. It isn't really anything like this prom dress looking at it now, the American dress has rather a flat skirt compared to this, but it was certainly a big inspiration.

The design has taken five years to develop to what it is now, I remember the first dresses were a really stiff tulle all over and with nowhere near enough layers. They were built onto bought bodices to begin with but now we make the entire under dress and corset as the base in silk and then the layers of tulle and skirts are hand draped and stitched in place, carefully shaping the waist and hips.

It will always be one of my favourites, I just wonder how it will develop further into new designs over the next ten years, maybe it's just right how it is now?

Customer pics and wonky blog

2012-01-15T11:01:00.001Z

Here are the customer pictures again. The basic issue at the moment is that I thought it would be a great idea to get an iPad so that I could post more regularly, get away from the clutches of the computer and focus more on designing everyday.

My first post sent the whole blog wonky so this is the second try today.
The beautiful Mel in Australia first of all in her pink silk cocktail dress for a trip to New York and secondly our organic cotton asymmetric summer dress in sea foam green chosen by Mel. She looks super gorgeous, just how we like our dresses to look!

Next up is Ditte in her silk tartan cocktail skirt. We adapted the silk tartan princess dress down to a skirt with a fitted high waist and full nets underneath in black. I love Ditte's cropped black sweater with this and sometimes a dress in two parts can be better than one, you get to wear each part more!
Hopefully this post won't set everything skewif again.

A Very Late New Year

2012-01-12T13:13:00.000Z

Giffords circus 2011

Wow I really am behind already this year, blogging wise that is! We started 2012 with three deadlines in the first week and a crazy amount of emails. To top this my Christmas week off left me feeling so relaxed that getting motivated again was pretty hard. I became too accustomed to eating hourly and watching Mad Men!

So talking of 2012 what do we have planned? January and February is solidly booked with meeting you lovely people for appointments about wedding dresses and bridesmaids attire. I love bridesmaids, each wedding is a new capsule collection.
An old friend is getting wed in feb too for which I am bridesmaid (i may learn some bridesmaiding skills!) and I've been given free reign on the dresses too! My friend has very thoughtfully chosen black which is always a winner with a bridesmaid!

We have our first workshops at Millie Moon in Wells on the 22nd January and the 19th February click here to book you place. By the end of your workshop you will have a rock roll underskirt to make fabulous all of your full skirts and by the end of the second workshop you'll have a gorgeous full summer skirt in your choice of Millie Moon prints!

I'm taking two hours a week to learn the elegant art of burlesque with Pink Kitten. Providing I don't keep wobbling when I should be doing my sultry walks, (or giggling) this will be a long term weekly treat. It's a great excuse to make dresses for myself and wear them too.

A new bridal collection for 2012 is on it's way and we will be at two 'vintage' wedding fairs (this word is becoming more and more dead as i say it) in Bristol on the 26th Feb and the 11th March. It will be great if you can come along and say hello, there should be some gorgeous vintage (used as the genuine term) dresses about to drool over along with our dresses, twinkling accessories and you can book your hair styled by the amazing Fiona from beehive brides, none of which you need to be a bride for!
These will probably be the only wedding fairs we do this year as however much we love meeting all the lovely ladies and businesses we have way too much work to be getting on with here at the studio.

Spring is fast approaching with another collect ready to wear womenswear collection in the sketchbook. Gypsies, circus folk and pop princesses are a little hint of what's to come.

So for now are order books are quickly filling up for the year and we have one very exciting year ahead filled with dresses galore quite literally!

Off to finish a wedding dress now! Don't think I should have time off again, not that I will until November anyhow xxx

Looking back at 2011 ...

2011-12-31T15:07:00.001Z

I said to myself at the beginning of 2011: if I don't make a go of this by Christmas, I will go out and get a 'proper' job and give up this idea of being a designer running my own label. Things were getting tough and I hadn't really worked out what I was doing clearly, along with taking some business advice that meant changing the plan a quite dramatically.

This last year has been the one to define what we do (there's still quite a bit to go).

I'm just like most of my lovely customers when choosing a dress, I wanted to do everything, and design every dress imaginable, but after this year I am beginning to get a sense of myself and my brand to start working on fully next year. It's very exciting!

It's definitely been a roller coaster (I'm going to try and not be one of those people who talk in metaphors when it comes to business!) emotionally and accounts wise. There were scarily quiet times and then crazy busy times which I suppose are all part of running your own business. The skill is going to be in planning for this and making sure everything runs smoothly throughout each of these times.

There were a few tears, and many many smiles, my obsession with seams and old techniques really did pay off along with wanting to make each dress individually and with the best hand crafted techniques possible.

Katie's dress has to be my dress of the year, it is the defining dress of my career so far and the dress that will always mark a point where I decided that using the best techniques will always be what my dresses are about, no cutting corners to cut prices. I was the dress that made me really beleive in what I was doing.

Anna encouraged me to take part in our first wedding fair which I had been strictly against, but I was proved wrong and it was a wonderful success and so much fun. We me so many lovely people.

I launched my first bridal collection, was on the radio and opened a boutique on Asos. We made some fabulous prom dresses for gorgeous girls and made two ready to wear collections that I will find hard to say goodbye too. I even braved the camera and in doing so learnt much more about how I want the dresses to feel and fit.

The Astor Dress from 2011 Bridal.

We have had the most wonderful brides and customers this year, each has worked with me to produce individual dresses that I have been so happy with!

We worked on dresses for women all around the world and here at home, for their weddings and events. We met the wonderful Millie Moon and made the pink elephant dress and even made a dress for the fabulous RocknRoll Bride.

The prom dress became perfected, we made some amazing on off dresses and I even taught you how to make your own underskirts on RocknRoll bride.

It's been a really wonderful year and I can't wait to start back on Monday working on the new bridal collection, on Valentines brides dresses and meeting lots of lovely ladies January. Plus I have my first workshop at Millie Moon on the 22nd January in Wells.

HUGE thank you's to Anna for putting up with me crazy ramblings and making th dresses so perfect, Mum for all of the support and super hand sewing skills, Dad for drilling holes in my studio and for all the wise calming words and of course to Wing for helping me with the blog design, being so, so patient, for making me always try and look harder and for being the best husband ever, ever, ever!

AND of course to all you incredible customers with wonderful visions and all the lovely people we have met this year including the beautiful models, bloggers, photographers and amazing people out there who do amazing, excellent quality work! THANK YOU AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Providing I don't get hit by a bus, it's going to be a fantastic and very exciting new year ahead in 2012!

P.S. I have too many dresses to work on next year now so I can't go out and get a proper job, looks like designing and running my own label will have to be my job :) xxx

Sylvia in Green

2011-12-28T13:30:00.000Z

Underneath the hand draped neckline is a corseted bodice for support and a little hugging

trimmed with a removable scarlett red velvet bow

the back has a draped sash from the shoulders embellished with vintage brooches

all ready and waiting in it's box to be worn

Our 'Sylvia was Swept Away' in our favourite emerald green silk. It looks like quite a showstopper and is guaranteed to compliment your curves perfectly with it's integrated, boned bodice and cinched waist. We love it and the red red velvet bow we made to trim it with, just like a present!
To order your dress in this colour or any colour, just add a note when ordering x

Holiday Treat!

2011-12-27T16:23:00.000Z

We don't have sales on our dresses but we do have this special code that will give you 20% off our ready to wear collection on Etsy until the 2nd January, here we go! ..... HOLIDAY20 (simply type this in at the check out.)
Happy holidays, grab yourself something fabulous for the New Year xxx

Happy Christmas Everyone!

2011-12-25T00:30:00.000Z

Happy Christmas everyone, hope you all have a fabulous day whatever you are doing and whatever you are wearing! Love from Alexandra and Anna xxx

Friday Friends - Pink Kitten Burlesque

2011-12-23T00:31:00.000Z

Poppy Von Tarte performing the fan dance

Two weeks ago I plucked up the courage to go to my first burlesque 'Christmas Seduction' lesson with the pink kitten dance school. It sounds far more personal than it was and I had the best day ever!

It all started with a visit to the completely amazing Proud Cabaret Decades show in London on a trip to visit a good friend. It was the classic red smokey basement bar with beautiful ladies and gents dancing, singing and removing fabulous outfits from the 20s up to the 80s.
It was everything I love, the sequins, theatrics, music and costumes with a that fun pin-up sexiness. In the morning I decided I needed some ME time in the form of burlesque lessons. I could up my wifely skills, (I still associate the word 'wife' with kitchen sinks and needing a mistress, sorry I know I shouldn't) get to have more fabulous outfits and maybe even have some fun exercise.

Busby Berkeley chorus girls

Posting pictures on this blog doesn't mean I have any confidence, I mainly live in my little world in my studio, making dresses and occasionally dressing up in them. I'm usually too scared to even talk to the checkout lady in the supermarket let alone dance sexily around a room with other people.

I signed up with Pink Kitten dance school and after meeting Michaela (aka Poppy Von Tarte) and another girl like me at the empty venue bar in Bristol, we started the first lesson.
Poppy put us at ease straight way, we talked about why we were there and started with some warm ups. Back to ballet with toe pointing and fabulous cat stretching!
I of course got so excited about what I was wearing, turned up in stockings and button through dress ready to strip! Leggings and a skinny tee would have done the job, but killer heels are a must!

Penelope Cruz in Nine

I've always loved old musicals, ballet, Cabaret, Nine, Gypsy Rose Lee and the like, so immediately I was in the perfect place with the Moulin Rouge soundtrack playing. We learnt the red carpet showgirl stance (I will be making everyone stand like this in the future as you straight away transform into a starlet) complete with feather boa and long gloves for remvoving with your teeth.

Later arrived to more lovely students of Pink Kitten, everyone was so, so nice, not scary in any way just very welcoming and encouraging with lots of giggles and posing.

The classic Gil Elvgren Pin Up

Next came Prince (another favourite, I was in my 80's element!) and a lap dance which Poppy talked us through the history off beforehand and our views. The whole day was very positively feminist with certainly no promoting of the seedier side of striping which is aimed mainly at certain types of men. Itwas an real education on theatre, old choreography and even a little acting too!
The lap dance was a brilliant routine, teasing a stool to Prince's Kiss, totally camp and fabulous with power strutting.
The whole day I kept imagining all the various outfits. The rhinestone covered burlesque corsets and giant fans, an 80's tropical pink, high leg bikini with big volumised perm and the cutest Santa dress in red velvet with a fur trim and hooded cape.

Santa Baby Routine

And finally we learnt an Ertha Kitt, Santa Baby routine which I still keep practising as it was incredible pin-up style fun. These ladies are so welcoming that I was even invited to join in the with Christmas cabaret. I wanted to do this so much, but dress orders had to come first and as you can tell from my ramblings I could get very swept away with this!

I really do have to recommend this to everyone, Pink Kitten do boylesque too!
Especially if you need a little confidence boost (which I did) and it doesn't matter your age, your size, whether you are single or attached. I left feeling like a million dollars on cloud nine and it was just for me and about how I feel about myself. I know some people said how brave I was to do it, I reckon Zumba or the gym is way scarier.
A pink kitten lesson is more like going to a place where you dance to super fantastic girly music, end up loving your body (especially it's flaws), feel super sexy and meet lovely people who like the same things as you. And you get a good work out, AND you get amazing outfits instead of nasty sportswear, Poppy taught us in a polka dot, fifties rocknroll dress. Not many fitness classes will do this.

The fabulous Gypsy Rose Lee,

So I have found an excercise that I love, it's everything I love in fact all in one gorgeous burlesque class with Pink Kitten.
If you haven't treated yourself this Christmas you can do so with a Pink Kitten class if you're in the Southwest or any other burlesque class in your area. Go make yourself feel like a film star, you'll never feel frumpy ever again! xxx

Dressember Wedding Dresses

2011-12-21T23:22:00.000Z

This picture was just after the ceremony, I couldn't wait to get this dress off however beautiful as I hate having trappings around my legs. The main reason I make such a fuss with brides being able to walk and dance in their trains!

Our first dance, Wing did amazingly well to brave this in front of people. The band 'Shoot the Moon' played such a gorgeous song for us. Completely unplanned.

Wings poster that we used as the invite for our wedding.

The dress now, the champagne tulle, and crazy amounts of pearl sequins and feathers. Everything I loved in one dress!

My hat was an 80's Kangol/ 40's style beret hat that I beaded the weeks up to the wedding.

My cocktail dress for the evening, candy stripes and ribbons, the very first version of our prom dress which is now perfected. This was quite a rough sample, too many drinks spills and tears in this to show it fully, we all camped in the field the night of the wedding and I slept in my dress !

This was the dress I wore to the registry office the day before, complete with leopard print heels and a black pill box hat. I still love the shape and the drapes have added tulle for structuring. Made from a beautiful Sari sent over from our family friends in Singapore.

We were married on the 7th and 8th September 2007. It's amazing what can happen in four years and how much we can learn. The seams inside these dresses would have never passed the test of our dresses now but it's really wonderful to see how in this short space of time my designs and our spec has developed. I remember being in a crazy rush making these as I wanted to make not one but three dresses for my wedding, whilst working full time! There are pictures of me and my friend Morgan sewing the dresses, along with the bridesmaids dresses I chose to make too, the morning of the wedding!

Wing (my husband) illustrated the invitation poster and we found bands on myspace (again amazing how things change in four years!) to play in the field that the day was held in.
Everything was quite low key on one hand, nothing too formal and it was really designed to be a fun day for friends and family. No stresses, on the day all the little mishaps went straight over my head, we had a very simple hog roast, guests bought puddings and we filled a bathtub with drinks for everyone to help themselves. If I could do it again I would, as it was an awesome day but I think I would save Wing all the worries and make it a party with a very private ceremony just for us. My dresses would be vastly improved too!

Dresses: Alexandra King
Shoes: Topshop
Venue: A Marquee at Badgworth Farm, Somerset
Flowers: sweet peas grown by my Mum
Music: Shoot the Moon, The Skabucks (a very young band), A Jazz Band in the Afternoon
Catering: Pasture to Plate
Photography: Charlie Deane

yes we had plastic garden chairs and we had a really amazing day and the last thing I noticed or cared about was the chairs!

My wonderful brides people! Morgan wore his own collection knitwear, Vivienne Westwood boots and lots of old foxes, Sara's dress was embellished by me with lots of sequins and Sooz's dress was adapted from an original 1950s cocktail dress. The all looked amazing ! (sorry about the tight corseting Sara, I owe you in February!)

Dressember Wedding Dress Wednesday

2011-12-21T22:25:00.001Z

It's been a long time coming but at last as a Christmas treat we are revealing our own wedding snaps and dresses!

Anna was wed first on the 10th September after we graduated at the beautiful Shapwick House six years ago. I remember the search for the dress, finding it and then pinning it down, the planning, ideas and all of the stunning flowers Anna picked as she was also working part time as a florist whilst we were studying.

Gerbera's trimmed the cake and Anna used orchids and bright pink Gerbera's in the bouquet. Her dress was a gorgeous find in Monsoon and was completely perfect, tea length in silk chiffon with a clean lined shoulder length veil that matched Anna's hair length. This is a great way to wear a veil working with the right proportions when you have long hair and me thinks it is already making a come back.
The shoes were pearlised pink leather from Hobbs and attached to the bouquet was the classic lucky horseshoe in silver.
Anna and me discuss bridesmaids very often and I always refer back to Anna's decision to give her bridesmaids the choice of thier own dresses which in our opinion is always best. The colour pink was set along with the length and the rest was up to them. They looked stunning and happy all day long!

I love how even though this was only six years ago the images have a grain to them that remind me of a (recent) time that already feels so lovely, timeless and nostalgic, everyone looks so young and happy!

Dress: Monsoon
Shoes: Hobbs
Flowers: Mundy's Street
Venue: Shapwick House Hotel

Dressember spots and stripes

2011-12-20T17:02:00.001Z

Dressember Spots and Stripes in our organza striped party dress, polka dot tulle caplet and my favourite leopard spot heels from Topshop. (They're pony skin with suede heels!) and my new tortoiseshell spot glasses from Dead Men's Spex.

I've also half put my Christmas tree up in my studio, it's ten years old and has been replaced by a chubby fat real tree in the house :( feeling quite festive but very, very busy at the moment.
Only three and half days until holiday time and I want to make sure all your dresses due in January are ready for the new year ..........

We're in the Times!

2011-12-19T19:27:00.000Z

Well, our tie dye dress is in a photograph in the Times Newspaper worn by our beautiful bride to be Caroline West and photographed by the amazingly talented Sassy from Assassynation. It's in the Marriages and Engagements section, how brilliantly 'society'!

Gold Sequins and Waving

2011-12-14T20:25:00.000Z

OK, I'm really sorry for the lack of posts, this week has been a little mad on the dress front, Christmas time requires cocktail dresses. This is supposed to be our quiet time too!
Saturday was sparkly dress day for Dressember and I draped this completely fabulous gold sequined fabric, I can't wait to make it up properly! I also did something very, very exciting for some me time this week too, will tell all on Friday.....

Blue silk tartan cocktail dress.

Today I worked on another wedding dress for next year, it's looking quite stunning and hopefully I will get a chance to to work on the next bridal collection very soon too. It was wave in a dress day today so I popped on our blue silk tartan dress and waved!
The belt was a brilliant find in H&M yesterday whilst manically trying to find Christmas presents for children in my family. I realised I am quite mean when it comes to children's gifts and just kept thinking, "I could give them NOTHING and have lovely shoes for me instead". How cruel.
Off the write Christmas cards now, I have bought some gorgeous rocking horse ones from knots and kisses here.

Friday Friends and News

2011-12-09T17:44:00.001Z

Firstly a huge massive Friday group of friends all wearing dresses every day for Dressember and action for children.
One of the lovely ladies, Lisa turned my drawings from last year into these badges that are for sale on her website with £1 from every pack going to Action for Children. Or you can donate at the Dressembers just giving page. It's not too late to start wearing dresses either!

We said goodbye to one of our wonderfully festive Mackintosh red tartan silk cocktail dresses this week, of course going all the way up to Scotland for a Hogmanay New Years Eve. It's certainly going to be the most fabulous dress of the night!

You can wear with a the skirt big .....

...Or a little smaller x

Here is my dressember dress of the day, the classic little black organic cotton dress complete with all 6 badges. I am really loving these at the moment and have decided they are the best most versatile dress in my wardrobe. Sparkles are coming tomorrow too!!!!

And finally we are very pleased to announce that we will be at the Bristol vintage wedding fair at the Zoo in February. It will be the day before Anna's birthday so come and say 'Happy Birthday' we will be in an especially joyful mood to show and tell our dresses, even if you're not getting married!
Hope we don't bother the lions and hippos too much with our fun ans frolics at the fair?!

Have a great Friday night all xxx

New Customer Photo!

2011-12-07T19:02:00.001Z

I love, love, love receiving customer photos in the post and seeing how gorgeous they look in our dresses!
This is the stunning Toni in her little black silk cocktail dress, the original Betty.
Obviously the bride looks wonderful but I am blown away by how chic and elegant Toni looks in the dress I made. The cut away shoulders look great, the nipped in waist and the casual (yes I'm cool and pretty) pockets balance it perfectly. Love this so much I need to make one for myself! Sorry, I'm quite excited as this is just how I like my dresses to look!
Huge thank you to Toni xxx

Dressember Day 7

2011-12-07T16:08:00.001Z

Dressember day 7 : The task: To Twirl in a Dress.
So I span about this morning, pretending to do ballet pirouettes until I got very dizzy and felt very very sick. The good thing to know was that my full circles skirts do a great twirl and teamed with the underskirts, look amazing!
Today's dress was our pink and lace lace tie dyed party dress. xxx

A Dress for RocknRoll Bride

2011-12-06T15:25:00.001Z

Today the dress I made for Kat at RocknRoll Bride arrived and I discovered something amazing that was right in front of me!

Betty's Good Tee Dress in Orgain Fair Trade Cotton

Being mainly an online business I find many ways to promote my work via twitter, facebook and my blog. I have found some really cool people out there with similar businesses, ideas and styles that are great to talk to and network work with. I am also really lucky to have a few local people (which is rare out in the countryside) that I can chat with about my work and their work.
What I didn't think of was how twitter could let me give really great interactive customer service.
I do a huge amount of communicating via email but just imagine being there when you open the box and try your dress on!

So when your order something and post on twitter, not only do you tell everyone else but the business who you purchased from can also be involved with your reactions and response to the product.

OK I know what you're thinking, WOAH THERE MR SUIT this is a blog about Alexandra King's pretty dresses not how to exploit customers!
For teeny tiny businesses like mine, how a customer feels about a dress I have sewn by hand is really important to me, I want then to love it as much as I do and understand that what they are buying is really special.

Today for the first time I could follow my customer (Kat) as her dress arrived and she tried it on.
This is great for me because
a) it's as close as I can get to a fitting from a distance, I can guide the customer how to put on the dress and hear how it fits etc.
and
b) it's like someone standing in the door of a shop and shouting to everyone on the street how they feel about my dress.
This could obviously go the wrong way too, if the customer isn't happy and not everyone wants to share everything on twitter, but it sure ups the customer service. It's silly that I hadn't thought of this before!

So ladies, if you order a dress and you are on twitter I would love for you to tweet or message me when your dress arrives and when you have tried it on. It means I can be there to answer any questions straight away. Or give me an old fashioned phone call! Follow me on twitter @makemeadress.

Today I learnt just how amazing hearing from customers in real time can be. (And I eventually photographed the ivory underskirt, so pretty!)

Dressember Day 5

2011-12-06T09:52:00.001Z

Here is my Dressember dress day 5 leopard print dress. I tried one of my corsets on underneath this and I was quite pleased with the results, after all the lacing and pulling I had a flat looking tummy area and rather a perky bust. I will definitely be wearing one more often and they feel really comfortable in the lovely silk.

I am also very very excited to announce that I have found more of the amazing leopard spot so it can now be made to order too! Yippee!

Anna came up trumps on day 4 and made a fabulous rock n roll dress for one of her private customers, wonderfully festive too in red music note print with it's cute sweetheart!

Dressember Day 4

2011-12-05T15:28:00.001Z

Dressember day four, a pink organic cotton dress and one of Anna's adorable pinafore toddler dresses in blue florals. Two dresses in one day!

Dressember Day 3

2011-12-04T11:20:00.001Z

So yesterday we both went out and about to take pictures of our dressember dresses. I went for my favourite black organic cotton dress on a trip to Bridport (they have amazing backgrounds and vintage shops in this town!)
And Anna took Scrumps up to Glastonbury Tor in her dress which has made a fabulous shot!
"Here's day 3 too, we walked up Glastonbury Tor this morning, a rather windy pic wearing a green jumper dress - too cold to take off coat completely, the scarf was from Egypt"
Happy Dressember day three x

Dressember Day 2 with Anna

2011-12-04T11:07:00.001Z

Here is Anna's Dressember day 2 shot, The amazing canvas in the background is hand woven silk Anna bought back from Sri Lanka.

It is completely my fault that I am posting this late being away from the studio left my slightly disorganised!

"Dressember day 2 - Cheers (well it was Friday night) Another black dress, this time in jersey with sheer silk top, a Monsoon bargain.... The sash comes from the dress I made for Em's wedding and the watch on silver chain was my Nan's.
Going to try some action shots this weekend xx" Cheers right back to you!x

Dressember Day 2

2011-12-02T17:22:00.001Z

Today's dress was a dress I have been dying to try on for ages, I love this colour so much! Silk taffeta with a perfect Christmas present like charm, full skirts and steel grey bow.
I did actually wear a black knitted dress today also, I didn't think the optician would appreciate this pink dress quite enough :)

Silk taffeta cocktail party dress.

Things have been very busy in the studio this week so I haven't managed to find a Friday friend :( I am looking for more though so if you have any recommendations for lovely people doing exciting creative things just let me know. I have a few people in the pipeline ready to shout about soon too.

Annas Dressember Dress!

2011-12-01T18:58:00.001Z

After a few technical difficulties Anna's first dressember dress has arrived, styled with a gorgeous silk scarf which looks great aginst the black. This is what Anna said ........
"Here's my first dressember pic - this is my 'old faithful' work dress, I love the shape of it, i'm thinking I would like to make a dress like this in blue silk"

Check out Annas lovely new Osprey handbag too, I'm very jealous!

Dressember!!!

2011-12-01T11:20:00.001Z

We took part in Dressember last year but being a little shy I drew pictures of a dress each day instead of wearing one in the photos.
Now we're far braver and very happy to show off our dresses, in fact we are so excited about Dressember we are will be filling the month with extra special dress features, our favourites from the year and you may even get a peek at our wedding dresses too!

Here are all the drawings together from last year in a Dressember advent calender.

The whole point is just to wear a dress every day, boost your femininity and raise a little cash for charity. This years Charity is Action for Children and you can view the just giving page HERE

Take part and join the facebook page and follow on twitter with #dressember
Blythe Hill has a roster of all the blogs taking part too so you can have a further look at what everyone is doing. It's no restricted to ladies either, anyone can wear a dress!

Oh and ...... you can buy badges with my scribblings on from another lady taking part in Dressember HERE

Our toile de jour cotton dress

Here is me (alexandra) in a dress today! I will do my work dress and a party dress each day me thinks, the party dresses are more fun to dress up in!
Anna's dress is coming up later on so keep a look out xxx

Mini Dresses

2011-11-30T13:14:00.001Z

Blue paisley pinafore with polakdot trimming from Millie Moon.

Anna has been working away on these completely adorable and super super cute little girls pinafore dresses.
We often get asked to make mini versions of the bridesmaids dress for flower girls and they always look so wonderful in the photos. Anna has two styles, the traditional full skirt with ruffle sleeves and the pinafore dresses which a great for little ones to run around it and look brilliant with t shirts underneath and cardigans.
All are fully washable and generously sized which we hear is a good thing for tiny growing ladies.

We would love to hear you thoughts, requests and concerns you have when looking for childrenswear as we don't have our own to make for yet. I just like to see them in bright colours!

Denim Pinafore with floral patch pockets

Coral Satin and Peal Pinafore

Blue 1960s Floral Print Pinafore

Silk satin and chiffon flower girl dress.

Debutant Debby on Horseback

2011-11-28T19:06:00.001Z

This incredible photograph arrived in my inbox today and all I can say is WOW!!!! My tulle prom dress looks rather splendid up there modelled by the beautiful Bella and this has to be my favourite image of one of my dresses so far.
I really wish all of the dresses could be worn on horseback or in adventurous places, they are to be enjoyed and played in, not to be too precious about :) Go have fun in your gowns, please!

Friday Friend - The North Pom

2011-11-25T14:31:00.001Z

The Beautiful North Pom

'THE' corded lace dress

The Sylvia black lace wiggle dress with poms

Now, I haven't actually met this lady in person but not only do her poms come recommended by me but other people too so I thinks that's confirmation enough.
We are both working on a wedding later next year which is how I have been introduced to this wondrous lady of the North making her beautiful poms.

Her service is excellent, beautifully wrapped packages in brown paper arrive in the post and then after half an hour of construction (this part is very much fun and you feel like you have achieved something spectacular in that half hour) you have the fantastic paper poms to hang. They look awesome in the studio against our purple wall, look great with the dress and the pom like hair too!
We love The North Pom, go and check out her wares here.

River Cottage Tweet Up

2011-11-24T15:00:00.001Z

Anna and me in the actual River cottage kitchen!!!!

Last night we were treated to a fabulous tweet up at The River Cottage near Axminster hosted by the wonderful Marry Me Somerset ladies.

When you work on your own these networking events can be a bit scary, luckily I had Anna with me to stop me talking too much nonsense and my ever wonderful Mum (it's only fair that she gets to come along after so much backing).
Everyone was so lovely, and this way of networking (meeting people face to face) is really important. It's great to know who else is about, what they do and then you can recommend people genuinely. People in the same industry are a wealth of tips and ideas and no one is ever mean, not to your face anyway. I always think people will say they hate me and my dresses or something awful or point and laugh in a nightmarish way, they really didn't though, honestly! Everyone just wants to share what they do.

The River Cottage dining table!

We had a tractor ride down to the farm which is stunning and the most gorgeous elderflower fizz on arrival.
There were so many interesting people there, a reformed pap using his skills to take stunning photographs, the sweetest florist who you would definitely love working with, Elenor Yeo and the amazing candle maker (we will all want one of these) from Cobweb Designs .

It was great to eventually meet the lovely blooming Boho Bride in person and the delightful Lucy Shergold (this lady really knows how to photograph a dress!)
I even bumped into a close friends wedding stylist which was quite a shock and a giggle! The little wedding helper.

The real highlight of the evening was talking to Sassi Holford, I actually said the words 'sorry I'm just a little star struck right now' to her. What an idiot I am! Sassi was so lovely, gave us some amazing advice and is truly a massive inspiration. One Day .........

The evening ended with a lovely chat with Sabine from G Lily floral design. This is why networking is so good sometimes, you get to meet people in person that motivate you and inspire you to move forward which is worth a million tweets, adverts and facebook posts!

a blurry tractor ride back, sorry my camera really didn't like the ambient lighting :(

One more for the tractor ride home, a wonderful lady selling great cider in her portable Cider Shed.
I think that's enough name dropping for one day or year! x

New party dresses!

2011-11-22T19:42:00.001Z

We had a day of shooting the new party dresses in leopard, lace and afabulous vintage red print yesterday. The super gorgeous Kimberly Louise Hillmodelled for us and looked fabulous in each of our dresses, she alsobought along an awesome shoe selection.

I love the length of our longest lace cocktail dress, it reminds me of early Twenties full skirted evening dresses with the full bell skirt to the calf and the scalloped lace hem.
This is the new corded lace which is beautiful and a great weight similar to the old corded lace. Laid over the charcoal grey it looks stunning in the off, faded black tone. This will be in the boutique soon available made to order to your size.

Lovely fabulous leopard print. This is one of my little obsessions, along with crepe and lace that I keep searching for. The perfect leopard print, I found it in this bengaline fabric but now can't source any more which is always the case when I hoard fabrics for years.
This little leopard lady is a one off. The shoes were my wedding shoes in pony skin leopard!

Kim wore a vintage style Osprey silk cravat in her hair which gave someadded colour pop to the little red border dress, she looks like a J HLynch painting here, gorgeously kitsch and you can imagine her dancingin a jazz club in Harlem or in West Side Story. This fabric was anAmerican Etsy find with a bold red and navy screen printed hem. Wish Ihad some more!

This one will be available made to order, a soft heavy lace draped over a ballet pink taffeta. The bodice as a 'sqeeze me tight fit' and sits just on the tips of the shoulder. Perfect with a sweep in red lipstick and killer Mary Janes.

'THE' black lace I have be coveting and the one I have been inundated with emails about. I had just enough of this lace to make two dresses and this is one of them which is a one of a kind and has a sheer lace Edwardian influenced panel in the centre.

These dresses will be coming up very soon to the boutique and a couple will also be available made to order. As always the vintage prints are one of a kind so keep your eyes peeled!

Model: Kimberley Lousie Hill
Hair and Make Up: Kimberley Louise Hill
Photography : Alexandra King and Anna Vickery

Shoes: Topshop and Models Own
Dresses: Alexandra King

Friday Friends at the Vintage Wedding Fair

2011-11-17T19:37:00.001Z

Our Friday Friends that we met at the vintage wedding fair this year in Bath. It's great when you get to meet people in real life and I can highly recommend these lovely people with amazing skills .......

Image and design by Nanny K

Nanny K Millinery - makes fabulous hats and hair accessories. Outside the venue a box of these lovelies was accidentally dropped and out fell these beautiful silk flowers and crystal hairbands, all beautifully hand made and stunning. He website is awesome too, choose from being a vintage belle or a Cheery Clad Chick. I think I would like to be both!

Image by Debs Ivelja

Debs Ivelja Photography -

this is the kind of photography that makes you weep a little, the images are so beautiful capturing all the emotion and style into a stunning story of your day. Regularly featured on the best wedding blogs and such a lovely lady that you would be happy to spend the whole day with. Anna and I were quite speechless when looking through Deb's portfolio books at the fair.

Vintage Wedding Fair and Discover Vintage -

Keely the lady behind the vintage fairs and the Vintage Emporium in York, is an incredible knowledge and a go to woman for advice on early 20th century fashion, bridal and design history. The pieces she bought to the fair were magnificently curated from the finest textiles and clothing. She really knows what she is talking about when it comes to historical fashion and has recently written a wonderful article in the Vintage Explorer on wedding dresses.

Photography by Chrome Occasions. Cadillac 1959

Chrome Occasions -

The Cadillac people with the most fantastic 1959 white model to hire for transport. To my surprise this Cadillac and its two gorgeous owners are just five minutes away from me. They are a fantastic couple, really cool looking and WOWSERS on their car. Shipped from the US it is 'so cool' in pure True Romance style.

My silhouette by the Roving Artist

The Roving Artist -

this man is amazing. simple as that. his stand was simple, I though too simple but when I saw what he could do words cannot express my amazement. This is the most talented man with super hero like silhouette cutting skills. I love my silhouette, pride of place in the lounge and Wing is still trying to figure out how it can be possible.

Hair and make-up by Beehive Brides photography by Matthew Wiseman

Beehive brides -

I met Fiona firstly at Katie's wedding, you know the one I go on about so much! She's worked on films and from being at Kattie's wedding I can vouch 100% that her incredible hair and make-up stays suitably film star like all day long, even with wibbley bridesmaids and swing dancing. Again she's a lovely lady you can put all your trust in. Katie would recommend too.

Hair and make-up by Beehive Brides, photography by Matthew Wiseman

There were more wonderful people at the fair but I didn't get a chance to talk to everyone, it's always so lovely to meet other people interested in the same things. It's also very important to go out and talk to others as running your own business can sometime get quite insular especially if like me you run mainly online.
I'm hoping to offer a little more advice as time goes on about working from home, running an online business, designing etc and I will also be getting out more so I can meet people and then tell you about how wonderful they are. That's only if they are wonderful though!

Do you know of any wonderous, independent creative people I should know about right now?

The end of vintage, really?

2011-11-16T17:08:00.001Z

So I read the post on the vintage wedding style being over and the overdone vintage styling on the Huffington Post yesterday. You can read it here.

I partially agreed about the vintage thing and partially thought it was a big old load of nonsense mainly about the return to formal wedding with rules. I then really needed to ramble so bare with me here.

Thankfully with wedding bloggers like Rock n Roll bride the rules are breaking, you can get married for as little as £200 at the registry office and have a picnic after with two friends (you really can!) or you can go all out. There are no rules!

Here's my two cents worth on 'vintage' style and weddings pressures...............

So what does 'vintage' actually mean?

in terms of clothing it covers anything over 20 years old. The dictionary defines it as 'representing the high quality of a past time' and I think it's time to be more specific and concentrate on this term quality.

To me vintage has become an empty word that kind of means nothing and 'vintage style' is just anything that looks old ish but is new. So yes Harmony is very right it has been over-used and some people who jumped on the vintage bandwagon despise the idea of anything old!

But, this love of historical fashions and things will never end, it's like saying antique collecting will end, museums will end, history lessons will end. We like to look back to the past, with clothing as in all design there are techniques that have changed with industry and it is important to learn from this.

Then you have the personal level, a 1930s wedding dress has a story, a romance and some of us actually get excited by that musty smell! This silk satin dress hanging on my wall is an original 1940s evening gown, I found it in a skip. That doesn't bother me, it's beautiful.

the stunning Forties dress I found in the skip

On the opposite level there is some absolute rubbish masquerading as 'vintage' or vintage style. So yes it may be time to step away from that word, let the genuine dealers become more respected for their knowledge and carefully curated collections and let all the 'nonsense' disappear over time.

What do I know about vintage clothing?

I know quite a lot really (not to blow my own trumpet here) . I'm very passionate about Vintage (representing the high quality of the past) clothing.

I have a BA Hons degree in fashion and textile design, a 2.1 and the majority of this was spend studying 'old' clothing.

It funded my way through Uni selling this 'old clothing' and I then ran my own vintage clothing business online.

I worked for the rag man in Bristol sourcing vintage clothing from a whole factory full of discarded textiles the charity shops couldn't sell. I got to the point when I could tell the age just by finger tip rummaging through bins of clothing.

I then worked in a consultancy role for one of the major Bristol Charities, advising for their online shop and on how to make the most from their 'old stuff'.

I did talks on Vintage clothing and eventually I saw it slowly run out. It was all hopefully in the right place, boutiques, peoples homes, being appreciated more.

I still collect and have study sessions at the fashion museum updating my knowledge and understanding.

Isn't what I do 'vintage style'?

Well yes and I this article made me think a lot about what I do. I need to be more specific. My designs are inspired by dresses of the late 1940s to the early 1960s. It's the techniques and quality that mainly inspires me, the fact that during this era dresses were made with craftsmanship, couture wasn't loosing brands money and having a dressmaker was quite normal. Factory made clothing wasn't here yet so finishing was more hand made. I love this quality and want to bring this to my dresses. I'm not just designing and making with the style because it's fashionable, it's what I love.

I'm guessing that these 'vintage' photographers, don't learn to use an Rolleiflex properly just because it's on trend, nor do they shoot beautiful, personal images, it happens to be their style.

the details and fabrics that are so important

How important is trend to a wedding?

It's not or at least it shouldn't be to the bride and groom, it needs to personal to their style whatever it may be.

This sounds really, really silly but Sex and the City the movie did actually have quite an intelligent message when it came to weddings. It's easy for it to be all about the bride and the wedding styling instead of the couple. Big didn't turn up when it got out of control and the city hall wedding at the end was so romantic and most importantly meaningful to the couple. Still in a gorgeous dress too!

My friend just said to me 'do us modern girls really need weddings?' I'll leave this one to you.

Pretty Birdie Dress

2011-11-15T12:00:00.000Z

Horrockses inspirations

Birdie Print fifties inspired party dress with the super cute multi-coloured birds popping out of the grey background.

I'm working on a few novelty print dresses at the moment with fabrics from my favourite and best local fabric supplier Millie Moon. Every time I visit the shop I fall in love with yet another print! Have a look at our pink elephant print here, i just love this design.

The novelty print dress was a staple of the summer wardrobe and hostess warddrobe from the late forties through to the early sixties with the ready to wear label Horrockses at the forefront of these fashions. you can just imagine all those 1950s wives in the prints all together discussing suburban life Mad Men style!
I have my original 1950s Horrockses dress hung on my studio wall, it's made in a gorgeous cotton with green and pink roses in stripes and a fabulous full skirt. Horrockses employed artists Graham Sutherland, Eduardo Paolozzi and Pat Albeck to design their striking patterns which ranged from lobsters, florals, fruit and veg anything that could be turned into a pattern that would turn heads.
There is a brilliant book all about Horrockses fashions published by the V&A for further reading on the brand.

It's Horrockses that has inspired my novelty print dresses, my fabrics picked from rummaging in vintage shops, charity shop curtains and the wonderful Michael Miller prints, the soft cotton makes them very easy to wear and feel amazing with the full swishing skirts around you.
I'm now searching for lobster print cotton to make a lobster dress paying homage to the great Schaiparelli and Horrockses.

I'd love to hear about your Horrockses or any vintage novelty print dresses. What's your favourite print and have you found anything really unusual?

tie dye

2011-11-14T16:56:00.001Z

So the tie dress is back and whatdaya know, tie dying is quite difficult! I seriously thought it was just hippies in the Seventies splashing about in a trippy, creative way which created these messy old patterns that looked especially cool under lace. I didn't think it would be too great an idea to try dying under the influence ........

Insensibly we (myself and my Mum) didn't wear gloves as the first intention was to tie the cotton and splash over the dye, but then you just can't help getting your hands into the dye whilst turning the fabric. The first attempt turned out good, after we dyed it, washed it, lost the pattern, bleached it, washed it again, dyed it again, and on and on until eventually we had something cool.

The organic fair trade cotton we use is a really great weight and the pink under the lace looks gorgeous for parties complete with the full twirling skirt. Style it how you like with chunky knits or nets.

To conclude, It's hard work tie dyeing, real hippies weren't lazy they were under appreciated skills men. Any tips on producing amazing tie dye?

Corsets are here, ready to hug those waists!

2011-11-11T17:41:00.001Z

As I've said before I was really lucky to be trained in corset making whilst at Uni and this is the first time in a while I have made them, but after Katie's wedding it has really inspired me to work on more.

They feel amazing to wear and as corset wearers will tell you, after you have trained your waist you will never go back, they feel so lady like! I wanted to do something different from the classic black corset and make these extra pretty with Liberty prints to start with. So I delved into my best fabric stash and pulled out my coveted Hera peacock print which has been saved from the last batch at Liberty's a few years ago. It works pretty well with the pink lining and was worth it!

The ditsy floral Tana lawn is adorable with its gorgeous Cadbury purple lining and the last one is a rich gold with festive scarlet red hand embroidery, traditional to Victorian era corsets. I added some sweethearts to the side panels for a little more spark.

I'm going to treat myself to one and try and train my waist trim, who's for joining me?
The corsets are available made to order and ready to wear, for more information visit the boutique.

Pink Elephant Dress at Millie Moon

2011-11-10T18:54:00.001Z

Millie Moon is this amazing fabric shop run by Rachel and Becki which has just opened in Wells. This is their second shop, the flagship is in Frome where they also have a sewing school and a massive following. This may seem like a major suck up to this shop, but for me when something it really good I like to shout about it and it really is genuinely brilliant.

Each time I have visited the shop, not only does my mind turn to mush over all the gorgeous fabrics, trimmings, sewing treats galore but I'm always so happy to see it packed full of people wanting to sew. I'm always at the back of a big queue which in this case is wonderful.
They stock very carefully selected and beautifully presented fabrics by Amy Butler, Liberty, Michael Miller (my favourite at the moment) and many more along with quilting supplies, gifts for sewing enthusiasts, great quality trimmings and little exciting sewing bit and bobs. And it's all wonderful quality.
Here is their website so you can buy online and feed your addiction!

This dress is one of the first dresses I have made from their fabric and it is a dream to sew, it has a slight stretch which is great when it comes to fit and a lovely medium weight which has just the right balance between drape and structure.
We chose a Pink Drunken Elephant print for the shop dress by Michael Miller, It reminds me a little of Dumbo and how can you resist pink elephants on the dark charcoal grey?

This design is another fifties inspired silhouette with a slight off the shoulder neckline, boned bodice and a fine pleated, very full skirt. Trimmed with satin piping and trim at the waist in olive green to match the juggling bottles.
This fabric has been very popular so we may be able to make just one more of this dress if anyone would like to order, it makes a fabulous party dress!

Even just looking on the website, I just can't help myself!!! They have a blog too here with lost of sewing inspirations and ideas. A huge thank you to Millie Moon just for being here in Somerset and inspiring designs. x

Vinnie's Fifties Sari Wedding Dress

2011-11-09T17:37:00.000Z

This is exactly what I like to see when receiving images from my brides! Twirling and smiling, just perfect!

Vinnie came to me earlier this year for her wedding gown and bought with her the most gorgeous wedding saris to have her dress made in. I had just got back from a trip to Singapore where I indulged in many stunning silk saris with the intention to make dresses from (they are still hoarded in my 'best' cupboard and will be coming out very soon!) and this was like a dream request come true.

Vinnie had a traditional Hindu wedding for the first part of her day in a bridal sari and then slipped on her version of our Christy dress for a gorgeous Mad Men Fifties style in the evening. Complete with antique gold Jimmy Choo's!

She looks so stunning, Congratulations to Vinnie!

Photos by Nic Serpell-Rand at free range weddings.

Tulle Capes

2011-11-08T21:35:00.001Z

We have some gorgeous capes back in stock, our cafe capes sold out very quickly and now we have these lovelies in soft ivory and an amazing polka dot lavender trimmed in velvet ribbons. They make a great cover up for brides and for cocktail dresses and look pretty cool with a vest and jeans too.
Peruse at your leisure in the shop x
I'm still loving our candy purple back ground!

New Dresses!

2011-11-07T14:18:00.000Z

I'm still super super excited about the Rock n Roll bride tutorial from Saturday and thank you to everyone for their lovely comments and tweets! I love hearing feedback from people!

Here we have two new dresses and a very misty morning which looks gorgeous and Wintery.

I love love love the print on the toile de jour dress which reclaimed from a vintage pair of curtains and we made the skirt super full and twirly which works perfectly with the cinched black silk waistband.
The second dress is a super chic fifties hourglass dress, it's going to work real good on curves and the black lace and green silk look amazing together. The silk draped belt is detachable to wear with or without the added drama.
Both available ready to wear and made to order in the shop! x

Rainbow Underskirt on RocknRoll Bride!

2011-11-05T09:54:00.000Z

I've shared a tutorial on how to make your own rocknroll rainbow underskirt on RocknRoll Bride today. Go check it out and learn some skills!
You may want a subtle one layer ruffle or you may go mad and have all six layers of colours/? If you have any questions please ask away, I always love to hear from you x

P.S if you really can't sew you can also buy them in the shop too :)

Em's Wedding Photos

2011-11-04T14:03:00.001Z

Emma has very kindly shared her photos with me of her wedding in August for which we made her tea length gown.. The wedding was held at Huntstile Organic Farm complete with chickens and goats and makes a gorgeous location.
The bouquet looks beautiful and bright against the ivory and the huge bow Emma requested looks fabulous in the photos. I just adore Emma's MASSIVE smile, it's the best advert I could imagine!
Here is the post about her dress with more images.

Photography by Graham Morgan
Location at Huntstile Organic Farm

Colour Popping Violet

2011-11-03T19:52:00.004Z

A sneak (but quite clear) peek at a new dress and the brand new background colour. The dove grey, however subtle and beautiful just felt a little dull and serious for me, it's a colour best suited to dresses.
This parma violet certainly brightens up the studio, it looks a little shocking next to wedding dresses, but hey ho. It makes the dress pop which is fantastic!
When I picked the colour I thought about it with leopard print a bit kitsch, late Fifties, rockabillyesque channeling the great Betsey Johnson. Hope you like our new look!?

Forties Pin Up Bridesmaids

2011-11-02T15:07:00.001Z

For the Thirties/Forties wedding we made matching crepe dresses in a wartime 'pin up' style. The bridesmaids looked fabulous complete with victory rolls and red killer heels!

The dress was cut on the bias in many panels over the bodice that were then piped with Liberty's pepper print in red, white and blue. The Thirties is all about the bias cut and fabulous panelling. The challenge was after creating this great pattern with the panels, how to finish the inside without adding a load of bulk? It was very fiddly but in the end the seams were bound with the seam allowance from the piping. It was quite incredible, wish I took a picture!
The neckline had more gathered pepper print and the dress was trimmed with matching covered buttons running down the back.
Bridesmaids dresses are always really great to work on as this is where the colour of the wedding can be used and they can be used to set the style of the day.

Green, organic and fair trade

2011-11-01T21:14:00.000Z

So the 'Betty sure was Good' dress, was brilliantly good and gorgeous along with the 'Betty's Good Tee' and 'Betty's Good Night' dresses made in an organic, fair trade cotton produced by Bishopston Trading company.

I now have 'Betty's good night' in sea foam green as requested by one of our lovely Australian customers. Isn't it great in this colour? I'm always happy to receive requests for bespoke colours. Send me an email or a colour swatch and i'll see if I can match it for you.

Katie and Her Forties Hollywood Dress - Part 4 The Wedding

2011-10-25T21:50:00.000+01:00

The beautiful Coombe Lodge, Blagdon.

Katie set the scene with family photos from the Forties, ration books and collected clocks.

The fabulous vintage bus to transport the guests

Stepping out of the car, film star style.

The Forties bridesmaids. We made the dresses in crepe and piped the panel cut bodice with Liberty print cotton.

look at the amazing Forties styled guests in the background!

This is my favourite picture, she looks like a film star from the silver screen!

We made the fabulous mother of the bride a dress too, she looked incredible and so elegant.

Katie and me in my hat by Janine Basil and leopard shawl forties style.

Katie's name settings. Each table was named after a WW11 plane too.

The beautiful flowers by Eden florists in Winscombe, Somerset. Katie's wedding favours were champagne glasses you kept after toasting the couple.

Katie had a wrist loop added to the train which kept the dress elegant whilst dancing. I hate it when dresses are hitched at the back. No need for it!

Tea was served in vintage tea cups!

The swing dance teachers entertaining all the guests with a demonstration before we aere all taught to swing dance!

Congratulations to Katie and Luke!

Here are the official photos from Katie's 1940's, wartime theme wedding which was full of Hollywood elegance. Katie worked really hard organizing everything for the day making sure it was just perfect. And Wow it really was perfect!

The day started with the fabulous old double-decker bus collecting the guests (all dressed in 1940s attire!) from the local hotel and transporting them to the beautiful Coombe Lodge in Blagdon which overlooks the lakes. This location was simply stunning.

Meanwhile I dressed Katie, and quickly got in the car to be ready for the ceremony which was held outside in the garden, it was such a beautiful day in late September.
Katie arrived in a wonderful vintage car in perfect silver screen style and after an anticipating pause, she walked around the corner towards her guests and the equally .
She took my breath away at this moment and I have never had to fight back the tears like it did just then, and I wasn't the only one. When you have put everything into a dress or a piece of work it becomes an emotional attachment and this really was quite overwhelming to see her look so beautiful in my dress.

After the gorgeous ceremony, the day proceeded with drinks, relaxing in the grounds of the house and then a wonderful dinner with toasts and thank yous. I even had a mention and a bouquet of beautiful flowers. Boy did I blush! The tables were decorated with tall vases of roses and pearls, the place names stamped with the crown that became the logo of Katie and Luke's wedding stationary. The wedding favours were champagne glasses that each guest kept after the toasting the couple. This was a great touch and the best wedding favours I have seen.
They also had postcards of thier own 1940s film poster printed for all the guests to write a message to the bride and groom.

The evenings entertainment was fantastic in the form of swing dance lessons and a swing band with a beautiful lead singer.

It really was a wonderful day and upon viewing Katie twirl around the room with the dance teacher I knew my work had been done.
I know this is a very mushy post but that's kind of how I feel about this dress, and the bridesmaids and the most fabulous mother of the bride you could dream of working with.

Dress, Bridesmaids and Mother of the Bride: Alexandra King (you know where I am)
Hair and make up : the amazing Beehive Brides, they do vintage hair and make up
Photography: Matthew Wiseman he did a wonderful job and he didn't get in the way one bit!
Flowers: Eden Florists, Winscombe, Somerset
Venue: Coombe Lodge, Blagdon

Katie and her Forties Hollywood Dress - Part 3 The Dress

2011-10-24T20:14:00.000+01:00

The dress awaiting its debut.

The back trimmed with a concealed zip and 36 matching covered buttons.

The bodice, the neckline is cut around the lace pattern and to make sure the bodice was symmetrical, one shoulder has an appliqued motif cut so that it matches. The lace at the waist and hips has also been cut and hand appliqued in place. The puff shoulders are structured with tulle ruffles inside.

The back of the skirt. The top layer was to sit separately from the under dress so that it moved freely, little tacks kept it from going adrift.

The lace applique over the back of the skirt to make the pattern.

A close up of the lace applique. Each motif had to be carefully hand cut from the border of the lace and hand stitched into the pattern.

Using the lace we made a cord and then looped this into the button loops to fasten the back.

The sleeves, French seamed and trimmed with matching covered buttons. Edged in lace appliqued to the cuff.

The soft tulle underskirts edged in satin

The final dress, the mannequin and my photo taking skills really don't really do it justice.

I know you may be thinking the bodice is a little reminiscent of another bridal gown this year? There was quite a bit of debate about this neckline, I was dreading it and my initial thoughts were NO NO NO, NOOOOOOO! As you can see the initial design had a high neckline, no V but we hadn't set anything in stone and we wanted to see how the dress developed.
I really didn't want to do anything that even vaguely looked like the KM dress. Not that I don't like it, it's the most stunning example of couture and craftsmanship that anyone will see but knowing this, my feelings were that anything that looks like it will be a cheap copy. Plus it's someone else's dress!

So, could I really say to Katie 'no you can't have your wedding dress how you want it' and cause stress over the shape of a V? Well no, the Royal family can't have the monopoly on V necklines. Katie's was inspired by the 1940s which the whole wedding revolved around, a wonderful Wartime theme and whatdaya know, they had V necklines in the 1940s too!

The cut of the dress with the hourglass fit, soft tea colour and Katie's incredible look with Forties red hair and lipstick, there was no way this was going to look anything cheap or copy like. Sometimes you have to trust a bride too, they are ones who are going to make the dress come to life. And she looked stunning, and by far the best Katie to me!

Here it comes to life, more photos from the incredible wedding tomorrow ........................................

A sneek peek at Katie in her dress - photograph by Matthew Wiseman

A little note on wedding dress buying ......

For me, it's a really great way of working when you have lots of interaction from a bride, I know some people may think it's annoying but really it's like you have an extra helping hand, and being involved in the design of your dress makes sure you get it how YOU want it. I generally will only say no to something if I think it will look bad or won't work, or obviously if it's copying. Having a good relationship with the person supplying your dress is quite important and you can trust them to be honest with you too.

So when getting a dress made or even buying a dress from a boutique it's important that you think about it, ask millions of questions if you really need to and speak out if you are not completely happy about something. If you are getting overwhelmed (I sure did) just walk away and take a break from wedding dresses until you clear your head a little. I know some of us know exactly what we want and others haven't the foggiest, and that's ok.
A good supplier or designer will be wanting you to be reassured, for you to trust them and for you have the most amazing day in your perfect dress. Don't ever feel like you're being a pain. ( please don't ever be rude though, you may have your dress sliced in half! :) )

Bows, Bows, Bows

2011-10-23T10:30:00.000+01:00

As you might be able to tell I love LOVE bows. It's our logo, It's tattooed to my arm (I may have to get the actual logo tattooed somewhere if I'm feeling brave again), nearly every dress is tied with a bow and my favourite words in Mad Men were said by the gorgeous Roger to the even more Gorgeous Joan ' I love that dress with the bow on it, it makes you look like a Christmas present'.
I know some people may think this a little anti-feminist or derogatory making women look like presents be consumed, but I think it's pretty adorable. Why not look like a exciting present, and if you want to be unwrapped, then you can!

We made these super festive, Victorian, vintage fifties style bows with long tails. I know there are lots of pinched/pleat bows out there like our logo so keeping the forked tails made these a little more present like.
I then studded them with our wonderful metal rhinestone clasps and spangly crystals in different colours. I also managed to find these amazing glass cabochon's from a vintage bead seller on Etsy which have golden Queenies in the middle! I only had six of these and I must keep one.

I like to wear mine on the back of my chignon or bun (I love my bun ring that makes it super big too) but as it has a barrette clip on the back you can fasten it to the shoulder of your dress, a bracelet on your wrist or to a belt. I think it's quite a versatile little accessory really and we all need bows in our life don't we? Even clipped on to old pair of torn Levi's looks pretty cool.

Horst's stunning picture of Gabrielle Chanel with bows in her hair.

I also made some Alice bands that reminded me of Coco Chanel's hair bows she wore amongst her curls. Now that's how you style a bow and it's not even that girly! This is what I'm off to do right now ....... bye

Tartans

2011-10-22T14:58:00.000+01:00

After visiting the costume museum and viewing Princess Alexandra's Victorian era tartan party dress, using plaids for the Winter collection was a must.
The silks are so highly saturated in colour and gorgeously festive rustling as you walk. It's Victorian, Royal and traditional on one hand but tartan also is about rebellion, punk and identity too. It's certainly not just reserved for Princesses.
I wanted to use a real Scottish wool tartan for the skirt, the weight is wonderful and heavy like a kilt in the form of a Fifties swing skirt. The added blush nets underneath for structure give a really cool colour contrast which makes the red pop even more.
I imagine this skirt with a white sweetheart bodice too which would make awesome festive party attire!

Our homage to Norman Rockwell which inspired this skirt too.

So here's our tartan offerings for the Winter. Warming, nostalgic and fabulously Victorian. There are so many versions and ways to wear this pattern, I wish we had our own in my family. How amazing would that be to make a collection from? Who else has their own tartan and how do you style yours?

A Little Bit of Luck

2011-10-21T17:24:00.000+01:00

Anna has been working away on these absolutely gorgeous lucky horse shoes. They are made from real original horse shoes in steel, that were given to us by the lovely farrier across the road and decorated with beautiful vintage trimmings and bows.

They are traditionally designed to have with you on your wedding day and then when you get home the custom is to nail it above your door for good luck in your home.
I had no idea about the old folklore on these things, you have to make sure it's always facing up as otherwise the luck falls out! But, other people and countries say it must hang down so the luck pours over you?
I would suggest they look best facing up and then on your anniversary you can tip it upside down to grab all that luck!

Anyway they look pretty cool in your house and they are lacquered in silver, gold and black so they will stay looking polished all the time.

Katie and her forties Hollywood Dress - Part 2 - The corset

2011-10-19T13:00:00.000+01:00

my numbered pattern so I don't forget the order of the pieces, they all look very similar

the base of the corset

the fine chanels need to be cut on the bias in strips

the all important strengthening stitches

the spiral steel boning

the pressed bia channels ready to be sewn to the corset base

the corset before the hem is sniped shorter so that Katie could sit down easily

the corset placed over the toile of the bodice to check the neckline positioning

the final corset with it's tweaks

the lower cut back, always fasten a corset in the centre

Katie really wanted some added 'hug' to her dress and to enhance that Hollywood hourglass silhouette we decided that instead of a strapless bra or basque we would make a corset. The curve in the back of the dress and the strapless design along with needing some secure support meant a custom corset was going to be the best option.
I was really lucky to be taught corsetry at University by an excellent pattern cutting lecturer Lee Hollahan who worked on Kate Winslet's 'Titantic' corset and the corsets for Back to the Future Part 3 to name but a few. Sorry this is a little name dropping and tenuous linking to my corset here!

This gave me some great foundation skills to make the all important bridal corset. This one went through quite a few changes being nipped and tucked as inevitably our model changed shape on the run up to the wedding. As this was to be worn all day it needed to be comfortable and most importantly light even with the steel boning.
I used a single layer of silk taffeta which is beautifully light and strong. Sometimes corsets are made with two to three layers for strength but I really didn't want to add any bulk or for it to be seen underneath the dress, so the decorative stitching you see isn't just fancy its adding re-enforcements.
The low back (corsets usually have quite high backs to give all round uplift) and maintaining support at the front was something that kept me up at night trying to figure out but we got there in the end and I love the fifties shape it has. Bra designers are really the best engineers in the world to keeping us perky and bare backed, they are quite amazing!

The corset had extra narrow fine boning with is spirals so that it curves with your body and was then trimmed in lace at the hem and top to give a very soft edge that wouldn't show through the dress.
I really need a corset dummy as these standard ones can't have their waists cinched with their super tough tummies!

Brides and Debs

2011-10-18T22:09:00.000+01:00

The new bridal / debutant prom dresses and the updated, refined Debutant Debby dress.

The prom dress is now built onto a silk corseted bodice instead of the bought in bodices I used before, This keeps it looking beautiful inside and also gives a lovely smooth back with no stretch. There is still the option for cups too if you like.

The new Ivory Betty and Betty's Big day asymmetric dresses in the lightest silk dupion which gives the full skirts a gorgeous ballet like float. Great to add detailing too in the form of veils, gloves, etc Audrey style.

And the new silk organza 'Candy' dress taken from our candy stripe floral collection with the colours de-saturated and a fuller pleated skirt added to take this design to a slightly more special level. I love the poppy late fifties feel of this dress with the strong outlines in the satin. I used to get told off for outlining everything in art class but outlines are good and I like to add definition.

The ever popular short wedding dress is a way of adding a second dress if you are having a big, big wedding or just feel the need for a costume change works especially well if you have chosen to have a dramatic full length gown with train for the main ceremony.
They also make a super chic option as your main dress and get amazingly pretty pictures too. You get to stay comfortable all day, can dance as madly as you like and depending on what you are looking for, they can be fantastic when you are on a modest budget. And there are so many things you can do to make yours unique.
A simple dress like our Betty dress can be trimmed to the max with ribbons, vintage brooches and corsages, it's a great blank canvas. The simplicity and great cut also allows you to play around with veil options and go all out on the shoes. Then after the wedding you can take out your nets, add a leather belt and don some ballet pumps and off you go. I know there is a certain treasured feeling you get about your dress after the day but wouldn't it be awesome to just go out and wear these dresses whenever we liked?

For my own wedding I had a full length tulle number which looked fabulous in the photos but me not being used to wearing full length gowns and being a little scared of being a 'bride' on the day, I changed to a candy stripe tulle prom dress for the evening and danced away into the night very happily not feeling in slightest but wifely.
Being able to make the dresses myself did give me quite an advantage though like a kid in a candy store!

Katie and Her Forties Hollywood Dress - Part 1

2011-10-17T21:43:00.002+01:00

This year is nowhere near over nor is my career (hopefully) but this dress is my dress of the year and the dress I am really most proud of. I love all my other dresses too but after nearly a year with this one it became very important to me.

I first had a call from Katie in September 2010 (OK, I just checked my emails it was actually June 2010, Sorry Katie! No wonder I am so clingy to this dress!) as she was looking for a Forties inspired wartime bridal gown to be made. I instantly jumped at this, anything with a vintage reference and theme makes me very inspired and Katie sounded like she had lots of wonderful ideas. We eventually met in September 2010 (this is right) and we had a chat about designs, Katie was excellent and had lots of inspiration pictures, and I sketched up a few rough ideas to start with.

Over the following months we decided on fabrics, Katie hunted down the perfect lace from the Cloth House , we tested toiles, and the dress along with the bridesmaids and the mother of the bride dresses developed. Katie came to visit her dress quite often and a real attachment grew on my part with this dress over the year. It really was becoming something very special. When it came to September the 30th 2011, watching my dress worn by Katie so beautifully walk down the aisle, It was like watching my child get married, I was so proud of this dress. I was completely blown away and I still well up just thinking about it!

I spent every day with it in my studio over the last year and at times had to lock it away, It would make me cry, it hurt me but most of the time it made me so happy I would have to give it clap! Is it possible to have a relationship with a garment you make?

Anyway, enough with the emotions, here are are first stages of making the dress .....

The initial sketches and designs

Taking apart the toile, making the pattern and cutting the base fabric

The first bodice

Draping the lace skirt

Sewing the finest seams in the lace for the godets in the skirt

Stitching the seams of the lace

Placing the added lace motifs on the hem of the skirt

A little lace seam

stitching the lining of the bodice and ribbon waist stay in place

I have a wonderful photo of my face whilst sewing the lining of the dress, it's not a pretty picture. These were some of the many stages that the dress went through as it became the final wedding gown. The best parts are the seams in the lace which were carefully hand stitched around each motif to give a seamless pattern to the hem. It's the little things like this that strangely make me very pleased.

Next to show you will be the corset which went under the dress in a matching cream silk .........

The black lace illusion dress

2011-10-14T17:20:00.000+01:00

The black lace illusion dress.

This is the dress inspired directly by Princess Margaret's couture gown produced by Norman Hartnell that I went to see at Bath Fashion Museum. The dress was stunning on the outside with a full circle skirt in corded lace over a fitted, padded, pencil skirt underneath and has a strapless sweetheart bodice. I Loved the illusion of having a fitted silhouette underneath the fullness of the lace and the skill of getting the top layer to stand away from the body.
The asymmetric neckline was chosen to drape over the sweetheart underneath as this line is always very elegant and added more to the illusion dress underneath. The disappointment with the Norman Hartnell dress was that it was un-lined. This may have been so that another corset could be worn underneath or it had been taken out at some point but it looked a little tatty so our dress is lined in silk nice and neatly. Finished with a black velvet bow.
Model: Nicole Handley
Crown: Janine Basil Millinery
Location: Banwell Castle, Somerset UK

Nicole with the giant bear at the castle, he knid of looks a bit Royal too.

Princess Coat and Hood

2011-10-13T19:20:00.000+01:00

The princess coat and the studded hood.

To match the velvet dress, as it's winter a coat was needed to match and instead of fixing a hood I wanted this to be separate so that it could be worn in different ways.
The coat took inspiration from fifties cocktail coats and the coats worn to the opera. It's to keep you warm and look fabulous with your dress whilst being seen entering the theatre or jazz club.
The cut is once again princess line through a fitted bodice and tightly fitted full length sleeves that are shaped at the shoulder with tulip folds. The skirt is full and pleated, to accommodate a full skirted dress and to make an impact from behind. Fully lined in a heavy satin to the edge so that you get a peek of the pale gold every time you move.
The hood co-ordinates with the dress with a studded velvet lining and tie bow fastening. It's large enough to cover your whole head is is entitled the 'hiding hood' as every Princess needs to guard her face from the paps whilst leaving her lovers hotel room! It also has a great drape to it over your shoulders and would looks equally good styled with a skinny fit leather jacket.

The coat is available made to order from £365 and the hood is one size and from £90 direct from our online shop. As you know with our made to order garments you can pick a different colour too if you really want, a dark red would look amazing!

The Blue Velvet Dress

2011-10-12T16:45:00.000+01:00

Model: Nicole Handley - she has done a completely awesome job and magically fits all of the dresses perfectly
Crown: Janine Basil, London - I am so thankful for this crown it was gorgeous and so are all of her hats. Go check them out they make great presents to a friend or yourself.

This was the first dress I designed for the princess collection. The blue silk velvet dress.

I love velvet but it is horrible to work with a lot of the time, fluff everywhere and slippy slidey on the machine. Even more so with this silk velvet that wibbles all over the place but, the outcome is so completely worth it!

I sourced this from our favourite suppliers Beckford silks who have beautiful fabrics and colours to pick from. Being a 'Royal' collection, blue was the first choice and this is deep dark blue that shimmers brightly when it hits the light.

To go with the velvet we needed an ermine trim, a must for Princesses and Royal ceremonies of course. I could have used ermine or rabbit fur but this would have required butchering a vintage coat or cape (butchering vintage clothing that isn't falling apart is nearly as bad as killing the animal in the first place) I thought of using marabou feathers too and then thought of fluff and velvet wasn't too great an idea. So more silk velvet which has a super soft fur like pile and black swarovski rhinestones were used to make a dotty ermine print.

I said before about my disappointment of not seeing Princess Margaret's dresses lined in gold (when you call yourself a Princess surely there are some perks? I suppose she didn't look in other peoples dresses?) so in my dress we used a metallic gold binding inside the dress to finish the seams and add a little internal glitz.

Then to the dress shape itself, something simple, a princess line cut was the obvious choice to use when cutting the patterns and this velvet gathers so beautifully without too much bulk being induced into the seams. And there we have a little blue velvet dress. ............ oh no, I keep thinking of David Lynch now. My dress is still pretty!

the view from the castle

The first stage of the photos were taken at Banwell Castle. A local Gothic Revival Mansion house built in 1847. If you're ever in the area it's the officially best place to go for cream teas, all freshly baked by the owner and served on blue and white china.
It's the kind of country house that is very honest, it's not sparkling or commercialized and you feel like your in a guest in someones home instead of just renting a room for B&B. It's eclectic, romantic and really quite special. It's not too fancy, the furnishings are gathered over time, there is stunning printed wallpaper, family photos on the mantelpiece, old sofas and textiles, incredible views and peacocks!
They were very kind to lend us a room to use whilst we did the photo shoot and this wonderful. A four poster bed trimmed in textiles from around the world, roll top bath and a beautiful linen cupboard that stretched the wall of the room. It was a rainy day when we visited and just looking out of the old Victorian windows in that room was so cosy. A blustery Winter weekend in a castle sounds very appealing.

Winters Here ...... Finally!

2011-10-11T13:53:00.000+01:00

Rhinestone Studded Princess Hood

Blue velvet Princess coat

Black lace Illusion dress

Blue silk velvet princess dress with rhinestone studded trim

Silk organza sheer illusion dress

The 'Debutant Debby' updated tulle prom dress for the Princess collection

Silk tartan Halter dress

Blue silk tartan princess dress

Herringbone tweed princess coat

Soft tweed shift dress

Wool tartan full circle skirt

Saffron pink silk cocktail dress

Silk asymmetric debutant Princess dress

So here they are, the new dresses for this season. All ready and waiting to be hand made to your specific requirements and worn out on show for the world to see. I have lots more pictures and details of each dress to follow and in the meantime, have a peruse through our shop. Each garment takes up to two weeks to make to order and you can choose any tartan you like, quite exciting if you are lucky enough to have Scottish roots and your own pattern.

Model: Nicole Handley
Accessories: Janine Basil and Alexandra King

2011-10-10T16:30:00.001+01:00

Sketches and photo research from the Princess collection. It's so very nearly here in the shop and I have lots of images to share this week from the photoshoots.

Sneak Peek

2011-10-07T17:50:00.000+01:00

Once again I am sorry for not posting in a while but thankfully this has been due to being so incredibly busy! I don't really know where to start with everything that has been going on, the wedding of my year, our first proper wedding fair, new dresses and lots of brides to be each with exciting ideas for next year. This week is supposed to be a bit of a break so in this post I will do an overall sneak peek of everything and fill in with lots more detail later.

First came the new dresses and photo shoots (an early THANK YOU to Janine Basil for lending us her glittering crown) which will be coming up next week. Look forward or lots of tartans, tweeds, tulle and velvet fit for a princess. I watched Roman Holiday this morning and this sets the tone of the new pieces.

Next was THE Wedding of year for me, a dress I had worked on over the past eight months along with forties bridesmaids dresses and a fabulous Mother or the bride outfit. This one became quite emotional with my heart and soul going into these dresses, lots of holding back tears on the day.

AND then we had the wedding fair, it was vintage and at the Bath Assembly rooms which tempted me out of my 'no wedding fairs' rule and was a fantastic day meeting so many amazing people. The other stallholders were so lovely so expect a whole post about the people we met.

...... farewell until next week! xxx

A Postcard From Rome

2011-09-22T18:47:00.002+01:00

Arrived in my inbox this morning a gorgeous postcard from the lovely Alice wearing one of our 'one of a kind' dresses, whilst on her travels in Rome. What a delight. She's gaining many compliments too, we wish her lots more fabulous adventures on her travels around Europe in her dress! x

Boho Bride Shoot

2011-09-21T11:01:00.000+01:00

Our Astor Dress

Our Blush Floral Dress

Sarah at Boho bride and Dressed with love contacted me a few months ago to use some of my dresses for a photo shoot she was planning. This was the first time I had lent my dresses out to a stylist but Sarah was so lovely and reassuring (plus had a super pretty blog and was working with the amazing wedding photographer Rosie Parsons) that it was immediately a risk I wanted to take.
I can be a little over protective about my dresses sometimes as so much work and planning goes into them that the thought of a dopey courier loosing them can get a bit nerve wracking.

As you can see from the images this was a good decision to make and seeing it all on Rock My Wedding with the other shoots was fantastic! huge Huge HUGE THANK YOU to Sarah and Rosie! The models were a real life couple and the fabulous hair by Claire Mathers and make up by Eve Ashby.

Sarah's blog is filled with all the inspirations for her own wedding (congratulations for last weekend! ) and tonnes of great styling ideas for weddings and parties. She is also a wedding stylist based in the Southwest UK and can make your day the gorgeous affair you have dreamt of and take away the stress of trying to everything yourself. Go check it out!

Our Astor wedding dress is available made to order from our website here
Our blush floral dress is also avaible made to order or to buy ready to wear on ASOS

Tie Dye For ........

2011-09-19T18:56:00.000+01:00

OK, that was a silly blog post title! Here are the tie dye dresses available on Asos. We have only made two from these amazing vintage tie dye sheets found on our travels and layered with a black lace tulle. Gorgeous with or without the nets too x

Giffords Circus

2011-09-14T20:42:00.000+01:00

A couple of weeks ago we were lucky enough to get a trip to the circus as an end of Summer stroke birthday treat for Mum and myself. At first when she said we were going the the circus I wasn't too impressed, the only local circus comes around every Christmas and has a very un-traditional Spider man theme.
This was not any old circus though, it was The Gifford's Circus, which is in a whole different league of circus. This years story was War and Peace and words really can't explain just how beautiful the whole set up and show was.
It's vintage, original Vaudeville that takes you back to pre film, way before television to a quality that is very real. (I was sat there thinking what idiots people are today for sitting in a watching nonsense X Factor/ Britain's got no bloody talent when you can see proper talent and dedication here)
Where do I start........
The clown, Tweedy has this face and manner that I can only describe as a cross between Charlie Chaplin and early Robin Williams and he makes you really laugh out loud with excellent slap stick routines and super fast witty jokes.
Everyone takes part in the whole story including singing, being the band, acrobating and acting. Beforehand they take your tickets, serve great food, take care of the horses, they do everything themselves and when I heard that the show we watched was the third of the day we were blown away, everyone was so perky.
The costumes by Lindsay Pugh were stunning, vintage Russian peasant costumes, pin up soldiers, tail coats and beautiful velvets, everything you could wish for in a vintage circus dressing up box. It looks like it must be a real dream to create for. (I would love this job!!!! even to help out must be a treat)
Then there are the acrobats who again appear like they have stepped out of a different age steeped in tradion and genuine skill. They are head spinning, balancing, hand stand tap dancing and incredible plank somersaults which takes your breath away.
The Juggling has you on the edge of your seat as knives are flinging past the arms of Tweedy the clown and fire is whooshing around in circles.
There are horses and chickens and a goose, and it's all really so perfect.
I would really be here forever going on about how wonderful this show was, it's an experience that shouldn't be missed, a cliche but true.

The show is over for this year but they will be touring again next year and you can buy music ( I forgot to mention the band which is fantastic, multi instrumented folk music, and they are also acrobats too!) and you can buy Gifford's circus gifts and even your own circus wagon. Follow on facebook for more updates

To make this a little more relevant all this vintage circus inspiration may have to work its way into a collection of dresses when I get a chance!

Three Floral Bridesmaids

2011-09-12T16:43:00.000+01:00

We have just received the photos from Sasha's wedding for which we made three gorgeous fifties style sun dresses in a wonderful Tanya Whelan print. A blue silk belt was added to trim the waist and we made matching blue underskirts to make sure those full skirts made an impact. The bridesmaids look fabulous and I love that they all have different shoes and hair.
Anna also made a matching flower girl dress that looks so adorable in the picture above. (That dog must be so little!)

Oh Baby......Magenta Cord

2011-09-03T13:26:00.000+01:00

We have just finished three super cute baby cord dress in fair trade cotton with hand dip dyed hems. They feel gorgeously soft to wear, we just wish we had been able to grab more of this fabulous magenta pink.
Available in our asos boutique. one has a dropped waist and the other have a high waist, not sure which I prefer at the moment?
On another note it's my Mums birthday tomorrow and to celebrate, tonight we are going to the circus, not just any circus though, Giffords circus, I'm very excited!

Pretty In Pink

2011-09-02T19:16:00.000+01:00

A Friday party dress recently made in this shimmering grey pink silk, it's very pretty at that's all I need to say today. (way too much sewing to do!)

Annas Lucky Horseshoe

2011-09-01T11:20:00.000+01:00

Anna's lucky horseshoe made for Emma's wedding. I love traditional things like this, the horseshoe is a genuine iron shoe painted silver and trimmed with gorgeous ribbons and bows. Hopefully Anna will make some more to share with you.

The dress I've been wanting to show you....

2011-08-29T19:35:00.000+01:00

So here it is, the dress I've been wanting to show you for such a long time. Emma and Arans wedding was last Saturday and I can now show you her dress, the making and fitting photos and some preview photos from her big day which from the sounds of it, was just fabulous!

My initial sketches

Emma's mood board of all the dresses and details she likes

more initial sketches

Emma asked for a 1950s inspired dress that had lace, a huge Audrey style skirt and clean lines with bold detailing. And most of all a big bow at the back! She (like all of our wonderful customers) had the perfect ideas to suit our style and everything I wanted to do with the design of the dress Emma asked for like magic.

Having a mood board of all the details and styles you like gives a really clear idea of your personal style and helps a huge amount when it comes to designing your dress. After a good chat it becomes apparant the tiny details that are important and being able to refer easily to pictures makes this process to whole lot more successful.

Anna and I worked on Emma's dress together over a few weeks and with Anna's perfect sewing skills and my direction for the design, it was a great success. It was great being able to discuss the details as we went.

I like to build dresses from the inside out sometimes as the foundations are important to get right before the outer is completed and this way we can also judge the fullness and smoothness of the line.

Each detail works so well on this dress, the grosgrain ribbon highlights the waist, the buttons add texture and the sculpted bow shape enhances the silhouette and the curve of the back. And the tea length means you can show off your shoes!

Emma's custom made lace shoes with matching grosgrain ribbon bows, tried in the fitting.

Dice checking that Emma could sit down in her dress with the bow, all these things are very important.

As you can tell, I am so pleased as super awesome punch with this dress and knowing that Emma had such an amazing day wearing it makes it all so much more fantastic. Congratulations to Em and Aran!!!!!

Captured by Anna on the morning of the wedding day.

Internship

2011-08-26T18:17:00.000+01:00

Hello my name is Dice and I have been doing an internship with Alexandra King for the past two months. I didn't really know what to expect when I first came to the studio for an interview and was surprised that it was so big for an independent designer. The internship has been very useful as I have learnt many important things from an independent designers way of working.

I learnt pattern cutting skills, new techniques- different ways of seams, zips and ways to grade patterns, also tracing and developing patterns. From this I decided to make three items which I have photographed on here which are a shirt,jacket and pair breeches, which I feel has improved my garment construction well. I have been really lucky to be able to do some of my own work alongside helping with the dresses.

Whilst being here I have also learnt how important social media is to use such as blogging and website updates which show followers what is going on and what other people think of their dresses.I feel that I have had a great insight into the independent business and wish to Intern in a larger industrial place to see the similarities and differences between the two.

My Knitted trench coat, with leather details.

My work
Over the summer I was given a summer project to do by looking into a theme of my choice which, as I love birds chose to look into birds and their differences. Watching the Black Swan film made me want to look into personality differences, leading me to look mainly at owls and swallows. Owls are predators hunting for food such as small birds and other creatures. I then developed into looking at traditional hunting wear and therefore created a trench coat which is knit based as I specialise in knitwear at Uni. I then designed more and more to go on to create a shirt and breeches to try and fit in with the theme.


The Breeches- with leather inside leg patches and zip details.

The shirt- back pleat details and zip fastening.

Whilst designing I feel I have developed from just using knit to ways of embellishment in ways such as adding leather and fabrics with knitted trims.Over the internship it has helped me develop a capsule collection with outside help/ideas questioning things that may have been difficult to imagine/ translate into a garment.

Overall this has been a great experience with many funny memories. :)